Acts 20:21,
“Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks,
repentance
toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Jack Chick's website has added
a new
section in defense of their beliefs, countering the allegations against
their ministry for preaching a false meaning of repentance. Bible
doctrine concerning salvation is like the buttons on a shirt, that
is, if you get the first button wrong then all the other buttons
will be wrong too. Repentance concerning salvation is a critically
important matter.
Please consider that Ray Comfort, John MacArthur and Chip Ingram are teaching the same false understanding of repentance as Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and Seventh Day Adventists. And sadly, Jack Chick is also teaching a false understanding of repentance when he requires a person to be willing to cease from a sinful lifestyle as a prerequisite to being saved. Biblical repentance is correctly explained by Pastor Harry Ironside (1876-1951)...
"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."
SOURCE: Except Ye Repent, by Dr. Harry Ironside, chapter 3
Step
one in Jack Chick's religious tracts is correct (as seen to the
right). However, in step two Mr. Chick adds the unbiblical
requirement to “Be willing to turn from sin,” which clearly means
more than admitting one's sinnership, because that was step one in
his plan of salvation. My friend, turning from sinful behavior is
not a requirement for salvation.
It is tragic that many preachers view this theological debate as a mere matter of semantics and not worthy of dividing over. May I say, Judas repented in Matthew 27:3 and yet he went straight to Hell when he died. Judas is in Hell this moment, and will suffer there for all eternity because he died in his sins without Christ. Clearly, there is a false form of repentance that leads to damnation in the Lake of Fire forever (Revelation 20:15).
Judas Iscariot experienced reformation (feeling sorry for his misdeeds and even trying to return the 30 pieces of silver by which he betrayed the Son of God); but he didn't get saved. Salvation is neither reformation, rehabilitation, legislation, nor education; but rather, it is REGENERATION! Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3, “Ye must be born again”!
False repentance places the burden of sin upon the sinner, requiring them to forsake sinful bad habits and the world to be saved; but the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ bore the total burden of our sins upon the cross. Jesus became as sin, so that we who knew no righteousness, could by faith obtain God's imputed righteousness. Jesus Christ beared the unbearably heavy load of our sins upon Calvary's cross, so that we wouldn't have to pay for them in the fires of Hell for all eternity.
I think Michael P. Bowen, in his excellent defense of the Christian faith titled, I NEVER KNEW YOU, says it best. ...
I am at eternal odds with the false, counterfeit messages of salvation-by-works that are taught from virtually every pulpit today, on every television channel, and on every Christian radio station; however, I am not at eternal odds with the individuals who preach these counterfeit messages. My heart literally goes out to all of them because they simply do not understand Christ’s plan of salvation. They have been lied to by a crafty enemy named Satan, whose sole aim is to take as many people with him to the lake of fire as he can possibly manage to steal away from God using a counterfeit plan of salvation that appears so real, so genuine, and so holy that few ever realize they have been deceived by it. Oh reader, so many of today’s professing Christians who think they are going to heaven when they die are not going to make it to heaven as they had assumed because they’ve been lied to by today’s error-filled gospel messages.
SOURCE: Michael Patrick Bowen, I NEVER KNEW YOU, pg. 17; © 2009, Xulonpress.com. Hard Copies Are Available.
I thank God for Michael Bowen, whose doctrinally sound book is a continual blessing to me and so many others, clearly showing forth “the simplicity that is in Christ” in the Gospel (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4; 1st Corinthians 15:1-4). Today I handed out two hardcopies of I NEVER KNEW YOU—one to my Japanese doctor, and the other to a waitress at my favorite Korean restaurant. Amen!
How Permanent Is Your Salvation?
(an excellent MP3 sermon by Dr. Hank
Lindstrom)
Let me give you a helpful illustration to help you correctly understand repentance and faith. Let's say an evangelist is traveling from Michigan to Hawaii to preach at a church. He boards the plane in Michigan and then flies toward Hawaii. He doesn't leave Michigan first, and then secondarily head toward Hawaii; but rather, he is moving away from Michigan and toward Hawaii at the SAME TIME. Likewise, repentance and faith happen at the same time. Repentance and faith are one deal. A person is saved when they turn to Christ by faith to be forgiven of their sins. As you turn toward the precious Savior, you are simultaneously turning your back against sin. This is a “change of mind,” which is exactly what repentance means in the Bible concerning salvation.
