The Doctrine of Repentance
Booklet, 27 pages, Gloss Cover Suggested Donation: $1.00
The Doctrine of Repentance contains four previous publications dealing with Bible repentance.
Repent or Perish, Copyright © 2002 James L. Melton, Revised 2017
A growing debate in our fundamental churches is the issue of repentance. Since large churches are often built by “not scaring anyone away,” it is becoming very common to hear sermons and read newsletters which proclaim a repent-less salvation. That is, many are boldly proclaiming that one does not have to repent of his sins to be saved. I recently heard a message on tape by a very popular preacher who stated that every New Testament command to repent is addressed to a saved person. His reasoning was that lost people just need to trust Christ and not worry about sins. This man has preached this doctrine for many years, and many have followed in his steps. Most any Bible-believing preacher or personal worker can tell you numerous stories about the so-called “Christians” they’ve met who were supposedly saved after repeating a brief prayer. There was no Holy Ghost conviction, no change of attitude about the world, the flesh, or their numerous sins, and there was no evidence of a new life after their conversion. Yet, this person was “chalked up” as another new addition to the kingdom of God.
I know of a church which used to send out a monthly bulletin which gave the totals for their converts and baptisms for the month. Nearly every issue stated that between two and three hundred people had been saved in the previous thirty days. This went on for about three or four years, which means that over 7,000 people made professions. Did this church have 7,000 members? No, they did not. Did they have at least 5,000? No, they did not. At least 1,000? Nope. Maybe 500? I think not! On a big day this church might break 300. On an average Sunday, their attendance was less than 200 people. They had 200 in attendance, yet they really believed that they had been leading 200 to Christ every month for over thirty-six months straight! One of their members ran into me at the county fair one night where we were passing out tracts. He said, “Hey, we’ve had twelve saved tonight!” I don’t know if those twelve ever made it to church, but I’m certain they made the monthly bulletin.
The trouble is that too many preachers have been convinced that getting a profession and getting folks to church is the main thing. “If we can just get them in church, we can work on the repentance later” seems to be the rule of the day. Another rule goes like this: “We don’t want to say or do anything to scare them off.” Naturally, the word “repent” scares the daylights out of lost people, so repentance is forsaken in order to get the person to make a profession and maybe even come to church. As the years roll by, the church becomes a great big nursery filled with lost people and spiritual babies. Less than ten percent of the membership does over ninety percent of the spiritual work of the church. However, the weak majority still FEELS important because they have their picture in the church directory, and they get to argue and vote in business meetings.
This whole stinking mess started when the ambitious preacher got the “bright” idea to ignore a word that occurs over one hundred times in the Bible in its various forms. With the inspired words of God being our guide, let us study the subject of repentance and hopefully help someone to stay on the straight and narrow way.
Repentance in the Bible has three basic elements: a genuine sorrow towards God (II Cor. 7:9-10), a genuine separation from sin (Heb. 6:1; Acts 26:20), and a genuine submission to God’s will (Acts 9:6; I Ths. 1:9). In other words, repentance involves a totally changed life. II Corinth-ians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” According to the Bible, all things are new once a man is in Christ, and old things are passed away. Repentance is certainly a requirement. Jesus began his ministry preaching, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mat. 4:17) In Matthew 9:13 He said, “. . . I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” upbraided cities in Matthew 11:20 “because they repented not.” Repentance is required for salvation, and no honest and serious student of Scripture can claim otherwise.
But let’s not stop here. The Bible offers many clear commands for preachers to deal with sin and repent-ance. In Isaiah 58:1, God says, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.”
How about Isaiah 55:6-7? “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” God is holy, and he demands that we forsake sin in order to have his fellowship.
We use Isaiah 1:18 a lot in dealing with lost people: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” That’s a great verse, but so are verses 16 and 17: “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.” God isn’t just interested in forgiveness; he’s first interested in repentance.
Do you want more? Consider some words from Ezekiel: “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. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (18:30-31) “Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers.” (20:4) “Now, thou son of man, wilt thou judge, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, thou shalt shew her all her abominations.” (22:2) Why so much emphasis on sin? Doesn’t God know that such negative preaching will scare people away? Maybe some of the brethren need to send the Lord one of their milky and repentless newsletters to inform him of his errors. Just imagine how many souls could be “saved” if we would all just shut up about sin and repentance!
Remember Achan from Joshua chapter seven? Sin in the camp was harmful to God’s righteous cause. Lives were even lost because sin was present. God’s Spirit was quenched and the battle was lost.
