CONCERNING REPENTANCE

…Every living soul belongs to Me, the father as well as the Son - both alike belong to Me. The soul who sins is the one who will die. Suppose there is a righteous man who does what is just and right. He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look to the idols of the house of Israel. He does not defile his neighbor's wife or lie with a woman during her period. He does not oppress anyone, but returns what he took in pledge for a loan. He does not commit robbery but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked. He does not lend at usury or take excessive interest. He withholds his hand from doing wrong and judges fairly between man and man. He follows My decrees and faithfully keeps My laws. That man is righteous and will surely live, declares the Lord.
Suppose he has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these other things (though the father has done none of them):

He eats at the mountain shrines.
He defiles his neighbor's wife.
He oppresses the poor and needy.
He commits robbery.
He does not return what he took in pledge.
He looks to the idols.
He does detestable things.
He lends at usury and takes excessive interest.
Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he will surely be put to death and his blood will be on his own head.
But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things:
He does not eat at the mountain shrines
or look to the idols of the house of Israel.
He does not defile his neighbor's wife.
He does not oppress anyone
or require a pledge for a loan.
He does not commit robbery
but gives his food to the hungry
and provides clothing for the naked.
He withholds his hand from sin
and takes no usury or excessive interest.
He keeps my laws and follows my decrees.
He will not die for his father's sin; he will surely live. But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people.
Yet you ask, 'Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?' Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all My decrees, he will surely live. The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.
But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does that is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him. Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live. Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?
But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die.
Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear, O house of Israel: Is My way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die. But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die. Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Are my ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live. (Ez. 18:4-32 NIV)
The Lord is saying to each one of His people that you stand alone. You are not saved by the Christian walk of your father or your mother. You are not saved by the Christian walk of your husband or your wife. You are saved by your righteousness alone, which comes through Jesus. If you have believed on Jesus and are following Him, you will have a righteous life. But if you have turned from Him or you have not believed on Him, you will have an unrighteous life and you will die for your sins. There are some of you who at one point did believe on Jesus; you have become a Christian but you are not following God. You are following the way of wickedness. As the scripture says, you will die because of the unfaithfulness you are guilty of and because of the sins you have committed. Yet the Lord is saying to you, "Turn and live. Turn to Me. Turn from your wickedness and live." To those of you who have been in wickedness and have returned to the Lord, He is saying, "I do not remember the wicked deeds that you have done. You are saved; you have turned to Me and you will live."
Jeremiah 4:1-4 NIV says,

'If you will return, O Israel, return to Me,' declares the Lord. 'If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, 'As surely as the Lord lives,' then the nations will be blessed by him and in him they will glory.'
This is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem [by analogy the Church]:
'Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem [the Church],or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done – burn with no one to quench it.'
The Lord is saying that it is time to repent, to examine yourself to see if you really are in the Lord. Break up your unplowed ground. Clear out those hidden sins that you have tucked away, that you haven't dealt with, sins that you may have committed in the past that have hindered your walk with the Lord -unforgiveness, bitterness, greed, covetousness, immorality - whatever your sin is, you need to break up that unplowed ground. You need to make sure that you do not sow among thorns. In the New Testament, thorns are given as an analogy for a description of the cares of the world. In Mark 4:18,19 NIV it says, "Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful." This is in the context of the word being sown in people's hearts. Some of the hearts are good, represented by the good soil, and some of the hearts are caught up with worries, wealth and other things. Here the seed was sown among thorns. In this case the thorns are the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things.
We need to stop sowing among these things. We need to stop putting our time and energy into the worries of this life. We need to stop trying to get rich and/or gaining material things or anything that hinders our walk with the Lord. Instead, we need to circumcise ourselves to the Lord…circumcise our hearts.
Many of us think that we are circumcised to the Lord by following the rules and regulations of the Old Testament or of men. We think we are circumcised to the Lord by being religious, doing religious activities, going to church every Sunday, or attending Wednesday night prayer meetings or Bible studies. Not true! The Lord sees beyond our outward actions, beyond our outward appearance and even beyond our cordialness to our brothers or sisters and to other people. What circumcision of the heart really means is sensitivity to God's leading, then acting in faith to accomplish His work. God is saying, "Circumcise your heart."
There are areas in your life that maybe only you and God know. He wants that to be taken care of. He wants that part of you to be made holy and set apart for him. He wants you to surrender yourself to Him - all areas of your life - so that He can cleanse you and set you free and fill you totally with Himself in those areas. He wants pure and holy vessels before Him. A lot of circumcising of the heart happens between you and God that others don't see. Others probably don't even know that you might have that unforgiveness towards someone or bitterness about something, but God does and He wants to deal with that. He wants you to surrender to Him from your heart, a heart of love. You may be outwardly ungraceful in terms of social character. You may be outwardly doing things that make people wonder about your Christianity. But this doesn't matter so long as your heart is circumcised to the Lord because God has told us in the scriptures that we are not to look on the outward appearance of a person but to look at their insides. Do not be deceived by what somebody might do on the outside. It's what's on the inside that counts. Things that might look strange to us may not be unbiblical at all. It may be unsociable or uncultured according to your particular culture, but it may be exactly what God would have that person do. You need to be sure that you don't write off, ignore or disregard that person because of those actions. "Circumcise your heart."
He wants our inside, our inward being, our secret places, to be opened up to Him for cleansing, for healing, and for restoration. He will do this Himself.
If the Church does not do these things, then His wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil that has been done, burn with no one to quench it. You won't be able to save yourself in the day of God's wrath, unless you have surrendered yourself to the Lord. Even now the judgment of the Lord is upon the Church and upon this nation. We have seen over the last 20 years how judgment begins at the house of God. There have been ministers that have been exposed publicly for their sin. There have been individuals that God has dealt with severely. It seems that they have been tested through fire. He is judging and bringing forth purity and gold and his true gospel in his true children. But those that are not His or those who have gone into wickedness and sin are being treated and dealt with as well. And when God's wrath breaks out, it burns like a fire. The only thing that will preserve you is having a relationship with Jesus…knowing His mercy and His grace, having received his forgiveness and being willing to repent in those areas that He is showing you to deal with. It is very important that you start breaking up your plowed ground now, that you stop sowing among these thorns, that you circumcise yourself to the Lord by circumcising your heart, not by outward activity or outward appearance. Otherwise when his wrath breaks out, many of those who have not done these things will be burned up. Scripture says that things that are built on hay, wood and stubble will be burned up. Some of you may even turn away from the Lord because you have been holding to idols and other things. When those things are gone, you won't know how to hang on to the Lord. Some of you think that you have believed on the Lord, that you have been following God but really you haven't. But if you return and turn to Him completely, surrendering yourself to the Lord, you will find that you will be preserved. All of us will go through the fire. There may be some wickedness that needs to be dealt with in all of us. But if we prepare ourselves now, as the scripture says, "He who falls on this stone (which is Jesus) will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls (the Lord falls) will be crushed." (Matt.21:44 NIV) It is much better to be broken than crushed.

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Remember that even though all of our works may be consumed on the day of His appearing, thanks be to God for His grace and mercy which may still permit ourselves to enter into His glory. (I Cor. 3:10-15)