Apart from complete atheists, almost everyone believes God exists. But they do not think of Him as a personal being. They think of Him more as a conceptual being, similar to man’s mind. People who think of God this way, think faith is a kind of mental concentration. They think signs coming from faith is the result of mental focus. We must completely abandon seeing God as a conceptual being and seeing faith as a mental training. We should bow before the living God. If we do not, though we can still regard miracles as coincidence and luck, we will never receive God’s continuous grace—no matter how much we call on Him.

We do not use faith to simply see signs that will disappear a moment later. We want to be led by the living God our whole lives. It is a misunderstanding to think man’s sincere deeds can impress God. If we want to experience God working with us, we must please Him. This is only possible when we obey His promises.

God is living. We should clearly show our attitude to the Living One. God examines our every action and inspects our faith in Him. The Bible teaches humans what attitude they need to meet with God. This is not taught in man’s wisdom, and this is not religious knowledge. This is God’s revealed covenant. This covenant was decided in Jesus Christ before creation. None of these eternal words can be abolished or changed.

Matthew 24:35 says, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” If a person does away with the words of this covenant, we can only conclude he wants to give up on eternal life. Therefore, Jesus said, “Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:19).

God does recognize any human method which departs from His covenant. God sent His only begotten Son to keep His covenant with mankind and had Him die on the cross. God not only fulfilled His covenant this way, but He made it eternal. Anyone who does not abide in His covenant has nothing to do with Him, whilst those who abide in His covenant become His children.

The Bible reveals all of Christ’s promises and His Gospel. These were given to Christians (who became God’s children). If Christians obey the Gospel, also known as God’s promise, they will receive much grace and power. For those who obey God’s promise, their obedience itself is their answer. If we gain faith without God’s revelation, this is superstition and mere foolishness. It is no different from idol worship. We gain faith, trust in it, and use it because it contains God’s promise. This is how we are perfectly and truly blessed in the presence of the living God.

We must believe in God precisely. If we want to believe in Him, we must believe in the One He sent―Jesus Christ. Anyone who does not believe Jesus Christ cannot know God, and God cannot recognize their faith. Man can never see or believe God by his own wisdom and knowledge. But God sent Jesus Christ to the earth so that they can decide about God and believe in Him with their reason. Jesus is a man, but the work He did was clearly God’s work. He did not seek His own glory but gave His life solely for the glory of God the Father. God was glorified only through His Son. So the person who believes Jesus is God’s Son believes in God who sent Him, and the person who does not believe Jesus does not believe in God who sent Him. This is the faith we must prepare for.

…that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him (John 5:23).

Acknowledge that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Repeat this several dozen times. Continue doing this until your sureness stands firm. Keep repeating it until you feel like you find a great treasure. When your faith stands firm, the first thing you must do is stand before Him and repent. Faith gives you the power and qualifications to repent.

You cannot enter the door of glory without repentance. You should not be ashamed of repentance. Repentance is the way to gain life. It is the great decision to return to life. Repentance does not happen like an ordinary decision. Those without faith will never repent and cannot do so. They rather complain about repenting and criticize it.

Those who love to repent mystically experience their life being saved from hell. Whoever wants to live must repent. No one can see the Lord or receive His abundant promises without repentance. Even if God shined His grace in their eyes, their hands could not reach it―as if blocked by thick glass. Repentance is the best method to accept the kingdom. It is the supreme way to belong to it. Those who perish have nothing to do with repentance. They actually see it as an inconvenience. They even reject and persecute it.

Some people are despised by their families and driven from their homes because of repentance. Others are martyred and suffer inexpressible pain because of it. Those who repent can taste joy and glory, but those who do not repent cannot be nurtured by God and do not try to do so. Without repentance, faith is without promise and life. Only repentance makes a person enter the door opened by Jesus Christ.

…and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight’” (Matt 3:2-3).

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 4:17).

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:37-39).

Does anyone want to repent? If so, they must first confess they are sinners. All mankind is under sin. Each person was born in sin. People have the desire to sin and commit it because they are sinners. Even those who keep the command not to commit adultery and abstain are sinners. Being born in the world and born in the state of forgetting God is sin. Sinners have lost God. For them, there is no God. Is anyone who is born in the world born in the state of knowing God? Therefore, everyone is a sinner. Even if it is a baby born in a Christian family—they cannot know God unless someone preaches so that they know Him.

‘Original sin’ refers to the state when mankind is eternally separated from God. It is when a person has no place for God in their lives. If anyone spends their life in a state of ignorance toward God, they will eternally perish, they cannot go through the door opened by Christ, and they will eternally suffer in the darkness of hell.

Let’s repent! This is the Gospel of God’s great grace which He promised us. Is it not obvious we are ignorant of God? Those who are ignorant of God are called “sinners.” It is therefore clear that we should confess, “I am a sinner.” If a person cannot confess this, that person is proud, he is determined to stay separated from God, and volunteers to enter the fire prepared for people who will perish.

Though you became a Christian many years ago, you must not let time fly. You must think deeply about what kind of sinner you were. Only then will you understand the value in being a Christian. Such a person is a true Christian. Though people regularly regret the wrong they do, they do not try to understand how they were saved from sin. Many people recognize what Jesus Christ did only as a doctrine. Our salvation can be experienced. Confession should come from a person’s experience. To gain this experienced faith, you must know why you are a sinner.