The Church of God has a  set of doctrines and cardinal teachings which are preached in our services and lived by our members. What exactly do we stand for? Here is a short description of the first cardinal teaching, backed by scripture.

Repentance – A person must come to the realization they have displeased God because of their sin. Even “small” sins like this from the past become large and our guilty conscience turns into a heavy burden because we have chosen to do what we know is wrong. This is why we must repent.

What is required for true repentance? First there must be sorrow of heart. Not just because we have been caught in the act, but because we know that we have done something that displeased God. “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death…“(II Corinthians 7:10)

We must also desire to be set free from the burden of sin, and determine never to go back to our old ways.

So what is repentance? It is acknowledging that we have sinned, humbly praying to God, and asking His forgiveness. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins…” ( 1 John 1:9)

This scripture contains a promise that after we have told God we are truly sorry and asked for His forgiveness, He will forgive us! The burden of sin will be lifted and you will feel an unexplainable joy within you! This will be followed with a desire to please God in all that you do and say.  “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)

But this is just the beginning of what we believe! In our next issues, we’ll continue to summarize everything we stand for as a church.  Stay tuned!

– A Roxbury