Saturday, August 9, 2014

You do not need to Repent to be Saved

There are a number of verses you can cite out of context to make it sound like you need to Repent to be Saved, but it's the same with Baptism, in fact their in the same passages often. But no serious Christian today thinks Baptism is necessary for Salvation, after all Paul makes a point out of how he's only ever Baptized two people in 1 Corinthians. But many Evangelicals won't apply the same logic to the references to Repentance that they do to Baptism, which is arguably referenced more often then Repentance is.

How often Salvation is discussed without mentioning it is a more powerful argument. It doesn't occur in Romans 10 when Paul declares "All who call upon the name of The Lord shall be Saved", and plenty of similar places. (Same verses that refute the idea of Baptism being required)

The Gospel of John does not use the word Repent, or Repentance or any other form of the word even once.  Some argue that everything we need to know to be saved in the Gospel according to John, based on how it ends. To me for any of the four to lack reference to Repentance would be odd if it was necessary for Salvation.

It never occurs in James epistle, or Jude's and only once in Peter's two epistles. And it is a rare occurrence in Paul's Epistles. Only showing up Twice in Romans, a few times in 2nd Corinthians and Hebrews. When something doesn't show up until a 2nd epistle to the same recipient, that usually means it was a lower priority.

Romans is called the definitive statement on Christian doctrine. The first 8 Chapters nail down the fact that Salvation if by faith alone. And the word "Repent" appears only once in Chapter 2, where we haven't gotten to Salvation yet, Paul is still laying out how Sinful the state of mankind is. It never appears in Galatians, the other key Gospel on Faith vs Works.

That's the thing, people claim they believe salvation is by faith alone not works, but still Preach that you need to Repent to be saved. Repentance is a work, most of God's commands are commands not to Sin, even not Sinning is a work.

Other verses
"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." - Acts 16:31
"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." - Romans 4:5
"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." - Romans 3:28
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." - Ephesians 2:8,9
It's also never brought up in the account of how the Ethiopian Eunuch is saved in Acts 8.

Repentance is something we should be doing, after we're saved, as part of our walk with Christ. But it's not necessary for salvation, and we won't lose Salvation by failing to do it, but we still ought to do it.

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