Howdy, I'm back with another video and this time I'm going to be discussing another subject
that a lot of people don't understand and that is the subject of repentance or what
the word repent or repentance means in the Bible.
There's a lot of false doctrine about repentance and often these false doctrines lead to a
false view on salvation and a false gospel where people add to the gospel and say you
have to turn from your sins or you have to be sorry for your sins or things like that
to be saved because they have a false definition of repentance.
So what is repentance in the Bible?
The very basic definition that you could give for it is just a change of mind or a turning
in general.
Now some people only try to apply it to one particular thing, like people will say that
every time the word repent appears in the Bible it just means to repent of your sins
or to turn from your sins but I'm going to be explaining in this video and proving from
the Bible that that's not true.
In fact, in the King James Bible the phrase repent of your sins or repent from your sins
or repent of thy sins or anything of that nature is never found.
The Bible never uses that phrase once and a lot of the verses that these false prophets
will turn to to say that you have to turn from your sins in order to be saved, all they
say is just the word repent but it does not say repent of your sins or repent of thy sins
or repent from your sins or anything like that, it just says repent.
They're adding on the phrase of your sins on the end of it and not looking at the context
and seeing what the repentance is about, what we actually need to change or what we need
to turn from.
It's not from our sins and I'll explain that and prove that in this video.
So the context determines what the change of mind is or what the repentance is.
The word repent is used in many different ways in the Bible, okay?
The first way that we could talk about is just, and I'm just going to give an example
right now of how they completely misuse the word repent by just looking at one of the
earliest examples in the Bible of the word repent and how it's really the opposite of
what they claim, it's actually turning from something good to something bad and that's
in Exodus chapter 13 verse 17.
And then I'll give a few other examples to show why they're wrong as well.
So firstly, Exodus chapter 13 verse 17 says 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.
So he's saying, lest the people repent, meaning to change their mind when they see war and
return back to Egypt.
So the Israelites are being led out by God from Egypt into the land of Canaan, okay?
So in this instance, he's talking about them turning back to Egypt, so turning away from
his will and going where they want to go.
So in that context there in Exodus chapter 13, repent is actually used in a negative
way of them going back to sin or going back to the world, going back to not serving God,
not obeying God by going into Canaan.
So I have this whiteboard here to give some examples.
So this is the repentance, what you're repenting from, what you're repenting to.
So this first example would be the children of Israel repenting from Canaan to Egypt.
Again, this is not a good thing.
Now they'll say that every time the word appears in the Bible that it means to repent of your
sins, but in this instance they're repenting to their sins because they are disobeying
the commandment of God, they're disobeying where God's leading them into the land of
Canaan and they're going back to Egypt.
So right off the bat we see that the phrase repent doesn't always mean to turn from your
sins as the false prophets claim.
Now another example that I would like to point out is Psalm 110, Psalm 110 and verse
4, I think this is the right verse.
Okay so it says, the Lord hath sworn and will not repent, thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek.
So we know from the New Testament that this is something which he speaks about Jesus,
he's calling Jesus the priest after the order of Melchizedek forever, but he says the Lord
and will not repent.
Now there's nothing that has to do with sin in this context, he's just saying that the
Lord hath sworn and will not change his mind that Jesus is the priest forever after the
order of Melchizedek.
So again, this has nothing to do with sin or turning from sin or anything like that,
it's just saying that he won't change his mind.
Now another thing I would like to point out is that more than anybody in the Bible, God
repents.
And this is a big problem for the people out there who teach that repent always means to
turn from your sins, when the Bible actually says many different times that God repents.
So if repent meant turn from your sins then they would be saying that God has sin.
But the Bible says in Deuteronomy 32 verse 4 that he is without iniquity, it teaches
in the New Testament of God, it says in 1 John 3.5, in him is no sin.
In 1 Peter 2.22 of Jesus Christ it says, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his
mouth.
God is sinless, God cannot commit iniquity.
So God is without sin, yet the Bible still talks about him repenting.
So if that's true, then repent doesn't automatically mean turn from your sins or anything like
that.
In fact the first time the word repent is used in the Bible is in John chapter 6, not
John chapter, Genesis chapter 6 verse 6, where it says, and it repented the Lord that he
had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
So that's the very first time the word is ever used in the Bible, and it's the Lord
who is repenting.
