What is Repentance?

“But, you need to repent of your sins to be saved. Belief is not enough! Even James says that the demons believe – and shudder!”

The false doctrine of “repent of your sins in order to be saved,” (also known as “Lordship salvation”) is heresy! It is salvation by works – and not by faith alone in the final, perfect atoning sacrifice of Christ! What a slap in the face! Christ died so that you wouldn’t need to save yourself – you can’t! And you’re fooling yourself if you think that you contribute anything at all to your salvation! As I’ve heard someone else say, “My 0% and God’s 100% = 100% of my salvation.” Do you know what your part in the “salvation equation” is? Being a sinner! After all, didn’t Jesus say, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Lk 5:32, NASB, italics mine)? Who are sinners? All of us. We are as if we are drowning, helpless to save ourselves and in desperate need of a savior! Fortunately for us, there is Jesus Christ the Righteous – the perfect Savior!

What is repentance? I think the late Pastor Jack Hyles had it right when he said,

“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!'”

(Source: “The Goodness of God Leadeth to Repentance,” by Jack Hyles)

The phrase “repent of your sins” is not found in the KJV, nor is it not found in any “non-toxic” Bible translation. It is found in the NLT, but I can assure you that it’s not found in either the Hebrew, nor the Greek Scriptures. So, where did this concept come from? Lordship salvation is preached by the Roman Catholic Church and other heretics such as Ray Comfort, Paul Washer, and John MacArthur. Satan has deceived these men to accept another Gospel – which is not another (Gal 1:6-7). They have taken God’s Truth about His Grace and traded it for a lie. That lie is that you need to repent of your sins first, before you get to have faith in Jesus!

And they probably use verses (out of context, of course) such as, “I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:21, NIV, underline mine) to “prove” their point! They say, “See? You need to repent of your sins before you can have faith in Jesus!” Talk about putting the cart before the horse! This is not a “step #1, step #2-type process!” And that’s not even what the verse says, anyway! Do you see “repent of your sins” in this verse? No, it says “turn to God in repentance,” so even this verse they can’t use to support this false doctrine!

First off, how exactly does one repent of sins outside of the work of God though His Holy Spirit, which we receive when we place our faith in Christ?? Are we not incapable of getting rid of sins on our own?? That means we can save ourselves and Christ died in vain! Why have faith in Christ if that were true?? This makes a mockery of the Cross! No, it is obvious that faith comes first!

A website says,

“But when it comes to many evangelicals, Charismatics, Pentecostals, and even some Baptists …

They’ll speak out of 2 sides of their mouth. And they’ll tell you that salvation is by faith alone, but then they’ll say that you have to “turn from your sins” in order to be saved.

And you might say well, what’s wrong with that?

If you don’t know, you need to listen to this sermon very carefully.

*** And what I’m talking about is the “repent of sins” heresy, aka “Lordship salvation.” This is the idea that you have to make Jesus complete Lord of your life by obeying Him in order to get saved. Not for discipleship, but for salvation.

And that’s the distinction that I want to make:

* You have to be able to separate THE MOMENT OF BELIEF AND SALVATION from the DECISION TO DEDICATE YOURSELF TO THE LORD.

What this sermon is focused on is the moment of salvation.

• There’s a difference between SALVATION and DISCIPLESHIP.

• Jesus became my Savior when I believed in Him and asked Him to save me.

The moment I believed, I was saved.

The moment I confessed – not to man but to God – and asked Jesus to save me, I was cleansed by the blood, I was born again, I Received the Holy Ghost.

Now, the Holy Ghost inside of me, I had the desire to forsake my sins …

It didn’t come before I got saved, it came after I got saved.

After I got saved, I had the desire to follow the moral Law, not for salvation anymore, but because I had the power now.

I had the desire now, to follow God’s commandments.

And I had a choice to make: would I follow?

Luke 14:27: “And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.”

Yet Preachers like Ray Comfort and those like him are barring the way to heaven and turning people away into Hell:

“But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in” (Matthew 23:13).

The decision before me was salvation (which was already done) and discipleship (which was yet to happen).

I chose both.
I made Jesus my Savior and my Lord.
But still I’m an imperfect servant…

But I have to tell you that I’m sick of hearing it from the Do-Not-Judge Cult who attack me for preaching a hard message, and then turn around and tell me that works must accompany salvation. And they’ll claim that if you’re really saved, you’ll have good works.
That works will be the evidence of your faith.

