“Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
Mark 1:14-15

Why do we say repent? The truth is that you have sinned against a holy God. Sin is a transgression of God’s law. This is not only a general statement about mankind, this is the condition of you, the reader. You have sinned against a holy God.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
Romans 3:23

God is perfectly holy, righteous and just. He must punish sin. The Bible teaches that those who have sinned against an infinitely holy God deserve infinite punishment in a place called the Lake of Fire, a place of suffering separated from the goodness of God.

“The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”
Psalm 9:17

“And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Revelation 20:15

Because our nature is sinful, we cannot reconcile ourselves to God by good works. Baptism, moralism, and religious duty cannot make us right with God.

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
Isaiah 64:6

Even keeping the ten Commandments cannot make us right with God.

“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
Romans 3:19-20

Although God is just, He is also merciful and full of grace.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us…”
Titus 3:5

Jesus Christ, who is the eternal God, became a man.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
John 1:1, 14

He took to Himself human nature and a body. He did this for two reasons. First the law of God requires perfect obedience. Jesus being God was free from a fallen nature and was able to obey the law of God perfectly.

The second reason was to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sin. Jesus being a sinless man offered himself on the cross to atone for our sins.

“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
Hebrews 10:10

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5

God demonstrated his satisfaction with the offering of Jesus by raising Him from the dead.

“Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”
Acts 2:24

Today Jesus is alive and seated in Heaven. He commands all men everywhere to repent. To repent means to turn from our sin.

This is not just fixing our outward actions but a change of heart and mind toward God and sin, which affects our outward actions.

The second half of our message is to believe the Gospel. This is not simply head-knowledge of a historical event, but to trust the promises of God in Christ by faith.

The Gospel is the good news that our sins are forgiven because Christ has suffered in our place and offered us his righteousness before God.

We are saved when we take hold of that news and look to Jesus alone for our righteousness and forgiveness. When we repent and believe the Gospel, God forgives our sin and makes us a new creation.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
2^ndCorinthians 5:17

We urge you to look to Christ as the payment for your sin and to rest in His sacrifice alone to make you right with God. Call upon the Lord today to save you and He will. Contact us if you have more questions.