Repentance!
In Greek, the word 'repentance' means 'right about turn.' This was the first message declared boldly and with authority by John the Baptist, who lived during the time of Jesus. The same message was given by the Lord JESUS CHRIST on the day he started his earthly ministry.Father of Abraham, whose name is Terah, was an idolater. He made idols and sold them for his livelihood. But, Abraham was not an idolater. Because, Abraham knew God, the creator of heaven and earth and repented from the sin of idolatry.
Abraham is called the Father of faith. Because he was chosen by God to lead a life of faith, not in his home town, but in a foreign land. He was called by God to become a father of a new nation, called Israel.
Israelite, the descendant of Abraham, became idolaters over a period of time after becoming a nation. They broke the covenant (ten commandments) of God before they receive it from the hand of the LORD.
Thus, we conclude that every heathen or unbeliever is a sinner, because they sin against God by not obeying his commandments in one way or the other. That is why we need to repent from our past sinful lives to God for our salvation.
As sinners we face the devil with our backs toward God, because we get more pleasure in obeying Satan than God. By hearing the word of God and knowing the result of sin, we repent and turn our back to the devil and our face towards God.First, we look straight ahead; then we turn our backs and face the other way. This is called repentance. But in many cases, it is only half-repentance or two-thirds repentance. Men want both masters. Whey they are in trouble, they want God, otherwise they want to serve the devil. Repentance is not repentance unless it is full and complete.
