by David J. Stewart | April 2005 | Updated August 2017
What is Biblical REPENTANCE? It is a dangerous thing to ADD anything to simple faith in Jesus Christ. God's plan of salvation is SIMPLE...
“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty,
so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” —2nd Corinthians 11:3
Are There 2 Gospels? | Repent! Repent! Repent!
To be born again (saved), God only requires for a
person to realize their sinful condition and come to the Savior, Jesus
Christ, for forgiveness (Romans 10:13).
The thief on the cross simply asked Jesus to “remember” him. The publican who went up to the temple simply prayed “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Those men believed on the Lord.
On Ray Comfort's ministry website, at LivingWater.com, he has a short presentation titled “The Good Test.” At the end of the presentation the following heretical teachings are found...
Do you see God’s great love for you? Do you see your need for His forgiveness? Do what He commands and “Repent…that your sins may be wiped out and times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” (Acts 3:19) You must turn away from sin and turn to God. Desire to have NOTHING to do with sin, and surrender your life to the One who can save you. Jesus died to set you free, and then he rose from death to be your Lord. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” If you will confess and forsake your sins (repent) and trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, God will forgive you and you’ll pass from death to life.
Today, with all your heart—turn away from sin, and surrender your life to Jesus Christ. Please don’t put it off till later. You may die today and then it will be too late. You may not yet have all the answers to your questions, but better to put on the parachute first and then ask questions, then to pass through the door unprepared, grasping for the parachute when it’s too late. You can pray something like this—"Dear God, today I turn from all my sins (name them), and I put my trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Please forgive me, and grant me your gift of everlasting life. Amen." There is nothing magic about these words—it is the attitude of your heart that God cares about. (emphasis added)
SOURCE: http://www.livingwaters.com/good/022.shtml
Ray comfort and Kirk Cameron are heretics! They errantly teach that lost sinners MUST try really hard to stop sinning to be saved...
"You must turn away from sin and turn to God. Desire to have NOTHING to do with sin, and surrender your life to the One who can save you... If you will confess and forsake your sins..."
Ray Comfort is condemned by his own words. The Bible is clear in Romans 4:5... “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Did not the thief on the cross utter just a few words? Does not the Bible proclaim in Romans 10:13... “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved?”
London's mightiest preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, was saved at the age of fifteen by simply obeying Isaiah 45:22... “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Salvation is a FREE gift of God (Romans 5:15; 6:23). A gift CANNOT be earned.
The ONLY thing that a person needs to repent from to be saved is their unbelief. Nowhere in the Bible does God say that we have to “follow Jesus” or “surrender to Jesus” to be saved. That is Catholic theology.
Apostate evangelist, Billy Graham, also teaches Lordship Salvation, requiring that people “count the cost” and “pay the price” to be saved. My friend, there is no cost to mankind for salvation, because Jesus paid the price of our sins with His own precious blood, which is sprinkled on the Mercy Seat in the heavenly Holy Place (Hebrews 9:12,24;12:24). Jesus died upon the cross for our sins, He was buried, and He resurrected from the dead three days later according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-4. This is the “gospel” (good news) that brings salvation to those who believe (Romans 1:16; John 1:12). We are saved by completely RESTING in Christ for salvation (Hebrews 4:10-11).
The truth is that God ONLY requires a
childlike-faith to be saved. Does God want us to follow Him? Yes... but
not in order to get saved. Our best self-righteous works are filth in
the sight of God (Isaiah 64:6). Following Christ is a matter of
discipleship, not sonship. Lordship Salvation
is ROOTED in self-righteousness, because it requires a person to make an
effort to clean up their own life as a prerequisite to placing their faith
in Christ. This is a false plan of salvation that does not produce
the new birth.
Lordship Salvation Heresy Rooted in Self-righteous Hypocrisy
I believe that the Lordship Salvation crowd are sincere, but sincerely wrong. I understand where they are coming from. I mean, I'm also sick and tired of meeting professed “Christians” who are shallow and as phony as can be. But Christians at best are people, and people at best are sinners, right? Some people can live above reproach, but NO ONE can live above sin. Truthfully, whether you want to admit it or not (some of you in your sanctimonious high tower of self-righteousness), we are all phonies to some degree. We are all hypocrites to some degree. We are quick to find fault in everything around us, except our self oftentimes. The reason why is because we have grown used to living with our own imperfections and ways, but other people haven't. So what we tolerate as acceptable, or the manner in which we think, someone else might find offensive. And vise versa. We all live by our one rules, even if those rules are the Bible, because we still interpret the Holy Bible in our own view. A dozen Christians can read the same Bible passage and walk away with a dozen different ideas. Of course, the truth is THE TRUTH, and there is only one correct interpretation, but people are people, aren't we? By God's grace, I pray and strive to rightly divide the Scriptures. Nothing is more important!!!
