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

Hello everybody, I'm back with another video and before I get into the subject of the video I want to apologize if the audio quality is bad. The microphone on my computer has been bad quality for the last couple months. It's been breaking up and making weird noises and some people pointed that out in the comments. Unfortunately I do not have another microphone, I only have the microphone that's built into this computer. So if it makes noise or sounds weird just try to bear through it. There's nothing really I can do about it at this moment. So in this video I want to talk about the subject of repentance and the word repentance and what it means to repent and I want to talk about the subject of turning from your sins which is a concept that a lot of people misunderstand. Now first of all I want to establish that turning from sins or repenting of your sins, getting the sin out of your life, turning over a new leaf, has nothing to do whatsoever with salvation. The Bible is very clear that our salvation is only just by our faith in Jesus and it's not about any of the works that we do. Let me give you a few examples of that, Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 to 9 the Bible says for by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works like any man should boast. So the Bible is very clear that salvation is a gift. It's by grace through faith and it's not of our works. The Bible says in Titus 3 verse 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. So again the Bible tells us that we're saved by God's mercy not by the works of righteousness which we have done. We can't earn salvation by being good and doing works for God and some people would agree to that and consent to that and say well yeah of course you know it's only by faith but if you truly believe then you will have the works. Some people believe that as well but the Bible again does not teach that. 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. So according to the Bible it is possible for there to be somebody who works not meaning they don't have the works but they believe on him that justifieth the ungodly. The Bible says that that man his faith is counted for righteousness. So we are justified made righteous in the sight of God solely just by faith in Jesus Christ not by any of the works of righteousness or the good things that we do. And the Bible clearly teaches that turning from sins or repenting of your sins is works in the sight of God because that requires effort. It says in the book of Jonah chapter 3 verse 10 and God saw their works that they turned from their evil way and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not. So the Bible tells us that God saw their works the works of the city of Nineveh and it defines what those works are. It says that they turned from their evil way. So when the Ninevites turned from their evil way in the sight of God that was works. The Bible plainly tells us that we're not saved by our works so you're not saved by turning from your evil ways you're saved by believing in Jesus. The Bible says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now some people hear this and they say well doesn't the Bible teach that you should repent? You know what about all these verses that talk about repentance and talk about you know repenting. First of all the phrase repent of your sins is never found in the Bible. That is the only Bible in the English language the King James Bible. The phrase repent of your sins is never found one time. And every single time that the word repent appears it just says the word repent pretty much for the most part. Oftentimes people will mentally add on that phrase of your sins or from your sins onto that word repent even though that's not what is written in the Bible they are mentally adding to the word of God. For example when Jesus said repent ye and believe the gospel he did not say repent of your sins and believe the gospel he said repent ye and believe the gospel because repent simply means to change or to turn and the context determines what that is that you're changing. In context of salvation it's talking about changing your mind so that you're not trusting in other things you're not believing other things but you believe the gospel and I'll give a few examples of this Matthew 21 verse 32 is a great example of what repentance is required in when it comes to salvation. It says in Matthew 21 verse 32 and the context is Jesus said that the harlots and the publicans would enter into the kingdom of God before the Pharisees and he explains why in this verse he says for John came unto you in the way of righteousness and he believed him not. So the reason why the Pharisees are not going to go to heaven according to Jesus is because they did not believe what John preached. He says but the publicans and the harlots believed it. So why are the publicans and the harlots entering into the kingdom of God and not the Pharisees? Because they believed and the Pharisees didn't. That's what Jesus says and then he says and ye when he had seen it repented not afterward that ye might believe him. So Jesus defines this repentance when it comes to salvation is that they repent that they might believe him right. So repenting when it comes to salvation is you don't believe in Jesus Christ and now you do or you're trusting in your dead works as it talks about Hebrews 6 one repentance from dead works to faith toward God. So in order to be saved you have to stop trusting in your works. You have to stop believing a false gospel. Stop believing lies and false doctrine or stop believing in a false God or whatever it is and put your faith only in Jesus. That's how to be saved. So repentance is definitely an aspect of salvation but it is not repenting of your sins it is not turning from your sins. Again Paul defines what John preached in Acts chapter 19 verse 4 when it comes to repentance. It says 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. So when John baptized with the baptism of repentance he preached that they should believe on him that is to come that is Jesus Christ right. So the message of salvation that John the Baptist