Conversion: Faith and Repentance

We continue with our discussion of the elements of salvation to our lives.  Here again is the complete list of the elements:

“The Order of Salvation”

1. Election (God’s choice of people to be saved) Posted March 19, 2017
2. The gospel call (proclaiming the message of the gospel) Posted March 26, 2017
3. Regeneration (being born again) Posted April 2, 2017
4. Conversion (faith and repentance) This week
5. Justification (right legal standing)
6. Adoption (membership in God’s family)
7. Sanctification (right conduct of life)
8. Perseverance (remaining a Christian)
9. Death (going to be with the Lord)
10. Glorification (receiving a resurrection body)

We should note here that items 2-6 and part of 7 are all involved in “becoming a Chris­tian.” Numbers 7 and 8 work themselves out in this life, number 9 occurs at the end of this life, and number 10 occurs when Christ returns.

The last two weeks it was explained how God himself (through the human preaching of the Word) issues the gospel call to us and, by the work of the Holy Spirit, regenerates us, imparting new spiritual life within.  This week we examine our response to the gospel call.  We may define conversion as follows: Conversion is our willing response to the gospel call, in which we sincerely repent of sins and place our trust in Christ for salvation.

The word conversion itself means “turning”, here it represents a spiritual turn, a turning from sin to Christ.  The turning from sin is called repentance, and the turning to Christ is called faith.  We can look at each of these elements of conversion, and in one sense it does not matter which one we discuss first, for neither one can occur without the other, and they must occur together when true conversion takes place.  We will examine saving faith first, and then repentance.

True Saving Faith Includes Knowledge, Approval, and Personal Trust

Knowledge Alone Is Not Enough.  Personal saving faith, in the way Scripture under­stands it, involves more than mere knowledge.  It is necessary that we have some knowledge of who Christ is and what he has done, for “how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” (Romans 10:14).  But knowledge about the facts of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection for us is not enough, for people can know facts but rebel against them or dislike them.  For example, Paul tells us that many people know God’s laws but dislike them: “Though they know God’s decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them” (Romans 1:32).  Even the demons know who God is and know the facts about Jesus’ life and saving works, for James says, “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe and shudder” (James 2:19).  But that knowledge certainly does not mean that the demons are saved.

Knowledge and Approval Are Not Enough.  Moreover, merely knowing the facts and approving of them or agreeing that they are true is not enough.  Nicodemus knew that Jesus had come from God, for he said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him” (John 3:2).  Nicodemus had evaluated the facts of the situation, including Jesus’ teaching and his remarkable miracles, and had drawn a correct conclusion from those facts: Jesus was a teacher come from God.  But this alone did not mean that Nicodemus had saving faith, for he still had to put his trust in Christ for salvation; he still had to “believe in him.”  King Agrippa provides another example of knowledge and approval without saving faith.  Paul realized that King Agrippa knew and apparently viewed with approval the Jewish Scriptures (what we now call the Old Testament).  When Paul was on trial before Agrippa, he said, “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?  I know that you believe” (Acts 26:27).  Yet Agrippa did not have saving faith, for he said to Paul, “In a short time you think to make me a Christian!” (Acts 26:28).

I Must Decide to Depend on Jesus to Save Me Personally.  In addition to knowledge of the facts of the gospel and approval of those facts, in order to be saved, I must decide to depend on Jesus to save me.  In doing this I move from being an interested observer of the facts of salvation and the teachings of the Bible to being someone who enters into a new relationship with Jesus Christ as a living person.  We may therefore define saving faith in the following way: Saving faith is trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for forgiveness of sins and for eternal life with God.

This definition emphasizes that saving faith is not just a belief in facts but personal trust in Jesus to save me.   Much more is involved in salvation than simply forgiveness of sins and eternal life, but someone who initially comes to Christ seldom realizes the extent of the blessings of salvation that will come. We may rightly summarize the two major concerns of a person who trusts in Christ as “forgiveness of sins” and “eternal life with God.”  Of course, eternal life with God involves such matters as a declaration of righteousness before God (part of justification), adoption, sanctification, and glorifica­tion, but these things may be understood in detail later.  The main thing that concerns an unbeliever who comes to Christ is the fact that sin has separated him or her from the fellowship with God for which we were made.  The unbeliever comes to Christ seeking to have sin and guilt removed and to enter into a genuine relationship with God that will last forever.

