Acts 20:20-21, “And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
I heard a sermon recently from Pastor's School in March of 2000 by Pastor Jack Hyles titled, “When Preachers Disagree.” In that sermon (at 28:15 time) Brother Hyles said that he resigned from their Board of Directors in 1996 and withdrew his support of the Sword of the Lord in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, whose editor since 1995 has been Dr. Shelton Smith. Pastor Hyles said he refuses to preach for Dr. Smith, nor will Dr. Smith preach for him, but they are friends.
That got me to wondering what happened. Under Dr. Curtis Hutson (1934-1995), whom Pastor Hyles recommend to succeed Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980). Pastor Hyles became a board member of the Sword of the Lord after he declined the editorship in 1960, following a request from John R. Rice. But why did Dr. Hyles resign under Shelton Smith? I do not know, but wish that I did. I asked ChatGPT and the A.I. said it was over differences in their views on repentance, scandals at First Baptist Church of Hammond, and conflicts in leadership in the independent fundamentalist movement.
What ChatGPT said about repentance caught my attention. I admit that I've made a hobbyhorse out of the Gospel and repentance, because these issues are of the utmost importance. What you believe determines where you will spend eternity.
So, I ordered Dr. Shelton Smith's 30-page booklet written in 2015 titled, “What About Repentance?” The Sword of the Lord insanely wanted $17.50 for shipping for a booklet that only costs $1.49, so I ordered it from '4Gospel' instead, which cost $6.95 including the shipping. Now, I spent eight years at Hyles-Anderson College. By God's grace, I graduated with honors on the Dean's List in 1993. Pastor Jack Hyles signed my diploma. I doubt if anyone is more familiar with Pastor Hyles' thousands of sermons and Bible studies than I am. I know what Brother Hyles believed and taught about repentance. That being said, after reading Dr. Shelton's booklet, I FULLY AGREE with Dr. Shelton's teachings on Bible repentance. I do not see any difference between what Pastor Jack Hyles teaches and Brother Smith.
Pastor Jack Hyles said about repentance...
“Repentance is not some little silly, 'I'm sorry.' Repentance is not simply a fear of God. Repentance is not a monk fasting and afflicting his body in a monastery. Repentance is not remorse because of sin's consequences. Repentance is not penance performed before the pope as you kiss his toe... Repentance is not being sorry for what I've done wrong. It is not confessing one's sins to a priest. It is not just conviction of sin. It is not the signing of a pledge of abstinence. Repentance is that thing when you come before God and see yourself as you are, and see Him as he is, and say with Isaiah 'Woe is me, for I am unclean!'” [emphasis added] —Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001), 'THE GOODNESS OF GOD LEADETH TO REPENTANCE'
I encourage you to read my helpful article, 'What Is Biblical Repentance?' You've got to know what you're being saved from—the penalty of sin, which is the second death in Hell (Revelation 21:8). No one has ever been saved who didn't admit that he is a sinner!
"Repentance is the recognition of my sinnership — the owning before God that I am as vile as He has declared me to be in His holy Word." —Pastor Harry Ironside, 'Except Ye Repent,' chapter 3Pastor Bob Gray Sr. of the former Longview Baptist Temple church in Texas correctly says...
“Repentance means to change your mind—change your mind—change your mind about how you want to get to Heaven to what God says you've got to do to get to Heaven. If you've got to repent of all your sins, you're still headed for Hell tonight.” —Pastor Bob Gray Sr., a quote from the awesome MP3 sermon, 'Why You Should Be A Part Of A Growing Church'Pastor Harry A. Ironside rightly describes 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.” —Pastor Harry Ironside, 'Except Ye Repent,' p. 16The only thing that we need to repent from to be saved is UNBELIEF. Repentance simply means “a change of mind.” Believers change our minds every day about all kinds of things, including the sins in our life. Repenting of sins throughout one's Christian life is solely a matter of DISCIPLESHIP, not SALVATION. It is a matter of growing in the Lord's grace (1st Peter 2:2), as we yield to the Holy Spirit's leading in obedience to the Scripture (2nd Corinthians 10:5-6).
Dr. Shelton Smith says in his book on page 1 that the word “repent” in its various forms appears in the King James Bible 112 times total (46 times in the Old Testament, and 66 times in the New Testament). I full agree with Dr. Smith that repentance is TOWARD GOD and not “from sin.”
