Reasons Why “Turn From Sin” To Be Saved Is A Lie

Acts 16:27-33, “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. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.”

Here are some reasons why “repent of your sin” to be saved is a lie of the Devil:

1. Jesus came to pay for our sins with His blood through Calvary's cross, not demand that we first reform (turn from our sins) as a prerequisite to be saved.
2. No one has ever turned away from their sins, because even the best Christian still sins (Romans 7:14-25). The unbiblical idea that lesser sinners are somehow more righteous in God's sight than greater sinners is utter heresy.
3. 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?
4. The only thing that makes the most holy saint any more righteous than the vilest criminal upon the earth, is the precious blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses our sins away by faith alone.
5. The phrase "repent of sin" or "turn from sins" is nowhere found in the inspired King James Bible. That phrase can be found in many of the Devil's corrupt Bible versions [e.g., Mark 1:15 and Hebrews 6:1 in the Easy-To-Read Version (ERV)].
6. The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.
7. 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.
8. Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty!
9. The Greek noun for the English word "repent" is metanoia, which means: "A change of mind." The Greek form of repent is metanoeo, which means: "to think differently." This word does not tell us what to change our mind about, which the Lord did on purpose. God intentionally chose to use an open-ended, all-inclusive word, so that a person must change their mind about whatever is hindering them from BELIEVING the Gospel to be saved.
10. We are saved by believing, not by repenting. This is clearly evidenced by the fact that God's Gospel tract, which is the Gospel of John (John 20:31, never once mentions the word "repent." But we do find the word "believe" mentioned 88 times! That is simply because repentance is included in believing.

Beware Of Wolf In The Pulpit: Bishop T.D. Jakes

Galatians 1:6-9, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”

Pastor Jenkins has been caught between grace and works, no doubt from hobnobbing with the Devil's neo-evangelical crowd who are destroying America's churches. It makes me sick seeing Dr. Jenkins promote and honor false prophet T.D. Jakes, who preaches another gospel. In the preceding heretical article by Pastor T.D. Jakes tells the reader to pray this prayer to get to Heaven:

Lord Jesus,

I ask you to come into my life, to be my Lord and Savior. I believe You died for

my sins and rose victorious over death. I ask You to forgive me of all my sins. I

turn from my sin today, only to follow Jesus Christ all the days of my life. Lord, I

give you all of my pain, all of my hurts, all of my fears, and all of my infirmities.

Today, I receive total and complete healing in my life. Because of the shed Blood

of Jesus Christ, from this day forward, I am a new creation in Christ Jesus.

Thank you Lord!

SOURCE: T.D. Jakes, 'The Most Important Decision Of Your Life'

That is blatant HERESY!!! Good night, T.D. Jakes didn't leave anything out! Why not include cleaning the kitchen sink while you're at it? I challenge you to show me anywhere in the inspired King James Bible where to get to Heaven, you must:

1. Pray a prayer
2. Ask Jesus to come into your life
3. Ask Jesus to be your Lord
4. Ask Jesus to forgive your sins
5. Turn from your sins
6. Follow Christ all the days of your life
7. Tell Jesus that you are a new creation

Dear friend, you may do all those things and never be saved at all. You don't need to “ask” Jesus to forgive your sins, because He has already paid for everyone's sins with his blood (Romans 5:6-9). You don't need to invite Christ into your life. You don't need to ask Him to be the “Lord” of your life. You don't have to turn from your sins to be saved, which would be WORKS (Jonah 3:10).

The Gospel of John is God's Gospel tract according to John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” In the Gospel of John we find the word “BELIEVE” mentioned 88 times, but there is no mention of turning, repenting, following, surrendering, confessing, persevering or inviting to get to Heaven. 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.”

Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) gave a helpful illustration in one of his sermons about buttoning a dress shirt. Dr. Hutson said that repentance is like buttoning a shirt, if you get the first button wrong, then all the other buttons will be wrong too! You simply cannot trust the theology of a man who is wrong on repentance and God's plan of salvation. What saddens me is that T.D. Jakes has a strong influence upon millions of people worldwide. Pastor Jakes has given Bible studies for some large groups. Tragically, he is preaching an accursed counterfeit plan of salvation.

