No One Will Get Saved If You Convince Them They Have To Stop Sinning

John 6:26-29, “Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. 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.”

Most Baptist churches today are religious cults preaching another gospel that requires more than faith to be saved. In addition, they teach that you must "repent of your sins," meaning that you must first be willing to forsake the sinful bad habits in your life. If you don't want to give up your sinning, then they accuse you of not repenting and say you cannot be saved.

This is exactly what is shamefully being taught today at Bob Jones University and Pensacola Christian College; and Brigham Young University in Utah where the hellbound Mormons send their kids. Check and you will find that every pseudo-Christian cult today teaches that to get to Heaven you must repent of your sinning.

RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!!!

Always Explain What It Means To “Repent“ If You Mention It To A Lost Sinner

Mark 6:5-6 and 12, “And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching. ...And they went out, and preached that men should repent.”

It is tragic that 99% of the people who read our text passage of Scripture from Mark 6:12 will wrongly assume that to “repent” means “to turn from your sins.” However, as I have already done for you, if you examine the passage carefully we find that the issue at hand is not one's sins; but rather, “UNBELIEF” as we see in Mark 6:6. What those people in Jesus' own country where He grew up needed to get to Heaven was to repent of their UNBELIEF, not their sins. 

Not one verse in the inspired King James Bible teaches to “repent of your sins” or “turn from your sins” to get to Heaven. Wicked religious men added those words to God's inspired Word. Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Should God's saints repent of our sins? Yes, absolutely (2nd Timothy 2:19). But to be saved, someone need only repent of their unbelief (Matthew 21:32).

And yet, if you research the pseudo-Christian cults (e.g., Mormons, Roman Catholics, Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Church of Christ, et cetera), they all pervert the biblical meaning of repentance to teach that you must turn away from your sinful ways to get to Heaven. That is works, not salvation by God's grace through faith alone.

Romans 4:4, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” I love that Bible verse! If salvation has ever been merited by works at any time in human civilization, then God owed a debt to that individual, and it wasn't by grace. The Bible warns that this has never been the case. From this passage alone we KNOW that no one under the Mosaic law was ever saved by works, nor by partial faith plus works. According to Acts 10:43 remission of sins has always come only though faith in Christ.

The writer of the preceding counterfeit gospel tells the reader to “repent,” but he doesn't explain what that means. In today's wicked American culture where most churches falsely require people to be willing to forsake a lifestyle of sinning to be saved (which is reformation not repentance), it is absolutely necessary nowadays to explain what it means to “repent.”

I personally never use the word “repent” at all, simply because the Gospel of John (God's Gospel track according to John 20:31) doesn't mention the word “repent” even once. That is simply because repentance is automatically included with believing. That is, you have changed your mind from unbelief to belief when you trust Christ. Bible repentance simply means to “change your mind,” nothing more. The context of a particular Scripture passage provides the necessary supplemental information to know what we must change our mind about.

By deceptively merely requiring readers to “repent,” the reader can go either way in meaning and the questionable webpage creator knows it. Repentance means different things to different people, which is why it is so vitally important to explain what the word means if you ever use it. Like I said, I just don't mention repentance because it is not necessary.

A good illustration of repentance is flying from Chicago to Los Angeles. I can simply instruct you to fly to Los Angeles. It is not necessary for me to first tell you to leave Chicago, and then secondly go to Los Angeles. The same is true with leading someone to faith in Jesus. You can simply preach the Gospel (which means “Good News”) to a lost sinner, without first telling them to leave their unbelief. This is exactly why we find the word “believe” mentioned 85 times in the Gospel of John, but the word “repent” is not mentioned even once.

You don't repent AND believe to be saved; you repent TO believe. Repentance facilitates believing. Please do as Jesus commanded in John 5:39 to 'SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES,' because 99% of churches and religious colleges are WRONG today on Bible repentance and God's simple plan of salvation. There are not 50 different shades of the Gospel, there has alway been only one plan of salvation (Galatians 1:6-9).

If you tell lost sinners to “repent” without explaining to them what it means, you are sending them up a potentially deadly creek without a paddle. You are woefully ignoring the reality that “many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1st John 4:1b). Don't you dare ever tell someone to “repent” to be saved without explaining yourself, because 99% of Americans have been lied to by the religious cults, to think that repentance means to turn away from your sinful bad habits. By the way, the meaning of “repent” in our English dictionary is based upon the Roman Catholic understanding of the word, which is NOT the biblical Greek meaning.

Behavior modification has absolutely nothing to do with the new birth. A changed life is the “fruit” of the indwelling Holy Spirit after you get saved (Galatians 5:22-25). A change of behavior has NOTHING to do with repentance to be saved. Whatever changes God wants to see happen in your life after you get saved is His department alone, and you can be assured that He will attend to it. God is not an absent parent (Hebrews 12:6-8).

Our only part in getting saved is just to believe the Gospel (1st Corinthians 15:1-6). All that God asks is that you believe Jesus did it all for you through Calvary's cross. Nothing more is required or allowed dear sinner! The only thing that you and I contribute to our own salvation is the sin that made it necessary. Salvation is of the LORD (Jonah 2:9).

THANK YOU for reading my ministry blog. To God alone be all the praise, credit and glory.

What Is Bible Repentance To Get To Heaven?

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘? ( 𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗢𝗜𝗔)

So many today speak about “repentance” today — but few understand what it truly means.

Some think it’s about crying over sin, feeling sorry, or turning over a new leaf.

But that’s not the Bible repentance that saves.

In the context of biblical salvation, repentance is not turning from sin — it’s changing your mind toward God and His truth.

The word “repentance” comes from the Greek word μετάνοια (metanoia), which literally means “a change of mind.”

It comes from meta (to change) and nous (mind or understanding).

It’s realizing you’re a sinner who cannot save yourself — and turning from unbelief to believe the Gospel of grace.

It’s the moment you stop trusting your religion, works, or emotions, and start trusting Jesus Christ alone for your salvation.

“Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” —Acts 20:21 (KJV)

Repentance and faith are inseparable — they’re two sides of the same coin.

No one can truly believe the Gospel unless they have repented, because repentance is that change of mind that leads to faith.

When you believe the Gospel, you’ve already repented.

When you repent toward God, you’re ready to believe.

The Gospel that saves:

“...Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” —1 Corinthians 15:3b–4 (KJV)

Salvation isn’t about what you can do — it’s about what Christ already did.

It’s not about turning from sin to earn forgiveness — it’s about believing the One who paid for your sin in full.

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.” —Titus 3:5 (KJV)

Repentance = Μετάνοια (Metanoia) — A Change of Mind

• Not emotion.
• Not self-reformation.
• Not behavior adjustment.

It’s a heart-level change of thinking — from rejecting God to believing His truth.

When you truly believe the Gospel, you have repented.

When you truly repent toward God, you will believe the Gospel.

That’s how salvation by grace through faith works — it’s all of Him, none of us.

Repentance Is Included In Believing

Acts 16:27-31, “And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

QUESTION? - I have heard many preachers from different churches say that in order to be saved a person MUST repent of their sins. Is that true???

ANSWER - NO!!! It is true that you MUST REPENT. Yes in order for a person to be saved the individual has to repent. One thing a person needs to understand is that repentance and believing are one of the same coin. So, therefore, when a person trusts Christ as their only payment for their sins (i.e. believes the Gospel), that individual has repented.

TO CLARIFY what was said above The word REPENT (when it is in reference to salvation) is the Greek word MENTANOIA, which simply means A CHANGE OF MIND.

THE TRUTH... At the moment that a person TRUSTS CHRIST by placing their faith in JESUS' Death on a cross for our sins, Burial and bodily Resurrection (as the ONLY PAYMENT for their sins), that person has REPENTED; or in other words, they CHANGED THEIR MIND from what they once thought or believed it took them to get to Heaven, to believing God's way of going to Heaven.

THE CONFUSION begins when churches, preachers or missionaries place a FALSE DEFINITION (such as: “Turn from sin,” or “Be sorry for your sins,” or do XYZ to get saved. If anything more than childlike faith were required to get to Heaven, then the Apostle Paul and Silas would have said so in Acts 16:30-31, but they didn't, they just told the Roman jailor to BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

When Cain and Abel brought their offerings to the Lord, God accepted Abel's blood sacrifice, but He rejected Cain's grain sacrifice. 

God NEVER makes a person to do anything, nor places any conditions upon them, in order to get saved except to BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. That is, believe the GOOD NEWS of Christ crucified, buried and risen three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4; John chapters 19 and 20).

TO PUT IT SIMPLE... 

1. God LOVES us (John 3:16)
2. We are GUILTY SINNERS (Romans 3:19-23)
3. Burning in HELL is the eternal penalty for our sins (Revelation 20:12-15)
4. Jesus Christ DIED on a cross to pay down our massive DEBT of sin (Romans 5:6-9)
5. Jesus was BURIED and RESURRECTED three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4)
6. Simply BELIEVE (put your confidence in) these FACTS to be saved (Acts 16:30-31)

The Holy Bible plainly and clearly defines THE GOSPEL for us:

1st Corinthians 15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”

The person who BELIEVES has also REPENTED. That is, they have CHANGED THEIR MIND from unbelief to belief. You DON'T need to repent of your sin to be saved. You DON'T need to forsake the world or a lifestyle of sinning. That would be WORKS!!!

The way to be saved is to CEASE from your own labors (works), and just REST in the finished redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4:10-11, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” Don't miss that! Please don't miss that! Carefully notice that the issue here is UNBELIEF. The Bible is using the Jews who wandered in the Wilderness for 40 years as an EXAMPLE of their UNBELIEF, for which they perished in their sins and went to Hell. Hebrews 4:1-2, “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” There are millions of people in the churches today, who have heard the Gospel preached all their life, but they don't believe it.

You get saved dear friend, by ceasing from your own DEAD WORKS (Hebrews 6:1), and just BELIEVE that Jesus did it all for you through Calvary's cross. 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.

Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work.

If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from?

The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.

Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980) was a godly man and a free grace preacher. But in his sincere ignorance Dr. Rice often used the unscriptural phrase to “turn from your sin” to be saved. Consequently, many people misunderstood Brother Rice (even still today decades later). But I have studied Dr. Rice's books much more than the average person who misrepresents him. Since Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) was lifelong good ministry friends with John R. Rice, I am very familiar with their teachings.

It bothers me when Baptist churches skew (a slanted position) Dr. Rice's writings, misrepresenting what he really taught. Anyone who represents Dr. Rice as teaching that you have to turn from sins, as a separate act from believing, is slandering him! Please read what Dr. Rice actually believed and taught:

There are those hyper-dispensationalists who think that John the Baptist preached a different Gospel from Christ when he commanded repentance (Matt. 3:2). But it is the same repentance Jesus commanded in Matthew 4:17, in Luke 13:3 and 5, and the same repentance that Paul preached in Athens that God “now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30 31). Repentance is not a different plan of salvation from having faith: it is part of the same plan of salvation. Or rather repentance is simply another way of describing or looking at the plan of salvation. One who turns from sin to God has done so by trusting in Jesus Christ. A change of mind toward sin is necessarily involved in saving faith.

Everyone who genuinely repented under the preaching of John the Baptist put his trust in the Saviour John the Baptist preached, and was regenerated. There is no such thing as being “a disciple of John the Baptist” in any honest sense without being a disciple of Jesus, that is, without trusting Christ for salvation. [emphasis added]

SOURCE: Evangelist John R. Rice, “Acts: Filled With The Spirit,” pp. 251-252; Sword Of The Lord, Murfreesboro, Tennessee; ©1963

Oh dear friend, that is so beautiful. Please don't miss it! The only change of mind concerning sin that you need to have to be saved, is to ADMIT that you are one. Romans 3:19-20, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” To be saved, you just need to realize that you are a GUILTY SINNER, so that you will know what you are being saved from. As guilty sinners we all deserve to be punished by God's wrath in a burning Hell forever and ever (Revelation 20:12-15).