The definition emphasizes personal trust in Christ, not just belief in facts about Christ.  Because saving faith in Scripture involves this personal trust, the word “trust” is a better word to use in contemporary culture than the word “faith” or “belief.”  The reason is that we can “believe” something to be true with no personal commitment or dependence involved in it.  I can believe that Canberra is the capital of Australia, or that 7 times 6 is 42, but have no personal commitment or dependence on anyone when I simply believe those facts.  The word faith, on the other hand, is sometimes used today to refer to an almost irrational commitment to something in spite of strong evidence to the contrary, a sort of irrational decision to believe something that we are quite sure is not true!  In these two popular senses, the word “belief” and the word “faith” have a meaning contrary to the biblical sense.

The word trust is closer to the biblical idea, since we are familiar with trusting persons in everyday life.  The more we come to know a person, and the more we see in that person a pattern of life that warrants trust, the more we find ourselves able to place trust in that person to do what he or she promises, or to act in ways that we can rely on.  This fuller sense of personal trust is indicated in several passages of Scripture in which initial sav­ing faith is spoken of in very personal terms, often using analogies drawn from personal relationships.  John says, “To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God” (John 1:12).  Much as we would receive a guest into our homes, John speaks of receiving Christ.

John 3:16 tells us that “whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  Here John uses a surprising phrase when he does not simply say, “whoever believes him” (that is, believes that what he says is true and able to be trusted), but rather, “whoever believes in him.”  The Greek phrase pistetio eis auton could also be translated “believe into him” with the sense of trust or confidence that goes into and rests in Jesus as a person.

Jesus speaks of “coming to him” in several places.  He says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out” (John 6:37).  He also says, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37).  In a similar way, he says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).  In these passages, we have the idea of coming to Christ and asking for acceptance, for liv­ing water to drink, and for rest and instruction.  All of these give an intensely personal picture of what is involved in saving faith.  The author of Hebrews also asks us to think of Jesus as now alive in heaven, ready to receive us: “He is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).  Jesus is pictured here as one who is now alive in heaven, always able to help those who come to him.

With this understanding of true New Testament faith, we may now appreciate that when a person comes to trust in Christ, all three elements must be present.  There must be some basic knowledge or understanding of the facts of the gospel.  There must also be approval of, or agreement with, these facts.  Such agreement includes a conviction that the facts spoken of the gospel are true, especially the fact that I am a sinner in need of salvation and that Christ alone has paid the penalty for my sin and offers salvation to me.  It also includes an awareness that I need to trust in Christ for salvation and that he is the only way to God, and the only means provided for my salvation.  This approval of the facts of the gospel will also involve a desire to be saved through Christ.  But all this still does not add up to true saving faith.  That comes only when I make a decision of my will to depend on, or put my trust in, Christ as my Savior.  This personal decision to place my trust in Christ is something done with my heart, the central faculty of my entire being that makes commitments for me as a whole person.

Faith Should Increase as Our Knowledge Increases.  Contrary to the current secular understanding of “faith,” true New Testament faith is not something that is made stron­ger by ignorance or by believing against the evidence.  Rather, saving faith is consistent with knowledge and true understanding of facts.  Paul says, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).  When people have true informa­tion about Christ, they are better able to put their trust in him. The more we know about him and about the character of God that is completely revealed in him, the more fully we are able to put our trust in him. Faith is not weakened by knowledge but should increase with more true knowledge.

In the case of saving faith in Christ, our knowledge of him comes by believing a reli­able testimony about him. The reliable testimony that we believe is the words of Scripture.  Since they are God’s very words, they are completely reliable, and we gain true knowledge of Christ through them.  This is why “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).  In everyday life, we come to believe many things when we hear testimony from a person we consider to be reliable or trustworthy.  This kind of decision is even more justified here, when the actual words of God provide that testimony and we believe it.

Faith and Repentance Must Come Together

We may define repentance as follows: Repentance is a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renounc­ing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ.

