The above picture is truly worth 1,000 words. It shows how God can view a person as being sinful and yet justified at the same time. I love the following precious passage of Scripture from Romans 5:20, “Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” The unsaved person is still under the curse of God's LAW, but the born-again believer is now under God's redeeming GRACE! The very thought of that truth cheers my heart and puts a big smile on my face! When a believer sins (and we all still do every day), God's GRACE abounds that much more! There is NO condemnation for the Christian believer! John 3:18a, “He that believeth on him is not condemned...”
In Evangelist Ray Comfort's popular work, “The Evidence Bible,” which is based upon the corrupt Amplified Bible, Ray completely ignores Romans 4:5-6 concerning imputation; nor does he mention the word “imputation” in the concordance in back of his reference Bible. Kindly, Ray Comfort has been deceived by Satan concerning the Scriptures, repentance and the Gospel. He leaves off imputation.
The apostates behind the modern Bible revisions sincerely think they are helping people, by translating the phrase “unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works” in Romans 4:6b instead to “God accepts them as good without looking at what they have done.” There is a VERY BIG difference between imputing righteous to a guilty sinner verses accepting them as good!!! The latter leaves off the “WHY” of redemption. The reason WHY God can credit a man with righteousness without works is because Christ became our sacrifice on the cross!!! Literally, God places our sins upon Christ, and then places Christ's righteousness upon us. This all happens by faith. 2nd Corinthians 5:21, “For he [God the Father] hath made him [God the Son] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” What a beautiful Savior!
I have actually heard Baptist ministers preach against Lordship Salvation (i.e., Calvinism), and yet turn right around and teach that a person MUST turn away from their sinful behavior to be saved. It's hard to believe that any pastor could be so confused doctrinally, as to preach against Lordship Salvation while simultaneously still preaching wrong repentance. Ladies and gentleman, it is happening all around the world. It is just as wrong to require a person to cease from sinful activities to be saved, as it is to require them to have to follow Jesus as His disciple to be saved; and furthermore, it is very wrong to even require a person to have to “BE WILLING to turn from sin” to be saved (which is what cartoon evangelist Jack Chick errantly teaches in all his Chick Tracts). You don't have to clean up your life of sin to be saved, nor even BE WILLING to let God help you clean up your life. Eternal life is a free gift, which you simply receive with childlike faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior.
Pastor William Pettingill (1866-1950) offers these helpful words:
“What place has repentance in salvation? Should we tell people to repent of their sins to be saved? The Gospel of John is the Holy Spirit's Gospel Tract, written that men might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing they might have life through His name (20:31). And it does not mention the word 'repentance.' But that is only because repentance is a necessary part of saving faith. Strictly speaking, the repentance means a 'change of mind.' It is by no means the same thing as sorrow (II Corinthians 7:10). Since it is not possible to an unbeliever to become a believer without changing his mind, it is therefore unnecessary to say anything about it. The only thing for a man to do in order to be saved is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ: and to believe on Him is the same thing as receiving Him (John 1:11-13).” —Pettingill, William; “Bible Questions Answered,” (p. 215-216).Amen Brother, that is some good stuff!!!
“There is power in this Gospel message. Most people just don't know how to present it... The clarity of the Gospel is what makes it easy for them to believe.” —Pastor Yankee Arnold, a quote from the excellent MP3 sermon titled, “WHY GRACE CAN SAVE THE WORST MAN!”Here is a very helpful MP3 sermon by one of my favorite preachers, Brother Lester Roloff (1914-1982). The sermon is titled, “DR. LAW AND DR. GRACE.” The Two Greatest Doctors Who've Ever Lived: Dr. Law And Dr. Grace | Part Two.
Here are some wonderful quotes exposing the error of Lordship Salvation and Wrong Repentance...
“Eternal life is free. Discipleship is immeasurably hard. The former is attained by faith alone, the latter by a faith that works... the former brings with it the righteousness of God so that a man is 'justified freely by his grace' (Romans 3:24). The latter develops a personal righteousness, based on good deeds, so that a man was also 'justified by works' (James 2:24). The former constituted the believer God's workmanship, the latter fulfilled the wonderful purpose for which he had been created. The former cost man nothing, the latter could cost him everything, including life itself.” —Hodges, Zane C.; “The Hungry Inherit,” Moody Press, Inc., 1972 (p. 114-115).
