(Preface and Chapter One)
Preface
I wrote my doctoral dissertation, “Repentance and Salvation in the New Testament,” at Dallas Theological Seminary from 1983 to 1985. I have since changed my view of repentance from the change-of-mind position to the turning-from-sins view.
There are very few books on repentance. Of the major books available in English, none of them give the New Testament the emphasis it deserves. (Zane Hodges’s book Harmony with God only covers the New Testament. Though it is short and does not deal with the Old Testament or church history or objections, it is, in my opinion, outstanding. Indeed, it was Hodges’s writings that led me to change my view on repentance.) For example, Mark Boda’s ‘Return to Me’: A Biblical Theology of Repentance, barely covers the New Testament teaching on repentance. Boda has ten chapters and 125 pages on repentance in the Old Testament. He only has two chapters and 28 pages on repentance in the New Testament.
Similarly, David Lambert’s How Repentance Became Biblical: Judaism, Christianity, & The Interpretation of Scripture , emphasizes the Old Testament (as well as Pseudepigrapha and Rabbinic Literature) over the New Testament. Lambert’s Primary Source Index has six pages of OT references, one page of NT references, and one page of Rabbinic references.
My outline reverses the emphases of Boda and Lambert, with ten chapters on repentance in the New Testament and one on repentance in the Old Testament. It also includes chapters on repentance in church history, repentance and John’s Gospel, and the preaching of repentance and salvation.
Chapter One: Why Study Repentance?
Because Repentance Occurs Often in “Salvific Contexts”
Repentance is found in contexts dealing with gaining salvation , with receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, with believing the gospel of the kingdom, with avoidance of perishing, with the kingdom of heaven being at hand, and so on.
While we must take care in each context to determine what is in view, it is easy to see why most Evangelicals think that repentance is one of the conditions of everlasting life.
In this book we will discuss the uses of repent ( metanoia) and repentance (metanoeō) in the New Testament which appear to teach that repentance is required to be born again. We will evaluate whether repentance is indeed a condition.
There are ten passages which are most often cited as showing that repentance is necessary for salvation from eternal condemnation:
1. Peter implied in 2 Peter 3:9 that repentance is the way to avoid perishing.
2. The Lord said in Luke 13:3-5, “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
3. Peter in his Pentecost sermon said that repentance must occur before the Holy Spirit will be received (Acts 2:38).
4. John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus both proclaimed, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 3:2; 4:17)
5. The Lord Jesus linked repentance and believing the gospel: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
6. The Lord’s Great Commission in Luke linked repentance and the forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47).
7. Paul linked repentance and salvation: “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation” (2 Cor 7:10).
8. Paul indicated what the believers in Macedonia and Achaia said about the believers in Thessalonica: “For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess 1:9).
9. Jesus told an account about a rich man and Lazarus, a poor man (Luke 16:19-31). They both die, but the rich man is in torment in Sheol, whereas Lazarus is next to Abraham in Paradise. The rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to talk with his brothers so that they might repent and avoid his torment (Luke 16:30).
10. Peter was the first to take the message of life to the Gentiles (Acts 10–11). The Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and his household as a result of the evangelistic message which Peter gave. Several Jewish believers who had gone with Peter to observe concluded, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life” (Acts 11:18).
We will devote a chapter to each of those ten passages, as well as one
chapter to discuss various other texts which are sometimes cited (e.g., Acts 19:4; Rom 2:4; Heb 6:4-6).
Because Most Evangelicals Believe Repentance Is a Condition of Everlasting Life
It is not a stretch to say that over 90% of Evangelicals believe that repentance is a condition of everlasting life. Calvinists? Check.Arminians? Check. Catholics? Check. Orthodox? Check. The same is true for most Fundamentalists.
In this book we will look at quotes from leading scholars and pastors. We will evaluate their suggestion that repentance is required to have everlasting life.
Here is an example of a typical view on repentance and salvation by a leading Evangelical theologian, Dr. Wayne Grudem:
The faith that justifies is never alone because it never occurs by itself, but is always accompanied by—or includes—repentance from sin and is always followed by other actions such as doing good works and continuing to believe.”
Grudem defines repentance as “a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and [to] walk in obedience to Christ.” He says, “The gospel call, according to the New Testament, is ever and always a call to turn away from your sin as you turn toward the Lord to seek forgiveness from him.”
We will see many more quotes like these by several leading theologians and pastors