Ten Reasons Why "Turn From Sin" To Be Saved Is A Lie

Acts 16:27-33, “And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. “Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.”

Here are some reasons why “repent of your sin” to be saved is a lie of the Devil:

1. Jesus came to pay for our sins with His blood through Calvary's cross, not demand that we first reform (turn from our sins) as a prerequisite to be saved.
2. No one has ever turned away from their sins, because even the best Christian still sins (Romans 7:14-25). The unbiblical idea that lesser sinners are somehow more righteous in God's sight than greater sinners is utter heresy.
3. 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?
4. The only thing that makes the most holy saint any more righteous than the vilest criminal upon the earth, is the precious blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses our sins away by faith alone.
5. The phrase "repent of sin" or "turn from sins" is nowhere found in the inspired King James Bible. That phrase can be found in many of the Devil's corrupt Bible versions [e.g., Mark 1:15 and Hebrews 6:1 in the Easy-To-Read Version (ERV)].
6. The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.
7. 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.
8. Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty!
9. The Greek noun for the English word "repent" is metanoia, which means: "A change of mind." The Greek form of repent is metanoeo, which means: "to think differently." This word does not tell us what to change our mind about, which the Lord did on purpose. God intentionally chose to use an open-ended, all-inclusive word, so that a person must change their mind about whatever is hindering them from BELIEVING the Gospel to be saved.
10. We are saved by believing, not by repenting. This is clearly evidenced by the fact that God's Gospel tract, which is the Gospel of John (John 20:31, never once mentions the word "repent." But we do find the word "believe" mentioned 88 times! That is simply because repentance is included in believing.

The Gospel Teaches Forgiveness Of Sins, Not Turning From Sins

Luke 1:76-79, “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Our text passage above speaks concerning John the Baptist, who went before to prepare the first coming of Jesus Christ. Sometimes Bible students misunderstand the ministry and baptism of John, thinking that he preached a different plan of salvation than Jesus or the Apostle Paul. Not so. There has always been only one plan of salvation, which is through faith in Christ. Acts 10:43, “To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.” ALL of the Old Testament prophets preached salvation by grace through faith in the Messiah.

Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980) penned this helpful Bible commentary:

There are those hyper-dispensationalists who think that John the Baptist preached a different Gospel from Christ when he commanded repentance (Matt. 3:2). But it is the same repentance Jesus commanded in Matthew 4:17, in Luke 13:3 and 5, and the same repentance that Paul preached in Athens that God “now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30 31). Repentance is not a different plan of salvation from having faith: it is part of the same plan of salvation. Or rather repentance is simply another way of describing or looking at the plan of salvation. One who turns from sin to God has done so by trusting in Jesus Christ. A change of mind toward sin is necessarily involved in saving faith.

Everyone who genuinely repented under the preaching of John the Baptist put his trust in the Saviour John the Baptist preached, and was regenerated. There is no such thing as being “a disciple of John the Baptist” in any honest sense without being a disciple of Jesus, that is, without trusting Christ for salvation. [emphasis added]

SOURCE: Evangelist John R. Rice, “Acts: Filled With The Spirit,” pp. 251-252; Sword Of The Lord, Murfreesboro, Tennessee; ©1963

Oh dear friend, that is so beautiful. Please don't miss it! I have heard Missionary David W. Cloud and other false teachers, attempt to portray Dr. Rice as a proponent of Lordship Salvation, saying he taught that people must turn away from a lifestyle of sin to be saved. That is simply not true about Dr. Rice! David Cloud even goes as far as to pitch Dr. John R. Rice against his successor Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995). I explain this issue in the preceding hyperlink. Mr. Cloud claims that Curtis Hutson leaves off repentance, thus corrupting the Gospel. Nothing could be further from the truth!!!

Silly phrases such as “repent of sins, confess your sins, turn from you sins, ask Jesus into your heart, follow Jesus and make Jesus Lord of your life” cannot explain the Gospel because they are contrary TO the gospel.

The Gospel teaches forgiveness of sins, while they are teaching turning from sins. There is a big difference! The subject at hand is justification, and their gospel is clearly shown false by Scripture. Until they recognize that the Scripture teaches God justifies the ungodly by faith alone, they will never recognize the falsehood of their teaching! The Gospel teaches repentance unto God (Acts 20:21), but they are teaching reformation from sins (i.e., a changed life). Jesus Christ came to save us from our sins, not demand that we commit to live a changed life in order to be saved. Matthew 1:21, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

Please notice again our text passage from Luke 1:77-78a, “To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God...” You get saved by having your sins forgiven (remitted). This is something that only God can do! Even the wicked unsaved Pharisees understood this truth. Mark 2:7, “Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?” Dear reader, getting saved is a legal matter of justification of the sinner, not the believer's sanctification.

Pilgrim's Progress author, John Bunyan, understood this important truth 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.” —John Bunyan (1628-1688)

Once a man trusts in his own self righteousness, that’s when religion, shame and condemnation spring forth (Mark 7:13). We do not get saved by our own righteousness, NOR do we live for God by our own righteousness. IT is the Holy Spirit who seals us (Ephesians 1:13-15), and works within us by faith alone in Christ crucified (Romans 4:4-5). Mark 7:13, “Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.” The clichés: “repent of sins, confess your sins, turn away from you sin, be willing to turn from sin, ask Jesus into your heart, surrender all to Christ, follow Jesus and make Jesus the 'Lord' of your life,” are all MANMADE TRADITION, not Scriptural. You may do all of these things and yet never be born-again. Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born-again.

If it were necessary to give up a lifestyle of sinning to be saved, then God would owe us salvation. Romans 4:4-5, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Ephesians 2:5, “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” God doesn't owe anybody salvation!!! Salvation is by God's grace. We don't deserve it. ...

Grace is God giving us what we don't deserve. 

Mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve.

The only difference between the words “works” and “grace” are the letters “ne.” Either you believe that you must “DO” something to get to Heaven; or else you believe that is is already “DONE,” paid for in full by Jesus Christ, Dear friend, you get saved simply by COMING TO CHRIST! You get saved simply by BELIEVING THAT JESUS DID IT FOR YOU!!!

Hebrews 4:10-11, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” You get saved by just getting out of the way, and letting Jesus do all the saving. Just as God the Father rested from His creative labors for 6 days, and rested on the 7th day; even so must we cease from “repenting of our sins, confessing our sins, turning away from our sin, being willing to turn from our sin, asking Jesus into our heart, surrendering all to Christ, following Jesus and making Jesus the 'Lord' of our life,” and REST COMPLETELY in the finished work of Jesus Christ through Calvary's cross.

