Now, the part of the chapter that I'd like to focus on is beginning in verse 9 where
the Bible reads,
Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that
we perish not?
And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way.
And God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them, and
he did it not.
And today I want to preach on the subject of repentance.
Now, repentance is a term that's used throughout the Bible.
It's found in 105 verses, and it's used in a variety of situations, and it's used in a
variety of different contexts.
Now one thing that you'll see often associated with repentance in the Bible is the word
turn or turning, okay?
Look at verse 9 right there.
It says, Who can tell if God will turn and repent?
And then he repeats the word turn, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish
not.
So here, God repenting is defined as him turning away from his fierce anger.
So when we see the word repent, there's a turning or a changing that's taking place.
A lot of people will mistakenly believe that repent always means that you're repenting
of your sins.
Well, first of all, God repents in the Bible more than anyone else.
So if repentance meant to turn away from your sins, that would make God a sinner,
and we know that God cannot sin, God is completely without sin, and so when the Bible says that
God repented, it's not saying he turned from his sin, he doesn't have any sin.
In this case, it says that he turned away from what?
His fierce anger.
Now there's nothing wrong with God's anger.
God had every right to be angry.
But because the people of Nineveh turned from their evil ways, the Lord turned from
his fierce anger.
He repented there.
So repentance is a turning.
Let me give you some other scriptures that show that repentance is turning.
While I'm reading these, go to Revelation 2, we're going to go there next.
It says, for example, at the end of Exodus 32, 12, turn from thy fierce wrath and repent
of this evil against thy people.
So there again, we see turn and repent.
Psalm 90 verse 13, return, O Lord, how long, and let it repent thee concerning
thy servants.
Jeremiah 4.28, for this shall the earth mourn and the heavens above be black, because I
have spoken it, I have purposed it, and watch this, and will not repent, neither
will I turn back from it.
So we see that repenting is associated with turning back from his anger or his
wrath in that case.
The Bible says in Joel 2.14, who knoweth if he will return and repent and leave a blessing
behind him, even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God.
Luke 17 contains a similar thing where he talks about your brother sinning against
you and it says, if seven times in a day he turn again to thee, saying I repent,
thou shalt forgive him.
And then obviously Acts 26.20 says that they should repent and turn to God and do works,
meet for repentance.
So we see how repent and turning are both associated.
Not necessarily a turning from sin, but a turning from something, or a turning to something,
or a change of mind, or a change of direction, or a change in your actions.
Something's changing.
Now look at Revelation 2.
This is spoken unto churches, these are believers that he's talking to.
And he says to them in verse 5, he says, Revelation 2.5, remember therefore 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.
Now these are people who had once been very zealous for God and they were doing
the first works and they had the first love.
If you remember, they lost their first love.
They stopped doing the first works.
God says, hey, repent and go back to those first works.
So he's talking to believers, telling them to go back to the first works.
Look at Revelation chapter 3, verse 3.
He's talking to believers again who've become a little bit backslidden, just as they've become
a little backslidden in Revelation chapter 2.
He says in verse 3, remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast
and repent.
If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief and thou shalt not
know what hour I will come upon thee.
Jump down to verse 19.
It says, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.
Be zealous therefore and repent.
Of course the Bible says, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every
son whom he receiveth.
And so he says here, the ones that I love are the ones that I rebuke and chasten.
Be zealous and repent.
So here, three times, believers are being told to repent, aren't they?
He says to believers, you know what, you were doing much better in the past.
You need to repent, you need to get back to where you once were, you need to get back
to the first works, you need to get zealous, you need to get back on.
Believers are being told to repent there.
So we can see that repent is being used in a lot of different situations in the Bible.
God's repenting.
Believers are repenting.
Unbelievers are repenting.
People are turning from their evil ways in Jonah 3.10.
God is turning from his anger in one place.
God's turning from judgments that he was going to pour out.
Later, believers are being told to turn from the fact that they were lukewarm and
that they would get fired up once again.
So we see how repentance is used in a great variety of ways throughout the Bible.
Now here's the important thing that I want to cover tonight.
When it comes to salvation, sometimes the word repent is used in regard to salvation
and people will wrongfully teach that you have to repent of your sins to be saved.
Now that is not a biblical teaching.
It's not found anywhere in the Bible and I'm going to prove that to you tonight.
You see, when the Bible talks about repentance in regard to salvation, he's not talking about
repenting of your sins.
He's usually talking about repenting of a false religion or repenting of a false doctrine
or a false belief system or repenting of other works that you're trusting in to get
you to heaven.
You see, in order to be saved, plain and simple, and go if you would to John chapter
20, if you want to be saved, the Bible makes it very clear that there's one thing
that you have to do to be saved.
It's very simple in the Bible.
The question is asked one time, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house.
So right there, the answer to the question, what must I do to be saved, is believe.
And all throughout the Bible, the Bible teaches, for by grace are you saved through
what?
Faith!
And faith means believing.
He said, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
Now, the book of John is a book in the Bible that claims to be a book to tell you
how to be saved.
Now oftentimes in the Bible, God will tell us the purpose of a book.
Not always, but some books in the Bible, God gives us the purpose of that book.
For example, the book of Proverbs, right out of the gate in chapter 1 gives us the
purpose of the book of Proverbs.