I do not approve of the ministries of Bishop T.D. Jakes or his buddy Pastor John K. Jenkins Sr.! I cannot bid those ungodly men Godspeed (2nd John 1:11). How can I when they are perverting the Gospel of free grace? Those deceived men need to read Michael P. Bowen's helpful book defending the Gospel: “I NEVER KNEW YOU.” What we believe matters. What preachers teach people matters! RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!!! I am being faithful to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 1:3b).

Nothing is said in Paul's Gospel (which Galatians 1:12 says Paul received directly from Jesus Himself, and not from any man) about inviting Christ into your life, or following Him as your Lord, or turning away from sinful bad habits, or asking Him to do anything. We are taught in the Scriptures to simply BELIEVE THE GOOOD NEWS!!!

When the Apostle Peter preached the Gospel on the Day of Pentecost, the Bible says that 3,000 souls simply believed and were immediately and forever saved. Acts 2:41, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” Those 3,000 people gladly received the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen and were saved, and then they got water baptized afterwards as a public profession of their faith. Peter didn't tell them to do any of the unbiblical things that T.D. jakes requires, nor did Peter tell them to "be willing to turn away the way you've been living your life." Oh, how preachers need to get back to the Gospel.

One of my favorite Scriptures passages is found in Galatians 3:1-2, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” I love that... THE HEARING OF FAITH! Dear reader, that is how you get saved. You hear the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ being preached, and you simply put your faith in that GOOD NEWS!!!

The Gospel means: “GOOD NEWS”!!! It is the GOOD NEWS that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, who died on a cross to pay our debt of sin, and that Jesus was buried, and then He physically resurrected from the dead three days later. If you know that you are a guilty sinner in God's sight (Romans 3:19-23; 1st John 1:8-10), and your only hope for Heaven is the GOOD NEWS of Christ crucified, buried and risen (1st Corinthians 15:1-4), then you are saved dear friend. We are saved by THE HEARING OF FAITH. That is, by placing your faith in the Gospel which you have heard. What Pastor John K. Jenkins and Bishop T.D. Jakes are preaching is of the Devil. Satan is a beautiful liar! The Devil's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born-again.

I love what Michael P. Bowen write in his helpful book: “I NEVER KNEW YOU”...

The gospel message is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we believe that Jesus died for us and came back to life three days later, He knows it — He knows all of your thoughts — and He knows the very instant that you believe His gospel message. The instant you believe His message, Jesus saves you. Time and time again we see in the bible that when people heard this message, they “believed.” When they believed, they were saved that very same instant. They did not pray prayers of salvation asking Jesus into their hearts. They did not commit their lives to the Lordship of Christ. They did not determine to follow Him all the days of their lives in obedience to His Lordship or to the practice of discipleship. They simply believed on Christ alone as their savior. 

It doesn’t matter how successful a ministry is, or how beautiful and satisfying their particular plan of salvation may be. If what they say about salvation does not match with what Christ said about salvation, their plan is counterfeit and falls under the label of an “accursed message.” Galatians 1:8-9 says, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” 

If you were to have asked Paul how to be saved, he would have told you the same thing he told the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:31: “...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...” And if you were to ask Jesus Christ how to be saved, He would tell you the same thing that He told Nicodemus 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.” Jesus said “believe.”

SOURCE: Michael P. Bowen, “I Never Knew You,” pp. 58-59

Amen and amen! The preceding particular quote is regarding the counterfeit plan of salvation of Pastor Rick Warren, which Michael Bowen rightly exposes with the Bible as being false. The great need of the hour in America is DOCTRINALLY SOUND preaching preachers, done in a spirit of love! I am so sick of dead churches. Bishop T.D. Jakes has much zeal, which makes him an influential preacher, but unfortunately his zeal is NOT according to Bible knowledge...

Romans 10:2-4, “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.”

