There's No Such Thing As Turning From Sins

By David J. Stewart | May 2018

Ecclesiastes 7:20, “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”

       I don't like the term, nor would I ever tell anyone, to “repent of their sins” because that phrase is not found in the Scriptures. In fact, if you think about it, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE. Look again at our text verse from Ecclesiastes 7:20, “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” There are simply bigger sinners than others. There are good sinners and then there are bad sinners. There are some sinners who care and don't want to sin, and like me, get mad at themselves when they do sin; but then there are horrible people, sinners who relish in their sins and couldn't care less who they hurt, which is what the Alexandrian cult at Bob Jones University are doing!

Granted, it really depends on what is meant by “repent from sins.” If someone means realizing that I am a guilty sinner in God's sight, and that I must admit I am a sinner to be saved, then I am okay with that, because that is true. No one ever got saved who didn't admit that he or she is a sinner in the sight of a holy God (1st John 1:8-10; Romans 3:19-20). However, if someone means to literally turn away from sinning, or to try to stop sinning as much, or to at least have a desire to stop sinning, then I totally disagree and they are teaching a false Gospel which cannot save. So, it is not only unbiblical to tell someone to turn from their sins to be saved, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE!!!

Who can turn from their sins? Psalms 130:3, “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” If God were to mark our sins against us, who could avoid censure and condemnation? That right, NO ONE! Ah, but thanks be to God for the precious blood of His dear Son! Romans 8:34, “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” My friend, the whole world can (and will) condemn you for your sins, and humanity can lock you in a cage and throw away the key if you do wrong; but THERE IS NO CONDEMNATION IN CHRIST JESUS FOR THE BELIEVER!!! Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

The last portion of this Bible verse simply contrasts the unsaved person, who walks after the flesh; verses the born-again person, who walks after the indwelling Holy Sprit. It is not saying that you must walk in the Spirit instead of the flesh to be saved, which would constitute works. Romans 8:14, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Every believer is led by the Holy Spirit, even though we won't always choose to walk in the Spirit (that is, we won't always follow His leading). Sometimes we will choose to walk in the sinful flesh, even though we are still led by the indwelling Holy Spirit. We must yield to His leading if we are to walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:25, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”


No One Can Stop Sinning!

There are so many things wrong with the idea that a person must forsake a sinful lifestyle to be saved. No one can stop sinning! Even the best Christians still sin every day, in both deed and thought. Most people don't realize just how sinful we all are. It is a sin even when we fail to pray as we should for others. 1st Samuel 12:23, “Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way.” So there's no such thing as turning away from sins!!! Only the precious blood of Jesus Christ can wash away our sins. So all of us are either washed in the blood, or lost in our sins no matter how much we try to clean ourselves up. God only saves those who are trusting to be saved, never those who are trying to be saved.

Billy Graham, Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, Charles Stanley, Paul Washer, John MacArthur, John Piper, Chip Ingram, William Craig Lane, Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort are devil preachers! They all require turning away from a lifestyle of sin to be saved, which they wrongly think is what “repentance” means. I am so disgusted with Baptist pastors today, who tolerate corrupt religious tracts that require people to "turn from sin" (Paul Washer and Keith Gomez) or "be willing to turn from sin (Jack Chick and William Grady) to be saved. The Gospel of John is God's Gospel tract according to John 20:31. Not one mention is made in the Gospel of John about repentance or turning from sins to be saved.

NO ONE can stop sinning! The very idea that a person needs to declare war on their sins, as part of getting saved, is blasphemy against God. The Lord paid a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay. I guarantee you, that any preacher who teaches you must turn away from a sinful lifestyle to be saved was inspired by demons!!! The Bible calls such erroneous teachings “doctrines of devils.” 1st Timothy 4:1, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” It doesn't matter what preachers of the past (during The Reformation era) taught and preached, for they were mere mortal men capable of error. WHAT SAITH THE SCRIPTURE? You cannot show me even one Bible verse that teaches to turn away from sin to be saved; but rather, we are “CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS” (Ephesians 2:10b).

“A man doesn't get better to get saved; he gets saved to get better.”
—Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995), a quote from the excellent sermon, “Salvation Crystal Clear.”

