Repentance needed for Salvation?

You did exactly what I thought you would... If you read the initial question posed by the young ruler of Luke 18 and compare it to Zachaeus' willingness to do anything just to see Jesus, one can easily see the massive difference between the two, especially if you take into account the rules and customs of the day. My own belief is that Zachaeus was regenerated prior to his relstlessness that caused heim to climb that tree. His repentence came later in the portion of the text you quoted.

Blessings

 

The important thing is that the rich ruler turned his back on Christ because he wasn't willing to pay the price necessary to become a follower of His. Zacchaeus was willing to take Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Salvation is not an easy thing to obtain. You have to submit yourself to Christ as Lord. (Some people here call that the heresy of Lordship salvation. Obviously they haven't thought about these two passages of scripture.)

 

Repentance AND Faith

G'day all!

I'm new to BB and all this, but here it goes...

Point #1: Repentance is the result of a work...and that work is a work of God called godly sorrow: "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death" 2 Cor 7:10.

Repentance is defined as a reversal, or a change of mind, heart and direction...this can only happen through the work of godly sorrow - Ps 19:7, "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting (i.e. - turning around) the soul".

How is godly sorrow brought on? It is God's Word -- God's Law -- that brings on conviction and a contrite heart...It "converts" our way of thinking on our sin...by the Law, we see our sin as wicked and an offense against a Holy & Righteous God...that's the intended use of the Law (Gal 3:24).

But repentance IS NOT salvation. I believe whole-heartedly that there must be repentance in a person's life if he will ever get saved...just like I believe a person must be broken over sin and see themselves as lost so that they know why they need the Lord Jesus Christ and His salvation..."For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of..."

Point #2: Salvation is of the LORD. For a soul to gain eternal life, that one must believe on Christ for who He is - He's God the Son, and on what He says He can do - His Blood will wash away their sin. To be saved is to believe/trust on Jesus: John 1:12, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."

Well...how does someone get to that point...to needing to and believing on Christ? "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of..."

So...is repentance a work? No...it's a result of a work...God's work...godly sorrow. Is faith a work? Some would say..."Well, trusting in Jesus is a work"...No...the Bible always distinguishes between "faith and works".

Lord bless

 

No, never heard of one. :laugh: :laugh: I was just born yesterday, didn't you know that?

Saying it was at the gates of hell does imply it to me. So what do you mean by that?

 

I agree we are in a spiritual battle. :smilewinkgrin:

But I don't see it as offensive, but defensive. When, for example, people go out to give the gospel, the enemy will attack this through various ways (including temptation to sin, which I think is the main way, along with false teachings). So then we are on the defensive with that.

We can't "corner" the enemy because only Jesus will be able to vanquish him. However, we can ward off his attacks, help prepare for them, and deflect them with God's word and prayer by the power of the HS.

 

Let me just say this, what was the first thing Jesus preached after His baptism and after the temptation? Just to refresh the memory:

"From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt. 4:17

 

Let me be the first to welcome you to the Baptists bored - er I mean Baptist Board. Hope you have your 'hard hat' and flak jacket with you. :laugh: :laugh:

Ed

 

Great verse that clarifies things! Repentance is needed for the kingdom of heaven (actual literal translation is the kingdom of the heavens), not for eternal salvation.

 

I think the sillyness of repentless salvation is obvious. Could you imagine someone's testimony

Sinner: I got saved last night.

Friend: That's great. What finally brought you to repentance?

Sinner: Who said anything about repenting? Why should I do that? Nobody's going to tell me how to live, especially now that I'm saved.

Think it's far-fetched? I was the "Friend" in this scenario in August of 1984 while returning from a Jack Hyles service in Columbia SC.

Every attempt to educate the "sinner" in regards to repentance was rejected as "legalism". He quickly disappeared into the world from which he never departed.

BTW this has NOTHING to do with Jack Hyles.

 

He who has the power gets the credit!:thumbs:

 

Gekko that's not exactly what I said. Again we need to clarify terminology. When speaking of eternal salvation the the Bible is crystal clear on what it takes to be saved, and repentance is not mentioned. But if we are talking about the salvation of the soul then repentance is a MUST.

That's not what it is at all. Again we must allow context to tell us what it is meant in a passage. The context of eternal salvation does not include repentance as far as I can tell. Because if it does then the Bible would contradict Itself in at least three places. And that is an impossibility!

 

Unfortunately it seems as though we have churches flooded with these kind of Christians, because we have allowed so much of the world through the church doors and have done away with sound discipleship. We've got to get away from the nickle and noses attitude.

Grace is a gift to anyone that will receive, but discipleship has a price tag attached to it and unfortunately not all Christians are willing to pay the price

 

Repentance to eternal life is the free gift of God, it is part of our Salvation.

And our Salvation is pure Grace.

...and this we will do if God permits...

 

Not exactly sure what you mean by this question.

Grace is a gift from God and must be received through faith/believe.

We can do NOTHING to earn grace.

 

Amen brother.

Praise God for His Grace.

Also pray and tell others about the Grace we have received.