I have heard Missionary David W. Cloud and other false teachers, attempt to portray Dr. Rice as a proponent of Lordship Salvation, saying he taught that people must turn away from a lifestyle of sin to be saved. David Cloud even goes as far as to pitch Dr. John R. Rice against his successor Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995). I explain this issue in the preceding hyperlink. Mr. Cloud claims that Curtis Hutson leaves off repentance, thus corrupting the Gospel. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Kindly said, I am so sick and tired of Ray Comfort's damnable doctrines of devils. In all of his YouTube videos, Ray requires people to do TWO things to be saved. He first requires that people repent of their sins. He defines repentance as telling God you're sorry, and then living a LIFESTYLE OF REPENTANCE to prove the reality of your salvation. John R. Rice rightly taught that repentance and faith are simply two parts of ONE STEP of believing to be saved; whereas Ray Comfort errantly teaches that repentance and faith are TWO STEPS, which require an effort to stop living in sin to be saved.

What Ray Comfort is preaching is something entirely different than what Dr. John R. Rice taught. These are two very different plans of salvation! It is very deceptive for any Baptist church to partially quote John R. Rice, telling people that repentance means “to turn from your sins, earnestly, with all your heart,” as being something different than faith alone to be saved. In reality, in fact, that is NOT what repentance means!!!!!!! The word “repent” regarding salvation in the Bible is either the noun metanoia (a change of mind), or the verb form metanoeo (to think differently). Mark 1:15, “And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” That is, THINK DIFFERENTLY and believe the GOOD NEWS!!!

To be saved, you must think differently and believe the GOOD NEWS (i.e., Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, He was buried and physically resurrected three days later). We are saved by believing, not by repenting; but repentance makes believing possible. Repentance facilitates believing. If you didn't change your mind about whatever it is that has been preventing you from believing, then you wouldn't have come to Christ to be forgiven and saved. The only thing you need to change your mind about is whatever has been hindering you from believing. UNBELIEF is the only unpardonable sin dear reader!

Unbelief is the only thing that keeps a person from believing. To require that someone commit to turning away from living a lifestyle of sin, has absolutely nothing to do with receiving God's free gift of eternal life. I hope you see that. False teachers like John MacArthur, Steve Pettit, Marty Herron, James White, Gary Walton, Bryan Denlinger, Sam Horn, John Piper, Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron and R.C. Sproul—all unbiblically require people to forsake a lifestyle of sinning to get saved, which is heresy. Salvation is a take proposition, not a give proposition.

Jesus doesn't forgive sin, He has already paid for our sins with His precious blood. You simply receive that free gift from God by childlike faith (trust, confidence) in the record which God has given to humanity in the inspired Holy Bible. Simply BELIEVE that Christ did it for you oh sinner and you are saved!!! 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.” Thank you for reading.

Judas Repented Of Sin, But Not From Unbelief

Matthew 27:3-4, “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.”

We are hearing the false teaching in most churches today that to get to Heaven you must repent of your sin. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the Bible says  in our text passage that Judas repented of his sin. That is, Judas was sorry for the sins that he had done. Judas brought the 30 pieces of silver back to the wicked Pharisees, admitting that he had betrayed innocents blood. That is what some wicked Judas did this week to Pastor Steven Anderson, falsely accusing him of murdering his family. Police stormed the house, helicopter and all! Hell will be hot for that wicked person!

Not one verse in the inspired King James Bible teaches to repent “of your sin” to get to Heaven. Repentance in the Bible concerning salvation simply means a change of mind. It is a change of mind from unbelief to belief. I know that 100% because the Gospel of John simply teaches that the way to be saved is to BELIEVE. We find the word “believe” 88 times mentioned in John, but the word repent is not mentioned even once. That speaks volumes! It simply means that repentance is automatic, and is included with belief.

Dr. John R. Rice made this truth very clear:

There are those hyper-dispensationalists who think that John the Baptist preached a different Gospel from Christ when he commanded repentance (Matt. 3:2). But it is the same repentance Jesus commanded in Matthew 4:17, in Luke 13:3 and 5, and the same repentance that Paul preached in Athens that God “now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30 31). Repentance is not a different plan of salvation from having faith: it is part of the same plan of salvation. Or rather repentance is simply another way of describing or looking at the plan of salvation. One who turns from sin to God has done so by trusting in Jesus Christ. A change of mind toward sin is necessarily involved in saving faith.

Everyone who genuinely repented under the preaching of John the Baptist put his trust in the Saviour John the Baptist preached, and was regenerated. There is no such thing as being “a disciple of John the Baptist” in any honest sense without being a disciple of Jesus, that is, without trusting Christ for salvation. [emphasis added]

SOURCE: Evangelist John R. Rice, “Acts: Filled With The Spirit,” pp. 251-252; Sword Of The Lord, Murfreesboro, Tennessee; ©1963

Oh dear friend, that is so beautiful. The person who has saving faith has repented. Any preacher who separates repentance from faith, requiring repentance from sin as a separate step to salvation than to simply believe, is preaching another Gospel.

Pastor Jack Hyles further clarifies this important matter of repentance:

2. You can repent of something other than sin.

Matthew 7:3, "Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders." Notice that Judas repented. Now what does it mean? It means he repented about keeping the money. He had sold our Saviour for thirty pieces of silver; he changed his mind and took the silver back. A change of mind and change of direction took place, but it had nothing to do with salvation. He had made a bad deal; he regretted he had made that bad deal, and he tried to correct it.

