Why I Believe People Must Be Willing to Turn from Sin to Be Saved
I remembered the question, "Must you be willing to turn from sin to be saved?" My answer is yes. What does it mean to be willing to turn from sin? The Greek word for repent is "metanoneia" which is "a change of mind which begets a change in purpose." To be willing to turn from sin is not to start doing good works but to have that sense of remorse and repentance from sin. Although I do find it redundant to say, "Admit you're a sinner." to be followed by "Be willing to turn from sin." but you can't deny admitting you're a sinner means you're willing to turn from sin. But there's one problem that also stops people from getting saved. Aside from the fact that they think they're "good enough" they also love their sin.
What's even more evil to think about is that many self-righteous people who think they're "good enough" for Heaven are also loving their sinful lifestyle. Some people I know choose to remain Roman Catholics because they think born again Christians "don't have a life". What I mean by "don't have a life" means no vices like gambling, drinking and womanizing. Some of them live life like they have a license to sin. They live sinfully, get the sacrament of penance, be religious and live like they have a license to sin. It's something that such wicked people flip their stance. They accuse born again Christians of teaching a license to sin all the while they call them as legalistic killjoys who don't know how to have fun.
Try to listen to this video by Kirk Cameron and John F. MacArthur. I agree with this statement that the rich young ruler's unrepentant state led him to his damnation. He wasn't willing to put Jesus first place in one way or another. Many people today love their sin which is why they don't want to get saved. If they ever got "converted" it was fake conversion. I have zero reasons to believe that truly saved people to believe that they have a license to sin. If you look at examples in the Bible of people getting saved they were all willing to turn from sin. Matthew and Zaccheaus both felt the heavy burden in their hearts of all the people they've robbed off of good money. Harlots who got saved saw the burden of their sexually immoral lifestyle. People coming to Christ are seeking deliverance from their sins, not deliverance so they can sin some more.
Don't get me wrong. I don't expect perfect repentance because while repentance and faith are needed for salvation but it doesn't stop there. If you truly placed your faith in Christ Jesus for your salvation then that faith continues in sanctification. If you've truly repented of your sins no matter how imperfect it was it's being perfected during the process of sanctification. This willingness to turn from sin is already there even before salvation and it grows as one walks in the path of sanctification. Unless people see how abhorrent sin is and desire to leave it they will always be in rebellion. Remember a heart that loves sin will refuse to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, it refuses to let Him into their hearts and clean it from all unrighteousness.
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