 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
THE
BIBLE
Can we trust a book written 2000 years ago?
EYEWITNESS
Did the writers of the New Testament get their picture of Jesus right?
GOD
- MAN
Is Jesus really God?
RESURRECTION
Did Jesus really rise from the dead?
RELIGIONS
With so many religions, why Christianity?
SUFFERING
If there is a God, why is there so much suffering?
TRINITY
Understanding the Trinity.
SCIENCE
The complementary nature of Science & Christianity.
FORGIVENESS
What it is and why it matters?
GUIDANCE
How does God guide?
REPENTANCE
What it is and why you can't get to heaven without it.
BORN
AGAIN
What does it mean to be converted and born again?
SAVING
FAITH
The kind of faith that will get you to heaven
ASSURANCE
Can I know for sure that I am going to heaven?
TRUTH
What is truth and does it matter?
MORALITY
Does it matter how we live? A Christian view of morality.
THE
CHURCH
God's vision for his family, the Church. A call to the churches of the
new millennium.
PURPOSE
How
can I find a great purpose for living?
IDENTITY
Who am I; Finding my true identity as a human being and as a child of
God.
SELF-ESTEEM
How
can I feel good about my self? The Christian basis for proper sel-esteem.
LIFE AFTER DEATHChristianity's Hope & Challenge.
THE CROSS
Why did Jesus Die? What the Bible says about the Cross.
Grace
The importance of grace in the New Testament.
 |
Foreword
It sounds almost legalistic, and certainly intolerant, to say you can't get to heaven unless you do something. What about all that teaching about the love of God, and the finished work of Christ, and salvation not coming from doing good? What about "let go and let God"? And here's a book to say, in its very title, "Repentance... you can't get to heaven without it".
It's not very fashionable. The whole climate of the western world in the late twentieth century is tinged by the view that my views are as good as your views, and his or her views are not inferior to mine. That's why we have such strong reactions to racism and sexism, and colonisation.
There's nothing unchristian in your, my and their views being of equal worth. The Bible says they are too, and they all need to be measured against God's. Then, they all fall short, and become equal indeed. Three noughts are nought. That's when, on seeing it, we are called to repent.
This little book tells us what's involved. Not sorry, but turning. Not explanations, but a shift. "The essence of repentance," says Dick Tripp on page 11, "is turning to God". To abandon my views in the face of God's views, and to live in the light of such a choice, with a wish to lose all the internal battles it will bring - this is repentance.
And I shouldn't be able to get to heaven without it. Because if I did, I would be an alien in a place of fellowship, and heaven would not then be heaven for me at all, and likely not for anyone else. So, I am called to repent - to take on God's views, and live in the light of them - so he may make me a citizen of his empire, now and in the heaven to come.
But then - Dick Tripp's book goes into the detail. May it throw light on the subject for many.
Ken J Edgecombe
MA (Hons), Dip Ed Stud, Dip Tchg
National Director, Scripture Union in New Zealand
 |
Foreword
What is Repentance and why you can't get to heaven without it
Repentance may involve restitution
Repentance is not something we can do unaided
