Jesus never said you must repent to receive salvation. He said “You must Change Your Mind and Believe!”
Why do Christians believe Jesus said “Repent.” When He actually said “Change Your Mind?” The short answer, because of the King James Bible.
The KJV translators chose to apply the Latin meaning “repentance” to the Greek word “Metanoia.” “Metanoia” is the Greek word the Gospel writers used, and its root meaning is to “change one’s mind.”
We can see demonstrated in the graphic above the fight between good and evil. Between deception and clarity. Between chains of bondage or freedom in Christ.
The word “repentance” comes from the Catholic (Latin), teachings of paying a “penance.”
Are we not taught salvation is the GIFT OF GRACE? Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
What does “Gift” mean? WITHOUT CHARGE. Do you see the conflict? Grace = Free, whereas Repenting = Paying a price. “Paying a price” is a rite and ritual of Catholicism, not Christianity. Paying a price is a work, and a boast.
And, by the way, when does the act of repentance end?
The doctrine of repentance haunts you throughout your life, all the way to your deathbed. You better hope your last words are “I’m sorry” if you want to enter heaven.
Still don’t believe? Then let me enter the Apostle Paul’s words into evidence
Who was the Apostle Paul? We read in Acts 9 Paul was the guy tormenting and killing Christians. Until one day the resurrected Jesus knocked him on his butt on the road to Damascus. After a series of events to get Paul’s full attention, Jesus then took Paul to Egypt and privately tutored him face-to-face on His gospel message. For three years!
Paul would then go on to save Christianity. He became the leader of all the disciples and the struggling Christian church. He then went on to author of 2/3’s of the New Testament. Can we agree this makes him thee authority on the subject?
How did Paul define the way to salvation?
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.”
What’s missing in Paul’s directions? R-E-P-E-N-T-I-N-G of any kind. No mention of having to confess or turn away from sin, and no having to do anything but speak your belief in Jesus Christ based on what he did for you.
The questions are, was Paul right or was he a false prophet? Did he just forget to mention repentance? Were these verses not inspired by the Holy Spirit? The answers are: No, No and No!
What about the most famous verse in the Bible? John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Did Jesus forget to mention you must repent of your sins to be saved?
I pray:
Now when you read your Bibles, every time you see the word “repent” you will replace it with “change your mind.”
If you’ve been stuck in the “sin, repent, repeat” cycle, you can now break free of that bondage.
If you have rejected the good news of the gospel because you didn’t want to voluntarily inflict self punishment on yourself, that you can now have A CHANGE OF MIND and confess your belief in Jesus, then let Him worry about your sinning ways. Because He will. And you will change, not by your works, but by His.
I invite you to my website Faithing.com to learn how to believe and make the confession “I change my mind Jesus, you are my Lord and Savior!”
God Bless us all,
-BigAddison
You may also like to read:
ABC’s of Repentance – by Pastor Joseph Cortes
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Paul was teaching while Jesus was alive. So, how could a resurrected Jesus teach him? Did not Peter ask Jesus if he could go talk to Paul and Jesus warned him to be aware of false Prophets.
If you think Paul was preaching while Jesus was alive, I suggest you read about Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus.
This article raises two questions. Since KJV translators chose to apply the Latin meaning “repentance” to the Greek word “Metanoia.” and it truly appears to be so. Then how can we claim the KJB to be without error. And more importantly, why would God allow it to happen in the first place?
To a lay person, that Latin meaning is deceptive and misleading. And it is done a lot. I can’t count the number of times in 50 years of reading and listening to educated Bible scholars that this word and that word is mistranslated. There must be hundreds if not one. It appears the KJB or any Bible is not the pure truth. So, how are we to have faith in what we read and hear? I am not trying to be argumentative. This is truly a major concern.
But one thing is for sure. The truth will set you free. And the truth in your article is truly a WHOOPER! Mediating on this truth is mind boggling. It truly breaks a chain and opens the joy of being saved. God says, ‘if you seek he will show.” Some how God led me to your article for I really needed it. Soli Deo gloria