I am always careful before labeling someone as a heretic, as many doctrinally sound preachers have simply heard some bad terminology and started using it. Unfortunately, some of them DO go astray. That is why the apostle Paul told the church at Corinth in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4 to “remember” what he had taught them that the Gospel is comprised of; namely, Christ's death for our sins on the cross, His burial and bodily resurrection three days later. Oftentimes people come to a church, hear some religious teaching, but never actually get born-again, because they have never heard a clear and simple presentation of the Gospel. That is why I am adamantly against the corrupt modern Bible versions, which water-down, obscure and secularize the Word of God, so that Satan can more effectively blind the lost with religion.
 

Don't Be Afraid to Ask Preachers Exactly What They Believe

So if you hear a preacher saying to “turn from sin” to be saved, I would definitely ask him, kindly, to elaborate on exactly what he means by “turn from sin.” Sadly, MANY pastors are cowards and compromisers, so they intentionally remain vague by using the phrase, “turn from sin,” in a sinful attempt to appease both sides of the repentance debate and remain neutral. Although I am careful not to label anyone as a “heretic,” I WILL do so in a heartbeat if I have warned a pastor and he still doesn't care, and continues to errantly tell people to “repent of their sins” for salvation.

The term “repent of sin” sounds appealing to our flesh, implying that human effort (reformation) is necessary for salvation, but it is a lie of the Devil. WHAT SAITH THE SCRIPTURE? The truth is that you CANNOT show me anything from the Holy Bible about repenting of sins to be saved. Evangelists' David Cloud, Jack Chick and Ray Comfort misinterpret numerous passages of Scripture in a feeble attempt to bolster their strawman heresy of repenting from sins to be saved, but they pervert the truth.

Human effort is not permitted in salvation, not in the least way, except to “believe” (simply resting in what Christ has already done to pay for our sins). The truth is that you may have no intentions of quitting any of your sins, and you can still be saved right now by simply receiving Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins. Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.

Kindly, I have heaped coals of fire upon the heads of Bob Jones University and their graduates, by exposing their unfaithfulness to the inspired Word of God, and now they have no excuses! John 15:22, “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.” I say that lovingly, truly. We are at war with the Devil folks. Somebody's got to care that the Bible is being tampered with! Somebody's got to get upset at the Devil's crowd for messing with the words of God! BJU and their graduates cannot claim ignorance anymore in The Battle Of The Ages (MP3 sermon by Pastor Jack Hyles), from which they are not only AWOL (Absent Without Leave), but they are helping the Devil! Anyone who uses, sanctions, sells and promotes the Alexandrian Bible perversions are pulling on the same rope as the Devil!!! Oh yes they are!!! Somebody's got to care! I CARE!!!
 

We Are All Far More Sinful Than We Could Ever Realize

Psalms 19:12, “Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.” God is far more holy than any human being could ever comprehend. When a sincere man (Uzzah) in the Old Testament reached out his hand to steady the wobbling Ark Of The Covenant, God instantly killed him (2nd Samuel 6:7). No doubt many people think that God was unfair, lacking compassion, and that God was too harsh. Ungodly liberals, infidels and proud sinners continually blaspheme our holy God. Hollywood sex-pervert producer, Woody Allen, wickedly said...

“If God exists, I hope he has a good excuse! —Producer Woody Allen

Hollywood reprobate actor, Robert De Niro, who stars in the 2016 filthy movie, “DIRTY GRANDPA,” wickedly said...

“If there is a God he has a lot to answer for.” —Actor Robert De Niro

SOURCE: Robert De Niro - Biography - IMDb

Here's what atheist Star Trek producer, Gene Roddenberry, had to say about our benevolent Creator...

