Acts 20:21, “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
You can put all the faith in Christ you want, but it means nothing if you're in denial about your sins. 1st John 1:10, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” If you don't think you're a sinner, then you didn't believe the Biblical Gospel. You have religion, not salvation. The only Gospel message taught in the Bible is that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS!!! He was buried. And Jesus was RESURRECTED after three days from the dead. The entire matter of salvation deals with OUR SINS. Thus, repentance is when we come to the realization that we have sinned AGAINST GOD and we turn by faith to the Lord to be forgiven.
Notice what Joseph said to Potiphar's wicked, adulterous wife who tried to seduce him in Genesis 39:9, “There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin AGAINST GOD?” Joseph realized that if he did commit adultery, he would be sinning AGAINST GOD! In Luke 15:21, the repentant prodigal son said... “Father, I have sinned AGAINST HEAVEN, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.”
Notice what king David said in Psalm 41:4, “LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned AGAINST THEE.” Notice what the Apostle Paul taught in Acts 20:21, “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” So you see, lost sinners need to REPENT TOWARD GOD, and not away from sin. You will not find any teaching in the Bible about “turning from sin” to be saved; but rather, Mark 1:15, “repent ye, and BELIEVE THE GOSPEL”! “Believing the Gospel” is the object of repentance unto salvation. Carefully notice again in Mark 1:15 what Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Notice that Jesus DIDN'T say “repent ye, and forsake your sins.” No, rather, He said, “repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
Since the Greek word metanoia simply means “to change one's mind,” it requires supplemental information, because we don't know what to change our mind about. Whereas the English word “repent” definitely means to turn away from sins, the Greek word metanoia doesn't give us any specifics. The English word for "repent" is NEVER used in the Bible concerning getting saved.
The Word of God gives us the needed supplemental information in our text verse from Mark 1:15b, “repent ye, and BELIEVE THE GOSPEL.” Hence, repentance is unto the Gospel itself. The Gospel is what the change of mind is about. The great meaning of the word metanoia is that is applies to anything and everything that hinders a person from believing the Gospel. Whatever it is that has been hindering a sinner from believing the Gospel, the Scripture commands us to think differently toward God (Acts 20:21) and BELIEVE THE GOSPEL. The Gospel is what the change of mind is about. You never have to turn away from your sins to be saved, because that would be a work and not faith alone.
Salvation is not doing your best, it is having Christ's best put to your account through receiving Him by faith.
A lot of people are making a big deal of repentance these days, separating it from faith, and making it an additional step to be saved. Albeit, in the Gospel of John the word “believe” is mentioned 88 times; yet the word “repent” is not mentioned even once. Repentance and faith happen simultaneously and are inseparable. One who believes has repented, and the one who repents has believed. There are not steps to salvation. You don't repent first, and then have believe second. That's not how it works.
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.
A lot of people are making a big deal of repentance these days, separating it from faith, and making it an additional step to be saved. Albeit, in the Gospel of John the word “believe” is mentioned 88 times; yet the word “repent” is not mentioned even once. Repentance and faith happen simultaneously and are inseparable. One who believes has repented, and the one who repents has believed. There are not steps to salvation. You don't repent first, and then have believe second. That's not how it works.
Pastor Aiden Tozer errantly teaches: “There can be no spiritual regeneration till there has been a moral reformation.” That is a false plan of salvation leading to Hell. How can a man reform until he first gets saved and the Holy Spirit comes to live within him? It is God Who changes a sinner into a righteous person, and not the sinner himself. Repentance is NOT a change of mind which results in a change of life. Anybody who says that garbage is WRONG! A changed life has NOTHING to do with justification, which is by faith alone. After the get saved, a growth in grace process begins, which takes a lifetime.
The change in a believer's life is the "fruit" of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The Bible says "fruit" (singular), not "fruits" (plural). That is because we get all the fruit at once. You don't get love and then work on patience, and then get patience but start working on joy. No, rather, we get it all at once, as we "walk in the Spirit," simply by abiding in and heeding the inspired Word of God which sanctifies us (John 17:17). The Holy Spirit is God in us! God desires for us to obey His Spirit, in accordance with the written Holy Bible. So we have the living Word of God within us to testify, and the written Word of God without to testify. The inspired King James Bible is our benchmark, against which we should "try" (test) all things (1st John 4:1).
There are two prevalent false gospels today: Lordship Salvation and a social gospel. Lordship Salvation errantly requires a person to FORSAKE their sins to be saved. A social gospel errantly leads people to follow the teachings of Jesus, but no appeal is made to be "born again" because of the condemnation of sin. Salvation is not a magical prayer that we pray, or merely inviting Jesus into our life; Salvation is repenting towards God in faith because of the SINS we have committed. It is our faith that is COUNTED for righteousness... “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5). The wicked world teaches that self-righteous works are necessary to get to Heaven, which is why they're not going.
The blood of Jesus takes our SINS away, in response to our faith in Him... “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ...” (1st Peter 1:18-19). It is Jesus' literal blood that cleanses our sins away, “...and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1st John 1:7). What a Precious Savior!
There are two prevalent false gospels today: Lordship Salvation and a social gospel. Lordship Salvation errantly requires a person to FORSAKE their sins to be saved. A social gospel errantly leads people to follow the teachings of Jesus, but no appeal is made to be "born again" because of the condemnation of sin. Salvation is not a magical prayer that we pray, or merely inviting Jesus into our life; Salvation is repenting towards God in faith because of the SINS we have committed. It is our faith that is COUNTED for righteousness... “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5). The wicked world teaches that self-righteous works are necessary to get to Heaven, which is why they're not going.
The blood of Jesus takes our SINS away, in response to our faith in Him... “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ...” (1st Peter 1:18-19). It is Jesus' literal blood that cleanses our sins away, “...and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1st John 1:7). What a Precious Savior!
In conclusion, not one verse in the inspired King James Bible teaches to "repent of your sin" or "turn from your sin" to be saved. You'll only find that manmade garbage in the Devil's modern corrupted revisions, like the Easy-To-Read Version (ERV). Acts 20:21 teaches :repentance toward God," not away from anything. Yes, you must turn FROM something in order to turn TO something, but in the case of turning to Jesus Christ, the only thing Biblically that we need to turn from is our UNBELIEF.
Since unbelief is the only thing that can keep us from entering into Heaven, then logically (and of necessity) that is the ONLY thing from which we must literally turn. Anyone who is trusting in having turned away from their sin to be saved, is still100% lost. Any plan of salvation, other than trusting 100% in Christ alone, is a false gospel.
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