HOW TO BE SAVED—REPENTANCE AND FAITH

Wherever repentance and faith are mentioned in God's word without one exception, repentance comes before faith. There is a faith that comes before repentance; but it is pure historical faith, and does not result in salvation. "He that cometh to God must believe that he is,"—Heb. 11:26; the demons believe in God's existence, that He is; Thomas Paine believed in God's existence, that He is. But the faith that results in salvation invariably comes after repentance; "And ye when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him."—Matt. 21:32. If, therefore, the faith that saves must come after repentance, then those who have no saving faith after repentance, have no salvation, are not really redeemed. Not only so, but if saving faith must come after repentance, then those who place the only faith they claim, before repentance, do not understand what saving faith is.

Jesus preached, "Repent ye and believe the gospel."—Mark 1:15. Paul preached "repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."—Acts 20:21. What does "repent" or "repentance" mean?

God's word teaches that one must repent in order to believe. "And ye when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him."—Matt. 21:32. "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."—Luke 13:3. Then whatever "repentance" or "repent" means, it is something that must take place before one can be saved, before he can "believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15); before he can have "faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."—Acts 20:21. The Saviour gives a complete, perfect picture of salvation, and in that picture we can find what repentance means: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."—John 3:14, 15. Jesus says "As," "even so"; then in the case of the serpent in the wilderness we have a complete, perfect picture of the way of salvation. By seeing what came back there before the lifting up of the serpent, we can see what comes before believing in Him, or "faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Notice the incident to which the Saviour referred as showing the complete picture of the way of salvation: "And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom: And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived."—Num. 21:4-9. These people realized that they had sinned against God; that their sins deserved punishment; that they were justly condemned—"we have sinned";—that they were helpless, "Pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us"; and in their helpless condition they turned from their sins and turned to God. There had been, then, an entire change of mind and purpose, or they would never have turned from their sins to God. When they faced the fact that they had sinned and were justly condemned, there resulted sorrow, and their sorrow led to the change of mind and purpose to turn from their sins to God. Had there been no conviction of sin, no realization that they had sinned and were justly condemned, there would have been no change of mind, or purpose to turn from sin to God. Here, then, we have what repentance is,—a conviction of sin, such a realization of the fact that one has sinned and is justly condemned that it produces such sorrow as leads to an entire change of mind and purpose to turn from sin and turn to God. God then provided the easiest way for them, "every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it [the brazen serpent] shall live."—Num. 21:8. The Saviour says, "Even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."—John 3:15.

Notice the case of the jailor, Acts 16:22-34. When the jailor fell down before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (Verse 30), they did not say, "Repent"; they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved."—Verse 31. But God's word teaches plainly that we must repent in order to believe (Matt. 21:32; Luke 13:3). Then repentance must have already taken place,—he must have already repented,—or they would have taught him "repentance toward God" as well as "faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."—Acts 20:21. Go back and notice the jailor's case: the night before, he had taken Paul and Silas with their backs bloody from the beating they had received, and had not washed their stripes (Verse 33), had given them no supper (Verse 34), and had thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks. He was utterly hardened. The praying and singing hymns to God by Paul and Silas, the sudden earthquake, Paul's crying out against his committing suicide, had convicted him of sin, such a conviction as had produced sorrow, for he came trembling and fell down before them; and the sorrow had led to an entire change of mind and purpose, and he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"—"what," anything God would have me do I am ready to do,—he had turned from his sins and had turned to God. Hence they did not say "Repent," for he had repented; but they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved."—Acts 16:31.

Having seen what the Saviour meant by repentance, let us go to the meaning of the word translated "repent." "This word," says J. P. Boyce, the great theologian, in his systematic theology, "means to reconsider, perceive afterwards and to change one's view, mind or purpose, or even judgment, implying disapproval and abandonment of past opinions and purposes, and the adoption of others which are different." B. H. Carroll, President Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary: "We may therefore give as the one invariable definition of New Testament repentance that it is a change of mind." B. H. Carroll, again, "Repentance is a change of mind toward God concerning a course of sin leading rapidly down to death and eternal ruin." Once more from B. H. Carroll: "If in one moment the soul is contrite enough to turn in abhorrence of sin against God from all self-help to our Lord Jesus Christ by faith, it is sufficient." John A. Broadus, the great American scholar and teacher: "To repent, then, as a religious term of the New Testament, is to change the mind, thought or purpose as regards sin and the service of God—a change naturally accompanied by deep sorrow for past sins, and naturally leading to a change of outward life."

As the Bible teaches that no man can be saved who has not repented ("Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."—Luke 13:3), and as no one has repented who has not been convicted of sin, who has not seen himself a guilty, justly condemned sinner, it follows that no one is saved, no one can be saved, who does not believe that God will and ought to punish sin. But to those who have repented, the way to be saved is simple, easy, sure: "Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved."—Acts 16:31.

FOR FURTHER STUDY:—There has been much misunderstanding about repentance. Some men, as Moody, Harry Moorehouse, J. H. Brookes, etc., have been charged with not preaching enough repentance, simply because they did not use the words "repent" and "repentance" as much as others; whereas, others who use the words often, and tell touching incidents, are said to preach "old-fashioned repentance." It is not the word repentance that God requires, but the thing repentance, and a sinner must repent or he cannot believe (Matt. 21:32) and he will perish (Luke 13:3). The gospel of John is the only book of the Bible given specifically to sinners to lead them to be saved. The way of salvation can be found in many of the books of the Bible, and is taught in them; but the gospel of John is the only book of the Bible given for the special, specific purpose of leading a sinner to be saved. "Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book: but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name."—John 20:30, 31. In this book, given specifically to lead a sinner to be saved, the word "repentance" or "repent" does not occur, but the thing repentance does (John 3:14, 15).

On the difference between the thing repentance and the word repentance, give attention to the words of John A. Broadus, the great American scholar and teacher already quoted: "Great difficulty has been found in translating this Greek word 'metanoein' into languages. The Syriac version, unable to give the precise meaning, falls back upon 'turn,' the same word as the Hebrew. The Latin version gives 'Exercise penitence' (poenitentiam agere). But this Latin penitence, apparently connected by etymology with pain, signifies grief or distress, and is rarely extended to a change of purpose, thus corresponding to the Hebrew word which we render 'repent,' but not corresponding to the terms employed in Old Testament and New Testament exhortations. Hence a subtle and pernicious error, pervading the whole sphere of Latin Christianity, by which the exhortation of the New Testament is understood to be an exhortation to grief over sin, as the primary and principal idea of the term. One step farther and penitence was contracted into penance, and associated with mediÆval ideas unknown to the New Testament, and the English Version made by Romanists now represents John and Jesus and Peter as saying (poenitentiam agere) do penance. From a late Latin compound (repoenitere) comes our English word 'repent,' which inherits the fault of the Latin; making grief the prominent element, and change of purpose secondary, if expressed at all. Thus our English word corresponds exactly to the second Greek word (metamelesthai), and to the Hebrew word rendered repent, but sadly fails to translate the exhortation of the New Testament."

Repentance is not a price that the sinner pays for salvation; neither is the sorrow that leads to repentance a price that he pays for salvation. And repentance does not make the sinner a fit subject for salvation; nor does the sorrow that leads to repentance make him a fit subject for salvation. No one can see that he has violated God's just and holy law and is guilty, justly condemned, helpless, without its producing sorrow and this sorrow will lead to repentance, to an entire change of mind and purpose, to turning from sin, and, as B. H. Carroll expressed it, from all self-help ("repentance from dead works,"—Heb. 6:1) to God.

Some are sometimes troubled as to how much sorrow there must be. There are different degrees of sorrow in different people, but there must be enough sorrow to lead to repentance, to an entire change of mind and purpose.

"In both the Old Testament and the New Testament exhortation the element of grief for sin is left in the background, neither word directly expressing grief at all, though it must in the nature of things be present."—Jno. A. Broadus.

"To repent is to change your mind about sin and Christ and all the good things of God. There is sorrow implied in this; but the main point is the turning of the heart from sin to Christ. If there be this turning you have the essence of the repentance, even though no alarm and no despair should ever have cast their shadow upon your mind."—C. H. Spurgeon.

"Conviction of sin is just the sinner seeing himself as he is and as God has all along seen him."—H. Bonar, in "God's Way of Peace."

"The object of the Holy Spirit's work in convincing of sin is to alter the sinner's opinion of himself and so to reduce his estimate of his own character, that he shall think of himself as God does, and so cease to suppose it possible that he can be justified by any excellence of his own. Having altered the sinner's good opinion of himself, the Spirit then alters his evil opinion of God, so as to make him see that the God with whom he has to deal is really the God of all grace."—Bonar.

"It is impossible, therefore, in the nature of things, for a sinful being to appreciate God's mercy unless he first feels His justice as manifest in the holy law."—Walker, in "Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation."

"Man cannot repent and turn from sin till he is convicted of sin in himself."—Walker, in "Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation."

"The more we feel the want of a benefactor, temporal or spiritual, and the more we feel our inability to rescue ourselves from existing difficulties and impending dangers, the more grateful love will the heart feel for the being who, moved by, and in despite of, personal sacrifices, interposes to assist and save us."—Walker, in "Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation."

"As a feeling of want was necessary in order that the soul might love the being that supplied that want, and as Jesus came to bestow spiritual mercies upon mankind, how could men be brought to feel the want of a spiritual Benefactor and Saviour?"... "According to the constitution which God has given the soul, it must feel the want of the spiritual mercies before it can feel love for the giver of those mercies. And just in proportion as the soul feels its lost, guilty, and dangerous condition, in the same proportion will it exercise love to the being who grants spiritual favor and salvation. How then could the spiritual want be produced in the souls of men in order that they might love the spiritual benefactor?"... "The only possible way by which man could be made to hope for and appreciate spiritual mercies and to love a spiritual deliverer would be to produce a conviction in the soul itself of its evil condition, its danger as a spiritual being, and its inability, unaided, to satisfy the requirements of a spiritual law, or to escape its just and spiritual penalty. If man could be made to perceive that he was guilty and needy; that his soul was under the condemnation of the holy law of the holy God, he would then, necessarily, feel the need of a deliverance from sin and its consequences; and in this way only, could the soul of man be led to appreciate spiritual mercies, or love a spiritual benefactor."—Walker, in "Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation."

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