Matthew 21:32, “For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.”
Please notice in our text Bible verse that the Bible doesn't say they didn't repent from their sins; but rather, they didn't repent “THAT YE MIGHT BELIEVE HIM”! There is not one verse in the Bible that says to “repent of your sins” or to “turn from your sins” to be saved.
The following is brilliant Bible exegesis by Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995). This is an excerpt from Dr. Hutson's booklet titled, 'Repentance: What Does The Bible Say?'
We suppose there are many faulty ideas about repentance, but we will deal here with the more popular ones. Perhaps the most popular false idea is that repentance is turning from sin.
We have heard some well-known preachers say, “If you want to be saved, repent of your sins, turn from your sins.” If turning from your sins means to stop sinning, then people can only be saved if they stop sinning. And it is unlikely that anyone has ever been saved, since we don't know anyone who has ever stopped sinning.
I recently asked a large congregation if there was anyone present who had not sinned in the last week to raise his hand, and not a single hand was lifted. I don't know of anyone who lives a single day without sinning. Now to be sure, you may not commit murder, adultery, or you may not rob a bank, but you sin nonetheless. Romans 14:23 says, “For whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” That simply means that if we do anything without a conviction of God's approval, then it is sinful. And I suppose everyone is guilty of this every day of his life.
James 4:17 says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
When I was a small boy, I recall hearing an old preacher pray, “Lord, forgive us of the sins of omission as well as the sins of commission.” There is such a thing as a sin of omission. The Bible says to leave undone something we know is good is a sin. And who hasn't sinned in this respect?
The book of I John is written to believers. And I John 1:10 says, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” The pronoun “we” in this verse refers to Christians, believers. For any believer to claim that he has not sinned is to make God a liar.
Several years ago I read a book by a professor at a fundamental university. Under the chapter on salvation, he said, “Quit your sinning, and God will give you a new heart.” He presented repentance as turning from sin. I wrote this dear brother and expressed my concern, knowing that such teaching frustrates the unbeliever and makes him think that salvation is unattainable since he cannot live a sinless life. This professor wrote back that he had repented, that he had turned from his sins. When I wrote to ask if he had sinned after he was saved, he had to honestly answer the question and admit that he had. I explained that if he had sinned after he was saved, then he had not turned from his sins; he had only turned from part of them, that is, the ones he had not committed since he had been saved. He then agreed to change the statement in his book.
If repentance means turning from sin, and turning from sin means to stop sinning, then a person must live a sinless life in order to be saved. And if that is the case, then nobody could ever be saved, because there are no perfect people.
You don't get better to get saved; you get saved to get better. You can't get better until you do get saved. In reality, one can begin living better only after he is saved. When the individual trusts Christ as Saviour, he receives a new nature. Second Peter 1:4 says, “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.” With this new nature come new desires and new power to make the desires a reality.
We read in Philippians 2:13, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” It is the presence of God in the believer that gives him both the desire and power to live a better life. And no man has the indwelling Christ in the person of the Holy Spirit until after he is saved.
The Christian life is not an imitation of the Christ life; it is Christ living His life over again in us as we yield ourselves to Him. That is what Paul meant in Galatians 2:20: “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
Several years ago, after I finished preaching a Sunday morning service, several people trusted Christ as Saviour, including a lady and her five children. I noticed a man sitting on the same pew who did not respond. After the service, I spoke to him, while many of the members of the church were shaking hands with the lady, her children, and others who had trusted Christ that morning.
“Sir,” I said, “is this your wife and children?”
“Yes,” he replied.
I said, “Isn't it wonderful that they have trusted Christ as Saviour!”
“Yes,” he replied.
Then I asked, “Have you trusted Christ as your Saviour?”
He dropped his head and said, “I'm afraid I haven't.”
“May I ask why you haven't trusted Christ as Saviour?”
“Well,” he said, “to be honest with you, I'm afraid I can't live it.”
I suspected that this man had an idea that in order to be saved, he must promise God that he would never sin again, or he thought that repenting was turning from sin. So I pressed the issue. “What do you mean, you can't live it?”
“Well,” he said, “I know that I will probably sin again.”
I said, “Sir if getting saved is promising Jesus you will never sin again, then I would never get saved, because I know I cannot live a sinless life.” I explained that to be saved one simply had to trust Jesus as Saviour. I opened the Bible to John 3:36 and read, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” Then pointing to the verse, I asked, “Does the verse say 'He that believeth on the Son and lives it has everlasting life'?”
