WRONG REPENTANCE - NO SALVATION

Romans 6:23. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Pastor Hank Lindstrom was the founding pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. In this message, Dr. Lindstrom explains exactly what biblical repentance is, and what it is not. He went on to be with the Lord in 2008. Dr. Lindstrom's sermon, 'Wrong Repentance - No Salvation,' will help solidify your salvation beliefs, or lead you to Christ is you're lost.

A Miami native, the Pastor Lindstrom graduated from the University of Florida with an electrical engineering degree, then he went to Florida Bible College. Dr.  Lindstrom taught Bible at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago for 14 years in the good old days before they tuned Calvinist. He later taught Bible at Florida Bible College.

Dr. Hank Lindstrom led me to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ years ago, and has since gone home to be with the Lord, but his crystal clear presentation of the gospel lives on and on and on. The following article was written by Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008).

“For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)

HOW TO CLAIM THE GIFT OF GOD

Rule #1 -  The Holy Bible is the only book that you will use to confirm what I will be showing you. That is because it is God's word, it is perfect. 2nd Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” This phrase, given by inspiration of God, translates a single Greek word. Literally the word means God-breathed. If you follow God's plan of salvation written down in His Holy Bible and you don’t get into heaven I think you would be able to stand in God's presence in heaven itself and call Him a liar! (The Bible states many times that God cannot lie) Never rely on any other book or person, not the Pope, not Mohammed, not the Koran, not the book of Mormons, not Buddha, or any other book or person because your eternal life depends on it! The Bible is the only book in the world that has been PROVEN to be the word of GOD. You can prove the Bible to be God's word just by looking at the things that were written in it about the coming Messiah.

This information was given 500-1000 years before Jesus was born and yet each item came to pass exactly as written in the Bible. This is how God Himself tells us to identify His word, when the word comes to pass it was from Me and if it does not come to pass it was not from Me. The Bible has and continues to tell us of future events, hundreds if not thousands of years before they are to come to pass. No other book of any religion has proven it's ability to tell the future like the Bible has for thousands of years. The Bible was not written by men but was written thru men by God Himself.

Rule #2 - There is only ONE way to get to heaven. John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Notice the bible verse does not say (Jesus is A way); because that wording would mean that He is one of many ways. The Jews have one way, the Muslims have another way and the Christians have even more ways depending on the denomination. If you’re church, synagogue, or mosque tells you that there is ANOTHER way to heaven other than thru the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, run don’t walk to the nearest exit and NEVER go back!

I am not trying to get you to join my church or get you to convert to my religion or get you to buy a prayer cloth or some other ridiculous item. I am warning you of the dangers of being in any false religion! No religion can save you! The only thing that matters is WHO you are trusting to get you to heaven. Galatians 3:6 "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Abraham was saved, given eternal life, made righteous just like we are today, he believed (trusted) God! Abraham was not a member of ANY church, he was not water baptized, he did not have any Priest or Rabbi or Imam praying over him. All he did was trust what God told him about the coming Messiah who would wash him of his sins. What we do in this age is exactly the same, Trust God by believing, trusting in the Messiah that came 2000 years ago who washes us of all our sins and we are then given the Gift of God, Eternal Life and His righteousness.

Rule #3 - Jesus is God in the flesh, the Creator of all things seen and unseen, the giver of ALL life, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. John 14:7 "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him" You can see in this passage Jesus is saying very clearly when you see me you have seen the Father! That’s why when Jesus (God) died on the cross to pay for our sins, we can be sure that He paid for ALL our sins past, present and future. Do you really think that you going to church every Sunday or you giving your 5, 10 or 20 dollars a week to church is going to put a dent in the vast amount of sins you have committed during your life? It won't! When you do good things in order to help yourself get into heaven it’s like spitting in Gods face!

You are basically saying that you appreciate what He did on the cross 2000 years ago, you appreciate Him suffering and dying for your sins, but just in case it's not enough to get ME to heaven here is a few of MY good works to put me over the top. Most people don't understand that God is a trinity, (3 parts in 1 God) but you can see for yourself that God IS a trinity by just reading the Old Testament for yourself with a passage like Genesis 1:26 “And God said, Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness…” notice God clearly says “in OUR image” God is a triune God, God the Father = the Soul, God the Son = the Body, God the Spirit = the Spirit, but put all three together and it equals one God.

It is hard for us to understand, but when you see that we are made in His likeness it becomes a little clearer. We were created with a soul like God the Father (that’s the real you, your personality, your memories, your very essence), we also have a body like God the Son, Jesus (this is how we interact with this world, we can see, hear, feel and act upon this world whether for good or bad it's our choice), and we also have a spirit like God the Holy Spirit (this is how we communicate with God in Heaven, thru our spirit).

We really were created in his image, three separate parts (Body, soul and spirit) in one package. When you get to heaven you will not see God the Father (the soul of the trinity) like an old man with white hair and a long white beard because he is described as pure unwavering light, and you will not see the Holy Spirit either because he is an invisible spirit. What you will see is Jesus Christ who is God in the flesh. You will see the scars on his hands and feet, and the scar in his side from the spear of the roman soldier; that is how you will be able to identify God in heaven… look for the scars that he got while on this earth paying for all of your sins!!!

Rule #4 - You will never get to heaven by being good. The Bible says in Romans 3:10 "As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one." and Romans 3:23, “For ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” So if you try to get to heaven by being good and following the Ten Commandments, the Bible is guaranteeing that you will fail! All the false religions of the world teach that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell.

The problem is that no one is reading their Bible that CLEARLY states that ALL have sinned and that there is NONE righteous no, not one. It only takes one little lie to send you to hell forever and all of us have told a lie! You must be absolutely perfect to enter heaven. The wages of sin is death (Hell). There is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood. You need a blood sacrifice to pay for your life of sinning! You have no blood sacrifice and you WILL die in your sins if you continue to practice in any of the false religions of the world!

One example of a false religion is the Jewish Faith, you are indeed God’s chosen people and Jerusalem is God’s Holy City but the vast majority of Jews will go to Hell when they die because they continue to reject their Messiah Yeshua, (Jesus) the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus is your blood sacrifice and if you die without trusting Him as the lamb without spot you will be the one paying for your sins in hell forever. All you need to do is read the Bible for yourself so that you can learn how to identify the Messiah when you see Him.

The Messiah must...

