My friend, the greatest theological battles of this generation are over the
inspiration of the Bible and the meaning of one single word — “REPENTANCE.”
Tragically, America's churches effectively are LOSING THE BATTLE. I say
“losing” because MOST Baptist and evangelical churches today are using
modern corrupt Bibles and; therefore, have a false understanding of what it
means to repent. What good is a belief in an inspired Bible if you're not
using an inspired Bible?
The beauty of the situation is that if you research all the plethora of Bibles being sold on the market today—ONLY ONE STANDS ALONE—THE INSPIRED KING JAMES BIBLE!!! This comparison chart speaks volumes (smaller chart). The truth is plain to see for those who desire it.
“Repentance” unto salvation in Mark 1:15 is the Greek word metanoeo, which simply means “a change of mind,” no more. Notice that believing the Gospel is the object of true repentance; not ridding one's life of sin, which is what heretics like Ray Comfort, Creation Science Evangelism (CSE), Jack Chick and John MacArthur teach. Mark 1:15 plainly teaches that the Gospel is the object of repentance. Men repent and believe the Gospel. That is salvation.
Repentance and believing are not
two separate steps to salvation; but rather, repentance is a change of mind
that prompts a man to believe the Gospel. They are two parts of one step.
The man who has repented has believed, and the man who believes has
repented. This is why the Gospel of John mentions the word “believe” and
“believed” 85-times, but the word “repent” is never mentioned, not even
once. Repentance unto salvation is very simple—you turn to Jesus to be
forgiven of your sins; not turning from your sins as a prerequisite to
trusting Christ. The former is salvation; but the latter is the heresy of
Lordship Salvation, which leads to Hell.
Dr. Mark G. Cambron Has It 100% Correct On Repentance
Here is an excellent and needful writing by Dr. Mark G. Cambron (1911-2000) on the subject of REPENTANCE. Please read the following quote carefully, because Dr. Cambron is one of few theologian who gets it, that is, he understands the simplicity of the Gospel and that repentance does not mean turning from sin as proponents of Lordship Salvation foolishly teach.
Here is what the Bible teaches, as explained by Dr. Cambron...
Repentance is necessary for salvation.
The Greek word for repent is metanoeo, which, translated into English is: to change ones mind. It does not mean to turn from sin. That would add works to salvation.
Repentance for salvation means a change of mind from men's ideas of salvation and religion, to an acceptance of Gods only way of salvation.
This results in a completely new creation, not a reformation of the old. The old nature remains as evil as ever after salvation and has not been reformed . . . The old nature can now be controlled by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.
God guarantees salvation. This is His gift to us.
God guarantees reward and fruit to the obedient son.
God guarantees chastening and loss of rewards to the disobedient son.
God does not cast out disobedient children, but in some cases, does take them home. He does not permit His children to live as they please without His discipline and guidance.
Many teach repentance for salvation incorrectly, by including some form of human effort or righteousness, such as willingness to turn from sin, or turning from sin. This is heresy and has confused many people. It adds works to salvation and causes many to not understand Gods great gift. It is probation, not salvation. It is completely unscriptural. It is Galatianism and a counterfeit of the gospel.
It is a tragedy that many Christians live shallow Christian lives. The Cambron Institute is dedicated to the task of training Christian men and women in the importance of total dedication and making Jesus the Lord of their lives not to be saved but because they are saved.
Shallow Christianity cannot be cured by adding works to salvation.
Salvation is not the result of what we do, but is by receiving what God has done for us. Acts 13:38, 39; Acts 20:20: Gal. 1:8,9; Gal. 2:4; Gal. 2:21; Gal. 3:1.3; Gal. 5:1-4; Eph. 2:8-10; II Cor. 5:21;John 3:16-18; Phil. 3:9; Titus 3:5-8:11 Cor. 11:13-1 5.SOURCE: The Cambron Institute
The Real Issue Is Over The MEANING Of Repentance
Read what the Creation Science Evangelism (CSE) website teaches...
Second, repent of your sin. This means that you must turn completely away from your sin. It is more than just saying sorry; it is a complete change of direction as you endeavor, by God’s power, to go His way, instead of the way of sin.
Instead of the object of
repentance being believing the Gospel; the object of repentance here is “a
complete change of direction as you endeavor, by God's power, to go His way,
instead of the way of sin.” They're mandating a change of personal
priorities to be saved. CSE says you can't just acknowledge that you're a
sinner and believe the Gospel to be saved. Oh no, they require you to go
much further and ENDEAVOUR a complete change to go God's way instead of sin.
