18 When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”
One of the signs of the inward work of the Spirit is repentance. When someone truly turns from their sins, that is the work of the Spirit. Some people in their own strength turn temporarily from some sinful practices and then return because they get tired. They use up their own strength and fall back. That isn’t true repentance. When the Spirit is working, He is the One who changes our desires and gives us the strength to resist the sin. We must simply yield to His influence and leading. When we do that His strength reinforces us enabling us to resist what once was our way of life. I would find it almost humorous if it weren’t so tragic, that someone would claim that homosexuals cannot change, that reparative therapy is impossible. This is not based on evidence, but on an agenda. Often we pull our own thinking into what God can and cannot do. We label something impossible, when God is able to help anyone live a life that reflects His character in every way. We try to put God in our small box, but He keeps working outside our box. The Jews of Peter’s day thought the Gospel was only for Jews, or that Jews had a special place in the Gospel kingdom. But then God does the unexpected: He pours out His Spirit on the non-Jews just like He did on the Jews. He removes the distinction, the dividing line. The Lord is about removing anything that might exalt one part of His church. We all stand equal in His sight. We all get salvation by bringing nothing to Him and receiving everything from Him. Even repentance is a gift from the Spirit. It is not something we do, but something He does in us. We then respond to what He is doing and our conduct changes. Our thoughts change in response to the prompting of the Spirit. Our attitudes get altered by His work. It is all Him. We yield. That’s it.
The Arnold Journey 