1. be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14)
2. be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
3. be crucified with thieves (Isaiah 53:12)
4. be sold for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12)
5. have His hands and feet pierced (Psalms 22:16)
6. have his clothes fought & gambled over at his death (Psalms 22:18)
7. be God Himself in the flesh (Isaiah 9:6)
8. be crucified and shed his blood to pay for our sins (Isaiah 53:6)
9. be risen from the dead (Isaiah 53:10)
10. the temple would be destroyed AFTER the Messiah had come and given His life (Daniel 9:26)

Jesus did all these things and more exactly as the Old Testament said He would. Don’t wait for your Rabbi to tell you these things because they won't, they want to keep you in the dark. I want to bring you into the light with the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Rule #5 - Your religion will not save you. Those practicing the Jewish religion will go to hell because they have no blood sacrifice to cover their sins. YOUR sins must be covered by a blood sacrifice before you die. The Jewish people have no temple and they have no priests. All these things were taken away from them by God because they rejected Him 2000 years ago when He walked into the temple that was built for Him as Jesus (Yeshua) and told them He was God.

The Jewish people of the day however loved Jesus (Yeshua) and witnessed all of His miracles and were amazed. The Jewish rulers were the ones who plotted to kill Him because he was about to make the Jewish faith obsolete. The Jewish leaders of this day are still leading their followers away from the true God who we Christians call Jesus and the Jewish people call Yeshua the Messiah. They are one in the same, God in the flesh.

Why did the Jewish rulers arrest Jesus (Yeshua) in the middle of the night? Simple, the Jewish people would not have allowed anyone to lay hold of Him during the day because they loved and worshipped Him. No other man before or after Jesus has raised a man from the dead after 4 days (Lazarus) John 11:38-45, or gave sight to a man born blind John 9:1-7, or told someone crippled 38 years to get up and he did John 5:1-9.

They rejected their Messiah Yeshua and because they did, God has blinded them to the truth and has turned to the Gentiles for the past 2000 years. Jesus is Yeshua, the God that saves His people from their sins, trust in Him and receive forgiveness for all your sins and eternal life. Read the Old Testament for yourself and see how to identify the real Messiah! Do not expect your Rabbi to tell you, because he is the one who is keeping you in darkness. Pray to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and ask him to open your eyes, so that you may see His truth, and He will answer that prayer even if He has not answered any other prayer.

Those practicing the Muslim religion will go to hell because they are following another book and are worshipping another god. The Koran is NOT the word of God nor is it holy. They do not believe that Jesus is God; they believe He is a prophet of God. Jesus said that if you do not believe that I AM you will die in your sins. John 8:24, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” What He meant by that statement is that you must believe that He (Jesus) is God himself in the flesh in order for your sins to be paid for by Him.

The Muslims are worshiping the Moon god Allah, a pagan god, not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who is the real God of the Bible. It is just another religion made up in a man’s imagination and promoted by the devil, sword and gun, a false religion indeed. So many souls are being led needlessly to hell because of this false religion. I use the word led because you can go to the nearest exit of the mosque and never look back any time you want.

God will always protect the man or woman or child who is diligently searching for Him, thru war, thru famine, thru any calamity He will protect you from anything and anyone and no harm will come to you if you truly are searching for the truth. This goes for any false religion that you may be stuck in at this time. The Jewish ruler Nicodemus, was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin and came to Jesus in the middle of the night in order to find out how to get to Heaven.

He knew if he came during the day he would be thrown out of the synagogue or worse. Do not fear the one who can kill the body, fear instead the One that can kill the soul. An Arab Woman named Ruth who came from a Muslim country made her decision known in this Bible passage. Ruth 1:16-17, “Do not urge me to leave you or return from following you,” she said. “For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God...” This was a great Arab woman of the Bible and one of the great stories of the bible. Do not fear those that ARE leading you to the slaughter of Islam, leave while you still have the breath in your lungs to run to the Lord God Jesus Christ!

Those practicing the False Christian religions will go to Hell if they don’t follow Gods REAL plan of salvation as stated in the Bible. The devil knows that he can deceive many more people by having churches that look, smell, and taste like a real Christian church but are just a little bit off on doctrine. This little bit off that I am speaking of is usually adding a little bit of works to the plan of salvation.

If your church says that in order to have eternal life:

1. you need to turn away from your sin,
2. you need to give your life to Jesus,
3. you need to give money to the church,
4. you need to go to church every week,
5. you need to confess your sins to a priest,
6. you need to ask Jesus into your heart,
7. you need to be a member of our church,
8. you need to be water baptized,
9. you can lose your salvation
10. you can't know that you are saved right now

...RUN, don’t walk, to the nearest exit and never go back!!!

These are ALL false doctrines promoted by the devil and his demons!!! The god of this world is the devil and if you don’t think so just read about all the pain and suffering that is going on all over this world.

Rule #6 - Forget everything you’ve ever learned in any church if you did not personally look the information up in the Bible! I have found that over 99% of the religions being taught on this earth are wrong. I know how crazy it sounds but it is very true. That means if you have 100 churches in your town only 1 will be teaching correctly and giving you the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible clearly states in Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat, Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." You must be looking for this narrow path that leads to Heaven.

Do you want to be in the huge group on the wide path that leads to destruction or do you want to be in the small group that has found the narrow path that is Jesus? I plan to show you that narrow path that leads to Heaven and I expect you to confirm everything I tell you by checking everything I say against what the Bible says. This is the most important decision of your life so don’t take it lightly. Some churches are way off from what the Bible teaches and some are just a little bit off. In order to get to heaven you MUST be 100% correct according to the Bible, not according to me, so please check and recheck all the information I give you against the word of God.

May God open your eyes, ears and heart to His truth, may He protect those who are truly seeking Him and His plan of salvation, and may He bless and protect this ministry and our website as we do His will of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. In Jesus name we pray, amen

“Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2nd Corinthians 9:15)

The golden key to your salvation, eternal life is Trust, Faith, Belief. All three basically mean the same thing, To lean upon, to cast your weight upon or to TRUST. In order to receive this Gift of God, you must transfer the trust that you had in a church, synagogue, Mosque or yourself and put all your trust in Jesus Christ. The moment you do this, God in Heaven knows and He saves you now and forever.

Who do you trust right now to get you to Heaven; be honest and think about it? ALL of the false religions are telling you to put your trust in yourself or them. The Jewish person must follow a set of rules which state what they can and cannot do and what they can and cannot eat and when they can and cannot worship. If you do these things you will go to Heaven and if YOU don’t do these things you will go to Hell. That makes you the savior, not God.

I will repeat this again, it makes you the savior! The Muslim person must pray 5 times a day, they must give to the poor, and they must make a pilgrimage to Mecca if able to do so financially. They must be a good person and if so, God might show them favor and allow them into Heaven. Again, guess who the real savior is: you are, again. The false Christian must go to church every week, must give 10% of his income, must confess his sins, must be water baptized, must keep the faith all the days of his life, and live a good life.

Again he is the savior. If he is good he will go to Heaven and if he is bad he will go to Hell when he dies. ALL false religions make you the savior. This statement is very, very important! Think about the church you are in right now… what happens if you stop doing what they keep telling you to do every week. You will go to Hell. But on the other hand what happens if you do all the things that they tell you to do, you might get to Heaven.