It says in verse 4 of chapter 1, to give subtlety to the simple, to the young man,
knowledge and discretion.
God's saying the purpose of the book of Proverbs is to give knowledge and wisdom
and subtlety and discretion to a young man.
A young man can get great wisdom from the book of Proverbs.
The book of Luke explains at the beginning the purpose of the book of Luke.
It says, and this is Luke writing to his friend Theophilus, it seemed good to me also,
having a perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee
in order, most excellent Theophilus.
And here's the purpose, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein
thou has been instructed.
Luke is writing the book of Luke to Theophilus that he might know the certainty of the things
wherein he's been instructed.
To give him something concrete, a concrete record of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And that's the purpose of the book of Luke.
First John is a book that gives us the purpose.
He says in verse 4 of 1 John 1, and these things write we unto you that your joy may
be full.
He said the purpose of writing this epistle to you is that your joy may be full.
Then later in chapter 2 verse 1 he gives another purpose.
He said my little children, these things write unto you that you sin not.
Now what I take from that is that the more that you sin, the less joy you're going
to have.
Because he said I'm writing it to you that your joy may be full, and he says I'm
writing it to you that you sin not.
Why?
Because sin is something that will kill the joy in your life.
That's why when David committed that horrible sin with Bathsheba, he said restore unto
me the joy of thy salvation.
He hadn't lost his salvation, but he had lost the joy.
And he said restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.
Later on in chapter 5 when John has been covering some other subjects about salvation,
he says these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son
of God that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on
the name of the Son of God.
But in John chapter 20 we get the purpose of the book of John.
And I could show you other places in the Bible where God gives the purpose of each
book.
Look at John 20 verse 30.
The Bible reads, and many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples
which are not written in this book, but these are written, and what's the purpose
that it's written?
That you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing
you might have life through his name.
So according to the Bible here, the purpose of the book of John is to preach unto you
the fact that Jesus is the Christ, that you might believe that, and that believing
you might have life through his name.
Basically the purpose of the book of John is to get somebody saved, plain and simple.
He said it's so that somebody can believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that by believing they might have life through his name.
Now here's the interesting thing about the book of John.
The book of John mentions some form of the word believe 101 times.
That's an average of approximately 5 times per chapter.
Chapter 1, believe, believe, believe, believe, believe.
Chapter 2, believe, believe, believe, believe, believe.
Chapter 3, believe, believe, believe, believe.
I mean an average of 5 times per chapter.
God's saying believe, believe, believe, believe, believe.
Why?
Because he said the purpose of the book is that you might believe and that believing
you might have life through his name.
That's a book written to tell you how to get everlasting life, how to get eternal life.
That's why it's filled with so many great salvation verses.
Let me give you just a little sampling of some of the believe verses of the book of John.
John 1, 12, but as many as received him, to them may be power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name.
Plain and simple.
John 3, 15, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Verse 16, 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.
Verse 18, he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not
is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten
son of God.
John 3, 36, 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.
John 5, 24, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on
him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but
is passed from death unto life.
John 6, 40, and this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the
son and believeth on him, may have everlasting life.
And I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6, 47, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting
life.
I'm not sure, what does it take to get saved?
I mean, how many times can he say it in how many different ways?
Whosoever believeth.
That means anybody who believeth.
It doesn't matter what your life is, it doesn't matter how good you are, how bad
you are, red and yellow, black and white, he said whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but have eternal life.
Over and over again.
He said in John 7, 38, he that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of
his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
But this sake he of the spirit, which they that believe on him should receive.
For the Holy Ghost was not yet given because the Jesus was not yet glorified.
You compare that with John 4, and it's clearly a reference to eternal life.
John chapter 8, 24 says this, I said therefore unto you that ye shall die in your sins,
for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
John 12, 36, while ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children
of light.
How do you become the children of light?
By believing in the light, and the Bible says in John chapter 1 that Jesus Christ
was the light, the true light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
Over and over again in the book of John, and that's just a small sampling.
The Bible clearly tells us that whoever believeth in him will be saved, will have
eternal life.
Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection and the light.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
Watch this, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
Believest thou this?
But you know what is missing from the book of John?
The word repent is never found in the book of John one time.
Believe a book that claims, hey this book is here to tell you how to get saved.
101 times, believe.
Repent, zero.
Now a lot of people will say, well that's insignificant because it's found in other
places in the Bible.
That's okay that it's found in other places in the Bible.
I believe in repentance, I'm preaching a sermon about repentance, but let me tell you something
right now though.
If there was something else you had to do besides believe, then John really blew it
if he left out.
Now a lot of people say this, you have to do two things to be saved.
Have you heard this?
They say to be saved you have to do two things, you have to believe and you have
to repent of your sins.
Now here's the thing, if there really was another thing that you had to do to be saved,
and John is written to tell you how to get saved, wouldn't John have really blown
it and wouldn't God have left something out when he said over and over again,
just believe, just believe, just believe, who's going to believe it?
Oh by the way, whoops, you also have to turn from your sins.
You know that part that said whosoever believeth?
It didn't really mean whosoever, it's whosoever believes and gets baptized, and repents of
their sins, and lives a good, and, no, it's whosoever believeth period.
