You Get Saved By Trusting Christ, Because You See Your Need As A Sinner (And That Is Repentance)

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

It is tragic how the Devil has crept into tens of thousands of Baptist churches today, spreading the lie that God won't save anyone unless they first have a sincere desire “to turn away from sin.” No such teaching is found in the inspired King James Bible. What advocates of the heresies of Misunderstood Repentance and Lordship Salvation usually do is wrest (torture) obscure passages of Scripture to support their junk theology. Our text passage from Mark 1:15 is one such example. They wrongly ass-u-me, that the word repent means “to turn from sin,” but the Greek verb is actually, metanoeo, which means, “to think differently.”

The truth dear friend is that we get saved by trusting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, and we trust Him because we see our need for redemption as a needy sinner, and this is repentance. Here is one of the best quotes that I've found on repentance, by Dr. Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951):

“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) [emphasis added]

Amen! We don't give up our sins TO BE saved, we should give up our sins because WE ARE saved, and that requires time to grow in God's grace (1st Peter 2:2). Ephesians 2:10 says that believers are “created in Christ Jesus unto good works,” not by good works. I hope I have made the Bible clear enough dear reader. We are at war today with the Devil's religious crowd over the Bible. It is sad that so many pastors, including the Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, have been tricked by Lucifer, into adding “turning away from your sin” to faith alone in the GOOD NEWS (Gospel) of Christ crucified on the cross, buried and bodily risen the third day (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).

Repentance is simply realizing your need for salvation, so that you will BELIEVE ON JESUS and be saved. No one has ever believed without repenting, but repentance is simply a change of mind (which happens automatically). The man who believes has repented, and the man who repents has believed. Any corrupt preacher who tries to separate repentance from faith, requiring that you turn away from your sin as a prerequisite to saving faith, is preaching another gospel. The Bible teaches that we repent TO believe, we don't repent AND believe. Repentance and faith are inseparable. 

The evidence that our faith is real is faith itself, and nothing else. When Dr. Steve Pettit (president of Bob Jones University) heretically says that your faith is not genuine, unless you turn away from your sin and faithfully run the Christian race until the end of life, you know that he has been inspired by demons! God bless you dear reader and thank you for reading my blogs.