Acts 26: 15-16

(Acts 26: 15-16)

 

『And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;』

 

 Before God gave him the name Paul, his name was Saul. Saul attacked Christian. While on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians, he saw a mighty light, fell, and met Jesus standing in the light. Saul listened to Jesus and realized: he was deceived by Satan. People do not know that they are deceived by Satan until God shines light.

 

『Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.』(Acts 26: 17-18)

 

This is what Paul testified to King Agrippa before he died in Rome. In Acts 17-18, the apostle Paul did nothing. All is the work of the Lord. Why did the Lord do that? This is the power of the Gospel, which means "turning back to God," which means "rebirth."

 

As Paul explained salvation, he said four things. "From darkness to light, from Satan's power to God, to be forgiven, to gain inheritance." Compared with these four exodus Hebrews: They were in darkness when they were in Egypt. As they cried out to God, God brought them out of Satan's power. By the way, they crossed the Red Sea, but because they did not turn to God in the wilderness, they did not enter Canaan. Why did they not turn back? For they did not believe the word of God's promise. Thus, they did not obey the word of God before the land of Canaan. Repentance is directly related to obedience. Disobedience repentance indicates false repentance. Whether or not it is a false repentance will be known only to God and the person. False repenters cannot be forgiven of their sins from God. The Bible says that obedience is better than sacrifice.

 

Why did the Hebrews not obey God before Canaan, except Joshua and Caleb? Today, why do not many church people obey God's Word by saying they repent daily? The reason is that they do not turn from Satan's power. Satan prevents people from entering Christ. In some situations, the body of the body reacts. Who is the master of the mind? Self or God? The Hebrews thought they would die if they entered Canaan. Before the Word of God, the body of flesh must not react. So Jesus said, "deny yourself." The self-denying enters into Christ. Not to believe in Jesus, but to die with Jesus. This is the gospel.

 

To gain land means to enter Canaan (in Christ). Those who enter into Jesus Christ gain Jesus' power. Those who enter into Christ obey God. Faith entering Canaan is God-given faith. God presents faith to obedient people. Those who have not received faith from God are in darkness. It is not my faith, but God-given faith. In Galatians (3:23), before faith came, he expressed it as "a prisoner of the law of God." They are sinners.

 

People are bound to sin. Even millions of church people worry about sin. They sin while repenting. But the Bible says, "to sin and die with Jesus." This is the covenant of blood. God forgives sinners by applying the blood Jesus shed for the dead with Jesus. First, we must die on the cross with Jesus so that we can be forgiven of our sins. To die with Jesus means to abandon past life and move on to a new life with Jesus. That is why we are born again. If we do not deny ourselves before the cross, we are like the disciples who fled before the cross.

 

"Repenting and turning" is not daily confession and hope for forgiveness, but "die every day." You must die every day. Thus, the body of flesh does not respond before the Word of God. This was the case with Jacob in the Old Testament. God promised Jacob “to be with him,” but he fleeed because he was afraid of his uncle Laban. He could not cross the river because he was afraid of "Esau (Jacob's brother)" before the Jabbok River. Everyone looks like this before people repent and turn back. Jacob, who did not cross the Jabbok River, was left alone. But God came to Jacob alone, hurting the bones of his joints. He was lame. He became a body that could not run away on his own. God required Jacob to trust in God alone. God made Jacob's fleshly heart unreliable.

 

『To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.』(Acts 26: 18)

 

『which are sanctified by faith that is in me.』 This belief is as follows: Jesus died to atone for the sins of men, and that people confess their sins and repent and believe in him that they will be saved. One thing is missing. To die with Jesus.

 

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