So it would be very foolish indeed to look at the book of John that claims to be about
getting saved, and tells you how to have everlasting life, and then look at it and
there's no repent there, that tells me that believing is enough, that there are two things,
there's only one thing that you have to do to be saved, and it's believe.
Now a lot of people will say this, well, you know, such and such the doctrine isn't
mentioned in the book of John either.
Yeah, but that's not the point.
Every doctrine isn't taught in the book of John, because the book of John is not
the whole Bible, but it is a book that is adequate and sufficient enough to tell you
how to get saved.
That's all it's claiming to do.
It's not claiming to teach you the whole word in one book, it's claiming to give
you the information you need on how to be saved.
Repent is not mentioned one time in the book of John.
Why?
Because repentance is not some other extra thing that you have to do to get saved.
Now, go if you would to Matthew chapter 21.
Matthew chapter number 21.
Matthew chapter 21.
Now, what will often happen is that people will take you to verses that say the word
repent, and then they'll automatically add this concept of repenting of your sins.
Or they'll automatically add salvation into the mix when it's a verse that has nothing
to do with salvation.
Some verses we looked at on repent, we're talking to people that were already saved.
So it's real important whenever you look at a scripture to get the context of what's
being said.
You know, a really good example of this is John the Baptist.
You know, John the Baptist preached a lot about repentance.
He said the word repent a lot.
And he said this, repent and believe the gospel.
Jesus Christ said repent and believe the gospel.
Now a lot of people will take that and say, well that means repent of your sins
and believe the gospel.
No, that's not what he said.
He just said repent and believe the gospel.
Now look at Matthew 21 verse 32.
It says this, for John came unto you, we're talking about John the Baptist, in the
way of righteousness and ye believed him not.
But the publicans and the harlots believed him, and ye, when ye had seen it, repented
not afterward that ye might believe him.
So here when John the Baptist preached, who was it that repented and believed?
The harlots, the publicans, right?
Who did not repent and believe?
The Pharisees, okay?
So look what he's saying here.
He says that when John first came, they believed him not, right?
They didn't believe.
After the Pharisees did not believe, after that, the publicans and harlots, they believed
him.
Then the Pharisees saw that, and God is saying to them that when they saw that,
they should have at that point repented and believed him.
Okay?
Why?
Because what is the turning that needs to take place?
Even from, I didn't believe him, but then I saw the mighty power of God amongst these
publicans and harlots, now I believe him.
So what's changing here?
Is he saying to the Pharisees, your lifestyle needed to change?
Is he saying you needed to turn from your sins?
You needed to turn from drinking and smoking and drugs, and you needed to turn from fornication
and all these sins?
No.
What do they need to turn from?
He says, hey, you needed to switch from not believing to believing.
In this case, that's what it is.
Go if you would to Acts 19, you'll see the same thing.
Look at Acts chapter 19.
Acts chapter 19 verse 4, and people will say, well, John the Baptist preached repentance.
I preach repentance, but I don't preach that a person has to repent of their sins
to be saved.
And I'm going to tell you why, because that's works salvation.
And I'm going to prove that to you from the Bible also.
But look at Acts chapter 19 verse 4, the Bible says this, then said Paul, John verily
baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, so when he baptized
with the baptism of repentance, what was he saying to them?
Saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after him,
that is on Christ.
So John the Baptist's repentance preaching was that they needed to believe on Christ,
because they didn't believe in him before, now they need to believe on him.
That's a change.
That's a turning.
Turning from I didn't believe, now I do believe.
I was a Pharisee, I was a part of a false religion called the Sadducees, I was a Pharisee,
now I'm not the Pharisee anymore because I don't believe their doctrine, I believe
on Christ now.
That's the turning that needed to take place, that's the change that needed to be taking
place.
And I don't mention here of the fact that in order to be saved they had to give up their
sins or anything like that.
Now you say, why is this such an important doctrine?
Well back in the book of Jonah, go back to Jonah chapter 3 if you would, and then
we're going to go to Acts 17 if you want to be ready to go there.
Go to Jonah 3 and then we're going to go to Acts 17.
In Jonah chapter 3 verse number 9, that was where we started out the sermon, and
the Bible said, who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from his fierce
anger that we perish not?
So again, God's not turning from his sins, God doesn't have any sins, he's turning
from anger.
He's turning from his fierce anger.
Look what it says in verse 10 of Jonah chapter 3.
The Bible says, and God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God
repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not.
Now when God looked at their works, he said he saw that they turned from their
evil way.
That tells me that turning from your evil way is works.
He didn't say, I saw their faith that they turned from their evil way.
No he said, I saw their works that they turned from their evil way.
So if a person tells you that in order for a person to be saved they have to believe
on Jesus Christ and turn from their evil way and turn from their sinful life, what they're
really saying is that they have to have faith and works is what they're basically
saying.
And the Bible says that our salvation is not of works, lest any man should oppose.
Now you say, well I asked a guy who said that you have to repent of your sins to
be saved and he said it's not works salvation.
Okay, but let me explain something to you.
Many likes to go around admitting that they believe in works salvation because it's so
blatantly unscriptural, because the Bible flat out says it's not of works, even the
Roman Catholic Church will tell you, hey, salvation's not of works.
