In several books, from the Worldview Weekend platform, and in various articles you’ve hopefully read here, I’ve sounded the alarm about the sorry state of the worldviews of many evangelical Christians. Numerous studies—perhaps the most stunning of which was done by the Southern Baptist Church of its own youth—reveal that the lifestyles, values, and the resulting worldview of most of those that attend “evangelical churches” is no different from the world and that a large majority of students leave the church after graduating from high school, never to return.
While the studies reveal the problem, they don’t explain what has caused it, but I believe I know. The root is that our churches are filled with false coverts. And it’s a problem I identify with all too readily because, despite being raised in a Christian home, taught in a Christian school, and a member of a Bible-believing church, I was a false convert myself until I was an adult. And the scary part of it is that it’s not all that hard to do!
I played the “game” (even though I didn’t know I was playing a game). I thought I was saved because I believed in Jesus Christ, had prayed the “sinner’s prayer,” walked the aisle, and had been baptized. I was “sorry” for my sins but it was not the kind of sorrow that produced repentance unto salvation.
My wake-up call came when I read the book of 1 John and recognized ten clear signs of a true convert but saw very few of those signs manifested in my own life. After searching the Scriptures further, I discovered the source of my dysfunctional attempt at Christianity in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10:
Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
True repentance was missing from my heart and, hence, my life! ”Godly sorrow” causes someone to turn and go in the opposite direction of a willfully sinful life. True repentance leads to a change in a person’s life, priorities, and desires, and it produces God-honoring fruit.
You see, many people say they believe in Jesus, but this does not make them saved. Recall that the Bible says demons believe in Jesus (James 2:19) but so what? It’s not a saving belief.
Too often people say they are saved because they are sorry for the bad things they do, but they continue to willfully practice sin (can you say “Sunday Christian”?). The 2 Corinthians passage makes clear that there is a worldly sorrow that leads to death and another, godly, sorrow that produces repentance leading to salvation.
What really caught my attention and caused me to realize I was not a good person, that I was totally depraved and deserved hell, was when I encountered the Biblical teaching and doctrine of the moral law or the Ten Commandments. That made me realize only a godly sorrow that leads to repentance and salvation would do. The moral law revealed my true condition—my extreme sinfulness and depravity.
Sadly, repentance is not a Christian doctrine we hear taught often enough (many churches never teach it), and as a result, the church is filled with false converts. This dire reality should concern all of us. Scripture is forthright about how important this is:
• The word “repent” and its various forms is used over 100 times in the Bible.
• John the Baptist preached in the wilderness, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2).
• Jesus preached this same message of repentance. Mark 1:14, 15 says, “Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel.’”
• In Mark 6, Jesus sends out the 12 disciples two by two. Verse 12 states, “So they went out and preached that people should repent”(italics mine).
Every day 150,000 people step off into eternity, and a frightening percentage of them fall into eternal judgment. And many who wind up under judgment are likely shocked when they realize their situation. Many will have thought they lived a good life as defined by today’s standards. They went to church, perhaps even walked the aisle and got baptized. Some even taught Sunday school. But Jesus warned us this would happen:
“Not everyone who psays to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will qenter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who rdoes the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21-23)
I thank God someone once spoke doctrine into my life, revealed the true condition of my heart and mind, and declared Code Blue for my soul. It’s time for the American church to declare Code Blue and return to teaching sound Biblical doctrine—to our children, teens and adults—because hearts and minds are at eternal risk.
If you agree that this is a series issue facing the American church then would you please join us in promoting the FREE, Code Blue Rallies we are holding in 8 cities this fall?
