The last post was about saving faith. I discussed two different kinds of “faith” people may assume are saving faith but cannot save.  Just knowing the facts (head knowledge) is not enough and temporal faith (faith in God for the needs of this life) is not enough. The only kind of faith that leads to salvation and eternal life is trusting completely in Jesus Christ alone. He alone can forgive; he alone can save a person from judgement. Saving faith begins with hearing the gospel, agreeing it is true, and then repenting of your sin and trusting in Christ.

Often, the church doesn’t even preach the gospel message about Christ crucified. There are many times I have seen pastors invite people up to the front of church to pray a prayer to “ask Jesus into your heart” without the gospel having been preached. “Asking Jesus into your heart” is not biblical and is not the gospel. Praying a prayer is not sufficient. Salvation requires certain information is preached, understood, and believed, information which I have conveyed in this series of posts.

Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word of Christ.

Romans 10:17

Then, on the basis of the truth as understood from the preaching of God’s Word, one must then repent and place their trust in Christ. Faith and repentance may then be expressed in prayer, understanding that it is the intent of the heart to repent and believe that represents “saving faith”.

I need to discuss more about the importance of repentance in this post.

Sometimes, the way the church explains the gospel to people, it seems like a person can receive eternal life and then continue on a sinful path because salvation means there is complete forgiveness. This actually was a problem in the early church that the Apostle Paul had to correct.

What shall we say then? Are we to remain in sin so that grace may increase? Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Romans 6:1-2

A faith without repentance cannot save and is contrary to what the bible teaches. If there is no repentance, there is no saving faith. The ministry of Jesus was preceded by the ministry of the John the Baptist who heralded the coming Messiah with a baptism of repentance. So then, the road to salvation in Messiah was paved with repentance.  When Jesus opened his ministry, he seamlessly picked up the very same message that John had been preaching:

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 4:17

I have explained the gospel to people many times. And honestly, it’s a message people can believe but often they don’t receive the message. Its not that they can’t believe, they can. It’s a simple message that resonates in the minds and hearts of people.  The issue is people often refuse the offer of salvation because of the requirement for repentance.

What is repentance? Repentance is simply changing your mind about leading a sinful life. Instead of loving sin, you hate sin. As Paul says in the verse from Romans above, you become “dead” to sin. Instead of running around with wicked people, you surround your life with godly people. The path of the wicked leads only to judgement.  If a person is truly saved, they will forsake the ways of the wicked and pursue the path of righteousness. This is what saved people do. Repentance is choosing to walk the path of righteousness. Instead of bowing down to the wicked culture, you bow down to the Lord Jesus Christ. As Paul would say:

…consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness. For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 6:11-14

For those who are truly saved, sin is no longer the master over them. For those who are not saved, they are still a slave to sin.

Admittedly, repentance is a difficult thing. It was hard for me too. The natural inclinations of people, as the Bible explains, are sinful. I once explained the gospel to a young man who said he believed everything I told him about Jesus Christ, but when I asked him if he could repent, he said no. He loved his sinful life. He chose not to place his trust in Christ. He clearly understood the requirement and I admired his honesty, but repentance was his obstacle as it often is.

Are you willing to repent?

Are you willing to recognize that you are a sinner and that you must repent of your sin in order to be saved? This means turning your back on sinful pursuits. No more porn, no more lies, no more hatred and anger, no more hateful posts on social media, no more violence, no more pride, no more sinful pursuits at all.

Righteousness, becoming a follower of Jesus Christ, must become the inclination of the mind, the attitude, the direction, the goal of the saved person.  Righteousness is choosing to live the life God intends for you – becoming a disciple of the Lord, loving His ways, rejecting the deception and the wickedness of the world culture, and choosing that which is right in His sight. The Psalm says: “For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the wicked will perish.”

In summary, salvation requires complete trust in Christ alone for forgiveness, and a commitment to follow Him in accordance with the Word of God, the Bible. Incorporated within that complete trust is your rejection of sin – as defined in the scriptures – and a repentance or turning away from the sinful desires and temptations. Repent, believe, receive and be saved. That is the simple message of the gospel which has never changed.