I'm serious, the Catholic Church will tell you, salvation's by faith not of works, but
you do have to do this and that and the other.
They're just given a different name.
It's not works, but you do have to get baptized.
It's not works, you know, you talk to the Seventh Day Adventists, man, they don't believe
in works salvation, but you do have to keep the Sabbath.
You do have to keep the commandments.
You do have to obey the Word, okay, and nobody wants to admit it.
Of course they're not going to admit it to you.
Of course the devil's not going to come to you with horns and a tail and just say
I'm the devil.
He's going to come to you as a wolf in sheep's clothing.
He's going to come to you transformed into an angel of light, and so of course every
form of false salvation is going to package itself as true biblical salvation.
Oh yeah, salvation's all by faith, it's just by believing, and all you have to do is just
turn away from your sinful life.
It's like what?
You just said it was only by believing, but now all of a sudden you have to turn from
your sins.
You say, oh, you're against turning from your sins.
No, I said you don't have to turn from your sins to be saved.
Somebody said this, you call yourself a Baptist and you say people don't have to be
baptized to be saved.
Just because I don't believe you have to be baptized to be saved, doesn't mean I'm
against baptism.
Hey, let me tell you something, I'm for baptism.
I'm for repenting of your sins.
I'm for going to church three times a week.
I'm for reading the Bible every day.
I'm for prayer.
I'm for following the Ten Commandments.
I'm for living a godly life.
I'm for Bible memorization.
I'm for doing the right thing.
I'm for it, but let me tell you something, you don't have to do any of those things
to be saved.
Because if you did, then we'd all be going to hell.
Because the Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
And if you have to turn away from your sins to be saved, then nobody's saved.
I'd like for somebody to stand up right now and say, I've turned from my sins.
You are liars what you are.
Turn from your sins.
You've turned from nothing.
You in the secrets of your heart have sinned and an indent of iniquity.
And you say, I've turned from my sins.
It's a lie.
Nobody can say that they've made their heart pure, that they've clean.
I think I even have that verse in my notes somewhere.
You see if I can find it, I might have hit the delete button on that one.
Here we go.
Proverbs 20 verse 9.
Who can say, I've made my heart clean, I'm pure from my sin.
You know who can say that?
A hypocrite.
A liar.
Somebody who's filled with pride and arrogance and wants to boast before God and say, I'm
going to heaven because I turned from my sin.
You did nothing to get yourself to heaven.
Jesus paid it all.
All to him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow.
I had nothing to do with it.
All I did was reach up my hands with a childlike faith and just cry out unto the Lord and
call upon the name of the Lord.
That's all I did.
He did everything.
I did what a child could do.
Just put all my trust in him.
Just put my faith in him.
And you know what?
There's nothing boastful about that.
Oh, I gave up such a life of sin.
That's boasting.
Hey, if any man wants to glory and boast, let him glory in the Lord.
Why don't you brag on the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ?
His death, his burial, his resurrection is the power of God unto salvation, not your
12-step program that you've repackaged as the Gospel.
The Gospel's not a 12-step program.
The Gospel's not quitting drinking.
Just to prove it to you, there are all kinds of people who quit drinking every day
and they're not saved.
They don't believe in Christ.
They went to Alcoholics Anonymous.
They went to Narcotics Anonymous.
That's how they quit.
They had nothing to do with salvation.
That's the evidence of salvation.
That's the evidence of a 12-step program.
What I'm trying to say tonight is not that we should continue in sin.
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
God forbid.
But if we continue in sin, the Bible says grace will abound, Romans 5.20.
Acts 17.
Where did I have you go?
We did, Jonah.
Let's go to Acts 17.
Acts 17 says this.
In verse 30, let's read verse 30 first.
You say, why are you so fired up about this?
You know why I'm fired up about it?
Because it's heaven and hell.
It's life and death.
It's funny.
People go to a ball game and they scream their heads off.
You know what the difference between me and them is?
I'm going to scream my head off about something that matters, something that actually
has eternal ramifications.
Look down, if you would, at Acts 17, verse 30.
And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere
to repent.
How many times have I had somebody show me this verse and say, see, you've got to repent
of your sins to be saved.
Now first of all, it doesn't even say to be saved, first of all.
But notice, what is it that they're supposed to turn from here?
What are they supposed to repent of?
We'll go back to the previous verse, Acts 17, 29.
For as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead
is likened to gold or silver or stone graven by art and man's device.
So God's saying we shouldn't think that God can be made into a statue, because He's
God.
He's not something that we could form and fashion into a statue.
And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere
to repent.
What are people in this verse being commanded to repent of?
Is it drinking, fornicating, is it lying, stealing?
What is it?
Idolatry, ignorance.
This is like what it says in 1 Thessalonians 1, where he says how you turned to God from
idols to serve the living and true God.
Now people will say this, isn't idolatry sin?
Therefore you have to repent of your sins to be saved.
You know what?
If you want to believe that, then just go ahead and believe a lie.
Just ignore the truth.
If anybody just wants to just make things up to try to find some clever way to prove
me wrong, prove me wrong all the way to hell then.
When the Bible says it's by faith alone, and when the Bible says that you have to
turn from idols to serve the living God, guess what an idol is?
It's a dead God.
It's a God that's not alive.