Next there's Exodus chapter 32, which is again an example of the Lord repenting.
Now in the context of Exodus chapter 32, this is when the children of Israel had made
the golden calf, and they were worshipping the golden calf, and God wanted to destroy
Israel because of their sin.
So it says in Exodus 32 verse 12, I'll start at verse 11, it says that Moses besought the
Lord his God and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people which thou
has brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
Wherefore should the Egyptians speak and say, for mischief did he bring them out to slay
them in the mountains and consume them from the face of the earth?
Turn from thy fierce wrath and repent of this evil against thy people.
Now the word evil here does not mean evil in the sense of sin, because again, God cannot
sin, there is no sin in the Lord.
What it means is the harm that he is going to inflict upon the people in destroying them
because of their sins and that they have worshipped the golden calf.
So it continues in verse 13, Exodus 32, Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants,
to whom thou swerest by thine own self, and said unto them, I will multiply your seed
as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of, will I give unto your
seed, and they shall inherit it forever.
And then it says in verse 14, And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do
unto his people.
So what does that say?
It's saying he's changing his mind about what he was going to do.
He is going to destroy them, as he said in verse 10, Now therefore let me alone, that
my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I might consume them, and will make of thee
a great nation.
So he wants to destroy the people of Israel, Moses intercedes for them, and God changes
his mind.
He repents, he's not going to destroy them anymore, he repents of the evil that he was
going to do unto them.
So again, that's another example of repentance, but it's God repenting.
It's not something where they're turning from sins, God has no sin.
He's turning from a righteous thing that he was going to do in destroying them, to making
another righteous decision, because of course God is always right.
But he's turning from going to destroy them, to now letting them live, and having mercy
on them, sparing them.
So we could say, turning from the evil unto Israel, to sparing Israel.
Now another example, and there's many examples where the Bible talks about God repenting,
but another one is in the book of Psalms again, in Psalm 106.
The Bible says, Psalm 106 and verse 45, I'll back up a little bit to verse 43, this is
talking about the Lord, but it says, Many times did he deliver them, but they provoked
him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.
Nevertheless, he regarded their affliction when he heard their cry, and he remembered
for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
So this is very similar to what we see in Exodus chapter 32, that the children of Israel
were afflicted, they were being punished for their iniquities, but it says he remembered
them for his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
So he spared them once again, he repented, and he had mercy on them.
So that's another example of God repenting or changing his mind.
Now if repentance always meant turning from your sins, or changing your way of behavior
in such a way that you're not sinning anymore like the false prophets say, then these instances
would not make any sense, because they have absolutely nothing to do with turning from
sins.
So why should I just automatically believe that every time the word repent is used in
the New Testament that is referring to sins as a false prophet's claim?
The Bible does use the word repent a lot of times in the New Testament, but it does not
say repent of your sins, repent of thy sins, anything like that.
It doesn't say turn from your sins in order to be saved.
So I want to go to the New Testament now and agree that the Bible does tell us that we
do need to repent.
Repentance is a good thing, but the problem is that they are defining it wrong.
It's not that repentance is bad, it's that there is a false definition out there for
it.
Multiple false definitions.
But it says in Matthew chapter 3 verse 2, this is John the Baptist.
John the Baptist preached this, he said, and it's saying, Repent ye for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.
Then we go to Matthew 4 17, and now it's Jesus preaching, saying, it says, From that time
began Jesus to preach, and to say, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Mark 1 15, he says, Repent ye and believe the gospel.
In Luke chapter 5 verse 32, this is Jesus again preaching.
He says in verse 32, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
So repentance is definitely preached in the New Testament, and then Acts 3 19 as well.
This is Peter preaching.
He says in Acts 3 19, Repent ye therefore, and be converted that your sins may be blotted
out when the times of refreshing shall come for the presence of the Lord.
So the work of salvation is the people who say you have to repent of your sins will look
at verse like this and say, see look, in order to have your sins blotted out, you need to
turn from your sins.
It's not just enough to believe.
But here's the thing, this verse does not say turn from your sins.
And you can't say will repent just automatically means turn from your sins because as we've
seen in multiple instances, repentance is just a change of mind.