Sadly, T.D. Jakes is WRONG on God's simple plan of salvation. Jakes has embellished and added so many additional requirements to the Gospel, that no one could ever receive the new birth that way. What did Jesus say? John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” Why do these deadly neo-evangelicals pastors (like Jenkins and Jakes) keep telling us to do a bunch of things that the Bible doesn't teach? The reason is THE LOVE OF MONEY (1st Timothy 6:10-12). These sinister ministers of unrighteousness (2nd Corinthians 11:13-15) are afraid to preach a free grace Gospel, that differs from what 95% of mainstream evangelical infidel churches are preaching today, lest they be rejected and put outside the gate with Jesus.

Dr. Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) gets Bible repentance for salvation 100% correct...

Pastor Curtis Hutson: I Hate The Repent Of Sins HERESY!

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

(Pastor Curtis Hutson, 1975)

Please remember Jesus' warning in Matthew 7:13-14 that only a “few” people are going to Heaven, but “many” are on the highway to Hell, fire and brimstone. In verse15 Jesus tells us why, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Jesus blamed false prophets for leading many people into the Lake of Fire forever!!! With hundreds of millions of people worldwide now trusting in faith in Christ PLUS turning away from sins, sacraments, forsaking past sinful ways, following Christ as “Lord,” inviting Jesus into your life, running the race, counting the cost and paying the price, carrying your cross, persevering in holiness unto the end, living a lifestyle of repentance and a bunch of other theological garbage that rotten preachers keep telling us—it is not difficult to clearly understand why only a “few” people are going to Heaven. The $64,000 question dear reader is: Have you been deceived?

You must decide who is right. You must choose to either follow Pastor John K. Jenkins Sr., who says in addition to faith you must, "be willing to turn away from the way you've been living your life," to get to Heaven; Or, you will choose to believe what the Bible teaches, which is that salvation is by faith alone in Jesus Christ. Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

You must decide who is right. You must choose to either follow Bishop T.D. Jakes, who says in addition to faith you must:

1. Pray a prayer
2. Ask Jesus to come into your life
3. Ask Jesus to be your Lord
4. Ask Jesus to forgive your sins
5. Turn from your sins
6. Follow Christ all the days of your life
7. Tell Jesus that you are a new creation

Or, will you choose to believe the inspired King James Bible, which says in 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 don't see anything about giving up the old sinful life, do you? I don't see anything about making Jesus the Lord of your life, do you? I don't see anything about following Christ all the days of your life, do you? Nope!

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. 

RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!!!

Somebody's got to care and tell the truth! T.D. Jakes is helping the world go to Hell to burn forever with his counterfeit plan of salvation. Where's the free grace Gospel? Truth is only hate to those who hate THE TRUTH! God pity the preacher that the world don't hate! Amen! Respectfully, I am very disappointed in Bishop T.D. Jakes. Dear reader, eternity is a very long time to be wrong on the Gospel. Please don't be a fool, SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES. John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”

The Fool Hath Said In His Heart, Not His Mind

Psalms  14:1, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.  They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.”

Psalms 53:1, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.  Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.”

I discovered a wonderful sermon recently by one of my favorite preachers, Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) which he preached on August 10, 1975 at the Forest Hills Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia. (Sadly, that church today has gone apostate, now a hardcore den of hellbound Calvinists.) Pastor Hutson took over the Sword of the Lord publishers in 1980 in Tennessee, when Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980) went home to glory in Heaven. The sermon that I mentioned from 1975 is titled: “What Must I Do To Be Saved?”

In that sermon Brother Hutson quotes Pastor Lee Roberson (1909-2007), which gave me the idea for this blog article. Pastor Roberson explained Psalms  14:1, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.  They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.” He said that there is a reason why the Bible said “heart” instead of “mind.” The ashiest denies the existence of God in his HEART, but in his mind he cannot escape the knowledge of God. What saith the Scripture? ...

Psalms 19:1-3, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.”

Romans 1:20, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

So we learn that nature itself proves the existence of God. That is what the Bible says. Nature is the universal language, like music. These languages transcend all barriers of ethnicity, national border, gender, age, religion and dialect. The sun, moon, stars, planets and the universe around us declare loudly and clearly that there is a God, and He is a very good God. The Lord is not to blame for man's insatiable greed, lust, hate, evil and warmongering. The heavens declare the goodness of God.