It's not breathing.
It's not living.
It can't speak.
It can't walk.
It can't hear.
It can't do anything.
It's dead.
It's not alive.
God says turn from a fake God to the real God.
He didn't say turn from your sins.
Well isn't unbelief a sin?
You know what?
Avoid foolish questions is my answer to that.
The Bible's very clear what he means when he says, look, it's an idol.
It's not real.
Turn from an idol to the living God.
Buddha is dead.
Mohammed is dead.
These false gods of Hinduism are dead and God's alive.
That's the turning that needs to take place.
He said the repentance here is that you think that God is that statue.
You think God is an image carved and made with the device of man.
He says that's not God.
You know what?
That ignorance that thinks that God is an idol, that's what you need to turn from
and that's what the Bible says.
Go back to Acts chapter 3.
Acts chapter 3.
Look at verse 14.
I love the book of Acts.
In the book of Acts here in chapter 3, this is where Peter and John are preaching and
they're preaching to the Jews.
You remember the Jews are the ones who said crucify him.
You know the Jews are the ones that wanted Jesus to be put to death and they begged
for him to be put to death.
So look at the apostles rebuking the Jews for putting Jesus to death.
He says in verse 14, but ye denied the holy one and the just and desired a murderer to
be granted unto you.
He's saying you chose that murderer Barabbas instead of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at verse 15, and killed the prince of life.
Who's that talking about?
Jesus.
They killed Jesus.
Whom God hath raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses and his name through faith
in his name, hath made this man strong whom ye see and know.
Yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence
of you all.
And now brethren, I want that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
But those things which God had showed by the mouth of all the prophets that Christ
should suffer, he has so fulfilled.
So first he rebukes them, right?
He says you killed Jesus.
You killed the prince of life.
Now look, was his goal here just to give them a brow beating?
No.
He wants them to get saved.
So after he rebukes them for killing Jesus, he wants to give them a second chance.
He wants to reach out the hand to them and give them a chance to get saved now.
He's not just condemning them, he wants them to be saved.
So he says look, I know that you did it through ignorance.
I know that your rulers did it through ignorance.
He's saying look, it's not too late to change here.
You rejected Christ, you didn't believe on him, but look, now is the time to repent.
Now is the time to turn and be saved.
He says in verse 19, repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted
out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord and he shall
send Jesus Christ which before was preached unto you.
People will isolate verse 19 and just say, repent therefore and be converted.
See, repent of your sins and you'll be saved.
But wait a minute, that's not even what he's talking to them about.
Was these people's problem that they were just too sinful?
Did he just say you're just too sinful?
You're not saved because you're too sinful.
What was their problem?
They rejected Jesus.
That was the problem.
The problem is they rejected Christ and chose Barabbas.
And God says, you know what, or the apostles, you know God's obviously speaking his word
through them, but basically the apostles say, you know what, I know you did it through
ignorance.
It's a second chance, repent, be converted.
And earlier he already mentioned faith twice, through faith, the faith which is by him.
I mean this is not a contradiction of salvation by faith alone.
It's very clear.
And we could go on and on tonight, there are so many places that we could turn to
and show that this doctrine is a farce.
Now go to John chapter 1 if you would.
Some will say this, and I will say this, there's a spectrum of false doctrine here.
You know, what do they call it?
Autism spectrum disorder, isn't that what they call it?
Because you know, there's the guy who's totally autistic, right?
And then there's the one who's like barely autistic, and then there's everything in between.
So they call it autism spectrum disorder.
Well tonight I want to talk to you about repentance spectrum disorder, okay?
Now this is a disease.
Repentance spectrum disorder is a disease amongst independent fundamental Baptists where
they start mixing in works with salvation and they start basically expecting people
to do works or to change their life around or to turn over a new leaf in order to be
saved instead of just believing on Christ.
Now let me show you the spectrum of repentance spectrum disorder, okay?
And you know, this is a serious condition.
On this end over here, okay, we have the truth.
Now the truth is always black and white.
It's always clear cut.
It's never a gray area.
People always say, well it's a gray area.
Yeah when you're wrong it is.
When you're right it's black and white.
Well over here, this is where I stand.
This is where Pastor Anderson stands and you know what I say?
I say believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, that's what I say.
Plain and simple.
I believe that salvation, and look it's really simple what I believe.
Salvation is just all Jesus.
All you got to do is just believe.
I mean you don't have to do any works.
It's not about how you live your life.
Look, if Jesus had his part and we had our part, we'd mess our part up.
You know what I mean?
If we had to maintain a certain level of goodness in our lives.
There's nothing to do with good, no not one.
We're sinners.
Now obviously we should strive to do good.
Obviously we should repent of our sins every day.
Jesus tells believers to repent constantly.
But look, when it comes to being saved, it's one thing believe.
I mean I'll take it to such an extreme, well the Bible takes it to an extreme.
The Bible says, but to him that worketh not.
But believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Romans 4-5 tells us that even a guy who doesn't work at all, but believes he's saved,
sort of like the thief on the cross.
He didn't do much.
So over here is what I believe.
This is just that faith saves, okay?
And that you don't have to repent of your sins at all to be saved.
Repenting of your sins is something you should do after you're saved.