And in some cases, it's repenting from doing God's will to going back to Egypt, you know,
going to Canaan to go into Egypt, it's a physical turnaround.
It's the opposite direction.
It's not away from sin, it's toward sin.
And then there's also examples in the Bible of the word repent, in which it's talking
about God repenting, where He's going to destroy Israel for their sins and He has mercy
upon them, okay?
That's not turning from sins, God is without sin.
So you can't just read into the verse and say well this means you have to turn from
your sins when it doesn't say that, it just says repent.
Repent means change of mind, it means turn.
If you don't believe that, then you obviously didn't understand any of the, what was it
like six or seven scriptures I read from the Old Testament, there's dozens and dozens of
them more, okay?
But the Bible actually teaches that repenting of our sins is works, or the Bible uses the
phrase in the New Testament, works, referring to our own deeds, our own actions in trying
to get us into heaven.
But the Bible teaches in Jonah chapter 3 verse 10, that turning from your evil ways is works
in the sight of God.
Now this should make sense and I'll explain why it should make some pretty clear sense
a little bit later, but it says in Jonah chapter 3 verse 10, and God saw their works, okay?
So He's looking down upon Nineveh and He sees their works.
Now what are their works?
It defines it in this verse that they turned from their evil way.
So it defines what their works are and that is that they turned from their evil way.
So turning from your evil ways is works in the sight of God according to this verse.
And another thing it says also in this verse is God repented of the evil that He thought
He would do unto them.
So that's just like in Exodus 32 when He's going to destroy Israel but He spares them
instead where it says in Exodus 32 that He repented, okay?
And then in Psalm 106 it also says He repented according to the multitude of His mercies.
So there are two things that are proven in this verse, Jonah chapter 3 verse 10.
Number one, that repenting of your sins or turning from your evil ways is works in the
sight of God.
And number two, that God repents, meaning that repent does not always mean to change
your action or your behavior for the better.
It also just means to change your mind, okay?
It could be a changing or turning in multiple different contexts.
But we know that we are not saved by turning from our sins because the Bible says in Ephesians
chapter 8, or sorry, Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8, 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, let me repeat that last one, verse 9, not of works, lest any man should boast.
It says in Titus chapter 3 verse 5, Not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to His mercy He saved us by the washing and regeneration and renewing
by the Holy Ghost.
It says in Romans chapter 4 verse 5, But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him
that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness, even as David also
describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works.
So the Bible says over and over again, we're not saved by works.
God imputes righteousness without works, okay?
To him that worketh not, his faith is still counted for righteousness.
We're not saved by works of righteousness which we have done.
So we are not saved by our own works and according to Jonah 3.10, turning from your
evil ways is works in the sight of God because it takes effort, it takes commitment, it's
not something that just happens automatically, you have to actually work for it.
But salvation is not something we have to work for, it's free.
We just have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Now one of the most famous, sorry about that, one of the most famous verses that people
will turn to to teach you how to turn from your sins is again another example of people
just taking things out of context and not understanding that repentance has to do with
the context and that's Acts 17 verse 30, okay?
This is a verse that's just quoted like dozens of times by people who say, oh you have to
repent of your sins.
But again, notice how it doesn't say repent of your sins, it just says repent.
Acts 17 verse 30, and the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men
everywhere to repent.
So nowhere in that verse does it talk about repenting of your sins, you know it doesn't
say oh you have to give up fornication, drinking alcohol and this and that in order to be saved.
It doesn't talk about any of that, he's just saying that God commands all men everywhere
to repent.
To repent of what?
Of this ignorance he says.
Now the context is that he's preaching in Athens against idolatry and he says in verse
29, the verse before that, forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not
to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man's
device.
Then he says, and the times of this ignorance God winked at.
So he's saying that in time past, okay, God winked at the heathen, the nations of the
world, the gentiles worshipping these idols that had gold and silver and stone, okay,
but he's calling that ignorance and he's saying that God commands all men everywhere to repent
of that, meaning they should stop trusting and believing in these false idols and believe
in the living and true God.
As it says in 1 Thessalonians, he speaks to them, I don't know the exact scripture reference,
but he says that you turn from idols to serve the living and true God, okay.
