There are those who would have you believe that trust in Christ is all that is needed when it comes to the foundational element in starting a relationship with God. Furthermore, if anything is added to this basic formula the Gospel message will become corrupted. Consider the following:
In the same way [as first-century legalism], the most telling modern assaults on the integrity of the Gospel do not deny the cruciality of faith in Christ. On the contrary, they insist on it. But to faith are added other conditions, or provisos, by which the essential nature of the Gospel is radically transformed. Often, in fact, a distinction is drawn between the kind of faith which saves and the kind which does not. But the kind of faith which does save is always seen to be the kind that results in some form of overt obedience. By this means, the obedience itself becomes at least an implicit part of the transaction between man and God. “Saving” faith has thus been subtly redefined in terms of its fruits. In the process, the unconditional freeness of the Gospel offer is seriously, if not fatally, compromised.
Zane C. Hodges, The Gospel Under Siege (Dallas: Redención Viva, 1981), 4.
If this statement is true, it would seem that adding the condition or expectation of repentance from sin is really to be guilty of adding to the Gospel. Is this true? Is repentance required for salvation?
Yes. Consider the following:
Jesus said,
“I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 5:32).
Jesus said,
“Go and learn what this means, “‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’” For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt. 9:13).
Paul said,
“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead”
(Ac 17:30-31).
Peter said,
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
John said,
“The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory” (Rev. 16:8-9).
Think about it. The very nature of trusting in something is to not trust in something else. This is abundantly true when it comes to the recognition of an activity or a state of mind (whether good works, a good life, a religious activity, etc.) that holds no value in rescuing me from a Holy God. Therefore, when a person comes to the knowledge of their desperate spiritual condition they must repent (a change of mind) of how they have been living, thinking, and believing. If a person does not turn to Christ, then they may “repent” but they truly don’t remedy their sinful condition. A person can repent of how they have been living and seek to “turn over a new leaf” but, at best, it is a moral improvement that will gain him or her nothing in the eyes of a Holy God. So, if a person does not (at some fixed point in time) have a change of mind (repent) from trusting in something or someone to trusting in Christ alone, that person cannot rightly be called a Christian.
Is this something new to our Church? Not at all. Consider what Puritan Thomas Vincent’s explanation of The Westminster Shorter Catechism (1674) involves regarding repentance:
Q. When doth the soul rest upon him for salvation?
A. The soul doth rest upon Christ for salvation when, being convinced of its lost condition by reason of sin, and its own inability, together with all creatures’ insufficiency, to recover it out of this estate, and having a discovery and persuasion of Christ’s ability and willingness to save, it doth let go all hold on the creatures, and renounce its own righteousness, and so lay hold on Christ, rely upon him, and put confidence in him, and in him alone, for salvation.
Q. What is repentance unto life?
A. Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience.
Q. Wherein doth repentance unto life consist?
A. Repentance unto life doth chiefly consist in two things—1. In turning from sin, and forsaking it. “Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions: so iniquity shall not be your ruin.”—Ezek. xviii. 30. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whose confesseth and forsaketh them shall find mercy.”—Prov. xxviii. 13. 2. In turning unto God. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”—Isa. lv. 7.
Q. What is that turning from sin which is part of true repentance?
A. The turning from sin which is a part of true repentance, doth consist in two things—1. In a turning from all gross sins, in regard of our course and conversation. 2. In a turning from all other sins, in regard of our hearts and affections.
Q. Do such as truly repent of sin never return again unto the practice of the same sins which they have repented of?
A. 1. Such as have truly repented of sin do never return unto the practice of it, so as to live in a course of sin, as they did before; and where any, after repentance, do return unto a course of sin, it is an evident sign that their repentance was not of the right kind. 2. Some have truly repented of their sins, although they may be overtaken and surprised by temptations, so as to fall into the commission of the same sins which they have repented of, yet they do not lie in them, but get up again, and with bitter grief bewail them, and return again unto the Lord.
Repentance and trust in Christ is like two sides of the same coin – to have one is to have the other. Anyone who tries to convince you otherwise is, at best, simply wrong or, at worst, a false teacher to be avoided altogether.
Awesome and thought-provoking. I really enjoyed reading the Thomas Vincent Q&A!
Hi…I’m Baaaack! 😉
You Wrote….
“Such as have truly repented of sin do never return unto the practice of it, so as to live in a course of sin, as they did before; and where any, after repentance, do return unto a course of sin, it is an evident sign that their repentance was not of the right kind.”
“Never Return to the practice of that sin”? 100% deliverance since we make a commitment when we trusted Christ? Was it really our power when we trusted Christ or now Christ working in and through us? When we sin is that not us not allowing the Spirit to work and letting our flesh take control?
This seems to go back the the “scale” method I have used before.
Where is the scale of when someone has fallen into temptation as opposed to back into the sin full blown, and who sets the legitimate timeframe of them “getting up again”?
How does the scale tip one way other another, and we are supposed to be concerned with this to judge others genuine faith, our just for self examination?
Can you please provide some verses to back up this idea you have put out here as I cannot find it anywhere other than verses about completely falling away. There has to be more to this than just using the “P” in TULIP. 😉
The danger to me in this would seem that we can find an easy excuse when people are in/fall into deep sin. We say to them directly if being counseled or to others that wonder…… “Oh….they are not really believers if they do that or do this”. Seems too easy of an excuse to me.
