Question regarding repentance and salvation

AnotherBaptist,

The Philippians text never says nor implies that Jesus gave up His sovereignty. Certainly He humbled Himself, certainly He gave up some of His divine prerogatives. However, He did not give up anything of His divine nature, of which sovereignty is an inextricable part.

The only way you'd be correct in your statement above is if Jesus was something less than fully divine when He was here on earth. Of course that position would be heretical.

To say that you have Jesus being God and not being sovereign is like saying you have a square circle. The nature of a square and the nature of a circle have certain inextricable and incompatible parts. Similarly, Christ, being fully divine, has endemic and inextricable characteristics due to His divinity. Sovereignty is one such characteristic and cannot be set aside for to do so would make Him something less than God.

Blessings,

The Archangel

 

Here is the rendering from the NASB:

Here is the Greek word associated with the KJV rendering of "no reputation":

G2758
κενόω
kenoō
ken-o'-o
From G2756; to make empty, that is, (figuratively) to abase, neutralize, falsify: - make (of none effect, of no reputation, void), be in vain.

Empty is empty. What you are calling giving up "prerogatives" was simply Jesus subjecting Himself to the Father for the purpose of Redemption. Here's more of what I am driving at:

Why is Jesus asking for a restoration of His Glory if He still had it while on earth? We know from the vision at the Transfiguration and His appearance to Paul on the road to Damascus that He certainly regained it when He ascended into Heaven. Then there is Jesus apparently stating His lack of Omniscience:

Either Jesus was lying or He wasn't. I believe He was telling the truth. And the only was He could have been is to have emptied Himself of those Divine attributes. I see this brief period of time, during the First Advent, as the only time God has dwelt in the temporal state through Jesus Christ (who died, remember?), the only time He emptied Himself (through Jesus Christ) of His attributes. All for the same purpose. The Redemption of mankind.

The reason why all of this had to be done by a man is further explained by the author of Hebrews.

 

The thief clearly repented and it is shown.

Luke 23:40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.

The thief clearly confessed that he was a sinner and that his condemnation was just.

 

As for the Ethiopian eunuch, I do not believe it is a stretch whatsoever to believe he repented as well. What were the scriptures he was reading?

Acts 8:32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

The scriptures the Ethiopian eunuch was reading was about Jesus being taken by the Jews and Romans and crucified. It then says Philip began at this scripture and preached Jesus. So it is fairly safe to assume that Philip explained how Jesus was the promised Christ who came to save us from our sins, and how our sins were laid upon him at the cross. And I am sure he told of Jesus's resurrection and how that a person must believe on Jesus to be saved.

As for the Philipian jailer, Paul told him he must believe on Jesus to be saved. This necessarily involves repentance. Every person, even an athiest has a belief system. To believe on Jesus you must turn from all other belief systems and trust solely on Jesus for salvation. Nobody is born believing in Jesus. So necessarily you must repent to believe on Jesus.