My Thoughts on the Term "Turn from Sin" or "Turn Away from Sin" to be Saved
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It's really an issue that we see the term "turn from sin" or "turn away from sin" to be saved. I think the term has a lot of tendencies to be misunderstood, it can be somewhat misleading, others think it adds works to faith, or what does it mean to turn from sin or to turn away from it if salvation is not by good works? I usually prefer the term repent of your sin than turn from sin. Repentance is metanoneia or a change of mind that results in a change of purpose. Yes, I believe repentance of sins is necessary for salvation - without which people hardened in sin will never savingly believe. How can a person see the need for a Savior if they at first don't repent or be sorry for their sins? People who aren't repentant will never want to get saved.
So, it's common to have John F. MacArthur and Ray Comfort maligned, right? I actually only misunderstood MacArthur before because that conspiracy theorist (and convicted pedo) David J. Stewart takes things out of context. Stewart's infamous ministry had led me to doubt my salvation because I was taught about repentance of sin though the term "turn from sin" has not been as used as repent. Again, both Comfort and MacArthur teach the eternal security of every believer. I had watched "Hell's Best Kept Secret" and "True and False Conversion" where Comfort actually reveals the marks of an apostate vs. a true believer. MacArthur always emphasizes true and false converts - something that the Jack Hyles ministries failed to do leading to numerous false conversions.
MacArthur clarifies the meaning of turn from sin to be saved with these words in his article "Clarifying the Lordship Debate, Part 2":
We often speak of the salvation experience as "conversion." That is biblical terminology (Matthew 18:3; John 12:40; Acts 15:3). Conversion and repentance are closely related terms. Conversion occurs when a sinner turns to God in repentant faith. It is a complete turnaround, an absolute change of moral and volitional direction. Such a radical reversal is the response the gospel calls for, whether the plea to sinners is phrased as "believe," "repent," or "be converted." Each entails the others.
If someone is walking away from you and you say, "Come here," it is not necessary to say "turn around and come." The U-turn is implied in the direction "come." In like manner, when our Lord says, "Come to Me" (Matt. 11:28), the about-face of repentance is understood. Nowhere does Scripture issue an evangelistic appeal that does not at least imply the necessity of repentance. Our Lord offers nothing to impenitent sinners (Matthew 9:13 ; Mark 2:17 ; Luke 5:32).
Again, repentance is not a human work. Jesus said, "No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him" (John 6:44). It is God who grants repentance (Acts 11:18; 2 Tim. 2:25). Repentance is not pre-salvation self-improvement. It is not a question of atoning for sin or making restitution before turning to Christ in faith. It is an inward turning from sin to Christ. Though it is not itself a "work" the sinner performs, genuine repentance will certainly produce good works as its inevitable fruit (Matthew 3:8).
This is also how the term "turning from sin" also means. Why do you think a lot of people today don't want to get saved? One of the problems is that they want to do it their way. Another problem is that people love their sin. Do you think a serial adulterer or a rapist would want the Gospel? They would want a fake gospel that allows them to have a license to sin but not the true Gospel. To turn from sin means to put it behind you even if it's not perfect repentance. It's a 180 degrees turn from it. It's like Matthew who's not letting his work as a publican in his the way to repetance. Instead, Matthew hands over his resignation to the Romans and follows Jesus as a result of salvation. It also means that you long to depart from sin. That was also the burden that led Zacchaeus to repentance.
Repentance is an inward turning away from sin. I wish the world inward has been more used. However, repentance is a turning from sin in one's mind and heart that leads to salvation. It causes one to really see that their sins are offensive before God. They make that turn like a man who has offended the law, puts his pride behind him, and surrenders himself over to that authority admitting his crime. The man turns himself in. Salvation is turning yourself in towards God knowing that you have violated His Law. This repentance, though not perfect, is really vital towards salvation. Do you think anyone who loves to sin will really want salvation? It makes no sense for anyone who loves to sin to get saved from sin.
Repentance is an inward turning away from sin. I wish the world inward has been more used. However, repentance is a turning from sin in one's mind and heart that leads to salvation. It causes one to really see that their sins are offensive before God. They make that turn like a man who has offended the law, puts his pride behind him, and surrenders himself over to that authority admitting his crime. The man turns himself in. Salvation is turning yourself in towards God knowing that you have violated His Law. This repentance, though not perfect, is really vital towards salvation. Do you think anyone who loves to sin will really want salvation? It makes no sense for anyone who loves to sin to get saved from sin.
The Gospel message is salvation from sin and not salvation to sin. The great preacher Charles H. Spurgeon also quoted this:
To repent is to change your mind about sin, and Christ, and all the great things of God. There is sorrow implied in this; but the main point is the turning of the heart from sin to Christ. If there be this turning, you have the essence of true repentance, even though no alarm and no despair should ever have cast their shadow upon your mind.
Did good works get involved there to get saved? Not at all. Instead, the turning away from sin starts from within and it leads towards the Savior from sin. This turning from within eventually becomes a turning from without. Spurgeon also preached the sermon "Turn or Burn" which talks about a turning of sin. It means that any real repentance that continues grants more and more righteousness and less and less sinfulness. The flesh is not 100% nailed to the cross. Paul horribly struggled with sin (Romans 7:14-25) but he didn't revel in his sin. Lot, Samson, and Solomon certainly didn't give their all but they have the distinctions that separated them from the sinful world.
In my case, I would actually want to emphasize this is an inward turning not an outward turning. Sometimes, some preachers tend to fail to explain it. That's why I prefer to use the word repent of one's sinfulnness or to be sorry for it. Repentance is a change of mind.
But doesn't God repent? Here's a quote from John Piper's "The Repentance of God" to help understand things further:
Rather, the repentance of God is His expression of a different attitude and action about something past or future—not because events have taken him off guard, but because events make the expression of a different attitude more fitting now than it would have been earlier. God’s mind “changes,” not because it responds to unforeseen circumstances, but because He has ordained that His mind accord with the way He himself orders the changing events of the world.
When God changes His mind - it's still in accordance to who He is. God hasn't changed His mind about sin but He will certainly change His mind about the repentant sinner. When a sinner repents of sinfulness and turns to God - God's mind changes that He no longer sees a damned person but a saved person. This is different from man's repentance of one's sins.
Hopefully, this entry clarifies what it means to turn from sin to be saved. God bless!
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