In other words, we get saved by ceasing from our own human efforts, and RESTING IN THE GOSPEL (i.e., the Good News of Jesus' death on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection from the dead - 1st Corinthians 15:1-4).

You'll die and go to Hell if you're trusting your own goodness. It is done! Your sins have already been paid in full by the precious blood of Jesus Christ (1st Peter 1:18-19). All you need to do is freely accept it by faith. Simply trust the GOOD NEWS and the great transaction will have taken place!!! Simply believe the Good News that Christ died, was buried and raised up from the dead FOR YOU dear friend. That is why the Apostle Paul said in Galatians 3:2, “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” I love that! When you hear the Gospel preached, you simply BELIEVE it, and you are saved. It is that simple to be saved.

We are saved by HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, which is why we read in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” 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:” You see, when you put your faith in Jesus as your personal Savior, God credits (imputes) His righteousness to you! God imputed our sins to Jesus on the cross! This is The Imputed Righteousness Of God!!!

I want you to please notice something. Look at 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:” Please don't miss it! The Bible says, “not having my own righteousness, WHICH IS OF THE LAW.” Dear reader, if you must repent and turn away from your sinful ways to receive God's free gift of eternal life, then it cannot truly be a gift! How can it be free if you must give up your sinful bad habits to get it? Obviously it cannot.

I once saw a local bank that was offering a free toaster as a gift, but only if you open a new account to get it. Is that really a gift? No, it is not. It is a reward for opening a new account. The term “gift” is often misused by business and sadly, by preachers too. By every dictionary and Greek lexicon meaning you'll find, the word gift means something given without compensation. A gift is something that you receive, not achieve or qualify for. A gift is a take proposition, not a give proposition. You simply receive a gift. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We know that nothing in life is free. That is true concerning salvation as well. Jesus paid for it! Therefore, nothing is asked or allowed of us to receive it!

When pastors, evangelists, missionaries, chaplains and Bible college professors require people to “repent and turn away from sin” to be saved, they are perverting the grace of God. Anytime you attack the grace of God, you are attacking the God of grace! I fully agree with the following preaching by Dr. Curtis Hutson:

“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)

Amen and amen! It is of the utmost importance that we always keep justification entirely separate from sanctification, lest you not be able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people:

“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.” —Everett F. Harrison, “Must Christ be Lord to Be Savior?-No”; Eternity, September 1959 (p. 14)

Famous soulwinning Chicago pastor, D.L. Moody, rightly said:

“When men are trying to patch up this old Adam-nature, trying to make themselves better, they are growing worse all the time. When men are trying to save themselves and work out their own salvation without God, they are all the time making themselves worse.” —Pastor Dwight L. Moody (1837-1899)

Here again is a helpful quote from Dr. Curtis Hutson:

“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 (1934-1995)

That is exactly what Dr. John R. Rice said earlier in the quote I shared with you. There are many false prophets today; such as, Ray Comfort (Living Waters ministry) and Steve Pettit (incompetent executive president of Bob Jones University), who teach TWO STEPS to be saved. These ungodly men falsely teach that you must FIRST turn away from your sins, and then SECOND believe in Jesus. That is another gospel which cannot produce the new birth (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4; Galatians 1:6-9).

What saith the Scripture? Acts 16:30-31, “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” When the Roman jailor asked Paul and Silas how to be saved, they simply told him to BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!!! Paul and Silas didn't tell the man

“I saw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor my bad frame that made my righteousness worse; for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, the same yesterday and today and forever.” —Evangelist John Bunyan (1628-1688)

Shame On Family Baptist Church In Pensacola

Romans 16:17-18, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.”

Shame on Family Baptist Church in Pensacola. They kicked me and my wife Alice out of their fake church (a fun center social club), but they cannot escape God's judgment. The pastor's wife can continue to dress immodestly, but she knows she is sinning. This is why her husband (the shameful pastor) interrogated me and Alice in his office on April 30th, 2025 over my preaching against women wearing pants on social media. His wicked wife is insanely defensive of her heathen pants. Her wimpy husband is henpecked. I didn't start this fight, they did!

At the Memorial Day picnic this year, the pastor's wife was shamefully wearing sexy pants. My wife wore a full length dress. We didn't have to say a word, you could feel the tension from the pastor's wife. She refused to even talk to my wife, even though Alice sad “hello” to her twice at the picnic. Really great way to treat someone new, huh?

Forty-five minutes after we arrived the pastor's wife came to our picnic table on the end, where a dozen children were eating with us. The pastor's wife wickedly said, "I like your shorts" to a young girl sitting in front of us. Me and Alice cringed at what the pastor's wife had sinfully said. A pastor's wife should be the one woman in the church who raises the moral standard, not lowers it.

At a minimum that pastor's wife is unwise for saying such a shameful thing in front of me and Alice, knowing that I am a fundamentalist Bible preacher and SHE KNOWS where I stand on the issue of women wearing shorts and pants (that's why her foolish husband grilled us in his office a month earlier about women wearing pants). And also, the pastor's wife knows that Alice is a modest Christian woman who refuses to wear pants. There's no way that the pastor's wife innocently came up in front of us to praise a young girl's immodest shorts, fully knowing who me and Alice are. She essentially spit on our Hyles-Anderson College roots, where we are from. Shame and woe unto that ungodly pastor's wife. God will deal with her. Me and Alice will not partake of her shame; she must bear that alone.

At worst, which I believe with all my heart, God knows that the pastor's wife did it on purpose (Proverbs 24:12). I think she is so convicted about her worldly clothing that she couldn't resist sticking her immodesty in our faces to provoke us. As a caring Baptist preacher, I will go to seed in this matter against women wearing pants and other immodest attire (Proverbs 7:10).

Only a total fool and wicked worldly person, would challenge the inspired Holy Bible to produce a verse that says it is wrong for women to wear sexy pants in public, when God has already plainly commanded women to dress in MODEST APPAREL (1st Timothy 2:9). There was no question a century ago in America if pants on women were considered "modest"; they were NOT! Get right with God Family Baptist Church!!!

Galatians 6:7-10, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”

God knows that I love the folks at Family Baptist Church in Pensacola, but they are foolishly following corrupt leaders who do not love Jesus. For if they truly did love God, they would commend my Bible preaching on social media against women wearing pants, instead of condemning me and kicking me and Alice out of their damned social club. Shame on them!

