Must You Repent To Be Saved?

In this regular feature, Dave and Tom respond to questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call.Here’s this week’s question:Dear Dave and TA:What part does repentance play in salvation?

Tom:

We have talked about that, we’ve written about it, and so on, and I think it’s an important part.But first of all, Dave, let’s go over what repentance means, or you know, so some of our people understand.Growing up Roman Catholic, as I did, repentance wasn’t part of our vocabulary, it was penance, so we needed to do penance after a sin.I don’t think that has—I know that doesn’t have anything to do with biblical repentance.

Dave:

Well, Tom, let me bring it a little closer to evangelicals.Repentance, you could confess your sin, you know, it says that if we confess our sins, 1 John Chapter 1,He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.But confessing what I did is not really confessing my sin.The real sin was, and what caused me to do what I did that was wrong is that I shoved Christ off the throne of my life, I was living for myself.So, you can confess, Oh, God, I’m sorry that I got angry with my wife, or whatever, but you haven’t even confessed the real sin.Now, repentance goes even beyond that.I will be sorry for my sin, and Paul, for example, in Acts 20, it says he preached repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.It’s a change of attitude, a change of mind, Lord, I acknowledge that was wrong, and I’m sorry for that.Now I think that that is kind of—it’s an understood part of salvation, because there are many people who get saved.I can remember when I got saved, really a transforming incident in my life, I was totally transformed.I knew the Bible very well, and I don’t recall that I repented and said, Oh, God, I’m sorry for my sin, maybe I should have, but in my heart I was sorry for my sin, that’s why I wanted to be saved.I recognized that the wages of sin is death.I recognized that I was a sinner, separated from God, and the only remedy I had was through Jesus Christ.So, although I didn’t use the words, “I repent of my sin,” there certainly was repentance there.

Tom:

I think the thing that makes me think about this, I think it’s really a simple question, What part of salvation does repentance play?We have seen, probably too much of the idea that you come to Christ because we wanted what he has to offer you.You know, I’ve seen it over and over again, Christ has a plan for your life, He’s got all of this, He’s got all of that, it’s like, you know, it’s like you are shopping around, looking for certain—Oh, I think I’ll have Christ because of what He is offering.And the thing that we seem to be missing today, at least from my perspective in places that I’ve been, is that conviction of sin is not there.So, I guess when I think of repentance, I think, wait a minute, I’m really a sinner, I’m separated from God.Well then, that, as you mentioned, the turning from my own life to His life is on the basis of understanding that I’m a sinner, and I need salvation.So, I guess that’s the repentance I’d like to see today.

Dave:

Well, Tom, there is very little fear of God, no sense of the awesomeness of God, His holiness, and that’s a plague in the church, and it is sort of you want to be happy, you want to be successful, you want to get healed, what Christ will do for you, and that’s the reason you come to Him.I remember we used to have special meetings in our home for Jewish people.I remember the young Jewish—well, it actually was a young man and his cousin, who was a girl, they tried to win her father to Christ.Well, you need Christ.Well, what do I need Him for?Well, you know, make you happy.Well, I’m already happy.Well, He’ll make you healthy, He’ll heal you.I’m pretty healthy.Well, He will make you successful, you know, your life will go better. Well, I own a whole mountain top here right in the downtown area of San Fernando Valley, and I’m very wealthy.There was no idea that this man needed to be convicted of his sins and recognize he is separated from God for eternity, and he will be forever in remorse and torment because of his sins unless he repents—whether he puts it in those terms or not—unless he repents and he confesses that he’s a sinner.You can’t get saved unless you realize your are lost, and when we get saved from the penalty of sin that is imposed upon us, and if we don’t recognize that.It’slike Paul said, The law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.I get convicted of having broken the law, and God is going to have to have some way of righteously forgiving me.

Tom:

Dave, it reminds me, I was with a friend and we were talking about this issue of repentance, and my friend is such an evangelist, I mean, that’s on his heart all the time.He’s always giving out tracts to people, and so on, but on a sad note he said—you know, he was in Jerusalem, he talked about the Jews, and they had this evangelistic group and they were in down town Jerusalem.They had Big Bird, you know, the Big Bird, they had a guy dressed up like Big Bird passing out tracts, and the Jewish people were appalled at this.

Dave:

Yeah.

Tom:

So, I mean, talk about repentance, I mean, how can you ever bring somebody, you know, when you are in a clown uniform bringing somebody to a conviction of sin in their life, going about it that way, but we see it all the time.

Dave:

Well, Tom, the Philippian jailer cried out:Sirs, what must I do to be saved?He, apparently learned that he was lost.They said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.They didn’t have to say, repent, and believe, although sometimes they did say that, but this man was already repentant.He knew he was under the judgment of God for his sin, he knew he was a sinner, so however we come to that conclusion, this is essential, otherwise why do I turn to Christ