Can anyone live perfect? No! I'll tell you what bothers me as much as worldly believers, it's the staunch sanctimonious believers who are filled with contempt and hate towards worldly believers...
“If there's anybody in the Bible that God had disdain for, it was those that had disdain for other sinners!” —an awesome quote from the MP3 sermon by Dr. Jack Hyles titled, “If Thou Should Mark Iniquities, Who Could Stand?”
We are supposed to RESTORE a brother who is weak in the spirit of MEEKNESS. The hidden agenda behind Lordship Salvation is that Satan wants to cloud the Gospel and lead hundreds of millions more people into Hell.
Carnal believers are BABES IN CHRIST, as the Apostle Paul saw them in 1st Corinthians 3:1. The problem is not that they were misled by “quick-fix evangelism” (as Ray Comfort and Paul Washer call it); but rather, they had never been properly mentored in the Christian faith. Sinful believers are carnal, babes in Christ, BUT THEY ARE STILL SAVED!!! The problem is not that carnal believers haven't repented; but rather, they've never been properly mentored by faithful Christians. They've never been salvaged. The Christian army is the only army in the world that kills its wounded! I love this quote from Brother Hyles...
“We ought to do everything we can to salvage people. [The] Christian army is the only army in the world that kills its wounded! What a tragedy! What a tragedy! The greatest unused power, and source of power, in our fundamental churches today, is in the lives of those who have stumbled, and made mistakes, and have been declared 'unusable' by the people of God, who are as unusable as they are, because if God should mark iniquities, who could stand? ” —a beautiful quote by Dr. Jack Hyles from the awesome MP3 sermon, “IF GOD SHOULD MARK INIQUITIES, WHO COULD STAND?”
Part of The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) is discipling new converts, teaching them the ways of Christ from the Scriptures. The Great Commission contains four parts: 1) GO YE, 2) PREACH THE GOSPEL, 3) WATER BAPTIZE NEW CONVERTS AS A PUBLIC PROFESSION OF THEIR FAITH, 4) DISCIPLE THEM, TRAINING THEM TO GO DO LIKEWISE. God intended for the gospel to perpetuate, where I lead you to Christ, and then you go lead others to Christ, and then they go lead others to Christ, and so forth. This is God's plan. And may I say, soul-winning is not a method, it is a command... GO YE!
If you'll check the Bible, some of the Jews who
wandered in the Wilderness DID go to Heaven, even though
they never made it to the promised land. Just because a believer
isn't carrying their cross for the Lord doesn't mean they're not saved. There
are some believers today, who are rotting behind prison bars for crimes committed. Though some hypocritical believers would like to conveniently claim that all
criminals aren't saved, it's simply not true. Just because your
Christian neighbours are getting divorced doesn't mean they aren't saved.
Every Christian is a redeemed SINNER! Yes, believers are redeemed, but we
are all still big sinners! Born again believers are sinners just
like anyone else. I agree that we are living in a generation of
milquetoast, weak-kneed, believers, but that doesn't mean they're not saved. God uses sinners, and it's a good thing or He wouldn't have anyone to use. Remember, one third of the Bible was written by murderers. God
didn't use holy men to write His Word, he made unholy men holy
and then used them to write His Word. Romans 4:5 says that Christ saves THE
UNGODLY, and that is the only type of person who has ever been saved. That's
why we're all saved by God's
grace, because we are ungodly and don't deserve it!
Lordship Salvation Puts the Cart Before the Horse
Jesus taught that we are supposed to carry our cross and follow after Him. I believe that. I don't have a problem with that. I'll be the first to condemn this heathen generation of Christless believers (like the heathens over at Christianity Today who endorse Harry Potter). However, we are talking about discipleship here, NOT salvation.
As an example, the Catholics mandate baptism as a holy sacrament to be saved. The Bible condemns such heresy and clearly teaches that baptism is only an ordinance, not a sacrament. You do NOT have to be baptized to go to Heaven.