Again, who owns the scale, and so any of us know how to read that scale? If not why bother trying so hard to do so?
For me it is just to love and encourage this person out of this sin and let God be the one to ultimately know this person’s true state as a follower of Christ, instead of potentially shooting the wounded and eating our young.
If this is a theory, then please put it out there as such and let’s discuss it further as this seems like over analyzing just a bit and turning us all into judges on a high platforms looking down on the masses, when we all should be down among the masses lifting them up and giving God the glory.
So does Repent mean =
a) Changing your mind
or
b) A commitment to changing your ways before you can be saved?
You mentioned a change of mind, and is where I stand, but you would also believe that God changes our minds based the “I” in TULIP…correct?
So then could this be considered “irresistible repentance”?
To me option “b” is much like saying a prayer and walking the isle. Just idle words in our own power and impossible for a unbeliever to make that kind if commitment without Christ first. I do believe a genuine conversion produces a genuine desire for commitment and service, love for other believers, and also a new spirit filled conscience and instant remorse for sin as this is my personal experience. I have some verses on this, but this is strictly an opinion I formed over the years. I also have no scale of what that level of desire of commitment is or should be as I do not think that scale exists.
So can we be born again (or to convince others to believe we are) based on a verbal or mental commitment to follow Christ in (possibly) our own power, or from the Spirit moving in us to realize our sinful state and need of a savior and believing if His payment for that sin? The mustard seed.
I am seriously asking as I am interested in your opinions.
Thanks!
YBIC….
I am just a guy, but I think the idea is that someone who becomes a christian is not the same person they were before. I don’t think anyone expects 100% sinlessness this side of the grave, but there should be progress towards it. There should be a commitment to personal holiness and a turning from the person you once were, denying your self if you will.
The forgiveness of our sin comes at a price. God had to die in his humanity. We are given a gift to know God. As a result of this gift, I think we are called to be a fuzzy reflection of what we will be after the resurrection.
Surely, you cannot come to Jesus as a wife beater and then just be a wife beater for Jesus. Seems to me the idea is not that we are perfect but we are better than we were. We turn from pursuing sin and pursue Jesus.
Verses: the book of 1 Corinthians, a church claiming Christ but living like there was no God or Judge.
Thanks O’Ryan:
The wife beater for Jesus is an extreme example and I agree there should be some crystal clear change with remorse and a call for help in such a circumstance.
But you would not say this guy would never lose his temper again right? So if you witnessed that happen would you just blanketly say that person’s conversion was not genuine?
How many episodes would it take or how long without this happening would convince you either way? That is my point. There is no scale.
This blog talked about a genuine believer would never fall back into former sins but maybe touch on them for a time and always come out of it. We cannot wrap our hands around the scale to tell the two apart with intent or timeframes so why try to analyze it so deeply?
It will only cause us to excuse sinful behavior as a potentially non genuine conversion, and for us as believers constant thoughts of if we are truly His if have a sin in our lives we struggle with.
Self examination is crucial, but for me I have full trust in what Christ did for me. I did not do anything to merit His grace, and there is nothing I can do sustain it. I am His or I am not His. Sure there are indicators we should be concerned with but ultimately we must leave it to God to know other’s true state in the Kingdom, have confidence in our own state based on nothing we did to deserve it, and constantly lift up others to Christ or back to Christ.
An extreme example to make a point. I think there should be change and remorse for all sin if you are a Christian. Each one was sufficient to hang our Lord on the tree. I am not one to navel gaze about all the things I do wrong, but when I do wrong, I recognize it and try not to do it again. I don’t do so to gain the favor of others but because the holy spirit is at work in my life.
I think repentance is a direction not a position. To me the blog seemed to say you would not walk in sin, not that you would never commit sin again. Walking in sin is when a sin is way of life. Christians will not walk in sin. Not that they won’t do wrong, but that they will try to not do it anymore. We recognize sin is a rebellion against our creator and if we love him we do as he commands. I think if you call yourself a christian, and you don’t give a rip about how you are hurting yourself, hurting others, or offending God through your own sins, you should question your conversion. I don’t think the idea is to judge others fit for the kingdom but for us to judge ourselves.
Saint Paul seems to advocate running the race to win. To beat your body into submission. I will not allow anything to master me. Prove what is good. His example does not seem like a guy trying to slide into heaven with a “I believe in faith alone” attitude.
I think your last paragraph is the point. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, submit your self to one another and constantly lift up others to Christ or back to Christ. This seems to me to be repentance in a Christians life.
All good stuff O’Ryan.
I was only trying to get a clearer definition of what is “walking in sin” and what is “committing sin”. Living in it vs. falling into it. Again how do we know the difference and where is the scale if we want to even try to know the difference?
A one time event? Once a week? I hear the term “a pattern”, but again how much is a pattern and how much is just having a bad day and falling into sin every so often?
It can drive you crazy to try and wrap your mind around this, and is why I came to the conclusion if it really matters at all to try to.
Sin is sin against God. I will personalize the last line of my last entry to again say that I have confidence in my own state based on nothing I did to deserve it, and I will constantly lift up others to Christ or back to Christ, and not base how I treat them on whether I think their level of sin or lack thereof validates their conversion.
They need Jesus. Either come back to Him or get right with Him. Right now. But that is not for me to decide or know their state in the kingdom. Just point them toward Jesus, and let them see Him in you.