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REPENTANCE IS A DOCTRINE!

"And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." (Luke 24:47)

I know it breaks the heart of God when self-proclaimed Bible believing Christians neglect the importance of the doctrine of repentance. As a matter of fact, there are some famous preachers of the Independent Baptist denomination that claim that repentance is not a doctrine at all. This is very sad and especially when many people follow these men because they have a large number of people they can count in their churches. Now let me set something straight on that note. I believe a ministry should not exist to count people, but a ministry exists because people count.

It is also a crying shame when a preacher cannot give someone a brief clear definition of what repentance is. Some of them know if they defined it exactly how the Bible teaches it, they would have to admit that their salvation statistics don't match the statistics in the Lamb's Book of Life. I already know these statements will stir up a hornet's nest, but I am saying this out of love for God's Word. My love for God is to go beyond any love I have for man. And it is the love of man over God why people allow error to continue on.

The Independent Baptist denomination (which I am a part of by conviction) has predominantly adopted the carnal philosophy of "gain means God." In order to carry out this philosophy, a lot of unscriptural methods are used to draw the crowd in. And yes, one of these unscriptural methods is a very crucial one indeed. The method of teaching that repentance is only just a change of mind without a change of life. My friend, there is no such thing as a change of mind without a change of life. I am not saying that repentance is simply a change in lifestyle because that would be a salvation of works and not of faith. I am saying that a changed life is the RESULT of a changed mind of someone that has repented. This is the difference between a works salvation and a salvation that works.

This explains why the churches who downplay the the importance of repentance have to rely on a carnival rather than conviction of the Holy Spirit. Yes, my friend, I know these words are not encouraging, but truth is still truth whether we like it or not and we dare not go against it (2 Corinthians 13:8). Especially when we go against it based upon the admiration of men and human reasoning.

For example, some say that repentance is not a doctrine because it is not found in the Gospel of John. Well, the virgin birth is also not found in the Gospel of John but it is still found in the Bible (as a whole) and is very much an essential doctrine as repentance is. Consider the book of Esther where God's name is not even mentioned, but His providential hand is seen nonverbally all the way through it. Does this mean that God is no longer a doctrine?

Now I already know what some would say about me who defend this nonsense. They would call me an enemy of soulwinning. And what I would say in response to that is what kind of "soulwinning" am I guilty of being an enemy of? You see, beloved, just as Satan has counterfeited many things in Christianity such as contemporary worship, music, and modern bibles, he has also counterfeited soulwinning as well by making us focus on empty professors rather than possessors of salvation.

This is what I like to call "intellectual evangelism" that gets people to believe in God in their head and not their heart (Romans 10:9-10, Titus 1:16). This is a type of "soulwinning" that produces confessing mouths without convicted hearts. By the way, I am not promoting "lordship salvation." There is no way anyone in an imperfect body can make Jesus Christ one hundred percent Lord of their lives to get saved. I am not talking about sinless perfection, but I am talking about a changed life as a result of a changed mind that does not have to be dragged into the house of God on Sunday.

There is more I can say but I will leave you with a question. Do you still believe that repentance is not a doctrine after reading this? If you don't, then you need to realize who the real enemy of true soulwinning is. I am convinced that repentance is not only just a doctrine, but is THE doctrine of the Bible!

- James S. Hodges

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