It's something that we all have to do because we're constantly sinning and we have to repent
of those sins because none of us is perfect.
That's what I believe.
Over here we have the extreme false doctrine.
So that's just the right on pure doctrine of the book of John and the pure doctrine
of the entire Bible.
Over here we have just total, utter, extreme false doctrine.
Now, I would define this, and remember we're talking about the repentant spectrum disorder.
I would define this right here as being somebody who says you must stop certain sins in order
to be saved.
And believe me, there are people out there who preach this all the time, Baptists, independent
Baptists, independent fundamental Baptists, independent fundamental King James only Baptists,
independent fundamental King James only Solemnity Baptists, so-called, that will say this.
That you have to actually, and this is what, and look, this is a terminal illness, because
on the repentant spectrum, now this guy, he's as clean as a whistle, he don't even
have this disease.
This guy over here, it's deadly.
I mean this guy's going to hell.
I mean if you're going to sit there and say that a person has to stop doing this
and stop doing that, you must stop sinning in order to be saved.
I mean this guy is just preaching a pure, works-based salvation, and the Bible's real
clear this guy's not saved, plain and simple.
Let me tell you how to diagnose this.
Now I realize that neither you nor I is a physician, we're not physicians.
But even as laymen, we can diagnose this guy, because he needs help.
And we've got to get the right diagnosis.
Here's how I like to diagnose this guy over here.
I ask him this, I say, well what if a person drinks?
And that's just one sin, and it seems like that sin gets emphasized by the people who
have this disorder.
Now look, I've never even tasted beer in my life, so it's not that I drink, I'm against
drinking, I believe that drinking is a sin.
Never tasted beer, never been drunk, don't know what any of that is even about.
You know, let's say this guy, not this guy, I'm sorry, here's how I diagnose this guy.
I ask him, I say, well what if there's a guy who he likes to drink, right?
And he hears the gospel of Jesus Christ, and this guy basically, he has no intention
of quitting drinking whatsoever.
He's going to continue to drink alcohol, but he admits that he's a sinner, he admits
that he deserves hell, he believes that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven, and he places
all of his faith and trust in the Lord Jesus and calls upon the name of the Lord,
but he's going to continue to drink.
He has no intention of quitting drinking.
Is that guy saved or not?
Of course he's saved, the Bible says whosoever believeth in him, it doesn't say whosoever
believeth and quits drinking.
And look, there are people who are going to drink until they die, okay?
And this guy will say, nope, unless he's willing to quit drinking, he's got to, in fact, he
can't even be willing, he's got to stop drinking, okay?
And so I always say this, is that guy saved, and if they tell me no, he can't be saved
unless he gives that up, that just tells me it's a terminal case.
You know, I might have to take his wife into the waiting room and say I've got some
really bad news for you, you know what I mean?
Proverbial speaking, tell her the diagnosis is negative.
This is terminal illness.
He's got X amount of years to live, and then it's eternal death, okay?
But listen to me.
Between here and there, there's a whole spectrum of false doctrine, okay?
You see, this guy, he's saying you've got to quit drinking, or you can use another
example, this guy's living with his girlfriend, you know, this false preacher over
here, the guy who's a terminal case of repentant spectrum disorder, he's going to say,
well, if this guy's not willing to move out from his girlfriend, he can't be saved.
Well, that's not biblical, okay?
Should he move out from his girlfriend?
Absolutely.
Should he quit drinking?
Of course.
But to be saved, that's work salvation.
Turning from your evil way is works, according to Jonah 3.10.
But on the spectrum here, there's another step from this, from saying you've got
to turn from that sin.
There's another one that says this.
You just have to be willing to turn from that sin, right?
You don't have to do it, you just have to be willing to do it.
Who's heard that one?
I mean, we've all heard it.
Now, you've just got to be willing to turn from your sin.
You don't have to actually turn from it, but you've got to be willing to turn from
it.
I heard one guy say, you have to be so willing that you will turn.
It's like, man, my head hurts, you know?
But anyway, are you in John 1?
Let's see if we can, maybe with just a little medication we can fix this guy.
This guy, he needs something serious.
But this guy right here, you know, let's help this guy out with just some basic meds, okay?
John chapter 1 will clear this up right away.
Now first of all, there's no verse in the entire Bible that says anything about if you're
willing to turn from sin, you'll be saved.
Okay?
But look what the Bible does say about salvation.
It says in verse number 12, but as many as received him, to them gave you power to
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born.
Not of blood, meaning that they weren't born into it just because they're a Jew.
When he says it's not of blood, he's saying it's not because you have Abraham's blood
in you, you're just saved.
No, not of blood.
He says, nor of the will of the flesh.
And look at this.
People will say, wow, it's not the will of the flesh, it's the spirit that makes
you well.
Look at this.
Nor of the will of man, but of God.
So is the will of man going to save you?
Is your willingness going to save you, according to that verse?
You say, well that's not a very strong verse.
Well it's better than zero verses that you have to say you have to be willing to turn.
Here it says the will of man don't save you, believing on Christ saves you.
Your willingness to follow him is not going to save you.
It's not going to do it.
So there's a whole spectrum of people who say, well you just have to be willing to be
saved, or willing to turn from your sins, you know what I mean?
You don't have to quit drinking, but you have to want to quit drinking.