It’s not even a sure thing when you go thru all the hoops! What you are doing is trusting in YOUR actions to get you to heaven! If you really want to know if you are going to heaven or hell just ask yourself who is MY savior. If the answer is my Church, Synagogue, Mosque, Rabbi, Priest, Buddha or yourself consider yourself toast when you die!

If on the other hand you can say:

1. I am a sinner in need of a Savior.
2. The wages of my sin is death (Hell).
3. I understand I must be perfect to enter Heaven.
4. I understand I cannot save myself.
5. I understand that Jesus made a complete payment for all my sins.
6. I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior.
7. I believe Him to be God in the flesh.
8. I believe he shed his blood & died on the cross to pay MY sins.
9. I believe he was buried and rose from the dead after three days and three nights.

...then you are saved dear reader. The moment you put your trust in Jesus Christ ALONE, God who can read your mind knows, saves YOU, makes you perfect in His eyes, and gives you the Gift of God, Eternal Life.

You do not need anyone to pray over you, or pray for you, because this is between you and God in Heaven. Because of your new trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ you are now a child of God. Before you trusted in Jesus, God was your Creator but now and forevermore He will be your Father.

You are saved in a moment of time, because you are trusting in the true Savior now, not working your way to Heaven day by day, which is not even possible.

Once saved, you can never be lost for any reason. This is because you were born spiritually the moment you put your trust in Him. Just like your physical birth which brought you into this human world, your spiritual birth gave you a new spiritual life that is permanent. You were born-again, made righteous and holy in Gods eyes. In fact, you have the righteousness of God Himself You are sinless and perfect in God's eyes now and that's why you can enter into a perfect Heaven.

My favorite saying is: “God will not save anyone who is trying to be saved, He will only save those who are trusting to be saved.”

You MUST put ALL your trust in Jesus to be saved, trust in the blood that He shed on the cross, trust that He is God in the flesh, trust that He made the complete payment for your sins, not just part; He paid for ALL of your sins (past, present, and future)! Trust that He rose again from the dead after 3 days and 3 nights, and in return for this trust, He gives YOU Eternal Life. 

All false Christians put part of their trust in Jesus and part of their trust the Church and part of their trust in themselves. If you put 99.99% trust in Jesus and 00.01% in something else, you will go to hell. It must be 100% trust in Jesus and what He did and 0% in you or your church! This information in critical... (adding your works to Gods plan of salvation will cancel out Gods grace!) You are going to hell if it's by your works or you are going to heaven by Gods grace alone. It's as simple as that.

So I guess the question comes down to who are you trusting. Are you trusting yourself to get to heaven by being a good person and giving lots of money to your church or are you trusting Jesus, the lamb of God, that was slain for the sins of the world to get you to heaven? You receive the Gift of God (Eternal Life) as soon as you stop trusting in yourself, your church, your synagogue, your mosque, your money, or any other works and put your trust in Him and Him ALONE, Jesus Christ, Yeshua, The King of Kings, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, the Alpha and Omega, the Mighty God.

False religions are everywhere and they will find you, the one true God and His plan of salvation must be found.

If all this makes sense to you and you would like to trust Jesus as your personal Savior right now then tell the Mighty God in Heaven of your decision to trust Jesus Christ as your only hope of heaven. Tell Him that you are no longer putting your trust in your actions, or your church, or your church membership, or in your money, or in your Rabbi, or in your synagogue or your Mosque but that you are putting all of your trust in Him and the shed blood of the cross to pay your sin debt. Thank Him for doing it for you! Thank Him for giving you the Gift of Eternal Life that He paid for with His life. There is no greater deed than that of laying down your life for another.

Will you trust Jesus as your Savior right now, the one who shed His precious blood on the cross of Calvary to pay for all your sins?

Sinners Prayer:

Lord, I admit that I'm a sinner & I don't understand a whole lot about the bible, but I do believe that Jesus Christ died & paid for my sins in full, by His death & shed blood on the cross. I trust right now the He died for me, was buried & rose again from the dead and will live forever more. I trust Jesus Christ right now to save me, to be my savior, to forgive my sins & to give me the GIFT OF GOD Eternal Life. Amen

By reading this sinners prayer aloud, you are putting your trust in God and His plan of salvation. You are not saved by saying this prayer, you are saved the moment your mind made the switch from trusting in yourself to putting your COMPLETE TRUST IN JESUS CHRIST. 

That moment may have been five paragraphs up on this page or that moment may have been on another one of our pages. You will not feel any different, but you will be changed and changed for the better forever. Once you have trusted Jesus as your savior and received his gift of eternal life, this gift can NEVER be lost. You can NEVER go to hell for ANY reason. Your past, present and future sins were paid in full the moment you put your trust in Him.

You are blameless and Holy in God's eyes now and FOREVER. If you have eternal life today what kind of life will you have in five years? ETERNAL! What kind of life will you have in ten years? ETERNAL!! What kind of life will you have in 50 years? ETERNAL!!! God does not give probationary life or temporary life, His gift is ETERNAL LIFE! Thanks be to GOD!

Why be good, now that I am assured of going to heaven? Because God's law of sowing and reaping still applies to you and me. You will reap what you sow. You will reap more than you sow and you will reap later than you sow. If you drink alcohol like a fish, you will reap a diseased liver. If you smoke like a chimney everyday, you will reap lung cancer. If you rob, murder, and steal you will reap a life in prison. You will reap what you sow.

I guarantee it! Now that you are saved, when you do good things you WILL be rewarded here on earth and in Heaven. And when you do bad things you WILL lose rewards that God had planned on giving you here on earth and in Heaven. But you will NEVER lose your guarantee of going to heaven. That can never be lost for any reason!! You have God's word that your salvation can never be lost for any reason. You did not earn salvation and you do not work to keep salvation! Eternal Life, salvation, being born again, becoming a child of God, was, is, and always will be the GIFT OF GOD.

Remember: If your not saved forever, you are not saved!

Why is this true you might ask? Because if a person is not sure that they are saved TODAY, RIGHT NOW it means that they are still trying to be the savior! They can't be sure they are going to heaven because they don't know what sin's they may commit next week, next month or next year. We who have trusted in Jesus alone, can have comfort knowing that all our sins have been paid in full on the Cross of Calvary (past, present, and future sins).

Jesus has already died for my sins so I don't need to pay for any sin I have or will commit in the future because Jesus already paid the price in full with His blood. So called Christians who say that you can lose your salvation because of suicide or murder or falling away from the church don't have a clue what the Bible says and clearly have not trusted Jesus ALONE!

Biblical salvation is forsaking any other means of salvation, but Christ, and casting ourselves fully upon Him for eternal life.

This article was written by Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008).

