The Abomination of Easy-Believism – Part 1- Repentance

by Mike Ratliff

30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now commanding men that everyone everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He determined, having furnished proof to all by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17:30-31 (LSB) 

Today’s gospel, that is, the gospel that is prevalently adhered to by most of the visible Church, is one constructed around the goal of persuading people to make a ‘decision for Christ.’ The entire process is one of appealing to either one’s desire for a better life here and now or their fear of hell. Invitations are designed to entice people to “come forward” by “priming the pump” as several people move towards the front when it begins. Then those folks who are persuaded are led to pray a prayer “accepting Jesus” into their lives or hearts. There is no mention of the Lordship of Christ. There is no mention of repentance. Is this the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ?

A close study of our Lord’s own sermons will quickly reveal that He did indeed command those who were called to enter the Kingdom to repent.

12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He departed into Galilee; 13 and leaving Nazareth, He came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled, saying,
15 “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI,
BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES—
16 THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT,
AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH,
UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:12-17 (LSB) 

32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” Luke 5:32 (LSB) 

3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or do you think that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse offenders than all the men who live in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Luke 13:3-5 (LSB) 

Repentance was the message our Lord preached. This was the message that the Apostles preached. This was the message that the Reformers preached. This was the message that the Puritans preached. This was the message that George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards and John Wesley preached. When did this change? When did the biblical doctrine of repentance come under attack and become diluted by Easy-Believism? In 1937, Dr. H.A. Ironside wrote, “The doctrine of repentance is the missing note in many otherwise and fundamentally sound circles today.”¹ Dr. Ironside wrote that those doing the diluting decried “the necessity of repentance lest it seem to invalidate the freedom of grace.”² 

My brethren, this is antinomianism done in the name of preserving “the freedom of grace.” While that sounds quite noble and even biblical, it is actually a deliberate ignoring of our Lord’s command to repent. To get around this contradiction, for that is what it is, those who teach no-Lordship salvation teach that repentance was called for prior to the cross. It is another age they say. Is it? Let us look at what repentance really is.

The Greek word for “repentance” is μετάνοια (metanoia). It means, “A change or alteration of mind (Hebrews 12:17). Repentance, change or mind from evil to good or from worse to better (Matthew 3:11; 9:13 Textus Receptus; Acts 20:21).“³ “Metánoia” is a compound word made up of “meta”, “after” and “noeõ,” to understand.” “Metánoia” literally means “afterthought” or “change of mind.” A survey of “metánoia”in the New Testament reveals that it “always speaks of change of purpose, and specifically a turning from sin.”⁴ Our Lord Jesus’ use of “metánoia” was as a call for a definitive turning from evil then a turning to God for salvation. This is a radical conversion. It is a transformation of our very nature from the natural man to the new creation. (2 Corinthians 5:17.) More often than not, when I think of repentance, the Lord brings to my mind the following passages.

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (LSB) 

9 For they themselves report about us what kind of an entrance we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 (LSB) 

4 But when the kindness and affection of God our Savior appeared, 5 He saved us, not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:4-7 (LSB) 

Biblical salvation is by grace through faith alone, apart from works (Ephesians 2:8-9). We also see that genuine salvation is succinctly marked by a radical repentance unto a new life. This repentance is the product of regeneration which washes the believer unto salvation. It is impossible to separate belief from repentance in the Bible. Those whom God draws to Himself, regenerates, justifies and sanctifies will believe and repent prior to being declared righteous as the Father imputes Christ’s righteousness to their account.

What is so tragic in “today’s gospel,” is the removal of repentance and submitting to Christ as Lord as part of the “general call.” This leads people to believe they are saved if they pray a sinner’s prayer and are baptized. They are actually counseled to not be concerned about “making Christ Lord” of their life because that is not part of salvation. Repentance is seen as simply “a change of of mind or attitude concerning either God, Christ, dead works or sin..”⁵ However, as we saw above, biblical repentance is far more than simply a “change of mind or attitude.” It is a product of becoming a New Creation through the washing of regeneration.

I heard a sermon by John MacArthur several years ago in which he was speaking about this very thing. He quoted one of the leaders of the No-Lordship movement as saying, “If repentance is a requirement for salvation then the actual number of genuine believers is very small.” This was spoken in defense of the No-Lordship position stating that this couldn’t be God’s will since this would limit the size of the Church.  I do understand their concern believing that this radical repentance must be a human work, but as we have seen, it isn’t. It is what happens in the heart of real believers who are regenerated by God. This genuine repentance produces real fruit.

The fruit of genuine repentance always begins with a complete surrender of the will to the “Kurios,” Lord as His “doulos,” slaves. This will always create a change in behavior, which is the new life in Christ. Can you see the mighty hand of God in this miracle? When our Lord called for “metánoia,” the Jews He was preaching to had no problem understanding what He was saying. “They realized He was calling them to admit their sin and turn from it, to be converted, to turn around, to forsake their sin and selfishness and follow Him instead.”⁶ We have seen clearly that this is all done by the grace of God. It is not a “work” done by the unregenerate.

What we must never forget is that many respond quickly to “today’s gospel,” but they quickly prove their disingenuousness by not showing the fruit of repentance. Just because someone comes forward, prays the prayer and is baptized does not mean they are saved and their total lack of fruit in their life shows they have never really repented. Those who are genuine turn their backs on sin, unbelief, and disobedience. They draw near unto Christ with a faith that obeys Him as Lord. Genuine salvation manifests itself in true repentance, which causes the believer to walk in righteousness.

Never forget that being part of church is not the fruit we are talking about. Church attendance and any thing that people do that we would call religiosity are not fruits of repentance.

13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ Matthew 7:13-23 (LSB) 

Those being cast away from the Lord in this passage were convinced that they were believers. Some are preachers and theologians. However, they are not genuine because even though they called Jesus Christ “Kurios,” they were not really His “doulos.” No, instead, they believed a false gospel that saves no one.

Soli Deo Gloria!

¹H.A. Ironside, Except Ye Repent (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1937)p. 7.

²Ibid., p. 11.

³Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study New Tesament  (Chattanooga:AMG Publishers, 1991) p. 936.

⁴W.E. Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Old Tappen, NJ: Revell, 1981), 3:280.

⁵G. Michael Cocoris, Lordship Salvation-Is it Biblical? (Dallas: Redención Viva, 1983), p. 12.

⁶John MacArthur, The Gospel According to Jesus (Panorama City:Word of Grace, 1988), p.165.