The sad truth is that cult leadership sinfully held a grudge against me for the 45 months that I attended their neo-evangelical church, because of my Christ-honoring website ministry. Over 97% of pastors today are incompetent fools, who have no business being in the clergy. Pastor Brad Moffett and his verbally abusive jerk for a father have run Family Baptist Church into the ground spiritually. Those wicked men are WRONG on Bible repentance; and therefore, wrong on God's simple plan of salvation. Contrary to their church's corrupt Statement of Faith, you don't have to “Repent of your sins” to get to Heaven. That is works according to Jonah 3:10.

They are sinfully running THEIR CHURCH their way at Family Baptist Church in Pensacola instead of God's way. Instead of immediately water baptizing what few alleged converts they rarely have, they wait sometimes several months before baptizing them. That is wrong! In the Bible when people got saved they were immediately baptized that very same day (Acts 2:41).

There is no regularly scheduled door to door soulwinning in the church. Instead, the church hosts a few "big days" each year, hoping that the entertainment will lure new members to attend their pathetic so-called "church." Although a few stragglers do come to church after big days, this is far inferior to God's method of public house to house soulwinning. Door to door soulwinning is "a Christian believer's 20/20 Vision" (Acts 20:20). Shame on the complicit members of Family Baptist Church and their horrible pastors. In my humble opinion they are lazy rascals. 

The church makes sure to host their annual bowling tournament in January, their Mexican restaurant dinners and other fun center activities, while soulwinning isn't done as the Lord commanded. Who cares, right? We are today living in the ungodly “Who cares?” generation. 

Then again in this case, it wouldn't matter even if they did go door to door witnessing, because they would merely be propagating their counterfeit plan of salvation which requires people to repent of sinning to be saved, which is another gospel (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4; Galatians 1:6-9; 1st Corinthians 15:1-6).

There is no preaching against sin from the pulpit. Women in the church are encouraged by the lack of hard preaching to wear their worldly attire, and the pastor's wives wear pants in public, which is a shameful testimony for any Christian lady.

There is no contending for the Christian faith from the pulpit, as there ought be (Jude 1:3; Titus 1:8-14; Ephesians 5:11). In the 45 months that I attended their neo-evangelical cult from 2021 to 2025 when they kicked us out, I heard infidels promoted from the pulpit; such wicked heathen preachers as: Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, John Piper, John Calvin, Marth Luther, Jeff Redlin, Ken Ham and other fake Christians. Every contemptible pastor's name that I just mentioned preaches a perverted view of God's simple plan of salvation.

For example: Martin Luther (1483-1546) added sacraments to faith, which you can verify in his Catechisms written in 1529 AD, 12 years after his alleged conversion as a Roman Catholic priest to Christianity in 1517 AD. Martin Luther went to Hell because he trusted in water baptism and communion to save him. Partial faith in Christ plus works is NOT acceptable to God (Titus 3:5).

Another example: Jeff Redlin is the theologically incompetent senior pastor at Pensacola Christian College's Campus Church. Look at the Satanic filth which they peddle to their impressionable students and in the local community in Pensacola. PCC as a school is supposed to teach their tens of thousands of students right doctrine, not indoctrinate them with neo-evangelical garbage. Their lazy pastors have not studied the Word of God (2nd Timothy 2:15). They are not approved by God to teach others because they do not rightly divide the Word of Truth. Shame on Family Baptist Church for wickedly bidding Godspeed to these evildoers and clowns at PCC.

And for that matter, SHAME on the greedy Sword of the Lord in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for wickedly bidding PCC Godspeed and promoting their cult in their monthly publication in exchange for money. It is blood money!

I could go on and on about the apostasy at Family Baptist Church, PCC and other spiritually dead local churches (cults) in the city of Pensacola. Tragically, the most dangerous place for a person nowadays is in the average Baptist church, which have become cesspools of iniquity teaching wrong repentance and Lordship Salvation instead of a free grace Gospel.

And don't anyone dare try to defend these yardbirds by saying that there are no perfect churches. We're not talking about someone innocently falling short of perfection. We're talking about wicked pastors who are hard core rebels against THE TRUTH of God's Word. The Bible says in Hosea 4:6 that God's people were destroyed because they lacked knowledge. But continue reading and you'll see that they had deliberately REJECTED THE TRUTH, which damned them. Hosea 4:6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” So, we see that there is a big difference between not being perfect, versus not wanting to be perfect. In the case of 99% of pastors and churches today, they are complacent in mediocrity, error and worldliness and have no desire to better themselves in the Lord. They are at ease in Zion.

And beware of cartoon evangelist Jack Chick (1924-2016) and his deadly Chick Tracts, which preach wrong repentance and a perverted view of God's simple plan of salvation. I see these toxic tracts polluting Baptist churches everywhere! Dear reader, there is nothing "simple" about telling a lost sinner that God won't give them eternal life unless they are first willing to turn away from their sinful bad habits. No such nonsense is taught in the inspired King James Bible. Wicked men added those words to God's Words (Proverbs 30:5-6). Bible repentance unto life is simply a change of mind—owning up to God that you are a guilty sinner (Romans 3:19-20), and Jesus is the only Savior (John 20:31). This is true repentance which facilitates (makes possible) believing the Gospel to be saved.

I love how Pastor Harry Ironside (1876-1951) explains repentance...

“Which comes first, repentance or faith? In Scripture we read, 'Repent ye, and believe the gospel.' Yet we find true believers exhorted to 'repent, and do the first works.' So intimately are the two related that you cannot have one without the other. The man who believes God repents; the repentant soul puts his trust in the Lord when the Gospel is revealed to him. Theologians may wrangle over this, but the fact is, no man repents until the Holy Spirit produces repentance in his soul through the truth. No man believes the Gospel and rests in it for his own salvation until he has judged himself as a needy sinner before God. And this is repentance.” ('Except Ye Repent,' p. 16)

Furthermore, shame on Pensacola Christian College (PCC) and Family Baptist Church in Pensacola for promoting the damnable heresy of Ken Ham and Answers-In-Genesis. Right doctrine matters!!! Ichabod (the glory of the Lord has departed) is written over Family Baptist Church's doors. It matters how you treat other people, it really does. They sinfully treated me and Alice like garbage at Family Baptist Church, because they do not know the love of God. The Lord will avenge us, as He has solemnly promised in Romans 12:19-21. God will not be mocked. Truth matters. Modesty matters. People matter. People just want to be loved.

I was blinded by my love for the people of the church and their pastors for 45 months. I get attached quickly to people and things. I am not the bad guy in this story, they drew first blood. But what I couldn't see back then, but now only realize in hindsight, is that they wickedly held a grudge against me the entire time because of my website ministry. I never mentioned my websites once to them, but I didn't have to because everybody and their dog knows about my website ministry (to God be the glory).