Question: How can a man be born of the Holy Spirit (John 3:8) while at the very moment of his conversion he is quenching the Holy Spirit by justifying and hanging onto his sins? Does the Holy Spirit say, “Look, I know you have no intention of cleaning up and living for me. I know you’ll never go to church, pray, or read the Bible, but I’m going to give you the new birth anyway”? Is that how it works? Chapter and verse please. How can the Holy Spirit be “holy” if He has no standards?
I know that some of these passages are dealing with God’s people, not the lost, but there are other passages which are just as clear concerning repentance and lost people. For example, have you considered Acts 17:30? It says, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.” Those words were preached by Paul to “Ye men of Athens” (vs. 22). There is a Bible-believing preacher telling lost people to repent of their sins, yet we have preachers today teaching that repentance is only an issue between God and his own people.
The trouble has to do with the actual meaning of the word. Webster defines it this way: “Real penitence; sorrow or deep contrition for sin, as an offense and dishonor to God, a violation of his holy law, and the basest ingratitude towards a being of infinite benevolence. This is accompanied and followed by amendment of life.” As we shall see, Webster has it right. Repentance begins in the heart (sorrow, deep contrition) and then is followed by outward fruit. John the Baptist told the Pharisees and Sadducees to “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.” (Mat. 3:7-8) Well, no one can bring forth such fruit if they haven’t purposed in their heart to do so. Repentance begins in the heart and is then followed by an outward action.
For this, let us consider the law of first mention. The first case of repentance in the Bible is found in Genesis 6:7: “And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.” Notice how God’s repentance is an inward thing pointing to an outward action. He makes up his mind about the flood, and He then sends the flood later.
Here lies the answer--if only the brethren would accept it. Preachers who do not believe that repentance is a requirement for salvation often believe that repentance involves an immediate turn from all sin with an immediate life of holiness being manifest. They realize how this is practically impossible for most people, so they throw out repentance altogether, or they redefine the word. If only they really believed the Bible!
When I stand on a street corner and say, “Repent, or ye shall all likewise perish,” I am not saying that my listeners can’t be saved until they quit their drinking, their smoking, their fornicating, their cursing and their rock-n-rolling. I am not saying that they must stop all those things and start living a holy life before they can trust Christ. Indeed, that would constitute a works-based salvation. When I say, “repent,” I am speaking of a Biblical repentance which begins with a simple change of heart (Gen. 6:7). Since the mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart (Mat. 12:34), I can expect the candidate for salvation to say some things that indicate a changed heart about sin and righteousness. He may not overcome his smoking habit for a good while, but he readily admits that it is wrong and it displeases God. He may not immediately “break up” with his shack-up honey, but at least he now admits that God is not pleased with his way of living and some action needs to be taken. It’s the change of heart that we need to seek because, if the heart changes, God has begun a work, and He will continue it: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philip. 1:6)
However, let us not forget the fruits and actions that should always follow the change of heart. Jesus said, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Mat. 7:20) I can know a person is saved by examining his fruit. If a man says he received Jesus Christ as his Saviour when a preacher visited his home a year ago, yet he hasn’t read his Bible, he hasn’t prayed, he hasn’t attended church services, and he still lives like the devil, then he probably never received Christ. At least some fruit should be evident after a whole year! You can plant a tree and not see much growth in just a few days, but after a whole year, you’ll see significant changes.
Consider Exodus 13:17-18: “And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.” The repentance here would start with an inner change of heart (due to fear) and end with an outer action (returning to Egypt).
Consider 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.” See how the word “repent” is followed by an outward action?
John the Baptist would not baptize people until he had seen some FRUIT which indicated that they had really repented (Mat. 3:1-8). He didn’t require a truckload of fruit, but he did require enough to convince him that these converts were real. Please read the passage and see that people are confessing their sins at their baptism! Sin was not avoided. Sin was preached against, and it was confessed. Only the Pharisees and Sadducees avoided the sin issue. Notice our Lord’s command to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:5: “Remember there-fore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” The order is “repent” and “do.” An action always follows genuine repentance. To say that repentance is just a change of heart is incorrect. Repentance begins with a change of heart, but it doesn’t stop there. Besides, a
“change of heart” that never yields any fruit isn’t a real change of heart anyway.
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.” Again, repentance is more than a change of heart.
Matthew 21:29: “He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.” Was his repentance only a change of heart or mind? No, it was more than that. His repentance was followed by FRUIT.
Stephen believed in repentance: “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:51-55) Notice the mark of a Spirit-filled preacher: he preaches against sins and expects repentance.
Do you remain unconvinced? Please consider the case of our Lord and the Samaritan woman: “Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.” (John 4:13-18) Jesus informed her that she needed the water of life. When she expressed interest in this water (salvation), He brought up the sin issue by telling her to go call her husband. He knew she had an immoral life, and He called it to her attention. Sin must be dealt with when bringing a sinner to a holy God.
