REPENTANCE IS NOT WORKS; IT IS THE POSITIVE RESPONSE
TO BELIEVING THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!
Repentance is essential for salvation. If a person does not repent, he
will perish (Luke 13:3,5). God has commanded all men everywhere to repent
(Acts 17:30). Repentance is absolutely necessary. "It is as
dogmatically stated as language can declare, that repentance is essential to
salvation and that none could be saved apart from repentance" (Lewis Sperry
Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol. III, p. 373).
Repentance is not a requirement of salvation in addition to faith. "Faith
and repentance are indissolubly linked together" (Ironside).
"Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God,
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21).
There are many passages which mention faith as the sole condition of salvation (Luke 8:12; John 1:12; 3:16; 5:24; 6:47; 20:31; Acts 16:31; 10:43; Rom. 3:28; 4:5; 10:9-10; 1 Cor. 1:21; Gal. 2:16; 3:26; Eph. 2:8-9; etc. ). There are other passages which mention repentance as the sole condition of salvation (Luke 13:3,5; Acts 3:19; 17:30; 2 Pet. 3:9). This is not a contradiction at all. Some passages mention both terms (Acts 20:21; Mark 1:15). The mention of one term implies the other. The person who has truly repented has truly believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. The person who has truly believed on the Lord Jesus Christ has truly repented. "So intimately are the two [faith and repentance] related that you cannot have one without the other. The man who believes God repents; the repentant soul puts his trust in the Lord when the Gospel is revealed to him. No man believes the Gospel and rests in it for his own salvation until he has judged himself as a needy sinner before God. And this is repentance" (Harry Ironside, Except Ye Repent, p. 16).
REPENTANCE AND FAITH ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN!
There are many passages which mention faith as the sole condition of salvation (Luke 8:12; John 1:12; 3:16; 5:24; 6:47; 20:31; Acts 16:31; 10:43; Rom. 3:28; 4:5; 10:9-10; 1 Cor. 1:21; Gal. 2:16; 3:26; Eph. 2:8-9; etc. ). There are other passages which mention repentance as the sole condition of salvation (Luke 13:3,5; Acts 3:19; 17:30; 2 Pet. 3:9). This is not a contradiction at all. Some passages mention both terms (Acts 20:21; Mark 1:15). The mention of one term implies the other. The person who has truly repented has truly believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. The person who has truly believed on the Lord Jesus Christ has truly repented. "So intimately are the two [faith and repentance] related that you cannot have one without the other. The man who believes God repents; the repentant soul puts his trust in the Lord when the Gospel is revealed to him. No man believes the Gospel and rests in it for his own salvation until he has judged himself as a needy sinner before God. And this is repentance" (Harry Ironside, Except Ye Repent, p. 16).
REPENTANCE INVOLVES A CHANGE OF MIND
The Greek word for REPENTANCE is METANOIA (met-an-oy-ah) which is made up of two parts:
1) META = CHANGE
2) NOIA = MIND
Thus REPENTANCE means a "CHANGE OF MIND." This is clearly illustrated in Matthew
21:28-29--"A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son,
go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not, but afterward
he repented and went." This word is similar to another
Greek word (which is also an English word). This is the word METAMORPHOSIS. This
word is also made up of two parts:
1) META = CHANGE
2) MORPHOSIS = FORM
Metamorphosis means a CHANGE OF FORM. God has created an insect, the butterfly, that beautifully illustrates (pictures) the
word "metamorphosis." The butterfly was once a worm-like CATERPILLAR. What a
CHANGE has taken place! What a TRANSFORMATION! What went into the COCOON looks completely
DIFFERENT from what came out! So, METAMORPHOSIS involves the complete TRANSFORMATION OF THE BODY, and METANOIA
involves the complete TRANSFORMATION OF THE MIND.
JESUS SAID, "...EXCEPT YE REPENT, YE SHALL ALL LIKEWISE PERISH!"
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