“We must question the story logic of having an all-knowing all-powerful God, who creates faulty Humans, and then blames them for his own mistakes.” —Producer Gene Roddenberry

What evil hypocrites! Only defiant sinners would ask such questions. Robert De Niro says that God has a lot to answer for? No, it is Mr. De Niro who has a lot to answer for, AND HE SURE WILL!!! Hebrews 10:31, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Isaiah 45:9a, “Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!” Robert De Niro is a fool! Woody Allen is a fool! Gene Roddenberry is now burning in the fires of Hell for all eternity, without hope, rest or relief! It is tragic! What kind of God sends people to Hell? A good God, that's Who! Mr. Roddenberry is wrong! God doesn't create faulty human beings, sin ruined the human race. Romans 5:12, “Wherefore, as by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”

Hell is coming up to meet these wicked man, the second that they breath their last breath on earth!!! Isaiah 14:9, “Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.” These horrible quotes prove what I am saying, that infidels, kooks and liberals attack and malign God, calling Him unfair and cruel. That is because, like all humans, we simply cannot fathom the depths of God's holiness, nor the extend of mankind's sinfulness. At best all we can do is be honest enough to agree with God's Word that we are guilty sinners!

I am not going to place God on trial, because there are things that I do not understand. I choose to trust my God, blindly so if need be, because I know that He is a good God, Who defines love, generosity, sacrifice, mercy and holiness. God is a good God and everything that He does is right!!! God made everything the way He did to test us, to see who really loves Him and who doesn't. It is brilliant the way God has orchestrated everything.

And so, I declare to you dear reader that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TURNING FROM SINS! You may decide to ABSTAIN from sins for a short time, but you WILL sin again. In fact, we are ALWAYS sinning in one way or another. There is such a thing as SINFUL THOUGHTS. Proverbs 24:9, “The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.” The Bible teaches that thoughts of hate, lust and greed are sinful. We are saturated with sin! Psalms 106:6, “We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.” I am a big sinner, and so are you.

We tend to categorize sins and think that criminals are the worst sinners, but in God's eyes we're all criminals!!! You can have a rap sheet a mile long here on earth, and yet not have even one sin recorded against you on your record in Heaven (Romans 8:34); and yet, you can have a clean record here on earth, and be a respected member of society, even honored and cherished, but have sins marked against you by the thousands up in Heaven, for which you will be punished in the Lake of Fire in everlasting torment, smoke and fire (Revelation 14:11; 20:11-15). No one can escape God's judgment! (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Hebrews 9:27; Romans 2:1; Matthew 12:36; Romans 14:10-12; Romans 12:19-21; James 4:12). 1st Peter 4:17, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?”

And as I showed you earlier, we are sinning by not praying for others as we ought. None of us prays for others as we should all the time. We all slack off! There are sins of COMMISSION and also sins of OMISSION. It is a sin not to do good. James 4:17, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” My point here is that no matter how hard we may try to overcome sin in our lives, we cannot! The human race is saturated with sin and evil, it is in our very nature. We are sinners by birth and by choice! I emphasize this vital truth so that you will see the insanity of anyone teaching that we must turn away from sins, or repent of our sins, to receive the free gift of eternal life.

You may decide to clean up your life of sin, turn over a new leaf, reform, rehabilitate, educate and even legislate; but all you're doing is whitewashing a corpse! You can take a pig out of the filthy mud and clean it up with soap and water. You can put perfume on it, fit it with nice pig clothes a snug bow tie, put little piggy shoes on it, and throw in a hog manicure to go with it; but a pig is still a pig, and as soon as you let it go free, it'll head for the nearest dirty mudhole to wallow in, and enjoy every second of it!
 

Our POSITION in Christ, is Not the Same as Our CONDITION in Christ!

When a Christian chooses to live righteously, our CONDITION with God is right. Albeit, if we choose to indulge in unrepentant sin, then our POSITION is still secure, settled and unchangeable as God's redeemed child, but our CONDITION is wrong. This is one of the greatest truths you'll ever learn, that is, that our POSITION in Christ is different than our CONDITION in Christ. The unbeliever has no position in Christ, because they are unsaved. They are a child of the Devil, meaning that they belong to Satan, because they are headed for the Lake of Fire in their sin of unbelief. If you grasp this important truth, then you will see and understand the major differences between SALVATION verses DISCIPLESHIP.

“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 (p. 117); Zondervan Publishing House, ©1959.