Pastor Harry Ironside Refutes Misunderstood Repentance

Mark 1:15, “And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

In chapter 16 of his insightful book, “The Preaching That Produces Repentance,” Pastor Harry Ironside (1876-1951) writes:

“In many quarters, men have attached to the words 'repent' and 'repentance' meanings that do not properly belong to them. So that there is the possibility that our hearers may altogether misunderstand us if we urge them, in so many words, to repent. They may imagine they must by some effort of their own, produce that which entitles them to consider that they have attained a state where they are acceptable to God. This is not the truth as set forth in His Word, as every Bible-taught preacher well knows.” —Pastor Harry A. Ironside, “The Preaching That Produces Repentance,” chapter 16

Mark 1:15, “And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” The last portion of our text passage of Scripture literally could be read translated, “Change your mind and believe the GOOD NEWS that Jesus died on a cross to pay your debt of sin, was buried and three days later bodily resurrected from the dead.” Christ died, that's history; Christ died, was buried and resurrected FOR ME, that's salvation. Anybody can be saved! Whosoever will may come! Every one of you may be saved.

Confusion About Repentance

2nd Timothy 2:23-26, “But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”

In our text passage of Scripture, we are taught that repentance is “a change of mind” toward THE TRUTH. In the New testament, the word “repent” (Greek noun: metanoia) comes from two Greek root words: meta (after or beyond) + noia (mind - e.g., paranoid, i.e., alongside your mind). Hence, to “repent” simply means to think afterwards, that is, to change your mind from UNBELIEF to BELIEF in the “GOOD NEWS” (Gospel) of Jesus Christ crucified, buried and resurrected the third day (1st Corinthians 15:1-6). Repenting unto life (the new birth) has absolutely nothing to do with forsaking your sinful bad habits, which would be reformation.

Confusion About Repentance
(by Dylan McNutt)

Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) said it well...

“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, from the sermon: "THE GOODNESS OF GOD LEADETH TO REPENTANCE!"

Pastor Harry Ironside (1876-1951) also said it very well...

“The Gospel is not a call to repentance, or to amendment of our ways, to make restitution for past sins, or to promise to do better in the future. These things are proper in their place, but they do not constitute the Gospel; for the Gospel is not good advice to be obeyed, it is good news to be believed. Do not make the mistake then of thinking that the Gospel is a call to duty or a call to reformation, a call to better your condition, to behave yourself in a more perfect way than you have been doing in the past …Nor is the Gospel a demand that you give up the world, that you give up your sins, that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones. You may do all these things, and yet never believe the Gospel and consequently never be saved at all.” —Pastor Harry A. Ironside, from the ministry tract: "What Is The Gospel?"

Also, my ministry friend Michael P. Bowen wrote those doctrinally sound words...

"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." —Michael Patrick Bowen, from his book: "I NEVER KNEW YOU," p. 17

These three godly Bible preachers have faithfully interpreted the correct biblical meaning of repentance to be saved. THANK YOU Brother Dylan for this helpful ministry video. To God alone be all the praise and glory. Jesus is precious!

The Man Who BELIEVES On Christ Has REPENTED

Acts 16:29-31, “Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

Please don't allow LYING FALSE PROPHETS like Missionary David W. Cloud to deceive you about what Dr. Rice really believed and taught. David Cloud is an evil jerk who maliciously slanders Pastor Jack Hyles, just like Brad and Bobby Moffett of Family Baptist Church in Pensacola wickedly slandered Dr. Hyles. Those LOSERS aren't worthy to shine Brother Hyles' shoes!

“Dear sinner, do not make this a difficult matter. There is one simple step between you and Jesus. When you trust Him, everything else is settled, and you have repented, you have come to Christ, you have received Him, you have done everything necessary to be saved.” —Dr. John R. Rice, a helpful quote from his tract titled: “What Must I Do To Be Saved?”

David Cloud attacks Dr. Curtis Hutson and other saints who faithfully preach Easy-Believism. David Cloud has written evil articles on his corrupt website, in which he attempts to pitch Dr. Rice against Dr. Hutson, FALSELY claiming that Dr. Rice taught repentance from sins, but Dr. Hutson eliminated repentance. Nothing could be further from THE TRUTH. Brother Hutson preached THE SAME truths about repentance as did Dr. Rice.

In the quote I have just shared with you by Dr. Rice, you can clearly see that he believed the man who comes to Christ has repented. This is a far cry from the deadly WORKS BASED crap that David Cloud and Pensacola Christian College teach, requiring lost people to be willing to forsake sinful bad habits to get to Heaven.

Repent Of Your Sins: A False Gospel Exposure

John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”

I don't see anything in our text passage of inspired Scripture about being willing to turn away from your sinful bad habits to get to Heaven, do you? No, you do not. Yet, the demonic lie that you must first commit to turn from your sinning to be saved is being taught in nearly every church today, which churches are actually now corrupt religious cults.

Here are some helpful videos exposing the Devil's lie that you cannot go to Heaven unless you repent of your sinning. Remember dear reader, Jesus Christ died on a cross to pay our debt of sin. God does not require that you first commit to forsake your sinning as a prerequisite to receive His free gift, for if He did it wouldn't truly be a gift (Ephesians 2:8-9).

REPENT OF YOUR SINS - Documentary,
A False Gospel Exposure - Part One

REPENT OF YOUR SINS - Documentary,
A False Gospel Exposure - Part Two

Good works are not the payment for sin, the payment for sin is death.

Salvation is not a reward for the righteous, it is a gift for the guilty!

Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.

Turning away from sinful ways would be a work. Faith puts all of the merit where it belongs, on the object of our faith, Jesus and His work.

If to “repent” means to forsake our sinful ways TO BE SAVED, but Jesus already paid for our sins by dying on the cross, then what are we repenting from?

The true Gospel always points you to CHRIST; a false gospel always points to YOU.

We must stay true to the simplicity of the Gospel. Repentance regarding salvation is a change of mind from unbelief to belief. We must earnestly contend for the faith (Jude 1:3).

What Is Genuine Biblical Repentance?

2nd Timothy 2:25-26, “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”

Carefully notice in our text passage of Scripture that repentance means to acknowledge THE TRUTH. This has nothing to do with turning from your sins, nor forsaking the world, nor being willing to turn from sin, nor feeling sorry for your sins, nor having a desire to forsake sinful bad habits, because these things constitute WORKS (Jonah 3:10).

Repentance is a change of mind to acknowledge THE TRUTH of two things: 1) You are a needy SINNER, and 2) Jesus is the only SAVIOR. Anyone who comes to God as a needy SINNER, and by faith takes God at His written Word in the Holy Bible—to receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full-payment for your sins, believing that Jesus was buried, but then raised up three days later—is instantly, irrevocably and forever saved. You have God's PROMISE of it (1st Corinthians 1:21; Titus 1:2; 1st Corinthians 15:1-6).

