A Bible Study on Repentance, in light of Benny Hinn’s Recent Admission

— So when I tell the wicked person, ‘You will surely die,' but he repents of his sin and does what is just and right — he returns collateral, makes restitution for what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without practicing iniquity — he will certainly live; he will not die. None of the sins he committed will be held against him. He has done what is just and right; he will certainly live. (Ezekiel 33:14-16, HCSB)

NOTE: Repenting of one’s sins means doing what is just and right. If there is no doing, there is no repentance. Repentance here is described as reversing one’s actions. Going from sinning to obeying.

— “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord! ' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. (Matthew 7:21, HCSB)

NOTE: There is saying and there is doing. You can sing to the Lord. You can say you love the Lord. You can shout out “Lord, Lord!” with tears in your eyes. But it is only those who *do* the Father’s will that will be in the kingdom.

— Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don't start saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn't produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:8-9, HCSB)

NOTE: These Judahites were saying one thing but showing another. John the Baptizer basically says, “Quit talking, and start doing.”

— They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified for any good work. (Titus 1:16, HCSB)

NOTE: Profession doesn’t equal possession. You can say you know the Almighty all day long, but be denying Him the entire time by your works. It’s no different than a man who tells his wife he loves her, but never spends time with her, never does anything for her, and cheats on her. Does he really love his wife? Would a wife trust him after years of abuse because he said he’d changed, or would she need to see works over time and re-build trust that way?

— But if anyone does not provide for his own, that is his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (1 Timothy 5:8, HCSB)

NOTE: The way a person denies the faith here is not by saying “I deny the faith.” A person may never deny the faith by saying such, but yet they’ve denied the faith by not *doing* something.

— This is how we are sure that we have come to know Him: by keeping His commands. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” yet doesn't keep His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God is perfected. This is how we know we are in Him: (1 John 2:3-5, HCSB)

NOTE: Again, we have people who say they’ve come to know the Creator. How do we tell who’s telling the truth? We look for the ones who keep the commandments.

It is error to base someone’s repentance off of their words. People say, “Well were not God, we don’t know their heart.” Listen... Yahweh has given us humans a way to know someone’s heart: by their actions. It’s no different than knowing which tree is an apple, pear, or peach tree. You know a tree by the fruit it bears. You know a person by the works they do.

Yahweh is not unable to save a person like Benny Hinn (or Ted Bundy, or any other criminal you want to name). I am not denying the saving power of the Almighty, or saying that anyone is out of Yahweh’s reach. People who have heard me preach or read my posts should know better than that.

I am saying that the proof of salvation will not be found by listening to a polished speech. You don’t even trust a used care salesman like that.

If someone’s known for ripping people off for the last 20 years at a used car lot, you don’t go to that lot. If you see a commercial where the guy says, “I’m different now. Good cars for a fair price are sold by me now. I’ve turned over a new leaf.” Do you march over there the next day and get all excited about the man’s change? Of course not. You judge his words by his actions from that day forward.

Over time, you can watch a person who says they’ve repented. Trust is built by repeated action. No one is perfect, but a repentant person will try to be. They will be sorrowful, and humble themselves because of the wrongs they’ve done. They will be okay with giving people time to see the change in their life. They won’t expect immediate acceptance.

If you’re comfortable with rejoicing over words that’s on you. I’m not. What Hinn needs to do is record another video clip him him explaining how he is going to repay people one at a time, and give his belongings away. He’s made enough money from preaching to last 100 lifetimes. It’s time to give back, and live the rest of his life frugally. Over time we will hear people’s testimonies of how Hinn gave them money to pay off their house or car, or gave people groceries, built people homes, etc.

He also needs to start teaching Scripture exegetically, or either step down and let someone else take over who can do so. Even in the clip he just rambles. There’s never any expository teaching.

Don’t be fooled by snake oil salesman. Know the Scriptures, or else the devil will deceive the heaven out of you. ✌🏼