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Jack's Main Memorial Page
by
Pastor Charles J. Arnett
111 Worman Dr.
Union OH 45322
513-836-3272
of
Union Baptist Church
528 N. Main St.
Englewood OH 45322
June 14, 1989
John Flavel, a 17th century puritan, wrote, "Christ and his benefits are inseparable: we can have no saving benefit apart from the person of Christ. Many would willingly receive his privileges who will not receive his person; but it cannot be; nay, we must accept his person first, and then his benefits; as it is in the marriage covenant, so it is here."(1) We might well continue Flavel's analogy and say just as many people claim the privileges of marriage without any commitment, so many try to claim the saving benefits of Christ apart from any commitment to Him. It seems axiomatic that any genuine commitment to Christ necessitates repentance. Yet, it is taught in some evangelical circles that the preaching of repentance is heresy.
Flavel also said, "As the three offices are undivided in Christ, so they are in the believer's acceptance; and before this trial no hypocrite can stand, for all hypocrites reject and quarrel with something in Christ; they like his pardon better than his government."(2) Does it surprise you that even the puritans had to battle with easy believism? Jesus warned us that many would claim His name who weren't truly saved, Matt. 7:21-23. He said that only those who do the will of God would be saved. It is this author's opinion that much of today's popular evangelism omits a clear call for repentance. Peter, in Acts 3:19, connects conversion to repentance. However, I am afraid that in a zeal to see converts many are promoting a salvation without conversion.
Repentance has three nuances. First, repentance is used sometimes to suggest the change in life that is the result of a change in mind and purpose. Second, repentance is used to indicate the regret or sorrow that produces a change in actions or a change in mind. Third, repentance is use to define the change of mind and purpose of one who comes to Christ in faith. The sinner changes his mind about the desirability of sin and purposes to live for Christ.
In II Corinthians 7:8 - 7:13 we find all three usages. In verse eight we cannot mistake the emotional element in repentance. Paul had wrestled with what he had written in his first letter about the incestuous man. We see that he was vacillating; he was sorry that he had been so bold, but now he isn't sorry; he now rejoices. Note that Paul contrasts rejoice, which is an emotion, with repent. We conclude that the repentance of verse eight is emotional or sorrow.
Then in verse nine we find the Corinthians sorrowed to repentance. Here the emotional led to a change of mind and change of actions. Repentance in verse nine was a change of mind and actions caused by sorrow. Also in verse ten godly sorrow works repentance. In summery; In verse 8, the emotional element was in repentance and in verse 9 and 10 the emotional element accompanied repentance. Now verse 11 shows us the change in life that followed the change in mind and purpose.
Thus, in the words of Dr. Paul Jackson, "We believe that repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God prompted by the Holy Spirit; that it is characterized by godly sorrow for sin as offensive to God and ruinous to the soul; and that true repentance is inseparably related to true faith," Luke 13:1-3; 15:7; Acts 8:22; Rom. 2:4; 2 Cor. 7:10; Acts 20:21.(4) This agrees with the last paragraph of Article VIII of the GARBC statement of faith, "We believe that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only condition of salvation. Repentance is a change of mind and purpose toward God prompted by the Holy Spirit and is an integral part of saving faith." Repentance is a change of mind and purpose. The GARBC article of faith includes repentance in saving faith. According to that article, if we preach salvation by faith we are calling on sinners to repent.
One of the last instructions Jesus gave his disciples before his ascension was this; "Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, . . .," Luke 24:45-48. Notice that in these instructions repentance precedes the remission of sins. It certainly does not come after justification. Should we preach repentance? Jesus said we should.
Jesus said in Luke 5:32, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." At least part of the great purpose of God in the incarnation was to call sinners to repentance. We recognize that the overall purpose of God in the incarnation is His glory; He has ordained that glory be accomplished, in part, by the repentance of sinners. In Luke 15:7-10 Jesus spoke of the "joy" in heaven when one sinner repents. He was talking about sinners getting saved.
Let us consider the example of the apostles: We find Peter preaching repentance in Acts 2:38. Paul told king Agripa that in his obedience to his commission that he preached that Jews and Gentiles should repent, Acts 26:19, 20. Also Paul, throughout the epistles, lets us know his main concern was preaching the gospel. Therefore Paul equated preaching repentance with preaching the gospel. Paul said he was determined to know nothing save Jesus Christ and Him crucified, I Cor. 2:2. Knowing that in Paul's obedience to Christ he preached repentance, we come to the conclusion that for Paul the preaching of the person and work of our Lord and Savior included the duty of sinners to repent.
Paul tells us the Lord is coming again to take vengeance on those who do not obey the gospel, II Thess. 1:8. The gospel is to be obeyed; it is not simply an invitation; it is an imperative; it is a command. How is the gospel to be obeyed? By repentance. If we preach the gospel, we must preach repentance; we cannot preach the gospel without calling on sinners to repent and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
First, repentance is commanded by God. "God . . . now commandeth all men every where to repent." Acts 17:30. What God commands is man's duty. In Acts 17 Paul is preaching the duty of repentance in the context of evangelism. Hence, repentance is an evangelical duty.
Second, sinners must repent because they are enmity against God. "The carnal mind is enmity against God," Rom. 8:7, 8. The natural man is hostile toward God; he hates God with all his mind and heart. Sinners are not a bunch of nice people, who are simply ignorant of the love of Jesus. No! If they could they would get a ball bat and drive God off His throne. Man needs to change his mind and purpose about the rights of God, and about his own sinfulness if he is going to get saved. Dare we tell sinners they can have the benefits of Christ without receiving Him whom they hate? Please note what we find in Rom. 8:7, 8; the carnal man hates God, and he cannot do anything different. But he must if he is to be saved. The sinner is in an awful fix!