Those ungodly pastors and their pathetic church members never fairly gave me a chance. Because the worldly pastor's wives all wear pants, they despised me from the very beginning, holding a strong grudge against me as a truth-telling fundamentalist Bible preacher. I didn't see it back then, blinded by my Christian desire to love, and hopefully be loved in return. I sincerely tried to just quietly fit into their church family and be a blessing to those around me, and I did that for 45 months. But they ruthlessly kicked me and Alice out of their damned social club, because the wimpy pastor and his horrible wife made an issue of my faithful preaching on social media (which is none of their business by the way) against women wearing pants in public, which I still firmly stand behind 100%. I make no apologies for preaching THE TRUTH!

And just because they axed us like a turkey on Thanksgiving Day, doesn't change the fact that they are still guilty in the sight of almighty God of all the things I have addressed in this article, and much more. What they presently have is not a New Testament church, it is a stupid social club and fun center of fools following fools.

One main thing I have learned over the years is that neo-evangelicals shamefully couldn't care less about the details. They refuse to make a fuss over things that really matter! They aren't concerned about splitting hairs over right doctrine. They aren't concerned about the purity of the Holy Bible, nor the accuracy of the Gospel. The way women dress in public is not an issue in their camp. In their immature mindset, mentioning the names of false teachers is not something they desire to do, lest it introduce a bad spirit into the church service. They couldn't be more wrong! Truth has and always will offend people who hate the truth!

To the Christian fundamentalist (which I humbly am), TRUTH MATTERS! But to the neo-evangelical, they're just playing church from Sunday to Sunday, going through the motions (Matthew 15:8). The reason why church attendance in the United States is now at a historic low is because young people are smart enough to know that today's churches are not what God intended for them to be. In a word, today's pathetic churches are DEAD! Some people are calling this disturbing trend: “The Great Falling Away.”

When abusive pastors are quick to kick people out of a church (no one ever bothered to talk to me and Alice even once before throwing us out of Family Baptist Church in June of 2025), they are just proving to everyone how carnal, ungodly and phony they really are. A church is supposed to be one's family in the Lord! So what gives any pastor (or his belligerent abusive father) the God-given right to kick people out of their church family? Only religious cults like Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses kick people out of their group. Shame on them!

I won't be silent. I have much to say against today's abusive and incompetent church pastors. The way you treat people matters. It is tragic that most pastors today selectively decide who is relevant and who is not, just like Facebook wickedly decides whose comments are relevant and whose are not. That is what is done in communist North Korea! I cannot find one verse in the inspired Holy Bible that teaches to kick people out of a local church. How can you help people for Christ if you drive them out of their local church family?

And I want to say this too, just because you're not an officially voted-in member of a local church doesn't mean that you are nothing. I have attended numerous churches where I was mistreated and ignored like I didn't exist, merely because I hadn't been voted-in as a member. That is as demonic and evil as anything I can think of! Shame on Family Baptist Church for making it “hard to join the church” (their pastor's own words). They sadly function more like a cult than a church.

They shunned me for the 45 months that I attended their church. Not once did the pastor ever initiate a single conversation with me. No one in church leadership ever bothered to ask for my contact information. They just didn't give a damn! I speak this to their utter shame before the Lord. I am a member of whatever church I attend because I am a born again child of the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. No child of God should ever be made to feel ostracized, unwanted or second-rate because they haven't legally joined a local 501c3 organization. What the hell is wrong with pastors today?

God Is A Scary Person To Mess With

Job 9:1-3, “Then Job answered and said, I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.”

Psalms 50:22, “Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.”

Isaiah 45:9, “Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!  Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.  Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou?  or thy work, He hath no hands?”

Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”

2nd Timothy 2:13, “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.”

These are but a few of umpteen Scripture passages I could show you, warning us that we cannot win out in the end by having a rebellious attitude toward God. Job said that even if a man were to contend with God in a thousand debates, he could not win even one time. God makes no mistakes! Nothing ever occurs to God. Everything that God does is right.

Our Creator is a good God. A person can merely observe nature and the universe and see the goodness of God. The fraudulent theory of evolution could not have accomplished all the goodness in our world. It is shameful that NASA, who are supposed to be so smart, are some of the dumbest people in history. NASA think the moon formed from two big space rocks colliding. What saith the Scripture? Psalms 8:3, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;” God made the moon, not some asteroids crashing into each other as NASA foolishly suggests. NASA are atheists!

Romans 8:32 teaches, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Yet, in Luke 16:19-31 the formerly rich man in Hell could not even receive a single drop of water to quench his burning tongue in the flames. Abraham told him there was no way possible. Once a person dies in their sins and goes to Hell, all hope is gone forever!!! Please don't let that happen to you dead reader. If you are reading my blog you are still alive, which means it is not too late. But if you delay getting born-again, playing a deadly game of Russian Roulette with your eternal destiny, then you may suddenly end up in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death (Revelation 21:8). Literally, you will be burning in scorching volcanic lava.

Many people laugh and mock the Biblical warning of a literal place called Hell. Even some professed Christians deny that Hell burns with fire. But are you willing to take that monumental risk? Are you willing to bet on that arbitrary assumption and take that foolish chance? Not me, no way, I got saved when I was 13 years old. Pastor Curtis Hutson got saved at age 11. Pastor Steven Anderson got saved at age 6. In fact, 85% of Christians got saved before age 18. Once a person reaches age 70, their odds of getting saved has dropped down to a woeful 4%. In other words, now is the accepted time for salvation. Please don't delay another day.

God will either give you ALL THINGS as His redeemed and adopted child; or else God won't even give you a drop of water as you burn in Hell forever. That is scary! Dear reader, you don't need to be afraid of God if you obey Him. But if you are incorrigible (i.e., a person who refuses to be corrected), then you will find yourself burning in Hell some day. If you think this earth is a form of Hell, you are woefully mistaken, unless you have ever been burned alive in a literal fire! Hell is no joke. Your friends won't be partying in Hell. No one is laughing in Hell!!!

I sincerely hope that you have already taken this matter of Hell very seriously, because it is 100% Biblical. Any child can read in Revelation 20:11-15 about “the Lake of Fire.” Revelation 20:15, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” If you are one of those people who thinks that God didn't mean what He said, all I can say is: “Good luck with that!” Unless the Holy Bible says otherwise, I take it literally at face value (and so should you friend). God said what He meant, and He meant what He said.

