The Necessity Of Repentance And Continuing In Faith

The Apostle Paul was planning a third visit to the Corinthians. In his second letter he warns them of his fear he would find much sin in their midst when he arrived. He was concerned that he may have to grieve over many of them who had not repented. (Repent - “To change the mind, or the course of conduct, on account of regret or dissatisfaction”. Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary 1913 + 1828 )

2 Corinthians 12: ISV Paul tells us:

20I am afraid that I may come and somehow find you not as I want to find you,(quarreling, jealous, etc.wm) and that you may find me not as you want to find me.(having to rebuke, etc.wm) Perhaps there will be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly conduct. 21I am afraid that when I come my God may again humble me before you 
(place Paul in an uncomfortable position.wm) and

·         that I may have to grieve over many who formerly lived in sin and have not repented of their impurity, sexual immorality, and promiscuity that they once practiced. (likely repented at one time, but have gone back to sinning.wm)

Paul continues on in chapter 13:

1This will be the third time I am coming to you. “Every accusation must be verified by two or three witnesses.” 

·         2I have already warned those who sinned previously and all the rest.

·         Although I am absent now, I am warning them as I did on my second visit:

·         If I come back, I will not spare you, 3since you want proof that the Messiah is speaking through me.

·         He is not weak in dealing with you but is making his power felt among you.

·         4Though he was crucified in weakness, he lives by God’s power. We are weak with him, but by God’s power we will live for you.

5Keep examining yourselves to see whether you are continuing in the faith. Test yourselves! You know, don’t you, that Jesus the Messiah lives in you? Could it be that you are failing the test?

Do we believe that Paul was serious in verse 5? Did the Holy Spirit not write it? Who can read this and not be sobered by it? Only a foolish person would explain it away. We should do what we are told to do by God. 

Romans 8: ISV Paul defines who God’s Spirit lives in:

9You, however, are not under the control of the human nature but under the control of the Spirit, since God’s Spirit lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of the Messiah, he does not belong to him. 10But if the Messiah is in you, your bodies are dead due to sin, but the spirit is alive due to righteousness.

Ephesians 5: ISV Paul tells us:

3Do not let sexual sin, impurity of any kind, or greed even be mentioned among you, as is proper for saints. 4Obscene, flippant, or vulgar talk is totally inappropriate. Instead, let there be thanksgiving.5For you know very well that no immoral or impure person, or anyone who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has an inheritance in the kingdom of the Messiah and of God.