Turn From Sin

Let’s find out about the phrase “turn from sin”. Is it needed to be saved? Is it Biblical? Are there turn from sin Bible verses? In this article I will clear up a lot of things for you. Let’s begin!

Quotes

• “By delay of repentance, sin strengthens, and the heart hardens. The longer ice freezeth, the harder it is to be broken.”  Thomas Watson
• “God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.”
  – Augustine
• “We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.”
  C.S. Lewis

1. Repentance does not mean turning from sin.

Repentance is a change of mind about who Jesus is, what He has done for you, and about sin and it leads to a turning away from sin. That change of mind that you have will lead to a change of action. A repentant heart does not want to live a wicked life anymore. It has new desires and it goes in a different direction. It turns from sin.

Acts 3:19 “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”

2. Repentance does not save you. 

Scripture makes it clear that Salvation is by faith in Christ alone. If someone says you have to stop sinning to be saved that is salvation by works, which of course is of the devil. Jesus bore all of our sins on the cross. To the question do you have to turn from sin to be saved, the answer is no.

Colossians 2:14 “Having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.”

1 Peter 2:24 “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”

3. But, it is impossible to put your faith in Jesus without having a change of mind. 

You cannot be saved unless you have a change of mind about Christ first. Without a change of mind you will not put your faith in Christ.

Matthew 4:17 “From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

4. Repentance is not a work.

I’ve talked to many people who think that repentance is a work we do to earn salvation and you have to work for your salvation, which is a heretical teaching. The Bible makes it clear that repentance is only possible by the grace of God. It is God who grants us repentance and it is God who grants us belief. Without God drawing you to Himself you will not come to Him. It is God who pulls us to Himself.

John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Acts 11:18 “When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.”

2 Timothy 2:25 “Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.”

5. When you are truly saved you will turn from your sins.

Repentance is the result of salvation. A true believer is regenerate. When I hear a person say that if Jesus is this good I can sin all that I want or who cares Jesus died for our sins stop judging, I immediately know that person is unregenerate. God has not removed their heart of stone. They don’t have a new relationship with sin, they are a false convert. I’m tired of hearing these false statements. I’m a Christian, but I have premarital sex. I’m a Christian, but I’m a homosexual. I’m a Christian, but I live in debauchery and I love smoking weed. That is a lie from the devil! If you are practicing these things you are not saved.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

Jude 1:4 “For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”

6. Turning from sin does not mean you won’t struggle with sin.

There are some false teachers and Pharisees who teach that a Christian doesn’t struggle with sin. Every Christian struggles.  We all struggle with those thoughts that are not of God, those desires that are not of God, and those sinful habits. Please understand that there is a difference between struggling with sin and diving head first into sin. Christians have the Holy Spirit living inside of them and they are at war with the flesh. A Christian wants to be more and doesn’t desire to do these things that are not of God. An unregenerate person doesn’t care. I struggle with sin daily, my only hope is Jesus Christ. Evidence of true faith is not that you have repented one time. Evidence of true faith is that you continually repent daily because God is working in your life.

Romans 7:15-17 “I don’t understand what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I want to do, but instead do what I hate. Now if I practice what I don’t want to do, I am admitting that the Law is good. As it is, I am no longer the one who is doing it, but it is the sin that is living in me.”

7. Repentance is part of the gospel message.

It is an embarrassment to a Holy God the things that I’m seeing on the internet. There are so much false teachings on this subject. People who claim to be men of God say, “I don’t preach repentance” when Scripture teaches that we are to call others to repentance. Only cowards don’t preach repentance. That is how you create a false convert. Why do you think that the church is packed with them today? Too many cowards are sleeping in the pulpit and they let this wicked stuff get into the house of God.

Acts 17:30 “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”

Mark 6:12 “So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.”

Have you been playing Christianity?

Have you repented? Has your mind changed? Has your life changed? The sin you once loved do you now hate? The Christ that you once hated do you now long for? If you are not saved please I encourage you to read the gospel on this page.