Faith/Repentance John R. Van Gelderen www.ptwm.org Print this out for better read
What does one need to know in order to be saved? How do we receive Christ? John 1:12 clarifies this by saying, “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.” The issue is believing on Christ. The way you received Christ by faith (or faith/repentance) is the key issue. What is the proper understanding of faith/repentance?
First, the theological essence of faith and repentance is the same. By focusing on each side of this theological coin in the matter of salvation, we can see the oneness of essence. The verb believe simply means “believe (in), trust”. The wording in the lexicon “believe (in)” indicates more than a mental assent. It demands the idea of trust or dependence. To depend on articulates the key idea of the verb form. To depend on also implies one must choose to depend on. Therefore, believing is volitional, or an act of the will. Many systematic theology books and commentaries point out that there are three angles to believing: intellect (understanding), emotions (agreeing), and volition (depending). What must one understand in order to be saved? Jesus said in John 16:8 that the Holy Spirit “will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” These same three truths are articulated in the Gospel declaration of I Corinthians 15:3, “Christ [righteousness] died [judgment] for our sins [sin].” Therefore, one must be convinced by the Holy Spirit of his sin, of his deserved judgment in hell, and of his need for the credited righteousness of Jesus Christ in order to be saved. Understanding these three truths is necessary for salvation. This involves the intellect. The heartfelt agreement with these truths is necessary for salvation. This involves the emotions. However, to stop short with just understanding and agreement is not salvation, but a decision. The demons acknowledge God (James 2:19). In that sense they believe in God. They know that Jesus died and rose again. In that sense they believe in Christ.
Many acknowledge Jesus Christ. They understand and agree with the basic truths of sin, righteousness, and judgment. But an acknowledgment-only decision is easy-*believism. It is the routine which gives people a false assurance of heaven. A lack of real emphasis on sin and judgment, dealing with it only in general terms, often produces this kind of shallow decision. True believing in Christ for salvation goes beyond the intellect and emotions [acknowledgment] to the volition. One must make the choice of transferring his dependence to Christ for salvation from sin and hell in order to be saved. This is as simple in a physical sense as a drowning person who, seeing a boat go by, cries out, “Help!” What did he do? He transferred his dependence from his own self-effort to someone else. In salvation, one transfers his dependence from his own self-effort to Christ. The dependence must be only on Christ.In countering easy-believism, the Lordship salvation position mistakenly goes beyond the volitional transfer of trust to Christ alone, to an infringement on the finished work of Christ. To say as some Lordship salvation proponents say that “believing involves one’s commitment to Christ to turn from or be willing to turn from one’s sin” is making the person a part of the object of faith. Believing is not one’s commitment to Christ, but one’s dependence on Christ. The commitment to live right is a wrong dependence. Galatians 3:24 clarifies this by stating, “The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” The law shows man he cannot meet God’s standard of perfection, and so brings him to Christ Who met the standard for him. The law is a schoolmaster not to bring man to reformation (self-dependence) but to Christ (God-dependence). The Lordship salvation position errs in adding ever-so-subtly to the object of dependence. The obedience of faith for salvation is a cessation from works-dependence as one casts his dependence on the finished work of Jesus Christ. Romans 10:16 says, “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?”The obedience of faith for salvation is believing on Christ. However faith clearly is not a work. Scripture states that faith is the antithesis of works. Ephesians 2:8-9says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith...not of works.” Faith is obedience but not a work.The essence of believing or faith is to transfer one’s dependence to Christ for salvation from sin and hell. What then is the essence of repentance? The verb repent, referring to salvation, is primarily the Greek word metanoeo which means “to change one’s mind.”3 Change one’s mind about what? About sin, righteousness, and judgment. Repent (metanoeo) comes from a compound word. The first word in the compound is meta which, in this sense, means “after.”4 The second word in the compound is noeo which means ‘perceive”5 from the noun nous which means “mind” or “way of thinking.”6 Therefore, metanoeo does mean “to change one’s mind.” As metamorphosis is a change of form, so metanoia (noun form of metanoeo) is a change in mind. Notice the issue is not just to understand in the mind (intellect) or even agree in the heart (emotion), but to change one’s mind (volition). As noted already, the issue of one’s “mind” in repentance is one’s “way of thinking.” One’s way of thinking reveals what he perceives as absolute. It is one’s grid of thinking reflecting what they are depending on. Therefore, to change one’s mind is to transfer one’s dependence. It is to exchange one’s way of thinking which in essence is to exchange one’s object of dependence. To transfer one’s dependence is also the definition of believe. So faith and repentance are two sides to one theological coin. The essence of faith/repentance. Repentance is the point of trust when one turns to Christ Who is life from sin, which is death. To define repent as to turn from sin without clarifying also a turning to Christ is unclear and potentially misleading as it implies the turn would be actions (works). Turning from sins, which by itself implies reformation, would be works. Our articulation of the decision of faith/repentance must not bend toward a meritorious salvation. For example, to say that, in order to be saved, one must “turn and trust”, without further clarification, can be misleading. If the trust is one’s moment of salvation (John 6:47), then what is the turn? The key is clarifying that the turn is the volitional trust in Christ for salvation from sin and hell. One’s abandonment to Christ as his only object of salvation is the moment of faith/repentance. The turn to Christ is not reformation, but the cry for mercy (trust). Faith/repentance for salvation is simply the transfer of one’s dependence from whatever he has been depending on, to Christ alone for salvation from sin and hell. Hebrews 6:1 clearly states “repentance from dead works [wrong object of dependence], and of faith toward God [right object of dependence]. In summary, faith means a transfer of dependence, and repentance means a change of way of thinking (which is an exchange of one’s grid of absolutes which, therefore, reflects his object of dependence). The theological essence of faith/repentance is the same.
Second, the theological emphasis of faith and repentance is different.If the essence is the same, how does the emphasis differ? The essence of faith/dependence is to transfer one’s dependence. However, the emphasis of faith is the dependence, and the emphasis of repentance is the transfer or exchange. The fact that most occurrences of believe in regard to salvation are in the present tense generally indicating continuous action shows that one is now actually depending on Christ. Although believe is often in the present tense, the promises for salvation (e.g. forgiveness of sins and eternal life) are stated such that they are fulfilled the moment one first appropriates faith (e.g. “hath everlasting life” John 6:47). However, the idea is not to believe, and then never believe again. The present tense indicating is believing allows us to refer to Christians as believers. Yet it is possible to doubt one’s salvation. If not, verses such as I John 5:13 would be unneeded: “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life.” Also, verses such as John 1:12 reveal that although believe is is believing (present tense), receive is in the aorist tense, indicating the fact of an action: “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.” Received refers to the moment of the transaction, and believe (or is believing) refers to the new dependence now on Christ. While believe or faith emphasizes the new dependence now on Christ, repentance emphasizes the transfer or exchange. In salvation passages, the word repent occurs ten times in the present tense, eight times in the aorist tense. The usage of the aorist, indicating the fact of an action, does seem to lean toward the moment of transfer.