How much do you have to want it?
I don't know.
See the gray area?
Then as you go down the spectrum, well you don't have to be willing to turn from
your sin, but you just have to be really, really sorry for the stuff that you did.
You know, and I don't remember that verse that said, be really, really sorry and
thou shalt be saved.
Be really, really, really sorry.
And if you're not crying, I'm not sure if you're sorry enough.
Okay, so there's a whole spectrum here.
Now look, I can tell you right now, there are people who are saved people who come
down with this disorder.
Now anybody who's over here on this extreme, I would say is not saved, never has been
saved, because once you're saved, you'll always be saved.
Anybody who's preaching that, that's just a false gospel.
But there are a lot of people I've met that were saved that they got mixed up in
this and they started saying stuff, well, you got to be willing.
Well, you got to be really sorry.
You know, well, you do have to want to turn.
You got to want it.
You know, you got to want to do this right.
You know, there should be a tear in the eye.
There's got to be conviction over your sin.
All these unbiblical concepts.
You know, when the Bible doesn't even use the word conviction, once.
Not even once.
Did you hear me?
Not once.
Never to cover.
The only time it uses a similar word, convicted, is when it talks about the Pharisees being
convicted by their own conscience.
And they all died and went to hell.
And they're the only people who got convicted in the Bible.
And so there's a lot of people that are on this spectrum that are saved.
You know, I've honestly, there have been preachers that I listen to, that I looked
up to, that I sat in the church of, that preached the gospel just like I'm preaching
it tonight.
It's faith, it's belief, it's all faith.
And then later, I saw those people get mixed up.
You know, not over here of course, but you know, somewhere right around here with it.
And they started, oh you got to repent of your sins.
But they didn't mean that stuff, they meant this, or they meant this, or they
meant this.
And I didn't walk away saying, oh those guys were never saved.
Because I knew that they were saved.
Because I'd seen the fruit, they'd won people to the Lord, and they had preached it right,
and they were good people.
And I saw them start to get mixed up in this, then they got rebuked on it, and then they
went back to where they were supposed to be over here.
Okay, so there are people that get mixed up in this doctrine, and they need to be,
you know, put back over here.
They need, they need some meds to get them on there, you know, it'll get them back
to normal, okay?
So there is a spectrum here of what people believe.
Now, let me just quickly show you one other scripture and I'll be done.
Go to Galatians chapter number 2.
The Bible says in Galatians chapter number 2, Galatians chapter 2, and the reason I mention
the spectrum tonight is because of the fact that there are a lot of people who they'll
say the word repent or repent of your sins, and they're just repeating something that
they've heard.
Because so many preachers have repeated it so many times that they, like a parrot, just
repeat what they've heard.
Repent of your sins, repent of your sins.
And sometimes when you ask people, you know, when you need to do your diagnosis,
you pull out your spiritual stethoscope, and you say, what do you mean by that?
Repent of your sins.
And then a lot of times they'll be like, I have no idea, I don't even know why I
said that.
Well don't you think believing is enough?
Oh yeah, it's all faith.
So that guy was basically like here, and he just needed somebody to kind of shove him,
get back over there where you're supposed to be man.
Quit rocking back and forth like you're autistic man, get back where you need to be.
And so sometimes you'll go up to people and say this, what do you mean by repent
of your sins?
What is that supposed to mean?
And then that's what they'll say, oh that just means you're supposed to admit that
you're a sinner.
Well no that's not what it means, but you know what, I'm glad that's what you think
it means.
Because honestly, I was afraid there that you were that guy for a minute.
Because does a person have to admit they're a sinner to be saved?
Of course.
Because how do you believe on Christ to save you from your sins when you don't even
believe you have any sins?
That's why the Bible says if we say that we've not sinned, we make him a liar and
his word's not in us.
I mean that's clear.
So a lot of times you'll talk to people and they're all the way over here.
So you don't always have to flip out.
Sometimes you can just correct them lovingly and just explain to them, what do you mean
by that?
Repent of your sins.
What are you talking about?
And then sometimes, oh I mean repent of the sin of unbelief, or oh I meant, I just
meant admit that you're a sinner or whatever.
But you know when you start talking to them and they start telling you, yeah you
can't live, you can't live the same way that you lived before you got, that's when
you know you're dealing with this guy.
If you're still doing the same sins you were doing before you were saved, you're not
saved.
Well you know what?
Then nobody's saved.
Unless you just want to pick and choose certain sins.
But you know what?
Even lying is enough to condemn us to the lake of fire according to Revelation 21
8.
Now this is the last place I want to show you in Galatians chapter 2.
The Bible says in Galatians chapter 2 verse 16, knowing that a man is not justified by
the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in
Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works
of the law.
For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
So following God's law or the works of the law has nothing to do with salvation at all.
I mean he said it like several different ways in this verse.
It's faith, it's belief, it's not the works of the law, it's not the law.
You know, and then go to Galatians 3, the next page, verse 1.
Galatians 3, 1, O foolish Galatians, who would bewitched you that ye should not
obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among
you, this only would I learn of you, received ye the Spirit by the works of the law or
by the hearing of faith.
Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
Have ye suffered so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain?
He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit and worketh miracles among you, doeth
he it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?
