Was the preaching of Jonah for physical salvation only?

[mbkjpreacher]

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
(Jonah 3:10)
 

The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
(Matthew 12:41)
 

The followers of Anderson are using Jonah 3: 10 as their verse to prove that repentance of sin is a work.  They say that the preaching of Jonah is not for spiritual salvation but only for physical salvation.  However the big question is, If the People of Nineveh were saved only physically how come that Jesus mentioned that Nineveh will rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it because there are people in the time of Jesus who rejected the gospel.  Also the word repented in Matthew 12:41 did not mention "of sin", yet the people of Nineveh repented of their sins in Jonah 3: 10.  

[Ukulelemike]

No one was ever "saved', ie, born again, until after Jesus died for the sin of the world and rose again-if even ONE person could gain eternal life without the sacrifice of Christ, then Jesus did not have to die.  The judgment of Nineveh was a physical judgment, though certainly there was a spiritual aspect, as being wicked, they would go to hell. However, though they repented, all it did was hold off His judgment against the city and its inhabitants. Now, did some perhaps end up in paradise, awaiting Jesus' arrival? Perhaps. But until that time, they were not saved, merely preserved until faith came.

 

[Alan]

The Lord Jesus stated, "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here."

The Lord Jesus condemned the religious lost of His generation because they did not repent. When a person, like the Ninevites, or the thief on the cross, repents from the heart and trusts in God, as in the Old Testament saints, or a belief in Christ, as the New Testament saints, they are eternally saved.

The Ninevites were eternally saved, spiritually, and then God, because He saw their works, and did not judge their nation after the forty days were over.

So, yes, the Ninevites were saved spiritually and then physically. In other words, in both the spiritual and sense of the word.

[SureWord]

On 7/29/2020 at 10:27 AM, mbkjpreacher said:

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
(Jonah 3:10)
 

The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
(Matthew 12:41)
 

The followers of Anderson are using Jonah 3: 10 as their verse to prove that repentance of sin is a work.  They say that the preaching of Jonah is not for spiritual salvation but only for physical salvation.  However the big question is, If the People of Nineveh were saved only physically how come that Jesus mentioned that Nineveh will rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it because there are people in the time of Jesus who rejected the gospel.  Also the word repented in Matthew 12:41 did not mention "of sin", yet the people of Nineveh repented of their sins in Jonah 3: 10.  

Are you Church of God because you are hung up on repentance.

[mbkjpreacher]

1 hour ago, SureWord said:

Are you Church of God because you are hung up on repentance.

I am not a church of God since individuals cannot be called a church because the word church means an assembly.  It would be appropriate to say I am a member of the true church of God to distinguished from false churches.   The true churches of God are Scriptural Baptists that started from the time of Christ.  That is where I belong to.  John the Baptist preached repentance and faith, Mat. 3; John 3: 36; Jesus the founder of our church preach repentance and faith, Mark 1: 15;  The apostles preached repentance and faith, Luke 24:47, Acts 20:21; Baptist confessions prior to the Southern Baptist Convention stated repentance and faith.   The SBC stated repentance and faith, ABA and BMA, mentioned repentance and faith,  When the GARB and ABWE came out from the SBC, they were known as Fundamental Baptists you can see they only have faith.  Spurgeon believes in repentance of sin and faith.  But then at that time all Baptists still believe that there is still repentance and the GARB (of the Fundamental Baptists) stated that repentance is integrated in faith..  gradually there is an evolution when Curtis Hutson, Hyles, started to teach that faith only and with little emphasis on repentance of sin as a work.  The idea that repentance of sin is a work was the more developed in the time of Steven Anderson and thus so many were influenced with the idea that repentance of sin is a work.  This teaching has never been held by Baptists in the past as you can see in the confessions of faith.  You cannot find a book prior to Hyles and Hutson that written by Baptists of old that repentance of sin is a work.. This is indeed a new teaching.  

 

Through discussion we can prove which is biblical since we are here for discussions.  The Bible says: 

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
(1 Corinthians 2:13)
 

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
(Isaiah 1:18)
 

Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
(Proverbs 27:17)
 

If indeed what they teach is true that repentance of sin is a work why can't they answer questions based on the Scriptures?  

