Galatians 1:6-8, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”
I was watching an intriguing video today on YouTube in which a man named Parker is shooting various types of guns at several stainless steel frying pans, to see how many pans each different type of weapon can penetrate. I love stuff like this! Here's the video...
How Bulletproof are Frying Pans?
About halfway through the video Parker explains that he is a Christian, that is, he believes that Jesus is whom He claimed to be, the only begotten Son of God, the very Christ. I fully agree with him on that truth. However, at the end of the video Parker unfortunately ADDS turning from your sins to be saved, which is false teaching. Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Nowhere does the inspired King James Bible, nor the available copies of the ancient Hebrew and Greek manuscripts of Scripture, require that you repent of your sinning to be saved. You don't repent AND believe to be saved; you repent TO believe to be saved, Repentance facilitates (makes possible) believing. If you didn't change your mind (repent), then you'd never turn from your unbelief to be saved.
Now, I'm sure in defense of repenting of your sins to be saved some Smart Alec will cite John 3:20, “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” Ostensibly this passage seems to teach that you must turn from your love of sin to be saved. However, please don't leave out John 3:21, “But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” The Word of God doesn't say, “But he that turneth from his sins” cometh to the light; it reads “But he that doeth truth” cometh to the light to be saved.
The Apostle Paul sheds further light on this obscure passage of Scripture in 2nd Timothy 2:25-26, “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.” Amen! Repentance in the Bible concerning the new birth never means to turn away from sinning, it means to acknowledge THE TRUTH.
Repentance may include “remorse” (made you sorry), but remorse is not repentance. If so, then Judas repented because he was remorseful over what he had done to Christ (Mt 27:3). You can weep over sin and even express great remorse, but until you “change your mind” as to who you are and who Christ is and agree with God (Mt 3:2), you have not repented biblically.
Repentance may include “sorrow” (you were made sorry), but sorrow for sin is not repentance. Hell is full or sorrow, but only for the consequences of sin. The rich man who died and went to Hell uttered not a word of sorrow for his sin, only sorrow for his pain (Lk 16:19-31). You can weep over sin and even express great regret, but until you “change your mind” as to who you are and who Christ is and agree with God, you have not repented biblically.
Repentance may include “conviction” (after a godly manner), but conviction is not repentance. If so, then Felix repented when he trembled before Paul (Acts 24:24-25). You may be convicted that you are a sinner and even admit that you are lost, but repentance is a two-sided coin. You not only have to “change your mind” as to who you are, you have to also “change your mind” as to who Christ is and call upon Him to be your Savior (Rom 10:9-13). Otherwise, you have not repented biblically.
SOURCE: Pastor Brad Strand, “The Strand Study Bible,” p. 1938
I am so thankful for Pastor Strand, that he is one of few preachers today who gets repentance correct. Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) in a sermon titled, “A Vote For Preaching,” spoke in this excerpt about the false gospel of Lordship Salvation which is unfortunately being preached from nearly every pulpit today. RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!!!
Getting back to the initiate topic, in response to Parker's interesting but heretical video on YouTube, I posted this kind response in the comments (hopefully he will heed the truth)...
Kindly said Parker, I love your video and was glad at first to rejoice when you boldly proclaimed your faith in Jesus, but then you ruined it at the end by perverting God's simple plan of salvation. Unless you are using one of Satan's modern corrupt English Bible previsions, the trustworthy inspired King James Bible nowhere defines "repentance" as "turning from your sins." The Greek noun for "repent" concerning salvation is always metanoia (a change of mind), and the verb metanoeo (to think differently). Turning from sin is the English dictionary's meaning of "repent," but it is not the biblical Greek meaning.
When God calls on you to "repent, and believe the Gospel" in Mark 1;15, He wishes for you to lay aside your wrong thoughts, and believe the Glad Tidings (i.e., Jesus' death on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection) that He proclaims to you (1 Corinthians 15:1-6). It was ignorant but sincere theologians who added turning from sins as a prerequisite to being born again (Proverbs 14;12).
