John 3:14-17, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”
In the Book of John, we find the word “believe” mentioned 85 times, but the word “repent” doesn't appear even once. That is because repentance is included in believing, which Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) rightly understood...
“The fella who knows what repentance is knows it's included in believing.” —Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995)
Bible repentance in the New Testament is always either the Greek noun metanoia (a change of mind), or the Greek verb metanoeo (to think differently). Repentance concerning salvation NEVER means to “turn away from your sins,” nor does it mean to even “be willing to turn from sin.” Yet, this damnable heresy is being taught in 95% of churches today, including corrupted independent fundamental Baptist churches. They are fundamental in name only, but have strayed away from right doctrine.
Pastor Brad Strand (my former Bible professor at Hyles-Anderson College in the late 1980's) gets repentance 100% correct...
Like the thief on the cross who never had an opportunity to “turn from his sin,” we, like him, can only “acknowledge our sinfulness” in order to be saved (Lk 23:40-41). ...True repentance has nothing to do with “turning from sin” and everything to do with “acknowledging one's sinfulness” (Jonah 3:5). Like the thief on the cross who simply acknowledged his sinfulness (Lk 23:39-43), the only part a person has in salvation is the beggar's part.SOURCE: Pastor Brad Strand, “The Strand Study Bible”; 2nd Corinthians 7:8-9, p. 1939
Amen and amen! Woe unto the pastor, missionary or evangelist who adds his own words to God's inspired Words to pervert the Holy Bible (Proverbs 30:5-6). Jeremiah 23:36, “And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.” Over 95% of Baptist pastors today have blood on their hands! Shame on your pastor if your church's Statement of Faith requires lost sinners to “Repent of your sins” to be saved, because you cannot back that nonsense up with a King James Bible. You only need to repent of your sin of unbelief to get to Heaven.
I love this excellent quote from Pilgrim's Progress book author, John Bunyan...
“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.” —John Bunyan (1628-1688)
Yes, bravo Brother Bunyan! Mixing service (discipleship) with salvation (sonship) is the damnable heresy of Lordship Salvation!
Dr. Curtis Hutson rightly said...
“And when it comes to salvation, the only thing that counts with God today is the death of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. If you are counting on anything other than Jesus Christ to take you to Heaven, then you are counting on something that God doesn't count. Won't you trust Christ today? If you are not absolutely sure that there was a time in your life when you knew you were a sinner and made a definite decision to trust Jesus Christ completely for salvation, then we urge you to trust Him now.” —'Salvation Crystal Clear,' by Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995)One of my favorite preachers, Pastor Harry Ironside (1876-1951), wrote these helpful words of truth...
“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 …Amen and amen! I thank God for doctrinally sound preachers like Harry Ironside, Brad Strand, Jack Hyles, Curtis Hutson, Ralph Yankee Arnold, Steven Anderson and Hank Lindstrom, who are 100% correct on repentance and; therefore, a free grace Gospel.
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: Harry A. Ironside, from the Gospel tract: 'What Is The Gospel?'
Our text passage of Scripture from John 3:14-16 mentions an incident from the Old Testament (Numbers 21), when fiery serpents afflicted the Jews, biting them and thousands died. The people cried out to their leader Moses, who cried out to God for help. The Lord instructed Moses to beat a piece of brass into the shape of a serpent, and then instruct the Jews to look to the serpent to live. That serpent symbolized our dear Savior, Jesus, who became as sin for us, that we could be made righteous through faith in Him. 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 (Jesus).” Thank you God!
The Jews in the Wilderness were instructed to LOOK AND LIVE! Whoever looked by faith to the brass serpent that Moses held up on a pole, lived. Whosoever had been bitten by a serpent and refused to look, died. Dear reader, salvation is that simple. 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.” I love that Bible verse!
Don't you dare tell me that people were saved by works in the Old Testament under Mosaic law. Pastor William P. Grady is a fool who wickedly teaches that people went to Heaven by doing works in the Old Testament. As you just heard, if you listened to the MP3 sermon excerpt, Dr. Bill Grady foolishly says that nobody was ever saved in the Old Testament. He gets that false teaching from infidel Peter S. Ruckman (1921-2016), who was also in woeful error on Bible repentance for salvation. BEWARE of damnable false prophets' William P. Grady and Peter S. Ruckman. They will lead you into the Lake of Fire!
Just as the Jews who looked to the brass serpent (which pictured Jesus), and as people were saved in the prophet Isaiah's time by LOOKING TO THE MESSIAH, even so are lost sinners saved today in 2025 by LOOKING TO JESUS!!!
The word “repent” is not mentioned in the Gospel of John because you don't get saved by repenting, you get saved by BELIEVING THE GOOD NEWS (Gospel) of Jesus who was crucified for our sins, buried and then physically resurrected the third day (1st Corinthians 15:1-6). Repentance simply facilitates (makes possible) believing. Repentance is simply changing your mind toward God (Acts 20:21) to acknowledge the truths (2nd Timothy 2:25) that you are a needy sinner (Romans 3:19-20), and that Jesus is the only Savior (John 20:31). 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.”