I was saved on a Thursday evening, April 3, 1980 after hearing Billy Graham preach the gospel. I did not know what words to pray. I waited in hopes that there would be someone to lead the viewing audience in a salvation prayer before the broadcast concluded. I was 14 years old at the time, and had been raised in church, but did not know how to pray for salvation. All I knew is that I was a sinner and headed to hell. The Holy Spirit gripped my heart with holy fear concerning my lost condition. 

Once there was no prayer for the viewing audience to pray for salvation, I got up out of the chair I was sitting in, went to my bedroom, closed the door, and got down on my knees and surrendered my life to Jesus the best I knew how. I cried out for forgiveness.

I prayed in response to the conviction I was under, forgive me, forgive, forgive me. I may have asked Jesus to save me or come into my heart, but I don’t remember if I said those exact words. I do know I cried out for forgiveness. The important thing is not the exact words, but my obedience to the Holy Spirit’s conviction that I was lost in sin and needed Jesus to save me.

I came to Jesus just as I am. I knew that Jesus was the Savior and I was coming to him to be saved. I can still remember the cleansing I felt in my soul. I was saved!

As I laid in the bed that night (I had to go to school the next day), I was clean, forgiven, and Jesus was my Lord. That was where my walk with God began. To hear anyone undermine the importance of repentance (as I am hearing from some Pastors), troubles me. One minister referred to repentance as a false response to the gospel. This same minister claimed that the phrase “repent of or from your sins” is never found in the Bible.

The phrase “repent of your sins” may not be in the Bible, but repenting of sins is! Consider the following:

Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. ~ Ezekiel 18:30

Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. ~ Ezekiel 14:6

Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. ~ Acts 8: 22

For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults: And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed. ~ 2 Corinthians 12: 20-21

And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. ~ Revelation 20: 9-20-21

Repentance happens when the heart is humbled by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. Repentance doesn’t happen when the heart resists the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The more, the heart resists the conviction of the Holy Spirit, the more the heart becomes hardened by sin (see Hebrews 3:7-14).

Now consider the following parable from Jesus.

And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. ~ Luke 18:9-14

Jesus said the publican who prayed, God be merciful to me a sinner, went home justified.

Let that sink in! The Bible teaches us that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble, and it is grace that saves the sinner. The gospel, when preached correctly, humbles the hearer, and if we don’t have humility when we come to Christ, we’ll not leave his presence changed. The night I was saved, the Holy Spirit awakened humility in my heart by his conviction that I was lost and needed Jesus. 

At that point, it really did not matter what words I would have said, what mattered is that I turned my heart to the Lord, in humility, and trusted in Jesus. That’s what I did when I cried out the only way I knew how to pray, and that was “forgive me!” Thank God I knew from having been in church most of my life, that Jesus forgives sins.

Those who humble themselves need not fear, if they prayed with the correct words. I know from my own experience that some can struggle with this, because I did. Not long after I was saved, the tempter came and suggested to me that I had not prayed the right words, and this truly scared me as a young teenager, even though I knew I had been changed in my heart by the grace of God.

At that time in my life, I didn’t know the Bible like I do today, but Satan attempted to rob me of the assurance of my salvation. God is not a machine that only responds to the right words, He is a living God who responds to the thoughts and intents of our heart. Jesus knew I was praying to be saved in response to the gospel message I had heard, and he saved me because it was he who died for me, and his Spirit who was convicting me.

I am concerned that there are people who have been taught that they only need to “believe” but have never felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit grip their heart. The Holy Spirit’s conviction is the missing component in some of the new doctrines about salvation, such as free grace theology.

When the Holy Spirit convicts a person to come to Christ, he’s not attempting to persuade them into a decisional of moment of belief. The Holy Spirit’s conviction is a call to follow Christ, and comes with the awareness that you can’t go on sinning. The Holy Spirit sanctifies us, not for Heaven, but for Christ! Heaven is the reward if we remain faithful to Christ.

This is why belief without repentance is so dangerous. In Acts 8 we have an example of belief without repentance, and we need to take to heart what the Bible has to tell us. 

In Acts 8, Philip preached the gospel to the Samaritans, and they believed the things that Philip preached and were baptized. Among them was a man named Simon, who was a Sorcerer and had previously bewitched the people with his sorceries.

Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. ~ Acts 8:13

Notice that Simon the Sorcerer believed and was baptized. Now don’t forget that as we move forward. This man who used sorcery to bewitch the people believed the gospel that Philip preached and was baptized. Another important point for consideration, is that he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.

Having been involved in sorcery, Simon must have truly been fascinated when he saw miracles, signs and wonders in Philip’s ministry. Now let’s read the account and follow the flow of thought.

Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city. But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. ~ Acts 8:5-13 

Now, there is a lot going on in this section of scripture, but the part I want to point out to you is that Simon believed and was baptized, but Peter was not impressed when he met him. Peter and John were sent to Samaria by the apostles in Jerusalem.

Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost… ~ v. 14-15 

When Simon saw this, rather than desiring the gift of the Holy Spirit, he wanted to purchase the power of God from Peter and John. Simon was still behaving with the heart of a sorcerer, and not as one who had humbled himself and turned from his sin.

And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me. ~ Acts 8:18-24

Simon, who had believed and was baptized, is someone whom we would call saved, today. Isn’t he? Yes he is. We would count him among those who have made a decision for Christ. Yet according to Peter, the following were true regarding Simon.

1. He had no part or lot in this matter. In other words he wasn’t qualified to receive or minister to others the gift of the Holy Spirit.

2. His heart was not right in the sight of God.

3. He had not repented of his sorcery (repent of this, thy wickedness).

4. He needed forgiveness from God.

5. He was in the gall of bitterness and the bond of Iniquity.

Because of Philip’s ministry and the ministry of Peter and John, Simon could no longer bewitch the people or be admired by them as someone great. According to Peter, Simon was in the gall of bitterness and the bond of Iniquity. Consider the following definition of the gall of bitterness.

The bitterest grief; extreme affliction. The ancients taught that grief and joy were subject to the gall, affection to the heart, knowledge to the kidneys, anger to the bile (one of the four humours of the body), and courage or timidity to the liver. The gall of bitterness, like the heart of hearts, means the bitter centre of bitterness, as the heart of hearts means the innermost recesses of the heart or affections. In the Acts it is used to signify “the sinfulness of sin,” which leads to the bitterest grief. ~ Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894

It seems that Simon may have been bitter because Philip and the apostles influenced the people for Christ and he no longer had power over them. Regardless if this was the case, he was in bondage to sin according to Peter. Simon the sorcerer had believed, but not repented.

Biblical faith (faith that saves) comes from a posture of humility that turns from sin to serve the Living God. There is no evidence that Simon had this kind of faith. Though he had believed and been baptized, he had not repented and wasn’t right with God. That is a sobering truth, and I fear that we may have many Christians who have never experienced a real change in their hearts because they have been taught they do not need to repent. They are taught to just simply believe (no commitment to Christ is required) and you will have eternal life and go to Heaven. 

Humility is the posture of faith in the heart of the one who receives eternal life. You cannot have real saving faith if your heart is not humbled. “Mental agreement belief” is not enough. True belief in Jesus translates into humbling yourself to obey the call of the gospel.

This same Peter who rebuked Simon the sorcerer, wrote the following.

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. ~ 1 Peter 1:18-23

Belief in Jesus that saves is obeying the truth through the Spirit. It is not a mental agreement.

The exchange between Peter and Simon is all a person needs to know that a person can have belief, but not have true saving faith. Simon believed but Peter told him, thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.