Evidence of Believing Faith

 “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:” -Acts 17:30

Christian tradition has long held repentance as necessary for salvation in Jesus Christ, but today some protest that a belief in Jesus is enough; without repentance. To me, this is a crazy notion, but let's examine it more closely, in order to better answer any related questions we may face, as well as to strengthen our own spiritual foundation (Matthew 7:24-27).

We ought to first be clear on what it means to repent. In the definition of Repent online, it means “to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life”; or it is “to feel sorrow or regret for one's actions”; it can also mean “to change one's mind.” Biblically, for mankind it usually refers to a turning from sin, but when God repents it means a change of direction; mostly related to the repentance or lack of it from mankind;

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth... And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth...” -from Genesis 6:5-7. Bold type added to emphasize.

“If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.” -Jeremiah 18:8. Bold type added for emphasis.

“And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.” -Jonah 3:10. Bold type added for emphasis.

But the debate is that some claim we need only believe in Jesus WITHOUT repenting, while others say the redemptive work involves both repentance and forgiveness. It's important for us to take every word of God into consideration on this subject; errors in judgment often arise by isolating verses from the context of the passage they're in, as well as from the rest of the Bible.

We must remember that the Bible was broken down into chapters and verses long after it had been written; a separation which helps us to memorize and locate specific portions of it. Serious mistakes can be made by isolating a few verses from the rest of the Bible, and some turn those mistakes into doctrines; teachings which are often chosen more out of a “feel good” favoritism, than for TRUTH.

“2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” -2 Timothy 4:2-4.

It's a strange thing to imagine God saving a person who hasn't repented; it implies that there's no need for remorse, or a turning away from sinful living in order to be saved. At least God gave me an opportunity to meet someone like this; he declared, “All you've gotta do, is believe.” He boasted of allegedly reading the Bible 50X over; explaining so with beer and cigarette in his hands, and too often with profanity! It was clear that the spiritual fruit (Matthew 7:16-20) of his life didn't match his words. This is no doubt a case of someone choosing to follow a few particular scriptures that suit them, while rejecting vast Bible testimony against them; they want the assurance of heaven, but also the allowance to act as they choose. We'll look more at this phenomena later on.

The dual concepts of repentance and forgiveness for salvation are found dozens of times in the 4 gospels & Acts, and I would say this is part of “believing in Jesus Christ,” for He directly instructs us in this way. Some scriptures will be printed, with others merely listed. All are taken from the New Testament in the King James Bible, and I urge you to read and verify them for yourself (Acts 17:11).

“14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” -Mark 1:14,15. Jesus tells us here to repent, and to believe the gospel's “good news” of forgiveness for our sins.

“Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:” -Matthew 11:20.

“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” -Luke 5:32.

“I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” -Luke 13:3,5.

“...joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” -from Luke 15:7.

“Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them...that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations...” from Luke 24:36,47; v.36 identifies the speaker.

“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins...” -from Acts 2:38. We see in this verse repentance, and the remission of sins.

“30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. 31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” -Acts 5:30,31. Once again we find repentance and forgiveness linked together.

“Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.” -Acts 8:22. This man must repent in order for God to forgive.

“Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” -Acts 20:21. Mankind is told to repent, and then have faith in Jesus to bring forgiveness.

“The Lord is...longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” -from 2 Peter 3:9. We need to face our sinful state before God & repent to be forgiven.

“8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

“But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” -James 2:20. This verse confronts the errant idea that “all you have to do is believe;” -the devils also believe and tremble (James 2:19), and it avails them nothing! Genuine repentance of heart is the necessary condition that will yield “fruit worthy of repentance,” as mentioned in Luke 3:8. Such spiritual fruit will show itself openly through apologies, or some type of restitution as Zacchaeus showed in Luke 19:8,9;

“8 And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. 9 And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.”

Other scriptures for this are; Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 9:13, 12:41, 18:21-35, 28:20; Mark 2:17, 6:12, 16:16; Luke 10:13, 11:32, 16:30, 17:3; Acts 3:19, 11:18, 26:20; 2 Timothy 2:25, 26; Revelation 2:5, 16, 22, 3:3, 19, 9:20, 21, 16:9, 11.

Yet I think we can see that the related concepts of repentance and forgiveness are sometimes seen in the Bible without directly using those words, and one such instance is found in the beloved story of the thief on the cross next to Jesus, printed out here from Luke 23:39-43;

“39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

We might remember that at first, both thieves crucified with Jesus at first reviled Him (Mark 15:32), but as they drew closer to death, this thief accepted his guilt and punishment; he then turned to Jesus, and placed hope in Him for the redemption of his soul; and the Lord promised it to him! This story illustrates the concepts of repentance and forgiveness in action, here being applied.

So how is it that some will say that a general belief is all that matters? Again, it usually comes from isolating a few verses from the rest of scripture, when we must embrace ALL of God's Word. Here are 2 examples for possibly mishandling this issue, both found in the book of Acts; the first 2 verses are from the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch, and the second 2 from the account in the Macedonian jail;

Account 1:“36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” -Acts 8:36,37.

Account 2:“30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” -Acts 16:30,31.

If a person took these verses by themselves, you might understand how they could think belief is all a person needs to be saved. Yet the account of the Eunuch actually begins in Acts 8:26, and that of the Jailer goes from 16:25-34, therefore making the 2 stories respectively 12, and 10 verses long.

To shorten these stories ignores some very important information. The Eunuch was reading from the prophecies in Isaiah concerning Jesus' suffering for our sins; and it's his response to Jesus' suffering that leads to his words in 8:36&37.

And for the Jailer, it was after Paul said to, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”, and BEFORE the Jailer and his family were saved, that Paul spoke to them “the Word of the Lord.” Doesn't this make a huge difference? But again I would say, that to “believe on Jesus” means we embrace all that He and the Bible says of Him, as we need every Word God gives us;

“And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.” -Deuteronomy 8:3.

“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” -Matthew 4:4.

While it's true we are saved by God's grace, and not good works, our love response toward Him brings out good works from the gratitude we feel within; grateful that the Son of God took the wrath which we deserved on the cross (Romans 5:8-10), becoming that perfect blood sacrifice God requires (Hebrews 9:22). Let's pray that we may love the Lord Jesus more and more fully, striving to walk in the light of His Word.

“8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” -Ephesians 2:8-10.

“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” -John 3:36.