This definition indicates that repentance is something that can occur at a specific point in time, and is not equivalent to a demonstration of change in a person’s pattern of life.  Repentance, like faith, is an intellectual understanding (that sin is wrong), an emotional approval of the teachings of Scripture regarding sin (a sorrow for sin and a hatred of it), and a personal decision to turn from it (a renouncing of sin and a decision of the will to forsake it and lead a life of obedience to Christ instead).  We cannot say that someone has to actually live that changed life over a period of time before repentance can be genuine, or else repentance would be turned into a kind of obedience that we could do to merit salvation for ourselves.  Of course, genuine repentance will result in a changed life.  In fact, a truly repentant person will begin at once to live a changed life, and we can call that changed life the fruit of repentance.  But we should never attempt to require that there be a period of time in which a person actually lives a changed life before we give assurance of forgiveness.  Repentance is something that occurs in the heart and involves the whole person in a decision to turn from sin.

It is important to realize that mere sorrow for one’s actions, or even deep remorse over one’s actions, does not constitute genuine repentance unless it is accompanied by a sincere decision to forsake sin that is being committed against God.  Paul preached about “repentance to God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).  He says that he rejoiced over the Corinthians, “not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. . . For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:9 – 10).  A worldly sort of grief may involve great sorrow for one’s actions and probably also fear of punishment but no genuine renouncing of sin or commitment to forsake it in one’s life.  Hebrews 12:17 tells us that Esau wept over the consequences of his actions but did not truly repent.  As 2 Corinthians 7:9 – 10 indicates, even true godly grief is just one factor that leads to genuine repentance, but such grief is not itself the sincere decision of the heart in the presence of God that makes genuine repentance.

Scripture puts repentance and faith together as different aspects of the one act of com­ing to Christ for salvation.  It is not that a person first turns from sin and next trusts in Christ, or first trusts in Christ and then turns from sin, but rather that both occur at the same time.  When we turn to Christ for salvation from our sins, we are simultaneously turning away from the sins that we are asking Christ to save us from.  If that were not true our turning to Christ for salvation from sin could hardly be a genuine turning to him or trusting in him.

It is clearly contrary to the New Testament evidence to speak about the pos­sibility of having true saving faith without having any repentance for sin.  It is also con­trary to the New Testament to speak about the possibility of someone accepting Christ “as Savior” but not “as Lord,” if that means simply depending on him for salvation but not committing oneself to forsake sin and to be obedient to Christ from that point on.

Some prominent voices within evangelicalism have differed with this point, arguing that a gospel presentation that requires repentance as well as faith is really preaching sal­vation by works.  They argue that the view that repentance and faith must go together, is a false gospel of “lordship salvation.”  They would say that saving faith only involves trusting Christ as Savior, and that submitting to him as Lord is an optional later step that is unnecessary for salvation.  For many who teach this view, saving faith only requires an intellectual agreement with the facts of the gospel.

When Jesus invites sinners, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” he immediately adds, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me” (Matthew 11:28 – 29).  To come to him includes taking his yoke upon us, being subject to his direc­tion and guidance, learning from him and being obedient to him.  If we are unwilling to make such a commitment, then we have not truly placed our trust in him.

When Scripture speaks of trusting in God or in Christ, it frequently connects such trust with genuine repentance.  For example, Isaiah gives an eloquent testimony that is typical of the message of many of the Old Testament prophets:

Seek the LORD while he may be found,

call upon him while he is near;

let the wicked forsake his way,

and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on him,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:6-7)

 

Here both repentance from sin and coming to God for pardon are mentioned.  In the New Testament, Paul summarizes his gospel ministry as one of “testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance to God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).  The author of Hebrews includes as the first two elements in a list of elementary doctrines “repentance from dead works” and “faith toward God” (Hebrews 6:1).

Sometimes faith alone is named as the thing necessary for coming to Christ for salvation (see John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9; Ephesians 2:8 – 9).  These are familiar passages and we emphasize them often when explaining the gospel to others.  But what we do not often realize is the fact that there are many other passages where only repentance is named, for it is simply assumed that true repentance will also involve faith in Christ for forgiveness of sins.  The New Testament authors understood so well that genuine repentance and genuine faith had to go together that they often simply mentioned repentance alone with the understanding that faith would also be included, because turning front sins in a genuine way is impossible apart from a genu­ine turning to God.  Therefore, just before Jesus ascended into heaven, he told his dis­ciples, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations” (Luke 24:46 – 47).  Saving faith is implied in the phrase “forgiveness of sins,” but it is not explicitly named.

