A new survey conducted by LifeWay Research and released by Ligonier Ministries revealed that 52% of Americans and 30% of evangelicals say they believe that Jesus was a “good teacher, but he was not God.”
Source: One-third of evangelicals believe Jesus was a “good teacher,” but “not God” | Disrn
The inspiration to tackle the question: “Do I Have to Repent to be Saved?” came from a brief encounter on Twitter (read at left).
You can see Sean was left speechless once confronted with a question using scripture, which short circuited his ingrained narrative of the modern day church views on repentance.
This is a common ending to conversations I have on Twitter. “Going silent” is a great way to avoid the train wreck you see coming against your hard held beliefs and witnessed by your followers. Sadly, going silent also keeps you from being a disciple. A learner of Christ. When your ego wins, your spirit loses.
Here’s the text I challenged Sean to read and reply to:
Romans 10:8-13 “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Do you see any call to repentance in Paul’s instructions?
What did Apostle Paul have to say about repentance? The same thing Sean had to say about my question: NOTHING!
In fact, according to the Apostle Matthew “Repent” was the first word of Jesus’s ministry.
Matthew 4:17 (KJV) “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.“
Luke 5:32 (KJV) “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Luke 13:3 (KJV) “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.“
You see the dilemma here right? Jesus seemingly calls for your repentance over and over in His ministry. The same Jesus who came back from heavens throne to knock the Apostle Paul off his ass (mule), and proceeded to tutor him face-to-face for three years in order to save Christianity, and His message of Faith and Grace, because the disciples were starting to mix in the laws of the Old Testament.
Did Jesus just forget to teach Paul repentance is necessary to gain the free gift salvation? Or did Paul just forget to mention it, causing nearly 2000 years of people falsely being converted by following his instructions?
Obviously the answer is Paul was right and Jesus was wrong. Okay, close your dropped jaw, Jesus wasn’t wrong, he was mistranslated.
The word Jesus used was the Greek word “Metanoia”, it was the translators of the Roman Catholic inspired King James Version Bible that purposely (under diabolical influence IMO), selected the word “Repent” (from the Latin of course), as the translation of “metanoia”. By doing so, they were able to insert the Catholic rite (a sacrament), of penance (a price to pay), into the act of gaining salvation. Making it null and void.
According to Robert N. Wilkin, “The Latin Fathers translated metanoia as paenitentia, which came to mean “penance” or “acts of penance.” Tertullian protested the unsuitable translation of the Greek metanoeo into the Latin paenitentiam by arguing that “in Greek, metanoia is not a confession of sins but a change of mind.”
Looking at the Websters Dictionary definition of the word “Metanoia” we see a schizophrenia (dual personality), caused by the pernicious error of translation. First the “noun” using the Latin tradition vs. the Greek ORIGINAL meaning “Change one’s mind”
Imagine your Salvation starting by vomiting up all your sins on Jesus’s feet. The very sins He was tortured and killed to forgive and FORGET THEM.
What is it exactly we’re to “Change our mind” (metanoia), about to receive the free gift of Salvation?
Answer: JESUS!
As I explained on the home page of this website, salvation is granted when you recognize Jesus as your Lord and Savior. When you come to that A HAH! moment after hearing the gospel, and changing your mind from unbelief to BELIEF in Jesus.
From now on, WHENEVER you read the word “repent” in your Bible, scratch it out and write in “Change your mind”
No, YOU don’t have to change them. YOU have to let JESUS change them.
Simply put, when Jesus takes up His place in your body, you are reborn as a new man or woman in Christ, you have His new nature immediately going up against your old sinful nature. A truly born again Christian will begin a life long journey towards perfection, as Jesus carves out the cancer of sin bit by ugly bit. Don’t get in the way of this operation by trying to direct the scalpel yourself.
Your job is to Faithe. Your new belief was just the starting pistol in the race Paul spoke about so often. The race of faith. The Good Fight of Faith.
Hebrews 12:1 “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us”
Running the race, in other terms, means to “Practice one’s faith”. You see how Faithing is an action. It’s something you must do, you must learn to trust in Jesus. Start your every day acknowledging Him in your life. Ask that He will go before you in your daily walk, and be sure to thank Him for it at the end of your day.