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I have been grateful to God for many years that I was taught that true repentance not only involved being sorry for my sin but wanting to cleansed of it and to live differently. I saw a very striking example of how only being sorry works some years ago. My niece with her two young children, a boy and a girl, were living with me. One day my niece was out and the children were playing outside, and I heard screams of anger from the little girl. I went out the door and she told me her brother had done something he was not supposed to do. His response (at the age of 4) was to say, "I'm sowwy, I'm sowwy." I went back inside and shortly heard the same anger being expressed by his older sister. I went outside and got the same response from the little boy. The third time, when I went out and he said he was "sowwy" I said to him, "No, Richard,you are not sorry." He said very emphatically that he was sorry. He had been taught that you had to say you were sorry when you did the wrong thing. I sat him down and told him, that if he were really sorry, he would not have done it again. He was really surprised. No one had told him that saying you were sorry was not enough. I sat him down in a chair and told him I wanted him to think about that for a while (I set the kitchen timer for 5 minutes, a terribly long time for a 4-year-old). When the timer went off, I told him to stop saying he was sorry, unless he was willing to stop doing whatever it was he was doing. Saying he was sorry when he was not willing to let go of the sinful behavior was telling a lie. As time went on, I tried to teach both children the concept of sin and salvation, and what sorrow for sin was. Their mother moved elsewhere, and the children are now grown. But I have always remembered it as an example of what sorrow without desire to be changed by God is. Click here to reply to this post
I have a friend that calls herself saved, calls herself "born again" and believes she is on her way to heaven. But.... she has not bore the fruit of repentance. I know this because she has not bore any fruit unto salvation. I grieve for her because she purposefully listens to TV preachers who only preach what "itching ears" want to hear. She is under the impression that Christianity is only about being blessed by God, no matter what you do. "God just wants me to be happy" is her motto. I grieve for her daily and those like her. I've told her time and again what true Christianity is, but because of false teaching from very prominent pastors on television and because of her desire stay within her comfort zone, she put such a wall up and is not listening to me. I have not been able to express true salvation fluently, so I am so thankful to Brannon for this article. Click here to reply to this post
Re: On Being Sorry, Not Saved
Posted On: 05/18/07 08:45:20 AM
Age 60, MO
Thank you for bringing this topic of false converts to the forefront. It is an issue that many claiming Christianity are in denial about. Your mention of the "Sunday Christian" is a valid description of many who routinely grace the pews of their sanctuaries every Sunday, and who have fallen into the rut of tradition that says "this is the way we do church." They encourage their offspring to make an altar call and be baptised, long before they are aware enough of what a committment to Christ is all about, and before the Holy Spirit has had a chance to work on them. Having made their profession of faith prematurely, it then becomes more difficult for the Holy Spirit to work in their lives. Jesus said to pick up our crosses daily. Also, I have sat through many months of sermons without hearing one on repentance. George Cancilla Click here to reply to this post
Re: On Being Sorry, Not Saved
Posted On: 05/18/07 06:53:35 AM
Age 57, AR
You can be sorry, and not saved for sure, but you cannot repent unless the Holy Spirit quickens your heart and draws you. I know Brother Jim believes this. Too many Armenians in the SBC today. Sad commentary on the weak preaching there in SOME churches, not all. I attend an SBC, and love it, but not because it's an SBC. I do love the doctrine, and do believe that many of the preachers are still proclaiming the truth. Those few who are apostate are making it hard for the good ones. Anyway, I came to Christ at 28, in 1978, during the hippie years. Yes, I was a partier, but the whole in my heart was growing larger and larger. I felt as if no one, absolutely no one loved me the way I wanted to be loved. I was hurting, and the drugs were not doing the trick. A Godly woman at work told me one day, and this is all she said, that God loved me. You know, I didn't have to hear the ten commandments or the Roman road, though those are important ways to witness. I visited her church and that very day, I was so convicted of my sin I knew I had to do something. I put it off until the next Sunday, though. I wanted to make sure I was presentable, and that Sunday I looked a mess. Typical worldly thinking. When I returned, she asked me if she could go down to the front with me. If I hadn't done it that morning, at that time, when the Holy Spirit was dealing with me so strongly, I don't know if I would've had another chance to do it. I gave my heart to Jesus, and knew that when I prayed for him to forgive me (the Roman road was used) I would never go back to that old life. You see, it's not the words, it's the heart. So to me, we shouldn't poo-poo the sinners prayer. Yes, they're just words, but we don't know the sinners heart, only God does, and he will draw, and it's the sinners decision as to whether he will respond or not. Click here to reply to this post
Re: Re: On Being Sorry, Not Saved
Posted On: 08/10/07 10:21:16 AM
Age 28, MD
Wow, thanks for pointing out that it's the "Armenians" [sic] fault. Seems to me that there are plenty of Calvinists out there teaching that all you have to do is believe and then you're good to go! Even if after you're saved you turn right around and fall back into a lifestyle of sin...even denial of God won't condemn you to hell! It's being preached...don't believe me? Just enroll in Dr. Charles Stanley's online Bible study and see for yourself. (That's where I encountered it for the first time...) Repentance in their eyes is a "work". I'm sure that there are others who are teaching the same garbage theology. Click here to reply to this post
Re: On Being Sorry, Not Saved
Posted On: 05/17/07 09:37:36 PM
Age 66, WA
Over the past two years, I have learned most of us do not know or understand the meaning of repent. Especially lost is the knowledge of the Greek word, which is translated repent, metanoeo. We think we know, but we have not studied. Most of us would be surprised at the definition of repent found in a Webster's dictionary or the Oxford American dictionary. We also forget salvation is by God's grace (a gift) alone through His faith (also a gift) alone in Christ Jesus and His faithfulness alone, and not by any works on our part whatsoever. Salvation is 100% of and from God who is sovereign.