preached was faith in Jesus. The message that Jesus Christ himself preached was faith in Jesus. That's why all throughout the book of John he says believe believe believe over and over again. He never says repent and he definitely doesn't say repent of your sins which again is not a phrase that is found in the Bible at all. Now there are other similar phrases as one example I gave in Jonah chapter 3 verse 10 about them turning from their evil ways which the Bible says is works but as we see in that example and other examples all these examples of people repenting of their wickedness turning from their sins all these examples have nothing to do with salvation. In this example in Jonah chapter 3 verse 10 we know that it has nothing to do with salvation because it says that it's their works and the Bible tells us plainly that we're not saved by works. I read a few verses about that earlier. Not only that but if you just understand the context of Jonah chapter 3 God is going to destroy the city of Nineveh for their wickedness but because they repent of their wickedness then God spares them. So it's physical salvation not spiritual salvation from hell. God spares them physically he doesn't destroy their nation because of the fact that they get the sin out of their life. And this brings me to my next point. I want to talk about what the Bible does have to say about turning from sins and turning from iniquity but I wanted to get that first part out of the way to establish that as nothing to do with salvation. However God does want believers to after they get saved repent of their sins and get the wickedness out of their life. Some people accuse us Baptists who preach faith alone of denying repentance or being against repentance and that is absolutely far from the truth because number one as I pointed out earlier repentance when it comes to salvation is needed but it's not repentance from sin it's repentance from a false belief. And number two after you're saved the Bible does tell us that we should repent of our sins get the sin out of our life change our life turn from our iniquities that that is important and that is what God wants from us and God expects from us but the point I'm trying to make is that that does not save you and that is not an evidence that you're saved but rather it is something that God commands people who are saved to do. One example of a scripture which is taken out of context by these repent of your sins gospel preachers these people who teach you have to do this to be saved is in Luke chapter 13 which when you read the whole passage has to do with again physical salvation being saved from destruction physical destruction and not being saved from hell. It says in Luke chapter 13 verses 1 to 5 there 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 suppose ye 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 or these 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. Now often times these heretics who will say ye have repent of your sins and be saved will take verse 3 and verse 5 out and completely ignore the surrounding verses. You have to understand the word likewise which is used in both verse 3 and verse 5 means in the same way or in the same manner. So when Jesus says that ye shall all likewise perish it means in the same way that these people died. Now none of these examples that both of these examples he does not mention anything about hell about perishing everlastingly about you know perdition damnation anything like that he's just talking about they died okay because these people were sinners and so they some of them had their blood mingled with the sacrifices some of them had a tower fall on them and Jesus says if you don't repent then you will likewise perish meaning in the same way that doesn't mean that they're going to go to hell okay nothing in this passage has anything to do with with going to hell or or losing your salvation or not being saved in the first place that's not what Jesus is saying at all but people will often quote these verses to say that you have to repent of your sins to be saved which again it doesn't even say repent of your sins it just says repent but we know from the context that this is talking about turning from your iniquities in order to be spared physical punishment in order to be spared judgment in this life okay now the Bible says in Acts chapter 3 verse 25 to 26 talking about this concept of turning away from iniquities it says in 3 verse 25 here the children of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers saying unto Abraham and I seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed 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 now again if you are not familiar with what this is talking about if you're not familiar with the context or if you just kind of you know take that phrase out of the verse where it says turning away every one of you from your iniquities people will look at things like that they'll just not read the whole verse and they'll say see you have to turn from your iniquities to be saved I already proved in the beginning of this video that that's not true but rather the Bible does say that Jesus came to bless you in turning everyone away from you from your iniquities okay because that is a blessing again we should get the sin out of our life and we do not have the power to get this in our life except through Jesus Christ you know Jesus himself said without me you can do nothing okay so because we are saved we have the power to walk in the spirit as the Bible says that the carnal mind is enmity against God for it is not subject unto the law of God neither indeed can be it is impossible for they that are in the flesh to please God it is impossible for somebody who's unsaved to live a righteous and clean life where they serve God etc you have to be saved first okay and so Jesus Christ saved us not just for the purpose of saving us from hell but the Bible tells us and I'll read this later in Titus 2 that he died for us to purify into himself a peculiar people zealous of good works hey God wants us to turn away from our iniquities that's a blessing to get the sin out of our life because you know that will lead to rewards and