Third, sinners must repent because of the nature of saving faith. We read in Rom. 10:9, 10 that to have heart faith in the risen Lord is salvation. It is the "Lord" that has risen from the dead. The heart is the center of man; we might call it the control center of man, cf. Proverbs 23:7. When a person believes in his heart that the Lord, the Master, the Owner, the Ruler has risen; he believes that Jesus Christ the Lord has a right to rule him. When a sinner, who is going his own way, believes in his control center that Jesus is the living Lord of his life, he has repented. The believing sinner changes his mind about who has a right to rule in his life and consequently purposes to live for Christ. Obviously, this is the relation between saving faith and repentance spoken of by the GARBC article VIII. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ includes turning from sin as well as turning to God. This is supported by I John 5:9-10. To believe the record that God gave of His Son is needed for salvation. Rom. 14:9 gives us an important element in that record. The Lord died, and rose, and revived that He might ruler (or Lord) both the dead and the living.
Fourth, sinners must repent because of their profession. In our baptism we profess to have died with Christ and to have risen with Him to a new life, Rom. 6:1-6. If our profession is to be honest, then we repented when we believed. Unless one would want to claim that baptism is a meaningless symbol.
First the Theological Exclusion. A well known study bible states in the notes at the back, "Repentance . . . is a valid condition for salvation when understood as a synonym for faith. It is a false addition to faith when understood as a prerequisite, requiring the cleansing of the life in order to be saved." John Calvin claims it is "repugnant to scripture" to include faith in repentance. Calvin basis his argument on Paul "testifying both to the Jews, and also to also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Acts 20:21. (3) He views faith and repentance as two distinguishable ideas. The author of the study bible sets up a straw man. The men that I know who preach repentance do not preach, "Clean up your life before you can get saved." Repentance simply means a change of mind and purpose about the rights of Christ in your life. That will produce a changed life. In Mark 10 we read of rich young ruler who wouldn't be saved because he would not turn from His riches and turn to Christ; hence he would not repent. We know that riches will not send a man to hell, but a refusal to commit oneself to Jesus will.
Second, repentance is left out of today's preaching because of a fallacious interpretation of Romans 10:13. There are those who are teaching that calling on the Lord is to say the sinner's prayer. They go from that to teaching that praying is a synonym for faith. In that type of interpretation salvation is achieved, not by a biblical faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; but by sincerely asking Jesus to be your savior. Even a cursory glance at Rom. 10:13 reveals that it implies a recognition of the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. When the scripture speaks of the name of the Lord it speaks of the authority of the Lord. We read this prophesy in Zeph. 3:9, ". . . That they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent." There we see that men call upon the name of the Lord that they may serve Him.
Third, there seems to be a cultural exclusion of repentance. Pragmatism, empiricism, and individualism are the three fundamental mind sets of American culture. We need to guard against becoming children of this culture. Preaching repentance isn't pragmatic when trying to incorporate sinners, who demand their individualism, into the church. This can best be illustrated by an example of trying to win someone without repentance. Let us roll play a modern evangelistic approach.
"Sir, wouldn't you like to be a christian? We have a wonderful program for your children. A youth group for the teens that provides activities that all kids like, saved and unsaved alike. You know if we don't give them something to do, the world will. We have things to entertain the younger children also. The carnal nature of children just love our activities. We even have jazzercize classes for your wife. I am sure she would enjoy that. Give her something to do. It probably would build her self esteem. And you, did you know we have men's golf every Saturday. We surely would not expect you to stay home and read your bible and pray in preparation for Sunday."
Of course we are not surprised when he raises his fist toward heaven and screams out, "I will not have this man to reign over me," Luke 19:14. We quickly explain to him that he doesn't have to let Christ rule over him; he doesn't even have to like Christ; he simply has to ask Jesus to come into his heart. He will become a christian, and we can incorporate him into the most exciting organization in the world today, the church.
The GARBC statement of faith article X states that the new birth is "brought about by our sovereign God," and that repentance and faith are the "fruits" of regeneration. Note, fruits are plural, again indicating to us there is a distinction between repentance and faith. Now fruit is a product produced by an agent. Repentance is produced by the new birth which is produced by our "sovereign God."
Peter teaches that God has exalted Jesus "to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins," Acts 5:31 & 11:18. We need to recognize that we preach to dry bones, and only God can give them a change of mind and purpose. Truth is not perceived by the natural man and cannot be, I Cor. 2:14. The natural man may know all the facts, but that doesn't change his mind; He is dead in trespasses and sin. But that doesn't discourage the christian. We have a great expectation. We are taught in 2 Tim. 2:24 - 26 to witness and preach with patience; maybe God will give the sinner repentance. You never know who God might be pleased to give repentance.
We have no responsibility to appeal to the carnal needs of man. We are not to meet his carnal psychological or sociological needs in order to get him to make a decision and be incorporated into the church. We do have a responsibility to God to preach for conversions. It is the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation; not our programs. Churches aren't praying for revival because they don't need it, they are getting alone without it. A sinner can be convinced to parrot a prayer without a change of heart. But a sinner cannot repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ without a work of the Holy Spirit.
Reference: 1. John Flavel, The Method of Grace,(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1977), 16 2. Ibid, 24 3. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, (Philadelphia PA: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 6ed 1813), Volume 1,537 4. Paul R. Jackson, The Doctrine and Administration of the Church (Des Plaines, IL: Regular Baptist Press, 1968), 171