On page 3, Dr. Smith says:
The word “repent” in its various forms is found 46 times in the Old Testament. Of that number, God Himself does the repenting 28 times, and man, only 9 times. The other 9 times tell of things of which God will not repent. If “repent” means to turn from sin, then you have God turning from sin 28 times in the Old Testament and man turning from sin only 9 times. —Dr. Shelton Smith, “What About Repentance?,” p. 3
Amen and amen, I agree. Brother Smith says of all those 112 mentions, it seems to him that there is only place that the Bible gives us the meaning of repentance, which is in Acts 20:21, “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” I humbly disagree with Dr. Smith that this defines what it means to “repent.” We already know what it mean to repent from the Greek noun metanoia, it is “a change of mind”; nothing less, nothing more.
I agree with Brother Smith that repentance and faith are inseparable, as two sides of the same coin. I also agree with him on page 8 that, “Some folks make everything so hard that they rarely win anybody to Christ. That is a tragic misrepresentation of the Gospel!”
On pages 10 and 11 he refutes the error of Lordship Salvation.
What Dr. Smith is referring to is the application of repentance, not the definition. Since the Greek word “metanoia” itself does not tell us what to change our mind about, we need supplemental information, which as Dr. Smith correctly says on page 4 can only be determined by the context of a particular passage. In the case of Acts 20:21, we are taught to change our mind (or the Greek verb, metanoeo, which means: “to think differently”) toward God. Nowhere in the entire inspired Holy Bible are we told to repent of our sinning to get to Heaven.
Bible repentance is a matter of repenting (changing your mind) to acknowledge the truth (2nd Timothy 2:25). You must acknowledge THE TRUTH that you are a guilty SINNER (Romans 3:19-20), and that Jesus is the only SAVIOR (Galatians 3:24-26). That is the only things you need to change your mind about to be saved.
Dr. Shelton Smith Ought Not Sanction the 'Repent of your sins' Unbiblical Expression
The only real problem I have with his book is on page 4, where he writes:
“We often hear the expression, 'Repent of your sins,” and I don't see anything wrong with using that expression. But nowhere does the Bible says, Repent of your sins.' When the Bible uses the word 'repent,' what the repentance is about is always determined by the context.” [emphasis added] —Dr. Shelton Smith, “What About Repentance?,” p. 4
Whoa Horsie! I DO have a problem with using that expression, simply because it is not found anywhere in the Bible. If the inspired Word of God doesn't teach to repent of your sins to be saved, then why in the world would Dr. Smith be okay with it? I cannot help but feel that he is coddling his ministry's supporters. I'd dare say that over 90% of the churches and Bible colleges that financially support the Sword of the Lord today foolishly teach that you must repent of your sins to get to Heaven. In my humble opinion his book attempts to appease BOTH sides of the argument, although in fairness to Dr. Smith he plainly refutes David W. Cloud (without mentioning his name) as a false accuser, troublemaker and unethical man.
Accuser of the Brethren, Dr. David W. Cloud
Missionary to Nepal, India, David W. Cloud has slandered the Sword of the Lord for decades, wrongly accusing Dr. Curtis Hutson and Brother Smith of changing the Sword's earlier position which was held by Dr. John R. Rice. Nothing could be further from the truth. As Dr. Smith rightly points out in his booklet in defense of the Sword of the Lord, these editors all used their own different words (some stronger than others), but they all believed in salvation by grace without actually having to forsake a lifestyle of sinning to be saved. John R. Rice made it abundantly clear that the man who trusts Christ has turned from his sins; that is, he has repented toward God. Repentance means to change your mind—that’s what believing is.
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. [emphasis added]Oh dear friend, that is so beautiful. Clearly Dr. Rice did not believe nor support the damnable heresy that you must be willing to forsake your sinful bad habits to get to Heaven. He plainly taught that when you put your faith in the 'GOOD NEWS' (Gospel) of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen the third day, you have turned in faith toward God from the sin of unbelief. The only thing that you and I contribute to our own salvation is the sin that made it necessary.
SOURCE: Evangelist John R. Rice, “Acts: Filled With The Spirit,” pp. 251-252; Sword Of The Lord, Murfreesboro, Tennessee; ©1963
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. David Cloud even goes as far as to pitch Dr. John R. Rice against his successors Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) and Dr. Shelton Smith. Mr. Cloud claims that Curtis Hutson leaves off repentance, thus corrupting the Gospel. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Dr. Shelton Smith Wickedly Bids Godspeed to PCC
The Sword of the Lord for the longest time have run full page advertisements promoting Pensacola Christian College (PCC), who preach Lordship Salvation and Misunderstood Repentance. We have a terrible sore evil in fundamentalism today of indifferent pastors going along with the herd, tolerating the repent of your sins damnable heresy which has crept into the church. I understand that the words “Rapture,” “Trinity” and “Bible” and not in the King James Bible, but the meaning of those terms is quite clear; whereas the meaning of the expression “repent of your sins” can mean a bunch of different things to a lot of people. It is a dangerous phrase to use! In fact, that is the very reason why a lot of preachers use it without explaining what it means, so when challenged they can go either way on the issue.
