War Zone
By Evangelist Jack T. Chick
*Webservant's note: I love Jack Chick's artwork, but deplore his false plan of salvation on the last page, which I've removed here. Salvation is without works (Romans 4:5). A sinner doesn't need to “be willing to turn from sin” to get saved. Mr. Click clearly means that a person must “be willing” to stop committing sins to be saved. Admitting one's sinnership is not enough according to Jack Chick, you must also “be willing to turn from sin” to be saved. This is NOT the Gospel message.
The carnal Christians at Corinth were saturated with sins, whom Paul called “babes in Christ” (1st Corinthians 3:1). A desire to depart from sin is the FRUIT of the indwelling Holy Spirit, not a part of the ROOT of saving faith. Salvation is by grace through faith PLUS NOTHING!
The Gospel is that Jesus Christ DIED on the cross for our sins, was BURIED and bodily RESURRECTED (1st Corinthians 15:1-4). If you receive Christ's sacrificial death on the cross as full-payment for your sins, believing that He raised up 72 hours later from the dead, you are saved. But don't I have to repent? Yes, of course! Biblical repentance is “a change of mind” that compels a person to believe the Gospel. Repentance is NOT a desire to stop sinning. Repentance is realizing that you are a guilty SINNER in the eyes of a holy God (Romans 3:19), and so you believe (place your confidence) in the Gospel and are saved.
The ONLY thing that you need to repent of to be saved, is whatever it is that's been hindering you from coming to Christ to be saved. (See: The Great Meaning of “Metanoia”)
Whatever happened to “the gift of God,” which “is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Anyone who says that eternal life is a “gift,” but says changing the course of your life (or being willing to turn from your sins) is necessary, is a Gospel pervert!!! ARE YOU A GOSPEL PERVERT?
Here is the best quote that I've found on repentance, by Dr. Harry A. Ironside (1876-1951):
“Which comes first, repentance or faith? In Scripture we read, 'Repent ye, and believe the gospel.' Yet we find true believers exhorted to 'repent, and do the first works.' So intimately are the two related that you cannot have one without the other. The man who believes God repents; the repentant soul puts his trust in the Lord when the Gospel is revealed to him. Theologians may wrangle over this, but the fact is, no man repents until the Holy Spirit produces repentance in his soul through the truth. No man believes the Gospel and rests in it for his own salvation until he has judged himself as a needy sinner before God. And this is repentance.” (Except Ye Repent, p. 16)
Seeing one's self as a needy sinner in the sight of God is very different than having a willingness to forsake sinful bad habits. It is the difference between “the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20b), verses trying to keep “the deeds of the law” to be saved, which is a false Gospel (Romans 3:20a). Romans 3:20, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” A “willingness to turn from sin” effectively means keeping the deeds of the law. This is not the Gospel. The purpose of God's law is to show men their sinnership, so that they may repent toward God and believe the Gospel to be saved. ~by David J. Stewart
Repentance Is “A Change Of Mind” | The Great Meaning of “Metanoia”
Ye Must Be Born Again! | You Need HIS Righteousness!
