Matthew 3:1-2, “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
One of my favorite Bible teachers at Hyles-Anderson College (HAC) was Brad Strand. I got saved at age 13, but didn't learn that Jesus is God until age 18, when Brother Strand taught me with the Bible at HAC. By God's grace, Brad Strand is a brilliant gifted teacher, and has been a faithful pastor in Cash, Texas for many years now.
Having said that, I love The Strand Study Bible. I highly recommend buying one if you want to learn the Bible. I purchased mine from Amazon, and love it so much that I bought two of them while they are still available. Anyway, I was reading Matthew 3:2 this week and was delighted to find that Pastor Strand gets repentance correct. I'm telling you, tragically, that over 90% of preachers today are WRONG on repentance. I'm talking about Adrian Rogers, Ken Ham, Stephen Davey and Ray Comfort, to name but a few infidel heretics! I admit that I was a bit worried when I ordered The Strand Study Bible, concerned that he might have been deceived also by the Devil. Sadly, I'd say about 90% of Baptist pastors today are WRONG on what it means to repent to be saved,
This word (Repent) is the Greek word metanoeo. Metanoeo is taken from two Greek words: (meta - meaning, “after”) and (noeo - meaning, “mind”). The word literally means, “after thought” (II Cor. 7:8-10). True repentance means, “to change your mind about what you believe and agree with what God says, and then confess it” (I Jn. 1:9a). God tells us that there are two areas in which we must repent, if we are to be saved. We must change our minds as to:
- Who we are (Lk. 5:31-32 & 13:1-5 and Mt. 27:3) — God tells us that we are sinfully sick and in need of the Savior and that we cannot save ourselves (Rom. 3:10, 23).
- Who CHRIST is (Mt. 4:13-14 & 11:20-24, Mk. 1:15, Acts 3:12-19 and Acts 2:38a) —Christ is God (Jn. 8:24, 58-59, not a god. Christ is the only Savior (Acts 4:10-12).
I humbly applaud Pastor Strand for getting repentance correct, because most pastors today have dropped the ball for God, preaching another gospel. For example, look at these lies:
Ray Comfort:
"If belief is all that is necessary for salvation, then the logical conclusion is that one need never repent.
SOURCE: https://www.evidencebible.com/witnessingtool/isrepentancenecessaryforsalvation.shtml
Huh? Clearly, Ray Comfort thinks you must forsake sinful bad habits to be saved. Ray foolishly teaches that more than faith is required to get to Heaven. He thinks you must perpetually do your best to turn away from sinning to know you are going to Heaven. I have read his deadly, 'The Evidence Bible,' and know well what he teaches. Notice that Ray teaches the same false doctrine as the cult of JW's...
Jehovah's Witnesses:
Salvation is a free gift from God. It cannot be earned. Yet it does require effort on our part.
SOURCE: What Must We Do to Be Saved? - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Website
Say what? That is DAMNABLE HERESY!!! How can salvation be a free gift from God if effort is required on our part? That is a major contradiction. If I give you a “free” birthday gift, but then tell you that you must wash my car to get it, is it really a free gift? No, it would be an exchange, a trade, or a reward, but it couldn't be a gift (because a gift must be completely free). Jehovah's Witnesses are theological liars!!! So also is Ray Comfort, Ken Ham, Pensacola Christian College, Bob Jones University, Marty Herron, Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, John MacArthur and Paul Washer—all theological liars!!!
The Damnable Counterfeit Plan Of Salvation Of Pastor Adrian Rogers
It made my day yesterday when I learned that Pastor Brad Strand is correct on repentance. A genuine born-again believer understands the truth of God's Word (1st Corinthians 2:14-16). But an unsaved religious person cannot understand God's Word. Ray Comfort is NOT saved. Stephen Davey is not saved. I was shocked what Adrian Rogers, former chairman of the Southern Baptist Convention taught about repentance....
How are we saved?
By believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 16:30-31
The word “believe” in this verse of Scripture literally means “trust.”
Jesus cannot be our Savior if we are not willing to make Him Lord.
Surrendering to Jesus’ Lordship means that He takes control of our lives.
Once we are saved, God begins to work in us, making us into the persons He wants us to be.
Philippians 1:6
Once we are saved, we are justified immediately in the spirit, sanctified progressively in the soul, and glorified ultimately in the body.To be saved, we must invite Jesus into our lives; we must ask Him to come into our lives and take control of our lives.
Revelation 3:20 – God desires that we all invite Him in.HOW DO WE KNOW THAT WE ARE SAVED?
John 5:24When we trust Jesus, as the Bible states, then we are saved.
We do not trust our feelings to know whether or not we’re saved; we trust what God’s Word tells us.
We place our faith in God’s facts.CONCLUSION
Do you know Jesus personally? If not, you can pray to Him today by asking Him to come into your life.
Call upon Jesus today. Repent (turn) from your sins, and turn to Jesus. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins, and acknowledge Him as Lord of your life.
Romans 10:9-10
Romans 10:13 [emphasis added]
SOURCE: https://www.lwf.org/sermon-outlines/simplicity-of-salvation-1 [page has since been removed]
Pastor Rogers also made these heretical damnable quotes (this page still works)...