Jack Chick is correct when he says that “repentance” is not a fruit; but rather, it is part of salvation itself. Dr. Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008) is 100% correct in his statement: “You can repent without believing, but you cannot believe without repenting.” I highly recommend that you listen to the helpful MP3 sermon by Pastor Hank Lindstrom, titled: How Permanent Is Your Salvation? (an awesome classic MP3 sermon by Dr. Hank Lindstrom). “Repent” simply means “a change of mind.” However, a changed life is the FRUIT of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Repentance is a CHANGE OF MIND, not a CHANGE OF LIFESTYLE. A changed life is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and not a part of the ROOT of saving-faith. In other words, it is false doctrine to require FRUIT (works) from a person to be saved. Jack Chick makes the grave mistake of requiring a person to BE WILLING to clean up their life (be willing to turn from sin) to be saved. Mr. Chick doesn't understand the plan of salvation, so he gets it backwards. Remember, Mr. Chick is not satisfied with simply acknowledging one's guilt of being a sinner for salvation; but rather, he additionally requires a person to be willing to depart from the act of sin itself. This places an incredibly heavy burden upon the sinner.
Romans 3:19 proves Jack Chick a false prophet concerning the plan of salvation. Romans 3:19, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” The purpose of God's Law is to show men their guilty sinful condition, and then point them to the Savior to be saved. Galatians 3:24-26, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” The Law of God shows us our guilt of sin and consequent need for redemption, and then points us to the blessed Savior Jesus Christ for cleansing and forgiveness.
The entire perverted concept of requiring a person to be willing to stop living in deliberate sin to be saved is of the Devil and a false plan of salvation. What has happened is that religious people are sick and tired of shallow professions of faith, so they have taken it upon themselves to change the Gospel in an attempt to force people to live right. It doesn't work that way!!! Consequently, people aren't getting saved anymore. Dr. Hank Lindstrom correctly observes, “MOST PREACHERS HAVE REPENTANCE WRONG!!!” (a quote from YouTube video, “Repentance Word Study.” I agree 100%. Most pastors have been corrupted by the Devil, being conned into recognizing repentance as turning away from sinful behavior as a requirement to come to Christ for salvation. The culprit are the new, counterfeit, satanic, Bible versions.
William Lane Craig is another false prophet concerning salvation. In essence Mr. Craig teaches that a person's faith does not become valid until they depart from sin in their personal life. He misinterprets 1st John 3:8, “He that committeth sin is of the devil.” The Bible is simply teaching that a person who can live in gross immorality with no Holy Spirit conviction, no chastisement from the Lord and no remorse whatsoever, never got saved to begin with. When a person gets saved the Holy Spirit comes inside to live (indwell) that person (1st Corinthians 3:16-17). That doesn't mean that some Christians don't live in gross immorality (we have plenty of examples in the Bible of believers who continued in long periods of deliberate sin, like Samson, Solomon, the church at Corinth, Lot and Demas). The Bible is not saying that a believer who sins is not saved, God forbid. We all sin every day!
In sharp contrast, Mr. Craig errantly
teaches that 1st John 3:8 refers to professed Christians who never
really got saved because they never stopped living in sin. That's
what he teaches! Craig says you cannot be saved until you stop
living wickedly. That's not what the Bible is teaching. God is not
saying that you have to give up your sins TO BE SAVED; but rather,
that you should have given up your sins because YOU ARE SAVED.
Brother Lester Roloff says, “Jesus saved you so you wouldn't live
like that anymore.” If you still love your sins and have no Holy
Spirit conviction inside, then you didn't get really saved. 1st John
3:8 is entirely a matter of whether or not you have the presence of
the convicting and righteous HOLY SPIRIT living inside you.
Jack Chick's Defense In His Own Words
Here is the conclusion of their defense argument from Jack Chick's website...
How can we give “all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:20-21, 27) and refuse to tell people to repent? If we don’t tell people to repent, we would be disobeying Christ, because He said that “all men everywhere” must repent (Acts 17:30). And Jesus said before He ascended into heaven that “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations” (Luke 24:46-47).
This is not a work for salvation. No one can “boast” that his heart was changed by God. Repentance, an act on the heart, accompanies faith and is no more a work than faith itself is.
So we at Chick Publications preach “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).
Jack Chick is trying to sidestep the core issue. The issue is NOT whether or not repentance is necessary for salvation. Yes, repentance is required to be saved. No one debates that. I don't think anyone disagrees with Jack Chick for teaching the need for repentance. We all agree that repentance is not optional. Repentance is 100% absolutely required for the new birth. The Bible mandates repentance for salvation; it is not an option. Without repentance there can be no salvation. The problems with Jack Chick's tracts is that he espouses a FALSE meaning of what it means to “repent.” Jack Chick has a WRONG understanding of what repentance means.
