CHARLES RYRIE: (FALSE)
"And yet John surely had many opportunities to use it in the events of our Lord’s life which he recorded. It would have been most appropriate to use repent or repentance in the account of the Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus. But believe is the word used (John 3:12, 15). So, If Nicodemus needed to repent, believe must be a synonym; else how could the Lord have failed to use the word repent when talking to him? To the Samaritan harlot, Christ did not say repent. He told her to ask (John 4:10), and when her testimony and the Lord’s spread to other Samaritans, John recorded not that they repented but that they believed (vss. 39, 41-42). There are about fifty more occurrences of “believe” or “faith” in the Gospel of John, but not one use of “repent.” The climax is John 20:31: “These have been written that you may believe . . . and that believing you may have life in His name.” (Charles C. Ryrie, So Great Salvation, Victor Books, p. 98)"
JOHN MURRAY: (TRUE)
"In the New Testament the terms 'repent' (metanoeo) and 'repentance' (metanoia) refer basically to a change of mind. It is all-important to note this signification. For repentance consists in a radical transformation of thought, attitude, outlook, and direction. In accordance with the pervasive Old Testament emphasis and with what appears also in the New Testament, repentance is a turning from sin unto God and His service. The co-ordination of turning (epistrepho) with repentance places this fact in relief (cf. Acts iii. 19, xxvi. 20) as well as the frequency with which turning from sin unto God occurs as the virtual synonym of repentance (cf. Lk. i. 16; Acts ix. 35, xi. 21, xiv. 15, xv. 19, xxvi. 18; 1 Thes. i. 9; 1 Pet. ii. 25). Repentance is a revolution in that which is most determinative in human personality and is the reflex in consciousness of the radical change wrought by the Holy Spirit in regeneration.
It is a mistake, however, to underrate the place of grief and hatred for sin and turning from it unto God. It is true that there can be a morbid and morose sorrow which has no affinity with repentance. It is the sorrow of the world which works death (2 Cor. vii. 10), exemplified in Judas (Mt. xxvii. 3-5) and Esau (Heb. xii. 17). But there is a godly sorrow that works repentance unto salvation (2 Cor. vii. 9, 10), and it is an indispensable ingredient in evangelical repentance. This grief is signally manifest in the examples of repentance which the Bible provides (cf. Jb. xlii. 5, 6; Ps. li. 1-17; Lk. xxii. 62). It could not be otherwise. Nothing is more relevant to our situation in relation to God than our sin, and the salvation to which repentance is directed is salvation from sin.
The necessity of repentance as a condition of salvation is clearly inscribed on the biblical witness. Our Lord began His public ministry with the message, 'Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand' (Mt. iv. 17). One of His final announcements before the ascension was that 'repentance unto remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all nations' (Lk. xxiv. 47, cf. xiii. 3, 5). In the carrying out of this commission no word is more significant than that of Peter on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 38). To the same effect is Paul's declaration that the change in God's administration of grace to the world, resulting from Jesus' death and resurrection, is signalized by the command to men that 'they should all everywhere repent' (Acts xvii. 30). And Paul sums up his witness to both Jews and Greeks as that which consists in 'repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ' (Acts xx. 21).