the kingdom of heaven and it will remove curses from our life that come from sin Romans chapter 11 verse 26 to 27 is another example where it says and so all Israel shall be saved as it is written there shall come out of Zion the deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob for this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins so when God forgives us of our sins he expects us to then turn from ungodliness okay that's what Jesus said to the woman that was taken in adultery you know he forgave her simply because she believed so she believed in him and she was saved but then he said go and sin no more okay God does not want us to continue in sin after we get saved now it's going to happen because of the flesh we can never be perfect but the point is that God is not condoning sin just because he says we're saved only by faith okay we're saved by faith but after we believe God wants us to get the sin out of our life and God wants us to live righteously Luke chapter 3 verses 7 to 14 shows what John of the Baptist preached he said it says of Luke chapter 3 verse 7 then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him O generation of vipers who have warned you to flee from the wrath to come bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance and begin not to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our father for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham and also the axe is laid under the root of the trees every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire and you can compare that with John chapter 15 where Jesus talks about that same concept as well about bringing forth fruit now John the Baptist as we saw earlier preached to the people that they should believe on him who should come after him that is on Jesus Christ so John the Baptist preached the gospel that we are saved only by faith but then he also preached that those who believed and were baptized should repent of their wickedness they should get the light of the sin out of their life and bring forth fruit worthy of repentance and do works worthy of repentance and we see this in the following verses when people ask John what they should do not what they should be saved but what they shall do just as a Christian just to please God and here's John's answer it says in verse 10 and the people asked him saying what shall we do that he answerth and saith unto them he that hath two coats let him impart to him none and he that hath meat let him do likewise then came also publicans to be baptized and said unto him master what shall we do and he said unto them exact no more than that which is appointed on you and these soldiers likewise demanded of him saying and what shall we do and he said unto them do violence to no man neither accuse any falsely and be content with your wages so in all these examples we have the publicans the soldiers and certain people who ask John what shall we do okay and John's answer is to do all these righteous things to basically turn from their iniquities to stuff you know complaining about them not getting enough wages to not be violent to not have false accusations to basically you know provide for the poor do that sort of stuff John tells them to do all these righteous works but he's not saying you do that to be saved as I already established works do not save us but again that doesn't mean that God just wants us to live a unrighteous and ungodly and sinful life the Bible tells us plainly that the the deliverer came to Zion to turn ungodliness away from Jacob God wants his people those who he has saved by grace to then after they have the grace of God to turn from their iniquity and we see this in Titus chapter 2 verse 11 the Bible says for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world okay so when somebody's saved by the grace of God that doesn't teach us to just do whatever we want and live a sinful life the Bible says shall we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer they're in you see some people mistake the gospel of the grace of God as a license to sin that is cannot be further from the truth okay and that's why in general people who believe that salvation is only by grace of faith of the ones who are living them the most holy lives okay the people out there who teach you know you have to repent your sins and do works to be saved are often the ones that are you know excusing all kinds of sins but anyway I'll read on in Titus chapter 2 verse 13 says looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us okay so he died on the cross for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works so again as I mentioned earlier the reason why Jesus died for us is not just to redeem us from our iniquity it's not just to save us from hell but it's also to purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works because the moment you believe in Jesus the moment you're redeemed you become a child of God and you become part of the people of God that holy nation which it talks about in 1st Peter chapter 2 so all believers are part of that holy nation are part of the kingdom of God but God wants that peculiar people to be zealous of good works that's God's plan and his purpose for us you know I read Ephesians chapter 2 earlier where it tells us that we're not saved by works of sinning man Shabos but it continues in the verse after that for we are as workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them okay so God has planned God has ordained God has set up that those who are his people should walk in good works should do good works should repent should turn from their iniquities okay now again somebody can not turn from their iniquities and still be saved if they believe in Jesus but that's not God's plan for us that's not what God wants for us God saved us so that we could be a peculiar people so that we could be different from this world so that we could be holy so that we could be righteous so that we could live soberly righteously and godly in this present evil world Paul himself preached this in Acts chapter 26 I guess Paul wrote Titus and these other epistles too but in the book of Acts it gives us an example of his preaching where he's speaking