Beware Of Dangerous Heresies About Repentance

And let me say boldly that you DON'T have to “repent of your sins” or “turn from your sins” to be saved. Yes, you do need to repent (Greek metanoeo: to think differently) to BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. That is what Mark 1:15 says: “And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” What must you think differently about to be saved? That is an easy answer: Whatever it is that is hindering you from BELIEVING. Often it is one's love of willful sinning (evil), John 3:20 says, that keeps a lost sinner from coming to the light of the truth of the Gospel to be saved.

John 3:20-21, 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 in verse 21 that the Bible doesn't say: “But he that turns from his sin” comes to the light. No, it reads: “But he that doeth truth cometh to the light.” So repentance then simply means acknowledging THE TRUTH (c.f. 2nd Timothy 2:25) that you are a guilty sinner in the sight of a holy God, so that you will BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST to be saved. That's it.

The promise of eternal life comes with God's free gift of forgiveness of sins, and all you need to do is take it by faith. Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty! Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith. Doubts are normal and okay to have, just so long as you BELIEVE. How much faith do you need to be saved? Just enough! You need just enough faith to call upon the name of the Lord (Romans 10:13).

In fact, according to the Gospel of John you don't even need to call, you can just BELIEVE in your soul. According to Romans 10:14, we “call” because we already “believe.” We are saved the moment that we believe. Romans 10:13-14, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

Some unlearned ignorant Bible students on social media claim that Romans chapter 10 only applies to the future physical restoration of the nation of Israel, and that these Scriptures do not apply to eternal salvation; but I think that is preposterous! It is clear from Reading Romans 10:3-4 that this entire chapter is indeed about getting born-again, that is, obtaining the imputed righteousness of God which is by faith alone in Jesus Christ (c.f., Philippians 3:9).

Repentance is not a separate event from faith, although they are not the same thing. Here is the best quote that I've found on repentance, by Dr. Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951):

“Which comes first, repentance or faith? In Scripture we read, 'Repent ye, and believe the gospel.' Yet we find true believers exhorted to 'repent, and do the first works.' So intimately are the two related that you cannot have one without the other. The man who believes God repents; the repentant soul puts his trust in the Lord when the Gospel is revealed to him. Theologians may wrangle over this, but the fact is, no man repents until the Holy Spirit produces repentance in his soul through the truth. No man believes the Gospel and rests in it for his own salvation until he has judged himself as a needy sinner before God. And this is repentance.” (Except Ye Repent, p. 16)

The only thing that we need to repent from to be saved is UNBELIEF. Do we have to realize our sinful condition to be saved? Of course, yes! But there is not one verse in the entire Bible which requires a person to forsake sin to be saved. Nor does the Bible give anyone God's permission to commit sin just because they are saved (Romans 3:31). Every time Jesus forgave someone and healed them, it was only AFTERWARDS that He said... “Go and sin no more.” John 5:14, "Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee."

Repentance simply means “a change of mind.” Believers change our minds every day about all kinds of things, including the sins in our life. Repenting of sins throughout one's Christian life is solely a matter of DISCIPLESHIP, not SALVATION. It is a matter of growing in the Lord's grace (1st Peter 2:2), as we yield to the Holy Spirit's leading in obedience to the Holy Scriptures (2nd Corinthians 10:5).

Jesus said that too in John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” That is, believe on Jesus! That is all you need to do to be saved. Of course, from reading all of the Gospel of John, specifically chapters 19 and 20, we know that believing on Jesus must include believing the facts of the Gospel, which is that: Jesus DIED on a cross to pay for our sins, He was BURIED, and three days later Jesus miraculously RESURRECTED from the dead for the justification of our faith in Him (c.f., 1st Corinthians 15:1-4).

But wicked preachers feel compelled to read into the Bible what it does not say, embellishing the word repent to mean “to turn away from your sinful ways” to get to Heaven, as an additional step to be saved than simply believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.