God is faithful. 2nd Timothy 2:13, “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” If a person ends up in Hell, they won't be able to blame God. Salvation is a gift from God. It is totally free. You don't have to do anything to have that gift except take it by faith alone in the GOOD NEWS that Jesus is the Christ. who died on the cross to pay for our sins, was buried and three days later He bodily resurrected from the dead. That is THE GOSPEL (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). BELIEVE IT oh sinner and you are saved!!!

Psalms 9:17, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”

Why “Asking Jesus Into Your Heart” Won't Save You

John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.”

by Bill Perkins

September 6, 2017

This truth is a shocker to a lot of people!

If you have the opportunity to witness to someone and God convicts them of their sin and need for a savior, what do you tell them to do to become a Christian?

Many people will tell a non-believer that they need to pray the sinner's prayer and "Ask Jesus into their heart."

Where is THAT in the Bible?

It's not. There is no place in the Bible that non-believers are instructed to ask Jesus into their heart to save them.

And no place in the Bible says that if you do ask Jesus into your heart you will be saved. But, unfortunately, this non-Biblical tactic has grown to be the norm.

That's a shocker to a lot of people. So what does the Bible say? Let's look at some verses.

The Philippian jailer asked Paul, "What must I do to be saved?"

Paul answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." (Acts 16:30-31)

The key word in Paul's answer is "believe."

In the original Greek, the word "believe" (pisteuo) means to have faith in / to trust in." It's in the aorist tense in the Greek which means it doesn't require future action, just a single decision.

The late Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer said in his book, "Salvation: God's Marvelous Work of Grace, (p.33) "This one word 'believe' represents all a sinner can do and all a sinner must do to be saved."

Chafer's statement is Biblically consistent. Consider:

"...whoever believes in Him..." John 3:16

"He who believes in the Son..." John 3:36

"... he who hears My word and believes..." John 5:24

"...he who believes in Me shall never thirst." John 6:35

"...everyone who ... believes in Him, ..." John 6:40

"...he who believes has eternal life." John 6:47

"...unless you believe..." John 8:24

"...he who believes in Me..." John 11:25

"...everyone who ... believes in Me..." John 11:26

"... that (by) believing you may have life..." John 20:31

You don't have to pray a prayer or ask Jesus into your heart to be saved. You just have to believe that you are a sinner, incapable of saving yourself, and that God sent His only fathered Son to the earth to shed his blood, die for your sins and be resurrected, defeating death. You are, by faith alone, trusting God and His written Word to be true.

"Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved... that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" 1st Corinthians 15:1-4

The "gospel" or "good news" that you must "believe" centers on Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died for our sins and rose again. The gospel does not include "praying for Jesus to come into your heart."

It is, of course, possible that someone "walked the aisle" or prayed the infamous "sinner's prayer" and did understand the gospel-- thereby being saved. But it was their belief in the gospel that saved them, not their walking the aisle, praying a prayer or asking Jesus into their heart.

And it is just as possible that there are many who have a false salvation security based on praying a prayer for Jesus to come into their heart without understanding the gospel!

But what about the verses about God living in us?

"...Which is Christ in you..." Colossians 1:27

"...Christ lives in me..." Galatians 2:20

"And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts..." Galatians 4:6

Yes, every Believer has Jesus living in their heart.

But how did He get there? God came into our hearts at salvation, the exact moment we, by faith, believed the gospel. We don't ask Him to come in, He comes in because we believe.

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name," John 1:12

"In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise," Ephesians 1:13

First we believe, then God sends His spirit into our hearts.

To tell someone to "ask Jesus into your heart" is blatantly skipping the scripturally necessary "believing in" / "trusting in" the gospel.

Dennis Rosker said it best in his book "Seven Reasons Not To Ask Jesus Into Your Heart." He stated, "We have confused the means of salvation with the results of salvation."

But what about Revelation 3:20?

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me." Revelation 3:20

Notably absent from this verse are the words "ask," "Jesus," and "your heart."

If this verse is written to Believers, the context is about Jesus desiring to be number one in the lives of the believers as they had confused earthly success with spiritual maturity. Jesus desired the Laodiceans to make Him not only Savior, but also be predominate in their lives.

Many have misunderstood the phrase "I will come into him" to mean "come into their heart."

Michael Cocoris discusses the Greek words used in Revelation 3:20 in his book, "Evangelism, A Biblical Approach." He says "Christ will come 'in to' (two different Greek words), not 'into' (one Greek word). The verse is saying that Christ will come in the church to the person, not that Christ will come into the person."

Cocoris later adds, "Christ is speaking of fellowship, not salvation."

Jesus wants a moment by moment fellowship with Believers.

"... taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ," 2nd Corinthians 10:5

However, if this verse is written to non-Believers, as John MacArthur contends, the term "standing at the door" is not the door of your heart, but rather the door of the Laodicean Church. MacArthur states in his Commentary on the Book of Revelation, page 140:

"The door on which Christ is knocking is not the door to a single human heart, but to the Laodicean Church."

MacArthur believes these people held to their own form of Godliness but were denying the power of the Holy Spirit (2nd Timothy 3:5).

Therefore, regardless of whether Revelation 3:20 was addressing Believers or non-Believers, it is not a verse instructing us that we need to ask Jesus into our hearts to be saved. It's just not there.

Two quotes from Charles Ryrie from his book, "So Great Salvation."

"...it seems to me that those who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible ought to be especially concerned with accuracy in communicating the truth."

"Just as words were the means God used to record the Gospel in the Scriptures, so words are the means we use to explain the Gospel to others. Therefore, a correct choice of words is important, even essential, in stating the Gospel well."

There may be someone reading this who prayed a prayer and your faith of salvation is in the fact you prayed the prayer. Or you may have walked to the front of a meeting and your faith is in the fact you walked forward.

If there is any doubt that you are a Christian, simply believe by faith in the true gospel of salvation -- that God sent His Son Jesus to die for your personal sins, and rose from the dead defeating death so you can have eternal life with God.

Salvation has zero to do with what you did in the past--or will do in the future--and everything to do with what Jesus did on the cross 2000 years ago. When you believe you are forever assured of eternal life with Jesus. Because once He comes into your life, He's there forever. PTL!

Bill Perkins is the founder and Executive Director of Compass International, Inc.
© Copyright 1993-2014, Compass International Inc.

Stop Trying To Fix Your Reputation

I found something today on social media written by Dave Hyles, which I full agree with and wanted to share with others...

There’s a popular analogy often used when explaining the destructive nature of gossip and slander. It goes like this: Imagine taking a feather pillow to the top of a tall building, cutting it open, and shaking it in the wind. Feathers fly everywhere—scattered far and wide. And try as you might, you could never recover them all. That’s how gossip works. Once it’s released, there’s no gathering it back.