Ladies and gentleman, this is a pure works-based salvation heresy! It's not just a matter of semantics. Some fool will say, “We'll everyone looks at salvation a little differently.” That's true, which is why they're all going to the Lake of Fire in self-righteousness. There is only one Gospel, that is, Christ died, was buried and resurrected three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).
Salvation is by grace through faith PLUS NOTHING! I'm tired of Baptists claiming to believe that statement while simultaneously saying that a person must endeavor to make a complete change with God's help to be saved. Jack Chick has recently defended himself, writing an entire webpage about why repentance is necessary for salvation. Either Jack Chick is sincerely ignorant of what's wrong with his plan of salvation, or else he's deliberately side-stepping the issue to save face. No one ever said that repentance wasn't necessary for salvation. That's not the issue at all. Repentance is absolutely 100% required for salvation. No one debates that.
THE ISSUE is that Jack Chick, Ray Comfort, Paul Washer, John MacArthur, CSE and other false teachers have REDEFINED what repentance means and are; therefore, all teaching a false concept of what repentance is. John MacArthur's false concept of repentance for salvation matches that of Mormonism. Every one of these men I've mentioned pervert the simple meaning of repentance, which is a change of mind.
On page 1513 of THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, under the section “Questions & Objections,” Ray Comfort addresses the statement: “Because Jesus died on the cross we are forgiven of every sin.” Here’s Ray Comfort’s reply to this statement…
“The forgiveness that is in Jesus Christ is conditional upon ‘repentance towards God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Acts 20:21). It is a gift that God offers to everyone, but individuals must receive it by repenting and trusting in Christ, or they will remain dead in their sins. No one has Biblical grounds to continue in sin, assuming that they are safe just because Jesus died on the cross. See 1 John 3:4-6.” [Emphasis added]
SOURCE: THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, by Ray Comfort, pg. 1513; 2003, Bridge-Logos Publishers, Orlando, Florida
Those are some very dangerous words at the end, “…assuming that they are safe just because Jesus died on the cross.” Are not all believers “safe” in Jesus Christ? Yes, they certainly are safe (Ephesians 1:13; Isaiah 28:16; Romans 10:11); but Ray Comfort teaches they are not. Ray Comfort is teaching heresy to say that believers who fail to forsake their sins are not safe in their salvation. Such reasoning places a heavy burden upon the sinner, requiring one to depart from sinful bad habits as a prerequisite to be saved.
Since the Bible is clear that even the best of Christians are still sinners (Romans 7:14-25), then how much sin is allowable before reaching the danger zone of not being saved? Ray Comfort says you're not safe just because Jesus died for your sins; but that you MUST also forsake the world, cease from dirty thoughts and telling fibs. On page 1197 of THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, Ray Comfort comments on Matthew 7:22,23...
"These are perhaps the most frightening verses in the Bible. Vast multitudes of professing Christians fit into the category spoken of here. They call Jesus 'Lord,' but they practice lawlessness. They profess faith in Jesus, but have no regard for the divine law. They tell 'fibs' or 'white' lies, take things that belong to others, have a roaming eye for the opposite sex, etc. They are liars, thieves, and adulterers at heart, who will be cast from the gates of heaven into the jaws of hell."
SOURCE: THE EVIDENCE BIBLE, by Ray Comfort, pg. 1197; 2003, Bridge-Logos Publishers, Orlando, Florida
In sharp contrast, read what Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980) has to say Scripturally about worldly believers. Mr. Comfort places emphasis upon holy living as to whether or not a person will make it into Heaven. But is this what the Bible really teaches? As I showed you earlier from the Bible in Mark 1:15, men repent and believe the Gospel. That is salvation. “Repentance” unto salvation in Mark 1:15 is the Greek word metanoeo, which simply means “a change of mind,” no more. Whatever that change of mind is leads a person to receive the Gospel as payment for their sins to be saved.
Notice that the change of mind doesn't lead a person to forsake personal sins, give up partying and the world, surrender all to Christ, et cetera. These things are not salvation. So you ask, “Well then, do you think a believer can go out and live like the Devil and still be saved?” The answer is yes; but to clarify, if a person has experienced genuine repentance unto salvation, then Christ has now entered into them and they become a new creature as 2nd Corinthians 5:17 says. The Holy Spirit is going to convict that believer about sins. God chastises His children (Hebrews 12:6-8).
