“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”   ~1 John 1:8-9

How to repent for your sins is simple, turn around and change the direction you’re going in. The word repent simply means turn from. We need to turn because we are literally going in the wrong direction when we choose to sin. We’re listening to the wrong voice. In other words, stop doing what you're doing, and refuse to be seduced by the devil by giving in to his temptations.

The very first thing we have to do is admit that we have sinned, and then decide to stop. Understanding that everyone has sinned might make it a little easier to admit when you are doing wrong. If we’re honest with ourselves, we all know when we’ve sinned. Whatever it is that your conscience is pinching you about, is what you need to take a look at.

For all have sinned and fall short . . .

If the wages of sin is death, we should all die; and by die, I mean eternally die—be dead forever! But at the cross that was changed. Jesus died once for all sinners. He bought our eternal lives back with His own blood.

“For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   ~Romans 6:10-11

We must simply accept that this trade happened… because it did. There is nothing we can add to this act of forgiveness and love—redemption and salvation. All He asks of us is to go and sin no more!

“When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”   ~John 8:10-11

Jesus repeats this many times in various stories in the New testament. Why would He keep telling the people He rescued and healed to go and sin no more? The answer is blatantly clear—because their sinful lifestyles were at the root of whatever their current troublesome situation was. This next verse makes this indisputably clear!

“Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, see, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”   ~John 5:14

How to cover my sins . . .

We must understand that there is nothing we can do to cover our sins or erase our past.  Getting to know the One that has the eraser is the only way. Jesus died to create a trade on the cross. He died so that we might live.

This trade that was made at the cross is the only way to cover our sins. We must take off our filthy dirt rags/sinful ways, in order to put on Christ’s robe of righteousness/perfect ways. We can’t continue to deliberately sin just because we are unwilling to make a change. All we have to do to get this robe of righteousness is take it…but we can’t put it on until we remove our old robe/die to sin. We must be willing to get changed, take off the old in order to put on the new.

“For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.”   ~Romans 6:5-7

The following Bible verse is a short story about seven women trying to cling to Jesus in name only in order to remove the consequence of their sins. They have no intentions of repenting from their evil ways or even changing out of their filthy dirty apparel. But still, they want God to take away their punishment.

“And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by your name, to take away our reproach.”   ~Isaiah 4:1

To further understand the depth of this verse we must remember that a woman in Bible prophecy is a church, these seven women talked about in Isaiah are then seven churches that want to wear their own apparel, (their filthy dirty rags rather than God’s robe of righteousness), but they want to still be referred to as Christian churches.

Isn’t this exactly what the seven last churches spoken of in Revelation is referring to? They still want to refer to themselves as Christian churches but want to continue wearing their filthy rags/teaching and believing false doctrines.

“But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”   ~Isaiah 64:6

Being a Christian is far more than just a title. It means taking on Christ’s robe of righteousness to cover our sins, and then surrendering to Him in obedience. If we refuse to submit to His words or take only a part of the Bible, we will still be wearing our own filthy rags (our own identity), and therefore will be led by our own sinful desires. If we refuse any of His words—His laws and Commandments for guidance and protection—we are like the seven women in the above verse, we are wanting His protection and blessings but we still want to go our own way and do our own thing.

If we truly want His robe of righteousness, we must change— take off our filthy dirty rags (die to our old sinful lives) and put on His identity—which means live in His ways and abide by His words, and that includes His Commandments.

“Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.”   ~Revelation 22:14

What can wash away my sins?

Just like we can’t  cover our sins, neither can we wash them away. On our own, we are in a very big sinful mess.  We are powerless to reverse our past—cover our past or wash our past away. There is but one hope for all of sinful humanity, and that is to grab hold of the redemption that Jesus offers.

Only the blood of Jesus can wash us clean. Only the cleansing power of His sacrifice can clean the sin slate and give us a do-over. The only proactive thing we can do is call to our Creator and ask Him to wash us clean… and then stop doing what we know we’re not supposed to do anymore.

How do I stop sinning?

If we truly accept that Jesus died, to not only cover our sins and wash us clean but also to empower us to do as He did.  He proved to the entire universe that the law could be kept, that the Commandments were not a burden, and that it could be done.

When we accept Christ’s gift of salvation, we also accept that we have been empowered to stop sinning. We acknowledge by our actions that He has set us free from sin. Therefore, once we start to walk out this reality in our daily lives through our new behaviour, we are considered holy, and the result of this holiness is eternal life. It’s kind of the opposite of the results, (or wages) of sin, which is eternal death.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   ~Romans 6:23

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