Most churches today have adopted a Roman Catholic interpretation of repentance, which includes penance, forsaking sinful living and changing one's ways to be saved. The Bible teaches something VERY different. Biblical repentance unto life simply means “a change of mind,” that is, a change of mind about whatever was hindering you from coming to the Lord to be saved. John 3:20 says that sin hinders people from coming to the light (Jesus, John 8:12) to be saved, because people living in sin don't want to be reproved and told they are wrong. When a man repents, he acknowledges that he is a guilty sinner in the eyes of a holy God, and so now he comes to Christ by faith to be saved.

Repentance simply means that you acknowledge your sinnership and thus need for Christ to save you. 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.” We are saved by believing, not by repenting, but we wouldn't believe if we didn't repent. This is why the words “believe” and “believed” appear 85 times in the Gospel of John, but the word “repent” is never mentioned even once.

A person MUST repent to be saved, but repentance does NOT mean changing your sinful ways and turning over a new leaf for God. Repentance simply facilitates believing. That is, repentance makes believing possible, and they happen simultaneously. Repentance and faith are not the same thing, but they happen at the same time. The man who believes has repented; the man who repents has believed. I am worried about the salvation of umpteen Independent Baptists in our churches today, who have told me that they don't think believing the Gospel is enough to be saved. They have been caught-up into the damnable heresy of Roman Catholicism.

One Baptist man who teaches in a local Bible college said to me a few months ago, “I think there needs to be a little bit more.” That is, he believes it is NOT enough to trust upon Christ's death on the cross for our sins, His burial and bodily resurrection three days later to save us. This is the Gospel (Good News) according to 1st Corinthians 15:1-6. That foolish man also believes that you must purpose in your heart to stop living in a lifestyle of sin, to get to Heaven. The guy needs to get saved! My friend, there is a fine line between Christianity and the religion of the cults. Grace is not earned, it is offered!

Pastor Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951) correctly understood repentance . . .

“Repentance is the very opposite of meritorious experience. It is the confession that one is utterly without merit, and if he is ever saved at all it can only be through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, 'who gave himself a ransom for all.' Here is firm footing for the soul who realizes that all self-effort is but sinking sand. Christ alone is the Rock of our salvation.”

SOURCE: Harry A. Ironside; Except Ye Repent, p. 36)

Clearly, Ironside taught a Free Grace view of the Gospel. Harry A. Ironside correctly recognized repentance as the confession that “one is utterly without merit” and that if one is “ever saved at all it can only be through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Salvation is without works of self-righteousness. Romans 4:5 plainly teaches that a man's faith is COUNTED for righteousness, i.e., the righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to one's heavenly record by faith.

“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

All that God requires for salvation is that we receive Christ's death, burial and resurrection as full-payment for our sins. Concerning salvation, “repentance” does NOT mean to cease from sinful bad habits, nor turn over a new leaf, nor make a full surrender to Christ, nor to forsake the world, nor to even be willing to turn away from sinning. A person may do all of these things and yet never have believed the Gospel at all. The Gospel is Good News to simply be believed, and not conditions to be achieved.

Dr. Mark G. Cambron Is 100% Correct On Repentance

Acts 20:21, “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Here is an excellent and needful writing by Bible Professor 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 right, 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...

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: Galatians 1:8-9; Galatians 2:4; Galatians 2:21; Galatians 3:1-3; Galatians 5:1-4; Ephesians 2:8-10; II Corinthians 5:21; John 3:16-18; Philippians 3:9; Titus 3:5-8; II Corinthians 11:13-15.

SOURCE: The Cambron Institute

Professor Cambron taught at Tennessee Temple University for many years, and then went to work teaching at Florida Bible College in Tampa, Florida until his went to Heaven in 2011. Dr. Cambron was exactly right about repentance. The best way to interpret the Bible is to let it speak for itself. There is no mystery what the word “repent” means in the Greek. As Dr. Cambron points out, repent means “a change of mind,” nothing more or less.

Deep Repentance Is Not Required To Be Saved

Acts 16:29-31: “Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

In our text passage of Scripture above, the invitation to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved was also extended to the Philippian jailor's entire family, if they would also individually believe on the name of Jesus. No group has ever been saved as a whole; but rather, as individuals. Salvation is a personal matter. We were born into the world alone, we will die alone, and whether we go to Heaven or Hell is solely up to the individual person. What will you do with Jesus dear reader? Have you been bon again? I did, at age 13 in Chicago.

When I attended Campus Church cult at Pensacola Christian College (PCC) in 2021, their unlearned associate pastor Timothy Zacharias wickedly deceived thousands of people at a Wednesday evening Bible study, saying that to be saved you must first experience a deep profound radical feeling of hatred and guilt over your sins, and have a sincere desire to turn away from those sins. Kindly said, Pastor Zacharias is a fool.

Dr. Curtis Hutson wisely said...

“The fella who knows what repentance is knows it's included in believing.” —Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995)

Dear reader, if you are a soulwinning Christian you don't need to even mention the topic of repentance to a lost sinner to lead them to Jesus Christ, because the man who believes has repented. In fact, mentioning the subject of repentance will likely confuse them, as seen in this terrible confrontation of a woman on an airplane by false prophet Ray Comfort.

Now, in the following quote, I don't like that Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980) uses the phrase “turn from sin,” simply because it's not found anywhere in the inspired King James Bible. That being said, Dr. Rice gets it 100% correct that the man who BELIEVES in Jesus has repented...

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]

SOURCE: Evangelist John R. Rice, “Acts: Filled With The Spirit,” pp. 251-252; Sword Of The Lord, Murfreesboro, Tennessee; ©1963

After listening to Pastor Zacharias' lies at PCC's Campus Church in 2021, I cringed and realized that if I were a lost sinner I would be too intimidated by what he said to ever come to Jesus Christ. I mean, if people have to first experience some radical sense of profound hatred, guilt and a sincere desire to forsake their sinful bad habits to get to Heaven, no one would ever get saved. Who can do that? No one has ever turned away from their sins!!! All you can do is clean up your life some, quit some sinful bad habits, but you're still a dirty sinner and so am I (Romans 3:10-23). There is no such thing as a “good Christian.” At best, all we can achieve is to be a struggling redeemed sinner who is yielding to the indwelling Spirit of Christ to live the Christian life through us (Romans 8:9; Galatians 2:20).

I was so shocked by what I had heard that the next morning on Thursday I emailed PCC's senior pastor Jeff Redlin. To no surprise that incompetent fool sided 100% with his ignoramous accomplice, saying that repentance means a sincere desire to forsake the sinning in your life and that your behavior will improve if you are really saved. That is Lordship Salvation.
My ministry friend Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold said it well...

“Lordship Salvation is the unsupportable and unbiblical belief that the performance of good works, the promise of good works, or the evidence of good works, must accompany faith in Christ to establish or provide evidence that such faith has resulted in eternal life.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, “Jesus Versus John MacArthur”

And Pastor Yankee Arnold also said these helpful words...

