Acts 16:29-31, “Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
There are a great many dangerous wolves in sheep's clothing lurking in Baptist churches today who pervert the Gospel. False prophets are everywhere! One such lying false teacher is Missionary David W. Cloud in China, who has a popular religious website at Wayoflife.org.
Recently on October 14th, 2025, Mr. Cloud published a heretical article titled, “Repentance Is a Necessary Part of Christ’s Great Commission.” In the following excerpt from his toxic misrepresentation of the inspired Scripture, Pastor Cloud foolishly uses the results of various cases of repentance in the Bible to define the word itself, which is horribly incompetent scholarship! In the Holy Bible, to “repent” concerning salvation as a noun is always metanoia (a change of mind), and as a verb metanoeo (to think differently). A man may change his mind to turn from his unbelief, or to turn from his sinning, or he may change his mind not to do something, et cetera. That being said, the OBJECT of the change of mind has absolutely nothing to do with the actual act of changing one's thinking. David Cloud is foolishly using the OBJECT of repentance to define what it means, which is WRONG. The following heretical excerpt is from his ministry website. ...
What is repentance? Following are seven lessons on repentance, and all of these lessons are interconnected:
- Repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of life (“that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance,” Ac. 26:20).
- Repentance is a surrender to God’s authority (“repentance toward God,” Ac. 20:21). The unsaved is a born rebel against God. He is estranged from God. He is a child of disobedience (Eph. 2:2). He fulfills the desires of the flesh and of the mind and is by nature the child of wrath (Eph. 2:3). The sinner must repent of his rebellion against God and his life of self-will.
- Repentance is to renounce the life of sin (“Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts,” Re. 9:21).
- Repentance is to turn to God from idols (“ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,” 1 Th. 1:9). Idols represents every false religion and every false thing that men trust in - Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, goddess worship, witchcraft, evolutionary atheism, false christs, false gospels, false spirits, Roman Catholicism, Greek Orthodoxy, baptismal regeneration, infant baptism, sacramentalism, Mariolatry. There must be public renunciation of such things. I think of a couple in our church who were saved about 15 years ago and who were trusting in false Christianity and false religion. The husband was a Hindu, and the wife was Greek Orthodox. In the process of being dealt with about salvation, they repented of their false worship and renounced it. The wife rejected her infant baptism and icon worship. Both were persecuted by their families. Soon after he was saved, the husband’s father died and the Hindu family put great pressure on him to perform the idolatrous death rituals because he was the eldest son. He refused to do this. This is clear evidence of true repentance..
- Repentance is a work of the Spirit (“ye be endued with power from on high,” Lu. 24:49; “if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth,” 2 Ti. 2:25).
- Repentance is also man’s response to God’s Spirit (“God now commandeth all men every where to repent,” Ac. 17:30).
- Repentance is a product of God’s Word. “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). The man who led me to Christ dealt with me over a period of about four days that we spent traveling together. When we first met, I didn’t believe the Bible is the infallible Word of God, that Christ is the only Lord and Saviour, and that hell is the destiny of all who did without faith in Christ. I believed in reincarnation. The man simply quoted the relevant Scriptures to refute my thinking and he explained those Scriptures to me. I argued with the Bible, but it was the Bible that broke through the darkness of my mind and brought me to repentance and faith.
I hope you can clearly see how David Cloud is corrupting the inspired Word of God and perverting the simplicity that is in Christ, which is the Gospel (Romans 1:16). Galatians 1:6-7, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.” Pastor Lester Roloff (1914-1982) said it well, “The worst pervert in America is the Gospel pervert!” David Cloud is a gospel pervert!!!
Pastor Cloud perverts the following passage of Scripture by interpreting it as a plan of salvation. Acts 26:19-20, “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.” David Cloud sinfully attempts to require works (turning from your sins) for salvation! But the Apostle Paul simply told King Agrippa that he preached salvation through faith in Jesus to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles. Paul exhorted these groups to change their mind (repent) toward God, and then once saved to live like it to glorify God (Matthew 5:16). But Paul was not giving King Agrippa a plan of salvation in Verse 20! If you fail to understand this, you will become confused.
In Acts 26:14-15, Paul tells King Agrippa that Jesus personally appeared unto him on the road to Damascus. In Acts 26:18 Jesus commanded Paul, “To open their [the Gentiles] eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” There it is dear reader! Paul very plainly tells King Agrippa how to be saved in Verse 18, which is BY FAITH THAT IS IN JESUS!!! Paul didn't require them to first be willing to forsake their sinning, which according to Jonah 3:10 would constitute “works.” David Cloud is guilty of cherry-picking the Word of God to support his own perverse agenda!