So that means that they stop trusting in these false gods and they start trusting in the
real God because in order to be saved you need to put your faith in the real God, the
Lord Jesus Christ, okay, not in these false gods and these graven images, things like
that.
So that's what repentance means, it just means a change of mind and I'll put that on this
chart here.
So what is that?
Repenting from idols to the real God, let's put the Lord, putting idols to the Lord, okay.
But what is repentance in the context of salvation, okay, what is repentance in terms of salvation?
Because as we looked at earlier, Acts chapter 3 verse 19, Peter preaches, repent ye therefore
and be converted that your sins may be blotted out.
So the Bible does teach that for our sins to be blotted out there needs to be that repentance,
but what is repentance?
We've already shown that it does not mean turning from your evil ways, turning from
your sins.
Now if you had to do that in order to be saved, then you would have to be saved by works because
remember Jonah 3, 10 says that God saw their works as they turned from the evil ways, but
the Bible says in at least 6, 7, 8 different places and maybe even more in the New Testament
that we're not saved by works, we're not saved by works of the law, we're not saved by our
own deeds, etc.
It says we're just saved by faith.
The Bible says in Acts chapter 16 verse 31, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shall be saved.
Jesus said whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Jesus said he that believeth on me hath everlasting life, whosoever liveth and believeth in me
shall never die.
So it's just faith, it's just believing in Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved.
You'll have eternal life, okay?
But then they say well, where does repentance come in?
You don't teach repentance, you know, you don't believe in repentance, yes I do believe
in repentance, but we have to understand what repentance is.
And again, in the context of salvation, just like in all the rest of the Bible, repentance
means change of mind.
It just depends on what we're changing our mind about or what we're turning from trusting
in.
Okay, let me show you, let me give a few examples.
So what does the Bible teach in the New Testament about repentance, repentance in the context
of salvation?
Well it says in Acts chapter 19, Acts chapter 19 to verse 4, then said Paul, John verily
baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people.
So he's saying that John the Baptist, who remember, according to Matthew 3-2, preached
repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Yeah I think that's what he said, unless it's Jesus, but he said something similar to what
Jesus said.
But he said to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand in Matthew chapter 3 and in other
gospels as well.
So we know that John taught repentance, but he says, he explains what John taught.
He said, saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after
him that is on Christ Jesus.
So when John was preaching the baptism of repentance according to Paul, he was preaching
that they should believe on Jesus Christ.
Okay, so he wasn't teaching you have to turn from your sins in order to be saved, he was
teaching believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now it says in Matthew chapter 21, this is another example, this is Jesus teaching repentance
and he defines what repentance means.
And we'll see again that it has to do with changing your mind to now believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Just like Paul said in Acts 19 verse 4 that John was preaching the baptism of repentance
that they should believe in Jesus Christ.
Okay, so repentance is connected with faith.
Repentance is not connected with our actions and our good works, it has to do with faith
in Jesus.
So Jesus said in Matthew chapter 21 in verse 32, for John came unto you in the way of righteousness
and ye believed him not.
So he's talking again about John the Baptist, he's saying when John came to you, he preached
the word of God but ye did not believe what he said.
You believed him not.
But it says the publicans and the harlots believed him.
So that's good because we're saved by faith.
So they believed what John preached, they believed the word of God.
And he says, and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe
him.
So he's saying that the repentance that they should have done is not turning from their
sins or changing their ways in order to be saved, but repenting that they might believe
him.
Again, it's a change of mind.
It has to do with, oh, okay, I didn't believe that before, now I believe that.
I didn't believe the word of God, I didn't believe this prophet, now I do.
That's repentance.
It's not changing your ways and giving up your sins, it's now believing him.
They didn't believe before, but when the harlots and the publicans believed, he says ye repented
not afterward, that ye might believe him.
That is repentance in the Bible.
And we'll show a few more examples.
Acts chapter 20.
Acts chapter 20 and verse 21.
It says, testifying both to the Jews, and this is Paul just talking about the things
that he's preached to the church here.
And he says, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
So that's, again, connected with faith.
Repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now that explains this further in Hebrews chapter 6, where it explains one of the foundations
of our faith as repentance from dead works and faith toward God.
