(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Hello everybody, it's minister tall23 back with another video, and in this video, and apologize if there's any audio issues, but in this video I want to talk about the subject of repentance. One of the common attacks against the new IFB and against my church and my pastor is this false accusation that we don't believe in repentance or that we're against repentance somehow. And this comes from the idea that somehow you have to turn from your sins or repent of your sins in order to be saved. That's taught by many false teachers nowadays and we are against that because the Bible doesn't teach this. The Bible teaches that the only thing that is required for salvation is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, just believing in him. The Bible never says you have to turn from your sins in order to be saved, and so when people who are false preachers and we're heretics who hear this, they say well you're against repentance. They say you don't believe in repentance. That's what the common accusation is. Now this is simply not true. Repentance is a good thing. Repentance, if you define it correctly, is part of salvation if you mean a change of mind, and I'm going to prove that that's what it is in the context of salvation in this video. And then also somebody who is already saved, somebody who's already been born again, they should repent of their sins, they should turn from their sins, but that has nothing to do with salvation. And so I want to talk about this false accusation in this video, that somehow we're against repentance, and first of all I want to point out that the phrase repent of your sins is redundant if the word repent means to turn from your sins, right? What do I mean by this? Well, so many people out there, when they attack us for not believing that you have to repent of your sins in order to be saved, they'll say well what about all the times when the Bible says to repent? The Bible says to repent, but the Bible never says one time repent of your sins, or repent of thy sins, or repent of sin, or repent from sin. This phrase is not used a single time in the entire Bible, and yet it's so commonly repeated today that people think it's in the Bible. But if you do a word search in a concordance, or like a King James Bible lookup, like there's this one that I use called kjvbible.net, which you can just look up a word and I'll show you every time that word appears in the Bible, you can never find a single time in the entire Bible when the phrase repent of your sins is used. There are a lot of verses that say repent. Yeah, they say repent, but you're mentally adding on that phrase of your sins, okay? Every time I ask somebody, show me where the Bible says you have to repent of your sins, they show me a verse that says repent, and then it doesn't say of your sins. They just add that in there. Now if repent just automatically means turn from your sins, which is what they claim it means, then why are you saying repent of your sins? You're saying you have to repent of your sins of your sins, which obviously doesn't make any sense, okay? That should show you that repent does not mean turn from sins, because you would have to, you know, you'd be redundant if you're saying repent of your sins. Repentance is simply just a turn or a change of mind, and the context determines what that turning or that changing is, right? So there are many examples in the Bible where it uses the word repent, but it has nothing to do with turning from sins. Here's a few examples. For example, there are many times in the Bible where it says that God repents. In fact, more than anybody else, any other individual in the whole Bible, it says that God repents, right? So if repentance means turning from sin, then how does that work? Because the Bible teaches that God is without sin, so how can God repent if repent means turn from sin, if God has no sin? The simple answer is repentance does not mean turning from sin. So here's a few examples of God repenting. Genesis chapter 6 verse 6, and it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him at his heart. This is the first time that the word repent ever is used in the Bible. This is talking about when the earth is filled with violence and God, you know, regrets that he made man and then he seeks to destroy them with the flood, right? It says it repented the Lord that he made man. Exodus 32 verse 14, and the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. This is when God was going to destroy the children of Israel for worshipping the golden calf, and then Moses basically talks him out of it, so it says he repented of the evil which he thought he would do unto them. So God wanted to destroy them, Moses prays and intercedes on their behalf, and then God changes his mind so that he's not going to, okay? 1st Samuel 15 verse 11, this is God speaking. It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king, for he has turned back from following me and hath not performed my commandments, and agrees Samuel when he cried unto the Lord all night. So the Lord is speaking to the Prophet Samuel, he says, it repents me that I have made Saul to be king, right? So he's saying he regrets basically that he made Saul king because Saul is disobeying him, right? Here's another example, Psalm 106 verse 45, and he remembered them for his covenant, again speaking about God, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies, right? So, and there's many other examples of this, but these are all a bunch of perfect examples of God repenting, right? So how can you say repentance just automatically means turn from sin if the Bible says over and over again that God repents, right? Or how about, you know, another one that I didn't even put in my notes, but where God says, you know, the Lord hath sworn it will not repent, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, right? Now