When I first got saved at age 13, the Holy Spirit started convicting me about some things. As a young teen, I remember one of the first things I was convicted about was how I spoke to my mother. My dad would have rearranged my face if I disrespected him, but mom was more easy going. It's unbelievable the way some kids talk to their parents and boss them around. It is sinful. I wasn't that bad, but up until I got saved I was starting to sass my mom. When I believed the Gospel and became a Christian—a still, small, voice (Holy Spirit) inside my heart said, “I want you to be careful how you speak to your mother.” I began to read my Bible daily and fall asleep reading it. My mom would turn my little nightlight off. I remember my mother one day saying, “You've changed.” In hindsight that means a lot to me. The change was Jesus Christ!
That is how salvation works. You repent (change your mind) to believe the Gospel (Christ's death, burial and resurrection), and then the Holy Spirit (Christ's Spirit, Romans 8:9) comes to indwell you and speaks to your heart as you read the Bible. 1st Peter 2:2, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.” A changed life is the result (FRUIT) of salvation. A man's faith in Christ is the ROOT of salvation. The day I got saved was like a light switch was turned on and the Holy Spirit began to open my eyes to spiritual things. What a glorious salvation!
Picture a tree as representing a Christian. The
roots are salvation; but the fruit on the branches is the result of what the
roots have grown into. Hence, it is our faith in Christ's death, burial and
resurrection that saves us by Christ's blood and blossoms over time into a
fruitful life of pleasing God. The changes are impossible without the tree's
roots. This well illustrates the foolishness and impossibility of the heresy
of Lordship Salvation, which teaches that a tree must first grow limbs and
bear fruit before there are even any roots. That's not possible in reality.
The roots (faith) must come first.
Some Excellent Quotes Differentiating Salvation from 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." Dehaan, Martin R. Hebrews. Zondervan Publishing House, 1959 (p. 117).
"People are sometimes led to believe that there is saving value in some public confession of Christ, or profession of a decision. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness." This is salvation. "With the mouth confession is made unto salvation." This is the voice of the newborn child speaking to and of its father. The only condition on which one may be saved is to believe." Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Salvation. Dunham Publishing Company, 1917 (p. 46).
“Just as you receive the Saviour by faith and He becomes YOUR Saviour, when you allow Christ to control your life, He becomes YOUR LORD. There is an increasing number of "evangelicals" today who are preaching that in order for a man to be saved he must not only receive Christ as his Saviour, but also must make Him absolute Lord and Master of his life. This doctrine has been termed "Lordship salvation" and has absolutely no support from the Word of God. It is, in fact, another subtle way Satan has invented to get Bible-believing men to add works to salvation without, perhaps, their realizing it, and to do it in such a way that it sounds spiritual and good. ” Stanford, Ray. Personal Handbook of Evangelism. (p. 45-49).
"It is an inexcusable error to confront sinners with problems that concern the Christian life and call upon them to make promises regarding them. An unsaved person is never called upon to surrender himself to God. The saving act is in no instance represented as our 'giving ourselves to God'; it is, on the contrary, taking His Son as our Savior." Ryrie, Charles. Balancing the Christian Life. Moody Press, Inc., 1969 (p. 170).
"This kind of faith is not 'easy believism'. It is not easy to say, 'I can't save myself, I must recognize that there is something wrong with me, and I must seek help from someone else.'" Hook, H. Phillip. "A Biblical Definition of Saving Faith." Bibliotheca Sacra. April-June, 1964 (p. 133, 138)."The second approach finds faith in the gospel alone an 'easy Believism' and seeks to add something to faith in order to accomplish salvation. To repent is to 'change one's mind,' and to believe is to remove one's trust from that in which it has rested and place it in Christ." Howard, William. "Is Faith Enough to Save?" Bibliotheca Sacra. January-March, 1942 (p.99).
"Certainly discipleship is a most important aspect of our relation to Christ, but it belongs to the sphere of Christian life rather than entrance upon that life... One does not become a disciple in order to become a Christian, but because he has become a Christian by faith in the Savior, it is fitting that he embark upon a life of discipleship". Harrison, Everett F. "Must Christ be Lord to Be Savior?-No." Eternity, September 1959 (p. 14).
"For the unregenerate man, repentance is the change of mind whereby he turns from unbelief to faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ." Post, Roger. "The Meanings of the Words Translated 'Repent' and 'Repentance' in the New Testament." Master's Thesis, Wheaton College, June 1972 (p. 80).