to Agrippa it says in Acts 26 verse 19 whereupon O king Agrippa I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision but showed first unto them of Damascus and at Jerusalem and throughout all the coasts of Judea and then to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God and do works meet for repentance right so Paul is saying what he preached was to repent and turn to God which we saw in other scriptures is referring to salvation that you repent from your dead works and have your faith toward God as it talks about in Hebrew 6 that's the foundation of our faith so that's salvation but then he says in addition to that and do works meet for repentance meet means suitable okay so God wants you repent from your false beliefs and put your faith in Jesus and therefore are saved God wants you to then do the works that are meet for repentance God wants us to do works and that's what Paul preached as well okay he didn't you know teach that we shouldn't do works he just taught that you shouldn't do works in order to be saved you shouldn't try to justify yourself by your works okay if you try to justify yourself by the works of the law you're under a curse the Bible says but if you are only justified by faith in Jesus you trust Jesus 100% God expects you and God wants you to then do the works and to get the sin out of your life and turn from iniquity that is God's purpose and plan for believers in the last scripture Romans chapter 6 verse 11 to 13 the Bible says likewise reckon ye also yourself to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body that you should obey it in the lust thereof neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God so the Bible says that because we are dead to sin we ought to reckon ourselves as dead and not yield our bodies to unrighteousness and uncleanness but rather to yield ourselves to God it says in 1st Corinthians also that I think I believe it's chapter 6 that we are bought with a price and it says therefore glorify God and your body and in your spirit which are God's you see because you've been redeemed that means you belong to God now your body and your spirit they belong to God God wants you to yield yourself as a servant to him to repent of your iniquity to get the iniquity out of your life and to serve God that's what God's plan and purpose is for us and that's again why the God gave us the grace the Bible says that the grace of God has appeared to all men to teach us that we should deny ungodliness and worldly lust and live soberly righteously and godly okay so God saved us again not just to save us from hell but to make us into a holy and peculiar people zealous of good works okay so in summary or in conclusion we are saved only by grace or faith in Jesus Christ all you have to do to be saved is believe repenting of your sins turning from your sins is not required for salvation the only repentance that is part of salvation is repenting from a false belief so if you think that your works will save you you think that you obeying God's commandments and repenting of your sins will save you you have to stop trusting that and believe only in Jesus that he died to pay for all your sins arose again from the dead if you believe that in your heart you will be saved but you can't trust in yourself and in Jesus you have to believe in him with all your heart okay but God wants us after we get saved to turn from our iniquities and to do righteousness that is why God redeemed us to purify unto himself a peculiar people God expects us to turn from unrighteousness and iniquity that is what God has commanded don't think that because we're not saved by repentance that repentance is not important repentance from sin turning from sin is very important and that's why we have the rest of the Bible okay a lot of people don't realize this but the Bible is pretty long I mean the Bible is something like 783 thousand words or something it's 1189 chapters 31,000 verses there's a lot of things in the Bible not all of it has to do with salvation not all of it has to do with going to heaven or going to hell a lot of it is just how we should live our day to day life how we should serve God okay so after you understand the basics and you believe in Jesus and are saved you have work to do God expects you to do the work God expects you to get the sin out of your life to purify yourself the Bible says where for having these promises cleanse yourself from all filthiness of flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God okay so you already have the promises of God now your job is to cleanse yourself from all filthiness and to perfect holiness that's your job as a Christian so people out there who have been saved but have not gotten the sin out of their life and not started to serve God you need to repent of that and you need to get your sin the sin out of your life to the best of your ability seek God walk in the spirit read the Bible pray sing hymns go to church go soul winning and abstain from fleshly lush with lust which war against the soul that's what God expects of you and if you do that you will be blessed by God if you fail to do that you'll be cursed by God and you will lose that rewards in the kingdom of heaven okay now I don't know about you but I want to live a blessed life I want to have fellowship with God I want to earn rewards in the kingdom of heaven I want to do as much for God as I can I want to fulfill my purpose in this life because what does the Bible say let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man you see somebody who's not saved cannot fulfill their duty because they're not even a child or a servant of God they're gonna go to hell okay they have no you know purpose in life basically but those who are saved you're saved already you already believe in Jesus you already believe the gospel now after you believe and you're saved your whole purpose in life is to fear God and keep his commandments if you're not doing that then you literally are not doing anything that's worthwhile it's all just vanity if you're not serving and obeying God so I hope you learn something from this video I hope you like this video thank you buddy for watching God bless you and goodbye