Everybody who lives in sin eventually repents, but they do not repent of unbelief. They change their mind about sin. No one lives in sin without realizing later that it did not bring the joy, happiness, peace and contentment that it claimed to bring. I talk to people every week who are tired of their sins, unhappy in their sinful life or living a miserable, wretched life because of the results of sin. What have they done? They have changed their mind about sin, and in some cases, they even quit their sin - at least that sin which was most predominant in their lives. You can repent of sin without repenting of unbelief. Such was the case with Judas. No doubt he repented that he had done wrong. He certainly repented of the bad deal he had made. He turned around, changed his mind and brought the money back, but he did not repent of that thing from which he must repent in order to be saved, and that is unbelief. ~ Pastor Jack Hyles, 'Misunderstood Repentance: An Enemy Of Soulwinning'

The truth dear reader is that you don't have to repent of your sin to be saved. You don't have to stop one sin to be saved. You don't have to keep God's law to be saved (Romans 3:19-20). Telling someone that they must turn away from a lifestyle of sin to be saved is putting them under God's law, which is a false plan of salvation. To be saved, a man must simply acknowledge that he or she is a guilty sinner in God's sin, and BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST (Acts 16:30-31). Nothing more is required or permitted by God.

Beware of these dangerous false teachers today (which include Jeff Redlin at Pensacola Christian College, Chuck Phelps at Colonial Hills Baptist Church, Steve Pettit at Bob Jones University, Marty Herron at Faith Baptist Bible College And Theological Seminary, and John MacArthur) who preach that salvation is by grace through faith alone, but then they lie by saying that faith is not alone, it performs works, and if you don't have works you are not saved. That is a counterfeit gospel. Works has no place in God's free gift of salvation, neither before, at the time of, or thereafter!

God is not a trickster like the serpent in the Garden of Eden. The serpent promised one thing, but Eve received something very different than what she had been misled to expect. The serpent had promised Eve godlike powers, as if she would become like the God of the universe; but instead, she only become the god of her own life and destiny, and suffered the consequences of it. Satan lied to Eve! The Devil is a beautiful liar! That is what Marty Herron and Steve Pettit do, they lie to people.

They preach deceitfully that salvation is by faith alone, which is true; but then they pollute the truth into a dirty lie, by teaching that if your faith doesn't produce a changed life, with works and dedication to serve God faithfully for a lifetime, then you go to Hell forever! It is a false religion of fear and uncertainty, where you must continually strive to maintain works in your life, lest you fall away and prove to the world that you were never really saved at all. This is the demonic crap that the preach!!! (backup article). Sadly, Dr. Steve Pettit is a false prophet, an unsaved infidel, a predator in the pulpit today. Just like Judas, the Bob Jones crowd foolishly think they are going to Heaven because they have repented of their sins, but in fact that have still never wholly rested in the finished redemptive work of Jesus Christ through Calvary's cross. If you want to go to Heaven, simply BELIEVE that Jesus did it all for you.

You are a guilty sinner friend. But God loves you so much that He chose rather to die on a cross than to live without you! Jesus died in our place, paid the price for our sins with His precious blood; He was buried and resurrected bodily three days later for our justification. Whosoever (meaning anybody) that will simply put their childlike faith in Christ will be instantly, irrevocably and forever born-again. You have God's promise of it! John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

Nowhere Does The Bible Teach To “Repent Of Your Sin” To Be Saved

Mark 1:15, “And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

The word repent” here is the Greek verb, metanoeo, which means: “to think differently.” I here so many preachers embellish the word repent. They'll say things like Timothy Zacharias did at Campus Church (Pensacola Christian College). On July 14, 2021 at a Wednesday evening Bible study Pastor Zacharias said: “Repentance is a change of mind which results in a change of behavior.” I cringed in my seat in the back of the giant auditorium, beholding a sea of several thousand people being woefully deceived. Dr. Zacharias taught with authority, spewing his damnable heresy.

The next day I contacted the senior pastor of Campus Church, Jeff Redlin, letting him know about the gross doctrinal error. Sadly, Pastor Redlin 100% supported the heresy and said that is what Pensacola Christian College believes. Dear reader, these men are ungodly false teachers. Right doctrine matters! It is a big deal. Changing the Gospel even a little but renders it totally ineffective to save. Repentance affects the Gospel. There are not variations of the Gospel. The Word of God plainly defines “the gospel” (meaning “Good News,” or “Glad Tidings”) in 1st Corinthians 15:1-6 as three things:

1. Jesus died on the cross for our sins according to the Scriptures.
2. He was buried.
3. Three days later Christ physically resurrected from the dead.

That is “the gospel” (the Good News) by which anyone is saved who BELIEVES it. Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” Not one verse in the inspired King James Bible says to repent “of your sin” to be saved. Wicked men added those words to the Bible. We are simply commanded to “repent.” God intentionally chose to use the word “repent” because it is an open-ended and all-inclusive term. Anyone who says that repentance is more than a change of mind has corrupted the Gospel.

What must we think differently about to be saved? That's an easy answer—whatever it is that has been hindering you from BELIEVING the Gospel to be saved. You don't get saved by repenting, you get saved by believing. That is why in the Gospel of John we find the word “believe” mentioned 88 times, but there is no mention of the word “repent.” But no one has ever believed who didn't repent. Repentance is absolutely necessary for the new birth.

A common criticism from those who errantly teach that you must “repent and turn away from your sin” to be saved, hurled against the free grace crowd such as myself and Jack Hyles, is that we don't believe in repentance. Nothing could be further from THE TRUTH.

Here is an example of what I just said. Pastor Charles Lawson of the Temple Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee errantly preaches:

“The Bible colleges around the country will stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and give an account for removing repentance from salvation and conversion. How can you be saved if you're not willing to repent? Salvation is not believing a bunch of stuff about Christ. You can change your mind what you believe about Him. And where you said before, 'I don't believe all this,' now you say, 'I believe all this.' Does that make you born again? 'For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.'

But you see, you can get a lot of people into church with easy-believism... “1-2-3 believe after me!” You prayed the sinner's prayer. You can fill up the congregation, and then you can go brag to the brethren about what a great job God's doing through you. Of course all that 'great job what God's doing through you' is meaningless. What they really mean to say is: 'Look how wonderful I am!' That's the idea. But they took repentance out.” [emphasis added]

SOURCE: 'True Repentance' - https://youtu.be/kb26H6cRxyw?t=23m15s

Like so many ignorant preachers today, Pastor Lawson fails to understand the true Biblical meaning of the word repent. Pastor Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951) gets it 100% correct:

“Nor is the Gospel a demand that you give up the world, that you give up your sins, that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones. You may do all these things, and yet never believe the Gospel and consequently never be saved at all.”