Remember that the ark of the covenant was not at the front of the tabernacle. It was in the very back of the tabernacle. Upon entering the tabernacle, the sinner came face to face with a brazen altar where blood sacrifices were made for sin. A burnt offering always stood between the sinner and God. No doubt, if God had allowed man to design the tabernacle, the ark would have been out front, and the brazen altar would have been hid in the back behind a curtain!
God is holy and He requires holiness in his people. To introduce a sinner to Christ, the holy Son of God, and not expect him to repent is a disgrace. In fact, to not speak to sinners about repentance is to withhold a precious gift from them. Acts 11:18 says, “When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.” Repent-ance is such a part of New Testament salvation that it, like salvation, is spoken of as a gift which God grants to men. Who are we to hold back the gift that God is offering to sinners, especially when this gift is part of an unbreakable package? So many have ceased from preaching repentance for so long that no one thinks of it as a gracious gift anymore. It has become a hard and cruel burden which very few will bear. Consequently, the sinner’s attitude is, “You mean I have to quit drinking and I have to quit fishing on Sundays?” His attitude should be, “You mean God is willing to forgive me of all my sins? After all that I’ve done, He is willing to forgive me? Wow! What must I do? I’ll do anything--just tell me!”
There may be numerous reasons for this change in attitude over the past 150 years, but one chief reason is that preachers quit preaching against sins, which allowed sinners to stop feeling like sinners. So, repentance has become a burden instead of a blessing. God help us!
Are You “Saved” and Going to Hell? Copyright © 2009 James L. Melton, Revised 2017
I was born on July 20, 1963, in northwest Tenne-ssee. By the time I was three years of age, I had lost my brother to a house fire, and I had lost my parents to divorce. My entire childhood amounted to my moving back and forth between my two parents and my grandparents. The only memory that I have of seeing my mother and father together was on one occasion when they had a discussion about custody over me. My childhood was filled with all sorts of evil influences, yet very few Christian influences; so I didn’t hear a clear presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ until I was fifteen years of age. At that time, I had a sincere concern about my soul. I wanted to know the truth, and I was grateful that God had sent someone to give me the gospel.
When I heard the gospel, I believed it, and I received Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. That was on May 3, 1979. I was truly born again that day. I was truly saved by the grace of God because a youth director named Patrick took the time to carefully guide me through the Scriptures, showing me that I was a sinner and that I could become a real Christian by receiving Jesus Christ as my Saviour.
The following Sunday I was baptized, and I became a faithful church member. I also received training on how to lead others to Christ just as Patrick had led me to Christ. By the grace of God, my life had been totally transformed, and, for the first time, I felt that I was now a part of something very important. I was excited about my future as a Christian. Then Patrick left for the mission field, and another man took his place.
I looked forward to getting to know Ron, our new youth director, and I hoped to continue my Christian growth under his leadership. Then it happened. Ron, the man that I was trying to respect and follow, made a complete fool of himself while trying to show me how to lead a man to Christ. While standing on the doorsteps of a certain Mr. Wurley, a man who made it clear that he had no interest in Jesus, I saw Ron pressure the man into praying a little prayer. He then told him that he had just gotten saved. We left Mr. Wurley’s house with Ron rejoicing over his latest “convert” and with me in a state of shock over what I had just seen. Unlike Patrick, who had carefully and prayerfully led me to Christ, Ron carelessly and rudely offended a lost sinner and pushed him further away from Christ! The man had no remorse for his sins; therefore, he didn’t repent. He didn’t come to church, didn’t get baptized, and we never saw him again. He clearly did not become a Christian, yet Ron had assured him that he was “saved” because he had repeated a prayer just to get us to leave. I thought, “How could anyone do God’s work in such a way?” I later came to realize that Ron wasn’t doing God’s work at all.
Today, nearly four decades later, I serve God as a husband, a father to five children, and also as a pastor. I’ve knocked on many doors over the years, and I’ve had many people tell me that they were “saved.” Yet, most of them were just like Mr. Wurley. They had never turned from their sins. Their lives were filled with sin and worldliness, and there was no visible evidence that they were living for Christ. Most of them claimed to be “saved,” but the simple fact is that most of them only said they were saved. Some knew they weren’t saved, but others honestly thought they were saved simply because they had once prayed a little prayer, or they had been baptized, or they had joined a church. Like Mr. Wurley, they were yet in their sins because they had never truly received the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s gift of salvation. John 1:12-13 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” To “believe” on Christ is to “receive” Christ, according to the Bible. Repeating an insincere prayer is not receiving Christ, and it is not believing on Christ. Accepting certain facts about Christ is nothing more than mental assent, and even the devils believe mentally (James 2:19; Luke 4:33-34). Mental assent is not salvation because salvation is not a mental issue. Salvation is a spiritual issue, a matter of the heart. So, a sinner must believe on Christ with his heart by receiving Christ into his heart: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Rom. 10:9-10) Any-thing less than true heart belief is a false salvation. One might say he is “saved” because of some past religious moment, but he isn’t truly saved until he has received Jesus Christ: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)
What about you, friend? Are you a real Christian? Have you really been born again into a new life in Jesus Christ? Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) That includes you. Were you really born again, or did you just repeat a little insincere prayer? Were you really born again, or did you just get baptized and join a church? Were you really born again, or did you just believe someone who told you that you were “saved?” Were you really born again, or did you just marry into a Christian family and pretend that you too were a Christian? “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)
If a man is born again, then he is living a new life. He isn’t the same anymore. The Bible says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (II Cor. 5:17) No sinner becomes a Christian and then continues in his sins. Jesus said, “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3) If you have not repented of (turned from) your sins, then you are not born again, you are not saved, and you are on your way to hell.
Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” No amount of church membership or “accepting Christ” mentally will change that. You are a sinner who needs to REPENT and RECEIVE Jesus Christ by BELIEVING on Him in your HEART. Any plan less than that will leave you perishing in your sins.
Friend, you don’t have to continue in your lost condition. God doesn’t want you to perish. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Romans 5:8-9 says, “But God com-mendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” Friend, it’s the blood of Jesus Christ that you need, and nothing else. Colossians 1:14 says, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus died for your sins, and He rose again for your justification. Don’t think for a second that God Almighty will grant you an entrance into His glorious kingdom just because you had a little religious moment. God is looking right into your heart, friend, and He knows whether or not you have truly been “born again.” He knows whether or not you have become a “new creature” in Christ. You might fool others, and you might even fool yourself, but you will not fool God. I beg you to please examine your heart, and receive Jesus Christ today, if you have never done so. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Rom. 10:9-10) “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Rom. 10:13)
The Threefold Sin of Easy-Believism, Copyright © 2009 James L. Melton
Preached February 15, 2009, Bible Baptist Church, Martin, Tennessee
“He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:11-13)
Our text speaks on the subject on believing on Christ. It states that some people do believe on Christ, while others do not. The ones that do believe on Christ, it says, are born of God. They can actually be called the “sons of God” because they have been born of God.
But the passage states more than that. It also defines a very important Bible word, a word that is found in the Bible over three hundred times in its various forms. That word is the word “believe.” Many folks today, especially Christians, have a very shallow understanding of what that word means, but there’s no excuse for their ignorance. The Bible defines the word very well for us right here in John 1:12: believing is receiving, plain and simple. To believe on Christ is to receive Christ.
Just as one would freely receive a gift from someone, such as a birthday present, a sinner is supposed to freely receive the salvation that Jesus offers. He doesn’t receive Christ by merely saying that he receives Christ, such as in repeating a prayer. The sinner receives Christ when he opens his heart and allows Jesus to move in and begin ruling a brand new life. That is what it means to believe on Christ. It means that the Lord Jesus Christ has been seated upon the throne of the heart and that the old life is nailed to His cross. Anything less is something less than salvation, something that will not give a man a life worth living, and something that will not keep him out of a burning hell.
There’s a term that I’m going to use to describe this less-than-salvation doctrine that rules in many churches. I didn’t invent the term, and there might be a better term to use, but many have used the term through the years when speaking on this subject, so I’ll stick with the standard terminology. The common term used when dealing with this subject is easy-believism. Some don’t like the term because it could be used to imply that salvation isn’t easy, but I trust that the context in which I use it will make my intentions clear. Salvation is easy, yes, but we need not make it too easy.
My first encounter with easy-believism came many years ago (1979) when I was a teenager. I had just been saved, and I was going door-to-door with our youth director, named Ron. We came to the home of a man named Worley and found that he had no interest in the things of God. Ron tried to get him interested, but to no avail. All Mr. Worley wanted was for us to leave. My partner then asked if we could have a word of prayer before we left, and the man consented. So, in the prayer, Ron asked Mr. Worley if he knew for certain that he would go to heaven when he died. “No,” the man said. “Do you want to go to heaven?” ask Ron. Not wanting to go to hell, the man would obviously reply with a “Yes.” Ron then led him in a forced prayer and told him that he had just been saved. He never came to church, and we never saw him again.
That’s the kind of “soul winning” that goes on in the name of Christ all across America on a weekly basis. Some say it’s wonderful; others say it’s better than doing nothing; I say it’s far worse than doing nothing because of the damage that it does.
I want to deal with the threefold sin of easy-believism, three things that are terribly wrong with the kind of “evangelism” that I’ve just illustrated.