“Salvation is one thing and service is another, and never the two goes together. No man is saved because he serves, and no man has to serve because he is saved. Gotta keep them separate. And if you don't do it, the Scriptures will be confusing to you. You'll not rightly divide what God has to say.” —Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold, "Why Lordship Salvation Is Wrong"

My favorite preacher's quote is from Pilgrim's Progress book author, John Bunyan...

“If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people.” —John Bunyan (1628-1688)

The simplest repentance (change of mind) is enough to obtain the new birth by the Holy Spirit. All that God requires is for a man to realize his need as a guilty SINNER for the SAVIOR, and that he by childlike faith receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross, burial and bodily resurrection as full payment for his sins.

Beware Of False Repentance

“Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.” —Matthew 27:3

The world's churches are fast-becoming infiltrated with “Doctrines of Devils” as the Bible warns in 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.” Notice carefully that these false prophets “shall depart from the faith,” or we can just as well say that they will begin teaching a false plan of salvation that requires more or less than faith. The Bible has always taught that good ole FAITH is what pleases God, and nothing else. Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

So to start this article with a solid doctrinal foundation, let us establish that IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD WITHOUT FAITH. Salvation is solely by faith. Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Anything more or less than faith is not acceptable to God. Optimism (a positive outlook) is not faith. It falls short of being faith. Teaching that some degree of personal works is necessary to validate one's faith to be saved is a works-based plan of salvation. It is certainly not faith. Faith means to entrust the Savior, period.

Now Judas had a relationship with Jesus Christ, but still went to Hell forever. A “relationship” is not the gospel. I get tired of hearing radio preachers telling people to start a relationship with Jesus Christ. That is not God's plan of salvation. We read in Matthew 27:3 (our text verse above) that Judas “repented himself.” The Greek word for “repented” here is metamellomai and means “to care afterwards, that is, regret.” Judas was sorry that he got caught betraying the Lord. Judas felt embarrassed and lonely, having betrayed the best friend a man could ever have. Judas felt sorry for what he had done. However, feeling sorry is not repentance unto salvation. The Bible says that Judas repented, but then he went and commit suicide. But Judas had NO FAITH. In John 6:70 Jesus said that Judas had a devil in him.

There are a lot of false preachers today; such as, John MacArthur, Ray Comfort, Chip Ingram, Pat Roberson, Paul Crouch, Paul Washer, Jon Piper and William Lane Craig who pervert the Gospel, teaching that mere faith alone by itself is insufficient to save a sinner. That is a deadly teaching. They all teach their own version of the same corrupted Lordship Salvation lie that requires some amount of works to validate one's faith TO BE SAVED. That is, they mandate forsaking sinful bad habits and departing from the heathen world in order to be saved. These are heresies! You don't have to give up the act of sin to be saved; but rather, God gave up His only begotten Son for you and me, to pay for OUR SINS. Salvation is receiving, not giving. It is a free gift! It's not what you're doing that gets you to Heaven, it's where you're looking! LOOK TO JESUS!

Faith is receiving the Lord's death, burial and resurrection as full-payment for our sins. Judas felt sorrow and tried to return the money. Judas tried to turn over a new leaf, changing his wicked ways and making amends, but it was not possible. This is false repentance. This is the false plan of salvation that the Lordship Salvation crowd teaches. They demand that a person feel sorry and decide to turn over a new leaf or else they cannot trust Christ. It is a false way of salvation.

Likewise, neither you nor I can make amends for our past sins, nor can we undo the damage of our bad decisions and sins from the past. The very idea that we need to stop sinning as much as we used to in order to be saved is an insult to God. In effect, the Lordship Salvation crowd demands a changed life as a prerequisite to placing faith in Jesus Christ. Such blasphemy goes against everything the Bible teaches for salvation.

Biblical repentance is the admission that I am as guilty a sinner as God has declared me to be in His holy Word. Repentance is a change of mind. The purpose of God's law is to diagnose man's problem (which is sin), and then point us to the blessed Savior for the solution to our problem. Galatians 3:24, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”

There Can Be No Reformation Until There Has Been Regeneration

The evil concept behind Lordship Salvation is that faith is not valid unless there is an accompanying desire to stop living a life of sin. Thus, Lordship Salvation requires qualification by reformation before there can be any regeneration. This is a false plan of salvation which leads to Hell.

This is exactly what Pastor Aiden Tozer taught. Mr. Tozer errantly states:

“In the Bible the offer of pardon on the part of God is conditioned upon intention to reform on the part of man. There can be no spiritual regeneration till there has been a moral reformation” (The Best of A.W. Tozer, Book 2, pp. 115-117; Compiled by Warren W. Wiersbe)

Wrong! How then is salvation a free gift? Salvation is receiving, NOT giving. Mr. Tozer requires sinners to “reform” themselves before they can be saved. This goes totally contrary to the plainest teaching in the Bible. Romans 4:5, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Mr. Tozer is teaching works salvation!!! Salvation is a free gift, freely given and freely received. Where in the Gospel message does the Bible teach that “intent to reform” is necessary for salvation? It does not!

What the Bible does teach is found in 2nd Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Hence, the change can only come AFTER a man is IN CHRIST. So, Biblically, there can be no reformation until there has first been regeneration. That is, “YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN” (John 3:5-7). The indwelling of the Holy Spirit (i.e., the Spirit of Christ, Romans 8:9) is what changes a man. Therefore, it is a false doctrine to require any reformation, or intent to reform, as a prerequisite to being born-again.

All that God requires is for a person to “Repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). It does not say, “repent ye, and stop living in sin.” Nor does it say to “Reform ye, and believe the gospel.” To teach that repentance means “intent to reform” is false repentance. The Greek word for “repent” in Mark 1:15 is metanoeo and means “a change of mind.” Thus, Biblical repentance is acknowledging one's SINNERSHIP! It does not mean ceasing from one's sins, forsaking the sinful world nor having intention to cease from committing sins.

The popular allegation by proponents of Lordship Salvation is that the easy-believism crowd thinks a person can get saved and continue living in gross immorality unchecked by God. I DO believe that if a person experiences genuine repentance unto salvation that there WILL BE some inner changes in that person's life. This is clearly taught by 2nd Corinthians 5:17. Albeit, those spiritual changes may not manifest themselves outwardly to your satisfaction. As Pastor Curtis Hutson often said, “You cannot tell how much fuel is in a car's tank by the sound of the horn.” Salvation is immediate, but sanctification is a lifetime process. Dr. Jack Hyles does an excellent job explaining this subject in his work, SALVATION IS MORE THAN BEING SAVED. I love what John Bunyan (1928-1988) said:

“If you do not put a difference between justification wrought by the man Christ without and sanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, you are not able to divide the Word aright; but contrariwise, you corrupt the Word of God, and cast stumbling blocks before the people.” —John Bunyan

A changed life is the FRUIT of the indwelling Holy Spirit, if we walk in Him, and not a part of the ROOT of saving faith. Fruit has nothing to do with salvation, neither before, during or after getting born-again. We must never associate fruit with salvation (i.e., the new birth). Galatians 5:25, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” I love this Bible verse, because it clearly shows that living in the Spirit (indwelt with the Holy Spirit at salvation) is not the same thing as walking in the Spirit (which is discipleship). As Christians we “should” live soberly, righteously and godly in Christ Jesus. Titus 2:11-12, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;” Every believer SHOULD live for Jesus, which the Apostle Paul said in Romans 12:1-2 is our “reasonable service.”