“Oh, no,” he replied.
“Then what does the verse say?”
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.”
“Then must one believe on the Son and live it in order to be saved? Or must one simply believe on the Son, as the Bible says, to have everlasting life?”
“Well,” he said, “I suppose that one must do what the Bible says - believe on the Son.”
“Then will you trust Jesus Christ right now as your Saviour?”
With a smile on his face, he answered, “I certainly will.” In a moment he joined his wife and children as the church members came by and shook hands, rejoicing with them in their decision to trust Christ as Saviour.
A few weeks later I received a call from a pastor a few miles out of Atlanta, Georgia. He said that a man, his wife, and five children had joined the church for baptism and told him that they were saved at Forrest Hills Baptist Church in Decatur Georgia. “Dr. Hutson,” he said, “I thought you would like to know about it.”
Of course I was happy to hear they had united with the church near where they lived. That family went on to become faithful workers in the church. They even bought their own bus and began a bus ministry, bringing scores of children and adults in to hear the Gospel.
I think there are many who would like to be saved but have been presented the faulty idea that repentance is turning from sin and therefore they are convinced that they cannot be saved. Oh, if we would only make salvation plain and explain to men that we are not saved by doing anything; rather we are saved by trusting in what Jesus has already done. He died two thousand years ago for our sins. He fully paid the sin debt, and the Bible says, “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Now don't misunderstand me. We do not want to treat sin lightly, but then, we must not demand of an unbeliever that which is impossible for him to perform, and we must not make unbelievers feel that salvation is a hopeless, unattainable thing.
A second faulty idea is that repentance is sorrow for sin. The Bible says in II Corinthians 7:10, “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of....” Though godly sorrow may bring about repentance, it is not the same as repentance.
I'm afraid we have been guilty of building doctrines off our experience rather than the Bible. We must remember that the Bible is the principle, not man's experience.
We have heard well-meaning preachers tell of their experience of salvation and describe their weeping and sorrow and how miserable and low-down they felt before they were saved. In doing so, they suggest to the unbeliever that he must feel a certain amount of sorrow before he can be saved. If that is the case, then how much sorrow must a man feel and exactly how much must he weep and moan before God will save him? This kind of teaching suggests to us the false idea that God is basically unwilling to save sinners, and unless one softens the heart of God by his tears, then God will never accept him and grant forgiveness for sin.
The truth is, God is more willing and ready to save than we unbelievers are to simply trust Him to do it. As a matter of fact, God has done and is doing all He can to save men. Two thousand years ago He placed all our sins on His Son Jesus Christ and then punished Jesus in our place to pay the sin debt we owe so that when we die, we won't have to pay it. That is exactly what the Bible means in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” In the matter of salvation, no amount of weeping or sorrow will coax God into doing something that He has not already done.
Remember when Jesus was on the cross, He cried, “It is finished!” (John 19:30), which means that the price for our salvation was paid in full. Nothing can be added to it and nothing can be taken from it. We don't need to weep, beg, or plead for God to do something He has already done. What we do is accept Him, trust Him.
The problem is not that God is adamant and unapproachable but that man will not respond.
The great evangelist D. L. Moody insisted that the inquirer was not to seek sorrow but the Saviour. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross and His shed blood is sufficient for the forgiveness of sins. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”
Notice that forgiveness of sins is through His blood. It is not the death of Christ-plus sorrow; the death of Christ-plus tears; the death of Christ-plus mourning; or even the death of Christ-plus pleading. No, no, no! It is the death of Christ-period. The Word of God makes it clear that salvation is based entirely upon the death of Christ and the believer's faith or trust in Him. Acts 16:31 plainly says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Believe. Not believe and weep, not believe and pray, not believe and mourn, not believe and feel sorrow for your sins, but believe, only believe.
I am glad when I see someone troubled over his sins, but we must be very careful in presenting the plan of salvation not to insist that a person have a certain degree of sorrow before he can be saved. That is not repentance, and such a requirement for salvation is not found in the Bible.
