God's Hospital

(This is an excerpt from Ben’s recently released book The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God).[i]

"Saving faith in Christ alone is always ratified by repentance, one that is activated in a transformed soul with the empowering of the Holy Spirit. A truly saving faith is marked by repentance, which accompanies saving faith. One simply has not understood the basic message of Scripture that has not understood repentance and its place in the conversion of a human heart. When one surveys the state of today’s Western church and the depths it has plunged into its acceptance of an otherwise unholy alliance with sin, it takes the breath away. It is the result of the incremental nature of sin creeping into the life of the believer and going unconfessed, giving us the lockbox (of sin). It is a spiritual cancer that must be dealt with, and the way to deal with it is the full-throttled preaching and teaching of the repentance of saving faith.

"We go into a church and believe we are in a spiritual hospital that has the answers for our lost heart. More often than not, however, we find ourselves in a factory simply seeking metrics, doling out spiritual placebos, instead of the true medicine of the gospel of Christ, the saving faith and repentance of conversion from God’s dispensary...

"Our lives can exude the purity of a holy God. With the power of the Holy Spirit, we can again walk in holiness with him. Our pulpits must breathe again the life that comes in the preaching of repentance. Our churches can grow again in holiness, grace, and power, but it is not to be without repentance, for repentance is how we respond to our pursuing, wonderfully Holy God.

"And in that call to repentance, our Holy God demonstrates his greatest love for us, for it is in our response to this call to repentance that we are sheltered from the unbelievably horrific ultimate consequence of sin, the eternal separation from our God."

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45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it stands written that the Christ would suffer and would rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. But stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Luke 24:47–49 NET

[i] Bounds, Ben. The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God. Bloomington, IN: Westbow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan, 2017, p.162–163. Reprinted by permission.

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We can come to know Christ through confession of our sins and repentance (turning away from sin). Let me encourage you to do this by talking to God through prayer. Here is an idea of how you might do that:

"Dear God, I believe your son Jesus Christ died in my place on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day following his death. I confess my sins, all of them, to you now with a humble heart. I repent of those sins and ask you to empower me with your Holy Spirit in overcoming further sin. Amen”

If you prayed this or a similar prayer committing your life to Christ and becoming one of his followers, let me encourage you to find a good, Bible-believing church. If you live in the Weslaco/Rio Grand Valley area of Texas, let me invite you to the church I attend, Mid-Valley Assembly (www.midvalleyassembly.com).

Begin talking to God in prayer and reading the Bible daily. A good way to begin to read the Bible is to start with the Book of John in the New Testament.

Feel very free in connecting with me if you need any further help in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. You can do this via the above email or facebook page or this web page. _____________________________________________________________________________

Mercy Road Ministries was founded and now led by Ben Bounds. Ben has pastored churches across Texas for over thirty years and is an ordained minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). He holds a BA in Pastoral Ministry and Biblical Studies from Southwestern Assemblies of God College and did graduate theological studies at the BMA Theological Seminary.

Ben's first book, The Divine Chase: Responding to a Pursuing God, was released on 12.08.2017 through Westbow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. It is available in paperback and hardback through your preferred bookseller (Mardels, Barnes and Noble, etc.) and paperback, hardback as well as ebook through online book retailers (www.christianbook.com, www.cokesbury.com, www.amazon.com, www.booksamillion.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, etc.).

Ben is the host of Staying in Bounds, an on-air Bible devotional broadcast multiple times daily on KWJV 103.7 FM Weslaco, TX which can also be heard worldwide online at www.kwjvthestar.com.

Ben and his wife, Linda, together have four adult children and nine grandchildren. They live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

Ben can be contacted for preaching engagements at benbounds695@gmail.com or 903.441.3279. Ben can also be contacted via his website @ www.benbounds.com, which is also his blog and contains more information about his ministry.

Follow Ben @ https://www.facebook.com/mercyroadministries/ and this website www.benbounds.com.

©2022 by Ben Bounds. All Rights reserved.