John 6:37-40, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Boy, that was brilliantly said. Yes, that is right! Those pastors today who falsely teach that you must turn away from your sin to be saved are looking to the effect (repentance) rather than the cause (which is Christ). We must look to the Lord Jesus, and not to our own repenting. Certainly every believer still sins (Romans 7:14-25), but the indwelling Holy Spirit will chastise every child of God when we sin. I agree with Spurgeon's preceding quote. It is the Holy Spirit Who turns us from sin (Philippians 2:13), and not our own repentance. Repentance is a grace from God (2nd Timothy 2:25). This doesn't mean we should look for changes in a believer's life to determine if they are saved. Only God can see someone's heart.“Repentance will not make you see Christ; but to see Christ will give you repentance. You may not make a Christ out of your repentance, but you must look for repentance to Christ. The Holy Ghost, by turning us to Christ, turns us from sin. Look away, then, from the effect to the cause, from your own repenting to the Lord Jesus, who is exalted on high to give repentance.” —Charles Spurgeon; "All Of Grace," Chapter 11 - "Alas! I Can Do Nothing"
The Epistle of 1st John was written to believers that our joy may be full (1st John 1:4), by helping us as individual believers to “know that ye are saved” (1st John 5:13b). The test given in 1st John 3:8-9 is not to see if we are saved because we have turned away from our sin; but rather, to determine if we have the indwelling Holy Spirit (1st John 3:24). The Holy Spirit will convict a believer when we sin. If you don't have that conviction from God's Spirit living in you, then you need to get saved. That was the truth that compelled me to come to Christ as a 13 year old boy. Certainly, it would be heresy to say that the Holy Spirit doesn't work within every believer to influence us to turn away from our sins. Philippians 2:13, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” 2nd Timothy 2:19b, “...Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
Repentance and faith are inseparable. The Gospel of John mentions the word “believe” 85-times, but the word “repent” is never mentioned even once. In genuine salvation, one who believes on Jesus Christ has repented, and the one who repents has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. The Good News (i.e., Gospel) is that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for our sins, was buried and triumphantly raised up from the dead, so that He can save those who believe.
Repentance is a very difficult concept for most preachers to understand. I have been blessed to have great Bible teachers (i.e., Pastor Jack Hyles, Pastor Max D. Younce, Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, Dr. John R. Rice, Pastor Harry Ironside, et cetera). Dear friend, please do not confuse the effect with the cause of repentance. To be saved you simply need to LOOK TO CHRIST. Isaiah 45:22, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” Oh do you see dear friend that salvation is a matter of being forgiven of your sins, and not YOUR willingness to turn away from them?
Once you are saved, Christ (the cause of your repentance) will begin to work in your soul through His indwelling Holy Spirit to change you. So please do not make a Christ out of YOUR own repentance, because that is a false plan of salvation. The true Gospel always points you to Christ; a false gospel always points to you. I am wearied with these false teachers today, bad pastors galore, who require lost sinners to “repent and turn away from sin” to get to Heaven. That is a counterfeit plan of salvation, which cannot produce the new birth.
It sounds so theologically sound, doesn't it? To tell a person that they must first be willing to stop living a life of sin, if they want to be saved, appeals to our carnal self-righteous nature. That's what corrupt preachers are telling people: “You stop acting like a sinner and I'll make you a saint.” Please watch this wonderful sermon by Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold called: “Does A Person Have To Repent To Be Saved?”
Yes, a person does have to repent to be saved, but Christ gives repentance to those who BELIEVE on Him. Repentance does NOT mean turning away from your sinful bad habits. If that were true, that God requires you to commit to living a better life to receive His free gift of eternal life, then it certainly could not be considered a free gift! Repentance does not precede belief.
