Mark 1:14-15, “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
This passage of Scripture is often cited by the proponents of Lordship Salvation, who errantly claim that faith is not enough to be saved. They say in addition that a person must be willing to commit to “turn from their sins,” as a prerequisite to receiving God's free gift of eternal life. Nowhere in the Holy Bible are we taught that we must forsake our sinful ways to be saved. I hear that shameful junk theology preached on Unshackled, a popular radio program produced by the Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago. It is another gospel!
Here is a helpful quote from evangelist and author, Michael P. Bowen, from his excellent book titled: “I NEVER KNEW YOU!” . . .
In Mark 1:15, Jesus said, “...The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” That “repent” is translated as “change your mind” about Jesus being the Messiah, to trust upon Him alone, not upon the law of Moses or by any combination of faith plus good works. A very common mistake made by bible scholars today is to apply the English definition of repent, which is completely different from the Greek definition. The English definition means to turn from sins, to feel remorse or sorrow for sins, etc., whereas the Greek definition simply means to have a change of mind from one thing to a different thing. In context, Christ is saying to trust Him rather than to trust in self efforts or discipleship because these things, as wonderful as they are, will cancel out His grace according to Galatians 5:2, which states, “Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.”
In context, Paul equates circumcision with “keeping the law” which erroneously caused people to assume they could earn their way into heaven by doing good works and avoiding sin. You can trust Christ with all of your might and do your best to turn from you sins and still end up in the lake of fire. That is shocking! You can do your best to trust that Jesus died for you, that He rose from the dead, and try your best to live a good, holy life and “still” end up dying in your sins because you have not placed your trust “alone” (apart from turning from your sins) in what He did for you. The sad thing about adding “self efforts” such as turning from your sins to Christ’s plan of “trust only” is that, while it sounds right, it sounds good, and it feels right, it is not the gospel message that Christ has so plainly given to us in His bible. Jesus said in John 3:16 that “whosoever believeth in Him” would be saved. He did not say “whosoever believeth” and turn from your sins. He did not say believe and be willing to turn from your sins. He did not say believe and follow Him in obedience “in order to” have everlasting life, nor did He ever imply such things when He spoke of salvation.The Greek word for “repent” in Mark 1:15 in the King James Bible is metanoeo, which means, “to think differently.” This is the verb form of the word. The noun form is metanoia (“a change of mind”). Repentance is a simple change of mind. It DOESN'T mean to “change your hearts and lives,” which is exactly what the corrupt Easy-To-Read Version (ERV) says!!! . . .
KING JAMES BIBLE (KJB) — Mark 1:15, “And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” [emphasis added]
EASY-TO-READ VERSION (ERV) — Mark 1:15, “He said, “The right time is now here. God’s kingdom is very near. Change your hearts and lives, and believe the Good News!” [emphasis added]WICKEDNESS!!! That is wrong, wrong, wrong! Repentance is “a change of mind,” not “a change of heart and life.” You cannot show me anywhere in the Bible that says to “turn from sin” or “repent from sin” to be saved. Acts 20:21 speaks of “repentance toward God,” not from sin. We are saved by BELIEVING, not repenting. Yes, repentance is necessary for salvation, but to “repent” simply means to change your mind so that you will believe the Gospel. You don't have to change your own heart and life, as a requirement to be saved. That would constitute “works.” Rather, it is the indwelling Holy Spirit that comes into a person at the time of salvation that changes one's heart and life, over time as they grow in grace, by nurturing on the milk of the Word (1st Peter 2:2).
The Bible warns men in 2nd Peter 3:16-17 about tampering with the Word of God if they are not qualified, not knowing what they are doing, lacking the proper skills for “rightly dividing the Word of truth” (2nd Timothy 2:15). Therefore, they commit “the err of the wicked” (2nd Peter 3:17). Every foolish pastor today who uses, tolerates and supports the Alexandrian Bible revisions (i.e., all the modern Bible versions) will give account to God for gross theological incompetence one day, and receive no rewards for their counterproductive labors, if they make it to Heaven at all. This is a very serious matter folks!
As I have warned you before from the Holy Scriptures, so warn I you again (all you corrupt independent Baptist pastors, perverse Bob Jones University professors, puppet Pensacola Christian College puppets, non-denominational, et cetera), “beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness” (2nd Peter 3:17b). Sadly, I have found that often church congregations control the pastor. They hire a slackdog ecumenical pastor from the get-go, expecting apostasy from the very beginning, and that's what they get. We've got a bunch of sissy-britches, pantywaist, Caspar Milquetoast, neo-evangelical yuppie type pastors today, who stand for nothing, roll over for anything, and haven't a clue as to what is wrong with the modern Bible revisions! God help us to weed out these parasites and spray them with the inspired Word of God!
Proverbs 12:17, “He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.” I absolutely love that Bible verse. He that SPEAKETH TRUTH sheweth forth righteousness!!! We've got a bunch of unrighteous preachers today, speaking lies from the pulpit. Anyone who says that the King James Bible is “not inspired” is a false prophet! Anyone who says that you must be willing to “turn from your sins” to be saved is a false prophet! Anyone who says that there is “more than one English Bible” is a false prophet! God's Words are exact. There are not paraphrases and different “versions” that best fit your perverse lifestyle! God wrote His Word and gave it to mankind—we either obey God's Word, or we change it, pervert it and disobey it! I choose to obey the King James Bible! You can have all the Devil's Bibles that have been tampered by pseudo-scholars!
Repentance in the Bible is a simple change of mind. The object of repenting is believing, which tells us what we need to change our mind about to be saved. Repentance is thinking differently about whatever has been hindering you from coming to Christ to be saved. John 3:20, “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” Carefully notice that the Bible doesn't say: “he that turns from his sins” comes to the light; but rather, it says: “HE THAT DOETH TRUTH” cometh to the light!
And again we read in 2nd Timothy 2:25, “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;” Please notice again that repentance is NOT FROM SINS, but it is “TO THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE TRUTH.” Boy I love that!!! The man who repents toward God (Acts 20:21) has changed his mind, acknowledging THE TRUTH that he is a needy sinner, and is then saved by believing THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL!!! It is that simple dear friend.
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