I think it is wrong and shameful that Dr. Shelton Smith doesn't earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints (Jude 1:3). We are at spiritual war in our churches today over the meaning of repentance (and thus, the Gospel). Dr. Smith is sinfully coddling the enemy. Look at what garbage PCC teaches...
“REPENTANCE — Now is the time to turn from your sin and embrace God. The act of turning away from sin is called 'repentance.' This word implies an inward decision to follow and obey God's will instead of your self-serving sins. It means changing your mind about sin and seeing it as something that grieves God. The Bible says that God patiently waits for all people to make this decision.” [emphasis added]SOURCE: “John & Romans,” Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College, p. 60
My God in Heaven, why does Dr. Shelton Smith and the Sword of the Lord wickedly bid Godspeed to this blatant heresy? 2nd John 1:11, “For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” This is a counterfeit plan of salvation on par with the Church of Christ, Seventh-Day Adventists and Mormonism! PCC's Campus Church further states:
“I repent of my sins. I realize that sin is something that God hates and I no longer want to hold onto sinful bad habits.” [emphasis added]
SOURCE: “John & Romans,” Campus Church at Pensacola Christian College, p. 62
Oh My! Folks, this is NOT part of the Gospel which the Apostle Paul preached in 1st Corinthians 15:1-6...
So, why is PCC and their Campus Church promoting this filth? 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.” That is the true Gospel, not the demonic garbage that is being preached at PCC and throughout the city of Pensacola today.
1st Corinthians15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.”There you have it! The “Gospel” is the “GOOD NEWS” that Jesus Christ DIED on a cross for our sins, He was BURIED and after three days He physically RESURRECTED from the dead. In Paul's Gospel (which Paul said he received directly from Jesus in Galatians 1:11-12), did you see anything that reads: “follow and obey God's will instead of your self-serving sins”? No, that is not what Paul taught. RIGHT DOCTRINE MATTERS!!!
Whereas Shelton Smith Profits from Sinful Compromise; I Am Shunned for Fighting the Good Fight of Faith
You know, I have been blackballed by PCC, their Campus Church, and all PCC associated churches in the Pensacola area. They all know who I am and what I stand for as a fundamentalist Baptist Bible preacher, and moreover that I am taking a biblical unapologetic uncompromising stand against Pensacola Christian College for perverted the Gospel. They all know about my website ministry, which I have never shared with any of them. They found it!
You just read it for yourself dear reader. How am I the bad guy in all of this? And yet, I am not welcomed at Smyrna Baptist Church. I am not welcomed at Family Baptist Church. I am not welcomed at PCC's Campus Church. I mean I've been banned in writing, since August 2, 2022. They kicked us out of Family Baptist Church in June of 2025 and threatened to call the police if me and my wife didn't leave.
Telling THE TRUTH will cost you something. It might even cost you everything! I have been shunned, ostracized, kicked out of churches, banned, mistreated, slandered, falsely accused, hated, ignored and blackballed for taking a courageous stand against the gods at PCC with their huge egos, because they are guilty of perverting God's simple plan of salvation.
And that also includes the ungodly corrupt Calvinist Bob Jones University (BJU) Lordship Salvation cult too, with their umpteen different Bible versions!
All in all, I approve of Dr. Shelton Smith's booklet, “What About Repentance.” It is well written and makes some excellent points. On pages 12 and 13 he shows that many passages about believing on Christ in the Bible don't even mention repentance, and that is so important to see dear reader. In fact, the word “believe” in it's various forms appears in the Gospel of John 90 times, but the word “repent” is never mentioned ever once. That is because the man who believes has repented. That is, he has changed his mind. Repentance means to change your mind—that’s what believing is.
The only main thing I didn't like in Brother Smith's excellent book was that on page 4 he says he's okay with the expression, “Repent of your sins,” and I think that is a big mistake. That stupid phrase has caused so much unnecessary confusion and division, creating doubts instead of dissolving them. Dr. Smith concedes that the expression is not in the King James Bible, which is why I think he ought not support it. My suspicion is that since his predecessor Dr. John R. Rice used it, he doesn't want to create a rift in their organization's image. Seems to me.
I think Dr. Smith sums it up well on page 14, “The 'sins' we have committed will be forgiven and placed under the blood of Christ when we have repented of our 'sin' of unbelief.”
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