A third faulty idea about repentance is that it is reformation. Nearly all the religions of the world teach the idea that man must do something or be something in order to be saved. Some say you must join a particular church. If you don't belong to their particular group, then you cannot be saved. Others teach you must be baptized in water that the water actually washes away sin. Others teach you must be baptized in a certain way and by a certain preacher. Still others teach you must behave in a certain manner. They will often say, “If you don't straighten up, you are going to Hell!” Others teach that you must make certain resolutions or promises in order to be saved, and if you don't live up to those resolutions, then you are lost. If we could only understand the clear plan of salvation, it would surely help to clear up a lot of confusion.
Salvation is a gift and there is nothing we can do or be in order to earn it. All you can do with a gift is receive it. John 1:12 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
My beloved predecessor Dr. John R. Rice, used to say, “If you go to Hell, you pay your own way; but you go to Heaven on a free pass.” He was certainly right. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Salvation is a gift.
Reformation is good in its place, but when you make reformation repentance and a prerequisite for salvation, then it is wicked and evil. Salvation is of God, not of man. John 1:13 says, “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” The expression, “not of blood,” simply means that salvation is not inherited through the bloodline. No one is saved because his mother or father is a Christian. “…nor of the will of the flesh” means that there is nothing the flesh can do to earn salvation, including reformation. “…nor of the will of man” means there is nothing man can do to save himself. “…but of God” means that nothing of man enters into salvation.
If that be true, then man's behavior-good or bad-has nothing to do with obtaining salvation. Titus 3:5 says, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.…” Ephesians 2:8, 9 tells us, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” It is impossible to mix grace and works. Salvation is either by grace or works; it cannot be a combination of the two.
Notice the words of Romans 11:6, “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” Reformation as an instrument of salvation is absolutely futile, and repentance is not reformation.
Reformation is an effort on the part of the individual to establish his own righteousness, and the Bible clearly teaches that we are not saved by our own righteousness but by the imputed righteousness of God. Look at Romans 10:1-4:
“Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
If we could reform and establish our own righteousness, that would not be sufficient. Says Isaiah 64:6 regarding our righteousnesses, “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags….” The best we can do is like filthy rags in the sight of a holy God. The only righteousness God accepts is His own, which is imputed to us the moment we trust Christ as Saviour.
What a blessed promise is Romans 4:5, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
Repentance is not reformation.
No one will ever go to Hell who has put his trust in Jesus Christ, but many will end up in torment who have trusted their own righteousness and reformation. Matthew 7:22, 23 says:
“Many will say to me in that day Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
The people referred to in these verses are trusting their own works, their own righteousness, for salvation, when they ought to be trusting Jesus Christ completely.
A fourth faulty idea about repentance is that it is penance. Dr. Harry Ironside said:
“Penance is not repentance. Penance is the effort in some way to atone for wrong done. This man can never do, nor does God, in His Word, lay it down as a condition for salvation that one first seek to make up to either God or his fellows for evil committed.... On the contrary, the call was to repent, but between repentance and doing penance there is a vast difference.”
Penance is a sacrament of the Roman Catholic Church involving the confession of sin and submission to penalties imposed, followed by absolution by the priest.
There is a penalty for sin, but God has only one such penalty and that is death. Ezekiel 18:4 reads, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death!” And James 1:15 tells us, “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
God's penalty for sin is death, and this death is described in the Bible as the second death, the lake of fire - Revelation 20:14 says, “Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” No amount of penance will pay for our sins.
The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ paid for our sins two thousand years ago. I Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.... “ The word “once” here does not mean once upon a time but once for all. The payment for sin was made once for all two thousand years ago when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. The Bible states in I Peter 2:24, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree....” God imposed the penalty for our sins before Adam and Eve committed the first sin in the garden. In Genesis 2:17 He said, “....in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” And the penalty imposed by God before the fall was paid in full by Jesus Christ on the cross two thousand years ago. All that's left for us to do is accept what Jesus has done and trust Him completely for salvation.
Oh, why must we complicate the matter and confuse unbelievers as to how to be saved! “What must I do to be saved?” asked the Philippian jailor in Acts 16:30, and Paul replied in verse 31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
Repentance is not penance.
SOURCE: Pastor Curtis Hutson, an excerpt from the booklet titled: 'Repentance: What Does The Bible Say?'There you have it. To summarize, repentance is:
- NOT turning from sins
- NOT sorrow for sins
- NOT reformation from sins
- NOT penance for sins
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