Dear Editor,

We are living in a time when some people dare

to believe that repentance is not necessary anymore. Repentance means to recognise that we have done wrong and turn from the wrong and do what is pleasing and right in God’s sight. Without repentance, how can we truly change

our ways?

I am particularly concerned about some churches which think that it is the OK thing to accept fornicators and homosexuals and other sinners as members of the church without calling on them to repent. This is certainly in fulfilment of 1 Timothy 4:1-2: “The Spirit says clearly that some people will abandon the faith in later times; they will obey lying spirits and follow the teachings of demons. Such teachings are spread by deceitful liars, whose consciences are dead, as if burnt with a hot iron.” (Good News School Bible)

As I read Jeremiah, it seems as if the Lord is speaking to today’s people. Jer 7:1-4,10 reads: “The LORD sent me to the gate of the temple where the people of Judah went in to worship. He told me to stand there and announce what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, had to say to them: ‘Change the way you are living and the things you are doing, and I will let you go on living here. Stop believing those deceitful words, We are safe! This is the Lord’s Temple, this is the Lord’s Temple…”

God’s house of worship was never intended to be a hiding place for sinners, but it was intended to be a place where people who want to please God come to Him with an attitude of repentance and a thankful spirit to worship God. God is always willing to forgive. He is a fair and just God. Romans 2:11 teaches that God judges everyone by the same standard.

As Christians, we must call people to repentance. This

is part of our mandate. Ezekiel 3:18-19 reads: “If I announce that an evil person is going to die but you do not warn him to change his ways so that he can save his life, he will die, still a sinner, and I will hold you responsible for his death. If you do warn an evil man and he doesn’t stop sinning, he will die, still a sinner, but your life will be spared.”

I am calling upon individuals and the church to call people to repentance, and to not deceive themselves and others. This is not the time of ignorance, but it is the time when we need to call sin what it is and draw people away from its evil into God’s presence and power and forgiveness as we determine to do His will.

Fay Buckland

faithfulb7@yahoo.com