The Gospel Of Repentance

Paul the Apostle is describing what happens when one engages in spiritual warfare. The verses that discuss this matter is Ephesians 6:12-18. The key word here wrestle comes from the Greek word pale. Pale (pronounced pal-lay) comes from another word Palaestra which was a Greek school to train wrestlers. The objective of the wrestler was to subdue his opponent by pinning his shoulders to the ground.  So now we see why Paul used the illustration of wrestling when dealing with evil spirits - it was so his audience, the Ephesians could relate to his message. How are we to wrestle? The answer is we are to wrestle in the Spirit through prayer. Once we put on all the armor of God, the Bible says, "Pray at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding on behalf of all the saints" (Eph 6:18) - Amplified Version.  The McCabe part about our spiritual conflict is that we are battl...

It is admittedly strange to think of using the word repent when relating to God. For us, repenting has to do with changing one's mind regarding sin - forsaking it and running to the Lord. Obviously, God does not repent in the same way we must repent; that is from sin.  We only hear of God repenting in the Old Testament, not the New. The word repent in Hebrew is the word naham  which means to comfort, to relent.  The word repent appears 40 times and the word comfort appears 65 times.  In Genesis 6:6 we read that God repented (as it says in the KJV) that He made man on the earth and that it grieved the Lord at His heart. Now, that seems like an odd thing for the Lord to say right? Why would God regret that he made man when He knew what man would do before He created him? Scholars say that the writer is describing God in what is called the anthropopathic mode. What that means is that human emotions and characteristics are being attached to God. It helps ...