"There are those who, in their zeal to get people to turn from their sinful ways and receive the Lord, almost put repentance on a par with believing... Repentance, as it relates to Christ, means to change our minds about Him, who He is and what He's done to provide forgiveness and deliverance from our sins. When we place faith in Jesus as having taken our place personally on the cross and borne the penalty due our sins, then we're automatically repenting, because we couldn't accept Him in this way without having had to change our minds in some way concerning Him." Lindsey, Hal. The Liberation of Planet Earth. Zondervan Publishing House, 1974 (p. 136, 137)."Eternal life is free. Discipleship is immeasurably hard. The former is attained by faith alone, the latter by a faith that works... the former brings with it the righteousness of God so that a man is 'justified freely by his grace' (Romans 3:24). The latter develops a personal righteousness, based on good deeds, so that a man was also 'justified by works' (James 2:24). The former constituted the believer God's workmanship, the latter fulfilled the wonderful purpose for which he had been created. The former cost man nothing, the latter could cost him everything, including life itself." Hodges, Zane C. The Hungry Inherit. Moody Press, Inc., 1972 (p. 114, 115).
“Repent, as Christ meant it to be in terms of salvation, means to change your mind from trusting in what you can do for God to trusting only in what He can do for you.” Bowen, Michael P. I Never Knew You. Barbour Books, 2009 (p. 114).
"Discipleship is frequently equated with salvation and often erroneously made a condition for becoming a Christian." Pentecost, J. Dwight. Design for Discipleship. Zondervan Publishing House, 1971 (p. 11).
"There is no more piously subtle abrogation of the Gospel than to tell a Sinner that he must not only believe in the Savior, but dedicate himself to do God's will, crown the Savior Lord of his life, etc., etc. Obviously, dedication and service are highly desirable, but they are the privilege and the duty of the saved, never a condition of salvation for the unsaved (cf. Romans 12:1, 2)." Unger, Merrill F. God is Waiting to Meet You. Moody Press, 1975 (p. 117, 118).
Obeying God Rather Than Men
I feel bad exposing people. God
knows my heart. I used to love passing out Chick Tracts. I was one of Jack
Chick's biggest fans. I loved the pictures in the tracts that I had seen
since childhood. But then one day I realized that he taught a false Gospel.
It took me 8-long-months of prayer and heart searching. God convicted me
through His Spirit and said, “Are you right in what you're saying?” The
answer was a resounding, “yes, yes and yes.” As much as it hurts me to
expose Jack Chick, I KNOW that I'm doing the right thing because the truth
is THE TRUTH.
The same thing can be said of Ray Comfort and many others whom I expose as false prophets. It really hurts me in my heart. Sometimes the good guy has to be the perceived villain for the benefit of those he's trying to help. I'm continually asking God, “Am I doing the right thing here?” It's not like I arrogantly just pick and choose who I like or don't like and then have it in for them. God forbid! No, rather, I go by the truth and principle.
Dr. Jack Hyles (1926-2001) has taught me more than any man alive through his books and sermons. I heard Brother Hyles recently say in a sermon that he allows principles to make his decisions for him, so he doesn't have to go by emotions and personal bias. He said that a family in the church was upset and threatening to leave because he expelled their daughter from the Christian high school. She broke certain rules that required expulsion. Dr. Hyles said he followed policy, not his personal feelings or bias. A rule is a rule and cannot be broken for anybody, not even a longstanding family in the church. I love people, but I will expose anyone who corrupts the Gospel (as we all should, Titus 1:10-13).
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!
Pastor Bob Gray Sr. at the Longview Baptist Temple church in Texas correctly preaches . . .
“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
In his excellent book, I NEVER KNEW YOU, Michael Patrick Bowen states . . .
You can live for Christ, you can love Christ, you can serve Him with all your might, time, talent and wealth. You can pray to Him, read your Bible, get water-baptized, join a church, witness to people, and do every wonderful work contained within the realm of Christianity, but if you fail to trust Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, He will “dump” you.
SOURCE:
I NEVER KNEW YOU (.pdf), by Michael P. Bowen; by Barbour Books, © 2009; page 77.
Who am I? Absolutely nothing! A
worm! A stick in the mud! You're enjoying this aren't you? Ladies and
gentleman, the world is going to Hell. The Devil is trying to blind people
from the truth. Since he cannot outright get us to betray our convictions
and faith, he subtly tries to redefine what repentance and faith are! The
Devil is always trying to move the landmark. Did you hear what I said? The
Devil is always trying to move the landmark. What does that mean? 