It says in Hebrews chapter 6 verse 1, therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of
Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance
from dead works and of faith toward God.
So again, he says, repentance from dead works to faith toward God.
So that is what we're repenting from and to.
So remember, he's speaking to the Hebrews here, this is the book of Hebrews.
So he's writing to the Jews who previously trusted in their own works to justify them.
And he's saying that the foundation of their faith is that they repented or changed their
mind before they were trusting in their dead works, their works that did not produce anything,
that did not produce salvation as they assumed before.
They changed their mind so now that their faith is in God.
That is real repentance, okay, of changing your mind so that you now have your faith,
all of your faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone.
Okay, so put that on the chart again.
Christmas from dead works.
Faith in God.
Okay, so here we go.
Okay, so here are the different examples of, wait, oops, draw an extra line there.
So repentance from dead works to faith in God.
So repentance in the context of salvation has nothing to do with changing your ways
or changing the way you live and it has everything to do with changing who you're trusting in.
The Jews, the Hebrews in this example, they were trusting in their own works.
They had to repent of that.
They had to change their mind so that they now put their faith in God, particularly the
Lord Jesus Christ.
That's why Jesus preached to them in Matthew 21, he was speaking to the Jews.
He said that they repented not afterward that they might believe.
They needed to change their mind and believe in Jesus Christ in order to be saved because
that's the only thing we have to do to be saved.
So every time somebody makes a decision to put their faith in Jesus Christ, that is repentance.
Now you might say, there's all these heretics out there that say, oh, well you preach faith
and you preach this and that, but you don't preach repentance.
It's like, yes we do because every time somebody puts all of their faith in Jesus Christ, then
they're making the decision to repent.
That's repentance.
If before they thought they were going to heaven because they're a good person or because
they got baptized or because they go to church or because they keep the commandments or whatever,
if they were trusting in that before and now they understand that that's wrong and
they put their faith in Jesus, then that's repentance.
They've changed their mind so that they're no longer trusting in those other things and
now all their faith and trust is in Jesus.
Just like the Hebrews repented from their dead works to faith toward God.
Just like it talks about in Acts chapter 20 of how their repentance was toward God and
their faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.
Okay, it uses those phrases interchangeably.
So we do not have to turn from our sins in order to be saved.
There's another scripture I have here that I want to read as well in 2 Timothy chapter
2 verse 25.
It says, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves if God-paired venture will
give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.
So what is repentance to?
Is it repentance to the change of their life and the change of the way that they live?
No, it says repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.
So when repentance takes place, the result of that is them acknowledging the truth.
It's not a change in their lifestyle and them giving up their sins.
Repentance is just them changing their mind so that they now acknowledge the truth.
They believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
They've changed their mind.
It's really simple because that's the only definition that the Bible gives of repentance
in the New Testament.
And you can't say it's turning from your sins because that would contradict so many different
things including the fact that God repents, that there's examples where it has nothing
to do with sin, the fact that we're not saved by works but the Bible says turning from evil
ways is works, and the fact that the Bible just consistently tells us that all we have
to do is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Even the scriptures that talk about repentance tell us that it's just by believing because
it says repent ye and believe the gospel in Mark 1.15.
It says he repented not that ye might believe him.
It says that he preached the baptism of repentance that ye should believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
So again, it all comes back to faith, the belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.
If we had to turn from our sins or repent of our sins in order to be saved, then we
would have to do works of the law.
Okay, now I've already pointed out that the Bible calls this works, but you could also
just call it the works or the deeds of the law, even without using Jonah 3.10 or going
there, which is sufficient scripture to understand why this false doctrine that you need to turn
from your sins is wrong and heresy and adds to the gospel.
But just the fact that of understanding what sin is and what turning from your sins would be.
As the Bible says in 1 John 3 verse 4, that sin is the transgression of the law.
So it defines what sin is there.
That when you transgress or you break God's commandments, that's sin.
That's what sin is.
God said, thou shalt not bear false witness.
If you lie, you've committed a sin.
He said, thou shalt not commit adultery.
If you commit adultery, that's a sin.
It's very simple.
I think most Christians understand what sin is.
So if you were to turn from your sins, that means you were no longer disobeying God, but
you're now obeying Him.
