There are those who are spiritually sorry people. Ironically, they are not sorrowful! To be a candidate for eternal life, there is a huge pre-requisite: one must be sorry for what they have done. Those who never arrive at this spiritual place are called reprobate - a sinner who can never admit to wrong-doings, and consequently never says "I'm sorry."
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"Reprobates belong to Satan. It is their own or the Devil's will which they do without remorse. They are spiritual psychopaths. Some atheists seem to be loving people. They may love others, but they detest even their Unknown god, the one that they deny exists. Even their "love" of others is feigned, because they cheer-lead for their eternal destruction. The ultimate love is caring that others never face Hell or even eternal nothingness. Everyone's hope should be that there is a Heaven, and desire that all should go. With that said, atheists don't even love their own souls but only a portion of themselves - their flesh. How then, can they love others? Ultimately, they don't.
Even most who claim to be Christians are reprobates. They indeed believe but fail to feel sorrow for their sins. All have offended God but few actually feel sorry for the offense. Christians need to do some things - to feel sorrow, repent, and trust Jesus. Most never trust Jesus because if they even repented it was without sorrow. Sorrow with if not heart-felt is counterfeit sorrow. Those who were never truly sorry for their sins are counterfeit "Christians". They are comfortable with being deceived but God has no plan for their eternal peace:
Matthew 7:23 "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."God doesn't know those who fail to feel sorry and repent. If God doesn't know them, neither does the person know oneself. God's retort is that He never knew you as His child, but deep down, the unrepentant person knows himself well! If you are adopted by God, you will know it!
What does it take to be born-again?
2 Corinthinas 7:10 "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.""Godly sorrow" is regret for sinning against God. It doesn't work thinking: Lord forgive me for what I'm about to do, but forgive me for what I have done. The former lacks sorrow; the latter must be declared in sorrow. To repent requires heart-felt regret. Most people look back, and never regret their sin, but have fond remembrance, just as Lot's wife did in fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah:
Genesis 19:26 "But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt."Lot's wife had no regrets. She looked back at all the sin which had been there, and longed for it! Because she wasn't sorry for what she had done, God turned her into a pillar of salt. It is believed that she is now part of the Dead Sea. The faithful who turned away from sin, moved on to paradise - the land of milk and honey, and into Canaanland. Lot's wife missed the promised "salvation" because she wasn't sorry that she had been living in sin.
As Paul said in the passages above, there is a step by step process in being born-again - sorrow, repentance, and salvation. This may come on in an instant or with time, but until one comes in touch with their spiritual deprivation, salvation can't come about. It doesn't have to be in a church and at an altar, but that is certainly a great placed to be saved!
Once a person is convicted, guilt ensues. That emotion of guilt emits sorrow. Satan kicks into high gear; he immediately tries to tell the sinner never to feel guilt. However, guilt must be accepted and emoted before one can repent of it. Those who say that guilt is of Satan are deceived! We are guilty and must feel guilty to have sorrow. One is not saved by skipping any of those steps!
Right now, most "Christians" are not true disciples of Christ because they've never been truly sorry. In a spiritual sense, love is having to say that you are sorry, and sorry you must be! Repentance without being sorry is lip-service to God. To access heaven above we can't skip steps. There is one Gate to Paradise and it is guarded by Cherubim. The password is "repentance" and that is done when you are and tell God that you're sorry!
What is it that for which you should be sorry? For living in sin, which caused Jesus to be crucified in your place. If you are reprobate, then Christ was crucified for nothing, as far as you are concerned. Without sorrow, people crucify Jesus again and again. It is our own "self" which is to be a living sacrifice because Jesus has already done that once and for all!
Hebrews 10:10 "... we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."Whereas the priest offered sacrifices for the sins of the people each year, Jesus cleaned us from sin (sanctified us), with sacrificing Himself one time for everybody. We must have sorrow enough to repent when we think of Jesus on the cross in our place. It wasn't just a man who died that day; the truth is that God our Creator and loving Father chose to die in our place! That is grace. That is divine love. In order to trust God, we must have enough faith to say, "God, I wronged you, and beg for forgiveness." We should never be too prideful to beg God. Begging is an outward sign of true sorrow. A fleeting thought doesn't demonstrate much need for repentance. Like Paul, I too am a chief sinner, and so are you! We must feel sorry for that.
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