"If Jesus is not the Lord of your life, then He is not your Savior. Salvation is not a cafeteria line where we say, 'Well, I believe I'll have a little Savior today, but no Lordship. Thank you.' No! Jesus is Lord." [emphasis added]
I'm sure that some readers are doubting that Rogers went to Hell. I mean, how could a Baptist preacher, who was chairman of the SBC for decades, end up in the fires of Hell? Right? I'm sure some of my blog readers rationalize that every preacher thinks a little but differently, and that God understands allows people to slide (so to speak). But if this were true, then the religious people in Matthew 7:21-23 should have made it into Heaven, but they didn't. You need to understand friend that it doesn't matter how sincere or close to being right you may be, the ONLY thing that matters is whether or not you are one of Jesus' sheep. Does Jesus recognize you as one of His redeemed sheep? That is, have you been born-again?
Matthew 7:21-23, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Jesus called them workers of iniquity!!! They had devoutly followed Jesus as the “Lord” of their lives. They served Him with commitment. They preached (prophesied) in Jesus' name, and were His biggest fans. Yet, they had failed to do the will of the Father, which according to John 6:40 is to wholly trust in Jesus' name. If you missed it the first time, here is more damnable false teaching from Adrian Rogers...
2) THE CONFESSION OF HIS LORDSHIP SECURES SALVATION
a) We cannot receive what Jesus gives and refuse who Jesus is.i) Luke 2:10-11ii) The great need in the world today is salvation, so God sent a Savior.(1) God sent this message to humble shepherds.(2) If we want to understand who Jesus Christ is, then we must lay our intellectual pride in the dust and ask Him to reveal this truth to us.(a) Luke 10:21
iii) The only way to be saved is to confess His Lordship.(1) Romans 10:9-10 (a) The confession is “Jesus is Lord.”(2) If Jesus Christ is not our Lord, then we are not saved.iv) We cannot receive God’s gift of salvation if we do not receive Jesus as Lord.(a) The Bible never says to accept Jesus as Savior.(i) We cannot receive Christ as Savior and reject Him as Lord and be saved.
v) Romans 14:9vi) In order to be saved, we must bow the knee to Jesus, not just “tip the hat” to Him [emphasis added to expose heresies]SOURCE: Life Worth Fining, 'His Unquestioning Lordship'
Ladies and gentlemen, what you just read is totally of the Devil. Pastor Adrian Rodgers did not go to Heaven when he died. If he did, the Bible is false. If that seems shocking to you, please read Matthew 7:21-23. You don't get to Heaven by calling Jesus, “LORD, LORD” (verse 21). Surrendering to Christ's Lordship is not the way of salvation. The Bible couldn't be any clearer! You must do the will of the Father. That is exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” The will of the Father is found in John 6:40, “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.” In the Gospel of John we find the word “believe” mentioned 85 times, without any mention of praying, repenting, calling or surrendering to Christ as “Lord” to be saved. Sadly, Adrian Rodgers was a wolf in sheep's clothing, now being tormented in Hell forever (Matthew 7:15).
Also, Pastor Rogers is quoting from one of the Devil's corrupt modern perversions of the Holy Bible. In fact, Romans 10:9 doesn't teach to confess “Jesus is Lord” to be saved, the inspired King James Bible says to confess “the Lord Jesus.” Wrong doctrine comes from wrong bibles!
Also, Pastor Rogers flat out lied when he said that “The Bible never says to accept Jesus as Savior.” 1st John 4:14, “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” The Scripture doesn't say that the Father sent Jesus to be the Lord of the world, but “the Saviour of the world.” John 1:12-13, “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: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Please read 1st Timothy 4:10-11, “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. These things command and teach.” I love that! Jesus is the Savior of all men, especially of those that BELIEVE! What does that mean? It simply means that Jesus paid for everyone's sins with His precious blood on the cross (1st Peter 1:18-19). You don't have to “ask” God to save you, because He is already freely offering you the gift of eternal life. All you need to do is take it by childlike faith. Simply receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins, believing that He was buried, but then physically resurrected from the dead on the third day, and you are saved (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).
Brother Strand is 100% right, repentance means to change your mind about two things:
- Who we are (Lk. 5:31-32 & 13:1-5 and Mt. 27:3) — God tells us that we are sinfully sick and in need of the Savior and that we cannot save ourselves (Rom. 3:10, 23).
- Who CHRIST is (Mt. 4:13-14 & 11:20-24, Mk. 1:15, Acts 3:12-19 and Acts 2:38a) —Christ is God (Jn. 8:24, 58-59, not a god. Christ is the only Savior (Acts 4:10-12).
We are the guilty SINNERS, and Jesus is the blessed SAVIOR!
It is abundantly plain to see from the Scripture that people received Jesus as their personal Savior. John 4:40-42, “So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.” They didn't acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of the world; but rather, as the SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD!!! Dear reader, Adrian Rogers is a Gospel pervert!