Most people sharing or preaching the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ use the word repent to obligate people to do works of the law to be saved. Anyway, it would be well for all of us to thoroughly study this word and how it is used in the New Testament. Click here to reply to this post
Re: On Being Sorry, Not Saved
Posted On: 05/17/07 09:43:04 AM
Age 51, TX
Oy! The only way to be more "on target" would be to shoot first and then draw the target.
Great column! 'tis a shame on my SBC that such is true within our association. 'tis a shame that such is true anywhere that Christ is claimed. But it is inevitable, as the Lord has told us this will be (1 Tim 4 and 1 John 2:15 - 19).
All the more reason we must be faithful to proclaim the hard truths of Scripture. The world is full of the things men want to hear - leading many to destruction while thinking they are "OK with the Big Man upstairs."
Now is the time - as it is in every generation - for sound doctrine to mark the church. Click here to reply to this post
Re: On Being Sorry, Not Saved
Posted On: 05/17/07 09:17:40 AM
Age 42, NC
I, like you thought I was saved but I really wasn't. I was depending on what tv and radio said about the bible and what was in it. I thought that if I believed that Jesus died for my sins, I just had to be good and I would get to go to Heaven. When I saw for myself what the bible says, the Holy Spirit showed me the truth. But repentance does not save you. When you trust Jesus' work on the cross as the only payment for your sins, you will then repent(change your mind) and realize you were never saved at all. Only the power of the Holy Spirt can change you from being a hopeless sinner to a saint. Repentance will lead you to salvation but it does not save you. Click here to reply to this post
Re: On Being Sorry, Not Saved
Posted On: 05/17/07 09:02:35 AM
Age 47, MO
Amen, Amen, Amen!
After coming to Christ I was baptized with my dad and sister. They are both Jehovah's Witnesses now and I believe that the reason the weren't soundly saved is the failure to repent.
I do wonder also that it may be possible to truly repent and then not put your full trust in the true Christ. You may be depending on your works, or your baptism, or something else than the creator of the universe. If not that, then maybe you have a different Christ you are trusting in, a Christ who was an angel or a created being or and exalted man. That trust would be misplaced, like trusting your lawyer to do your heart transplant.
I agree you need true repentance and trust the true Christ. Examine yourself and see if you pass the test. Click here to reply to this post
Re: On Being Sorry, Not Saved
Posted On: 05/17/07 08:23:12 AM
Age 59, IL
Brannon, seldom have I "enjoyed" the strong words of a convicting message or sermon. But afterwards, I have always been so grateful; grateful for belonging to a church with strong and convicting messages, and grateful for reading about what I truly needed to be reminded of. Thank you for clarifying for us what true Christianity is all about. This verse is for you, my friend - Gal. 6:9. In Him, scott. Click here to reply to this post
Re: On Being Sorry, Not Saved
Posted On: 05/17/07 08:20:04 AM
Age 59, IA
Right on, bro. About time somebody said this. Wish we heard it more often from the pulpit.
The amazing thing is, we are hearing, from our pulpit, that we ought to "witness", but not that we need to repent. If there isn't a difference in our lives and those of the rest of the world, why bother "witnessing"? Click here to reply to this post
Re: Re: On Being Sorry, Not Saved
Posted On: 05/22/07 11:55:00 AM
Age 47, TX
This is just such a timely message. Charlse Stanley recently preached on something very tangibly related to this epic in the church.
He noted that the church today teaches a Jesus who "overlooks" our sin. That is a lie. Jesus " paid" for our sin and that is significantly different.He knew exactly how depraved we were and saw all the ugliness of our sins. A Savior who pays for our sin deserves our repentence and indebtedness and not just our praise. One who only " overlooks" our sin simply shows compassion. We give that Jesus a polite thank you , with no understanding of the real price he paid for our sin.
Repentence makes us debtors to Christ. And our reflection on that repentence gives depth and richness to that dear eternal gift that can be attained through no other name under heaven.
Blessings,
Shirley Skidmore Click here to reply to this post