By only reading the Old Testament, we'd never know that Lot was saved. But we learn in 2nd Peter 2:7 that Lot was a “just” (righteous) man. Judges 16:1 says that Samson went in unto a harlot (prostitute). King David murdered a woman's husband to cover up an unintended pregnancy from an adulterous affair. We know that David repented from what the Scriptures tell us, but the people in David's time didn't know that. I'm sure many of them considered David a reprobate concerning the faith. Apart from the direct testimony of a person's mouth, there is no way to determine whether they are saved or not.

Jesus Is Our Sabbath In Whom We Rest

Notice that the Bible teaches in the following Scripture passage that “DEAD WORKS” cannot save. Hebrews 6:1, “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God.” That's salvation, that is, repenting from our dead works and placing our faith in Jesus Christ! Whereas working 6-days of the week pictured man's own self-righteousness under the Old Testament Mosaic law, the Sabbath Day pictured Christ IN WHOM WE REST FOR SALVATION.

Today, Jesus is our Sabbath! The Sabbath Day was an Old Testament ceremonial law which was finally nailed to the cross with Christ (Colossians 2:14-17). Thus, the Sabbath Day is no longer in effect today for Gentiles or Jews. JESUS IS OUR SABBATH!!! In Christ we rest completely for salvation. Hebrews 4:10, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” That's good stuff my friend!

Repent Ye, And “Believe The Gospel”

Judas' repentance was a “false repentance” because it led him to Hell. Turning over a new leaf is not repentance or salvation. Judas turned away from his sins, but still went to Hell. The correct Biblical word for “repent” concerning salvation is found in Mark 1:15, “And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: REPENT ye, and believe the gospel.” The word “repent” here is the Greek word metanoeō and means, “a change of mind.” There is a drastic difference in meaning between the repentance which Judas experienced in Matthew 27:3, verses the repentance unto salvation in Mark 1:15. Notice that the OBJECT of repentance in Mark 1:15 is to “BELIEVE THE GOSPEL.” The Bible doesn't say “Repent ye, and forsake your sins”; but rather, “Repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

Judas felt emotional guilt and remorse for his actions, which is penitence, not repentance. That penitence led Judas to want to make a mend for his sins, which is why Judas returned the thirty pieces of silver. But this is penance, nor repentance. Judas penitence and penance led him to reform his ways, turning from his sins. This is false repentance, aka, Lordship Salvation. Judas felt guilty and decided to return the 30 pieces of silver. Judas tried to change his ways, but that is not salvation. Matthew 27:3 says that Judas “repented himself,” but this is a different Greek word (metamellomaiin, meaning, “to regret”) than metanoia (“a change of mind” unto the Gospel itself) used concerning salvation. Judas turned from his sins, which is human reformation, not Biblical repentance (which is “a change of mind” unto the Gospel itself). John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” To “believe” the Gospel simply means that you are taking God at His Word, that you are persuaded Jesus died on the cross for your sins, He was buried, and He resurrected from the dead three days later! You either believe or you don't! I do and I hope you do too my friend.

The Lordship Salvation crowd today foolishly teach that people MUST feel sorry and remorseful concerning their sins, to the point that they cease from committing sinful bad habits and surrender their life to live for Jesus Christ. That's exactly what Judas did. This is a false gospel rooted in man's own self-righteous effort. It's a self-righteous philosophy that corrupts the Gospel. In sharp contrast, the correct meaning of “repent” (as concerns salvation), simply means that a person acknowledges the truth that they are a guilty sinner (Romans 3:19), which shows them their need for redemption and points them to believe on the Savior to be saved (Galatians 3:24-25).

If you simply think about the nature of a gift, then it becomes clear what is wrong with the teaching of Lordship Salvation. If I offer you a free gift on the basis that you must first agree to stop throwing snowballs at my house, then it is in fact a reward instead of a gift. A gift is something acquired WITHOUT compensation. This is why we read in Romans 4:5, “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” The Bible says that salvation is to him that WORKETH NOT!!! A person's faith is COUNTED for a lifetime of perfect righteousness! No one can enter into Heaven unless they are 100% perfect.

Since we are all imperfect needy sinners, no one can be saved by keeping the deeds of the law (Romans 3:20). But with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26; John 1:12-13)! Jesus did live a perfect life. The Lord never broke God's law. Jesus is sinless. Jesus is the perfect Lamb of God, Who was slain on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. John 1:29, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Jesus died as our sacrificial Lamb on the cross, and He raised up as our heavenly High Priest three days later (Hebrews 4:14-16). Believe it oh sinner and you will be saved immediately, irrevocably and eternally!

Pastor Harry Ironside Has Repentance Correct

Pastor Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951) DIDN'T teach Lordship Salvation, he simply taught that Biblical repentance was necessary for salvation. Listen to what Pastor Harry Ironside correctly says about repentance in chapter 16 of his book, EXCEPT YE REPENT . . .

“In all that I have written I have failed completely to express what was surging up in my soul if I have given anyone the impression that I think of repentance as something meritorious which must be produced in man by self-effort ere he is fit to come to God for salvation.”

SOURCE: Dr. Harry Ironside, a quote from chapter 16, THE PREACHING THAT PRODUCES REPENTANCE, from his timeless classic book, EXCEPT YE REPENT

I agree 100%! The entire concept of Lordship Salvation is based in human effort. Most of our evangelical churches today have bought into the lie that it's not enough to believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be saved. The Gospel is that Jesus Christ DIED, was BURIED and RESURRECTED from the dead three days later (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). If you receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as full payment for your sins, then you are saved. But don't I have to repent? Yes, of course! Biblical repentance is “a change of mind” that causes a person to believe the Gospel. Repentance is NOT a desire to stop sinning. Repentance is realizing that you are a SINNER and need the Savior, and so you believe the Gospel and are saved. Repentance is changing your mind about whatever was previously hindering you from completely resting in Christ for salvation.

Clearly, Ironside taught a Free Grace view of the Gospel. Consider further the following quote by Pastor Ironside...

“The Gospel is not a call to repentance, or to amendment of our ways, to make restitution for past sins, or to promise to do better in the future. These things are proper in their place, but they do not constitute the Gospel; for the Gospel is not good advice to be obeyed, it is good news to be believed. Do not make the mistake then of thinking that the Gospel is a call to duty or a call to reformation, a call to better your condition, to behave yourself in a more perfect way than you have been doing in the past …

Nor is the Gospel a demand that you give up the world, that you give up your sins, that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones. You may do all these things, and yet never believe the Gospel and consequently never be saved at all.”

