"For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience
leads us away from sin and results in salvation.
There's no regret for that kind of sorrow.
But worldly sorrow,
which lacks repentance,
results in spiritual death."
2 Corinthians 7:10
What I have been noticing in our churches over the last few years disturbs me greatly. The salvation call at the end of the message or service is lacking a fundamental and vital step: godly repentance. The salvation call starts by telling people that we are all sinners, no longer under the Law, but under the grace of God. There is nothing a person can do to achieve salvation. It is a gift of God through the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus Christ. This is absolutely correct and a wonderful truth!
However, the next step is skipped entirely, and the salvation call ends with, "Now accept this gift." This leads people to falsely believe that they can accept God's free gift of salvation and the forgiveness of their sins without true repentance. As a result, they continue to live life the way they want to, not necessarily the way God wants them to. If they sin, they feel no remorse. Every one is a sinner anyways, and God forgives all their sins past, present, and future. Why be concerned when they have a free ticket to Heaven?
This belief is an incomplete truth and a dangerous falsehood, a deceptive lie of Satan that is infiltrating into today's churches.
As Christians we need to feel godly remorse for the sins we commit against a holy and just God. When we come to God in remorse and true repentance of our sins, He compassionately and lovingly forgives us of all those sins. There is absolutely no regret for that kind of sorrow. The attitude of godly repentance leads us to desire a close relationship with God in which it becomes our greatest aspiration to please Him in all we say and do.
The step of repentance cannot be left out of the salvation call. Accepting the gift of salvation without repentance will lead to spiritual death and only worldly sorrow.
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