I. IT GIVES THE LOST A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY
If a man is lost and on his way to hell, then he needs to know it. He needs to feel God’s wrath hovering over his head continually. He is the target of God’s wrath, and he needs to know it. This is well brought out in Psalm 7:11-12: “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.” The wicked man needs to feel the guilt of sin and the approaching judgment of God continually. The Christian’s duty is to remind him of this continually and to emphasize that Christ is his only hope.
Jesus said that the Holy Spirit “will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8). This is obviously in keeping with the spirit of Psalm 7:11-12, reminding the sinner of the wrath of God that abides on him because of his sins. John 3:36 says, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” If the wrath of God abides on a man, then that man ought to feel it. He should know daily that things are not right between himself and God. He should constantly feel the convicting power of the Holy Spirit on his heart so he can be moved to true repentance and a genuine conversion. The last thing he needs is for some easy-believer to come along and welcome him to the kingdom of God for merely repeating a little prayer. Instead of being led by the Holy Spirit, such a Christian is actually quenching the Holy Spirit!
I’ve knocked on doors and had people tell me they were saved because they had had experiences like the one I just described. Thanks to the sloppy work of a bunch of naïve and immature Christians, such people are now going through their lives with a false sense of security. They think they are saved, because Christians told them they were, while they are yet in their sins as children of the devil. Thanks to the work of ignorant Christians, the Holy Spirit has been quenched in their lives and they are on their way to hell while thinking just the opposite. You have to give the devil his due: that is a pretty subtle plan.
II. IT’S AN INSULT TO GOD’S INTELLIGENCE
It is the duty of all Christians to be God’s representatives on this earth. II Corinthians 5:20 even says that we are “ambassadors for Christ.” This means that we are supposed to properly represent God to this lost and dying world. We are sons of God who are expected to represent our Father. With this in mind, is it not a gross insult to the Almighty’s intelligence to suggest that He would be duped into granting sinners the new birth on the basis of them merely repeating a vain, non-repentant, prayer? Why, it’s absurd, when you think of it! Yet this is the standard operating procedure of many churches.
I remember a certain preacher speaking about this very subject and trying to justify his easy-believe tactics. Comparing his “converts” to fruit that one would pick from a tree, he said, “You know, people accuse us of picking our fruit too early, but I’d rather get picked early than not get picked at all!” Can you see the vain mindset that these people have? God is completely ignored as they press on in their totally human endeavors! The fact that such “converts” are fake doesn’t even occur to them. They think that salvation is a human thing where a soul is immediately born again every time a “sinner’s prayer” is repeated. The fact that God might not see it that way—He might not grant the new birth to all of their victims—doesn’t seem to occur to them.
The truth of the matter is that many souls have been saved in spite of the easy-believe tactics, not because of them. God is always interested in saving sinners no matter who the witnesses are. If enough of the gospel message is presented to show Christ to a lost person, the Holy Spirit can use that to bring a man to salvation, even though the naïve personal worker bends over backwards in his efforts to botch the whole thing with his “do-you-want-to-go-to-heaven?-repeat-this-prayer” nonsense. God just ignores all that mess on occasion and saves the sinner anyway, when He sees a ready heart. But the easy-believe personal worker does very little to get the heart ready. That’s usually done by someone else. The easy-believer just happened to be there in time to pluck the ripe fruit. “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” (I Cor. 3:6) The plucker isn’t even mentioned! A wise plucker knows this, but the easy-believe pluckers think that everything hinges on their high pressure tactics. No, God is a lot smarter than that.
II. A GROSS WASTE OF VALUABLE TIME
Ephesians 5:16 says that we ought to be “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Rather than invest time in edifying the church and building up some strong soldiers for the Lord, the easy-believers spend countless hours pounding on doors and tallying up professions. “If one soul gets saved, it’s worth it all,” they say, never stopping to consider the damage they are doing.
Every summer our church blitzes the Obion County fair with 1,000 to 2,000 gospel tracts. We’ve been doing this for over twenty years, and thousands of people have received a clear and scriptural presentation of the gospel in tract form. One night we were there and ran into an easy-believer that I know. He and his crew had been going around the fairgrounds and getting people to say the “sinner’s prayer.” “We’ve had twelve people saved tonight,” he said. To the best of my knowledge, those twelve people never came to church, never were baptized, and never turned from their sins. Yet he thinks his time was better spent than ours because he got twelve people to repeat a vain prayer. In his view, we wasted our time by distributing 1,500 tracts instead of running around bugging people who were trying to enjoy the fair. The truth is that we respected their time and money by giving them tracts that they could read at their convenience. He stole their time by being rude and forcing them to listen to a high pressure sales pitch that gave them nothing but a false security.