SOURCE: Harry A. Ironside, from the sermon: 'What Is The Gospel?'

If you'd like to read further, please read ANOTHER GOSPEL?

Look back to our beginning verse in Matthew 27:3. It says that Judas repented and then went back to the chief priests and the elders to return the money. They refused and dealt harshly with him. Judas panicked and emotions overwhelmed him. Judas killed himself. There's criminals in this world who can kill someone in cold blood and not feel one bit of guilt or remorse. Evidently, Judas wasn't a cold-hearted criminal since he did feel guilt, but he failed to seek forgiveness in Christ. Apart from faith in the name of Jesus there can be no salvation (Acts 4:10-12).

Jesus, knowing that Judas was a known thief (John 12:6), chose Judas to be an Apostle in accordance with God's sovereign will. Never underestimate the will of God in your life. Sometimes things may seem all wrong, forever in shambles and hopeless, but God truly does work in mysterious ways. In hindsight we see the purpose of Judas being made an Apostle in God's plan, but at the time the other Apostles probably wondered why Jesus chose such a shady man to join their group. I mean, would you put a known thief in charge of your group's money bag? Jesus made Judas their treasurer, knowing that Judas loved money, was unsaved and according to John 6:70 had a devil in him. God works in mysterious ways!

Judas didn't believe on Christ and had never learned the sweetness of God's love and forgiveness. Peter knew of these things. Sadly, Judas is in Hell today, but Peter is in Heaven. When asked by the Lord Whom He was, Peter exclaimed, “THOU ART THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD”!!! Amen and amen!!! Matthew 16:16, “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Judas never expressed such faith in the Lord, because he had none.

May I again quote the helpful words of Pastor Harry A. Ironside...

“Repentance is the very opposite of meritorious experience. It is the confession that one is utterly without merit, and if he is ever saved at all it can only be through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ, 'who gave himself a ransom for all.' Here is firm footing for the soul who realizes that all self-effort is but sinking sand. Christ alone is the Rock of our salvation.”

SOURCE: Harry A. Ironside; Except Ye Repent, p. 36)

Clearly, Ironside taught a Free Grace view of the Gospel. Dr. Ironside correctly recognized repentance as the confession that “one is utterly without merit” and that if one is “ever saved at all it can only be through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Salvation is without works of self-righteousness. Romans 4:5 plainly teaches that a man's faith is COUNTED for righteousness, i.e., the righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to one's heavenly record by faith.

“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

Here is one of the best quotes that I've found on repentance, by Dr. Harry A. Ironside:

“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)

Also, Dr. Hal Lindsey has repentance Biblically correct, who states:

“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 to change or minds in some way concerning Him.” (From the Liberation of the Planet Earth, by Hal Lindsey. (p. 133)

Good Works Cannot Undo A Person's Bad Works

Judas had experienced false repentance. He felt guilt and tried to undo the evil he had done. Judas thought this would make the guilt go away. It made it worse. The cold-hearted Pharisees didn't care. They even tried to shift all the blame on Judas, but they were equally as guilty. The Pharisees were cold-hearted criminals. Judas was actually doing what most people are still doing today, that is, trying to do good works to undo the bad. Many religions teach this nonsense. Listen friend, you can't do good works to make up for the bad. If you steal something from someone and then bring it back, you still sinned. Jesus died on the cross for that sin. Judas sinned and should have went to God for forgiveness, but instead he tried to do perform some good works. Good works will NEVER make things right between your soul and God!

The unbiblical idea that faith must be validated before a person can have the assurance of their salvation is satanic. Faith is faith, you either have it or you don't. There is no dividing line between intellectual assent to the philosophy of Christianity verses actually trusting upon the Savior. You either believe or you don't.

Dr. Chip Ingram errantly teaches that a person is not saved until they believe “TO THE POINT” (those are his own words) that they turn away from a past life in sin...

“But now the ball's in your court. If you would like Jesus as your Savior. Saving faith is getting in the wheelbarrow. Trusting in His work on the cross, His payment for your sin, His resurrection TO THE POINT that you say, I turn away and repent from my past life in sin, I change my mind and I trust, I get in the wheel-barrow." [emphasis added]

SOURCE: Dr. Chip Ingram, sermon quote, “Fatal Assumption: Exposing The Myths Of Being Born Again - Part Two”

My friend, there are no conditions of salvation. Although he did preach Lordship Salvation elsewhere unfortunately, Pastor Charles H. Spurgeon say it correctly here...

“'Repentance' is a grace. Some people preach it as a condition of salvation. Condition of nonsense!” —Pastor Charles Spurgeon

SOURCE: http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0044.htm (Charles Spurgeon, from a sermon titled: ;REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE,; preached at the New Park Street Chapel, Southwark, on September 23, 1855)

As I mentioned, Pastor Spurgeon did make some heretical statements at times in his thousands of sermons, which the proponents of Lordship Salvation cherry-pick to support their damnable heresy. But Spurgeon got it 100% correct in the preceding statement! He is not saying that repentance is not necessary for salvation. What Spurgeon is saying is that repentance is NOT A WORK. It is a grace, that is, “For BY GRACE are ye saved through faith...” (Ephesians 2:8). Grace is God's mercy, kindness and gentleness toward sinful mankind, offering redemption through faith in Jesus Christ. Eternal life is a free gift! Those who teach repentance as a condition (work) for salvation have woefully corrupted the Gospel. In simplest words, you DON'T have to turn from your sinful bad habits to be saved. That is reformation, not repentance! Repentance is simply a change of mind from unbelief to belief.

Repentance is simply acknowledging THE TRUTH that you are a guilty sinner, and that Jesus is the Savior. 2nd Timothy 2:25, “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;” As you can see, repentance is not turning from sins, it is acknowledging THE TRUTH that you are a needy sinner. And then we are saved by placing our confidence (trust) in THE TRUTH of the Gospel, being persuaded that Jesus is the Christ Who died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and bodily resurrected the third day. Colossians 1:5, “For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;” We don't repent AND believe, we repent TO believe! We are not saved by repenting, we are saved by believing, but no man has ever believed who didn't also repent.

Repentance is not a separate act from believing, it simply facilitates believing, because we need to know what we are being saved from, our sins. Jesus didn't come so that we would turn from our sins to be saved, but to save us from our sins! Matthew 1:21, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” You don't have to stop living in sin to be saved; but rather, Jesus died for your sins so that hopefully you wouldn't live that way anymore. 2nd Timothy 2:19, “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”

A redeemed child of God SHOULD live for Jesus, because we were created unto good works, not by them. Ephesians 2:8-10, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Please notice again the words “we should” walk in them. God bless you dear reader and thank you.