A Question Of Doctrine At 'Campus Church' In Pensacola

by David J. Stewart
July 2021 | Updated August 2021

John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” Galatians 1:6-7, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.”

UPDATE: August 27, 2021 - I originally wrote this article to refute some dangerous heresy on repentance as behavioral modification that I heard preached at Campus Church in Pensacola. The church has since removed the video from YouTube, for which I am grateful. I don't know if this means the pastors have honed their doctrine and won't teach this anymore, or if they just removed that particular doctrinally questionable video. I commend the pastors for removing the video.

Howbeit, I decided to leave this article online to be helpful, not to criticize. God knows my heart. I have made doctrinal mistakes in the past too, so it is not a matter of who is right or wrong; but rather, “let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged” (Romans 3:4b). ALL MEN are liars, because only God decides what is truth!

I did contact Pastor Jeff Redlin about this matter. He replied to confirm that Campus Church does NOT see repentance as a separate act from believing. We agree that the man who believes the Gospel has also repented. So that is good. I was satisfied with his answer. The only issue that I still have is that Pastor Redlin said he 100% agrees with Assistant Pastor Tim Zacharias' statement that: “Repentance is a change of mind which leads to a change of behavior.” Respectfully said, that is WRONG!

Bible repentance does NOT mean that someone's behavior will change. God saves us by faith alone, and then the indwelling Holy Spirit begins to work on us. 2nd Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Carefully note that this change is not necessarily a behavioral change, but a new life of spiritual enlightenment has begun. This is because we now have the blessed presence of God's Holy Spirit in us (1st John 3:24). The Spirit guides and teaches us (John 16:13). It is wrong for someone to teach that this verse means a person's behavior will visibly change. I love this helpful quote from Dr. Jack Hyles:

“Conversion then is the work of the church and its members as they are led by the Holy Spirit to change the life and work of one who has been regenerated. Redemption is a work of God the Son. Regeneration is the work of God the Holy Spirit. Justification is the work of God the Father as He declares the sinner righteous in the Son. Conversion then becomes the work of the church as we change the use and purpose of a life.” —Pastor Jack Hyles, Conversion And Salvation

We have dropped the ball as pastors and churches! Matthew 28:19-20, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” The problem of carnal believers today is not because repentance has been left off God's simple plan of salvation; the reason why there are so many carnal believers is simply because today's pastors are not preaching against sin, churches are not mentoring new converts and not following through on The Great Commission, which is four-fold:

  1. GO into all the world

  2. TEACH ALL NATIONS (preach the Gospel)

  3. BAPTIZE THEM (believer's baptism, which is their public profession of faith)

  4. TEACH THEM (indoctrinate them with the teachings of Christ, so they will also reproduce - Luke 8:15).

Most churches are guilty of not even GOING, let alone getting anybody saved. The church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7 had departed from the “first works,” which is soulwinning and mentoring (i.e., The Great Commission). Most churches today don't go out into the local community with the Gospel. Even less churches mentor converts with sound doctrine. There is very little fiery preaching against sin anymore in pulpits. Most churches woefully lack ministries for converts to serve God in the church. No wonder carnal believers abound. Pastors need to get people busy serving God!

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE: July 22, 2021 - I moved from Guam to Pensacola, Florida in July of 2021. Just two days after arriving in Pensacola, I attended the Campus Church at 250 Brent Lane, Pensacola, FL 32503. I attended their church because their website presents an accurate Gospel. On Sunday evening, July 18th, I heard their Senior Pastor Jeff Redlin correctly preach the Gospel, using Hebrews 4:9-10 as his text, teaching that we are saved by resting in Christ.

On the 'Campus Church' website they rightly tell you to believe on Jesus Christ to get to Heaven. Their senior pastor Jeff Redlin rightly teaches to simply rest in Jesus to be saved (Hebrews 4:9-11). But Pastor Tim Zacharias errantly says you must repent which leads to a change of behavior to get to Heaven. These are NOT the same plans of salvation. Campus Church needs to make up their mind on God's plan of salvation. There are not two different Gospels. You either have to have a change of behavior to get to Heaven, or you don't, but it cannot be both. Respectfully, Dr. Zacharias teaches that repentance will lead to a change of behavior. That is not the Gospel.