See the repent of your sins crowd say, oh, you need to live in holiness.
You need to change your life.
You need to stop sinning and you need to start obeying God.
In that case, that would be the works of the law.
Because what does the Bible define the works of the law as?
It says in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 10, for as many as are of the works of the law
are under a curse, or under the curse.
For it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things that are written
in the book of the law to do them.
So it says that the works of the law are continuing in all things that are written in the book
of the law to do them.
And the reason why those who are of the works of the law are under a curse is because none
of us have kept the law.
We've all broken it.
None of us have continued in all things to do them.
That's why every person who is of the works of the law, including those people who say
you have to repent of your sins, they are under a curse by God.
They are not saved.
They are wicked.
They're teaching heresy.
Okay, because their faith is not in Jesus.
And the Bible says in Galatians 2 21, I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteous
has come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
If we had to turn from our sins, then there would have been no reason for Christ to die.
He died to take away the penalty.
He bore our sins in his own body on the tree.
He died for our sins.
He died to save us from our sins.
There'd be no purpose of Jesus coming to this earth and dying and rising again if we could
be justified by the works of the law, if we are declared righteous by the law, by doing
what it says.
We don't have to obey the commandments or do what it says in order to be saved, because
that's works of the law.
And the Bible says, therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified
in his sight.
It says, therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of
the law.
Romans 3 28, okay.
So no, we're just saved by faith.
That's it.
So there's the first problem with people defining repentance, is that they don't understand
that it's not turning from sins.
That's the most common one out there, I would say.
Most people say you have to turn from your sins to be saved or something along that line
or those lines.
But then there's another heresy, and this is popped up amongst people who may have different
accounts on Instagram as well, where they say that you have to be sorry for your sins
in order to be saved and that you have to feel grief and you have to have sorrow and
that if you don't have sorrow, then your faith isn't genuine and you aren't actually
saved.
So again, they're adding to the gospel.
Where the Bible says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, now they say, well, you have to believe
and be sorry for your sins, okay.
So they're adding to the gospel.
But repentance does not mean sorrow, especially not in the context of salvation.
Now where they're getting this doctrine from is one out of context and completely misinterpreted
verse in 2 Corinthians, and that would be 2 Corinthians chapter 7, okay.
So I'll read the verse that they misuse and then I'll look at the context and show you
how they're completely misusing it and interpreting it wrong.
So it says in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 10, for godly sorrow worketh repentance to
salvation not to be repented of.
But the sorrow of the world worketh death, okay.
So they take this verse and they say, see, okay, since it mentions salvation and since
it mentions godly sorrow or repentance, then that must mean that repentance is godly sorrow
and you have to have godly sorrow in order to be saved.
But first of all, the one thing I want to point out is that the verse does not say for
godly sorrow is repentance, okay.
But there's a lot of people who say that repentance is sorrow, but it says godly sorrow
worketh repentance, okay.
That means godly sorrow causes repentance, okay.
It's a result, repentance is a result of godly sorrow.
It doesn't say that godly sorrow is repentance.
So then they'll look at the verses like Acts chapter 3 verse 19 where it says repent ye
therefore be converted that your sin may be blotted out, and they'll put that with this
or they'll look at the Luke 13 verse which is taken out of context and has nothing to
do with spiritual salvation anyway.
But you know the verses that talk about how we need to repent to be saved and then they'll
add it in with this and they'll say, see, look, you have to be sorry for your sins.
If you're not sorry for your sins, if you don't have godly sorrow, then that means your
sins won't be blotted out.
But that's not true, okay.
First of all, I'd like to point out that just because it says godly sorrow worketh repentance
does not mean that you need to have godly sorrow in order to repent, okay.
It's just saying that that's a thing that could cause you to repent, okay.
It doesn't say that you must have godly sorrow in order to repent, it just says godly sorrow
worketh repentance.
If you have godly sorrow then you're going to repent, but it doesn't say you need to
have godly sorrow in order to repent.
And number two, the context has absolutely nothing to do with spiritual salvation.
Now I know the verse does talk about salvation, it doesn't even use the word salvation, but
not every time the Bible says salvation or saved is it talking about being saved from
hell and going to heaven and having eternal life.