Learn to follow the new commandments Jesus gave us in Mark 12:30-31 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
The second commandment is your employment of the “Great Commission” Jesus gave us, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” by spreading the gospel so others might obtain the riches and glory that you’ve so fortunately received. That’s how we love our neighbors as ourselves.
I’ll close by way of answering the question I started with:
The false doctrine of repentance spiritually cuts and kills in two directions.
First, by laying a stumbling stone down at the feet of the nonbeliever by way of the phycological damage they must inflict on themselves before they can receive the love and salvation of Jesus Christ. How many reject Jesus because of that reason?
Second, and far worse, it makes false conversions that has led unknown millions into thinking they’re saved. Don’t believe me? Then tell me who Jesus is speaking to in this passage:
Matthew 7:21-23 (KJV) “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.“
I suggest there are several ways to end up finding out you’re not saved, that Jesus never knew you. Coming to him through your sins is one of them. Don’t begin your journey in rejection, begin it with a change of mind.
God Bless Us All,
Begin your “Change of Mind” by learning from this series taught by Pastor Joseph Cortes of “Faith Cometh By Hearing” ministries. Find this series and many other topics by visiting TeachingFaith.com
To access all the videos in the “Change of Mind” series, switch to YouTube to see the playlist.
Below is the transcript of my reply to the questions asked regarding “Storing Up Treasures In Heaven” aka Eternal Rewards.
A: The simple answer is: Because Jesus commanded us too in Matthew 6:19 (stop and let that sink in). He goes on to tell us why. I see it as the heavenly 401k program for eternal retirement. He want’s us putting in as much as we can and He’s going to match the funds abundantly more. Why? For one, it makes us concentrate on the work we’re called to do. It makes that work our passion, it makes us put Him first, it makes us value our faith. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-24 Treasures in Heaven
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
A: ALL of them! God designed the plan and the treasures because it pleases Him to reward us. Are you a father? If so, you understand this. (Note: Turns out the person was fatherless from birth.)
A: No, it describes just the opposite. Ranging from those who barely make it in with that being their only reward (which of course is wonderful), to those who will have earned a seat at the head table at the Wedding Feast. Some will be commanding angels. Remember, Adam and Eve were created for a purpose THAT STILL EXISTS. They failed, and fell, causing a halt on Plan A and triggering the fail-safe plan (Jesus having to come as the 2nd Adam and die in our place to eradicate the wages of sin. Eternal death), to eventually bring creation back around, and able to continue Plan A. Heaven ain’t going to be sitting on clouds playing harps, there’s a purpose we’re meant to participate in.
Just for fun I googled “And doesn’t the Bible preach that we’ll all be equals in heaven?” Nada. Not even an op-ed on the subject. It surprised me not to find someone insisting on equality in heaven. Because, certainly God is a socialist right? Ha!
A: I don’t know the extent of them, but we’re told about some of them. The “Five Crowns” for example. The Crown of Life; the Incorruptible Crown; the Crown of Righteousness; the Crown of Glory; and the Crown of Exultation.
A: I suggest you bone up on the subject because it’s a limited time offer. All indications are, these treasures can only be laid up during your life on this side of eternity. The more important question is “By what means am I able to store up these treasures?” I can tell you the answer is specific to one thing. Your employment of the Great Commission. Take notice of that phrase “Your employment of the Great Commission” Jesus gave us a JOB to do. What do you get when you’re employed to do a job? WAGES! Would you work for anyone or any company if they didn’t pay you? Salvation and your entrance to heaven are free. Not a damn thing you can do to earn them. BUT, discipleship is work, and eternal rewards are its wages.
I leave you with a link to my Eternal Rewards playlist on YouTube featuring the teaching of Pastor Joseph Cortes of “Faith Cometh By Hearing” ministries found at TeachingFaith.com. Better answers to your questions are there.
Here’s the first video on the playlist:
“We Are Being Recorded”
Note: To see all videos on playlist click this symbol in 
the video player above or click here to go directly to my YouTube channel.