I had a dental appointment earlier this week. The dental hygienist knew from my previous visits that I travel a good bit for work. She began talking about how she hates planes. Because she had placed a weird contraption in my mouth to take the ex-rays, I could only nod, with an occasional grunt. She then said something I wasn’t expecting. She said: “The Bible tells us to repent.”

She went on to explain that there are two times when she repents: When she goes to the chiropractor and when she gets on a plane. Again, I was surprised. At first, I thought she meant that when she goes to the chiropractor or gets on a plane she decides to turn around and leave. She “turns” from those activities and goes home. She then explained that she’s afraid of the chiropractor and worries that he’ll break her neck during the session. She has the same issue with plane travel. She’s afraid the plane will crash, so she repents when she boards one.

Again, I was confused by her comments. Did she mean that she wasn’t trusting God enough, so she needed to repent and trust that He would protect her? She then clarified that she wants to make sure she feels bad for her sins, in case something happens. To her, repentance was saying she was sorry. She had a ritual in which she would tell God she was sorry, as kind of a final “hail Mary,” just in case she died during a flight or when the chiropractor did an alignment. In other words, in order to be saved from hell, she needed to say she was sorry before dying.

I was speechless. This woman was clearly aware of the Bible and Jesus, yet she lived in constant fear regarding her eternal standing. She thought she had to continuously feel sorry for her sins, even at the moment of her death; otherwise, she’d go to hell. In short, she didn’t believe in Jesus for the gift of eternal life. She believed she had to have continual sorrow for her sins, and then maybe she’d go to heaven.

Over the last few weeks, GES conducted a pastors’ conference in Moldova and a regional conference in Georgia. In both conferences, the issue of repentance came up. In Georgia, we did an entire session on the word repentance. Repentance means to “turn from your sins” and is never given as a requirement to receive eternal life. The unbeliever is not saved because he repents. The unbeliever receives eternal life by simply believing in Jesus for it (John 3:16; 5:24; 6:47; 11:25-26).

Sadly, this is often misunderstood. Many people define repentance as feeling sorry for sins, changing their minds about sin or God, or admitting their sins–and those are just a few definitions. Furthermore, most make it a requirement for salvation, leading to a works-based salvation. Like my hygienist, many people live in fear, thinking that they must clean up their sins before they can be saved.

In both conferences, we were asked a similar question: Is it really that big a deal? One pastor argued that this is just traditional language, and we shouldn’t be so dogmatic about how we use it. As long as we believe in God, it’s okay. This is a common argument made against Free Grace theology. Are Focused Free Grace proponents legalists when it comes to our desire to be precise with our words?

My hygienist provides the answer to that question, for she is an all too common and sobering example. Our words matter, and using the words of the Bible correctly is especially important (Jas 3:1). My hygienist is an example of the danger that comes when we fail to define our terms or use them improperly. I wouldn’t have understood what she meant by repentance if she hadn’t explained it. The same is true for those we evangelize. Many, if not most, unbelievers think that repentance means they must clean up their lives or feel sorry for their sins. If we evangelize using this word, we are going to confuse the unbeliever. Furthermore, my story is a sobering reminder that there are countless people around us and in our churches who do not know that they can have eternal life as a present possession simply by believing in Jesus for it. If they have never believed in Jesus for eternal life, they are not saved. They look to their works, to their feelings of sorrow, or to their rituals as the means of salvation. They are not looking to Christ. They have no assurance and live their lives in fear of chiropractors and planes. What we find is that without clearly defined words, people will look to superstition rather than to Christ for assurance.

This is not a nitpicky issue, nor are we being obsessive when we take time to clarify the meanings of words like repentance. We want my dental hygienist to know she has eternal life because the Lord desires that she know it (1 John 5:9-13). We want the unbeliever to know that Jesus gives eternal life as a free gift that can never be lost. Therefore, we should strive to be accurate in how we share that message. Satan is the author of confusion. Let us, therefore, reflect the words the Lord used when He evangelized; let us tell people to believe in Him for eternal life.