Nowhere in Acts chapter 26 does the inspired Word of God teach that a lost sinner must repent of their sins to get to Heaven. God's curse is upon David Cloud for perverting God's simple plan of salvation (Galatians 1:6-9). Paul said to King Agrippa that he taught the newly converted Gentiles to “do works” appropriate for their new birth. We often hear preachers quote Ephesians 2:8-9 about salvation by grace through faith without works, but they leave off 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.” This is exactly what Paul means in Acts 26:20. As God's children we SHOULD live godly in Christ Jesus (Titus 2:12).
Pastor Curtis Hutson (1934-1995) wisely said, “A good rule to follow when interpreting the Bible is to never use an obscure passage to contradict a clear one.” Mr. Cloud is wickedly misusing seven obscure Scripture passages which have absolutely nothing to do with God's free gift of eternal life, to wrest God's Word to support his Strawman argument of partial faith in Christ plus works (forsaking your sins). This is NOT what it means to repent!!!
In sharp contrast to David Cloud's damnable heresy, Pastor Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951) gets repentance 100% correct...
“The Gospel is not a call to repentance, or to amendment of our ways, to make restitution for past sins, or to promise to do better in the future. These things are proper in their place, but they do not constitute the Gospel; for the Gospel is not good advice to be obeyed, it is good news to be believed. Do not make the mistake then of thinking that the Gospel is a call to duty or a call to reformation, a call to better your condition, to behave yourself in a more perfect way than you have been doing in the past …I think Michael P. Bowen, in his excellent defense of the Christian faith titled, 'I NEVER KNEW YOU,' says it well. ...
Nor is the Gospel a demand that you give up the world, that you give up your sins, that you break off bad habits, and try to cultivate good ones. You may do all these things, and yet never believe the Gospel and consequently never be saved at all.”
SOURCE: Harry A. Ironside, from the tract: 'What Is The Gospel?'
I am at eternal odds with the false, counterfeit messages of salvation-by-works that are taught from virtually every pulpit today, on every television channel, and on every Christian radio station; however, I am not at eternal odds with the individuals who preach these counterfeit messages. My heart literally goes out to all of them because they simply do not understand Christ’s plan of salvation. They have been lied to by a crafty enemy named Satan, whose sole aim is to take as many people with him to the lake of fire as he can possibly manage to steal away from God using a counterfeit plan of salvation that appears so real, so genuine, and so holy that few ever realize they have been deceived by it. Oh reader, so many of today’s professing Christians who think they are going to heaven when they die are not going to make it to heaven as they had assumed because they’ve been lied to by today’s error-filled gospel messages.Listen to what Pastor Harry Ironside correctly states about repentance in chapter 16 of his book, 'EXCEPT YE REPENT' ...
SOURCE: Michael Patrick Bowen, 'I NEVER KNEW YOU,' p. 17; © 2009, Xulonpress.com. Hard Copies Available
“In all that I have written I have failed completely to express what was surging up in my soul if I have given anyone the impression that I think of repentance as something meritorious which must be produced in man by self-effort ere he is fit to come to God for salvation.”Repentance is not a separate event from faith, although they are not the same thing. Here is the best quote that I've found on repentance, by Dr. Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951):
SOURCE: Dr. Harry Ironside, a quote from chapter 16, 'THE PREACHING THAT PRODUCES REPENTANCE,' from his timeless classic book, 'EXCEPT YE REPENT'
“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)The only thing that we need to repent from to be saved is our UNBELIEF. You don't get saved by repenting, you get saved by believing; but repentance facilitates (makes possible) believing. No needy sinner has ever believed the Gospel to be saved, who didn't change their mind from unbelief to belief, and that is repentance.
"Repentance is the recognition of my sinnership—the owning before God that I am as vile as He has declared me to be in His holy Word."Bravo! Christian author Michael Patrick Bowen rightly states in his excellent book titled, “I NEVER KNEW YOU,” on page 114...
SOURCE: 'Except Ye Repent,' by Dr. Harry Ironside, chapter 3
“Repent, as Christ meant it to be in terms of salvation, means to change your mind from trusting in what you can do for God to trusting only in what He can do for you.”The beloved Pastor Bob Gray Sr. of the Longview Baptist Temple church in Texas correctly preaches . . .
SOURCE: Michael Patrick Bowen, a quote from the awesome book, “I NEVER KNEW YOU” (Page 114)
“Repentance means to change your mind—change your mind—change your mind about how you want to get to Heaven to what God says you've got to do to get to Heaven. If you've got to repent of all your sins, you're still headed for Hell tonight.”Pastor Tom Cucuzza makes this tremendous helpful statement...