My favorite Bible-preacher and mentor, Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) preached an excellent MP3 sermon called, “HOW TO BE RIGHT WITH GOD,” on this very subject, which I hope you will take the time to listen to, giving it your undivided attention. It is a horrible theological error and gross sin to combine grace with works, to combine the free gift of God with the decision to follow and serve Christ. I thank God for men of God like Dr. Martin DeHaan (1891-1965), who understood this great truth, as evidenced by the preceding insightful quote.
 

The New Nature Cannot Sin, But We Still Can!

Likewise, people are all sinners! When we get saved there is a new nature added to and that new nature (or “new creature” according to 2nd Corinthians 5:17) is the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (i.e., the indwelling Holy Spirit, or “Spirit of Christ” - Romans 8:9). The old flesh cannot be tamed. I once heard a preacher errantly say that a Christian doesn't have two natures. He said a believer only has the new nature, and the old nature is gone, but that is not true. It is in our nature as human beings to sin, and as long as we are living in the tabernacle (tent) of this flesh, we will struggle with that old sin-nature.

The new nature is the precious indwelling Holy Spirit, and it is the Spirit's nature to ALWAYS do right. This is why we read in1st John 3:9, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” In other words, the indwelling Holy Spirit is incapable of sinning. This PROVES that every believer still has two natures, for if we only had the new nature, then we couldn't sin anymore (which we just read). We always have a CHOICE as believers to either walk in the flesh or in the Spirit. God hopes, commands and loves that we walk in His Spirit.

In plainest terms, walking in the Spirit simply means to walk humbly with our God and be like Him, by letting Him live through us. It always rejoices my heart when I stop to consider that our great God wanted to be so close to us, that He made it so He could literally live inside our soul and body. John 14:23, “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” What an awesome Creator, God and Savior!!!!!!! There is no way I could ever turn from all my sins. All I can do is try to please God, by yielding to the leading of His blessed Holy Spirit in obedience to His inspired words. One of the most important truths that you will ever learn, is that the only difference in God's sight between a believer and the vilest sinner on the planet, is the precious redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus Christ!!! THE END

“The Bible is not the inspired, inerrant and 100% historically true words of God. ... If we would destroy the Christian religion, we must first of all destroy man’s belief in the Bible.” —Voltaire (French philosopher and former unbeliever 1694-1778 - He now knows better [in Hell])

As one liberal theologian pointed out in his review of Harold Lindsell’s, The Battle for the Bible, the only real difference between the conservative and liberal positions on the Bible is that the conservatives say the Bible USED TO BE inspired and inerrant, whereas the liberal says it NEVER WAS inspired or inerrant. BOTH positions agree that the Bible IS NOT NOW inspired or inerrant.

As Brother Daryl Coats so aptly says in his article, The Two Lies:

“If the Bible was inspired only in the original manuscripts, no one in the entire history of the world has ever had an inspired Bible. The original autographs of Job and the books of Moses had disappeared more than a thousand years before the first book of the New Testament was written, so no one has ever owned a complete Bible made up of the 'divine originals.' Nor, has anyone ever owned a complete New Testament made up of 'inspired originals,' because the originals were distributed among more than a dozen individuals and local churches.”

God has made an investment into us as believers, what are we doing to honor that investment? ...

“When God saves us, He has an investment in us; and He says, 'Occupy 'til I come' in Luke; and that means, I think, to transact business—we're supposed to transact business for Jesus while we're here—and we're going to have to give an answer someday, to the Lord, for the investment that He's made in us.” —Dr. Russell Anderson; a truthful quote from, “Jack Hyles & Beverly Hyles 40th Anniversary Celebration and Banquet” (1999).

The one and only thing that our nation needs today to heal are the eternal words of God almighty in the inspired King James Bible!!! ...

“It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom.” —Horace Greeley (1811-1872)

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Souls Are Dying!

Precious Christian Testimonies

How Permanent Is Your Salvation?
(an excellent MP3 sermon by Pastor Hank Lindstrom, 1940-2008)

“The mark of the child of God is that he loves everybody!”
(a quote from Pastor Jack Hyles' classic MP3 sermon, “FORGIVENESS”)

Ye Must Be Born Again! | You Need HIS Righteousness!