Why "Turning from Sins" Misses the Mark on Repentance

Why repentance in the Bible doesn't mean "turn from sins": GOD REPENTS! 

The word used is metanoia in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. See Jer. 18:10, KJV; Amos 7:3, 7:6, KJV; Jonah 3:10, KJV. Dr. Charlie Bing affirms that "when the Greek translators in the Septuagint version, about three hundred years before Christ, . . . when they came to the Old Testament and translated some of these passages about God changing His mind, they used the word metanoia for God. And the old King James Version continues to use the word, 'God repented'. So it can't be turning from sins because God doesn't sin! It just shows you how they understood that word."[1]

So for all those who say that "repentance" in the Bible means to "turn from sins," that would make God a sinner, because God repents (Gr. metanoia, see the above Bible verses). 

Don't miss the mark on the meaning of repentance! The word simply means to have "a change of mind" ("a whole-hearted change of mind," as Charles Ryrie would say). That is biblical repentance, and that definition is right on target!

Reference:

[1] Charlie Bing, "What is Repentance?" Free Grace Notes, YouTube video, timestamp: 2:15 - 2:50 minutes, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9hEh6J6NS8 (accessed February 18, 2023).

J. Vernon McGee's 1973 Objection to "Commitment" Salvation

"Now, actually, there is beginning to come into the thinking of a great many folks, that out yonder somewhere there is Someone. And they've got a modern song, 'Put your hand in the hand of the man of Galilee.' Well, that's getting pretty close to it, by the way. But even that I think is missing it, because you've got to come to Him as a sinner. And you have to accept Him first as your Savior. And today I hear a great deal about 'let's make our commitment.' What is your commitment, by the way? If you think that it's a matter of just coming to Him and making Him, as I hear it, 'make Him your Lord and Master,' He said there are gonna be many who are gonna say, 'Lord, Lord,' in that day. You don't make Him Lord and Master first; you make Him Savior. He died for you. And if you don't begin with Him there, at the cross, you're not gonna begin with Him anywhere."[1]

Reference:

[1] J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible radio broadcast, "Job 1:1-5 | Thru The Bible" (time stamp: 14:17-15:14 minutes). The air date of the original radio broadcast was sometime around mid-February 1973. Note: The above statement is transcribed directly from the 1973 radio broadcast. The printed statement that appears in McGee's Thru The Bible commentary is edited and reads slightly differently.

Grace Denied: The Horrible Doctrine of "Double Predestination"

This “horrible doctrine” of Calvinism (aptly named as such by John Calvin himself) is a gross distortion of what the Bible teaches! A more sanitized name for infant damnation is “double predestination”: the teaching which says that God created some people (even babies!) to burn in hell for all eternity for His “good pleasure” without their choice being involved at all. May I say, such a god is more like the Old Testament abomination known as “Molech,” the Canaanite deity to whom the wayward Israelites sacrificed their children, NOT the biblical YHWH! (See Deut. 1:39; 2 Sam. 12:23; Jer. 19:4-5; Jonah 4:11; Matt. 19:14; Mk. 10:13-16; Lk. 18:15-17.)

H. A. Ironside, the long-time pastor of Moody Church, likewise repudiated the teaching of “double predestination” as unbiblical. Concerning it, Ironside stated: “There is no such thing taught in the Word of God as predestination to eternal condemnation. If men are lost, they are lost because they do not come to Christ. When men do come to Christ, they learn the wonderful secret that God has foreknown it all from eternity, and that He had settled it before the world came into existence that they were to share the glory of His Son throughout endless ages. D.L. Moody used to say in his quaint way, when people talked about the subject of election, ‘The whosoever wills are the elect and the whosoever won’ts are the non-elect.’ And so you can settle it for yourself whether you will be among the elect of God or not.”[1] 

J. Vernon McGee similarly states: “God has never predestined anybody to be lost. If you are lost, it is because you have rejected God’s remedy. It is like a dying man to whom the doctor offers curing medicine. ‘If you take this, it’ll heal you.’ The man looks at the doctor in amazement and says, ‘I don’t believe you.’ Now the man dies and the doctor’s report says he died of a certain disease, and that’s accurate. But may I say to you, there was a remedy, and he actually died because he didn’t take the remedy. God has provided a remedy. Let me repeat, God has never predestined anybody to be lost. That’s where your free will comes in, and you have to determine for yourself what your choice will be.”[2] “There never will be a person in hell who did not choose to be there, my friend. You are the one who makes your own decision.”[3]

References:

[1] H. A. Ironside, “Election and Predestination” (1935), Moody Church website. https://www.moodymedia.org/articles/election-and-predestination/ (accessed Dec 31, 2023). Also see Ironside’s commentary on Ephesians titled In The Heavenlies: Practical Expository Addresses on the Epistle to the Ephesians (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1937), p. 29, commentary on Ephesians 1:4-5.

[2] J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary Series: Ephesians (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1991), p. 35.

[3] J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary Series: Romans: Chapters 9-16 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1991), p. 32.

Repentance Explained: What Does It Meme?

