Surrendering yourself to Christ’s lordship is not a requirement to be saved. Yes, you are going to become His possession, and that is the journey you will take after salvation, but it is not a requirement for salvation. There is a clear distinction. You can forsake the world all you want, and, you might have the intent to reform yourself, but it’s still not a requirement to be saved. To think this way is polluting the message of The Gospel of Jesus Christ. Inviting Jesus into your life is not a requirement to be saved. That is a tradition that has no backing in God’s Word.

So, what does God require?

That you acknowledge and admit you are a guilty sinner in His holy eyes and have a change of mind about what His Son did for you: He died on the cross for your sins. And there is no other way to God except to have a change of mind about what His Son did for you – because if you don’t, God doesn’t see you as one that is saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. He sees you as a sinner.

Forsaking sinful behavior has never been part of the good news. Now, there will be changes in your life after the salvation experience. I don’t doubt that one bit. I preach that there will be changes. But whatever changes God expects of a new believer, that is the Holy Spirit’s doing. And I can assure you; He will attend to it. Stop trying to change yourself. There is nothing you can do by your efforts in the flesh that does a better job than the Holy Spirit that is in you. The Holy Spirit will cause you to grow, to spiritually mature more each day, week, and year that goes by, to mold you into the being He wants you to be for His purposes.

It is evil to change the gospel message and especially in any attempt to force a man to reform their sinful ways. The Old Testament scriptures are full of examples of individuals that failed repeatedly. Law keepers still fall short of God’s demand for perfection. That is why we needed a Saviour. Thank God for Jesus.

I have said from day one that the gospel is a free gift that needs only to be received. What does Romans 6 say? “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” To be clear, no one ever, not now, in the past, or the future…no one ever got saved who didn’t admit to themselves that they are a sinner. We read in Romans 3, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” You see, the bible has this built-in silencer for self-boasting. People who go around bragging saying, “I keep the law of Moses;” well, good for you, congratulations you are a lost sinner, guilty of being unholy in the presence of God.

Just go back to the gospel record in Luke 18 and read about the rich young ruler. He kept all the commandments of God. God called him out. The Law was a measuring stick on His demand for perfection—which incidentally, no one could measure up. That’s what it did. It showed humanity that we are guilty sinners in God’s sight. That’s why He gave us another option; that’s why He sent his only begotten Son. That is why we must believe the gospel: the good news of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. He went to that cross, not just to forgive, but to remove all our sin.

What about repentance? I don’t care if you use the word repentance if you understand the original language definition. Repentance is a change of mind; the requirement that God says we must do to get to heaven. What is that? I repeat, admitting to yourself that you are a miserable sinner, that you are a guilty sinner in God’s eyes. Also, recognizing that you are incapable of saving yourself. There are no rules and regulations, no system or plan that can save you, only Christ. It starts by having a change of mind that says, “Yes, I am guilty, I am a sinner, I need the only begotten Son in my life, and I recognize what He did for me, what He did for this world and that He provided a way back to the Father; having spilt His blood that forgave my sin, He paid the penalty, He paid the price, and sprinkled His blood on the heavenly mercy seat, where God looks at it and says when He sees us, They are my holy ones. Not, they are guilty sinners. They are my holy ones, righteous because of what Christ did, imputed by Christ’s righteousness. Not imputed by self-made righteousness according to works.” Works have their place, but they have nothing to do with salvation.

“Well, I just like the way my pastor defines repentance.” Those who teach that nonsense preach you have to “turn from sin.” Repentance does not mean turning from sin. Those who espouse that are part of the Lordship Salvation group who foolishly teach those things.

So, what does the bible teach? The scriptures do teach repentance, and the correct definition of it is necessary for salvation. I don’t argue that. But the Greek word for repent is metanoeo. When translated into English, it simply means to change one’s mind. It never said to turn from sin. To do that would add works to salvation. If you think about it, repentance for salvation means a change of mind from man’s ideas of salvation (there’s plenty of them), man’s ideas about religion (and there’s plenty of them), to an acceptance of God’s only way of salvation. What does that produce when you have the right concept and understanding down? A new creation, a new creature. We are not reforming the old.

See, many teach repentance for salvation incorrectly. Many include some form of human effort or righteousness, such as an effort to “turn from sin.” That message is what has confused many people. It adds works to salvation and causes many people not to understand God’s gracious gift. The way they present it, it’s more like probation instead of salvation. It’s not scriptural, and it’s what the book of Galatians warns us against. It is a counterfeit gospel. It leads to shallow Christian lives, and that is very unfortunate. If you are living one of those shallow Christian lives, it cannot be cured—I repeat—it cannot be cured by adding works to salvation. Salvation has never been about what we do. It’s about what Jesus did.

What are the reasons to come to Jesus? To be saved from your sins. So why not begin recognizing from the very beginning that you are a guilty sinner needing a savior? Repentance and faith happen at the same time and are inseparable. Repentance, (the way scripture defines it) without faith is just a mere declaration of “sinnership” or a reformation, a turning over a new leaf, but that’s not biblical repentance unless it is accompanied by faith in Christ, in what He did and promised.

So how does salvation work? First, you must acknowledge your current state of guilt. Second, recognize your inability to save yourself. Third, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died in your place and receive his free gift of grace. That is how salvation works, my friend. Stop trying to complicate it and cease from your dead works; and that is what they are, dead works. Just rest on what Christ has done for you.

We need your help to reach more people with this precious good news of our savior Jesus Christ. So, we are asking that you join us in this great commission. In September, we are asking our faithful participants to dig a little deeper and donate toward this month’s goal. You can give your offering online using this link below. You can also send your offering to the address below. Let’s continue to turn the world upside down to make it right side up. Keep fighting the good fight of faith.

Sincerely yours,

Joseph A. Cortes

Under-shepherd to the Chief Shepherd