But isn’t that just the same as saying that you have to do works to be saved?

Romans 4:5: “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

So you have to decide: Which is it?

Romans 11:6, “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”

Paul is being mathematical here. He’s saying there’s no shade of variance. It’s either works or grace and they’re diametrically opposed.

That’s the very definition of grace: that it can’t be earned. It’s undeserved.

You can’t work your way to God.

Romans 3:27-28:

27 Where [is] boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

*** ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH; and that not of your selves: IS IT the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast OR IS IT NOT?

Is Romans 3:20 God’s Word when Paul says: “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.”

Can you trust Galatians 3:2 where the Bible says: “This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

Or Verse 6, which says: “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Or Verse 11, “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.”

How about Romans 1:1,6 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

There’s literally hundreds of verses in the Bible that just say “believe”. Believe and you will be saved.

But preachers like Ray DisComfort and John MacArthur will say that you have to:

Repent of your sins … turn from your wicked ways … stop fornicating, stop drinking, stop lying, stop bearing false witness, stop taking the Lord’s name in vain, and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved…

The word “repent” and “repentance” all of its variations, like “repented” or “repenteth” appears 111 times in the Bible.
46 of those instances are in the OT. And of those 46 times, GOD is the one repenting 28 times of the 46 times. And dozen or so times, it’s about God NOT repenting of something that He promised to do.
So the majority is about GOD repenting.
But does God ever sin? Obviously not.
So “repent” doesn’t automatically mean turning from sin.
You have to study the surrounding context to find out what “repent” means in that particular passage.
And in most cases, “repent” simply means to turn or to change the way you think.

 The first time “repent” appears in the Bible is found in the very first Book, of Genesis 6:6, “And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”

So the first mention of “repent” is in relation to God repenting … not man.

(Source: http://www.lovethetruth.com/false_doctrine/repent_of_your_sins_heresy.htm)

Again, no. You don't need to repent of all of your sins before you come to Christ. Here's an analogy. The Law is a mirror, exposing how dirty you are. You find that you are filthy and in desperate need of a bath. There is a Perfectly Good bathtub named Jesus...but you decide to grab a sponge and a soap bar before you present yourself to Christ. Now does this make any sense?? Jesus is the bath! And He will get you clean and make you righteous through His faith in the Father! Did you know that God repented more than man does?? From what? Sin? Obviously not – He is the Holy One that is without sin. So what does Biblical repentance mean? The Greek term for "repentance" is "μετάνοια or metanoia" (Strong's #3341) and is defined simply as a "change of mind." It doesn't always have to do with sin. As an example, have you wandered into the kitchen to make yourself a meal, but then thought, "You know what? I'm going to go to the pantry and get a granola bar or something, instead," because the already-made snack was more convenient? Guess what – you repented! You changed your mind. That's what repenting is.

Another website says,

"The first time the word repent is used is in Genesis 6:6 ["And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart" (NASB, underline mine).] This is after God had cast Adam and Eve out of his garden; Cain had killed Abel, and there was much violence on the earth. After all of this, God did not like the fact that he had created man. He regretted it. We see that repentance has to do with your mind. God regretted his creation.

Repentance also means "to turn" or "change your mind".

Ezekiel 14:6 "Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
"
Ezekiel 18:30 "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God.Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin."

Jeremiah 4:28 "For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it."

The scripture can't be clearer.

Jeremiah 26:13 "Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.

God told Jeremiah to prophesy to Judah telling them that if they would amend their ways, God would in return repent or turn (as in context) from the evil he pronounced against them.

You only need a couple of scriptures to disprove this "repent of your sins" heresy. When Peter told the crowd at the day of Pentecost in Acts Chapter 2 to "repent and be baptized", he wasn't telling them to turn from their sin (of your sins is not mentioned). Peter was telling them to turn from their unbelief to their belief. The scripture says in verse 37 of Acts 2 that they were "pricked in their hearts" after they had just got done hearing the gospel. After they had received the gospel they asked"what shall we do?" And of course Peter tells them to repent of turn to God and be baptized. Needless to say, he wasn't telling them to repent of their sins."

