Dr. John R. Rice Wasn't An Authority On Repentance

Romans 3:4, “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.”

I am a big fan of Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980). Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) loved, admired and befriended Dr. Rice, who was 31 years older than him. Brother Hyles and Dr. Rice preached 2200 times together over a 20 year period in churches across America. I thank God for these dear men of God. 

Having said that, as a fundamentalist Baptist preacher I must preach what I believe to be THE TRUTH, based upon the time tested unchanging inspired Word of God! I believe that Book is the inspired King James Bible! Albeit, I humbly think Dr. Rice sometimes got it way wrong! In particular, he got it way wrong concerning the Alexandrian Bible revisions. John R. Rice actually endorsed Brooke Westcott and Fenton Hort. Unbelievable! In fairness to Dr. Rice, he never saw the internet, so he was limited in information. Did you know that the whole of man's knowledge DOUBLES every eight years? That means mankind is increasing in knowledge exponentially! What saith the Scripture? Daniel 12:4, “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” I have learned much from Brother Rice during my lifetime, from his invaluable books and sermons; but Dr. Rice was only a mortal, flawed, sinful man (as he openly admitted himself). I see a lot of Christians today bolstering Dr. Rice as an authority, which is really bad! 

Preachers' John MacArthur and Ray Comfort oftentimes quote preachers of the past, in a desperate attempt to bolster up their heresies of Calvinism. I oftentimes quote preachers myself, to help my readers understand the truths I am teaching. I don't think that is wrong to do! However, there is a big difference between quoting a preacher to help the reader understand better, versus quoting other men in an attempt to legitimize your teaching. I often quote Pastor Jack Hyles and Pastor Harry Ironside, but I do not look to those men of God as authorities. The inspired Word of God is our final and only authority in all matters of faith. That is why it is so crucial that we use the right Bible, and not search for God's Word in dozens of Bible versions, which is ridiculous! 

In his popular booklet titled: “What Must I Do To Be Saved?,” Dr. Rices says: 

What About Repentance?

To repent literally means to have a change of mind or spirit toward God and toward sin. It means to turn from your sins, earnestly, with all your heart, and trust in Jesus Christ to save you. You can see, then, how the man who believes in Christ repents and the man who repents believes in Christ. The jailer repented when he turned from sin to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. emphasis added]

From reading the entire work, I don't think Dr. Rice was wrong about repentance, although I think he used unscriptural words in saying that repentance means “to turn from your sins.” That is NOT what Bible repentance means! I think Dr. Rice simply meant that we must recognize our sinnership and need for redemption. But regardless of what he meant, HE WAS WRONG TO USE THOSE TERMS!!! That is why I wrote this article, because some false teachers are citing Dr. Rice as a secondary authority. 

Case in point is Missionary David W. Cloud, who misrepresents Dr. Rice in an attempt to show that Dr. Rice's successor (at the Sword Of The Lord), Dr. Curtis Hutson (1934-1995), corrupted the Gospel. Dr. Hutson was 100% correct on the plan of salvation!!! Kindly, David Cloud is a heretic! Mr. Cloud gets repentance wrong, and he foolishly and sinfully attempts to misrepresent Dr. Rice. If you read the entirety of his Gospel booklet, Brother Rice makes very clear that repentance does not mean 'penance' (feelings sorry for sins). It is clear that Dr. Rice DIDN'T teach that a person must forsake sinful ways to be saved. That would be REFORMATION. 

• Repentance is not penitence (feeling sorry for sins). 
• Repentance is not penance (trying to remedy your sins). 
• Repentance is not reformation (turning from your sins). 
• Repentance is a change of mind (from wrong thinking to believing the Gospel).

Dr. Rice understood that we are saved by believing, not by repenting; but repentance facilitates believing. Brother Rice teaches that repentance and faith are not two steps to salvation; but rather, two parts of one step. Repentance is the admission that you are a guilty sinner in the sight of God, judging yourself as a needy sinner, and turning to Jesus Christ by faith to be saved. The man who repents has believed, and the man who believes has repented! 