Romans 1:20-21 teaches that every human being knows God as a child. It is mainly when they reach that dreaded age of 13, the year when teenage rebellion first rears its ugly head in a youth's life, that their foolish heart is darkened. It is no coincidence that heavy metal rock music bands revere the number 13, which in numerology is the number of death and rebellion. This is why suicide, gore, sexual immorality, disrespecting parents, blood, Satanism, death and everything unholy saturates the rock music industry (especially heavy metal).

Case in point, check out this MEGADETH album cover, on the album which lead singer and guitarist Dave Mustaine named: “TH1RT3EN” (carefully notice how they include the numbers “ 13” in the word “Thirteen”)...

Satanic MEGADETH Band Album Cover

You need to understand that the music industry is all about money, lawyers and contracts. It is commonly purported that the entire music industry is overshadowed and controlled by Satanists. It is an ugly business, as Dave Mustaine fully knows, who was sued by his own bandmates! So also was Tom Scholtz of the classic rock band Boston sued by some of his bandmates. The Beatles' and their lawyers were fighting over money. The same is true of The Eagles band. That is sad. The love of money has destroyed more families, bands, churches, et cetera probably than anything else.

There's just something about money, that once you have it, it has you! Prosperity, fame and wealth have ruined a hundred times more pastors than poverty, hardships and afflictions ever did. That is what is wrong with the ungodly pastors and leadership at Pensacola Christian College, they are all rich snobs. Pastor Jeff Redlin gets paid a disgusting 6-digit annual salary at PCC's Campus Church, which is multiple times what half of American workers are making per year. The Bible warns about the love of money (1st Timothy 6:10-11). PCC doesn't care about individual people, they only care about their cult system, and that the money keeps flowing in. SHAME on PCC and their carnally-minded pastors!

This is why America is going to Hell. PCC wants to sing, coddle and educate the Devil back to Hell, while faithful preachers like me do the dirty work of contending for the Christian faith (Titus 1:9-14, Jude 1:3; Ephesians 5:11). PCC are selfish neo-evangelicals who refuse to stand against anything. One of the worst and most damaging consequential sins of all sins is indifference, which PCC is guilty of big time!

The fool denies God's existence in his HEART, but cannot deny God in the factual evidence he has seen, heard and perceived in his MIND; contrariwise, the PCC cult worships God with their MIND with formalized religion, but they are far away from Him in their HEART. Matthew 15:8, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” Something is VERY wrong at Pensacola Christian College. The presence of the Holy Spirit is not felt there, because their leaders don't genuinely walk with God. Thank you for reading.

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.

Rest In The Lord

Psalms:37:7, “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”

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.”

The inspired Word of God tells all men to REST IN THE LORD. That is how a person gets saved, they CEASE from their own WORKS, and they just REST in Jesus, BELIEVING that He did it all for us with His precious blood. 1st Peter 1;18-19, “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, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” I love something that Pastor Bob Gray Sr. said:

“Jesus does not forgive sin! Jesus paid for the price of sin with His death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus does not forgive sin for He paid for sin Himself. He forgives sinners by paying for their sins!” —Pastor Bob Gray Sr.

Jesus needed to pay the right PRICE in the right PLACE. That right price was the Savior's precious BLOOD (Acts 20:28), and the place is the heavenly MERCY SEAT in the heavenly HOLY PLACE (Hebrews 9:12; 22-24; 12:24):

Acts 20:28, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”

Hebrews 9:12, “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.”

Please understand that you DON'T need to surrender your life to Jesus as “Lord” (Master) to get to Heaven. There is a popular damnable heresy nowadays in many churches, which errantly teaches that faith is not enough to be saved. In addition, proponents of the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation say that there is a “second thing” that you must do to be saved, which is to “repent and turn away from your evil ways.” They say you must renounce and forsake your sinful bad habits, and then continue to live a lifestyle of repentance until you die to be saved.

Case in point, watch the following helpful video which exposes John MacArthur's counterfeit plan of salvation...

John MacArthur says “It's Hard to Get to Heaven”

You don't make Jesus “Lord,” HE IS LORD!!! Romans 14:9, “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.” The “dead” here refer to those in Hell who died in their sins (John 8:24). ...