Pauline Repentance, Preached September 3, 2017, Bible Baptist Church, Sharon, Tennessee
Back in 2002 we first printed our tract titled “Repent or Perish,” a tract that shows clearly from the scriptures that true repentance will always include “fruits meet for repentance” (Mat. 3:8) and that a mere “change of mind” that never manifests any fruit isn’t a real change of mind at all and it’s not Biblical repentance. Then in 2009 we published a tract titled, “Are You “Saved” and Going to Hell?” The tract is an expose’ of the repentless, easy-believe tactics of some brethren who are probably damning more souls than they are saving. Both tracts are still in print and enjoy a fairly wide circulation. Both tracts are also on the Internet, and both have received praise and criticism.
The criticism has usually come with two arguments: (1) To repent means to change one’s mind, so every sinner repents when he changes his mind and asks Jesus to save him, and (2) Paul does not emphasize turning from sin, when speaking of salvation, only of receiving Christ.
There is already more than enough scripture presented in the aforementioned tracts to refute both arguments with ease, but not everyone possesses the greatest reading ability these days, especially when pride and prejudice sit on each shoulder whispering in each ear, so I’ve taken a third step in this effort to show forth the oft-neglected truth of Biblical repentance. Many will remain unconvinced, I know, but some will find help and learn a more perfect way. It is for those that I write.
Alright, let’s start with the Bible’s first mention of repentance. Genesis 6:6 says, “And it REPENTED the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” (Block CAPS used for emphasis throughout this study.) Clearly, a change of mind is indicated, but please notice what follows in verse seven: “And the LORD said, I WILL DESTROY man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it REPENTETH me that I have made them.” Repentance here is a change of mind, yes, but it isn’t only a change of mind. In fact, only a change of mind wouldn’t really be a change of mind at all. The first mention of repentance is a change of mind that led to an action.
Come to Matthew chapter 3 and we’ll see the first New Testament mention of repentance. “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, REPENT YE: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Is that all he said? No, read verses 6 through 10: “And were baptized of him in Jordan, CONFESSING THEIR SINS. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to FLEE FROM THE WRATH TO COME? Bring forth therefore FRUITS MEET FOR REPENTANCE: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth GOOD FRUIT is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Looks like more than a change of mind, does it not?
Look at the first mention of Jesus preaching repentance in the next chapter: “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, REPENT: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, FOLLOW ME, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway LEFT THEIR NETS, AND FOLLOWED HIM.” (Mat. 4:17-20) Did they just change their minds about Jesus? No, they also followed Him.
Friend, that is Biblical repentance, a change of mind that leads to a change in actions. No one is going to receive Christ today and change everything before sundown, but any true convert is going to have a changed heart that will produce some outward evidence, or fruit, and that fruit should be expected to increase with time. In our tract, Repent or Perish, I worded it this way:
When I stand on a street corner and say, “Repent, or ye shall all likewise perish,” I am not saying that my listeners can’t be saved until they quit their drinking, their smoking, their fornicating, their cursing and their rock-n-rolling. I am not saying that they must stop all those things and start living a holy life before they can trust Christ. Indeed, that would constitute a works-based salvation. When I say, “repent,” I am speaking of a Biblical repentance which begins with a simple change of heart (Gen. 6:7). Since the mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart (Mat. 12:34), I can expect the candidate for salvation to say some things that indicate a changed heart about sin and righteousness. He may not overcome his smoking habit for a good while, but he readily admits that it is wrong and it displeases God. He may not immediately “break up” with his shack-up honey, but at least he now admits that God is not pleased with his way of living and some action needs to be taken. It’s the change of heart that we need to seek because, if the heart changes, God has begun a work, and he will continue it: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philip. 1:6)
However, let us not forget the fruits and actions that should always follow the change of heart. Jesus said, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Mat. 7:20) I can know a person is saved by examining his fruit. If a man says he received Jesus Christ as his Saviour when a preacher visited his home a year ago, yet he hasn’t read his Bible, he hasn’t prayed, he hasn’t attended church services, and he still lives like the devil, then he probably never received Christ. At least some fruit should be evident after a whole year! You can plant a tree and not see much growth in just a few days, but after a whole year, you’ll see significant changes.