A person gets baptized because they are ALREADY saved, not in order to get saved. Likewise, we are supposed to depart from iniquity because we are ALREADY saved, NOT to get saved. I couldn't agree more that a Christian should depart from sin, but this is NOT mandatory to be saved. I know this ruffles some people's feathers, but it is Bible. The Lordship Salvation crowd confuses discipleship with salvation. Becoming a born again believer is the EASIEST thing in the world (2nd Corinthians 11:3).
You
must simply come as a sinner to the Savior in faith, believing that He paid for your sins, and
ask Jesus Christ to forgive you. We must NOT add anything to simple faith in
Christ. If you think this gives a person a license to sin, then you
don't understand the Bible. No one has God's permission to sin. The
Bible clearly teaches in Hebrews that God will "chastise" His children
(Hebrews 12:7,8).
True Biblical Repentance
So does a person need to REPENT to be saved? Of course, but not the type of repentance that the Lordship Salvation crowd is propagating. There is a common misunderstanding about Biblical repentance. Many sincere people believe that repentance means to “cease from committing sin,” but it does not. Ceasing from sin is a result of the FRUIT of the Holy Spirit. Doing righteousness is a result of the FRUIT of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Turning from sins is not evidence of salvation. There are many unsaved religious people, who live morally upright lives, but their good behavior is not motivated by the fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit; but rather, personal convictions for other reasons.
Repentance is “a change of mind” about what I want to do to get to Heaven, to what God says I must do to get to Heaven. Hebrews 6:1 speaks about repentance from DEAD WORKS. To be saved, you must realize that you are a hopelessly guilty sinner, totally incapable of saving yourself, and then completely REST in Christ Who died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and resurrected from the dead after three days. This is God's plan of salvation. YOU ARE A SINNER! Unless you accept Christ's payment for your sins, you will spend eternity burning in the fires of Hell. Get saved now before it's too late, please!
The ONLY thing that you need to repent of to be saved is whatever it is that's been keeping you from coming to Christ to be saved.
Dr. Jack Hyles 100% correctly and Biblically states concerning 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!'” —Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001), a quote from the timeless MP3 sermon, THE GOODNESS OF GOD LEADETH TO REPENTANCE!
Some people are very slow to change, but ultimately they become the best Christians, because they are... slow to change. Everybody responds differently. It is one's attitude towards sin and the Savior that first change at the time of salvation, not necessarily the departing from sin. Repentance begins in the heart, not in our lifestyle.
Biblical repentance is turning from what I want
to do to get to Heaven, to what God says I must do to get to Heaven.
Repentance and faith happen at the same time, simultaneously. A man cannot
have faith without repentance, nor can he repent without having faith. The Bible teaches that repentance and
faith are inseparable and happen at the SAME time. You don't repent of your
sins and then secondarily place your faith in Christ. Salvation doesn't work
that way. Biblically, the man who has repented has believed, and the man who
believes has repented. This truth is evidenced by the fact that the
Gospel of John mentions the words “believe” and “believed” 85 times, but
the word “repent” is never mentioned even once.
Repentance and faith are properly demonstrated by the illustration of an evangelist who travels upon an airplane flying from Michigan to Hawaii. The evangelist doesn't leave Michigan first, and then travel toward Hawaii. No, rather, the evangelist is leaving his origin as he travels toward his destination AT THE SAME TIME, simultaneously. Likewise, the person who repents and believes is turning and moving toward Jesus Christ while at the same time turning their back against, and moving away from, sin in their mind and heart. A changed lifestyle is the FRUIT of genuine repentance unto salvation, and not a part of the ROOT of saving-faith. To demand that a person have intent to reform as a requirement for salvation is sinful self-righteousness.
Salvation does NOT hinge on departing from our sins, but rather upon getting our sins forgiven. 1st Peter 2:2 speaks of growing in the Lord... as new born babes. Surely, you wouldn't expect a little baby to walk around the house, let alone run? When a lost sinner comes to Christ for salvation, the salvaging process only begins. Salvation is more than being saved.
When we receive Jesus Christ as
our personal Savior, we instantly become a child of God and our name is
written in Heaven. But now the lifelong process of growing in the Lord
begins. Just as a baby is physically born into the world and grows for
the rest of his or her life, so does a spiritually born (i.e., born again) person
grow throughout the remainder of their life. Sadly, many believers are
midgets, suffering from stunted growth. Every Christian needs the milk
of God's Word to grow into a healthy mature believer.
Jesus Promised Never to Turn Anyone Away
Jesus clearly said that he WILL forgive all who come to Him...