I heard a horrible heretical sermon online by Pastor Charles Lawson. He is the pastor of the Temple Baptist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. I like Pastor Lawson. I respect him. I have learned much from him and love his preaching about the New World Order. His YouTube videos accumulatively have been viewed millions of times. But this makes him all the more dangerous to impressionable minds who trust his preaching. Read what Pastor Lawson errantly says:
“If repentance is not part of the Gospel, why did the Jews say, 'That God hath now to the Gentiles granted repentance?' If repentance is not part of the Gospel, then you're just believing some facts, and nothing goes on inside you to change who you are. The change is when you've received it into your heart and acted upon it. And once you received it into your heart and act upon it, a profound change is going to take place. Your attitude towards sin is going to change. Your attitude towards your self's going to change. Your attitude towards the world is going to change. You're going to change. That is repentance, not just changing your mind.” [emphasis added]SOURCE: Pastor Charles Lawson; True Repentance
WRONG! Kindly said, Charles Lawson is utterly confused on Bible repentance and the Gospel. He is correct that repentance is a part of the Gospel, but is is wrong that repentance is a separate act in which you must CHANGE. Friend, it is God's indwelling Holy Spirit that produces “fruit” in a child of God, for those who choose to obediently walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25). The Bible says that a child of God is sanctified by God's truth, which is the Word of God. John 17:17, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” So we see that a changed life in a saint is the result of learning the Bible. The Holy Spirit teaches us the Bible. John 16:13, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
Pastor Lawson mistakenly thinks that to “repent” at the time of salvation, means that your attitude will drastically change, which will perpetuate those new changes into your life. This is not God's plan of salvation. Pastor Lawson is adding to what God requires of a sinner to be saved. He is corrupting the Word of God, casting stumbling blocks before the people. Pilgrim's Progress author, John Bunyan (1628-1688) said it well:
“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.” [emphasis added] —Evangelist John Bunyan
Respectfully, Pastor Charles Lawson does not put a difference between justification by the man Christ without, versus the sanctification by the Spirit of Christ within.
I love this quote from Pastor Jack Hyles:
“Redemption is a work of God the Son. Regeneration is the work of God the Holy Spirit. Justification is the work of God the Father as He declares the sinner righteous in the Son. Conversion then becomes the work of the church as we change the use and purpose of a life.” ―Pastor Jack Hyles, “Conversion And Salvation” (chapter 3) from his book: “Salvation Is More Than Being Saved”
The reason why so many professed Christians are still living carnal lives today is not because of cheap grace, greasy grace, shallow conversions or easy-believism; but rather, it is because today's pastors and churches have dropped the ball regarding mentoring those converts. Every local Bible-believing church ought to draw people into the church with Christ's love, and then indoctrinate them with THE TRUTH!
My friend, that is a lie of the Devil. Being “born-again” does not mean having “a change of heart.” In Matthew 27:3 we read that Judas Iscariot “repented” (i.e., had a change of heart, felt remorse), which compelled him to return the 30 pieces of silver by which he betrayed the only begotten Son of God. When the Pharisees refused the blood money, Judas cast the coins onto the floor and ran away. Judas then went and hung himself, committing suicide. This was one of Jesus' very Apostles. It is so sad and tragic indeed! My point is that Judas had a change of heart, but that didn't make him saved.“The change of heart by which we become children of God is in the Bible spoken of as birth.” —Ellen G. White; Book: Steps To Christ; Chapter: Growing Up Into Christ, pg. 67.
So what does it mean to be born-again? It means that a person is born into God's family. If you are not saved, then God is not your Father. If you are an unbeliever, or a false believer, God is your Creator but not your Father. When you become a born-again Christian by believing the Gospel, you immediately become a child of God. Once you get saved, you are a permanent member of the heavenly family, and you can never be disowned for any reason.
If you examine the plan of salvation of false teachers like John MacArthur, Ray Comfort, Jack Chick, Bob Jones University, Steve Pettit, Ellen White, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Roman Catholics, Seventh-Day Adventists, Charles Lawson and thousands of other heretics, you'll find a commonality that they all emphasize that YOU must commit to turn away from your sinning if you want God to save you. That is not God's simple plan of salvation!!! Many people have avoided coming to Christ for salvation, because they were lied to, told that God would not save them unless they are first willing to give up their sinful bad habits. But that is not how salvation works!
To be saved, God simply requires that you acknowledge THE TRUTH (2nd Timothy 2:25) that you are a guilty sinner (Romans 3:19-20), so that you will BELIEVE the Good News of Christ crucified, buried and bodily risen to be saved (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). That is the GOSPEL! Whatever changes that God wants to see happen in your life as His child, you can be assured that He will attend to that. God is not an absent parent (Hebrews 12:6-8).
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