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    Repentance from Dead Works: Foundation doctrines of Christ, #1
    Repentance from Dead Works: Foundation doctrines of Christ, #1
    Repentance from Dead Works: Foundation doctrines of Christ, #1
    Ebook145 pages4 hours

    Repentance from Dead Works: Foundation doctrines of Christ, #1

    By Michael E.B. Maher

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    There are six foundational doctrines to the Christian faith. Because they are foundational, every believer should have a clear understanding of each one of these doctrines, and live by them. Those who have a clear understanding of these doctrines and who also live by them, will have a sure foundation. And they will not be deceived by any false teachings, that they may come across in their Christian walk. Of the six foundational doctrines, the two that were most commonly taught to the church by the apostle Paul, were repentance from dead works and faith towards God. The reason for that was because these are the two doctrines that most influence the lives of believers. This book examines the doctrine of repentance from dead works.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMichael Maher Ministries
    Release dateJan 11, 2018
    ISBN9781386073291
    Repentance from Dead Works: Foundation doctrines of Christ, #1
    Author

    Michael E.B. Maher

    About the Author From childhood, Michael E.B. Maher has always known that the Lord's call was upon his life for the ministry. When he was saved at the age of twenty-two, almost immediately the Lord Jesus began to deal with him about entering the ministry. However, it was only many years later that he committed to the Lord to answer the Lord's call to the ministry. And so, in 2014 Michael Maher Ministries was begun. From the beginning, the mandate given to Michael from the Lord Jesus was to preach the word. And so, this ministry preaches the word of God on every available platform around the world.

    Read more from Michael E.B. Maher

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      Book preview

      Repentance from Dead Works - Michael E.B. Maher

      ​​Chapter 1

      ​Repentance and salvation

      ​Introduction

      Hebrews 5:12-14 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.  (13)  For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.  (14) But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

      Hebrews 6:1-2 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, (2) of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

      In the above quoted passages of scripture the Holy Spirit reveals to us the first principles of the oracles of God. In other words these are the foundational doctrines to the Christian faith of which there are six, i.e. repentance from dead works, faith toward God, the doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And so because these doctrines are foundational, every believer should have a clear understanding of each one of these doctrines and live by them. Those who have a clear understanding of these doctrines and who also live by them will have a sure foundation to their Christian faith and they will not be deceived by any false teachings that they may come across in their Christian walk. The above passage reveals to us that these doctrines are in fact the milk of God’s word and not solid food, thus implying that all new born believers should feed on these particular biblical truths. However even mature adults drink milk as part of their natural diet, and in the spirit that principle remains the same. And so it is good for mature believers to also revisit the foundational principles of the Christian faith from time to time to ensure that their foundations remain solid.

      Acts 20:18-21 And when they had come to him, he said to them: You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you,  (19)  serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews;  (20)  how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house,  (21)  testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."

      Of the six foundational doctrines, there were two that the apostle Paul taught on extensively in the churches. The two that he emphasised were the first two listed in the book of Hebrews, i.e. repentance from dead works and faith towards God. We see that truth evidenced in the above quoted passage of scripture, for in this passage Paul, in speaking to the elders of the church in Ephesus for the last time, specifically reminded them that he had taught these two doctrines during his time at that church. Obviously the reason that Paul emphasised these two doctrines is because they are the most important of the six. So why is that? The reason, as we will see in this book, is because it is essential for believers to have a clear understanding of these two doctrines in order for them to be able to walk in this life as the Lord intended. Although in mentioning these two doctrines Paul uses slightly different terminologies to the ones mentioned in the book of Hebrews, they are nevertheless still the same doctrines. The doctrine of repentance from dead works, Paul refers to in this passage as repentance towards God and the doctrine of faith toward God, Paul refers to as faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

      Mark 1:14-15 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,  (15)  and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

      Further evidence that the doctrines of repentance from dead works and faith toward God are foundational to the gospel of salvation, is the message that our Lord Jesus proclaimed when He was on the earth, for as revealed in the above quoted passage of scripture we can see that the Lord Jesus proclaimed a simple message of repent and believe. Our Lord’s message of repentance refers to the doctrine of repentance from dead works and His message of believe refers to the doctrine of faith toward God. And so clearly we can see that these two doctrines form almost the cornerstone of the Christian faith so to speak. In this book we will examine the doctrine of repentance from dead works, which is the first of the six foundational doctrines.

      ​A gospel of repentance

      Mark 6:7-12 And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits.  ... (12) So, they went out and preached that people should repent.

      Repentance is an integral part of the gospel of salvation. As we have already seen in the previous passage of scripture, when our Lord Jesus Christ introduced us to the gospel of God, repentance was included in the message that He preached. And we saw that He in fact preached repentance before He preached faith, for in that passage He taught us to repent (first) and believe (second). And so the message that Jesus taught His apostles to preach everywhere they went, included a gospel of repentance. We know that to be the case, because in the above quoted passage of scripture we see that when the apostles went out to preach, that their main message preached was that people should repent.

      Acts 2:37-41 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?  (38)  Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  ... (41) Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them."

      It is significant that the first sermon recorded when the church started out in its infancy was a sermon which included repentance. That truth is revealed to us in the passage of scripture quoted above, which is a record of the sermon preached by the apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost. And we see that on that day three thousand souls were added to the church in response to Peter’s sermon.

      Acts 3:12-26 So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?  ...  (19)  Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, ... (26) To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities."

      Not many days after the incident on the day of Pentecost, Peter was again preaching to the unsaved and on this particular occasion five thousand souls were added to the church. And once again, as revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, we see that Peter preached a sermon that included repentance.

      Acts 17:30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.

      Repentance was the Apostle Paul’s first and main message which he preached to all the churches that he planted. We have already seen in his letter to the Hebrew church in Jerusalem, that he taught this particular doctrine as being the first and main foundation doctrine of the Christian faith. In fact, as quoted in the above passage of scripture, Paul taught that repentance was a commandment of God. The context of this passage is that Paul was preaching to the unsaved in the city of Athens at the time.

      Acts 26:19-20 Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, (20) but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.

      We have already seen earlier, that when Paul recounted his ministry to the elders of the church in Ephesus, he reminded them that the two main doctrines that he taught on for the three years that he ministered in Ephesus were the doctrines of repentance and faith. In the passage of scripture quoted above, when Paul recounted his vision of our Lord Jesus Christ at

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