By Bob Jacobus
It is quite frustrating to know and understand we are on the verge of a super-significant move of God and not see it.
As individuals, those who walk in the kingdom of God have experienced a personal day of salvation of which repentance is a prerequisite. Consider this proposal, before God can move in the full measure of His glory, local expressions of the body of Christ need to experience group repentance. In some cases, a corporate day of salvation will follow. In the Bible, God calls the Church the “Bride of Christ.” Is it not reasonable that the pattern of faith laid out for personal redemption is also the Church’s path to right standing with God?
Human repentance is the activity of reviewing one’s bad behavior with sincere regret or remorse and resolving to do better. Godly repentance is something more, it is the turning away from a self-lived life to one lived for God’s glory. This means laying down preconceived ideas of right and wrong. It means striving for harmony with the divine purpose of life. It means turning our backs on our own ways and doing it God’s way. This pattern is valid for the corporate level; at some point, the Bride must step away from the vanity mirror and seek her LORD.
Corporate Repentance is not a new idea. Jesus set the precedence in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. He discusses seven Churches and seven things to corporately repent from. Jesus rebukes the corporate body at Ephesus for forsaking the Church’s first love, God. The Ten Commandments can be summarized in two directives, number one, love God, and number two, love humans. Apparently, the people at Ephesus liked their way of doing things without including God. Then there was the false teaching and following a godless leader. The churches were not following through with God specified projects, they were spiritually sleeping, being indifferent (lukewarm), and relying on self instead of trusting God’s grace. Direction and provision are also listed as things God has against these churches. If corporate leadership, either individual or group, would ask Jesus what to repent of, there would be sure answers.
How does a church go about the business of corporate repentance? First, by understanding that some group practices are right and pleasing to God. No standard repentance recipe will cook in every corporate kitchen though. The Word says that repentance is a grant in 2 Timothy 2:25, then why not ask God to ‘grant’ corporate repentance? The Word also says God’s goodness leads to repentance. To utilize the principle in Romans 2:4, let us recall the goodness manifested within our corporate bodies and follow its lead.
2 Corinthians 7:10 (NIV) says “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” Sincere inquiry of God’s face on the matter and rejecting the exercise of lip service is essential for corporate repentance. It will take leaders to spearhead the movement.
In this day, in this hour, the people of the nations need Jesus more than ever. The earth is in turmoil and the tools of destruction are in the hands of unstable men proving the need has never been greater. A social civil war is devouring this country, not fought with guns or swords, but with words and ideas. The digital age has provided cyber Gatling guns that shoot words and ideology artillery to every person who can operate a keyboard or smart screen. We desperately need a super-significant move of God, one that might well harvest the last souls of the Church age. The Bridegroom now calls to His beloved, “Join me, be at my side and walk with me in this great adventure as one who belongs to me and not another. Let me again be your first love, for I care for you, want to provide for you and share everything in my heart with you. Awake O’ Spiritual Israel, truth and transparency will set you free!”
A GIFT VERSUS A GRANT:
• A gift has no strings attached, the beneficiary may do as they please with the gift. Use it, lose it, discard or cherish–it is up to the recipient.
• A grant is performance based. If the grantee does not use the grant for the specified purpose, then it is usually revoked or not renewed.
Should a grant be provided and the grantee takes no action then the provision is lost. Grant makers are not quite as open to investing a second time when non-performance has been an issue.
Feature image: Bigstock.com | Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