In every single one of Jack Chick's tracts he requires a person to go further than merely admitting one's guilt of sin, but also “be willing to turn from sin (repent).” So according to Mr. Chick you cannot be saved by simply acknowledging your sinnership, you must also have a willingness to cease from committing them...
Jack Chick plainly teaches in every Chick Track that faith in Jesus Christ is insufficient to save unless you are willing to cease from your sins. That is a backdoor approach to works salvation!!!
In other words, Christ won't save you unless you first qualify for salvation by meeting the prerequisite of having a desire to stop committing sins. This is far from what the Bible teaches. Mr. Chick puts the cart before the horse, demanding a willingness to change as a qualifying prerequisite to faith in Christ. That is a back door approach to Lordship Salvation.
Mark 1:15, “...repent ye, and believe the gospel.” The word “repent” here is the Greek word metanoeo, meaning “to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider.” Jesus said to reconsider your ways and believe the Gospel. Jesus DIDN'T say stop living in sin and believe the Gospel. No one can cease totally from sin. So whether you give up 10% or 99% of your sins is irrelevant, because there's still some sin remaining. Even committing one sin makes us GUILTY OF ALL according to James 2:10. The entire idea of giving up sinful bad habits to be saved is satanic!
Mr. Chick's article defending his position on repentance is good from what I've read. It certainly doesn't reflect the corrupt message in his tracts. It appears to me that he has put himself in an awkward position between a rock and a hard place. If he changes his tracts now, then he will confuse millions of people (and his critics will have a hey day). Please understand that my aim is strictly Mr. Chick's theological teachings in his tracts. This is not personal. I admire Jack Chick's awesome artwork and believe that he is sincere. Unfortunately, his tracts do add an extra requirement for salvation that God does not.
I honestly don't enjoy exposing Jack
Chick's flawed definition of repentance. It's difficult for any man
to admit after decades that he should have better worded his tracts.
I'm always editing earlier writings myself. We all adjust our
beliefs over time and need to make changes. It's much harder when
you've published works in printed form. The fact that Jack Chick's
articles and website statement of beliefs are written very
differently than his ministry's tracts evidences to me that he wants
to set the matter straight, but he has boxed himself in a corner
so-to-speak. This is my humble opinion.
In Acts 20:21 Repentance And Faith Refer To One Event
Most people misunderstand Acts 20:31, assuming that repentance and faith are two entirely separate steps to salvation; but they're actually the same step. They are two parts of one step. The following Greek rule evidences that most people misinterpret Acts 20:21...
Granville Sharp's Rules of Greek Exegesis
Acts 20:21 does not teach two separate actions! Repentance and faith are shown as the same thing in this verse. Here is why;
“Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Any time two singular Greek nouns appear in a sentence and are connected by the conjunction "and" (kai Greek) and the definite article “ho” precedes the first noun, but not the second, they both mean the same person! This means that the appositive, “our Lord Jesus Christ” is referring to “God” in the first clause! Rendering this into the sentence it is then to be read as follows:
“Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, ("EVEN") or ("that is") faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
This is what Paul was preaching! Repentance toward God using the Granville Sharp's rules of Greek exegesis, is synonymous (means the same) as faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. The illustration that I shared with you earlier about the evangelist traveling from Michigan to Hawaii is an excellent example of repentance and faith. You don't leave Michigan first and then afterwards fly toward Hawaii; but rather, the two are inseparable. The evangelist is DEPARTING from Michigan at the same time that he is moving TOWARD Hawaii. Likewise, repentance and faith are one deal, happening simultaneously (at the same time).
Faith and
repentance are the same event according to the Greek grammatical
rendering of this verse.
Chick Tracts Preach ANOTHER Gospel
Jack Chick is correct that repentance is not a
work; yet his belief and teaching that repentance means to “be willing to
turn from sin (repent)” is dangerous, because it implies that a person must
forsake sinful living to be saved, which is not true...
This is not a work for salvation.
No one can “boast” that his heart was changed by God. Repentance, an act
on the heart, accompanies faith and is no more a work than faith itself
is.
So we at Chick Publications preach
“repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts
20:21).
SOURCE:
Why
Chick Tracts Preach Repentance