(Source: https://gabrielclemmons1611.blogspot.com/2016/07/repent-of-your-sins-heresy.html)

Something else also is the fact that some people say that “Jesus did the hard part, now it’s up to you to maintain your salvation,” or “You need to keep yourself saved.” So, your saying that Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross just wasn’t enough…? How about this: I just live for Him without having to worry about whether I’m “saved” or not? Salvation is His department. I can rest in that. If someone tells me that they need to repent of their sins before they are saved, then I consider that person to be yet unsaved, because they just told me that they really don’t understand what the Gospel is. Remember, if you trust in any of your works for your salvation, you’re not really saved. This was what was wrong (among other things) with the non-denominational church that I was going to for years. They said you needed to repent of your sins before you were “qualified” for baptism – which they also claimed was necessary for salvation. Ironically, they claimed to be the “true church,” and had this arrogant teaching that everyone outside of “the church” was going to burn in hell forever! I know now that they are deceived and are not saved!

According to a book,

“As we have stated, all sin is considered a debt. Jesus has legally reclaimed all; He paid the debt of sin for All Mankind and redeemed us with his own blood. Those who accept his gift by faith and understand their debt is paid realize they are no longer under law. All Israel including the tribe of Judah were under the law of the old covenant. It is obvious Judaizers did not accept the New Covenant in Jesus' blood. Instead, they sought to be righteous by works of law not believing Christ has reclaimed them from the curse of the law. Their message is not a legitimate gospel. Paul had earlier preached to the Galatians; they had received him and his gospel with open arms and hearts. The whole dilemma of their falling from Grace by returning to the curse of the law is a main theme of Galatians.”

(Source: Secrets of the Kingdom by Don Bast, pg 121, (c) 2019)

Basically, what Mr Bast is saying here is, no matter if you are a Jew or Gentile, we are under the New Covenant that was ratified by the blood of Jesus Christ! That means the old covenant (the Mosaic Law) was done away with – executed perfectly by Jesus! We no longer need to study and know and follow the Law, because believers in Christ have the law written on their hearts – that is the Law of Christ that we follow!

With what James wrote, let’s read the entire passage in question,

“14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” 19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed (and believing is a work of God) God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For just as the body without spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead” (Jam 2:14-26, NASB, parenthesis and underline mine).

First, context is everything. To whom was James addressing? Well, he was the brother of Jesus and became the leader of the Jerusalem Church. He starts off chapter 2 of his letter with “My brethren.” So, I think it’s safe to say that he is addressing the Jewish believers here, specifically. These people were already saved. This was more of a rebuke to those idle in that church. They would say, “I’m saved by faith,” to which James would retort, “Yeah, but your faith is useless! What good are you to the world if you don’t do something with your gifts? Show me your faith by what you do! Put some shoes on your faith and show me your good works!” He said that works “perfect” the faith!

Also, this seems to conflict with what Paul says in the Book of Romans. Let’s clear up the seeming contradiction. James 2:24 says, “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone,” which seems to directly contradict with Romans 3:28, which says, “For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” But that's only a contradiction if the same justification is being used here, which I don’t think it is. I personally believe that Romans is speaking of justification before God, and James is speaking of justification before men. Why? Well, James uses Abraham as an example in James 2 to tell you what sense of justification he's referring to. James 2:21 says, “Was our father Abraham not justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar?” But then in Romans 4 we have this “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God.” Therefore James is talking about justification before men, not before God. It’s like comparing apples to oranges.

Now, how does this apply to us non-Jews living in the 21^st Century? All of this goes in line with what James and Paul said – they weren’t at odds with each other. James said that faith must be shown to other people, as a popular song says, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.” Jesus said the same thing in Lk 8:16, “Now no one lights a lamp and covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand so that those who come in may see the light.” He says that we need to be both salt and light in front of men. This doesn’t contradict what Paul said, at all. Even we, who live about 2,000 years after these words were written, are still being justified by faith alone in Jesus Christ!

Besides all of this, James and Paul were talking to two separate sets of believers. James was writing specifically “to the twelve tribes [of Israel] in the Dispersion” (Jas 1:1), while Paul, of course, was severed to preach to the nations. We need to make sure that we are “rightly dividing” the Word, so that we are not reading mail that is meant for someone else. Are you of the twelve tribes? Which tribe are you? I know that I am not Jewish, so this doesn’t apply to me, and neither does the book of Hebrews. Neither does the work of any apostle besides Paul. Paul and Barnabas were the apostles to the nations, to the Gentiles! So, it is Paul’s epistles specifically that is for us – that is the letters in the NT meant for us!

Next, let’s look at another very popular verse of scripture that those who adhere to Lordship salvation use,

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness’” (Mt 7:21-23, NASB, underline mine).