It’s a powerful picture. Words, once spoken, especially those aimed at someone’s character, take on a life of their own. They float through conversations, drift into judgments, and settle into minds that may never question where they came from or whether they were true. The damage is real—and often irreversible.

But let me offer you a practical response to that analogy. 

I don’t chase feathers.

I used to think I had to. I used to feel the weight of trying to explain myself, correct misunderstandings, and defend my name to anyone who had caught wind of a stray feather. But over time, I’ve learned the futility of that pursuit. It’s exhausting. It’s frustrating. And most of all—it’s not my job.

Here’s what I do instead: I let God handle it.

If He chooses to send a feather back my way—a relationship, a conversation, a moment of reconciliation—I’ll receive it, not for my own sake, but for the sake of the one holding it. Maybe that person needs healing. Maybe they need clarity. Maybe they just need to see that God still uses broken people. But I don’t chase the feathers. I simply wait for the ones God sends back on the wind.

My reputation is not my concern. My responsibility is not to convince others to think better of me. My calling is not to campaign for my character. My role is to walk humbly, stay faithful, and let God determine which relationships matter and when they’re ready to be restored.

That’s where peace lives.

Too many people are wasting precious energy trying to fix every misperception, recover every scattered word, and salvage every shattered opinion. But if you’re constantly running around trying to regather feathers, you’ll miss the ones God is gently bringing back to your feet.

Let Him decide which hearts need mending. Let Him determine who comes back across your path. And when they do, be a blessing—not a defense attorney. Show them grace, not argument. Offer healing, not explanation. That one feather matters—not because it proves anything about you, but because it gives you a chance to be used by God in someone else’s life.

Stop trying to fix your reputation. Let your character speak. Let your life preach. And let God bring you the feathers He chooses—in His time, and for His purpose.

That’s enough. That’s freedom.

And that’s faith.

There's an old adage which says: “Your friends won't care if the accusations against you are true, and your enemies won't care if they're false.” I have found that adage to be very true in life. Pastor Jack Hyles was so right, “The Christian army is the only army in the world that kills its wounded.”

David in the Old Testament knew the pain of being shunned, ostracized and condemned for his sins. Psalms 31:11, “I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.” David's neighbours had heard about his adultery with another man's wife, Bathsheba. She became pregnant with David's child. The neighbours had heard that David conspired to send her husband Uriah into the hottest part of the battle to be killed. In a wicked attempt to keep his dark sins a secret, the whole thing blew up in David's face!

Another popular adage comes to mind: “The stigma sticks!” People by nature go by what they hear. All it takes is one wicked person to start a rumor about you and thousands of people may believe it. That is wrong of course, but it is sinful human nature nonetheless. David's neighbours saw him and were afraid to talk with him, because of the bad news they'd heard about him, so they avoided him like Bubonic Plague.

I have had people do that to me in the past, when they heard slanderous gossip about me, and my pain was greater than I can express in words. If you've ever lived in a small town or an island, where everybody knows everything about each other, then you know how things work. Also, if you are a famous person, negative news spreads quickly like fire. It hurts inexplicably when friends, family and even strangers shun you. It shouldn't be that way in life, but it often is true. We should always see beyond people's faults and see their need instead. Dear reader, take your burden to the Lord and leave it there (1st Peter 5:7-10). God is faithful.

I have been shunned in every church I have attended for the past 10 years because of my website ministry. When I attended Pensacola Christian College's Campus Church in 2021, their incompetent senior pastor Jeff Redlin told me that he and the other pastors examined my ministry websites and saw that I find weakness in preachers. I have 11,000 webpages on eight different ministry websites, but they only saw the 1% of pages where I justly expose corrupt pastors who butcher the Gospel, promote corruptible seed (false bibles) and mistreat people who tell THE TRUTH. Sadly, I have since added the ungodly pastors at PCC to my list of infidels that I expose.

David had to come to the place where he realized he had sinned against God alone. Psalms 51:4, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.” Dear reader, people will never let you live down your past sins. Remember, Satan is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10). Jesus said in John 15:19 that the heathen world will love their own, but they will hate the Christian, because the world hates Jesus (John 7:7).

The Devil calls us by our sins, but God calls us by our name. If we allow Satan and his children to do so, they will discourage us to the point of not wanting to serve God anymore, or seek relief from substance abuse, or even take one's own life. People can be cruel. I learned a very long time ago that I must let God handle my critics. I am a very beloved and hated fundamentalist Bible preacher, because I tell the truth. I have never claimed to be a good Christian, but God knows that I love Him and am trying to do the best I can in His strength to make a difference for Christ in this world (Galatians 2:20-21). God knows that I have a big heart and I care, which I owe all to Him, for it is the Holy Spirit in me who produces whatever goodness I have.

Woe unto the hateful critics! Matthew 7:1-3, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” I condemn no man, because I am the biggest sinner I know (and so are you if you'll be honest with yourself and God). 1st Timothy 5:24, “Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.” We are all a bunch of hypocrites and wretched sinners! Psalms 106:6, “We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.” You'll become a better Christian when you stop saying: “He has sinned” and “She has sinned,” and you start saying: “We have sinned.”

You cannot repair your bad reputation dear friend. Reputation is what people think about you; Character is what God knows about you. My goal over the years has been to be a better Christian in private, than what people think I am in public. God sees my heart. My enemies say some horrible things about me, and in so doing slander the Lord since I am His child (Matthew 25:40, 45). It is not my place to defend myself against critics. I saw Pastor Jack Hyles attempt to defend himself and his ministry, but his enemies twisted his words around (as they always do) and made things even worse. I have never tried (nor will I ever try) to defend myself from my hateful critics who seek to destroy my name, ministry and influence for Christ.

Jesus was the sinless only begotten Son of almighty God. Yet, Jesus' enemies called Him a deceiver, a bastard born of fornication, a lunatic and demon possessed. If the world will say such evil things about the very Christ, then what will they say about you and me dear saint of God? They will crucify us, just as they crucified the Lord of glory.

Satan loves critics! The accuser of the brethren loves the accuser of the brethren. I want no part of it. I faithfully expose false prophets, fake churches, counterfeit gospels and corrupt Bible revisions, but I won't waste my time hatefully tearing down people like they do on social media. It is right to expose false teachers (Titus 1:9-14) and evil (Psalms 94:16), but it is wrong to condemn sinners (John 3:17; Matthew 7:1-5). The Old Testament law of God already condemns all of humanity as guilty sinners (Romans 3:10-23).