“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.” —Dehaan, M. R. Hebrews; “Zondervan Publishing House,” 1959 (p. 117).
“For the unregenerate man, repentance is the change of mind whereby he turns from unbelief to faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.” —Post, Roger; “The Meanings of the Words Translated 'Repent' and 'Repentance' in the New Testament,” Master's Thesis, Wheaton College, June 1972 (p. 80).
“There are those who, in their zeal to get people to turn from their sinful ways and receive the Lord, almost put repentance on a par with believing... Repentance, as it relates to Christ, means to change our minds about Him, who He is and what He's done to provide forgiveness and deliverance from our sins. When we place faith in Jesus as having taken our place personally on the cross and borne the penalty due our sins, then we're automatically repenting, because we couldn't accept Him in this way without having had to change our minds in some way concerning Him.” —Lindsey, Hal; “The Liberation of Planet Earth,” Zondervan Publishing House, 1974 (p. 136, 137).
“Discipleship is frequently equated with salvation and often erroneously made a condition for becoming a Christian.” —Pentecost, J. Dwight; “Design for Discipleship,” Zondervan Publishing House, 1971 (p. 11).
“Certainly discipleship is a most important aspect of our relation to Christ, but it belongs to the sphere of Christian life rather than entrance upon that life... One does not become a disciple in order to become a Christian, but because he has become a Christian by faith in the Savior, it is fitting that he embark upon a life of discipleship.” —Harrison, Everett F.; “Must Christ Be Lord to Be Savior? No,” Eternity, September 1959 (p. 14).
“It is an inexcusable error to confront sinners with problems that concern the Christian life and call upon them to make promises regarding them. An unsaved person is never called upon to surrender himself to God. The saving act is in no instance represented as our 'giving ourselves to God'; it is, on the contrary, taking His Son as our Savior.” —Ryrie, Charles; “Balancing the Christian Life,” Moody Press, Inc., 1969 (p. 170).Here is a wonderful quote by Evangelist Hal Lindsey refuting the heresy of Wrong Repentance...
“Repentance, as it relates to Christ, means to change our minds about Him, who He is and what He's done to provide forgiveness, and deliverance from our sins. When we place faith in Jesus as having taken our place personally on the cross and borne the penalty due our sins, then we're automatically repenting, because we couldn't accept Him in this way without having had to change our minds in some way concerning Him.” —Hal Lindsey; “The Liberation of Planet Earth” (p. 133).Here is a great quote from Dr. Hank Lindstrom...
Penance is payment for sin. Penitence is sorrow for sin. Works and something of self is turning from sin. But repentance (metanoia) means a change of mind. Man's great need is to understand God's way of salvation and accept His sacrifice. Repentance in salvation means a change of mind from any idea of religion that man might have and accepting God's way of salvation. “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 (John 3:16).” —Dr. Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008).Those are beautiful quotes, clearly explaining the truth about repentance and salvation. I fear more than HALF of all Baptists are going straight to Hell when they enter into eternity, because they've placed their faith in wrong repentance (turning from sins) and Lordship Salvation (discipleship). The LAW gives the KNOWLEDGE OF SIN, and that is its only role in God's plan of salvation.
We are saved by God's imputed righteousness. It's Not Your Righteousness, It's God's! The hardest part about getting people saved is first getting them lost. Many people have the wrong idea that you get to Heaven by being good, but no one is good (Romans 3:10-23). The only reason I am going to Heaven is because I am relying completely upon God's righteousness through faith alone in Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:” I love that Bible verse! The Bible teaches that a man's faith is COUNTED for righteousness. Romans 4:5, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
Dear friend, God is offering you forgiveness of sins and eternal life for free. You don't need to ask Jesus to save you, because He is already asking you. 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.” But don't you have to do “works” to get to Heaven? A group of people asked Jesus that very same question 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.” Simply BELIEVE and the work is done!
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