There's many examples of that, like Matthew 24 verse 13 where it says he that endureth
to the end shall be saved, and then it says later, it explains that this is talking about
physical salvation during the tribulation where it says except those days shall be shortened
there shall no flesh be saved.
So it's talking about our bodies being saved from death.
Or in James chapter 2 where it talks about saving your brother's life by providing for
his needs.
Or in Matthew chapter 14 verse 30 when Peter is drowning and he says Lord save me.
And that's not him calling out for the Lord to save him from hell, he's just calling out
to him to be saved from drowning, okay, it's a physical death.
So not every time the Bible uses the word save or salvation is it talking about being
saved from hell, because salvation or being saved is just as I explained in my previous
video being delivered or being rescued, being delivered, redeemed.
That is what salvation means.
Now most of the time the Bible uses the word salvation it does talk about being saved from
hell and that's why we talk about going out and getting people saved and preaching the
gospel that they might be saved and the fact that we're saved, once we're saved we're always
saved.
We'll use terms like that because those are the words that the Bible uses for the condition
that we are in, that we are saved from hell.
But the Bible still does use few examples of salvation or save where it's just talking
about being saved from physical death or physical destruction and not the death of the soul
in hell.
Now let me read the context to prove that beyond any shadow of a doubt and explain what
this passage is really talking about.
It says in verse six, I'm going to read from verse six to nine and then I'm going to read
from verse eleven to twelve.
So verse six says, nevertheless God that comforted those that are cast down comforted us by the
coming of Titus and not by his coming only but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted
in you that he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me
so that I rejoice the more for though I made you sorry with a letter I do not repent though
I did repent for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry though it were
but for a season.
Now rejoice not that ye were made sorry but that ye sorrowed to repentance for ye were
made sorry after a godly manner that ye might receive damage by us in nothing for godly
sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of but the sorrow of the world
worketh death for behold this selfsame thing that ye sorrowed after a godly sword what
carefulness it wrought in you, yea what clearing of yourselves, yea what indignation, yea what
fear, yea what vehement desire, yea what zeal, yea what revenge in all things ye have
reproved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
Wherefore though I wrote unto you I did it not for this cause that had done the wrong
nor for his cause that suffered wrong but that our care for you in the sight of God
might appear unto you.
So what is he talking about?
He keeps talking about I wrote unto you, I said this unto you before and I even talked
about in verse eight, I wrote unto you in a letter.
Well just in case you didn't realize this is 2 Corinthians meaning that there was another
book which is pretty well known in the Bible called 1 Corinthians that Paul had already
written a letter to the Corinthians before and he had rebuked them sharply for all the
sins in the Corinthian church.
There was all kinds of things going on.
There were divisions in the church and there were people fighting over whether they were
of Paul or Apollos or whoever.
There were people who were really carnal in the church.
There was a person who was committing fornication with his, what was it, his father's wife
in 1 Corinthians chapter five, 1 Corinthians chapter six with people trying to go to and
sue each other.
There's people who don't understand marriage.
There's people taking advantage of the Lord's Supper and doing it really flippantly.
There's people teaching heresy about the resurrection of the dead so there's a lot of problems in
the Corinthian church and he's rebuking them in 1 Corinthians and teaching them the right
way.
So he's referring back to that, he's referring back to 1 Corinthians and he's saying in verse
8, I made you sorry with a letter.
So he wrote in 1 Corinthians to this church, to these saved people saying I made you sorry
with a letter.
Now 1 Corinthians, he continuously acknowledges that the people he's writing to are saved.
He says in verse two he calls them saints and that they're sanctified because they've
called them the name of the Lord.
In 1 Corinthians chapter six and verse nine through, verse 11 he says that you're washed,
you're sanctified, you're justified in the name, by the spirit of our God, or I'm sorry,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God or something like that.
But he says you're washed, you're justified, you're sanctified.
So he's writing to saved people, he's writing to a church, to believers who are congregated
together.
There's no doubt about that.
But they were living in sin so they needed to change their ways as a Christian in the
Christian life.
He's saying that I made you sorry with a letter.
He wrote a letter unto them, rebuking them for their sins.
That made them sorry and he said in verse 9, I rejoice not that you were made sorry
but that you were sorry to repentance.