Whatever mistakes, sins or failures exist in your past, place them into God's hands dear reader. Leave them at the foot of Calvary's cross where Jesus died for your sins and mine. If you've wronged someone, go make it right and reconcile if possible. You might need to make some restitution, or even go to prison, which is proper and right if you've broken laws to hurt someone. You can never be right with God, until you have first reconciled and made proper restitution to your victims from the past. When Zacchaeus got saved in the Bible, he vowed to repay fourfold whatever money he had bilked from others. That is a wise man.

Every once in a while someone will email me and say they have done something terribly evil. I always quickly reply by telling them not to tell me, because I don't need or want to know what they have done. Pastor Jack Hyles wisely taught not to be reluctant to admit to others you have feet of clay, but don't ever show them your feet. Your sins are none of anyone's business except God's, unless you are trying to reconcile with the victim. If you would never do anything terribly wicked, then don't do anything slightly wicked. That is godly advice!

There is a sweet peace in knowing that you have made peace with those from your past whom you've hurt. If nothing else, an apology is at least a start. In some cases you may not be able to reconcile or even apologize, if you don't know who your victims were, or they have moved on. God knows all the details. We cannot pull one over on our Creator (Proverbs 24:12). God is omniscient (all knowing). Proverbs 15:3, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”

Lord help me live from day to day, in such a way that I can look up to Heaven each evening, and know that I have not defrauded, hurt or wronged any human being. That is loving thy neighbour as one's self, and loving God with all thy heart, mind and soul. These are the two greatest commandments from God, which are really just one—to LOVE.

How To Know You Are Going To Heaven

The following article is by Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995), former faithful editor of the Sword Of The Lord in Tennessee...

FIRST, YOU MUST ACCEPT THAT YOU ARE A SINNER.

(Romans 3:23), "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

(Romans 3:10), "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one."

No one is perfect. No one has lived up to God's perfect standard.

SECOND, YOU MUST ACCEPT THAT AS A SINNER YOU OWE A PENALTY.

(Romans 6:23), "For the wages of sin is death ... ."

(Ezekiel 18:4), "The soul that sinneth, it shall die."

This death is described in the Bible as the second death, the lake of fire,

(Revelation 20:l4), "Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death."

If we pay what we owe as sinners, we must spend an eternity in the lake of fire (Hell).

THIRD, YOU MUST ACCEPT THAT JESUS CHRIST HAS ALREADY PAID OUR SIN DEBT.

(Romans 5:6), "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."

(Hebrews 2:9b), " . .that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man."

Christ was not a sinner, and the Bible teaches that God took all of our sin and placed it on Christ. While Christ was bearing all of our sins in His own body, God punished Him in our place to pay the debt we owe. This is not something God promised to do. It is something God has already done.

(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."

(II Corinthians 5:21), "He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

It is a fact, Jesus Christ has already paid your sin debt.

FOURTH, YOU MUST ACCEPT BY FAITH WHAT JESUS CHRIST DID FOR YOU. NINETY TIMES IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN THE BIBLE SAYS, "BELIEVE."

(John 3:36), "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."

In this verse. Jesus divides the world into two groups: those who are believing and those who are not believing on the Son. Those who believe have everlasting life, and those who believe not shall not see life.

The word believe means to trust, to depend on, to rely on. To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ means that you accept the fact that you are a sinner, that as a sinner you owe the sin penalty, and that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the debt you owe. But it means going one step further. It means that you will completely trust Christ to get you to Heaven - that you will put the matter of your salvation in His hands and depend on Him for everlasting life.

Now the moment you do this, God promises you are not condemned but have everlasting life and that you shall never perish.

(John 5:24), "Verily, verily, I Say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

If you will trust Jesus Christ as your Saviour, pray this simple prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner, and I deserve to pay my own sin debt, but I do believe that You died for me to pay the debt that I owe. Today, the best I know how, I trust You as my Saviour. I will depend on You from this moment on for my salvation, Now help me to live for You and to be a good Christian. Amen.

Now, to clarify, I personally never lead a lost sinner to pray a prayer. I deliberately don't do it because of the 7 years of struggle, tears and fear that I suffered as a teenager because I was led to pray a prayer. The truth dear reader is that you DON'T need to pray a prayer to be saved. You can simply BELIEVE (i.e., put your confidence in) the 'GOOD NEWS' (Gospel) of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen the third day to be saved. Jesus died in your place and mine on the cross, paying our massive debt of sin that we simply could not pay. The wages of sin is death, not doing good works or turning away from sin. That is why Christ had to die on the cross to pay for our debt of sin. Jesus paid it all!

It is not wrong to pray a sinner's prayer. When I got saved at age 13, I did ask Jesus silently in my soul to save me. It is a natural thing to do. But it is critically important that you understand that you could just as easily BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST (Acts 16:30-31), without praying at all and still be saved. You don't need to ask, confess publicly or call (pray) upon the name of the Lord to be saved. You just need to put your trust in the GOOD NEWS, which God has recorded in His written Word concerning His only begotten Son. If you receive that GOOD NEWS, you are immediately and forever born-again. You are then a child of God.

That is how 3,000 people got saved on the Day of Pentecost. No one prayed. No one called. No one confessed. The Apostle Peter simply preached the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen the third day, and the people gladly received the truth of God's Word. Acts 2:41, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” One of my favorite related Bible verses is found in Galatians 3:2, “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” I love that phrase... THE HEARING OF FAITH. That is how a person gets saved! When you hear the Gospel being preached, you simply put your faith in it.

What saith the Scripture? Hebrews 4:2, “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” This passage of Scripture is about the Jews who wandered lost in the Wilderness for 40 years. They tried to find their way out, but God confounded them for 40 years as punishment for their constant complaining. The Bible teaches that Moses, their leader, preached THE GOSPEL unto them for 40 years, but the people didn't have FAITH in that GOOD NEWS, so they went to Hell, sadly. Here again we see how easy it is to be saved. If the Jews had simply BELIEVED the Gospel that Moses preached unto them, about remission of sins through faith alone in the coming Messiah, they would have been saved (Acts 10:43).

The Gospel plus faith alone equals eternal life.

The Gospel plus human effort equals eternal damnation.

The Gospel plus turning away from your sins equals eternal damnation.

The Gospel plus following Jesus as your Lord equals eternal damnation.

The Gospel plus water baptism equals eternal damnation.

The Gospel plus surrendering all to Christ equals eternal damnation.

Remember, it's not...
FAITH IN CHRIST, PLUS;
it's... 
FAITH IN CHRIST, PERIOD.

