Repenting IS Believing

Jesus said to the Sadducees, "Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God." Many today who call themselves Independent Baptists have the same problem as the Sadducees, in that they preach a powerless, unbalanced gospel message that leaves their "converts" in their sins, that acknowledges atonement and justification while denying repentance and regeneration. In their ignorance they errantly decry the message of repentance that the Lord Jesus, the disciples, AND the Apostle Paul preached, and disparage those who rightly include repentance in their gospel message. One of the great truths of scripture that they fail to grasp is that REPENTANCE AND SAVING FAITH ARE INSEPARABLE; that many scriptures use the term "repentance" as a synonym of saving faith and salvation.

Further, contrary to another associated heresy prevalent among those same pseudo-Baptists, the repentance required for salvation most certainly DOES mean TURNING FROM SIN, and consequently turning to the only remedy for our sin, the Lord Jesus. We are not saved by works or by ceasing from sin; but until a man understands the seriousness of his sin and its terrifying consequences, and therefore desires to be free from his sin, he will not be prepared to truly come to Christ or be truly converted. The commands of the Lord Jesus are clear: "that REPENTANCE and remission of sins SHOULD BE PREACHED in his name among all nations" (Luke 24:47), and further as Paul preached on Mars Hill; that God now "commandeth all men everywhere to repent." Repenting IS believing.