I encourage you to read the writings of true free grace preachers such as Pastor Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951). In his Gospel tract titled, "What Is The Gospel?," Pastor Ironside accurately writes these words:
“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 …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.”
I encourage you to read books by Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995), Dr. Mark G. Cambron (1911-2000) and Pastor Max D. Younce (1935-2023), which doctrinally sound Bible study books are available for free online).
In particular, I encourage you to read Michael P. Bowen's helpful book in defense of a free grace Gospel, "I Never Knew You," which is also freely available to read in .pdf format online. Right doctrine matters my friend.
I understand from your video that you first responded to a religious invitation concerning Christ in 2021, but what you responded to simply wasn't the Gospel if you turned away from your sinning to be saved, it was manmade tradition and not the commandment of God (Mark 7:9).
When the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved, their simple answer in Acts 16:31 was to, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." They didn't instruct the Roman jailer to turn from his sins to be saved.
When the Apostle Peter preached the Gospel to Cornelius and his friends in Acts chapter 10, at no point in his presentation did Peter instruct them to turn away from their sins to be saved. Since the only sin that can prevent us from going to Heaven is unbelief, then to be saved we must turn from unbelief (or "dead works" as Hebrews 6:1 mentions) to trust Jesus Christ.
In John 20:31 the Apostle John says the purpose for which he penned the Gospel of John is to convince the reader that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten Son of God. The book of John is God's Gospel tract for humanity. At no point does John teach to forsake one's sinful ways to get to Heaven, which would constitute works for salvation (Romans 3:20).
In John 6:28-29 when some people asked Jesus what they must do to work the works of God, the dear Savior simply replied, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." Again, Jesus did NOT tell them to turn from their sins.
To place one's faith in Jesus Christ is to turn from the awfulness and condemnation that sin brings. But this is vastly different than having a willingness to make an effort to stop sinning, which is works. We are saved by believing, not by repenting, but a person MUST repent to be saved. That is, they must change their mind from unbelief to belief. You and I contribute nothing to salvation except the sin that made it necessary.
The plain truth is that those false converts who think they have "turned from their sins" to be saved are still full of sinful thoughts and ways. The only thing that makes me any more righteous than the vilest hellbound sinner is the precious blood of Jesus that washed my sins away the moment I got saved at age 13 in 1980.
There is no such thing as turning from one's sins, only being forgiven of our sins through faith in Jesus. A changed life is NOT the result of genuine repentance unto life (the new birth); but rather, a changed life is the "fruit" of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24). But a redeemed child of God must choose daily to walk in the Spirit, or by default we will walk in the flesh (Galatians 5:25). The former is salvation (Galatians 3:26), the latter is service (Romans 12;1). One has nothing to do with the other. Pastor M.R. DeHaan (1891-1965) explains it very well...
“There is a vast difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ makes one a disciple. All believers are not disciples. To become a believer one accepts the invitation of the Gospel, to be a disciple one obeys the challenge to a life of dedicated service and separation. Salvation comes through the sacrifice of Christ; discipleship comes only by sacrifice of self and surrender to His call for devoted service. Salvation is free, but discipleship involves paying the price of a separated walk. Salvation can't be lost because it depends upon God's faithfulness, but discipleship can be lost because it depends upon our faithfulness.” —Pastor M.R. DeHaan, Hebrews; Zondervan Publishing House, 1959 (p. 117)
Biblically, a lost sinner need only come to God on the basis that they are a guilty sinner, and by faith (taking God at His recorded Word in the Scripture) trust in the Good News of the blessed crucified, buried and risen Savior to get to Heaven. The moment that a lost sinner by faith receives Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full payment for his sins, believing that Christ was buried but is risen, that sinner is instantly, irrevocably and forever saved by God's grace alone.
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.Thank you for reading.
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