Jesus proclaimed at the first coming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!” (Mt 4:17).
Why was it necessary for people to repent with the coming of the kingdom of heaven? Jesus asked people to repent because no one could have received the kingdom of heaven unless that person repented. Will God grant the answers to the prayer of a sinner who merely prays without repenting? Luke 18:10-13 illustrates the prayers of the Pharisee and the tax collectors in the temple. “God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evil doers, adulterer—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get,” prayed the Pharisee. The tax collector, on the other hand, stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Jesus, who served and had God within him, approved of the tax collector.
Why was it necessary for people to repent with the coming of the kingdom of heaven? Jesus asked people to repent because no one could have received the kingdom of heaven unless that person repented. Will God grant the answers to the prayer of a sinner who merely prays without repenting? Luke 18:10-13 illustrates the prayers of the Pharisee and the tax collectors in the temple. “God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evil doers, adulterer—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get,” prayed the Pharisee. The tax collector, on the other hand, stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Jesus, who served and had God within him, approved of the tax collector.
True repentance was the sincerity of lowering himself rather than exalting himself. Just because one blesses and prays does not mean that he will receive what he asks for. God grants what people pray for only when they are qualified for receiving it. Instead of being joyful over the blessings and the prayers one may receive from foolish people, he first must examine himself through the unchanging word of God (Jn 10:35), repent of his wrongdoings, be born again, and make an effort to be qualified for receiving the answers from their prayers to God.
Source: Healing all nations
To enter the kingdom of heaven, we are also to be qualified as much as God asks us. What do we have to do to satisfy that qualification?
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