This meme reminds me of a cartoon I saw the other day about the meaning of repentance. In the picture there were two men standing outside in what looked like a city park.  One was a sidewalk prophet holding a sign that said: "REPENT"! The other man was a bystander out for a walk. After reading the sign, the bystander just had one question: "Wouldn't I have to pent first?" he asked.[1]

This is what we are unfortunately dealing with when it comes to the word "repent". Most people have no clue what it means! And worse yet is that the explanations they are given are usually either unclear or just plain wrong. But if instead of the word "Repent" (whatever that means!) I were to say, "Change your thinking" -- now that's a lot more clear!

Let's keep the gospel clear by explaining what biblical repentance is: a change of mind (e.g. see Hebrews 12:17, KJV, the marginal note for "place of repentance" says: "or, way to change his mind").

Reference:

[1] See the CartoonStock cartoon by Crowden Satz, "Wouldn't I have to pent first?" (Search ID: CS565496), uploaded March 6, 2022. https://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoon?searchID=CS565496

A Model Argument: How Newton Proved Creation Needs a Maker

Sir Isaac Newton was once examining a new and fine globe, when a gentleman came into his study, who did not believe in a God, but declared that the world we live in came by chance. He was much pleased with the handsome globe, and asked, "Who made it?"

"Nobody," answered Sir Isaac, "it happened here."

The gentleman looked up in amazement at the answer, but he soon understood what it meant.

The Bible says, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." Must not that man be a fool indeed, who can say this beautiful and wonderful world came by chance, when he knows there is not a house, or ship, or picture, or any other thing in it, but has had a maker. We might better say that this paper we are reading grew just as it is, than to say that the sun, moon, and stars, and this globe on which we live, came without a creative hand.[1]

Reference:

[1] The Sailor's Magazine and Seamen's Friend (April 1873), Volume 45,  Issue 4, pg. 113. Note: This anecdote also appears in Moody Monthly (January 1923), pg. 227. The statement of it given in Moody Monthly, however, does not include the final paragraph as the earlier article does.

C. I. Scofield: The Doctor Who Wasn't

C. I. SCOFIELD

Anyone looking for information about the life and ministry of C. I. Scofield will in a short time be made aware of the controversy related to how exactly he came to be called "Doctor". The unanswered question is this: Where did Scofield get his Doctor of Divinity (D.D.) degree? Critics rightly point out that there is no record of it having been granted to him by any institution of higher learning. Arguing from a position of ignorance (Prov. 18:2, 18:13, NLT), some critics go so far as to say that Scofield bestowed the title on himself (!) in order to gain more notoriety and prestige. 

But nothing could be further from the truth. That was not Scofield's style. For example, I remember reading an old biography of C. I. Scofield that told the story of when Scofield was a new pastor in the south. The church he pastored in Dallas was called "a Yankee church" owing to the fact that it was Congregational, and Scofield was viewed with suspicion as a northerner. It would have bolstered Scofield's status to tell about how he had fought for the Confederacy under General Robert E. Lee, and how he had been awarded the Southern Cross of Honor for bravery in the Civil War. Yet Scofield was silent about it; he left it to someone else to point it out. In light of this incident, it would have been uncharacteristic of Scofield to then self-aggrandize by bestowing on himself the title of Doctor! 

Since I found no information online (no facts at least, just guesses) about where and how Scofield received the title of "Doctor," I set out to do my own research in order to find the truth. And this is what I found: in contrast to what the critics say, Scofield did NOT bestow the title on himself; someone else did. Referring to the incident, Scofield remarked with a bit of humor by saying, "I've been indoctrinated." The details of the event and the facts surrounding it are provided by William L. Pettingill, from an article in The Sunday School Times titled "When Scofield Gave Counsel". The article is dated September 17, 1921, less than two months after Scofield's passing. Pettingill begins the article by sharing this incident, which hopefully will "put to rest" the ignorant claims of the critics. Pettingill writes: "When I first met C. I. Scofield, he was already famous as a Bible preacher and teacher, and he was called Pastor Scofield. Later, after someone had succeeded in pinning a 'D.D.' [Doctor of Divinity] on him, I heard him say to an audience to which he had been introduced as 'Doctor' Scofield, 'Yes, at last, I have been indoctrinated.' It seemed strange for a time to hear him called Doctor, but we all knew he richly deserved it when we reflected that it meant Teacher."[1]

So in one sense, C. I. Scofield wasn't a Doctor (he was not officially recognized as such by Who's Who, nor by any academic institution per se). Yet in another sense, he was! Scofield's peers, and the Christian community among whom and to whom he ministered, gave him the title that he so "richly deserved," the title of Doctor. 

Reference:

[1] William L. Pettingill, "When Scofield Gave Counsel" (The Sunday School Times, September 17, 1921). https://archive.org/details/sim_sunday-school-times_1921-09-17_63_38

Warren Wiersbe's Tribute to Scofield and His Reference Bible

It has been said that, "A man's legacy is not measured by what he built for himself, but by what he gave to others." In the case of C. I. Scofield, he gave us one of the classic study Bible's of all time: The Scofield Reference Bible. No wonder Warren Wiersbe lists C. I. Scofield as one of the "Great Men of the Faith," and one of the "50 People Every Christian Should Know"! 

Here's the tribute that Wiersbe gives to Scofield and his Reference Bible (see the insert below from Wiersbe's book Living With the Giants):