Acts 15:30: And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
I spent some time yesterday talking on twitter with some friends about “repentance” and the gospel. One of the biggest false teachings in most churches today is that salvation is by faith in Christ, plus “repenting of sins.” Anytime I point out the fact that the bible does not, in fact, contain the phrase “repent of sin,” I am usually given a laundry list of verses that contain the word “repent.” Repent means, literally, to have a change of mind about something. It could mean to have a change of mind about some sin that we’re committing, but as it relates to the gospel, it doesn’t. We are saved by faith in Christ alone and not by living a righteous life on our own merit. John 3:18; Romans 4:5; Eph. 2:8-9. For the next few weeks I’m going to break down these references and encourage people to read what the bible actually says rather than relying on the traditions and religion of men.
It’s very important to review the surrounding passage as well for context, so here is the Acts account of Paul in Athens, which contains his admonition to the Athenians to “repent”:
Acts 17:15-33:
15And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed.
16Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
17Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him.
18Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
19And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?
20For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
21(For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)
22Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
23For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
24God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
25Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
27That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
30And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
32And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
33So Paul departed from among them.
This is one of my favorite dialogues recounted in the book of Acts. Paul visits Athens, a city of great cultural significance, and when he arrives he can’t help but notice all the shrines and memorials to the many gods followed by the Athenians. It’s known generally that the Greek mythology involves many gods, and Paul comments on the superstitiousness of the Athenians. vs. 22. Now, the Athenians loved philosophy and would generally listen to anyone with a new take on life or philosopy. vs. 21. So Paul had an audience eager to listen to what he had to say.
What did Paul say? Paul addressed the Athenians about the ignorance in worshiping false gods. While they were devout, they weren’t worshiping the true God. So Paul tells the Athenians about the true God, who “made the world and all things therein.” He tells them that, unlike their false gods, the “Lord of heaven and earth… dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” He tells them that they are ignorant in thinking that God is “like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.” Then he tells them to “repent”:
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
What was Paul telling the Athenians they needed to have a change of mind about? Their ignorance in thinking God was an idol made by men! Nothing whatsoever in Paul’s address suggests that he was telling them to stop fornicating, stop getting drunk, stop coveting, stop using profane language, stop committing adultery, or stop telling lies. What did the Athenians need to do to be declared righteous when God judges the world? Paul tells us in Romans 4:5: “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” If the Athenians did not want to be condemned, they needed to repent, to be sure, but the repentance they needed had nothing to do with how they lived their lives, but everything to do with who they believed to be God.
Yet people regularly claim that this passage says that faith in Christ alone is not enough to save us, that we must also “repent of our sins.” It could be because of false “translations” that add to God’s word. Check out the same verse in the New Living Translation: “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.” Notice anything different?
The plan of salvation is clear from Genesis to Revelation. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. If we want to save others, we need to show them who Christ is. We need to preach his life, death, burial and resurrection. Do we need to explain man’s fallen nature and that hell awaits those who die in their sins? Absolutely. But that is a very different thing from telling people to “repent of their sins” in order to be saved. Jesus paid everything required for salvation.
The bible talks a lot about living a godly life, to be sure. As believers, we should follow God’s commandments and serve him. Pastors should teach the whole bible and preach against sin. But we must be very careful with the gospel and make clear that those will never saved us, and even worse, will condemn those who try to do them in an effort at obtaining their own righteousness, instead of receiving the grace of God as a free gift.
Feb 16, 2011 @ 04:03:55
define faith in Christ.
Feb 16, 2011 @ 05:15:08
I think Jesus gives us a great picture of it in John 3:14-15: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” The account is found in Numbers 21.
Jesus says that everyone who believes in the same way as the Israelites in Numbers 21 will have eternal life. All the people in Numbers had to do was look to the serpent to be saved physically. If they looked at anything else, they would perish. If they tried to perform first aid on themselves, they would perish.
Similarly, 1 John 5:10-11 says, “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.”
According to that passage, the one who believes God believes the record that God gave of his Son, and that record is that God has given us eternal life and that life is in his Son. In other words, we must believe two things: the gift of God is eternal life, and Jesus is the Christ who gives us that gift.
Both the things are vitally important. If someone believes that he can lose “eternal” life, it’s always because they are trusting in themselves. If they don’t “keep repenting of sin” or “enduring to the end” or living right, they’ll lose their salvation. Someone who thinks this doesn’t believe eternal life is a gift given by God, but rather that their own works are somehow involved in obtaining it. The only person who truly believes salvation is a free gift of God is the person who believes that he can receive it, then live however he wants and he will still have it. If we think “eternal life” can end, we are calling God a liar, because the bible says again and again that the gift of God is everlasting, eternal life.
The second part is knowing that Jesus is the Son of God who gives us life. We must know that Jesus is the reason we are saved. There is no other name under heaven and earth by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12. If we think we can earn it ourselves through our own effort or if we think some other “god” can give us eternal life, we cannot be saved because we’re calling God a liar and denying the record He gave of His Son.
1 John 5 is a mirror of what Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. He said, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” 4:10 So according to Jesus, if the woman knew the gift of God…eternal life, according to Romans 6:23; and if she knew who Jesus is, that is, if she believed the record God gave of His Son, then she would ask for and receive living water.
So faith in Christ for salvation is believing the bible when it says that God will give eternal life to everyone who calls on Christ for salvation.