Now, that is the Bible truth about repentance, and it’s the Bible truth from Genesis through Revelation. But the easy-believers have their entire “ministries” built upon the notion that this is NOT the Bible truth, so many of them are claiming that this truth about repentance isn’t taught in Paul’s epistles. That’s like saying we can ignore the doctrine of “hell” since Paul never used the word. Paul never used the word because his epistles are written primarily to Christians, believers who had already been saved from hell. The words “repent” and “repented” occur in Paul’s writings only a few times because he’s dealing mostly with believers who have already repented! This should not have to be pointed out to grown Christians, but today’s average Christian is a spiritual simpleton who has never learned even the most basic Bible truths. Nothing can be taken for granted, and sound teachers often have to go clear back to “square one” and try bringing the student up to speed before he can even communicate with him about the subject matter at hand or most other subjects. This is 100% due to churches today being run by religious administrators instead of qualified preachers and teachers of the word of God. To make matters worse, these unqualified ignoramuses will fight to the death to defend their ignorance since repenting of it would be a confession that their whole lives and ministries are largely built upon fallacies. The whole thing is a religious trap of the devil, and very few have the spiritual discernment to see it and the moral character to flee it.
Alright, let’s head to Paul’s ministry and see about this business of Pauline repentance. First, look at Acts 14:13-15: “Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should TURN FROM THESE VANITIES unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein.” There’s you a dose of Pauline repentance right there, and it got him stoned (vs. 19).
Look at Acts 17: “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” That’s verses 22 through 24. Paul preaches against their SINS. He goes on to preach Christ in verse 31, but not before he tells them to REPENT in verse 30: “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to REPENT.” Repent of what? Why, he’s referring to the idolatry that he just preached against in verses 22, 23, and 24! Then he said, “REPENT.” Looks like more than a professed change of mind, doesn’t it? Looks like ole’ Paul might be agreeing with John the Baptist and Jesus.
Get Acts 26:19:20. Here we have Paul giving his testimony to king Agrippa, and he says, “Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should REPENT and TURN TO GOD, and DO WORKS MEET FOR REPENTANCE.” Well, well, well, what have we here? Looks like Paul is saying amen to the preaching of John the Baptist! Let’s see . . .
John the Baptist in Matthew 3:8: “Bring forth therefore FRUITS MEET FOR REPENTANCE”
Paul the Baptist in Acts 26:20: “do WORKS MEET FOR REPENTANCE”
Yes, indeed he is! Was John Pauline, or was Paul Johnine? Maybe they were both just BIBLICAL, unlike the modern day easy-believers who are more interested in numbers than in the souls of men. Paul believed and preached a Biblical repentance that would manifest FRUIT, which agrees with what Jesus said in Matthew 7:20: “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Maybe they didn't teach you that in religious college, but it's sure taught in the word of God.
Now get Romans 2:4: “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to REPENTANCE?” Alright, now we have Paul writing, and he mentions repentance. Has he changed his theology and now means only a professed change of mind when he mentions repentance? No, please read verse 6: “Who will render to every man according to his DEEDS.” Also verse 10: “But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that WORKETH GOOD . . .” That’s definitely more than a professed change of mind.
Jump over to Romans 6, verses 18 through 22: “Being then made free from sin, ye became the SERVANTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so NOW YIELD YOUR MEMBERS SERVANTS TO RIGHTEOUSNESS UNTO HOLINESS. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What FRUIT had ye then in those things whereof ye are NOW ASHAMED? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become SERVANTS TO GOD, ye have your FRUIT unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” Some have argued with me about this and said, “This has more to do with sanctification than justification.” Maybe so, but IT STILL HAPPENED! The sanctification DID follow the justification. Biblical converts do not merely have a professed change of mind, such a WEAK change of mind that they never bear any fruit for Christ. Biblical converts, according to John, Jesus, and Paul, are new creatures in Christ who become fruitful, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold, some an hundredfold (Mat. 13:8), but ALL fruitful.
I had a man tell me last week that he had led a truck driver to the Lord who has never produced an ounce of fruit, but he sure got saved. How does he KNOW he got saved? He DOESN’T know it; he merely THINKS or FEELS it, and he insists that it’s true because HE supposedly led him to the Lord, and admitting that the man might not have truly been saved might suggest that he’s been producing FAKE CONVERTS. Can’t have that! So he “KNOWS” the trucker got saved. Yeah, right.
Okay, let’s get I Corinthians 5:7-8: “Purge out therefore the OLD leaven, that ye may be a NEW lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” See that? We have something OLD being purged out and something NEW taking its place. Looks like a bit more than a half-hearted change of mind, does it not? In fact, with that thought in mind, take a look at II 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.” Again, it looks like Paul believed in a Biblical repentance that changed a man’s life so much that ALL THINGS become new, not just a good-intentioned heart that never quite produced any fruit. After all, Jesus said, “some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold” (Mat. 3:8), but He never said, “some ZEROFOLD.” Much faith equals much work, some faith equals some work, little faith equals little work, and NO FAITH equals NO WORK. Let’s reverse it now for the brainwashed religious school robots: MUCH WORK comes from MUCH FAITH, SOME WORK comes from SOME FAITH, LITTLE WORK, or FRUIT, comes from LITTLE FAITH, and NO WORK/FRUIT comes from NO FAITH. No faith equals no salvation (Eph. 2:8-9). For a man to continue in sin and show no change at all after having received Christ is contrary to scripture and is evidence of a fake conversion, and he should be told this by true Christians instead of being handed a false sense of security by ignorant and naïve religious robots.