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” —John 6:37
Jesus will save the vilest sinner, the most
wicked murderer, the sleaziest adulterer... If they will simply come to Jesus
for forgiveness (Isaiah 1:18). Jesus only asks that we believe on Him
(John 3:16; 6:40; 10:1). John 6:37, “All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh
to me I will in no wise cast out.”
When does repentance take place? Repentance occurs that very moment when we turn to God for salvation. When you BELIEVE upon the Lord Jesus Christ and turn to Him for salvation, then you have already turned your back on sin. You have repented in your heart and mind. You can't be saved without admitting to God (i.e., realizing one's guilt) that you are a sinner justly deserving of Hellfire. God will save the vilest sinner who comes by way of faith in the cross upon which Christ bled and died for our sins. Although there is such a thing as a “reprobate,” a person who will never get saved, it is by their own choosing and hardened heart, and not because God is not willing for them to repent and be saved. 2nd Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
God promises to give eternal life in return for belief. Salvation is a matter of believing the Good News of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and risen. When you hear the Gospel being preached, and you place your trust in its message, you are immediately and forever saved. It is that simple. 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?” Notice the capital “S” in “Spirit,” which refers to the indwelling Holy Spirit, which every believer receives at the time of salvation (Romans 8:9; 1st Corinthians 3:16-17). The apostle Paul is asking the Galatians how they were saved—by keeping the LAW (aka, turning from sins), or by the hearing of FAITH (i.e., placing their trust in the Gospel when they heard it preached). We are saved solely by our faith in the Gospel message. Whether we intend on forsaking sinful behavior at the time of salvation, or not, is irrelevant to being saved. Eternal life is a free gift. Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Can a person be saved, even if they have every
intention to continue sinning? My friend, even the best Christians sin every
day. We all continue sinning after coming to Christ! It is in our sinful
nature. That doesn't make sinning okay with God (Romans 3:31). God will
scourge and chastise disobedient children (Hebrews 12:6-8). It is a false
Gospel to require someone (as does Chick Tracts) to “be willing to turn
from sin” to be saved. Many preachers wrongly try to control people, by
embellishing the Gospel to include turning from sin as a requirement to be
saved, but a person CANNOT be saved that way. No one has ever been saved by
turning from anything! You get saved by placing your trust in Jesus Christ!!!
But you cannot turn to something without turning from something. Repentance is
turning from whatever it is that is hindering you from believing. WE ARE SAVED
BY BELIEVING, NOT BY REPENTING!!!
Repentance Means to Turn From Wrong Thinking to Believe the Gospel
The word “repent” in the Bible means “a change of mind,” or to think differently. Therefore, repentance means to turn from WRONG THINKING to believe the Gospel. Repentance is not a separate event from faith, although they are not the same thing. Here is the best quote that I've found on repentance, by Dr. Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951):
“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)
The only thing that we need to repent from
to be saved is UNBELIEF. Do we have to realize our sinful condition to
be saved? Of course, yes! But there is not one verse in the entire
Bible which requires a person to forsake sin to be saved. Nor does the
Bible give anyone God's permission to commit sin just because they are saved
(Romans 3:31). Every time Jesus forgave someone and healed them, it was only
AFTERWARDS that He said... “Go and sin no more.” John 5:14, "Afterward Jesus findeth him in the
temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a
worse thing come unto thee." 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 Holy Scriptures (2nd Corinthians
10:5).
The purpose of this article is not to try to
decipher who is saved and who is not, the purpose of my article is to
expose the heresy of
Every
true believer ought to be busy serving God. Sadly, many
believers have lost their fire for God. It is tragic that the world is
going to Hell, while believers across America are merely playing church. I'm
talking about the shallow Bob Jones University crowd.
Lordship Salvationists hypocritically claim to
believe in salvation by faith alone in Christ, while simultaneously
demanding that lost sinners forsake their literal sins to be saved. This is a great contradiction. 
The Lordship Salvation crowd is
understandably upset with all the phony “Christians” in the world, who bear no
cross for the Lord. I am upset too! But we must not make the dire mistake of ADDING
works to salvation in the name of “repentance.” It is one's faith in the Word of God (i.e., the
Gospel) that causes God to work the supernatural miracle of the new birth. We shouldn't try to change the seed to make it
function better. You cannot force people to live right. You cannot do the
Holy Spirit's job. You cannot change the plan of salvation without corrupting
it. 