I just read the Middletown Bible Church article on Repentance that a friend of mine linked me to and had some questions about.[1] Overall, I would say that the article was mostly good, although I can see how it would raise some questions in a person's mind in regards to forsaking sinful living for salvation. The main statement in the article that I thought was unclear was in the quote by Pastor Kelly Sensenig, when he said:
"When you repent you will think differently and possess a different attitude about God, Jesus Christ, salvation, your own life of sin, and need for salvation. You will reconsider your ways of faulty reasoning and sinful living and realize that these things offend God's truth and holiness and must be released from your life and forsaken. Repentance speaks of a reversal of a person's attitudes and convictions. It speaks of an inward turning from what a person used to believe or think about God, Jesus Christ and themselves. To repent is to alter one's way of looking at life; it is to take God's point of view instead of one's own....Repentance is when a person changes their thinking about whatever is keeping them from expressing faith in Christ. [Pastor Kelly Sensenig, Except Ye Repent, p. 3]."
Personally, I would not explain repentance the way that Sensenig did, particularly when he said that to "repent" involves realizing that your "sinful living...must be released from your life and forsaken." I would say depending on the context, that could be true in regards to Christian repentance (e.g. see Revelation chapters 2-3), but not the Gospel. In other words, forsaking sinful living is part of sanctification, not justification. So that's where I think Sensenig is unclear on biblical saving repentance: he makes it sound like an unsaved person has to agree to "forsake" their "sinful living" up-front for salvation. To me, that's the same thing as "Lordship Salvation"! Or to put it in the form of a question: how is that any different from "Lordship Salvation"? It's not! The confusing part about it is that although Sensenig says that he disagrees with "Lordship Salvation," yet his explanation of repentance is sometimes (as in this instance) the same as the Lordship view of it!
I would take what Sensenig says about repentance "with a grain of salt" (i.e. to believe only part of something, or to view it with skepticism), or to put it another way: be ready to spit out some seeds! In other words, recognize that, at times, Sensenig is clear on the meaning of repentance, but at other times, not so clear.
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Biblical repentance is simply "a change" of mind": but what that change of mind is about will vary, depending on the context. For example, the change of mind (repentance) could be in reference to Christians forsaking sinful living (cf. Revelation chapters 2-3): but that is the object of repentance, not the definition of repentance. To find the object of repentance (what the repentance is about or in reference to) look at the context! Whenever you see the word repent, simply ask: "about what?" This should be automatic. It's similar to when the Bible says "believe". Believe what? Any number of things are to be believed; but that is not the definition of the word "believe"; rather those things (whatever they are) are the objects of belief. So for example, if I told you: "Believe!" You would probably say, "Believe what?" If I respond by saying, "Believe that 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' (Rom. 6:23)." That is not the definition of the word "believe," that is what is to be believed. The same is true in regards to the word "repent". The basic meaning of the word is "change your mind," but what that change of mind is about (or what it is in reference to) must be determined by the context. The repentance involved in saving faith has to do with believing the Gospel, not forsaking sinful living. The latter is works salvation, and that's NOT how a person is saved!
Reference:
[1] See the article titled "Repentance" in the Terms of Salvation series on the Middletown Bible Church website (www.middletownbiblechurch.org/salvatio/termsrep.htm).
5 comments:
Editor's note: It's important to keep in mind that in the Bible, God repents! (See Gen. 6:6-7; 1 Sam. 15:10-11; Jer. 18:10, KJV; Amos 7:3, 6, etc.) If repentance involves forsaking your sinful living or agreeing to forsake your sinful living as Sensenig says, then that would make God a sinner, because God repents. This highlights the fact that Sensenig's definition of repentance is not truly an accurate representation of what the Bible teaches.
This is blowing my mind…….i stumbled across your blog researching repentance and the Gospel of Grace. I feel like I’m getting born again….again. Thank you for shedding light on this.
Necesitamos un estudio exaustivo sobre el arrepentimiento y sus implicaciones dentro del contexto bíblico.
Hi Anonymous,
Thanks for sharing your thought. I think a rough translation of your comment into English would be: "We need an exhaustive study on repentance and its implications within the biblical context."
Yes, I agree! You can take a look at the Free Grace Library page on my blog for more information on the the topic of biblical repentance. See under the heading "Repentance". A good booklet that I recommend is titled: Repentance: The Most Misunderstood Word in the Bible. The author is G. Michael Cocoris. I have several links to this book in my Free Grace Library, along with a lot of other helpful books and articles on biblical repentance that you might be interested in.
I wonder how the word "repentance" translates into Spanish?
By the way, another excellent study on biblical repentance is the one by B. H. Carroll, titled: "The Nature, Necessity, Importance, and Definition of Repentance" (FGFS, May 6, 2021). B. H. Carroll was the founder and first president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
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