It seems that those who hold that repentance of sin is a work is so helpless that they cannot defend their position from the Scriptures.  

And those who say that salvation is by faith without repentance cannot prove their beliefs.  

So it is good to discuss this matter because this is an important doctrine and it is creeping among Baptist churches. 

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Jude 1:3-4)
 

 

 

 

[Pastor Scott Markle]

According to God's Holy Word, repentance and faith are both necessary for salvation, wherein Biblical repentance precedes faith and directly leads to Biblical faith in Christ as personal Savior.  As such, neither Biblical repentance nor Biblical faith are Biblically definable as a work.  However, through the manner in which some define "repentance" (not Biblically, in my opinion), they turn it into a work.  Thus I believe the controversy has been generated.  Rather than argue for a correct/Biblical definition for repentance, some just argued against the idea of repentance altogether. 

[mbkjpreacher]

15 hours ago, Pastor Scott Markle said:

According to God's Holy Word, repentance and faith are both necessary for salvation, wherein Biblical repentance precedes faith and directly leads to Biblical faith in Christ as personal Savior.  As such, neither Biblical repentance nor Biblical faith are Biblically definable as a work.  However, through the manner in which some define "repentance" (not Biblically, in my opinion), they turn it into a work.  Thus I believe the controversy has been generated.  Rather than argue for a correct/Biblical definition for repentance, some just argued against the idea of repentance altogether. 

Many have misunderstood Jonah 3: 10 they made this verse as the basis for repentance of sin as work.  

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
(Jonah 3:10)
 

Here are some similar statements and they do not change the meaning of repentance which is change of mind into repentance of sin as work.  

 

If you saw your child's actions that he changed his mind from playing in the mud.  The change of mind is not the action rather the actions is the result of the change of mind. 

The policeman saw the car turning that the driver changed his mind from going to a wrong direction.  This does not mean that the turning of the car is the changed of mind of the driver rather it is the result of the changed of mind. 

The instructor saw the student's good driving that he changed his mind from his wrong way of driving. This does not mean that the good driving is the changed of mind from wrong driving.  Rather the good driving is the result of a change of mind from wrong driving.  

Thus those who believe that repentance of sin is a work have so misunderstood the passage and twisted it to fit their ideas.  

 

[mbkjpreacher]

On 7/30/2020 at 6:51 AM, Alan said:

The Lord Jesus stated, "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here."

The Lord Jesus condemned the religious lost of His generation because they did not repent. When a person, like the Ninevites, or the thief on the cross, repents from the heart and trusts in God, as in the Old Testament saints, or a belief in Christ, as the New Testament saints, they are eternally saved.

The Ninevites were eternally saved, spiritually, and then God, because He saw their works, and did not judge their nation after the forty days were over.

So, yes, the Ninevites were saved spiritually and then physically. In other words, in both the spiritual and sense of the word.

If the father saw his eldest son's work in the field that he changed his mind from disobedience, it would not mean that the repentance from disobedience is the work.  In fact he repented first before he went to work, and the word repented is past tense.  

But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
(Matthew 21:28-29)
 

 

[Martyr_4_FutureJoy]

On 7/29/2020 at 9:27 AM, mbkjpreacher said:

However the big question is, If the People of Nineveh were saved only physically how come that Jesus mentioned that Nineveh will rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it because there are people in the time of Jesus who rejected the gospel. 

Seems to be because when Jonah,  a white-washed (from being in the stomach) man, 

walked to , or through, or around Ninevah with the message God gave him to speak, and spoke it, 

the people from the king down to the lowest,  repented.

 

When Jesus,  Lord of lords,  King of kings,  walked among His Own people  ,   they rejected Him.  

 

I think it is written somewhere else, later in Scripture,  that those who refuse TODAY to listen,  those who reject Jesus Word TODAY , 

are subject to so much more punishment (or wrath?) ,  than the Israelites who refused to listen when God spoke from the mountain top,  and they perished for their disobedience.