Even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
So here he says that if you're trying to be saved by the works of the law, he says basically
you're trying to be saved by the flesh.
That's the flesh.
What you do physically in obedience to God's word, he said, it's the flesh.
And he equates it to trusting in the flesh to save you.
He says in verse 7, know ye therefore that they which are of faith the same are the
children of Abraham.
And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached
the gospel unto Abraham saying, and these shall all nations be blessed so that they
which are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
For as many as are of the works of the law, okay, that's this guy that says you had
better start obeying God's laws to be saved, or you gotta be willing to obey God's laws
to be saved.
The ones that are of the works of the law, he says they're under the curse, for it
is written, cursed is everyone that continueeth not in all things which are written in the
book of the law to do them.
And so what God is saying here is that if a person wants to trust repenting in their
sins to be saved, he says that they're going to be held accountable to repent
of every sin.
So if somebody says I believe that you have to repent of your sins to be saved, have
you repented of your sins?
Yep.
God's going to say, okay, did you repent of all of them?
He said you're under the curse that says you have to continue in all things that are
written in the book of the law to do them.
And this is where the rich young ruler was messed up.
The rich young ruler was trusting in works for salvation, remember?
He showed up to Jesus and he said, good master, what good thing shall I do that I
might inherit eternal life?
And you know what Jesus said to him?
Why callest thou me good?
There's none good but one, that is God.
Tell that to the Mormons.
There's only one that's good and that's God, and if Jesus isn't God then he's not
good, but let me tell you something, he's good and he's God.
And anybody who says he's not God is saying he's not good, because he said there's
none good but one and that's God.
And we know that Jesus is good.
He's the good shepherd.
It's blasphemy to say that he's not good.
He said, thou knowest the commandments, and he said, how readest thou?
What are the commandments?
And the guy gives the commandments and he says, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not
steal, thou shalt... and I'm doing this from memory, I don't have it memorized,
but I'm giving you the gist of it.
He lists off the commandments and Jesus says, okay, this do and thou shalt live.
He said to him, you know, all these things, this is what the rich young ruler says
to Jesus, all these things have I kept from my youth up, what lack I yet?
Now do you really think that that rich young ruler had kept all those commandments from
his youth until now?
Can anybody in this room say that you've kept all the commandments?
He said, all these things have I kept from my youth until now, what lack I yet?
And Jesus says, if thou wilt be perfect, if you want to be perfect, he said, sell
all that you have and give to the poor and you'll have treasures in heaven and come
take up your cross and follow me.
And he went away sorrowing because he had great riches.
He said, I'm not willing to do that.
So was he perfect?
Jesus said, you're not perfect.
I've kept all the commandments.
Did you keep the commandment about selling and giving to the poor?
Whoops.
And he walks away, because he's exposed.
Now look, I'll tell you this my friend, there are not two things that you have to do to
be saved.
There's one thing you have to do to be saved, believe.
But I will say this, there are two ways to get to heaven.
Theoretically, there are two ways to get to heaven.
Number one, you can be perfect, because if you're perfect, why would you go to hell?
You're perfect, right?
If you're perfect, waltz right in the pearly gates, man, you're perfect, you belong there.
The other way is to believe on Jesus Christ.
Two times the question's asked a little bit differently.
One time says, what must I do to be saved?
Now saved implies that there's a problem, doesn't it?
Saved from what?
You know, there's a problem here.
You're a sinner, I'm a sinner, that's the problem.
What must I do to be saved is asked one time, and the answer is believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Another time in the Bible this question is asked, what good thing shall I do that I might
inherit eternal life?
Keep all the commandments perfectly, and you'll make it, man.
If you want to do good, if you want to go to heaven by doing good, just keep
every commandment and be perfect.
But guess what?
Nobody's ever done it that way, except Jesus, okay?
That's the only one who's ever gone through life perfect without sinning, just Jesus.
So for all of us mortals, there's only one way to be saved, believing on Christ, okay?
And those who trust works to save them, they'll be judged by their works, and they'll
come short.
Those who trust repenting of their sins to save them, God says, okay, but just be
prepared to show me that you've repented of all of them, including pride, including covetousness,
including lust, including every foolish thought, because the Bible says the thought of foolishness
is sin, and there's a long list of 613 just in the Old Testament, and so you know
what?
Just be prepared to show me you've repented of all of them, and guess what?
Nobody will be left standing.
No one.
And so don't get this disorder, my friend, and thankfully our church has been pretty
well quarantined from this disease.
You know, we've had people come in and try to bring in this disease, and we knocked
the syringes right out of their hands, you know, and we quarantined the place off
and said, no, it's faith alone, okay?
We want to keep everybody off of the repent spectrum disorder.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word, dear God, and we thank you for the clarity
of salvation.
I thank you that salvation is so easy that a person with Down syndrome could receive
it and be saved.
I've seen people with Down syndrome get saved and become a soul winner.
God, thank you for making it so simple that a little child could be saved.
Thank you for making it so easy and simple that even a theologian could get saved.
Father, please just help us not to be turned from the simplicity that's in Christ to another
gospel as the serpent beguiled Eve.
Help us to just resound it throughout the whole world.
Faith, believe, help us to stand up for the truth of the gospel, and in Jesus' name
we pray, amen.