if repent in that context means turn from sins, that wouldn't make any sense because there's nothing sinful about what God did. He just swore to, you know, that thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. He's just saying that this is going to be the case, I'm not going to change my mind about that. That's what it means that the Lord will not repent, right? So another example, we actually see an example of the Bible in the Bible of people turning to sin or turning away from what God wants them to do. Exodus chapter 13 verse 17, you know, a very early mention of the word repentance is actually, I think this is the second or the third time the word repent ever appears in the Bible. Exodus 13 verse 17, 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 God doesn't want to lead the Israelites through the land of the Philistines so that they don't get into a battle and then become afraid and then go back into Egypt. It says repent when they see war and return to Egypt, right? So God is leading them out of the land of Egypt to take them to Mount Sinai, that's what God wants for them. And he doesn't want them to repent and go back to Egypt, which would be a way from the will of God. You know, people will define repentance as, this is something I hear all the time, and it's not in the Bible, it's just something they get from commentaries and dictionaries written by men, not by God, where they say, oh it's a 180 turn from sin to Jesus. No, that's not what repentance is, because in this example they're doing a 180 turn away from Jesus, away from, you know, worshipping God of Mount Sinai, which is what he wanted them to do, to go back into Egypt, to go back into the world, which is the symbolism for this, right? So repentance depends on the context, okay? Because again, there's examples of people repenting of things that are not even sinful, you know, God repenting of just decisions that he made, again, not turning from sin because God has no sin, and then we also see examples like in Exodus 13, where people are going away from the will of God to go back into their sinful lifestyle, to go back into Egypt as it were. So again, this is, it's mind-boggling that people just assume that repent just means return from your sins. That's never in the Bible, the Bible never says that that's what repent means, and most of the time when the word repentance is used, it has nothing to do with turning from sin. Now concerning salvation, right, because people will say, okay, well yeah, I guess God repents, but when it comes to, you know, salvation, you at least have to repent of your sins, or you know, be willing to turn from your sins, and that's a part of salvation, that's part of faith is what they'll say. But the problem with this is that the Bible also teaches that turning from your sins is works, and the Bible clearly states that we are not saved by works. So it says in Jonah chapter 3 verse 10, and God saw their works that they turn from their evil way, and God repented of the evil that he said that he said he would do unto them, and he did it not. So we see, number one, that the Bible says turning from your evil way is works, and number two, another example of God repenting, right, where he was going to destroy Nineveh, and then he changed his mind, he repented, and he didn't do it, right. So another example of repentance not meaning, you know, turning from sin, because it does talk about people turning from their sin in this chapter, and it says that that is works in the sight of God. Now the Bible says, but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. So according to the Bible, if somebody believes, even if they don't do the works, they're still justified. Ephesians 2 verse 8 to 9, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself, it is the gift of God, not of works, thus any man should boast. So the Bible is very clear that salvation is not of works, it's by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, right. John 3 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. The Bible is very clear that salvation is just by faith in Jesus Christ, it's not by turning from your sins, because turning from your evil ways is works according to the Bible, okay. So anybody who says that you have to turn from your sins to be saved is saying that you have to be justified by works. Now they might say, well I'm not saying it's by works, but if you really believe you're gonna repent of your sins, then they're just lying, okay. Just because they they say it's not by works, but then say it is by works, even if they just use a different term for works, that doesn't mean that they're not teaching work salvation. So a lot of the people will attack our, you know, our church and the new IFB for not believing you have to repent of your sins to be saved, but that's simply because the Bible teaches that repenting of your sins is works, and the Bible just teaches that all you have to do to be saved is just believe in Jesus Christ, right. Now they'll still try to pull up verses to try to apply them to salvation, verses which will say similar things to repenting of sins, but not necessarily that exact phrase, that will talk about turning from wickedness or turning from iniquity, just random verses that have nothing to do with salvation, they have nothing to do with going to heaven, they have nothing to do with eternal life, just random verses they just pull out and they're like, see look, this verse says repent of this therefore thy wickedness, or turn from your iniquities, or something like that. They'll just pull out a random verse and they'll just try to apply it to salvation, when these verses that they use have nothing to do with salvation. Let me just explain a few examples, like in Ezekiel chapter 18 for example, right. Now if you actually know the book of Ezekiel, it's, you know, God is destroying and judging Israel, the nation of Israel, because of their sins, right, these people who are already God's people, many of them already believe in the Lord, and yet they have all kinds of abomination and wickedness, so God judges them by the nation of Babylon, so this is, you know, during the time of the captivity, right, and so Ezekiel is preaching these things to the children of Israel, right, he says in Ezekiel 18 verse 30, here's an example, therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, saith the Lord God, repent and turn yourselves from all your transgressions. If they see, look, you're supposed to turn from your transgressions, no, it says so iniquity shall not be your ruin, so why does God say to turn from your transgression, so iniquity will not be your ruin, this has nothing to do with salvation, and they'll say something like well it says the soul that sinneth it shall die, right, that's a verse in Ezekiel 18 as well where it talks about how if you turn away from your sins then you'll save your soul alive, but it says it'll save your soul alive, what is this talking about, right, because people just assume that soul means, you know, has to do with, you know, going to heaven or going to hell, well no, because the Bible says in Genesis chapter 2 that when God breathed, you know, the breath of life into Adam when he formed out of the dust of the ground, says he became a living soul, right, or how about in the book of Revelation where it talks about the second trumpet, the, you know, the great mountain burning with fire falling into the sea and every living soul in the sea died, right, that's not talking about people going to hell because it's talking about creatures that are alive dying, this includes fish as well, right, when it talks about things in the soul, in the sea dying, right, the soul, right, is not necessarily some spiritual aspect of a person, the soul is also talking about in many cases just something that's alive, right, so it's just saying that if you don't turn from your sin you're going to die, not talking about going to hell but just a physical destruction, right, that's what God is warning people against in Ezekiel 18, get the context, right, it's talking about Babylon judging the nation of Israel, right, or God judging Israel through Babylon that is, right, another example of a scripture that people will take out of context is Acts 8 verse 22, again something, it's like, have you even read the chapter, are you just quoting this just because you think that, you know, it sounds similar to repent of your sins, you're just like throwing it, you know, and hoping it'll stick to the wall or whatever, right, this is the Apostle Peter speaking to Simon the sorcerer, he says, repent therefore this thy wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee, right, now here's the thing, already back in verse 13 it said that Simon believed, which according the Bible believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and then it even says he also got baptized, right, and then he continued with them, and then what happened, after Simon was already a believer, he was already part of the church, he was already, you know, following the disciples, then he tried to buy the gift of the Holy Ghost and the miracles that they were doing with money, so that's why he says thy money perish with thee, you know, repent of this therefore thy wickedness, right, Peter is speaking to somebody who's already saved saying repent of this sin, he's not saying do this to be saved, and that's not what the verse says itself, he's just speaking to somebody who's already a believer, who's already saved, because they sinned, so he says repent of his wickedness, right, so it has nothing to do with salvation, again people will just take it out of context, another scripture which is horribly taken out of context is the statement except you repent you shall likewise perish, again to begin with it doesn't even say repent of your sins, it just says repent and people are just putting of your sins mentally into that verse, it doesn't say repent of your sins, it just says exactly repent, okay, now also people just assume that this perishing is going to hell, but again if you read the context you know it's not talking about going to hell, right, because even in the verse itself it says likewise perish, okay, what is likewise, it means in the same manner, right, so if you don't know the context you don't even know what he's talking about, you know, perish in what way, perish in what manner, like perish like what, right, he's talking about the men upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, the 18 men who died because of that, you know, accident and the men whose blood was mingled with sacrifices by Pilate, right, so let's read the context, Luke chapter 13 verse 1 to 5, they were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices, and Jesus answering said unto them, supposie that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things, I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish, meaning in the same way, verse 4, or those 18 upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem, I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish, so he says it twice with two different examples of people physically dying, okay, it's not talking about going to hell, it's not talking about, you know, if you don't repent of your sins and you'll be damned, you'll be condemned, that's not what it's saying, he's saying these people died, these people suffered these things, right, they were killed by Pilate and their blood was mingled in the sacrifices and then these men had a tower full on them, he says if you don't repent that might be you, that's what he's talking about, but people are just ignorant because they don't read the Bible, so they don't know the context, they just quote it, the soundbite out of context to try to justify this false doctrine of you have to repent of your sins to be saved, which is never taught in the Bible. Another example, Acts 3 26, again another scripture which doesn't say anything about salvation, it does say something about turning from sin, but it's not in the context of salvation. Acts 3 26 says unto you first God, having raised up his son Jesus, sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. So according to the Bible, turning from your iniquities is a blessing, right, it's not something that we should be against, it's something that God will bless us with, right, it's a blessing to turn from your iniquities, but does it save you from Hell? No. Does it justify you in the sight of God? No, because the Bible says we were justified by faith without works, right, and we saw earlier that turning from evil ways is works in the sight of God, so if you say you have to repent of your sins in order to be saved, you're teaching a false gospel because you're saying you have to do works in order to be saved. The Bible says not by works of righteous which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us. So the question is then well what is repentance for salvation, right, because there are some scriptures which do use the word repentance in the context of forgiveness of sin and salvation and things like that, but once again they never say repent of your sins, they never say turn from your sins, they just say the word repent and people just assume that means to turn from your sins. I already proved that repentance doesn't mean to turn from your sins, repentance just means a change or a turn in general, the context determines what that is. So let's look at the context and of these scriptures about repentance in the context of salvation to explain what it's talking about, right. Here's a few examples. Acts chapter 19 verse 4. So what did John the Baptist preach when he preached repentance according to Paul? He preached that they should believe on him that should come after him that is on Christ Jesus. Another example, Matthew chapter 21 verse 31 to 32 and this also is talking about the preaching of John the Baptist as well, right. Jesus says Jesus saith unto them verily I say unto you that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you for John came unto you in the way of righteousness and ye believed him not but the publicans and the harlots who are sinful by the way believed him and ye when ye had seen it repented not afterward that ye might believe him, right. So what is he saying? He's saying hey Pharisees you're not gonna enter into the kingdom of God because you didn't believe John. The publicans and the harlots they are entering into the kingdom of God because they did believe what he preached, right. Now he still calls them publicans and harlots meaning they're still sinful but he says because they believed they're going to the kingdom of heaven before you and ye when ye had seen it repented not afterward that ye might believe. So what is biblical repentance? It's repentance away from a false belief or unbelief to belief, right. Baptism repentance again believing on Jesus that should come after you, right, or that should come after me, right, what John preached, right. Or Hebrews chapter 6 I don't have in my notes but where it says that the foundation of our faith is repentance from dead works and faith toward God. Now works is or sorry repenting of your sins for salvation is works according to the Bible. We already saw that in Jonah 3 10. So in order for you to be saved you have to repent from your dead works meaning repent of repenting of your sins and put your faith in God. Meaning stop trusting in you and your own goodness and you turning from your sins and rather trust in Jesus Christ only, right, because our faith should be in God not in ourselves in our own righteousness. If you think you have to turn from your sins to be saved you're trusting in your own righteousness. Acts chapter 17 another example of something that people will just completely take out of context but when you look at the context it's very clear what it's saying the repentance is for, right, because people just quote verse 30, right. Let me just read verse 30 first and then I'll read verse 29 which explains what it's talking about. Verse 30 and the times of this ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. So people will quote that and they'll say see look you're supposed to repent. Now first of all it doesn't say for salvation. Now I do believe it's for salvation based on the context but it doesn't specifically say that but people will just quote verse 30 as if you know that's just absolutely the case but it's like what is this ignorance that he's talking about? The times of this ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. What is the ignorance that he's talking about? Is he saying drinking? Is he talking about repenting of drinking, fornication, you know, lust, partying, whatever. It's like yeah you should get rid of those things but that's not what saves you. Here's what you need to repent of based on the context. Here's this ignorance that he's talking about. Verse 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 he's saying repent of idols right these false gods right because he's speaking in Athens right on Mars Hill he's speaking to people in Athens who believe that these you know these things that they great and you know graven images are gods right that's what they believe they're believing in false gods or they're believing in idols right he says this is ignorance repent of that ignorance meaning stop believing in your idols and believe in the true God that's what he's talking about he doesn't say repent of your fornication repent of your drunkenness you'll never find a verse in the Bible that says that's what saves you from hell. Another example in Mark chapter 1 verse 15 and saying the time was fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand repent ye and believe the gospel right so notice again how it's associated with belief now people will just add in the phrase repent of your sins and they'll say well you have to repent of your sins and believe no no he says repent ye and believe the gospel we already saw from some scriptures like in Matthew that repentance is unto faith right so you're turning from unbelief to believing right so he's speaking to people who don't believe the gospel he says repent and believe the gospel right it's very simple. Acts chapter 3 verse 19 another example repent ye therefore not repent of your sins but repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times are refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord again something that people will mentally insert the phrase of your sins into and say see look the Bible says to turn from your sins to be saved to have your sins blotted out no it just says repent we know from other scriptures that repentance is turning from unbelief to belief as I already showed you but also the same person who preached this which would be Peter preached later how to have your sins forgiven when he said in Acts chapter 10 verse 43 to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins so he says here repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out he says later believe on his name to have remission of sins right so how do you have your sins blotted out how do you have your sins omitted by believing so believing and repenting are the same thing because what are you repenting of unbelief a false god a false belief rejection of Jesus to faith in Jesus Christ that's what the repentance is it's not repenting of your sin it's not repenting from your iniquity it's not turning from drunkenness and drugs and alcohol and fornication and adultery and lying and stealing and all these other things those are all good things to do right God wants us to repent of those things but is that what saves you according to the Bible no so this lie that we're against repentance is just that it's a lie because if you define repentance correctly then we're for repentance because I don't preach that people should just add Jesus onto their false religion right in order for a Catholic to be saved they have to stop trusting in Mary and stop trusting in the Pope and their baptism to save them from hell they have to only believe in Jesus Christ in order for a Hindu to be saved they have to stop believing in their false Hindu gods and believe only in Jesus Christ in order for a Muslim to be saved they need to stop believing in the Quran and believe only in Jesus Christ that's repentance but do they have to get rid of all the sins that they're doing in their life like lying stealing fornication hatred whatever you know you name it again those are good things to do but that's not what saves you from hell what saves you from hell is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ so they simply just have to turn from anything that's stopping them from believing right but your lifestyle keeping the law turning from disobedience to obedience is not what saves you it's not a change of lifestyle it's a change of mind it's a change of belief okay so no we're not against repentance if you define repentance correctly when it comes to salvation but then also even we're not against repentance after salvation as well because here's the thing somebody who is saved who believes in Jesus Christ yes they should repent of their sins as we saw in Acts chapter 3 verse 26 you know God sent him to bless you and turning away every one of you from his iniquities so turning from your iniquities according the Bible is a blessing from God right and there's many other scriptures that say you know things like you're having therefore these promises let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God God wants us to leave filthiness and leave unrighteousness and to live a holy life that's what God wants us to do it has nothing to do with salvation so to say the new IFB is against repentance is a lie because number one you should repent to be saved but not of your sins just of unbelief number two repentance after salvation is good if you mean like you know turning from your sins and getting the sin out of your life and living a righteous and clean holy life but anybody who teaches that you have to do that's to that to be saved and to have eternal life is a liar and they're teaching a workspace salvation right let me read again from Jonah 3 verse 10 God saw their works that they turn from their evil ways so if you think that you have to turn from evil way in order to be saved in order to be justified and you're teaching a workspace salvation is you're teaching a false gospel so yes we're right on this and yes if you believe that you have to repent of your sins be saved you're wrong okay so hopefully this video has made sense and there's gonna be many other things that I have to say in this series similar to this about you know salvation and other subjects but we're right because everything I just said was from the Bible I showed you from the Bible God repents I showed you from the Bible repentance doesn't always mean to turn from sin I showed you from the Bible that all the time when it talks about turning from iniquities it's never talking about salvation I showed you from the Bible that the only thing you have to repent of is unbelief and it's always connected with faith in Christ I showed you from the Bible that salvation is not by works and repenting of your sins is work so if you choose to believe that good for you if you just you know don't choose to believe that you still want to stick with your false religion then I'm sorry but you're gonna go to hell because you're trusting in your own works so who's right we are you're wrong deal with it thank you everybody for watching God bless you have a nice day