Philippines 2:9-11, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

You don't get to Heaven by confessing that Jesus is the “Lord,” you get to Heaven by receiving Him as your personal Savior. John 1:12, “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:” You take Him as your Savior, not your Lord to be saved. Anybody who teaches differently is a liar, and they are contradicting the Gospel of John, which is God's Gospel tract (John 20:31). Pastor Jack Hyles beautifully refutes the heresy of Lordship Salvation. It's not what you DO, it's what He DID. It's not DO, it's DONE!!! The old account was settled long ago. Jesus paid for it, all I can do is trust Him. You trust Him! It's not the DO-GOODERS that get to Heaven, it's the DO-TRUSTERS!!! Have you trusted Him as your Savior? Is your name written in Heaven?

I heard a fool from Pensacola Christian College (PCC) try to convince me that Lordship Salvation is Biblical, by citing the following passage of Scripture. 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.” But just because Jesus is the Lord, doesn't mean that He requires you to pick up your cross to follow Him, serve Him faithfully and forsake your sinful bad habits as a prerequisite to saving faith, because those things are all WORKS.

Jonah 3:8-10, “But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.”

God saw THEIR WORKS, that they TURNED FROM THEIR EVIL WAY. They didn't get saved, they simply humbled themselves before God to stave off imminent destruction upon Nineveh. That is what Judas did. Judas “repented himself.” That is, he was remorseful for what he had done to betray his Lord, as one of Jesus' very apostles. Judas felt penitent sorrow. Judas reformed, even returning the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and Jewish elders who had wickedly paid him to betray Jesus...

Matthew 27:3-5, “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. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”

You see dear reader, you cannot get to Heaven by feeling sorrow for your sins (penitence), trying to make amends for your sins (penance), and by turning away from your sins (reformation). Bible repentance is changing your mind toward God, acknowledging THE TRUTH that you are a needy sinner, so that you BELIEVE the Gospel and are saved. Repentance is NOT a second step, or a separate act, from believing to be saved. Repentance is included in believing. That is why although we find the word “believe” mentioned 88 times in the Gospel of John, the word “ repent” does not appear even once. Repentance is automatic, so that you don't and shouldn't even mention repentance when witnessing to someone, lest you confuse them. If God didn't mention repentance in His Gospel tract (the Gospel of John), then why should why? Think about that.

If you want further Scriptural evidence, consider Acts 16:30-31. I love this classic Scripture passage! 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.” The Philippian jailor in Rome heard and saw the great earthquake, beholding the power of God. He wanted to know how to get saved, so he directly asked Paul and Silas how to do to get to Heaven. Paul and Silas simply said: BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

They didn't tell the Roman jailor to do a “second thing” like Ray Comfort and Ken Ham do! Ladies and gentleman, there is no SECOND THING!!! There are no steps to getting born-again. You simply come to God as a broken needy sinner and BELIEVE the GOOD NEWS of Jesus crucified, buried and bodily resurrected three days later to be saved. That is the Gospel:

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:”

We are saved by BELIEVING the Gospel. 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.” It is not our words of wisdom, nor our cunning stylish ability to tantalize listeners with our eloquent speech that leads lost sinners to Jesus Christ, it is THE GOSPEL itself. The Gospel is “the power of God unto salvation” to EVERYONE THAT BELIEVETH!!! The way that you witness the Gospel to a Roman Catholic, or a Mormon, or an atheist, is the SAME—just preach to them THE GOSPEL.

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.

Quotes About Prayer by Evangelist John Bunyan

Philippians 4:6-9, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

“Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.” —Evangelist John Bunyan (1628-1688)

“In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” —Evangelist John Bunyan (1628-1688)

“In all your prayers forget not to thank the Lord for his mercies.” —Evangelist John Bunyan (1628-1688)

“I found it hard work now to pray to God, because despair was swallowing me up.” —Evangelist John Bunyan (1628-1688)

“Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to Satan.” —Evangelist John Bunyan (1628-1688)

“Pray and read, read and pray; for a little from God is better than a great deal from men.” —Evangelist John Bunyan (1628-1688)