“The issue at salvation isn't repenting of your sins, the issue is changing your mind about the one who died for your sins, Jesus Christ.” —Pastor Dennis Rokser

“You can slip off the front pew of this church and go to Hell, because no church can save you.” —Pastor Dennis Rokser

Good works are not the payment for sin, the payment for sin is death.

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.

I Never Knew You
(Michael P. Bowen)

Hell Is Full Of Good People

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.”

Matthew 19:16-23, “ And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

Acts 10:1-2, “There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.”

Hell is full of good people! I have given you three Bible examples of good people who were not saved. That is, they had never been born-again!

Matthew 7:21-23 - 'Ye That Work Iniquity'

In Matthew 7:21-23 we read about a devout group of people who preached (prophesied in Jesus' name). They did many wonderful works in Jesus' name. These were decent and good people. They weren't criminals! They went about doing good deeds everywhere they went, and they did them all in Jesus' name, because they served Christ. But dear reader, you cannot get to Heaven by serving Christ! Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born-again. Religion is oftentimes a deadly mask that blinds it's followers to THE TRUTH of the Gospel.

Matthew 19:16-23 - 'What Good Thing Shall I Do?'

And then in Matthew 19:16-23 we read about a rich young man, a ruler among the Jews, who greatly admired Jesus and came to ask Him something. The young man asked Jesus what he needed to do to have eternal life. That is a great question! In fact, it is the most important question that anyone could ever ask. The dear Savior discerned that the young man was trusting in his own self-righteousness, because he had greeted Jesus as: “Good Master.”

The young man asked Jesus in Matthew 19:16a, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” Sadly, this is how 95% of people think! They foolishly think that to get to Heaven they must live a good life. Jesus discerned that the young man was self-righteous, so He responded by using the Old Testament law the way it was intended to be used, as a measuring stick, to show that young man that he had fallen short of God's perfect standard. If any human being could live a 100% perfect and sinless life, they would never die! Romans 6:23b teaches that “the wages of sin is death.”

That is why Roman Catholics had to invent the false doctrine of The Assumption of Mary (which became official Catholic dogma in 1950), which falsely teaches that God assumed Mary (i.e., took Jesus' mother up into Heaven), because according to Catholics Mary never sinned. Catholics teach a heresy called The Immaculate Conception of Mary (i.e., she was virgin born too, Just like Jesus). Oh boy, what blasphemy against the Holy Bible. One heresy begets another heresy!!! Since Catholics teach that Mary was virgin born, they had to fabricate another false doctrine that says Mary never sinned, just like Jesus. And since she allegedly never sinned, she couldn't die either, because only sin brings death. I hope you can clearly see how Satanic the Roman and Russian Orthodox Catholic churches are! Roman Catholicism is headquartered in Vatican City, Rome. The Russian Orthodox Catholic church is headquartered in Moscow, Russia. There's not a dimes difference between these two cults!

Jesus was trying to show the rich young ruler that no amount of good works could erase his sins. The young man was very wealthy and covetous, making him a sinner, incapable of meriting eternal life. Jesus is the ONLY human being who has ever lived without sinning, and that is only because He had God almighty as His biological Father (John 3:16). God almighty came down to earth as a biological man. Deity became flesh, incarnate (John 1:1-3, 14; John 10:33; 1st Timothy 3:16). Colossians 2:8-9, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

In the earthly flesh of the man Jesus, the Godhead dwelt in all their fullness. The Godhead is often referred to in Bible theology classes as the “Trinity.” Although I am not against using the word Trinity, I like the Word Godhead much better, since it is found in the Holy Bible. It is no coincidence that the word “Godhead” has been completely removed in nearly all of the Devil's modern Bible revisions, because the Devil doesn't want people to recognize Jesus as almighty God. In the inspired King James Bible you will find the word “Godhead” mentioned three times (Acts 17:29, Romans 1:20 and Colossians 2:9). But in all three passages, the modern Bible perversions totally obliterate the Godhead.

Take a look at a comparison between Colossians 2:9 in the trustworthy King James Bible, versus the corrupt English Standard Version (ESV), which is the official Bible version used by Bob Jones University (BJU) now for many years...

KING JAMES BIBLE (KJB) - Colossians 2:9, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION (ESV) - Colossians 2:9, “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,”

There is a BIG DIFFERENCE between the words “deity” and “Godhead.” Deity refers to God, but Godhead refers to the triune aspect of God. Words convey meaning and are extremely important. Take a look at a comparison of Romans 1:20 between the inspired King James Bible, versus the corrupt English Standard Version (ESV)...

KING JAMES BIBLE (KJB) - Romans 1:20, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”

ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION (ESV) - Romans 1:20, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

The words “divine nature” are NOT the same as “Godhead.” Things that are different are not the same! Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) preaches one of my favorite sermons of the same title, called: “Things That Are Different Are Not The Same.” I cannot warn you enough dear reader about the danger of using the Devil's modern Bible revisions. They are all corrupt, translated from the corrupt 1881 Greek text of Brooke Westcott and Fenton Hort. Even the translations which claim to be based upon the Textus Receptus, from which the King James Bible was translated in 1611, are still corrupted by the influence of Westcott and Hort. For example: The ungodly translators of the English Standard Version (ESV) falsely claim that their work is accurately based upon the Textus Receptus, but if you compare it to all the rest of the Westcott and Hort versions, it is essentially the same. If you've seen one Westcott and Hort Bible, you've seen them all!!! That is because they all share the same corruptions! Which Bible Would Jesus Use? (take a look at Matthew 8:2, 1st Timothy 3:16 and Psalms 12:7).

Acts 10:1-2 - Cornelius, A Good Man But Lost

Cornelius had faith in God. He was an Italian centurion (military commander) over 100 solders. He fasted and prayed, giving alms (provisions) to the poor. Cornelius was a GOOD MAN who feared God. Yet he was not a born-again believer. God arranged for the Apostle Peter and Cornelius to meet. Thankfully, we read in Acts 10:42-43 that Cornelius got saved, and the friends who were with him. I like something that Pastor Curtis Hutson said:

“Just yesterday I heard a man say on the radio, or television, that a certain area was 'Gospel hardened.' And I thought to myself: 'You just don't understand. The area is not Gospel hardened, it is Gospel ignorant.'” —Dr. Curtis Hutson, sermon title: “Things That Are Different Are Not The Same”

Dear reader, Hell is full of unsaved GOOD PEOPLE, who died in their sins without Jesus Christ. if you want to go to Heaven, you need GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS, which is by faith alone in Jesus Christ. Romans 10:3-4, “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” 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 really love those two Bible verses!!!

THE CLEAR GOSPEL IN 4 MINUTES
(Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold)