turn from
to get saved?
How much
damage has been done to the salvation message by emphasizing “turn from
your
sins”. Does the Bible say this? How many sins must a person turn from
to get
saved? Should a person be aware of all their sins before they can be
saved?
What does
Paul mean when he says “…Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved…” (Acts
16:31). Is he
asking the jailer to
turn from his sins first?
If repentance is “turning from sins” what would that mean?
This would
mean that a change in your behaviour is
necessary, before God can save you. In effect, you are trying to clean
up your
life first to get right with God.
Isn’t this scriptural?
No. The
Bible clearly states that God will justify
the sinner and the ungodly.
“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
the
ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” (Romans
4:5)
This means
that God will justify the sinner in his
sins. While the sinner is knee-deep in his sins, God will pronounce him
righteous.
You mean that no turning from sins is necessary for a man to get
saved?
Correct.
Anything else is called works. The
scripture does not say “But to him that worketh not (except
you turn
from your lying, stealing, fornication etc) but ….”
If you
have to turn from your sins first to get
saved, then this is called working for it.
Well, what would be wrong with that anyway?
Quite
simple. This is what the average Roman
Catholic believes. He believes that in order for God to pronounce you
right,
you should be right. Rome denies that God “justifies the
ungodly”. This
is why countless millions were burned at the stake by Rome.
A man is
cursed by Rome for believing that God will
justify the sinner who hasn’t got right with God first.
What is Rome’s messages of salvation?
They
believe that a man is pronounced righteous if
he is righteous.
How do they do that?
Simple.
You first of all have to eat Jesus and
drink his blood. When you have done that, then you will have Jesus in
your
tummy and you will be righteous inside. Now Rome says, when God sees
this, he
will pronounce you right with him.
What!!!???
No-one can
do that! For starters, you can’t eat and
drink Jesus!!
Rome disagrees!
They
believe that the local priest has the power to
turn the wafer and the grape juice into the actual physical
body and
blood of Jesus.
You mean it represents the body and blood of Jesus?
No. Rome believes that it is the actual, physical,
material body and
blood of Jesus. They call it the ‘unbloody sacrifice’ for sins. And if
you eat
and drink the actual body and blood of Jesus you will have enough
righteousness
inside to be considered by God to be called righteous (albeit
temporarily).
Because you have to keep doing it over and over again to stay in God’s
good
books.
What about Luther? Didn’t he break away from this?
Partly. He said that you couldn’t make the wafer into the
actual body
and blood of Jesus. This is called trans-substantiation i.e. a
substance is ‘trans-ferred
across into another substance’. No, he wouldn’t go that far.
But he said
although the wafer and the wine wasn’t made into the actual, physical
body and
blood of Jesus, it still contained his ‘essence’. This meant that the
wafer and
the wine has the presence of Jesus in it. This is called
the
con-substantiation.
What’s wrong with that?
Everything. The Lord’s supper is only ordinary bread and
grape juice
that is eaten and drunk in remembrance. It starts out bread and juice
and ends
up bread and juice. They are not changed into Jesus and secondly, Jesus
doesn’t
put his ‘presence’ or ‘essence’ into them either.
What are the ‘last rites’ then?
Rome falsely believes that if a man or woman can eat
Jesus before they
die, they will go to heaven.
So, your local Catholic priest rocks up with ‘Jesus’ in
his briefcase
(the wafers and wine) and stuffs them down the neck of the dying
person. If he
can ram a bit of Jesus into the person’s tummy before he dies, then God
will
see Jesus in that person and give the dying man the big tick into
heaven.
So what’s all this got to do with what we started talking
about?
Everything. The principle is the same. If a man can turn
from his sins
and clean his act a lot or even a bit, God will be happy with him. God
will
then save the man. But the person has to do the turning from sins
first.
So what
are you saying?
The Roman Catholic principle remains the same – internal
righteousness
comes first by eating goodness (Jesus) or doing good (turning from your
sins).
Both are the same and both are Roman Catholic doctrine.
So what is true repentance then?
Repentance is turning from unbelief.
What do you mean?
Repentance is not turning from your sins or eating Jesus,
but turning
from your unbelief toward God. There are three scriptures:
“…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.” (Matt
21:32)
“Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of
repentance,
saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should
come after
him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” (Acts
19:4)
“In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if
God
peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of
the truth;”
(2Tim 2:25)
“I’m not sure I’ve got it yet. Go on.”
Repentance is a turning away, but not from your sins.
Repentance is a
change in direction. Repentance is to change what you believe. You
change your
mind about what will save you.
With your will, you believe and rely on Christ to save
you. To get
saved, you repent of unbelief in Christ and believe that his doing and
living
the perfect life can be your substitute. You turn from your belief that
eating
Jesus will save you.
That’s
too simple isn’t it?
No. The Bible says that the actual blood of
Jesus, shed
2000 years ago, is the only sacrifice that he recognizes as payment for
sin. “….there
remaineth no more sacrifice for sins …” (Heb
10:26)
Isn’t
believing a work?
No. The Bible says “…to him
that worketh not, but believeth…” (Rom
4:5)
But
don’t I have to turn from anger, pride, selfishness, coveting, lying,
drunkenness, stealing first?
No, but it sounds right doesn’t it? Put it this way. When
a person is
first saved, he does not know all the sins that he has
to turn
from. God’s divine order is salvation first then change - not change
and then
salvation! You can repent of sin without repenting of unbelief. And if
this is
the case, you’ll end up in hell.
I’ve
nearly got it, go on
A sinner before he gets saved, is sorry for his sins and
wants to get
free of the burden of his sin - the guilt, the shame, pain and hurt
that his
sin has caused. But when a man gets saved, the Holy Ghost comes and
lives
within that man. Then the conviction of sin really
starts.
So God’s order is to repent of unbelief first, then
repent of sin?
Correct. If a person must turn from his sins to be saved,
of what sins
must he first repent of? This would be works. If turning from sins
could get
you saved, then turning back to sins would get you lost. The jailer
thinks that
he has to do something to get saved. Paul says “No, believe.” No action
needed,
just a mind change.
With the Holy Ghost within a man, comes the ongoing
conviction of sin
and the things we need to turn away from.
The Christian life becomes one of constant sorrow of sin
and sins –
until we wake up in Heaven one day in the likeness of Christ.
Harley Hitchcock
This
website’s front page is:
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