Here is a quote from their website:

“We believe that salvation is a free gift of God for “whosoever will”; it is by grace, through faith, plus nothing, and believers are eternally secure (John 10:27–28, Eph. 2:8–10). Salvation is received only by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His finished work.”

SOURCE: https://www.campuschurch.com/About/Beliefs.aspx

Amen, I fully agree! Why can't they just leave it at that? It makes me cringe in my church pew when preachers complicate the Gospel. Why can't they just teach people to make sure someone knows they are a sinner when they lead them to Christ? Why say this kind of crap? ...

I need to be clear, there can be no salvation without repentance in the full moral sense. You need to be grieved about your sin. You need to come to a place where you understand the consequence of sin. You come under the condemnation and conviction of the law of God, and it causes you to change and to turn to Christ, and to call out to Him for salvation.” SOURCE

Now, I agree from the perspective that no man can be saved without knowing what he is being saved from. But where are we taught in the Bible that you must be grieved over your sin? Grieving in a state of emotion. It is true that you must be convicted about being a sinner, so that you realize your need for salvation. But that is all you need. We are saved by believing, not by repenting of sins. Repentance is solely a matter of the heart, and not works! God does not require that you forsake or stop any sin to receive His free gift of eternal life. God simply requires that you realize you are a hell-deserving guilty sinner! Romans 3:19-20, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 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.” Amen! The Law of God shows humanity our SINNERSHIP and desperate need for the Savior.

The only way to correctly understand repentance is to understand the PURPOSE of repentance. As we just read, the PURPOSE of repentance is to realize our need for redemption. A man takes a back because he sees he is dirty. Likewise, for a person to BELIEVE on Christ we must have “repentance to the acknowledging of the truth” (2nd Timothy 2:25b). You don't repent AND believe; you repent TO believe. Repentance and faith happen at the same time, instantaneously. This is why the Gospel of John mentions the word “believe” 88 times, but the word “repent” is not mentioned even once. You don't have to clean off your dirt before you get into the bathtub, you simply need to get into the bathtub. Likewise, you don't need to forsake your sinning to be saved, you simply BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST TO BE SAVED from your sins (Acts 16:30-31). Do you see that? You don't have to promise not to get dirty anymore to be clean, you simply get into the bathtub. Likewise, you don't have to promise God to do better or clean up your dirty life to be saved, you simply by faith receiving His sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins. Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6-9). We are all ungodly sinners by nature and by choice (Romans 3:10-23).

It loathes me when pastors pressure people to depart from a lifestyle of sin if they want to be saved; or pressure people that their behavior will change if they are really saved. How then is eternal life still the free gift of God? Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” There are no toll booths to enter into God's Kingdom. All this talk about grieving over sin, changing one's behavior and repentance in the full moral sense is reformation, penitence and penance, not Bible repentance. Remember, God called the Gospel “the simplicity that is in Christ” (2nd Corinthians 11:3-4).

The Gospel of John simply tells us 85 times to “BELIEVE” to have eternal life. John 6:47, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” The Gospel of John is God's Gospel tract. John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” That is so simple! Repentance is automatic. When we witness the Gospel to a lost person, we simply need to make sure that they know they are a guilty sinner in God's sight. They need to know what they are being saved from. Nothing more is necessary or permitted. Christ does the saving, all of it. Our part in salvation is to cease from our own labors and get out of the way, resting completely in Christ's finished work through the cross of Calvary, by the precious blood that He shed for our sins (1st Peter 1:18-19).

No one has ever been saved who didn't first admit that he or she is a guilty sinner in God's sight. Pastor Jack Hyles makes this truth very clear in this classic sermon titled: “Fundamentalist Heresy.” The Jack Hyles' camp have often been accused of running people through a quick-prayer “1-2-3, follow me” gimmick shallow type of salvation profession, just to count numbers and then brag to others. In the preceding sermon Dr. Hyles refutes those who would dare claim somebody as being saved, who hadn't been properly dealt with concerning sin and the Gospel. I am confident that this is what Pastor Zacharias was teaching.