The demand for repentance in the witness of Jesus and of the apostles as well as the fact that repentance is unto the remission of sins and eternal life (cf. Lk. xxiv. 47; Acts ii. 38, iii. 19, v. 31, xi. 18; 2 Cor. vii. 10) show that there is no salvation apart from repentance. This does not interfere with the complementary truth that we are saved through faith. Faith alone is the instrument of justification. But justification is not the whole of salvation, and faith is not the only condition. Faith dissociated from repentance would not be the faith that is unto salvation. The specific character of faith is trust, commitment to Christ, but it always exists in a context. Repentance is integral to that context. It is vain to ask, Which is prior, faith or repentance? They are always concurrently in exercise and are mutually conditioning. Faith is directed to Christ for salvation from sin unto holiness and life. But this involves hatred of sin and turning from it. Repentance is turning from sin unto God. But this implies the apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ." (From The New Bible Dictionary, p. 1084)
"And yet John surely had many opportunities to use it in the events of our Lord’s life which he recorded. It would have been most appropriate to use repent or repentance in the account of the Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus. But believe is the word used (John 3:12, 15). So, If Nicodemus needed to repent, believe must be a synonym; else how could the Lord have failed to use the word repent when talking to him? To the Samaritan harlot, Christ did not say repent. He told her to ask (John 4:10), and when her testimony and the Lord’s spread to other Samaritans, John recorded not that they repented but that they believed (vss. 39, 41-42). There are about fifty more occurrences of “believe” or “faith” in the Gospel of John, but not one use of “repent.” The climax is John 20:31: “These have been written that you may believe . . . and that believing you may have life in His name.” (Charles C. Ryrie, So Great Salvation, Victor Books, p. 98)"
JOHN MURRAY: (TRUE)
"In the New Testament the terms 'repent' (metanoeo) and 'repentance' (metanoia) refer basically to a change of mind. It is all-important to note this signification. For repentance consists in a radical transformation of thought, attitude, outlook, and direction. In accordance with the pervasive Old Testament emphasis and with what appears also in the New Testament, repentance is a turning from sin unto God and His service. The co-ordination of turning (epistrepho) with repentance places this fact in relief (cf. Acts iii. 19, xxvi. 20) as well as the frequency with which turning from sin unto God occurs as the virtual synonym of repentance (cf. Lk. i. 16; Acts ix. 35, xi. 21, xiv. 15, xv. 19, xxvi. 18; 1 Thes. i. 9; 1 Pet. ii. 25). Repentance is a revolution in that which is most determinative in human personality and is the reflex in consciousness of the radical change wrought by the Holy Spirit in regeneration.
It is a mistake, however, to underrate the place of grief and hatred for sin and turning from it unto God. It is true that there can be a morbid and morose sorrow which has no affinity with repentance. It is the sorrow of the world which works death (2 Cor. vii. 10), exemplified in Judas (Mt. xxvii. 3-5) and Esau (Heb. xii. 17). But there is a godly sorrow that works repentance unto salvation (2 Cor. vii. 9, 10), and it is an indispensable ingredient in evangelical repentance. This grief is signally manifest in the examples of repentance which the Bible provides (cf. Jb. xlii. 5, 6; Ps. li. 1-17; Lk. xxii. 62). It could not be otherwise. Nothing is more relevant to our situation in relation to God than our sin, and the salvation to which repentance is directed is salvation from sin.
The necessity of repentance as a condition of salvation is clearly inscribed on the biblical witness. Our Lord began His public ministry with the message, 'Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand' (Mt. iv. 17). One of His final announcements before the ascension was that 'repentance unto remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all nations' (Lk. xxiv. 47, cf. xiii. 3, 5). In the carrying out of this commission no word is more significant than that of Peter on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii. 38). To the same effect is Paul's declaration that the change in God's administration of grace to the world, resulting from Jesus' death and resurrection, is signalized by the command to men that 'they should all everywhere repent' (Acts xvii. 30). And Paul sums up his witness to both Jews and Greeks as that which consists in 'repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ' (Acts xx. 21).
The demand for repentance in the witness of Jesus and of the apostles as well as the fact that repentance is unto the remission of sins and eternal life (cf. Lk. xxiv. 47; Acts ii. 38, iii. 19, v. 31, xi. 18; 2 Cor. vii. 10) show that there is no salvation apart from repentance. This does not interfere with the complementary truth that we are saved through faith. Faith alone is the instrument of justification. But justification is not the whole of salvation, and faith is not the only condition. Faith dissociated from repentance would not be the faith that is unto salvation. The specific character of faith is trust, commitment to Christ, but it always exists in a context. Repentance is integral to that context. It is vain to ask, Which is prior, faith or repentance? They are always concurrently in exercise and are mutually conditioning. Faith is directed to Christ for salvation from sin unto holiness and life. But this involves hatred of sin and turning from it. Repentance is turning from sin unto God. But this implies the apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ." (From The New Bible Dictionary, p. 1084)
