A
person does not need to have listened to very much preaching - whether
on the radio, television, or other places - to know that there are
preachers who are telling people, "All you have to do to be saved is
'believe in Jesus'; 'accept Him as your personal Savior’."
Some
preachers have even been willing to affirm in public debate that a
person is saved from his sins at the point of faith. Naturally this
brings up quite a few complications, not the least of which is: If all a
person has to do to be saved is to believe, he does not have to repent,
or if he is saved at the point of faith he is saved before and without
repentance. Not many are willing to say that God will save a sinner
whether he repents or not, or God will save the impenitent. After all,
it is "Repent or perish" according
to 2 Pet. 3:9,
and God does "command all men everywhere to repent”
(Acts 17:30).
Neither Reasonable nor Scriptural
In an
effort to justify this obviously unscriptural position, (saved at the
point of' faith)--preachers (have resorted to the argument that
repentance precedes
faith, So, after a sinner repents he believes, and then can he
saved at the point of faith!
The
idea that repentance precedes faith is not only contrary to scripture
but it is also contrary to reason. After all, how could a sinner repent
of having sinned against God, when he doesn’t even believe there is a
God? Then, too, since sin is the transgression of God's law
(1 Jn. 3:4),
before a person would repent of having transgressed God's law, he would
have to believe that there was a God and that He had a law. He certainly
would not repent if he did not believe in God, much less that He had a
law that he had violated.
Repentance before faith is also contrary to scripture. Sometimes it is
asserted that every time faith and repentance are mentioned together in
the Bible, repentance always is mentioned first; repentance always
precedes faith. This is just not true. It is true that many times faith
and repentance are mentioned together, and sometimes repentance is
mentioned first, but not always.
For
example, consider
Acts 2. Peter had preached about the crucifixion and resurrection
of Christ. He concluded his sermon by saying, "Therefore let all the
house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom
ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ"
(2:36). To
"know assuredly" is to have the strongest kind of faith. After all,
faith is the "assurance of things hoped for"
(Heb. 11:1 ASV).
Having told them first to have this strong assurance (faith), he, then
tells them, "Repent and be baptized..."
(Acts 2:35).
Here we see faith preceding repentance. The claim that repentance always
is mentioned prior to faith in the scriptures is not a true claim.
Even if
this were a true claim that repentance is always mentioned prior to
faith, it does not necessarily mean that it precedes it in fact. For
example, we often say, "Put on your shoes and socks." We certainly do
not mean that the shoes go on first and then the socks, do we?
Then,
too, consider what Peter told the Jews in
Acts 5:30,
"The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a
tree." Does this mean that the Jews first "slew" Christ, and then after
they had slain him, they later "hanged him on a tree"? Certainly not.
But the "slaying" is mentioned before the "hanging", but it certainly
does not mean that it occurred
in that order.
And so it is with faith and repentance. Just because repentance may
sometimes be mentioned before faith, it certainly does not mean that
they occur in that order.
Passages Where Repentance is Mentioned before Faith
In at
least four passages
(Matt. 21:32; Mk. 1:15; Acts 20: 21 ; Heb. 6:1) repentance is
mentioned first:
"And
ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterwards, that ye might believe
him" (Matt. 21:32).
"The
time is fulfilled, arid the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and
believe the gospel"
(Mk. 1:15).
"Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward
God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ""
(Acts 20:21).
"Not
laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith
toward God" (Heb.
6:1).
While
it is true that the word repentance is mentioned in these before the
word faith, please notice that in not one of these passages is it
repentance and faith toward the same person or thing.
Look at
Acts 20:21.
It is repentance toward God and faith toward Jesus Christ. In
Heb. 6:1, it
is repentance from dead works and faith toward God. It also needs to be
remembered that in this latter passage as well as
Matt. 21:32
and Mk. 1:15,
the address is made to people who were Jews; people who already believed
in God. He certainly was not telling them to
begin to
believe in God. When the Bible tells us that "Abraham believed in the
Lord" (Gen. 15:6),
it certainly does not mean that he then believed in God for the very
first time. Before we could conclude that repentance does in fact
precede faith, scripture would have to be given that would show that one
must repent toward Jesus Christ and then believe in Christ. And also
show that that is the way it must be. But such a passage has not been
given, nor can it be shown that the sequence must come that way.
The
effort to get repentance before faith is an unscriptural effort. Not
only because it reverses the proper order, but also because it is
usually done to try to refute the Bible's teaching that a penitent
believer is saved after he is baptized scripturally and not before.
Jesus said, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved"
(Mk.
16:16). Let's not
only believe that, let it also be properly acted upon.
Other Articles
by Hiram Hutto
Is the Faithful Saint Continually Cleansed by the
Blood of Christ?
What Saith the Authorities?
Differences in Bible Miracles and Modern Miracles