And in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 we have a great verse on repentance in regard to salvation,
which is a really misunderstood subject by a lot of people when it comes to what role
does repentance play in salvation.
Now biblically speaking, salvation is by faith, not of works lest any man should boast.
And so salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, to God alone be the glory, and
it's not by deeds of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he
saved us.
There's no works involved in salvation.
We can also study the Bible and very easily come to the conclusion that turning away from
our sins, turning away from our evil way, following the laws of God, that's works.
When we follow God's law that's called the works of the law.
When we turn from our evil way that's called works.
And so a lot of people, they're teaching that repentance in regard to salvation is, well
you got to turn from your sins in order to be saved.
You got to turn from, folks, if that were true we're all doomed.
None of us is fully repentant of all our sins or fully, well you just kind of, you know,
got to be willing to turn away.
That's not what the Bible says because turning from our sins is something that we do every
day.
That's a daily thing.
Every single day we deny self, we take up the cross and we follow Jesus, but that is
not what salvation is because salvation is a one-time thing.
It's not born again and again and again, it's born again, okay?
You get saved one time, you're saved eternally, you become a child of God, but turning from
sin is something that we have to keep doing.
You know, new sins will crop up in our lives and we have to turn from those things.
So we're constantly repenting of sin throughout our Christian life.
That's not salvation.
Salvation is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's not any work involved on our part, it's believing, it's faith.
The real repentance in regard to salvation.
You know, if you look at a verse like say, repent and believe the gospel.
What is the real repentance in regard to salvation is that whatever you used to be trusting in,
you have to turn from trusting in that to trust in Jesus Christ as your savior.
So let's say I'm worshiping a false god.
Let's say I'm worshiping, you know, Succoth-Bnoth or whatever that false god was in 2 Kings
chapter 17.
I can't just add Jesus onto that.
Or, well, I'm Buddhist, but I'm a born again Buddhist.
No you're not.
You might think you've been born 3,000 times or something, but you're not a born again
Buddhist.
There's no such thing as a born again Hindu, right?
You say, well, you know, I'm a born again Mormon.
No you're not.
Okay, you can't just sit there and be a part of a false religion teaching a different way
to heaven, in many cases worshiping a different deity, not believing the Bible, not believing
in Jesus Christ your savior, not fully trusting in him, and then you can't just add Jesus
onto that.
Okay, if you're Jewish, right, you're going to have to renounce Judaism in order to be
saved.
In order to believe on Jesus Christ and become a Christian, you can't just say, oh, I'm just
adding Jesus onto my messianic Judaism thing.
Folks, Judaism teaches a lot of false doctrines and it teaches a workspace salvation and they're
worshiping another god, because if you don't have the son, you don't have the father.
You're going to have to reject some things, right?
Somebody who's Jewish is going to have to reject some things about Judaism in order
to embrace salvation through Jesus Christ.
You know, you're going to have to reject some things about Islam and you're going to have
to walk away from Islam if you want to be saved.
You can't say, well, I'm a born again Muslim, you know, I'm a Muslim, but I also believe
Jesus is the son of God.
Wrong.
You need to ditch Islam in order to get saved because Islam clearly teaches that God has
no son.
So you see how biblical Christianity and Islam cannot coexist.
You can't have this hybrid and say, well, I fear the Lord.
No you don't.
You cannot mix the, I believe on Jesus, not if you're believing in Buddha as well.
You have to believe in Jesus 100%.
I love what Philip told the Ethiopian eunuch, if you're actually reading a King James Bible,
where he asked him, what does hinder me to be baptized?
And Philip tells him, if thou believeth with all thine heart thou mayest.
If thou believeth with all thine heart thou mayest.
And he said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God.
And he stopped the chariot, baptized him.
So notice you're supposed to believe in Jesus with all your heart, meaning that you don't
have a part of your heart for these other religions, other gods, other ways to heaven.
Or like, well, I think, you know, going to heaven is just by being a good person, but
I'm kind of just believing in Jesus to be safe and just kind of cover all my bases.
Wrong, my friend.
So repentance in regard to salvation is, you have to turn from what you used to be trusting
in and turn to Jesus Christ as your way to heaven.
You know, maybe you were trusting in your good life, your good deeds, your catechism,
your confessional booth, whatever.
You've got to turn away from that and you've got to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look what the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1.
It says in verse 9, for they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto
you and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait
for his Son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus which delivered us from
the wrath to come.
So according to the Bible here, when these people received the word of God and these
people got saved, they turned to God from idols.
That's the turning involved in salvation.
You know, these people are in Thessalonica.
So what kind of idols are they worshiping in Thessalonica?
This would be the Greek pantheon, right?
This could be Zeus and Hermes and all these other false gods of Greek mythology.
They turned away from those idols to serve the living and true God.
What if they hadn't turned away from those idols, would they be able to serve the living
and true God if they're still hanging on to Ares and Zeus and Hermes and all these things?
Absolutely not, because you've got to trust Jesus Christ alone and you can't have this
hybrid where you're mixing two different religions.
You have to be all in for Jesus Christ.
That's what the Bible clearly teaches.
The Old Testament taught that.
The New Testament teaches that.
You've got to believe on Him alone.