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Do we need to repent of our sins to be saved?

by | Sep 22, 2018 | Questions, Salvation

Is it necessary for us to repent of our sins in order to be a Christian and be saved? The answer is yes and no, depending on how we understand repentance as it relates to salvation. Let me explain.

On one hand, yes, we must repent of our sins in order to be Christians and be saved.  But what I mean by this sense of ‘repentance and salvation’ is that we cannot continue in our sins if we really are Christians and we cannot purposely abide in sin and not turn from it, and also truly trust in Christ. True Christians truly repent.  If someone never repents of his sin, it is a sign of unregeneration.

On the other hand, no, repentance of sin is not necessary in order to become a Christian.   What I mean by this sense of ‘repentance and salvation’ is that the unbeliever is not obligated to keep the law in order to be saved. Consider this.

  1. Sin is violating the law of God, i.e., don’t lie, don’t steal, honor your parents, etc.
  2. Repentance is turning away from violating the Law of God to keeping the Law of God.
  3. Therefore, repentance is compliant with the law of God.

Compliance with the Law of God combined with faith in Christ in order to be saved is false teaching. If someone were to say that we must comply with the Law by keeping the Law (as we turn from sin) and that such repentance along with our faith in Christ is what saves us, then that is a false gospel. Let me reiterate. If a person were to say that repentance from sin, in the sense of compliance with the Law, combined with their faith in Christ are both necessary in order to become a Christian and become saved (and also maintain salvation), then that is a false gospel.

How do we know it’s a false gospel? Simple.  God’s word tells us

  • “Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. 4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace,” (Gal. 5:2-4).

Notice that in these verses, the Judaizers “believed” in Christ and also sought to comply with the Law by advocating circumcision. They wanted people to ‘repent’ of not being circumcised. After all, the Old Testament (Covenant) Law commanded circumcision, and to reject it was to sin. The judaisers were still thinking that the obligation of keeping the Law was necessary, along with faith in Christ, to be saved.

But Paul tells us that to do such a thing is damnable. He says they had been severed from Christ (noticed the pun ‘severe’ in regard to circumcision). Now, a quick note. Some people say this proves you can lose your salvation. But it does not because obviously, those who are seeking to be justified by the Law are not Christians in the first place. Nevertheless, Paul’s point here is that salvation is not by faith in Christ along with compliance with the Law, even in one single small thing.

Therefore if someone were to say that the unbeliever must believe in Christ and also comply with the Law by repenting of all of his sins and that this repentance (compliance with the Law in order to stop sinning) with his belief in Christ is what saves him, then he’s preaching a false gospel. Stopping one’s own sin does not save the person. Stopping sin and believing in Jesus doesn’t save him either. It is only faith in Christ that saves anyone – not faith ‘and something.’ It is not faith in Christ and repentance of sins that saves us (nor is it faith in Christ and baptism). It is faith alone in Christ alone that justifies us (Rom. 3:28; 4:5; 5:1). Repentance is the result of the regeneration that God has worked in us and is something that is granted to us by God (2 Tim. 2:25).

What I am saying, and not saying

Now, I want to be clear because there are those who misrepresent me.  I am not saying that it is okay to continue in sin and be a Christian. I am not saying that unbelievers should not turn from their sin in order to be Christian. I am saying our faith in Christ and our repentance does not save us. I am saying that faith in Christ alone is what saves us.  I am also saying that repentance is the result of our regeneration, not a contributing factor towards it.

Unbelievers cannot repent of sin

No unbeliever, no unregenerate person, can turn from sin because they can do no good (Rom. 3:10-12), are slaves of sin (Rom. 6:14-20), cannot receive or understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14), are at enmity with God (Eph. 2:15), love darkness rather than light (John 3:19), cannot come to God on their own (John 6:44, 65), are dead in their sins (Eph. 2:1), and are at enmity with God (Eph. 2:15). Because of the condition of the unregenerate, we must conclude that they are unable to do what is right and repent. They are lost and helpless (Rom. 5:6). Therefore, in order for them to be saved, God must draw them (John 6:44). Furthermore, they cannot come to Jesus unless it is granted to them from the Father (John 6:65). In this same vein, the Bible also says that it is God who appoints people to eternal life (Acts 13:48), chooses who is to be holy and blameless (Eph. 1:4), predestines us to adoption (Eph. 1:5), calls according to His purpose (2 Tim. 1:9), chooses us for salvation (2 Thess. 2:13), grants the act of believing (Phil. 1:29), works faith in the believer (John 6:28-29), grants us repentance (2 Tim. 2:24-25), causes us to be born again (1 Pet. 1:3), makes us born again not by our will but by His will (John 1:12-13), predestines us to salvation (Rom. 8:29-30), and he does all of this according to His purpose (Eph. 1:11).