SOURCE: Pastor Bob Gray Sr., a quote from the awesome MP3 sermon, 'Why You Should Be A Part Of A Growing Church'
“The Devil is doing his greatest work behind pulpits. [I] hate to say it, but that's the truth; because people have the presupposition that when you come to church and somebody gets up to speak, that person is speaking truth. That's the way we've been raised.” —Pastor Thomas M. Cucuzza, “Important Truths Satan Does Not Want You to Know”The Bible in the hands of an idiot is the most dangerous weapon mankind has ever faced. I and my wife were recently kicked out of Family Baptist Church in Pensacola over my website ministry. Their ungodly pastors (Brad and Bobby Moffett) are neo-evangelicals fools. Their official Statement of Faith unbiblical requires that to be saved you MUST, “repent of your sins.” You cannot show me that teaching with a King James Bible! You'd have to go get one of the Devil's corrupt Bible revisions to find any such lies.
Here is an excellent and needful writing by Dr. Mark G. Cambron (1911-2000) on the subject of REPENTANCE. Please read the following quote carefully, because Dr. Cambron is one of few theologian who gets it, that is, he understands the simplicity of the Gospel and that repentance does not mean turning from sin as proponents of Lordship Salvation foolishly teach...
Repentance is necessary for salvation.
The Greek word for repent is metanoeo, which, translated into English is: to change ones mind. It does not mean to turn from sin. That would add works to salvation.
Repentance for salvation means a change of mind from men's ideas of salvation and religion, to an acceptance of Gods only way of salvation.
This results in a completely new creation, not a reformation of the old. The old nature remains as evil as ever after salvation and has not been reformed . . . The old nature can now be controlled by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.God does not cast out disobedient children, but in some cases, does take them home. He does not permit His children to live as they please without His discipline and guidance.
- God guarantees salvation. This is His gift to us.
- God guarantees reward and fruit to the obedient son.
- God guarantees chastening and loss of rewards to the disobedient son.
Many teach repentance for salvation incorrectly, by including some form of human effort or righteousness, such as willingness to turn from sin, or turning from sin. This is heresy and has confused many people. It adds works to salvation and causes many to not understand Gods great gift. It is probation, not salvation. It is completely unscriptural. It is Galatianism and a counterfeit of the gospel.
It is a tragedy that many Christians live shallow Christian lives. The Cambron Institute is dedicated to the task of training Christian men and women in the importance of total dedication and making Jesus the Lord of their lives not to be saved but because they are saved.
Shallow Christianity cannot be cured by adding works to salvation.
Salvation is not the result of what we do, but is by receiving what God has done for us. Acts 13:38, 39; Acts 20:20: Gal. 1:8,9; Gal. 2:4; Gal. 2:21; Gal. 3:1.3; Gal. 5:1-4; Eph. 2:8-10; II Cor. 5:21;John 3:16-18; Phil. 3:9; Titus 3:5-8:11 Cor. 11:13-1 5.
SOURCE: The Cambron Institute
Dear reader, I cannot warn you enough to avoid false prophets like Pensacola Christian College, Bob Jones University, Faith Baptist Bible College And Theological Seminary and Maranatha Baptist University, to name but a few of thousands of corrupt institutions today on the Gospel.
Also, all of the following names of church in the city of Pensacola are corrupt on the Gospel:
- Family Baptist Church
- Smyrna Baptist Church
- Fairfield Baptist Church
- Bible Baptist Church
- Victory Baptist Church
- First Baptist Church
- Campus Church
- New Warrington Baptist Church
That's just a handful of the religious cults in Pensacola today who are WRONG on God's simple plan of salvation, damning men's souls to an eternal Hell. All of these cults preach Satan's lies of Lordship Salvation—turn from your sins, become a Christ follower, invite Jesus into your life, give your life to Christ—to be saved. Those are Devil houses of worship!
Listen, God specifically authored the Gospel of John to show us the way of salvation (John 20:31), which is through faith in the GOOD NEWS (GOSPEL) of the Lord Jesus Christ—who was crucified to death on a cross, buried and physically resurrected from the dead three days later for the justification of our faith (1st Corinthians 15:1-6).
In sharp contrast, David Cloud is desperately grasping for straws, wresting obscure passages of Scripture which do not apply to salvation at all, taking Scripture out of context. When you take text out of context, you create a new pretext. That's not good! None of the Scripture verses that Pastor Cloud cited have anything to do with the new birth, which is by faith alone in Jesus Christ our Savior (Galatians 3:26).
In our text passage of Scripture, the Bible plainly tells us what is required to get to Heaven. Acts 16:29-31, “Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Contrary to David Cloud's false teachings, nowhere in the inspired King James Bible do we find anyone telling someone else to repent of their sins to be saved. Wicked men added those words to God's Words (Proverbs 30:5-6; Mark 7:9).
Thank you for reading my ministry blog. To God be all the praise, credit and glory!
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