Sumner Wemp on "Repentance" in 2 Timothy 2:25

Dr. Sumner Wemp was a great man of God and a wonderful soul-winner! He wrote several of the gospel tracts featured on my "Free Grace Gospel Tracts" page here on my blog. Since Dr. Wemp is Free Grace friendly, it shouldn't be surprising what his view is on the subject of biblical repentance.

As you might have guessed, Dr. Wemp understands New Testament repentance (Greek metanoia) as simply "a change of mind"! This, of course, is the biblical understanding of metanoia that has been substantiated by those who have looked closely into the meaning of the word as it has been used down through the centuries in both secular and religious contexts.[1] It stands in stark contrast to the debunked dogmas of the Reformed tradition (cf. Mk. 7:13), as well as to Zane Hodges' specific Free Grace view of repentance as supposedly "harmony with God."[2] The latter is a worthy but nonetheless weak attempt by Hodges and his followers to neutralize the Calvinistic view, shifting the focus away from the clear text of Scripture in preference to an interpretation that is demonstrably a forced reinterpretation of the text in response to Reformed theology.  

But I digress. Here is Dr. Wemp's commentary on 2 Timothy 2:25, specifically on the word "repentance":

"Repentance (Gr metanoia). Repentance is not sorrow for sin, that is, contrition. Sorrow leads to repentance (II Cor 7:9-10). Repentance is not changing direction or your ways of living; that's a result of salvation. Repentance is changing one's mind from false ideas to the acknowledging of the truth."[3]

"Repentance comes from two words meaning 'to change' and 'mind.' Repentance, then, is a change of mind. Man thinks he is not bad, in fact thinks he is quite good and becomes offended if told he is a sinner, until God gives him 'repentance to the acknowledging of the truth' (II Tim. 2:25)."[4] 

ENDNOTES:

[1] For more information, see my article "The Meaning of Repentance: Quotes from the Ancients, Lexicons, and Theologians," Third Edition (FGFS, May 28, 2021).

[2] I find it a stretch at best and unscriptural in the main to think that unbelievers can have any sort of "harmony with God". The biblical passages that most clearly refute such a notion are: Psa. 7:11, NKJV; Isa. 59:2, 64:6; Jn. 3:36, 8:44, 16:8-9; Rom. 5:10, 8:7-8; 2 Cor. 6:14-15; Eph. 2:1-3; Col. 1:21; Heb. 11:6. Indeed, the apostle Paul asks: "What harmony is there between Christ and Belial [Satan]?" (2 Cor. 6:15, NIV). Clearly, the implied answer is "None"! Thus the apostle Paul clearly refutes the notion that unbelievers can have any sort of "harmony with God". 

[3] C. Sumner Wemp, "The Second Epistle to Timothy" in the Liberty Bible Commentary, General Editors, Ed Hindson and Woodrow Kroll (Lynchburg: The Old-Time Gospel Hour, 1982), Volume II, pp. 647-648, emphasis his.

[4] C. Sumner Wemp, Fishing for Men: Studies on Soul Winning (Lynchburg, VA: New Life Tract Society, 1972), Part II, p. 9.