Repentance.

     Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Here He stayed and many people came to Him. They said, "Though John never performed a miraculous sign, all that John said about this man was true." And in that place many believed in Jesus.
     -John 10:40-42 (NIV)

     The conflict between Jesus and the religious teachers of His day is a theme that runs throughout the four gospels. These individuals opposed Christ at every turn. They found fault with all He taught, and all He did. They were offended by the miracles that He performed, and by the love that He showed to others.
     These teachers, the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, claimed to know and serve God, yet when God in the flesh lived and taught among them, they could not see Him. They rejected Him time and time again, all the while claiming to know and serve God.
     The downfall of these individuals was their pride. They placed great emphasis on externals, how they appeared to others. They loved the praises of men rather than the praise of God. They interpreted the scriptures the way they wanted to, worshiped the way they wanted to, in effect they were serving a God of their own invention. Jesus said that faith was impossible to them due to their pride (John 5:44). Their unwillingness to yield obedience to the word of God kept them from knowing the truth (John 7:16).
     God is opposed to the proud (James 4:6). Pride shuts us out from the kingdom of God. This pride is the attitude of the heart that says I am in control. I will do whatever I want to no matter if it is right or not. I do not care if my actions hurt God or anyone else. This pride places us in the position of God. We are on the throne of our lives instead of Him. In short, we have become gods. The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God, refusing to submit to Him (Romans 8:7). Pride is the dividing wall that keeps us from knowing God, from experiencing intimate fellowship with Him. A proud person may be a religious person like the Pharisees, going to church, looking good on the outside, thinking that they know and love God. In reality they are steeped in unbelief, faith being impossible to them.
     In Greek, the original language of the New Testament, a picture is painted of God lining up in battle formation against the proud in heart. Make no mistake about it! To be in rebellion against God is a very serious matter. God stands opposed to such people. The proud cannot expect grace, mercy, or forgiveness. God is lined up against them in battle formation, waiting for the day of His wrath. Right now He is patient, not willing that any should perish, but desiring that all would come to REPENTANCE (2 Peter 3:9).
     God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Submit yourselves, then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.(James 4:7-10 NIV). The first thing that God requires of each one of us is to repent. This is a theme found throughout the scriptures, Old Testament and New. The message of the old prophets was one of repentance. John the Baptist came preaching a message of repentance. Jesus began to preach saying "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand!". Repentance was the message of the Apostles as they began to testify of the risen Christ. There is no getting around it, repentance and saving faith are linked. One cannot exist without the other.
     The scriptures show us on one hand that repentance is a gift of God, and I believe that it is true, just as I also believe that faith is a gift as well. I believe that through the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, one is brought to a place where he sees himself as God sees him. He sees the depth and ugliness of his sin, and can see that God's justice demands his punishment. God has been offended by acts of rebellion. Acts that have flowed out of a heart that is set against Him. The Holy spirit is able to bring this home to a person's heart with powerful conviction. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord" (Psalm 33:3-5 NIV). When David commited adultery with Bathsheba, he covered it up as best he could for a long time. All the while he was racked with a guilty concience. This psalm shows that it was in fact God who was convicting him of his sin, trying to get him to a place of confessing it and forsaking it, so that he could receive mercy.
     David was brought to the place where he did grieve over his sin. He recognized that his sin had offended God. (Psalm 51:4). He made no excuses (vs 4), and cast himself on the mercy of God. In verse 17 he states that what God desires is a broken and contrite heart. The Hebrew word for broken speaks of being ground up, pulverized. Absolutely crushed when we come to the knowledge of how our sin looks in the eyes of a holy God. Grieved at the thought of how we have offended Him. Grieved to the point of turning from our sin, never wanting to commit it again. Repentance is a total change of direction. My old pastor when I was a child used the example of an about face. A complete turning around. A broken, contrite heart no longer wants to live in rebellion to God. A Godly sorrow leads to a total change (2Cor 7:10)
     While God grants us repentance as a gift, it is also true that we must exercise it. God will not repent for us, just as He does not believe for us. It is up to us to repent, to turn from sin to serving God. To turn from rebellion to submission. To turn from unbelief to belief, from pride to humility.  God gives grace to the humble. While salvation is a gift of God, unmerited by anything that we can do ourselves, it is only to those who with a broken heart humbly confess and forsake sin, that God offers His mercy. To request forgiveness, while remaining impenitent, still holding on to our sin, is nothing but selfishness. We may be concerned about our future, may be afraid of God's wrath, but yet still desire to be in control of our lives. This choice still leaves us dead in sin, rebels against god Himself. Those who have been moved by a Godly sorrow find peace and new life in God. Their hearts have been purified by faith in Christ.
     John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Christ. The message he proclaimed was one of repentance. He told the crowds to bear the fruit of repentance. If there was no good fruit produced, destruction was the inevitable consequence. When Jesus returned to this region, where John had been baptizing, we see that people believed in Him there. Unlike the stubborn Pharisees who held on to their sin, these individuals had heard the message of John the Baptist, repented of their sin, and when they encountered Christ, they placed their faith in Him.
     The love of God for fallen humanity was shown to the world by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as He went to the cross and died for our sin. He has done this that all may be set free from sin. forgiven, and set free from slavery to sin, free to live as God intends us to live. Free to serve Him instead of living for ourselves. The offer is given to all who will repent and trust in Christ.