John the Baptist and Jesus both said "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Matthew 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2 and saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
People read those two verse and do NOT understand what they were saying. They see the word repent and add the words "OF YOUR SINS" and see "kingdom of heaven" and think this is a salvation verse. WRONG.
Salvation verses contain the words FAITH, BELIEVE, ETERNAL LIFE, EVERLASTING LIFE, or SAVED. If you find a verse that does not have any of those words then you do NOT have a salvation verse. You will never find a verse that actually says Repent OF YOUR SINS.
Hebrews 6:1 actually says it best... Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God...
ALL works are dead works. Righteous works and Evil works are both dead works. There are no works that can save you. Righteous works do not save. Evil works do not save. You can NOT repent of your sins and be righteous enough to save your self. Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, bloody menstrual cloths, and can not cleanse us from our unrighteousness.
Only the blood of Jesus saves you and makes you righteous.
Most people are ignorant of what 'kingdom of heaven' means. What John the Baptist and Jesus meant when they said the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand is ... the MESSIAH has come... the Savior, has come!
What were they calling people to repent of? Their sins? NO. John the Baptist and Jesus were both saying Repent of whatever you have placed your faith in for salvation and place your faith in the Messiah who has come!
You must repent, you must change your mind, of whatever you believe saves you.
What do you believe saves you?
Do you believe Good Works saves you? Repent.
Do you believe keeping the law saves you? Repent.
Do you believe meats and drinks and diverse washings saves you? Repent.
Do you believe keeping carnal ordinances saves you? Repent.
Do you believe Allah saves you? Repent.
Do you believe Buddha, Vishnu or any other religion saves you? Repent.
Do you believe being a good person saves you? Repent.
Do you believe being a church member saves you? Repent.
Do you believe being a preacher saves you? Repent.
Do you believe your sins saves you? Repent? NO. There isn't a soul on earth that believes your sins saves you. Therefore, repenting of your sins is not a requirement for salvation just like all of the other things above.
Pastors tell people the opposite of sin is Jesus. That is a lie. The opposite of sin is righteousness.
Sin is evil works.
Righteousness is good works.
The opposite of sin is righteousness, ie keeping the law.
The opposite of righteousness is sin, ie transgressing the law.
Keeping the law has never saved anybody.
Repenting of your sins has never saved anybody.
Faith is the only thing that saves.
Adding one little word to salvation, 'AND', damns people to hell.
Repent of your sins AND believe in Jesus equals damnation not salvation. That is telling people they must become righteous in order to be saved. No amount of righteousness can save anybody. Only the righteousness of Jesus can save somebody.
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