Does Luke 24:47 Support the Lordship View of Repentance?

The other day I received an email from a reader who asked me about Luke 24:47 as it relates to the meaning of repentance. With his permission I have reproduced his question below, along with my response.[1] I trust that it will be a blessing to other people who may also have the same or a similar question. The reader writes the following:

Hello Jonathan, [....]

I had recently come across (a rather abrasive) pro-Lordship blog which advocated very strongly for a Lordship definition of repentance. The author of the blog was, as is sometimes usual with Lordship advocates, rather inconsistent with the definition of repentance calling it a change of mind while simultaneously stating it is a turn of sin. The author strongly promoted the idea of repenting or turning from specific sins in order to be saved, a topic you and I had discussed at length here through email. However his reasoning behind this view was not an incorrect definition of repentance or a misunderstanding in the ordo salutis, but was the end of Luke in chapter 24, verse 47 when the Lord appears to the disciples after His resurrection:

45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things." (Luke 24:45-48)

The author proceeded to state:

"So much for that God only tells us to repent of your sins after you are saved which is a very OUT OF CONTEXT doctrine like that rather ridiculous ‘Pisseth Against the Wall’ sermon (a sermon done by Steven Anderson which was criticized by the author in a different blog post). In fact, I really see no reason why a person would come to Christ if they even haven't changed their minds about their sins? Biblical repentance for sinners calls them to repent of their sins. John 3:19-20 is clear that unrepentant sinners will NEVER admit their sins and come to Christ. They want to continue sinning, they love darkness which can invalidate taking John 3:16 out of context. As said, repenting of your sins is NOT works salvation but rather, unless a person repents of their sins they will NEVER receive the free gift of salvation because they know salvation will change their lives in God's image."

Despite his maybe caustic tone, I considered his usage of the passage and understood why he would use it for his position, but then was curious about the sentence structure of Luke 24:47. He used what I believe was the KJV or NKJV translation of Luke 24:47, which says "repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name" instead of the "repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name" that is in the ESV or the "repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name" that is in the NIV. What I am curious about is whether the accurate meaning of this verse is "repentance for the forgiveness of sins" or "repentance of sins and the forgiveness of sins". I used the Bible Hub website which you had recommended to me for looking at the Greek of 1 John 3, but being that the direct translation is in the English language the ambiguity is still there. I saw that the Grace Evangelical Society had an article on this verse by Bob Wilkin, but I wasn't really able to find a good answer and knowing Wilkin's unfortunate view on repentance I chose not to look further on the GES website. Do you know what the original Greek is saying here?

For my response I wrote back:

Hi ________,

Your question on Luke 24:47 is a good one. My first thought is that Luke 24:47 doesn't say what the LS proponent interprets it to mean. The LS proponent wants Luke 24:47 to mean "repent of your sins" / "repent of their sins". Well, that's not what the verse says, and I don't believe that's what it means either. As to what the verse says (as you mentioned) the English translations seem to fall into either one of two categories: a.) "repentance and forgiveness of sins" or b.) "repentance for the forgiveness of sins". Apparently most of the Greek manuscripts use the word eis ("unto, for, with reference to"), but some apparently use the word kai ("and") instead. I looked up Luke 24:47 in quite a few Bible commentaries and they didn't really answer the question that you asked. But The Theological Wordbook (a Free Grace resource edited by Charles Swindoll, John Walvoord, and other Free Grace advocates) hints at the answer, when it says the following in the entry on "Repentance":

"Jesus spoke about repentance in relation to several subjects: the kingdom (Matt. 4:17; Mark 1:15); judgment (Matt. 11:20-21; 12:41; Luke 10:13; 11:32; 13:3, 5); faith (Mark 1:15); forgiveness of sins by unbelievers (Luke 5:32; 24:47); and forgiveness of believers’ sins (17:3-4). The context of each of these verses shows why a change was necessary." (The Theological Wordbook, p. 297, emphasis added.)

So this supports what I said above, namely that Jesus is not saying people have to "repent of their sins", but rather that we are to preach repentance "with reference to" or "in relation to" the forgiveness of sins. In other words, repentance and forgiveness are related in some way, but how? From what I've learned in Greek (as taught by Bill Mounce), the word eis usually denotes movement into or unto something (see Mounce, Basics of Biblical Greek, 4th Ed., p. 419), in this case the forgiveness of sins. This would make the forgiveness of sins the result of repentance. Even if we take a different interpretation and say that Jesus really does mean that "you all need to repent of your sins", it still doesn't disprove Free Grace theology because in that case I would understand Jesus to be saying that people need to repent (change their minds) specifically about their sin of unbelief in Christ (see John 16:8-9). So really Free Grace can accept either view. But getting back to the first interpretation that I presented, I like how Charlie Bing summarizes it when he writes the following in the "Summary and Conclusions" section of his book Lordship Salvation: A Biblical Evaluation and Response. Under the heading "Repentance and Salvation", Dr. Bing states:

"Key Bible passages considered did not substantiate the Lordship understanding of repentance. An evaluation of the passages that concern the offer of salvation by John the Baptist (Matt 3:2, 11; Mark 1:4/Luke 3:3; Acts 13:24), Jesus Christ (Matt 4:17/Mark 1:15; Matt 11:20-21/Luke 10:13; Matt 9:13/Mark 2:17/Luke 5:32; Matt 12:41/Luke 11:32; Luke 13:3, 5; Luke 15; 16:30; 24:47), and the Apostles (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 8:22; 14:15 [with 1 Thess 1:9]; 17:30; 20:21) showed that metanoeō should be taken in its basic sense of 'change the mind.' In these passages, that about which the mind changed was not always sin or sins, but could also be God or one's opinion about Jesus Christ. Turning from sins is more accurately a result of repentance in some of the passages and should not be confused with repentance itself." (Charles Bing, Lordship Salvation: A Biblical Evaluation and Response, p. 166 in the first edition.)

So in Luke 24:47, Jesus could be saying: a.) that the lost need to change their minds about their sins in the sense that people must come to admit that they are sinners (cf. Rom. 3:10, 3:23; 1 Cor. 15:3; etc.), and related to this is b.) that the lost need to change their minds about their sin of unbelief in Christ (cf. Jn. 16:8-9; Acts 16:30-31), and/or Jesus could also be saying c.) that repentance results in the forgiveness of sins. Those are three ways of interpreting Luke 24:47 that are consistent with traditional Free Grace theology.

Anyway, I hope I answered your question. That's how I understand Luke 24:47. God Bless

Sincerely in Christ,

Jonathan

ENDNOTE:

[1] I have slightly edited my response for the sake of clarity; mostly I just added more Bible verses.