Is repentance necessary to be saved?

Yes repentance is necessary to be saved. No rebels allowed in Heaven. You would start up the rebellion all over again.


2Pt:3:9: The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.


Heb:12:14: Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord


2Cor:7:10: For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.


Matthew 3:
1: In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,
2: And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
3: For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
4: And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.
5: Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
6: And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
7: But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8: Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
9: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
10: And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
11: I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
12: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.


Unfortunately, so many Christians do not realize that there is to be a "finishing" of our faith... involving a laying aside of all of our sins...

Hebrews 12:
1: Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2: Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith


Mk:2:17: When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

 

Yes repentence is nessessary for us to be saved. However repentence is not something we do. It is something the Holy Spirit does within us. Repentence is a change of mind the greek work Metanoya. Meta = Change Noya = Mind. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our sin and changes our mind about it. It is the Holy Spirit who convinces us that only Jesus can save us.

Repentence is a work of the Holy Spirit and is nessessary for salvation. It is like being Born Again. You need to be Born Again to be saved but it is not something we do. Nobody decides to become born again to become saved. You trust Jesus for salvation and are born again. In the same way you trust Jesus for salvation and become repentent.

 

Jesus thought so...He stated; "unless you repent, you will All likewise perish."

 

then why doesnt everyone repent? you have to CHOOSE to allow the Holy Spirit to work within you all the time.

Titus 3:
4: But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5: Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6: Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour



READ verse 13:
Romans 8:
5: For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6: For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8: So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9: But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
11: But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
12: Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13: For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.


YOU are the one who continually DECIDES TO YIELD YOURSELF or not, to the working of the Holy Spirit:

Rom:6:13: Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Rom:6:16: Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Rom:6:19: I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.


Heb:3:15: While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

 

Repent for every known sin, repent for disloyalty to God... He will show you as time goes by what you need to realize for deeper and deeper repentance.

Jn:16:8: And when he (the Holy Spirit) is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment

Jn:16:13: Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth

This does not happen all at once

 

Every saved person is indwelled by the the Holy Spirit has repented. At some point in there life they have changed there mind and decided that Jesus is the only one who who can save them. That is repentence.

Now I see what you are saying that we can resist the workings of the Holy Spirit. However He will still work and the person is still repentent. They have changed there mind about 1). Jesus' ability to save and 2.) Their opinion of sin.

An unsaved person who has not the Holy Spirit may see nothing wrong with (insert sin of choice).

A saved person may continue to sin and resist the conviction of the Holy Spirit. However because of that conviction he knows (sin of choice) is wrong. He is convicted it is wrong. He is repentent. If we resist the Holy Spirit, are we still born again?

If you make repentence something we do then you make it our work. The Bible clearly says we are not saved by our works.

 

So we are saved in part by our own works? What if I forget to repent of a sin? What if I do not know I have sinned? What if I die before I have a chance to repent?

 

Trust Jesus for your salvation and you have repented.

Metanoya = repentence
Meta = change
noya = mind

At one point in every saved persons life they have changed their mind about who can save them. They are repentent.

Trust Christ and the Holy Spirit will do the rest.

 

repentance is not works. and yes you must do them (works). If you dont, you prove you dont have genuine faith and that you have not allowed God to have His way with you. sorry but you actually are going to have to DO something. You've got a choice. God does not force you to do things.

Yet at the same time repentance is also a gift from God. You cannot of yourself repent. But its your choice to accept the gift from God.

Phil. 2:
12: Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13: For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

 

This is what I have been saying. I accepted that gift the moment I was saved. The moment I changed my mind (repented) and decided that Jesus is my salvation.

I think we agree, just like being born again, repentence is a gift from God.

:godisgood:

 

John 16 tells us that the Holy Spirit convicts the World of sin and righteousness and jugment.

In Heb 8 we find that under the New Covenant the Holy Spirit writes the law of God on the heart - all things become new - old things are passed away - we become a new creation.

Paul says in Rom 7 that in his heart he agrees with the LAw of God which is spiritual - "holy just and good".

In 1John 2 John says that those who go on in sin and rebellion after claiming to know Christ are lying.

The bottom line is that repentance involves turning from sin.

In Christ,

Bob

 

In 1Cor 10 God says that "No temptation has ovetaken you but such as is common to man - and God is faithful who will NOT allow you to be tempted beyond that which you are able - but will with the temptation provide a way of escape"

 

Who turns us from our sin? With out the Holy Spirit would we turn from our sin? Repentence is from?

 

Back to the OP.

Cornelius repented before the man in bright clothing appeared to him. It was this true repentance by Cornelius that resulted in God arranging for Peter to come.

Of course God used Cornelius to show that the Gentles could also become Christians.

 

Actualy the OP askes the question

1.do we only need to believe to be saved, or do we need to repent and believe.

All you need to do to be saved is Believe. The bible says that several times that you have quoted. However it also says you need to be repentent and born again to be saved. How do I square that. Everybody that believes is repentent and born again thru the Holy Spirit. If you change your mind and believe Jesus will save you then you are repentent.



2. What does repent even mean. Does it mean you have to repent for all your sins you've ever done......

Repent means change of mind. It is the greek word Metanoya. Meta is change noia is mind. It is the Holy Spirits job to convict. why? The purpose of conviction is to change somebodys mind. If you are saved then your mind has been changed about who can save you and that sin is wrong.

Repentence is not making a list of every sin and saying sorry I (sin). It is a general change of mind about sin and who can save us.

 

You would agree that it was the Holy Spirit that caused Cornelius to repent. Making it a work of God and not Cornelius.

 

Zacchaeus knew what true repentance meant and so did Jesus:

Luke 19:
8: And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
9: And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.

 

Acts 16:30, 31 asks and answers the question directly.

Do you disagre? Did the Holy Spirit forget to add other things that need to be done to be saved? It does not say You need to believe, repent, be born again, baptized.

It only says Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved.