Biblical Repentance is Repentance from Sin

We must REPENT of our sin, rebellion and false religion, recognizing our sin guilt and our need for the Savior, BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ as our only hope of salvation, and RECEIVE Him as our Savior and Lord to be forgiven of our sins, to be “born again” and to thereby receive everlasting life.

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” – Acts 3:19

“…And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” – Acts 17:30-31

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new…For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17, 21

Jesus said to the Sadducees, “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” Many today who call themselves Independent Baptists have the same problem as the Sadducees, in that they preach a powerless, unbalanced gospel message that leaves their “converts” in their sins, that acknowledges atonement and justification while denying repentance and regeneration. In their ignorance they errantly decry the message of repentance that the Lord Jesus, the disciples, AND the Apostle Paul preached, and disparage those who rightly include repentance in their gospel message. One of the great truths of scripture that they fail to grasp is that REPENTANCE AND SAVING FAITH ARE INSEPARABLE; that many scriptures use the term “repentance” as a synonym of saving faith and salvation.

Further, contrary to another associated heresy prevalent among those same pseudo-Baptists, the repentance required for salvation most certainly DOES mean TURNING FROM SIN, and consequently turning to the only remedy for our sin, the Lord Jesus. We are not saved by works or by ceasing from sin; but until a man understands the seriousness of his sin and its terrifying consequences, and therefore desires to be free from his sin, he will not be prepared to truly come to Christ or be truly converted. The commands of the Lord Jesus are clear: “that REPENTANCE and remission of sins SHOULD BE PREACHED in his name among all nations” (Luke 24:47), and further as Paul preached on Mars Hill; that God now “commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” Repenting IS believing.