SOURCE: Harry A. Ironside, from the sermon: 'What Is The Gospel?'

Salvation is a gift, paid for by Jesus' literal, physical, precious blood (1st Peter 1:18,19; 1st John 1:7; Hebrews 9:12; Revelation 1:5). We are saved by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS (Matthew 6:33; Romans 10:3,4; 1st Corinthians 5:21); and not our own willingness to do better (Isaiah 64:6; Ephesians 2:8,9; Titus 3:5; Romans 4:5,6,22). We don't give up our sins to get saved; we give up our sins because we are saved, and that requires time to grow in God's grace (1st Peter 2:2; Ephesians 2:10).

I love Pastor Lawson, and he says many great truths in his preaching, but it is he (and not Jack Hyles, Curtis Hutson and myself) who is wrong on repentance. Charles Lawson is guilty of corrupting the Word of God, and casting stumbling blocks before the people!!! I say that kindly but truthfully in love (Ephesians 4:15).

Kindly, Dr. Lawson is placing the burden of character transformation upon the sinner, instead of upon the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer. Pastor Lawson is errant in his view of repentance. America's Baptist churches are divided right down the middle on the meaning of repentance. Ultimately, you the reader must decide who is correct—Dr. Lawson or the Holy Bible. I ask you to let the inspired Words of God be your only guide. What saith the Scripture? John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”

Dr. Lawson says: “How can you be saved if you're not willing to repent?” In other words, he is saying that you cannot be saved unless you are willing to turn away from your sin. Pastor Lawson teaches that if you place your trust in Christ's death on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection (i.e., the Gospel) for salvation, it means nothing unless you have had such a drastic transformation in your heart toward sin that it changes your life permanently. He understands this to be repentance. This is qualification by works for salvation, not the free grace of God which comes through faith alone.

Dr. Lawson attributes the changes in a believer's life to repentance, when the Bible teaches “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” It is the indwelling Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9) that produces the “fruit” of righteousness in a believer's life (Galatians 5:22-25), and not a drastic change of heart misunderstood to be repentance. The goal of true repentance is to believe the Gospel, period, end of the road. The goal of false repentance is to live a changed life.

That is the damnable heresy taught at Pensacola Christian College (PCC) today. Pastor Tim Zacharias said on July 14, 2021 at a Wednesday night Bible study: “Repentance is a change of mind which results in a change of behavior.” No, repentance does not result in behavior modification!!! That is the Devil's lie of Calvinism, aka, Lordship Salvation. I'm tired of bad preachers lying to people, misleading them to think that if their behavior hasn't changed they never really repented and are not saved. That is the same poisonous falsehood preached at Bob Jones University (BJU) today. Satan is a beautiful liar! Satan has subtly crept into our Bible colleges and churches, corrupting the Word of God by convincing people that they must forsake lifelong sinful bad habits or else they cannot go to Heaven. You cannot show me that teaching from the inspired King James Bible!!!

Nowhere does the King James Bible teach to “repent of your sin” to be saved. Now, if you use the Devil's corrupt Bible versions, you'll find all kinds of garbage. If you don't believe me, take a look at this shocking chart...

The Bible Has Been Corrupted Just To Get A Legal Copyright!

When I showed this evil to the pastors of the Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, they berated and scolded me, forcing me out of their church. Pastor Marty Herron threw me under the bus. He was a coward and asked his sidekick Joe Hansen to do the dirty work to get rid of me. Associate pastor, Jared Baldwin, blindly followed his spiritual partner in crime, Marty Herron. None of these men had the courage to stand upon their own two feet—all complicit to wrong doctrine, a false gospel, false Bibles and ecumenical compromise. But the blood is upon their hands and heads, not mine. I TOLD THE TRUTH as a righteous man does!!! Proverbs 14:17, “He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.”

Dear reader, I am not trying to be a troublemaker. I am simply telling the truth!!! 1st Kings 18:17, “And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” Elijah wasn't trying to cause trouble, but preaching THE TRUTH always upsets people who hate THE TRUTH!!! The Apostle Paul made enemies among the churches of Galatia because he told them the unpleasant TRUTH. Galatians 4:16, “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” A cult had infiltered the churches and Paul rebuked them for it, which they did not like one bit. That is why the BJU and PCC camp are upset with me, because I called them out for preaching LIES!!!

“Men like to believe lies, but when it gets to real truth, then how few will believe the Word of God!” —Pastor Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899)

Ladies and gentlemen, not one verse in the inspired Holy Bible tells us to repent of our sin to be saved, unless you are using one of the Devil's corrupt modern Bible revisions. I encourage you to SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES as our blessed Savior told us to do (John 5:39). You simply cannot trust men to be honest! You cannot trust the Devil's fake Bibles. There's your FAKE NEWS!!!

Bible repentance is simply a change of mind from unbelief to belief. The only sin that can keep a person out of Heaven is the sin of UNBELIEF. Repentance is a change of mind unto the Gospel itself. We don't have to turn away from sinning to be saved because that would be keeping the law, which is definitely a works-based plan of salvation (Romans 3:19-20).

We are saved simply by BELIEVING. What saith the Scripture? ...

• 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.”
  
• Acts 16:30-31, “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
  
• Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”
  
• 1st Thessalonians 4:14, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

I love all those wonderful passages of Scripture! Again and again in the Bible we are taught that the way of salvation is simply to BELIEVE ON JESUS CHRIST. Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” As we just read, ALL the prophets (e.g., Moses, Elijah, Isiah, Jeremiah, Nahum, Daniel, Joel, Habakkuk, et cetera) testified that remission of sins comes only through FAITH IN THE MESSIAH!!!