Salvation requires turning to the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved from the penalty of your sins! You simply need to see yourself as a needy sinner, guilty in the sight of a holy God. Romans 3:19, “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.” To be saved, you have to see your need. You must know what you're being saved from. You need to understand WHO Jesus is, WHAT He did for you, and WHY He did it. 

Someone recently asked me if we should believe on the name of Jesus, or believe the Gospel, to be saved. Dear friend, to believe on the name of Jesus is to believe the Gospel, if you understand who He is, what He did for you, and why you believe on Him. Likewise, to believe the Gospel is to believe on the name of Jesus. They are inseparable! 

The answers are simply:

• WHO - Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God (John 20:31). 
• WHAT - Jesus died on the cross to pay our debt of sin. He was buried, and three days later He physically resurrected from the dead (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). 
• WHY - We are guilty sinners. To save us from burning in Hell forever, Jesus paid the price for our sins with His precious blood (1st Peter 1:18-19). 

So please don't read too much into what Dr. Rice teaches about repentance. Repentance does not mean turning from sinful behavior, which would be works; it means to turn toward God. I don't like the wording that Dr. Rice used, which is why I titled this article: “Dr. John R. Rice Wasn't An Authority.” Just because he poorly chose his words doesn't make it so. You cannot show me anywhere in the inspired Word of God (if you have a King James Bible), where we are taught to “turn from sin” to be saved. That phrase doesn't appear in the Bible! The corrupt modern Bible versions do pervert the truth, adding this false teaching. No where are we told to “repent from sin.” Acts 20:21b teaches the reader, “repentance toward God.” Please don't misunderstand, repentance is necessary for salvation, but it simply means to change one's mind from WRONG THINKING to believe the “Good News” (Gospel) of Christ crucified, buried and risen the third day (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). 

Repentance Is Seeing Yourself As A Needy Sinner In God's Sight

Also, please understand that repentance is more than merely admitting one's guilt of sin, it is seeing yourself as a needy sinner for breaking a holy God's Commandments. Pastor Jack Hyles eloquently states the truth about repentance:

“Repentance is not some little silly, 'I'm sorry.' Repentance is not simply a fear of God. Repentance is not a monk fasting and afflicting his body in a monastery. Repentance is not remorse because of sin's consequences. Repentance is not penance performed before the pope as you kiss his toe... Repentance is not being sorry for what I've done wrong. It is not confessing one's sins to a priest. It is not just conviction of sin. It is not the signing of a pledge of abstinence. Repentance is that thing when you come before God and see yourself as you are, and see Him as he is, and say with Isaiah 'Woe is me, for I am unclean!'” —Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001), a quote from the timeless MP3 sermon, 'THE GOODNESS OF GOD LEADETH TO REPENTANCE!'

That is a tremendous quote! Amen! So when we read about repentance from “DEAD WORKS” in Hebrews 6:1, it absolutely does NOT mean that ceasing from sinful bad habits is required for salvation (because that would be self-righteous works); but rather, it means we have changed our mind concerning DEAD WORKS (GOOD and BAD works alike) that were hindering us from coming to Christ to be saved. We don't get saved by changing our life, which is what the new corrupt Bible versions require. This is discipleship and reformation, not sonship and salvation. We get saved by BELIEVING the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, receiving Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full-payment for our sins and believing that He resurrected from the dead three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). The only role that dealing with sin has in salvation is to renounce it, so that it is no longer a hindrance to keep you from coming to Christ to be saved (John 3:20).

No man of God is always correct in his teachings! I have had to course correct a few times myself over the years. My constant chronic neck pain keeps my humble. When you are hurting all the time, you either become bitter or more sweet. I am a blessed man. I pray everyday to find a Christian wife someday, but if not, I am going to serve get diligently until my last dying breath. God deserves our very best! I really love this article by Pastor Bob Gray Sr., in which he teaches the truth that our life is hid with Christ in God. When the world looks at us, they cannot see the wonderful life that we have as believers. I have a fiesta buffet every day in my soul as a Christian! I am so joyful in the Lord, and He is my peace. 1st Corinthians 1:30-31, “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” I love that! Jesus is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption! Do you know Him friend? Oh, it is wonderful to be a Christian!!! 

“Now you either believe what God said about man, or what man said about God!” —Pastor Danny Castle, “MEDDLING WITH GOD!”