So it's not that just they were sorry, it's not just that they were sad, they were sorry
about it, but that the result of their sorrow was repentance.
Now this has nothing to do with being saved from hell because these people were already
saved.
It's talking about being saved from physical death.
He was warning them all throughout that letter of the judgment that God would bring on them
such as in 1 Corinthians five and six he talks about God judging the people in the church
and how they delivered to the sick.
There's a guy delivered to save for the destruction of the flesh and 1 Corinthians 11 he talks
about how if they take the Lord's Supper flippantly then there's many weak and sickly and they're
going to die.
There's many that sleep among you because of what they were doing.
Those are just paraphrases but he talks about all these examples of God's punishment upon
them because of their sins and he says you didn't just sorrow, you sorrowed after or
you sorrowed to repentance.
So again, sorrow is not repentance but repentance was the result of their sorrow.
So you can't say repentance is godly sorrow.
No repentance is a possible result of being sorry.
That's all it's saying.
It's not saying you have to be sorry or you have to turn from your sins to be saved, it's
just saying that they changed because they were sorry by the letter of 1 Corinthians.
Now I don't know how you can misunderstand the passage if you just read it in context.
It's very clear.
It has nothing to do with spiritual salvation, it has to do with being saved from physical
debt, it has to be being saved from judgment upon this earth, from chastisement because
they were living in sin.
That's what it's about.
So there's many other problems with this idea that repentance means sorrow including just
the fact that several, probably most of the scriptures I've read so far that have to do
with repentance would make absolutely no sense if it meant sorrow.
Let me give you a few examples.
Like the first example, Exodus 13 of them going into Canaan, they repent when they see
war and they return back to Egypt.
Now what does that have to do with being sorry?
They're going towards this land, they see war and now they're sad, now they have sorrow
and they turn back to Egypt.
It doesn't make any sense.
So what about the verses about God repenting?
In Exodus chapter 32 where he's about to destroy Israel, he wants to destroy Israel for their
sins God changes his mind so that he does not do the evil unto them.
He repents of the evil that he was going to do unto them.
So what does that mean?
God sorrowed of the evil that he was going to do unto them?
Again that doesn't make any sense.
Really the context is that he was going to destroy them, now he's not going to destroy
them.
So repentance is him changing, it's him changing his mind, he's not going to do that anymore.
It's not being sorry for what he said or what he did.
Or in the other verses about salvation in the New Testament such as Acts 19 verse 4
where Paul said that John the Baptist preached the baptism of repentance that they should
believe on him that should come after him.
Now where does that say anything about sorrow?
Or Matthew 21 verse 32 where he says that you repented not afterward that you might
believe him.
Again what does that have to do with sorrow?
He's saying you sorrowed not afterward that you believed him.
What does that have to do with being sorry or being sad?
Where does the Bible say you have to have sorrow in order to be saved?
The only scripture that they could ever twist is this verse right here in 2 Corinthians
7 10.
But as we've seen in the context it's about, the context is about the letter he already
wrote to the already saved church of Corinth.
It doesn't talk about, he's not writing to unbelievers saying that oh well you changed
your mind, or no he's not saying you were sorry and that's what got you saved.
He's not saying that.
He's saying I wrote the letter to you who were already saved and you were made sorry
so now you changed your actions because you were living in sin.
And now you're saved from that death that God would bring upon you if you continued
in that sin.
That's all he's saying.
So I tried leaving really no stone unturned but I tried also being kind of quick because
I could talk about this for hours.
There's just hundreds of verses in the Bible that make this doctrine so clear of what repentance
is and the fact that we only have to believe.
You don't have to turn from your sins and you don't have to be sorry for your sins.
Okay I know there's people on this, on Instagram right now who used to pretend to be Christians
but now are teaching lies and heresy saying that belief is not enough, that if you don't
have grief or godly sorrow then you're not actually saved and that's heresy.
That's false doctrine.
The Bible doesn't teach that.
You're getting that from the world.
You're getting that from fake theologians.
You're getting that from wicked people.
You're not getting that from the Bible.
The Bible teaches us just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Not thou might be saved.
Thou shalt be saved.
If you believe, that's it.
You don't have to do anything else.
So thank you everybody for watching.
God bless you and goodbye.