Now get Ephesians 2. We’ll look at the standard verses, but we’ll also look at the commonly ignored verse. First, look at verses eight and nine: “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.” Okay, that’s simple enough. A sinner is saved by GRACE through FAITH and not of works. If he were saved by works, then he could boast about his works, but God wants us all boasting about Jesus Christ instead, so no man gets SAVED by his works. Does that mean that he HAS no works? No, it just means that he isn’t SAVED by his works. The sinner gets his salvation in verses 8 and 9, but then look what immediately follows in verse 10: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus UNTO GOOD WORKS, which God hath before ordained that we should WALK IN THEM.” The verse begins with the word “For” which makes it a continuation of verses 8 and 9, so let’s view all three verses together and emphasize some key words: “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.” Looks like God wants some WORKS to follow our FAITH, does it not? But notice that these works are natural results of God’s working in us: “his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus UNTO GOOD WORKS.” That is, if God really saved you, then his Spirit entered and sealed you, and that same Spirit will produce good works, or fruit (Gal. 5:22-23). If you have a problem with that, then you have a problem with GOD, not with Bro. Melton.
Come to Colossians chapter one, verses 3-6: “We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, Since we heard of your FAITH in Christ Jesus, and of the LOVE WHICH YE HAVE to all the saints, For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and BRINGETH FORTH FRUIT, as it doth ALSO IN YOU, SINCE THE DAY YE HEARD OF IT, and knew the grace of God in truth.” That’s a good one, right there. These folks heard the gospel and immediately started loving the saints and bearing fruit (“since the day ye heard of it”). They didn’t receive Christ and then continue in sin. The HOLY Spirit that convicted them of sin and baptized them into Christ also began working in and through them to produce at least SOME fruit.
Next, get I Thessalonians 1:2-3: “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; Remembering without ceasing your WORK OF FAITH, and LABOUR OF LOVE, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.” These were new Christians, and Paul was very pleased with their spiritual progress because their faith had produced WORK and their love had produced LABOUR. That’s spiritual fruit coming from new believers in Christ. In fact, he says in verse 5 that “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance . . .” Then in verses 6 and 7 we read that that same Holy Ghost led these believers to become FOLLOWERS and ENSAMPLES even though they received the word in “much affliction.” My, what a contrast to the professing converts that we see brethren tallying up today. If those verses aren’t clear enough, take a look at verse 9: “. . . ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” I’d call that a bit more than a mere change of mind. After all, you can’t actually SEE a change of mind. Over and over and over again we are seeing these Biblical converts producing fruit that can been SEEN. You can’t see a mind change, so you never really know if it even changed at all. If it did, then there will be fruit (Mat. 7:20; 3:8). If there’s no fruit, then the mind was never really changed; you just SAID it changed so you could call yourself a soul winner.
Now get Titus 1:16 and we’ll try to wrap up our study of Pauline repentance: “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” Well, now, how about THAT one? He said these people were unbelievers (vs. 15) who PROFESS (“we had twelve PROFESSIONS of faith while out door-knocking”) that they know God, yet their WORKS tell a different story altogether, because their works say they are ABOMINABLE, DISOBEDIENT, and REPROBATE! Wow! Looks like Paul is saying that we can tell who is saved and who is lost by doing a bit of FRUIT INSPECTING. “Oh, but God didn’t call us to be fruit inspectors!” Shut up and get back in your playpen. Our PRIMARY calling is not to be fruit inspectors, but there are times when it must be done, which is why Paul did it. We don’t live to judge others, but when it has to be done, our duty is to man-up and take care of business. If we refuse to do so, then we quench the Holy Spirit and give place to the devil. If you disagree with that, then you lack spiritual discernment AND Bible knowledge.
Friend, the Book is very clear. Biblical repentance is an inward change of mind that leads to an outward change of actions, and Paul believed it just as firmly as John the Baptist did in Matthew 3:8 and just as firmly as Jesus did in Matthew 4:17-19. Paul didn’t USE the word “repent” a lot in his epistles because he was addressing Christians who had already repented, but the verses that we’ve covered in this study are very clear in stating that all true believers in Christ CAN be and SHOULD be identified by their fruit, which is why Jesus gave us Matthew 7:20.
As I pointed out earlier, Jesus said, “some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold” (Mat. 3:8), but He never said, “some ZEROFOLD.” God’s holy standard is much higher than the doctrines of many brethren, and it is our duty to embrace it and preach it without fear or favor.