What must a person do to be saved. The Bible already answers the question in Acts 16:30b-31, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Did you see anything in there about grieving over your sins, repentance in the full moral sense or behavior modification? I sure didn't, but maybe my glasses aren't working. You tell me. I took this screenshot from the YouTube video of last night's Wednesday Bible study, which is what I am talking about...

A counterfeit Gospel is being preached at Pensacola Christian College
(Repentance unto salvation is NOT a change of behavior!)

This is a screenshot from Campus Church's “Foundations” Class for all new members.

Dear friend, the only requirement for you to be saved is to simply come as a needy sinner to God, placing your childlike trust in His only begotten Son, receiving His sacrifice on the cross as payment for your sins. Pastor Zacharias makes the Gospel sound utterly complicated. He states:

I need to be clear, there can be no salvation without repentance in the full moral sense. You need to be grieved about your sin. You need to come to a place where you understand the consequence of sin. You come under the condemnation and conviction of the law of God, and it causes you to change and to turn to Christ, and to call out to Him for salvation.” SOURCE

Where does the Bible say all that junk? I fully agree that a person must admit they are a guilty sinner, so they will see their need for redemption in Christ (Romans 3:19-23; Galatians 3:24-26). But the way Pastor Zacharias explains it, it would scare a person! Where does the inspired King James Bible say we must “change” to be saved? It does not. Repentance is a change of mind unto the Gospel itself, not a profound willingness to reform, grieve, change and depart from sin. Oh why can't men just leave the Gospel alone? I know some people will accuse me of splitting hairs, but I am against anything that complicates or obscures the simplicity that is in Christ. Dear friend, if you know you are a guilty sinner and will place your confidence in Jesus Christ, believing that He died in your place on the cross, was buried, and three days later resurrected from the dead, and that is your only hope for eternal life, you are saved! Nothing more is required or allowed by God. God the Father simply wants you to trust in His only begotten Son (John 3:16-18; 6:40).
 

I Was Saved Simply by Believing the 'GOOD NEWS' of Jesus Christ

I got saved when I was 13 years old. I did know that I was a sinner, and for the first time in my life I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The church pastor said that Sunday morning, that if you don't have the indwelling Holy Spirit convicting you about sin you're not saved. I knew there and then that I wasn't saved. That morning from my pew, I called out to Jesus for the first time and asked Him to save me. I believed that Christ died on the cross for my sins, was buried, and resurrected three days later. I knew that. I believed THE GOSPEL (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).

I found out many years later that I could have just BELIEVED on Christ, without calling, and still been saved. We are saved by BELIEVING, even before we call. I didn't feel grieved over my sins. I didn't experience REPENTANCE IN A FULL MORAL SENSE. I wasn't a theologian back then, and thank God I'm still not a theologian today 41 years later! God deliver us from theologians!!! I just knew that I had been a bad boy! God saved me because I trusted Christ. Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” I dare you to show me even one place in the New Testament, where we are taught to do all this repentance junk that we hear from preachers today. Over and over the Word of God simply teaches us to BELIEVE. John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” It is high time for all preachers to stop focusing on what the Bible does not!

I think Evangelist John R. Rice (1895-1980) had the right idea about repentance and faith:

There are those hyper-dispensationalists who think that John the Baptist preached a different Gospel from Christ when he commanded repentance (Matt. 3:2). But it is the same repentance Jesus commanded in Matthew 4:17, in Luke 13:3 and 5, and the same repentance that Paul preached in Athens that God “now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30 31). Repentance is not a different plan of salvation from having faith: it is part of the same plan of salvation. Or rather repentance is simply another way of describing or looking at the plan of salvation. One who turns from sin to God has done so by trusting in Jesus Christ. A change of mind toward sin is necessarily involved in saving faith. [emphasis added]