Jesus DIED on the cross to pay our debt of sin. He was BURIED. Three days later (72 hours), Jesus bodily RESURRECTED from the dead for our justification. That is, our faith in Him was not in vain!!! Just as He had promised, Jesus raised up His temple after three days (Mark 14:58; John 2:19). That is the Gospel, or Good News, by which we are saved, all who BELIEVE IT!!! Nothing is mentioned in the Bible about forsaking the world, turning away from our sinful ways, following Christ as “Lord,” making full surrender, exchanging all that we are for all that Christ is, counting the cost and paying the price, running the race, living a lifestyle of repentance, or anything else to be saved; we are told only to BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED (Acts 16:31). Amen and amen!!!

Deadly false prophets like Steve Pettit, Marty Herron, John MacArthur, Tim Zacharias, Jeff Redlin, Sam Horn and others, who require more than faith to be saved are of the Devil. Jeff Redlin and his Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College require that you repent of your sin to be saved, which is a lie of the Devil. PCC falsely preaches that if your behavior doesn't change, you didn't repent and are not saved. That is Calvinism!!!

Repentance has NOTHING to do with turning away from your sin, nor behavior modification; it only has to do with you coming to God as a needy sinner to BELIEVE the Gospel to be saved. What saith the Scripture? 2nd Timothy 2:25-26, “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”

Did you see that? Repentance is NOT from sin, it is to the acknowledgment of THE TRUTH. Pastor Harry A. Ironside gets it exactly right:

“Repentance is the very opposite of meritorious experience. It is the confession that one is utterly without merit, and if he is ever saved at all it can only be through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, 'who gave himself a ransom for all.' Here is firm footing for the soul who realizes that all self-effort is but sinking sand. Christ alone is the Rock of our salvation.” —Dr. Harry Ironside; 'Except Ye Repent,' p. 36

Repentance is simply a change of mind concerning THE TRUTH that you are a guilty and hopeless sinner. Thus seeing your need you turn to Christ by faith for salvation. What saith the Scripture? Galatians 3:24-26, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” The Old Testament LAW is a measuring stick, by which when compared all men fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The LAW, having done its job, then brings us to CHRIST to be saved by grace through faith. LAW and CHRIST; or respectfully, OLD and NEW TESTAMENTS. There is God's simple plan of salvation.

“The law tells me how crooked I am. Grace comes along and straightens me out.” —Evangelist Billy Sunday (1862-1935)

Please understand that God never intended for anybody to perfectly keep the law to merit Heaven, simply because no human being has ever been able to do so, except Jesus (Hebrews 4:15). So when these false prophets (which includes the entire Bob Jones University campo today) come along teaching that your faith is not genuine unless you perform works, they are corrupting the Word of God and casting stumbling blocks before the people. They are requiring you to keep the law to prove that your faith is legitimate for salvation. In so doing they are combining LAW and CHRIST (or grace).

Pilgrim's Progress author John Bunyan (1628-1688) said it best:

“If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people.” —Evangelist John Bunyan

Amen and amen! Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) preached a wonderful sermon emphasizing this very same truth, titled: “Steps In Sanctification; Or, The Root Of All Heresy!” We've got to keep the crucified life, the risen life and the ascended life, all separate from the SAVED LIFE. Justification has nothing to do with the believer's sanctification. We've got to keep sonship completely separate from discipleship. We must keep salvation entirely separate from service.

Pastor M.R. DeHaan (1891-1965) wrote these helpful doctrinally sound words, to reinforce the Bible truths I am teaching:

“There is a vast difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ makes one a disciple. All believers are not disciples. To become a believer one accepts the invitation of the Gospel, to be a disciple one obeys the challenge to a life of dedicated service and separation. Salvation comes through the sacrifice of Christ; discipleship comes only by sacrifice of self and surrender to His call for devoted service. Salvation is free, but discipleship involves paying the price of a separated walk. Salvation can't be lost because it depends upon God's faithfulness, but discipleship can be lost because it depends upon our faithfulness.” —Pastor M.R. DeHaan, Hebrews; Zondervan Publishing House, 1959 (p. 117).

Having shared all these excellent truths with you, it should be abundantly obvious now that repentance doesn't mean to turn away from sinning to be saved. You don't need to keep the law to be saved. Nor do you need to keep the law to prove that you are saved. That is what Paul meant in Galatians 3:3, “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” Paul continues in Galatians 3:4-6, “Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Abraham believed God and it was credited (imputed) to him for faith. This is the ONLY way that anybody has ever been saved, by God's imputed righteousness.

Please don't fall for the Devil's lie that you cannot be saved unless you “repent and turn away from your sin.” The Bible simply doesn't teach that garbage! It sounds good, but it's heresy! The true Gospel always points you to Christ; a false gospel always points to you. If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from?

Keep It Simple!

A Common Misinterpretation Of Luke 13:1-5 Concerning Repentance

Luke 13:1-5, “There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

I am tired of hearing woefully ignorant preachers cite Luke 13:5 as a “proof text” to falsely teach that a person must “turn away from sin” to be saved. Folks, that is simply not true! No where does the inspired King James Bible say that we must “repent of your sin” or “turn away from your sin” to have eternal life. Please read these helpful words from one of my favorite preachers, Curtis Hutson (1934-1995):

'In Luke 13:5 Jesus said, “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” The context of this verse shows that they needed to repent or change their mind regarding punishment and sin. In this passage, Christ was talking to good people who believed that people suffered only because of their sins, and they concluded that those in Galilee whose blood Pilate mingled with sacrifices and those on whom the tower of Siloam fell were greater sinners because they died such horrible deaths. Jesus contradicts the thinking of these self-righteous people and tells them that they need to repent or change their mind and see themselves as sinners, too, or they will perish in their own self-righteousness.'

One does not have to know the Greek language to see that “repent” in this passage does not mean feeling sorry for or turning from sin.

SOURCE: Pastor Curtis Hutson, an excerpt from his helpful booklet titled: 'Repentance: What Does The Bible Teach?'

