Jesus said, "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3).  What does it mean to repent?  Jesus gave us an example in Matthew 21:28-29: "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."  Therefore, the definition that fits is, A change of mind that results in a change of life; forsaking evil and following righteousness.  And Jesus said that if we do not make this change we will perish.
     Repentance was and is preached as part of the plan of salvation. Jesus said to His disciples, "...Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem"  (Luke 24:46-47). On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached, "...Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38).  As Paul stood before King Agrippa he said, "....But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance" (Acts 26:20).  And as Paul stood on Mars Hill in Athens he uttered these words, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30).  There should be no doubt that repentance is part of God's plan of redemption.
     What does this command mean to us?  One thing it means is that we are to preach it to the masses.  When we teach people the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we must include repentance as part of that teaching.  When we teach repentance the way it should be taught and people adhere to it, there will be a change of life.  That person will stop doing the things in his or her life that were evil and start doing that which is pleasing in the sight of God when true repentance takes place.  If we are teaching people like we should be, we will be asking people on a regular basis to change their manner of life.  From time to time we will cross paths with someone who will say something to the effect, "We have been doing things like this for eight generations, and you want me to change?"  Our answer should be "Yes."  Why?  Because, if that person does not make a change in their life, they will perish (Luke 13:3).  The Jews had been worshipping God under the Law of Moses for around fourteen hundred years; yet, Peter told them to "repent" or change.  We may not realize how hard it was for them to leave the Law of Moses and turn to Christ.  Nonetheless, we must ask people today to leave the ways they have been doing things and turn to Christ and His New Testament to be saved.
     Over the years there have been many thousands of people who have come out of denominations and made a return to pure New Testament Christianity.  Some of the most talked about Christians are Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell.  These men, after seeing their error, came out of their denominations and started worshipping God the way the Bible tells us to.  They did much in the way of calling people's attention to what the Bible says and encouraging them to cling to a "thus sayeth the Lord."  They are worthy of many thanks.
     Down through the years the words have echoed, "Let us do Bible things in Bible ways. Let us call Bible things by Bible names" and "Let us speak where the Bible speaks and let us be silent where the Bible is silent."  By this cry, we let people know that we want to do what the Bible says.  One man is noted as saying, "Show us one thing that the Bible says to do that we are not doing and we will start doing it.  Show us one thing that the Bible forbids us to do that we are doing and we will stop doing it."  This is the attitude that will cause us to be faithful to what is taught in the Bible.  There have been many devoutly religious people, who, when they were shown what the Bible says, they changed from their old ways and became New Testament Christians.  These people are to be commended.
     Around the world today, there are many thousands of people who are worshipping and serving God acceptably.  But have we come to the point that we can no longer be shown when we are doing something wrong?  Are we so headstrong that when someone points something out to us that we are doing wrong that we will not change?  After us going to all the world and asking them to change and then our refusal to practice what we preach, the Bible would call us hypocrites (Mt. 7:1-5; Rom. 2).
     The Bible tells us to not receive false teachers and if we do, we will be held guilty of what they are teaching (2 Jn. 9-11).  It also tells us to "....mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them" (Romans 16:17).  Can we, as professed followers of the New Testament, ignore this command?  If we do, Christ calls us hypocrites.
     Over the years, there have been many false teachers marked and avoided in the Biblical way.  However, the false teachers are not gone from our company.   Peter wrote, "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction"  (2 Peter 2:1).  What shall we do with these false teachers?  Mark them and avoid them, as the Bible prescribes.
     Brethren, there are false teachers among us, and it's time we quit overlooking them.  It is time we started marking and avoiding them.  Someone says, "Just tell me who they are and we will do what the Bible says."  All right then.  The false teachers I am speaking of are found in our songbooks.  That same person says, "Now hold on just a minute.  We've been singing those songs for eight generations, and you want us to give them up?"  Our answer better be an outstanding "YES."  One false teacher is just as bad as another.  If we sing songs that teach false doctrine, we are teaching that false doctrine (Col. 3:16).  And by doing so, we make ourselves hypocrites when we tell someone else that they must give up false doctrine to become a New Testament Christian.
     Some of these songs are as follows.  There are several songs that teach people to pray to Jesus (I Must Tell Jesus; Just A Little Talk With Jesus; Tell It To Jesus Alone; 'Tis the Blessed Hour of Prayer; etc.).  The Bible says to pray to God the Father in the name of Christ (Col. 3:17).  The song Jesus Is Coming Soon teaches that there are going to be signs of the end of time.  Jesus said that no one knows when the end will be (Mk. 13:32-37).  Living By Faith teaches that Jesus will come back to the earth one day which is Premillennialism.  The Bible teaches that we will meet the Lord in the air (1 Thes. 4:17).  And there are others.
     Can we afford to overlook these false teachers?  May God help us.  We should be calling on people change from the false doctrines they are clinging to and cling to the truth found in the New Testament.  We should, as well, be asking ourselves to do the same thing. "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).