SOURCE: Evangelist John R. Rice, “Acts: Filled With The Spirit,” pp. 251-252; Sword Of The Lord, Murfreesboro, Tennessee; ©1963

I couldn't agree more. The way you repent is by BELIEVING. Dr. Zacharias rightly teaches that sometimes in the Bible “repentance” is used as a euphemism (the substitution of an expression) for salvation. For example: Luke 5:32, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” That is essentially what Dr. Rice just explained. Jesus was calling them to salvation. The man who believes has repented! So why teach that a person can BELIEVE in the name of Jesus, but still be lost if they have never repented of their sins? It is IMPOSSIBLE to believe on Christ and still be lost. You may follow Jesus, or call Him “Lord” and not be saved (Matthew 7:21-23), but those who believe on Him as Savior are saved (Acts 16:30-31).

Now, in fairness to Dr. Zacharias, I think what he intends to teach is that you cannot merely add Jesus to your life in a positive sense, without realizing the negative aspect of one's sinnership and deserved penalty in Hell. You've got to know what you are being saved from. You must admit that you are a sinner to be saved (1st John 1:10). Pastor Jack Hyles preached a helpful sermon titled: “The Sin Question And The Son Question.” In this sense I fully agree with Pastor Zacharias, and he does cover this aspect of salvation in his Bible study.

The true Gospel always points you to Christ; a false gospel always points to you. I am tired of being the bad guy for telling THE TRUTH and defending the Gospel. The Bible says in 1st Corinthians 13:6 that love “rejoiceth in THE TRUTH.”
 

If A Man Is Wrong On Repentance, You Cannot Trust His Theology

Repentance does not mean a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior. That is manmade reformation, not the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer (Galatians 5:22-25). I am unalterably opposed to the heretical teaching that repentance means more than a change of mind (because that is what it really means).

I love you all. I am just a fool for Christ. Jesus said out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh (Matthew 12:34). I cannot help but write about the things I see and hear (Acts 4:20). My neck hurts so bad with burning pain. My nerves burn throughout my body from my neck injury. I am just taking things one day at a time. Love me or hate me, I am telling THE TRUTH. I am not leaving Campus Church (as long as they will have me), at least for the foreseeable future. They are great people and I am happy to have a church family, but time will tell if they embrace me or shun me. The satanic Bob Jones crowd rejected me, because they are snobs, but I never rejected them.

It is not easy being a truth-teller. The Gospel is very simple. One of my favorite sermons is by Pastor Ralph Yankee Arnold titled: “Caught Between Grace And Works.” Anybody who talks about repentance leading to a change of behavior doesn't understand the Gospel. Anybody who talks about repentance leading to a change of behavior is corrupting the Gospel of free grace. Friend, your behavior has absolutely NOTHING to do with the free gift of God, which is eternal life. You don't have to reform or beg God to save you, you simply need to believe what He did for you on the cross. Jesus paid for your sins. Christ is risen! Trust Him oh sinner!

So what am I saying? I am saying keep an eye of Campus Church moving forward. If you ever hear any of their pastors teach that repentance means more than a simple change of mind unto the Gospel itself, RUN! The $64,000 question was asked by the fearful Gentile Roman jailer: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30b). The profoundly simple answer was once and for all settled by the Apostle Paul: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31b). The invitation to believe was extended to the man's entire house, as it is also extended to you dear friend.

The Gift Of Eternal Life Is Wrapped In The Wonderful Package Of Jesus

END OF ARTICLE

“Faith is the only righteous thing that I can do!”
—Pastor Jack Hyles, a quote from the MP3 sermon titled: God's Reversal Of Psalm 51

1st Corinthians 16:24, “My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.”


Souls Are Dying!

How Permanent Is Your Salvation?
(an excellent MP3 sermon by Pastor Hank Lindstrom, 1940-2008)

Mark 1:15, “...repent ye, and believe the gospel.”

“The mark of the child of God is that he loves everybody!”
(a quote from Pastor Jack Hyles' classic MP3 sermon, “FORGIVENESS”)

Mark 11:22, And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.


Ye Must Be Born Again!

You Need HIS Righteousness!