I couldn't have said it any better. Yes, bravo Dr. Hutson! This is the accurate meaning of Luke 13:1-5. So the $64,000 question then becomes: “Where do preachers get the false idea that 'repent' in this passage means to turn away from your sin?” It comes from Roman Catholicism. It comes from our English dictionary meaning of the word. But the Biblical Greek meaning is something very different. The word for “repent” in Luke 13:3 and 5 is the Greek word metanoeo, a verb which means “to think differently.” A person “repents” (i.e., they change their mind) from a wrong mindset of unbelief, to thinking differently to believe to be saved.

Sadly, we've got a bunch of dumb dumb pastors today who don't take the time to study the Bible. Instead they just listen to infidels like Pastor John MacArthur, who is one of the most dangerous teachers in the world. 2nd Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Anytime you hear a religious leader teaching to “repent of your sin” to be saved, you know that he was inspired by demons to say that, because such nonsense is not found in God's Word.

Now I have to warn you, because the rabbit hole runs deep friend. There's another reason why so many of today's pastors, Bible colleges and churches are corrupt theologically—FALSE BIBLES! Jesus Himself warned that a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit! It is impossible! Matthew 7:17-18, “Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” Amen and amen! If you don't believe me, then I plead with you to please listen to Jesus! The blessed Savior said that a corrupt tree CANNOT bring forth good fruit. Yet, we've got a bunch of stupid pastors and Bible college professors today, who think that the Devil's false Bibles are not a threat to the world. They've got a whole in their head the size of the Grand Canyon!

The Holy Bible Has Been Changed & Corrupted For Copyright!

Dear reader, things that are different are not the same! Anyone who downplays the danger of these modern Bibles is a darn fool. Buyer beware! The Devil is a beautiful liar! The Devil knows that if he can publish hundreds of different Bibles, then he can confuse and discourage everybody (especially young people) from trusting the Word of God. Isn't it something how words matter to politicians, engineers, lawyers, judges, businessmen and in every contract that someone signs, yet today's insane preachers would have us to believe that words don't matter to God. Please think about that! Words DO matter to God. Right doctrine matters!

So, getting backing to Luke 13:5, please don't allow any corrupt preacher to corrupt your knowledge of the Word of God. Jesus commanded us to “SEARCH THE SSCRIPTURES” in John 5:39a. NEVER accept anything as true until you have gone and verified it yourself! Everyone has a right to their own opinion, but no one has a right to their own facts. The truth of the matter is that you cannot show me any place in the inspired King James Bible where it says to repent “of your sins” to have eternal life.

Of course God wants us to turn away from our sinful living as saints (Romans 3:31). I am not diminishing the importance of holy living, God forbid. I am simply saying that the way you choose to live has absolutely NOTHING to do with receiving the gift of eternal life. Christ paid our debt of sin, because we couldn't. The very idea that God will not save a person, unless they first commit to clean up their life of sin is heresy! No Sir! God does not demand that you give up your sins to be saved. The only sin that can keep a person out of Heaven is unbelief. Therefore, the only thing necessary to get to Heaven is to BELIEVE. If a man believes the GOOD NEWS (GOSPEL) of the Lord Jesus Christ, all the sins in the world cannot keep that man out of Heaven, because he has been WASHED in the blood of the Lamb (1st Corinthians 6:11; 1st John 1:7; 1st Peter 1:18-19).

Jesus wasn't telling them to stop sinning in Luke 13:5 to be saved. He was simply taking the opportunity, upon hearing some bad news, to use it as a soulwinning moment. The wonderful Savior simply showed them their need for salvation. What do we do when we hear bad news? Most of us add our own bad news to the conversation, when we ought to be soul conscious like Jesus was. Upon hearing some negative news, Jesus used it as a chance to share the Gospel. Except you “repent” (change your thinking), you will go to Hell too! Simply change your thinking from unbelief to belief dear friend, and you too can KNOW that you have eternal life dwelling in you.

It Is Okay For A Christian To Repent Of Sins

2nd Timothy 2:19, “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

I heard Pastor Steven Anderson the other day saying that believers should repent of their sins, and I agree. Every child of God should change our mind about our sinful ways (2nd Timothy 2:19). This is a part of sanctification and growth in grace (1st Peter 2:2; John 17:17; 2nd Peter 3:18).

There is nothing wrong to repent of one's sinning, just so long as we don't add it as a requirement to receive God's free gift of eternal life, which is obtained by faith alone (Romans 4:4-7).

Bible repentance for salvation is simply owning up to the truth (2nd Timothy 2:25) that we are a GUILTY SINNER (Romans 3:19-20), and Jesus is the only SAVIOR (John 20:31).

I love this awesome quote from one of my favorite free grace Gospel preachers, Pastor Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951), who wrote:

“The Gospel is not a call to repentance, or to amendment of our ways, to make restitution for past sins, or to promise to do better in the future. These things are proper in their place, but they do not constitute the Gospel; for the Gospel is not good advice to be obeyed, it is good news to be believed. Do not make the mistake then of thinking that the Gospel is a call to duty or a call to reformation, a call to better your condition, to behave yourself in a more perfect way than you have been doing in the past …

Nor is the Gospel a demand that you give up the world, that you give up your sins, that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones. You may do all these things, and yet never believe the Gospel and consequently never be saved at all.”

SOURCE: Pastor Harry A. Ironside, from the tract: 'What Is The Gospel?'

By God's grace, I wrote this helpful article (backup article) which contains many helpful preacher quotes about true repentance.

Every saint of God should repent of our sins, which is proper and right. But we must never make the fatal eternal error of mixing and confusing service (Romans 12:1) with salvation (Galatians 3:26). That is, we must never combine discipleship with sonship. My favorite preacher's quote is from John Bunyan...

