So Black people telling other black people that they are "victims" are preventing them from receiving this "New Life" you speak of?
Also, could you elaborate on this "New Life?" What is it and what does a person who is living it look like? I'm just curious.
The Scriptures continually and repeatedly teach throughout the meaning of a true Gospel Faith. That faith includes repentance.
Without repentance there is no Gospel Faith.
Acts 20:18-21 (WEB)
18 When they had come to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you all the time, 19 serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears, and with trials which happened to me by the plots of the Jews; 20 how I didn’t shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks
repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 7:10 (WEB) For godly sorrow produces
repentance to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world produces death.
When one believes and repents is when God indwells you by His Spirit to give your faith commitment to Him the victory, but only as you continue in the faith.
Acts 5:32 (WEB) 32 We are His witnesses of these things; and so also is the
Holy Spirit,
whom God has given to those who obey him.
Acts 2:38 (WEB) 38 Peter said to them, “
Repent, and
be baptized,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins,
and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
After you receive the Spirit by faith, the Spirit will work with your faith to put to death the carnal desires, and so will live.
Romans 8:12-13 (WEB) 12 So then,
brothers and sisters,
we have an obligation, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but
if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
The
obligation is on the Christian, those who already believe, to
put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit so that
he may live.
We have the light of life only as we continue to follow Lord Jesus - not the other way around:
John 8:12 (WEB)
He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the
light of life.”
If you do a Bible search for the word “
repent,” you will see that repentance is an integral part of faith, and so, repentance is frequently used in place of faith in a number of Passages because repentance assumes faith is present, just as faith is commonly used without the word “repent.” True faith exists only in those who repent.
Regarding Christianity. . .
Repentance is a complete change of mind and purpose for living, from self-serving passions and lusts as part of this world in exchange for giving one’s allegiance to Lord Jesus, following Him.
Faith comes from what we learn about Lord Jesus, His payment for all our sins, the forgiveness of sin, of a new life, and of salvation and eternal life as taught from the Gospel. Faith is the full embracing of these truths to one’s self.
Faith and Repentance together, therefore, means a complete change of mind and purpose for living after learning the Gospel.
This complete change of mind and purpose for living is, therefore, demonstrated by a commitment to denying the old master of our fleshly natures as part of this world, and then to give our allegiance to Lord Jesus, following Him into a holy (sanctified) life of righteousness and love.
1 Peter 1:13-18 (WEB)
13 Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ— 14 as children of obedience, not
conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance, 15 but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; 16 because it is written, “
You shall be holy; for I am holy.” [Leviticus 11:44-45 17] If you call on him as Father,
who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear, 18 knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold,
from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers
Romans 6:19-23 (NIV)
Just as
you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21
What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been
set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ephesians 5:11-16 (WEB) 11
Have no fellowship with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even reprove them. 12 For
it is a shame even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things, when they are reproved, are revealed by the light, for everything that reveals is light. 14 Therefore he says, “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 15 Therefore watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Philippians 3:16-21 (NIV) 16
Only let us live up to what we have already attained. 17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19
Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame.
Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 (WEB) 3
For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in
sanctification and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who do not know God, 6 that no one should take advantage of and wrong a brother or sister in this matter; because
the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified. 7
For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification. 8 Therefore
he who rejects this doesn’t reject man, but God, who has also
given his Holy Spirit to you.
Hebrews 12:14-16 (WEB) 14 Follow after peace with all men, and
the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord, 15 looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it, 16 lest there be any sexually immoral person, or profane person, like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal.
Colossians 3:1-17 (WEB)
1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.
3
For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory.
5
Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 For these things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience. 7 You also once walked in those, when you lived in them; 8 but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, seeing
that you have put off the old man with his doings, 10 and
have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator, 11 where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, or free person; but Christ is all, and in all.
12
Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.
14 Above all these things,
walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord.
17 Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.
Faith, which includes repentance, is, therefore, a sanctifying of ourselves to God, and is the only acceptable faith by which God grants the free gift of eternal life (Romans 6:1-23).
Romans 6:1-23 (WEB)
1 What shall we say then?
Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2
May it never be! We who died to sin, how could we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,
so we also might walk in newness of life. 5 For
if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection; 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be in bondage to sin.
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 But
if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him; 9 knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over him! 10 For the death that he died, he died to sin one time; but the life that he lives, he lives to God. 11 Thus
consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 Also,
do not present your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but
present yourselves to God as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin will not have dominion over you.
For you are not under law, but under grace.
15
What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? May it never be! 16 Don’t you know that when you present yourselves as servants and obey someone, you are the servants of whomever you obey;
whether of sin to death, or of
obedience to righteousness?
17 But thanks be to God, that, whereas you were bondservants (slaves) of sin,
you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were delivered. 18 Being
made free from sin, you became bondservants of righteousness.
19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for
as you presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to wickedness upon wickedness, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness for sanctification.
20 For when you were servants of sin, you were free from righteousness. 21 What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed?
For the end of those things is death. 22 But now, being made free from sin and having become servants of God, you have your fruit of
sanctification and the result of eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.