What Repentance Is and How to Repent

The Lord said, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). “And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be” (Revelation 22:12). The Lord told us that the condition for entry into the heavenly kingdom is to achieve true repentance, and that those who don’t repent will be swept away by the great disasters with much weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then what does repentance mean? Many believers in the Lord think that as long as they pray and confess to the Lord, can be humble and patient, suffer and bear crosses, spread the gospel more, and do lots of good deeds, then this is repentance. Is this really the case? Is this kind of thinking in accordance with the Lord’s will? What did the Lord refer to when He asked mankind to repent? We’d better read what God’s words say about it.

What True Repentance Is

God said, “You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45). And in Revelation 22:14, He prophesied, “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” The Lord is holy. He despises man’s sins, so true repentance refers to people no longer sinning to resist God, attaining purification and transformation in their corrupt dispositions, such as selfishness, deceitfulness, arrogance, evil, greed, and more, thoroughly casting off the shackles and constraints of sin, being able to completely obey and love God, and never rebelling against and resisting God. Only with these expressions can they be someone who has true repentance and is qualified to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Though we can confess and repent to the Lord and appear to do some good deeds, does this mean that we no longer sin to resist God and gain cleansing? We often live in a state of sinning and confessing and are unable to put the Lord’s words into practice, so how can we be called people who truly repent? For example, though some people can work hard, they frequently count up their own contributions, and show off themselves so that others think highly of them and look up to them. They can still struggle for reputation and interest, engage in jealous disputes, even form factions and cliques, split the church, and try to set up their own kingdoms. And some other people, when seeing the pastors and elders doing things that violate God’s intentions, even have no courage to tell the truth, and don’t dare to be honest people that God requires, afraid of offending the pastors and elders and risking their own interests. In their home life, some people claim that Christ is the head of their home, but they are self-centered, always wanting to have the final word on everything and wanting others to listen to them. When encountering natural or man-made disasters, they blame and misunderstand God, and can even betray God …

From these facts, we can see that no matter how many good deeds we do on the outside, how hard we work, and how capable we are of suffering and paying a price, this doesn’t mean that we have true repentance. Only by throwing off our corrupt dispositions and no longer sinning to resist God, can we be someone who has true repentance. Only such people are able to be compatible with God and are qualified to enter the heavenly kingdom.

How We Can Achieve True Repentance

Now we’ve understood what repentance is, but how can we achieve true repentance? The Lord Jesus said, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come” (John 16:12–13). “He that rejects Me, and receives not My words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). And the Bible says, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17). “Sanctify them through Your truth: Your word is truth” (John 17:17). These verses mention “the Spirit of truth, is come,” “Sanctify them through Your truth,” and “judgment must begin at the house of God.” This shows that the Lord will express the truth and do the work of judgment beginning with God’s house upon His return in the last days to cleanse and save people. This is to enable us to completely cast off the shackles of sin, gain purification, become people who have true repentance, and be brought into God’s kingdom. So accepting the returned Lord’s work of judgment is the only way for us to achieve true repentance and enter into the heavenly kingdom.

Nowadays, an epidemic is spreading all over the world, and floods, plagues of insects, and earthquakes occur one after another in various countries. The prophecies of the Lord’s return have basically been fulfilled and the Lord Jesus has indeed returned. Now, only The Church of Almighty God is openly testifying that the Lord Jesus has returned already as the incarnated Almighty God. Almighty God has expressed millions of words and performed new work of judgment beginning with God’s house on the foundation of the Lord Jesus’ work to cleanse and save people. This entirely fulfills the Lord Jesus’ prophecies. People from all religions and denominations who long for God’s appearance and love the truth read the words expressed by Almighty God, find that they are all the truth, and determine that they are the voice of God. One after another, they turn toward Almighty God. They are all the wise virgins who are raptured before God’s throne. They are accepting the judgment and purification of God’s words, and attending the wedding feast of the Lamb. This completely fulfills this prophecy in Revelation “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).

Now Almighty God’s words and God’s chosen people’s various testimonies of experiencing God’s judgment and purification have already been openly available online for people from all over the world to seek and investigate. The Lord Jesus said, “Seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). As long as we seek with an open heart in accordance with the Lord’s words, we will welcome Him and find the only way to achieve true repentance and enter the kingdom of heaven.

Editor’s Note: Through the fellowship above, we believe you now understand what repentance is and how to repent. Here, we’d like to recommend the comedy skit “Have You Truly Repented?” and the crosstalk “Judgment of the Last Days.” We hope they will be helpful to you. If you have any further questions and confusion, please feel free to contact us via Live Chat.