“If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people.” —John Bunyan (1628-1688)

John Bunyan was exposing Lordship Salvation, although that particular term hadn't been invented yet. We must never commit the unpardonable sin of mixing works with grace. Romans 4:4-5, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” I love this Scripture passage. Romans 4:4 plainly exposes the falsehood of Dr. Peter S. Ruckman (1921-2016) and his followers (e.g. William P. Grady, Bible Baptist Church in Pensacola and Robert Breaker) that people were saved by works under the Mosaic law. Clearly, that would have made salvation a matter of debt owed by God to the worker, and not of grace as the inspired Word of God teaches. You'll never be led astray dear friend if you'll “SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES” (John 5:39a).

God bless you dear reader and thank you for your continued interest in my website ministry for the precious Lord Jesus Christ. To God alone by all the praise, credit and glory.

Repentance Toward God

Acts 20:21, “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”

You can put all the faith in Christ you want, but it means nothing if you're in denial about your sins. 1st John 1:10, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” If you don't think you're a sinner, then you didn't believe the Biblical Gospel. You have religion, not salvation. The only Gospel message taught in the Bible is that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS!!! He was buried. And Jesus was RESURRECTED after three days from the dead. The entire matter of salvation deals with OUR SINS. Thus, repentance is when we come to the realization that we have sinned AGAINST GOD and we turn by faith to the Lord to be forgiven.

Notice what Joseph said to Potiphar's wicked, adulterous wife who tried to seduce him in Genesis 39:9, “There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin AGAINST GOD?” Joseph realized that if he did commit adultery, he would be sinning AGAINST GOD! In Luke 15:21, the repentant prodigal son said... “Father, I have sinned AGAINST HEAVEN, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.”

Notice what king David said in Psalm 41:4, “LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned AGAINST THEE.” Notice what the Apostle Paul taught in Acts 20:21, “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” So you see, lost sinners need to REPENT TOWARD GOD, and not away from sin. You will not find any teaching in the Bible about “turning from sin” to be saved; but rather, Mark 1:15, “repent ye, and BELIEVE THE GOSPEL”! “Believing the Gospel” is the object of repentance unto salvation. Carefully notice again in Mark 1:15 what Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Notice that Jesus DIDN'T say “repent ye, and forsake your sins.” No, rather, He said, “repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

Since the Greek word metanoia simply means “to change one's mind,” it requires supplemental information, because we don't know what to change our mind about. Whereas the English word “repent” definitely means to turn away from sins, the Greek word metanoia doesn't give us any specifics. The English word for "repent" is NEVER used in the Bible concerning getting saved.

The Word of God gives us the needed supplemental information in our text verse from Mark 1:15b, “repent ye, and BELIEVE THE GOSPEL.” Hence, repentance is unto the Gospel itself. The Gospel is what the change of mind is about. The great meaning of the word metanoia is that is applies to anything and everything that hinders a person from believing the Gospel. Whatever it is that has been hindering a sinner from believing the Gospel, the Scripture commands us to think differently toward God (Acts 20:21) and BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. The Gospel is what the change of mind is about. You never have to turn away from your sins to be saved, because that would be a work and not faith alone.

Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.

Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work.

If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from?

The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.

The Great Meaning Of “METANOIA”

A lot of people are making a big deal of repentance these days, separating it from faith, and making it an additional step to be saved. Albeit, in the Gospel of John the word “believe” is mentioned 88 times; yet the word “repent” is not mentioned even once. Repentance and faith happen simultaneously and are inseparable. One who believes has repented, and the one who repents has believed. There are not steps to salvation. You don't repent first, and then have believe second. That's not how it works.

Pastor Aiden Tozer errantly teaches: “There can be no spiritual regeneration till there has been a moral reformation.” That is a false plan of salvation leading to Hell. How can a man reform until he first gets saved and the Holy Spirit comes to live within him? It is God Who changes a sinner into a righteous person, and not the sinner himself. Repentance is NOT a change of mind which results in a change of life. Anybody who says that garbage is WRONG! A changed life has NOTHING to do with justification, which is by faith alone. After the get saved, a growth in grace process begins, which takes a lifetime.

The change in a believer's life is the "fruit" of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The Bible says "fruit" (singular), not "fruits" (plural). That is because we get all the fruit at once. You don't get love and then work on patience, and then get patience but start working on joy. No, rather, we get it all at once, as we "walk in the Spirit," simply by abiding in and heeding the inspired Word of God which sanctifies us (John 17:17). The Holy Spirit is God in us! God desires for us to obey His Spirit, in accordance with the written Holy Bible. So we have the living Word of God within us to testify, and the written Word of God without to testify. The inspired King James Bible is our benchmark, against which we should "try" (test) all things (1st John 4:1).

There are two prevalent false gospels today: Lordship Salvation and a social gospel. Lordship Salvation errantly requires a person to FORSAKE their sins to be saved. A social gospel errantly leads people to follow the teachings of Jesus, but no appeal is made to be "born again" because of the condemnation of sin. Salvation is not a magical prayer that we pray, or merely inviting Jesus into our life; Salvation is repenting towards God in faith because of the SINS we have committed. It is our faith that is COUNTED for righteousness... “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5). The wicked world teaches that self-righteous works are necessary to get to Heaven, which is why they're not going.

The blood of Jesus takes our SINS away, in response to our faith in Him... “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ...” (1st Peter 1:18-19). It is Jesus' literal blood that cleanses our sins away, “...and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1st John 1:7). What a Precious Savior!

In conclusion, not one verse in the inspired King James Bible teaches to "repent of your sin" or "turn from your sin" to be saved. You'll only find that manmade garbage in the Devil's modern corrupted revisions, like the Easy-To-Read Version (ERV). Acts 20:21 teaches :repentance toward God," not away from anything. Yes, you must turn FROM something in order to turn TO something, but in the case of turning to Jesus Christ, the only thing Biblically that we need to turn from is our UNBELIEF.

Since unbelief is the only thing that can keep us from entering into Heaven, then logically (and of necessity) that is the ONLY thing from which we must literally turn. Anyone who is trusting in having turned away from their sin to be saved, is still100% lost. Any plan of salvation, other than trusting 100% in Christ alone, is a false gospel.