Nov 29, 2011 @ 04:04:57
why should i believe anything you have to say when the opening verse of your website doesnt exist in the passage you put rather in 17:30? Acts 15:30 says “So when they were sent away, they went down to Antioch; and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter.” Not what you were saying. And it is completely obvious that God is wanting the full repentance of your sins. He doesn’t want some mass murderer to say he is a Christian unless he has given up his sin of murder. Im not saying Christ doesnt save us, Im saying the exact opposite. Christ atoned for our sins and through faith and repentance of sins (not just belief in Christ, James 2:19-19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.) we are saved, not by what we do but what Christ did. Repentance of sins is essential to become a Christian and without it, saddly you are a mere false convert. We are not saved of works but of Christ’s righteousness imputed on us. (Verses talking about repentance FOR the forgiveness of sins: Mark 1:4-John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And Luke 3:3-And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Nov 29, 2011 @ 15:40:54
You shouldn’t believe what I say. You should believe the bible. The bible says in John 3:18 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God.” Notice the bible doesn’t say, “because he hath not repented of all his sins.” The bible has no room for the “false convert” you describe, who believes but doesn’t “repent of his sin” and is therefore not saved. There are only two types of people in the world according to John 3:18: those who believe and are saved, and those who do not believe and aren’t saved.
I like your example of the “mass murderer” who refuses to give up the sin of murder. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, those who falsely teach that salvation requires life change or giving up some sin in our lives always use the example of someone who sins in a way he doesn’t. (I’m assuming you don’t murder people on a regular basis.) The sin that must be repented of is always, conveniently, the one that person has given up. Drinking, cursing, fornicating, and gambling are good candidates. Why not use the example of someone who doesn’t give up coveting, lying or lust? Why not use the example of someone who didn’t give up the sin of disobedience to God by not getting baptized? (At least those in the “church of Christ” are consistent (though consistently wrong) by adding baptism to salvation.) If someone truly turned from his sin to be saved, how could he disobey the very first act of obedience for a new believer?
Of course, the reason that they don’t use those examples is that they recognize it’s a standard they can’t meet. It’s fairly easy not to murder someone, but not wishing we had a new car like our co-worker isn’t so easy. It’s not that hard to avoid adultery, but turning our gaze from the beautiful, scantily clad women on the beer billboard is much, much harder. That’s why these false teachers preach a nuance the bible doesn’t: that a believer might “fall into sin, but won’t dive into it” or they they only sin “unintentionally.” They’ll never give a definition of what it means to “repent of your sin,” a phrase not found anywhere in the bible, but that they claim is as essential as believing the gospel to salvation. It’s a moving target…it means to “turn 180 degrees from your sin,” though you might not stop altogether, of course, although you MUST give up the really bad ones like murder, adultery and drunkeness, and you also have to feel really really really bad about it. Not to worry, though, you can be sure that whatever it means, they’ve done it, unlike those other sinners who didn’t.
Finally, I have addressed the verses you cite in other parts of this blog, but I’ll give you a few words here since you probably haven’t read those posts. James 2 does not teach works salvation. It teaches that we become “perfect and entire, wanting nothing (James 1:4)” when our faith is tested. Abraham wasn’t saved when he offered up Isaac as a sacrifice in Genesis 22, he was saved in Genesis 13:4 when he called on the name of the Lord. (This was before Isaac was even born.) The bible says, “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13 The bible doesn’t say “most” or “some,” it says whosoever. So Abraham was born again by faith alone before his faith was tested, but when his faith was tested, he met the test by his obedience to God. This is likewise true in our own lives in other examples that James uses. For example, if we want to help the downtrodden, we shouldn’t just offer to pray for them, we should put our faith in action and actually help the person. But our salvation, which is a free gift given by God and not something we earn, isn’t dependent on us doing the right thing when given an opportunity. Although we can be made “perfect and entire, wanting for nothing” by such obedience, it has nothing to do with our salvation. (As an aside, “believing God is one” isn’t the gospel, nor can demons be saved at all. Again, James isn’t talking about being born again because he is talking to saved people, whom he addresses as “brethren” because they are already saved.)
You should read Mark 1:4 and Luke 3:3 more carefully. Mark 1:4 says, “John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sin.” (Luke 3:3 is similar.) He didn’t tell people to “repent of their sins to be saved. What is the “baptism of repentance”? The bible tells us in Acts 19 when Paul meets some disciples of John the Baptist. Paul tells them, “John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.” So what was John’s baptism of repentance? It was putting their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. The repentance that he preached was a change of belief, not a change of lifestyle. This is the repentance necessary for salvation, not some vague, undefinable turning over a new leaf. As Paul says in Romans 3:28, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”
Does God want believers to change their behavior to live a godly and pleasing life? Absolutely. No argument there. But we don’t have to give up any sin in order to be saved. What we must give up is our own efforts at saving ourselves, including any misconception that we somehow merit our salvation by “turning from sin” or obeying God’s laws.
Nov 29, 2011 @ 04:08:38
Also Todd Friel does an amazing job on wretched radio and if you have a problem with his sound and Biblical Worldview I truly doubt that youy would have a stong Biblical worldview meaning that i would be very skeptical that anything you have to say would be Biblical.
Nov 29, 2011 @ 14:11:52
Todd Friel? I’d love it if one of you “turn from your sins to be saved” adherents would show it to me in the bible instead of asking me to watch some youtube video of Todd Friel, Paul Washer or Ray Comfort. Trust me, I’ve seen plenty of the garbage they put out and talk about several of those videos on here.