Ok I am not going to discuss either a chicken or an egg, but this has the same application. Which comes first faith or repentance? Let define each first:
Repentance, is defined by Grudem , as a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ.
Faith is trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for forgiveness and of sins and eternal life with God.
Repentance means there is an understanding of what you did was wrong, and a personal decision to make it right. Repentance is an action; genuine repentance will result in a changed life. This is something that begins within a person, but then the outward should show an action. Just showing sorrow or remorse does not result in repentance unless it results in forsaking the sin. 2 Cor 7:9-10 says “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and bring no regret, but worldly grief produces death.” We see in Hebrews 12:17 Esau was showing great remorse over his sin but did not truly repent.
For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.
A person having faith and repenting are two different things, but in the case of coming to Christ for Salvation they are a single act. Both occur at the same time. We turn to Christ for salvation to rescue us from our sins we are also at the same time turning away from our sins. So neither comes first, when a person becomes a Christian they occur at the same time.
Saving faith must be accompanied by genuine repentance of sin. So many times I have heard, “Believe in Jesus and you will be saved.” Well that is not entirely true, without any repentance of sin there is no “salvation” from it. We only give half of the truth when it is said “just believe”, faith and repentance must be taught together and as one for salvation. There are scripture in the bible where only faith is mentioned as the way to Christ (John 3:16 for example), but on the flip side of that there are many verses that just mention repentance as the way to Christ; it is just assumed by the disciples that repentance will involve faith in Christ that will lead to salvation.
Luke 24:46-47 state this “….and said to them, “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 proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” In this verse “forgiveness of sins” implies saving grace.
So when we witness or to become a Christian there should be:
Sorrow for sin
Commitment to forsake it
Decision to actually follow him.
But doing these three steps alone is not what brings all these three things together and leads a person to salvation……. it is the attitude of the heart. A prayer that is genuine will continue with this heart attitude throughout our 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.” (Grudem, pg 313)
Note: I am only talking about salvation here, I am not talking about “what if a person lives in sin while professing to be a Christian”, or other topics..
And here is your theology lesson for the day!
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GREAT post, very insightful! I would’ve had to think long and hard before coming to the conclusion you so wisely explained here.
I love Mark Buchanan’s definition of repentance in his book, The Rest of God: “Repentance is a ruthless dismantling of old ways of seeing and thinking, and then a diligent vigilant building of new ones.”
Your blog is beautiful! Did you happen to go to Union University? Just wondering…I knew a Laurel there & wondered if it was you:)
A beloved former pastor used to say that repentance and saving faith are two sides of the same coin — as you said, both are exercised at the same time and you can’t have one without the other.
Another pastor used to say repentance was “a change of mind which leads to a change of action.” That helped me because sometimes people feel they can’t come to Christ because they don’t feel they can “live it.” And that’s true — we can’t “live it” without the Lord’s help.
I struggled a lot with whether I truly repented when I was saved, and there was a quote from a book that really helped me. It’s in a post called “Blessed Assurance.” I’d retype it here but it is kind of long.
I think this is a pretty clear post on a muddy subject. Wrestling with all those verses must be hard.
Thank you, Laurel for the lesson :)…
I like you little disclaimer on the bottom of your post.
Blessings to your Sunday afternoon and always.
Our pastor did a sermon once, where he defined repentance as being sorrowful enough that you do a u-turn and go the other way. You turn away from the sin. It’s a definition that’s stuck with me. When I think maybe I’m sorry for something, I wonder - am I sorry I hurt someone, am I sorry I got caught, or am I sorry enough to turn the other way?
I loved this post and included a link to it at the end of my current post. I actually composed much of my post on repentance a couple months ago, and your post reminded me of it. I’m happy to continue the discussion!
Great post, Laurel! That is a tough topic, but you covered it very well.