“The worst pervert in America is the Gospel pervert!” —Brother Lester Roloff, from the sermon, “The Gospel Perverts Or Jesus?”
I fully agree with what Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) said...
“But we've so muddied the Gospel, that when men want to make a decision to trust Christ, we've made it so complicated that they can't make a simple decision to 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.' We'll say, 'If you don't do this' or 'You don't do that' or 'You haven't done that,' you're not saved'; but the truth of the matter is that when asked in the Bible, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?,' one clear simple answer was given to him — 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.'” ~Pastor Curtis Hutson, “Things That Are Different Are Not The Same” (preached at Southwide Baptist Fellowship on October 3, 1994)Also, Dr. Hutson said this truth...
“Faith and repentance are the same; they are not two separate decisions. One cannot trust Christ as Savior without repenting or changing his mind. The very fact that he trusts Christ for salvation shows that he has changed his mind regarding sin, salvation, and God.” —Pastor Curtis Hutson
According to Adrian Rogers' false gospel, you must forsake your sins, invite Jesus into your life, surrender control of your life over to Him, and acknowledge Him as Lord so that He has full control over your life from now on. Folks, none of that is THE GOSPEL! How is any of that the simple childlike faith of 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”? I triple dog dare you to show me anywhere in the Bible where it says to surrender control of your life over to Jesus as Lord to be saved.
Faith Is The Only Righteous Thing That I Can Do To Be Saved
So when bad preachers tell you that you must repent “OF YOUR SINS” to be saved, they are lying to you and using the law differently than it was intended by God, to give the KNOWLEDGE OF SIN. They are requiring you to OBEY THE LAW to be saved, or to BE WILLING TO KEEP THE LAW to be saved. They say you must be willing to forsake a lifestyle of sinning. But that is not the Gospel of free grace as taught in the inspired King James Bible. Dear friend, Jesus paid your debt of sin, because you couldn't do it, and neither could I. Eternal life is a free gift from God. You don't have to give up anything, nor be willing to give up anything. Consider again this beautiful quote from Pastor Harry Ironside...
“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 …Repentance is simply a matter of acknowledging THE TRUTH of your sinnership. 2nd Timothy 2:25, “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.” Repentance is entirely a matter of the heart, where a person acknowledges THE TRUTH that you are a guilty sinner in the sight of a holy God; thus believing the Gospel you are saved by faith alone.
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, the tract: 'What Is The Gospel?'
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.
Dear friend, you don't make Jesus Savior or Lord, HE IS SAVIOR AND LORD! But you must receive Him as your Savior to be saved, and then afterwards as your Lord if you want to please the Lord as His child. These are two separate decisions, which is why the Apostle Paul said in Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” SERVICE and SALVATION are two different things. Romans 1:6-7 tell us that Paul wrote the book of Romans to the ”saints” of Rome. Paul is urging them to present their bodies as a living sacrifice to serve God, which he calls their “reasonable service.” Notice that Paul doesn't call it “mandatory service,” nor their “required service,” but their “reasonable service.” If Lordship were necessary to be saved, then Paul would not have made this appeal to them, but he did.
I realize that this blog is about Pastor Brad Strand's helpful 'The Strand Study Bible,' but in order to show you why I so much appreciate that he is doctrinally sound on repentance, I needed to show you what damnable heretics are preaching today.
I hope dear reader that you recognize the seriousness of this matter. Sadly, many churchgoers today are complacent, comfortable and indifferent toward these shocking embellishments of the Gospel, which have perverted God's grace. When a bad preacher adds surrendering one's life to Christ—requiring lost sinners to receive Christ as “Lord” to take control over one's life, and to turn away from your sinful ways—he has perverted (altered and changed) the Gospel of free grace. Eternal life then is no longer a free gift, but an exchange of sorts.
I hope dear reader that you recognize the seriousness of this matter. Sadly, many churchgoers today are complacent, comfortable and indifferent toward these shocking embellishments of the Gospel, which have perverted God's grace. When a bad preacher adds surrendering one's life to Christ—requiring lost sinners to receive Christ as “Lord” to take control over one's life, and to turn away from your sinful ways—he has perverted (altered and changed) the Gospel of free grace. Eternal life then is no longer a free gift, but an exchange of sorts.
This dangerous heresy has absolutely destroyed soulwinning churches today. Bob Jones University has been infected. Pastor John MacArthur is a primary carrier of this spiritual disease, and it is highly contagious. Have you been infected dear friend? If you have, then repent of your Lordship heresy and instead believe the 'GOOD NEWS' of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen to be saved. That is the only way!
I know that this has been a rather lengthy blog, and I have so much more that I could say, but you get the point I humbly think. I rejoice and praise God for doctrinally sound Bible teachers like Pastor Brad Strand. Repentance to be saved has NOTHING to do with you giving up your sins, nor even being willing to give up your sins; but rather, changing your mind from whatever it is that has been hindering you from doing the one thing that can save a sinner—BELIEVING THE GOSPEL (GOOD NEWS) that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God—who died in our place on the cross, was buried and bodily resurrected from the dead three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 1:16).
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