2nd Corinthians 5:14-17, “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
A man on Facebook has been debating with me concerning repentance. I don't like to debate, but I will go far enough to try to open the eyes of someone. When I am convinced that they are subverted of them self and I'm not getting through to them with the truth, I am done. We ought not waste our time arguing with naysayers who are already indoctrinated with their own ideas.
The man keeps saying that salvation is by grace without works, but emphasizes the point that when you repent from unbelief to be saved, God gives you a new heart that leads to a change of behavior. This was my biblical response to him...
I agree with most of what you said, but if you are implying in any way that the crap Pensacola Christian College teaches today is biblical, you are woefully mistaken. PCC teaches in their official Campus Church foundation's class that, quote: “Repentance is a change of mind resulting in a change of behavior.” That is damnable heresy and a counterfeit gospel!
I fully agree with Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold about Lordship Salvation. ...“Lordship Salvation is the unsupportable and unbiblical belief that the performance of good works, the promise of good works, or the evidence of good works, must accompany faith in Christ to establish or provide evidence that such faith has resulted in eternal life.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, “Jesus Versus John MacArthur”That is 100% biblical. Getting saved does not change a person one bit. The only thing that we receive at the time of salvation is God's gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and He alone begins to renovate that individual saint, which is sanctification. But if that believer is not attending a good church, still hangs around worldly friends, and does not wean on the sincere milk of the Word, they will languish and not grow in grace. They will remain carnal, so that the world may never know that they have become a Christian at all.
What I told this man is the truth of God's Word. Just because you get saved doesn't guarantee that your life will change for the better. Being born again doesn't assure that your behavior will automatically improve. The second part of The Great Commission is to mentor new believers by indoctrinating them with the teachings of Christ.
I am all for numbers when getting people saved, that is, soulwinning. Someone has rightly said: “God may not be interested in numbers, but He sure ain't interested in empty pews!” In the biblical parable of the lord's son who was getting married, the lord said to his servants that he wanted his “house full.” Luke 14:23, “And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” If all soulwinning churches do is brag about all the number of people that they led to Jesus Christ, but they fail to follow up to mentor those converts as the Bible commands, those new babes in Christ will remain carnal; they will be stunted in their spiritual growth.
Getting saved does NOT change anything. It does not change your heart, desires nor behavior! You just get the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and then He begins to work to renovate that individual, but as Pastor Jack Hyles teaches in his book titled, 'Salvation Is More Than Being Saved,' in chapter three, 'Conversion And Salvation'...
Redemption is a work of God the Son. Regeneration is the work of God the Holy Spirit. Justification is the work of God the Father as He declares the sinner righteous in the Son. Conversion then becomes the work of the church as we change the use and purpose of a life. [emphasis added] SOURCE
So, you see, there is nothing taught in the inspired King James Bible that says someone's heart changes at the time of salvation. You just get the Holy Spirit and He begins to tech and guide you as a child of God. The “new creature” mentioned in 2nd Corinthians 5:17 is the Holy Spirit united with your human spirit, so that now you are a child of God. You have been born anew by the Spirit of God into His heavenly family, now able to discern spiritual things that the unsaved man cannot understand (1st Corinthians 2:14-16).
BEWARE of false prophets who subtly try to convince you that repentance is not a work, but it does result in a change of heart that will produce a change of behavior. It is just another subtle backdoor form of Lordship Salvation. Pastor Jack Hyles preached a helpful sermon in 1989 on this topic called, 'Your Salvation Did Not Change You A Bit.' I encourage you to listen to it. Getting saved does not instantly change your wicked and deceitful heart (Jeremiah 17:9), it just means that you now have the blessed indwelling Holy Spirit who will change your heart as you grow in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (2nd Peter 3:18).
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