But, just what is the “will” of Jesus’ Father?

John 6:40 says, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day” (NASB, underline mine).

John 6:29 says, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (NASB, underline mine).

These people that Jesus mentioned did all of these works, and there was nothing bad about what they were doing in and of themselves…but they did not do the one critical thing that should have come naturally – believing on the Lord Jesus Christ alone for their salvation! Why did he call them “You who practice lawlessness?” I believe it is because, apart from Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit, man is incapable of doing good, and incapable of pleasing God! These people had the works, but they were dead works. You need faith first and foremost!

Taken from another website:

“But don't you have to do works to get to Heaven? Let's see what Jesus said about that. Some men asked Jesus what “work” God wanted them to do to be saved. 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.” Could the Bible be any plainer? I think not. I love that! The Savior Himself said that the WORK which God requires to get to Heaven is to BELIEVE ON CHRIST!!!”

(Source: http://soulwinning.info/fd/repent_of_sin_heresy.htm)

In the book of Acts, Paul and his cohort was arrested. The Lord sent a mighty earthquake which loosened their bonds and opened the jail doors. The jailer thought that they had escaped. Fearing the retribution of Rome for failing to do his duty, he was about to run himself through, when Paul stopped him, picking up in chapter 16:28, it reads, “But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas; 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (NASB, underline mine). Do you see the words “repent of your sins” in this verse? There’s actually no other command given by Paul at this time, not even baptism, other than to “believe in the Lord Jesus” for salvation!

Earlier in the same book, Philip met the Ethiopian eunuch on the road, reading from Isaiah. It reads, “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. 36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:35-37, NASB). Again, did you happen to see “repent of your sins” anywhere in that verse? You can read the entire chapter and you won’t find it. Repenting of your sins is simply not necessary for you to be saved.

I found this on Facebook,

“How do we KNOW that we are saved?" Excellent question! Would you believe that the Scriptures do not answer this specific question? If they do, I am not aware of such an answer. The problem in answering this question is that you put it in the PAST TENSE--"How do we know that we ARE saved" which, I guess, could be in the past or present tense. Either way, I know of no Scripture that gives such an answer.

Here is what we do read regarding salvation:

"might save" "to save" "shalt save" "save us" "shall be saved" "such as should be saved" "whereby we must be saved" "we shall be saved" "what must I do to be saved" etc., etc., etc.

And even those few verses that speak of "but unto us which ARE saved...." a closer look at the Greek shows that it is in the aiorist tense and should be translated "...which ARE BEING saved..." as it is not as yet a completed fact or act.

Even Ephesian 2:8 which states: "For by grace ARE you saved through faith...." which is properly translated with the word "are" than "are you being saved" or some other aiorist tense verb, still does not show that anyone is ALREADY saved. The phrase "ARE saved" is telling us HOW we are saved, not WHEN we are saved. We "are" saved by grace just as people a century into the future also "ARE saved by grace." That's HOW they are saved, not WHEN.

If there were a verse that stated that we or anyone ARE or HAVE BEEN already saved, it would contradict many other Scriptures that show that salvation is an ongoing process.

This verse says it all:

"But he that shall endure unto the end, the same SHALL BE saved" (Matt. 24:13).

If this verse be absolutely true, can a statement that contradicts this statement of our Lord ALSO be true? Well, for example, "...he that shall NOT endure unto the end... ALSO be saved?" See the contradiction?

Jesus says to him that OVERCOMES... seven time in Rev. 2 and 3. If the "overcoming" part is really not necessary, then why is it emphatically stated such SEVEN TIMES?

Is there a reason for not having a verse stating how one can know that they are absolutely SAVED [past tense] at some point in their lives? I think so. We can NEVER STOP overcoming, striving, pressing on, following after, etc. We can have CONFIDENCE AND HOPE that we will be saved if we continue in our present total devotion to God, but never in this life can we say that we "ARE saved" already, in the past tense.

God has not, however, left us with assurances that we can absolutely bank on, if we follow His admonitions. Here is just one:

"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brother kindness charity [LOVE]. For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful... give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye DO THESE THINGS, YE SHALL NEVER FALL" (II Pet. 1:5-8 & 10).

(Credit: Tom-Marianne Kapinos)

According to what Mr Kapinos says, salvation is an “ongoing” process. He may have a point. Did you know that there is a difference between “justification” and “sanctification?” Next, we’ll look up what these words mean.