So, whenever someone says that the unbeliever can actually turn from his sin before he is regenerated, then he is contradicting Scripture and demonstrating his ignorance of the sinful depravity of the unregenerate person that Scripture clearly reveals.

When God grants that people repent (2 Tim. 2:25), grants that they come to Jesus (John 6:65), and grants that they believe (Phil. 1:29), then he is saving them. This further means he is indwelling them (John 14:23) and making them born again (John 3:3-8). Because of God’s work, they are freed from the enslavement of sin and are enabled to repent. Furthermore, their repentance is simultaneous with their regeneration. Their repentance cannot be temporally before regeneration, because that would violate the Scriptures two paragraphs above that speak of the incapacity of the unregenerate to do any good at all. And, to assert that the unbeliever can repent of his sins without regeneration is to say that sin has not enslaved him or that he is somehow able in the midst of his sin-enslaved-free-will to be able to choose God. This is, unfortunately, a common error taught in too many churches.

What is good?

Remember, the Bible says the unbeliever can do no good (Rom. 3:10-12). We know that turning from sin in light of the gospel message of Christ, is a good thing. But, is the unregenerate person who is at enmity with God (Eph. 2:15), who is enslaved to sin (Rom. 6:14-20), and who is not sanctified by the blood of Christ through faith, able to do something that is truly good?

If you say no, you are correct.  But, if you say yes, then you’re a humanist.

Humanism is a man-centered philosophy. It means that truth, morality, standards of righteousness, etc., are determined by what humans can do or determine is right. Unfortunately, within Christian circles, there are those who are humanists regarding the unbeliever. They say that the unbeliever is perfectly capable of believing the gospel truth and receiving Christ, according to his own sinful free will and that faith in God is solely up to the unbeliever. They say he just needs the right information about sin and the gospel, and it’s up to him and his wisdom to believe or reject. But if that’s the case, then such man-centered philosophy violates the Scripture’s listed above that says the unregenerate can do no good (Rom. 3:10-12), is a slave to sin (Rom. 6:14-20), and cannot receive spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14). Besides, God speaks in his word:

  • “For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy,” (Rom. 9:15–16).

God’s mercy upon us, does not depend on our wills, our decisions, or our abilities.  Furthermore, it is only those who have been regenerated by God who can do any good at all, because they and their works have been cleansed and sanctified by the blood of Christ and thus purified and thus made good (Heb. 9:14; 13:12; 1 John 1:7).  Such people are enabled, by the Holy Spirit, to follow the Law from the heart (Rom. 6:17) and do what is good – goodness measured by God’s standard, not man’s – that is allowed only through Christ’s cleansing blood.  The unregenerate cannot do this since they are not cleansed by the blood of Christ nor are they justified by faith. So, their repenting, their stopping of sin, is not sufficient nor is it acceptable before God because even their repentance is touched by sin.  It is not enough to enable a person to be saved; otherwise, Jesus did not need to die (Gal. 2:21).  A person’s repentance is not what enables him to become a Christian.  It is being a Christian that enables him to repent.  But, since Jesus died to free us from the penalty and power of sin, we ought to turn from sin.  In fact, unbelievers ought to turn from sin because it is the right thing to do.  Whether or not they’re able to turn from it is not the issue. Righteousness is not based on man’s ability but on God’s character (1 Pet. 1:16).

Conclusion

Repentance is a good thing only when it is coupled with faith in Christ. But, this repentance does not contribute to a person’s salvation nor does it make salvation possible.  If someone were to say that an unbeliever must repent of his sins in order to become a Christian and by that he means that the unbeliever must comply with the law of God (i.e., don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t bear false witness) and that such compliance with the law of God along with his faith in Christ is necessary in order to become a Christian, then he is preaching a false gospel and needs to repent. Furthermore, we are told to repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15).  The gospel is what saves (1 Cor. 15:1-4), not repentance, and the gospel. Salvation/justification is by faith alone (Rom. 3:28; 4:5; 5:1) in Christ alone (John 14:6; Acts 4:12) and this justification is concomitant with our regeneration. Furthermore, it is our regeneration that enables us to do any good at all, including turning from sin. And even that is granted to us by God (2 Tim. 2:25). To him be all the glory.

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