Teaching on Repentance by Ray Comfort
The following was posted by Ray Comfort on his Facebook page on 2-6-17. It is an excellent teaching making very clear that repentance is required for salvation.
“I was curious as to whether or not repentance is required for salvation along with faith in Jesus Christ? Must we both repent and trust in the Savior, or is only faith required to be saved by Jesus?” Tomas Bilson
The above question is often asked of me because I preach both repentance and faith in Jesus. The contention is that in doing so I adhere to what some call “Lordship salvation.” One particular gentleman named David J. Stewart calls me a wolf, a false prophet, and titled his teaching “The Damnable Heresy of Ray Comfort."
In his presentation Mr. Stewart says "John MacArthur is an unsaved heretic" and even misquotes Charles Spurgeon to try and justify his error. I normally ignore things like this, but I will address it at this time because the issue of repentance is a hill upon which to die.
Mr. Stewart maintains that sinners are saved by faith in Jesus alone. Once they are saved, they then are to repent. So to tell sinners to repent or to forsake their sins is “works” salvation, and is therefore heretical.
In a sermon entitled "Faith and Repentance Inseparable"[1] Spurgeon addresses the error of maintaining that only faith is necessary for salvation:
“We must not, I think, undervalue repentance. It is a blessed grace of God the Holy Spirit, and it is absolutely necessary unto salvation."
Spurgeon believed that repentance “is absolutely necessary unto salvation.”
The foundational truth of salvation is that we are saved by grace and grace alone:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
We're not are saved “by” faith but rather "through" faith. Faith is the means by which we receive the amazing grace that saves us. Those who wrongly believe that faith saves us call repentance a "work," and at the same time require that a sinner must have faith to be saved...that all he must "do" is believe in Jesus.
Spurgeon added, "Offend or please, as God shall help me, I will preach every truth as I learn it from the Word; and I know if there be anything written in the Bible at all it is written as with a sunbeam, that God in Christ commands men to repent, and believe the gospel."[2]
Jesus said "…repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations..." (Luke 24:47).
* He said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).
* The Bible also speaks of “repentance unto salvation” (2 Corinthians 7:10).
* Acts 11:18 says “Then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.”
Note the Order
Sinners are to both repent and believe: “Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The Apostle Paul preached “Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). Note the order of repentance in both of these cases BEFORE faith.
In reference to Paul's “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ,” Spurgeon said,
“Beloved friends, we cannot at this time do without either of these any more than could the Greeks and Jews. They are essential to salvation. Some things may be, but these must be. Certain things are needful to the well-being of a Christian, but these things are essential to the very being of a Christian. If you have not repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, you have no part nor lot in this matter.”[3]
Spurgeon Called Sinners to Repentance
He said, “Come, poor soul, be encouraged. Clearly, if you have repentance toward God, you are allowed to believe in Jesus...O sinner, you must repent before God, or you do not repent at all…Let each one ask himself, Have I a repentance which leads to faith?”[4]
Peter Told his Sinners to Repent
“Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 2:38).
Notice the call to repentance before the receiving of the gift. Paul told his unsaved hearers to repent: “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent…” (Acts 17:30).
James Called Sinners to Repentance
“Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom” (James 4:8).
The unsaved must to be sorry for their sins because “…godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation…” (2 Corinthians 7:10). Repentance leads to salvation.
God is Waiting for Sinners to Repent
The Scriptures say tell us that God isn’t willing that any perish, but is patiently waiting for all to come to repentance:
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Without repentance sinners will perish. Look at the fate of those who refused to repent:
“But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear, nor walk, and they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts” (Revelation 9:20-21).
The Scriptures say "He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy" (Proverbs 28:13). Mercy comes when we confess and forsake our sins.
General William Booth warned that the time would come when forgiveness would be offered without repentance:
"The chief danger of the 20th century will be...forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and Heaven without Hell."
John Wesley believed that there is no justification without repentance:
"God does undoubtedly command us both to repent, and to bring forth fruits meet for repentance; which if we willingly neglect, we cannot reasonably expect to be justified at all: therefore both repentance, and fruits meet for repentance, are, in some sense, necessary to justification."[5]
Matthew Henry said, "If those who have lived a wicked life repent and forsake their wicked ways, they shall be saved...."
Heaven rejoices when one sinner repents: "...there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:10).
Another argument for not preaching repentance put forward by Mr. Stewart is that the Gospel of John doesn't even mention the word “repentance” once. But neither do any of the three other gospels mention the need to be born again, nor does Mark or John mention the virgin birth.
One catalyst for the teaching that repentance is unnecessary for salvation is the belief that repentance is merely "a change of mind." This erroneous teaching is nothing new. Spurgeon had to deal with it in his day:
"Apparently they interpret repentance to be a somewhat slighter thing than we usually conceive it to be, a mere change of mind, in fact. Now, allow me to suggest to those dear brethren, that the Holy Ghost never preaches repentance as a trifle; and the change of mind or understanding of which the gospel speaks is a very deep and solemn work, and must not on any account be depreciated. Moreover, there is another word which is also used in the original Greek for repentance, not so often I admit, but still is used, which signifies ‘an after-care,’ a word which has in it something more of sorrow and anxiety, than that which signifies changing one's mind. There must be sorrow for sin and hatred of it in true repentance, or else I have read my Bible to little purpose.”[6]
The Scriptures say “Let the wicked FORSAKE HIS WAY, and the unrighteous man his thoughts…” (Isaiah 55:6-7, caps added). Repentance is a turning away from sin:
“Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, IN TURNING AWAY EVERY ONE OF YOU FROM HIS INIQUITIES” (Acts 3:26).
Those in Matthew 7:21-24 whom Jesus said never knew Him were "workers of iniquity." They professed faith in Jesus but continued to serve sin.
Our churches are filled with workers of iniquity (hypocrites) who were told that they merely have to believe in Jesus. For most, there’s never any repentance because they have been given assurance that they are saved without it.
On Judgment Day they will understand the sobering words of Jesus when He said, “...unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3).
Footnotes:
[1] http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0460.php
[2] IBID
[3] http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2073.php
[4] IBID
[5] http://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/the-sermons-of-john-wesley-1872-edition/sermon-43-the-scripture-way-of-salvation/
[6] http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0460.php