The preaching recorded in the book of Acts shows the same pattern.  After Peter’s ser­mon at Pentecost, the crowd asked, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:37 – 38).  In his second sermon Peter spoke to his hearers in a similar way, saying, “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).  Later, when the apostles were on trial before the Sanhedrin, Peter spoke of Christ, saying, “God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31).  And when Paul was preaching on the Areopagus in Athens to an assembly of Greek philosophers, he said, “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).  He also says in his epistles, “Do you not know that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4), and he speaks of “a repentance that leads to salvation” (2 Corinthians 7:10).

We also see that when Jesus encounters people personally he requires them to turn from their sin before they come to follow him.  Whether it be speaking to the rich young ruler and asking that he give up his possessions (Luke 18:18 – 30), coming to the house of Zacchaeus and declaring that salvation had come to him that day because he had given half his goods to the poor and had repaid fourfold anything that he had stolen (Luke 19:1 – 10), speaking to the woman at the well and asking her to call her husband (John 4:16), or speaking to Nicodemus and rebuking his rabbinic unbelief and pride in his own knowledge (John 3:1-21), Jesus consistently puts his finger on the area of sin most influential in that person’s life.  In fact, we may ask whether anyone in the gospels ever came to sincere faith in Christ without repenting of his or her sins.

When we realize that genuine saving faith must be accompanied by genuine repen­tance for sin, it helps us to understand why some preaching of the gospel has such inadequate results today.  If there is no mention of the need for repentance, sometimes the gospel message becomes only, “Believe in Jesus Christ and be saved” without any mention of repentance at all.  But this watered-down version of the gospel does not ask for a wholehearted commitment to Christ; a commitment to Christ, if genuine, must include a commitment to turn from sin.  Preaching the need for faith without repentance is preaching only half of the gospel.  It will result in many people being deceived, thinking that they have heard the Christian gospel and tried it, but nothing has happened.  They might even say something like, “I accepted Christ as Savior over and over again and it never worked.”  Yet they never really did receive Christ as their Savior, for he comes to us in his majesty and invites us to receive him as he is, the one who deserves to be, and demands to be, absolute Lord of our lives as well.

Finally, what shall we say about the common practice of asking people to pray to receive Christ as their personal Savior and Lord?  Since personal faith in Christ must involve an actual decision of the will, it is often very helpful to express that decision in spoken words, and this could very naturally take the form of a prayer to Christ in which we tell him of our sorrow for sin, our commitment to forsake it, and our decision actually to put our trust in him.  Such a spoken prayer does not in itself save us, but the attitude of heart that it represents does constitute true conversion, and the decision to speak that prayer can often be the point at which a person truly comes to faith in Christ.

Both Faith and Repentance Continue Throughout Life

Although we have been considering initial faith and repentance as the two aspects of conversion at the beginning of the Christian life, it is important to realize that faith and repentance are not confined to the beginning of the Christian life.  They are rather attitudes of heart that continue throughout our lives as Christians.  Jesus tells his disciples to pray daily, “And forgive us our sins as we also have forgiven those who sin against us” (Matthew 6:12), a prayer that, if genuine, will certainly involve daily sorrow for sin and genuine repentance.  And the risen Christ says to the church in Laodicea, “Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent” (Revelations 3:19).

With regard to faith, Paul tells us, “So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the great­est of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).  He certainly means that these three abide throughout the course of this life, but he probably also means that they abide for all eternity: if faith is trusting God to provide all our needs, then this attitude will never cease, not even in the age to come.  But in any case, the point is clearly made that faith continues throughout this life.  Paul also says, “The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Therefore, although it is true that initial saving faith and initial repentance occur only once in our lives, and when they occur they constitute true conversion, nonetheless, the heart attitudes of repentance and faith only begin at conversion.  These same attitudes should continue throughout the course of our Christian lives.  Each day there should be heartfelt repentance for sins that we have committed, and faith in Christ to provide for our needs and to empower us to live the Christian life.