REPENTANCE CONTROVERSY
I like to tackle controversial doctrines of the Bible. The subject of repentance caught my attention recently; usually this divides people into two camps. One side thinks repentance is a universal truth that applies to the Old Testament and New Testament alike; for ease of discussion, this will be called the UR camp. The other side thinks that repentance was a vital part of Old Covenant law that played an early role in the Church but faded away as the Church became dominated by Gentiles; this will be called the OC camp. The UR side is the larger group by far because of tradition, but it seems to me the Bible favors the OC interpretation. I will try my best to fairly represent the UR position, but my focus will be on the OC camp.
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In general terms, there are several observations that come to mind. First is that the epistles of Paul are lacking of any direct relation between salvation and repentance, except where he relates Godly sorrow to repentance in 2Cor. 7:9-10. The self described Apostle to the Gentiles preached the gospel of faith plus nothing; no repenting, only a simple belief that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners!
The second general point relates to Law versus Grace. Most would agree that
living under covenant Law was akin to living by works. It is said that the Law was not
given for salvation, that nobody could be saved by observing the Law, but that there
were specified blessings and curses attendant to following it. It was basically a works
system designed to show that God is holy and wants His people to be holy unto Himself. It was not given. And God’s grace was in it through the laws of sacrifice, whereby their sins were remitted by shedding the blood of clean creatures. God’s sanctuary design and Levitical practices were given to point to the coming Messiah and a promised kingdom, for God knew that Israel would not be able to keep the Law. Ultimately, salvation is by Grace through faith in Christ.
My gut feeling is that the issue of repentance has led to much confusion among Christians, for instance, when preachers quote OT verses such as 2Chron. 7:14 and
apply it to the Church. The preachers themselves no doubt understand the verse, but
the impression it gives to the congregation is: if.... we repent, then God will see what a good heart we have and will bless us abundantly. This is basically teaching salvation by works, is it not? At least, that’s what I always received from it. The preacher may know the true meaning, that it pleased God when Solomon prayed it, that the people needed to turn from their wicked ways (worshipping idols and false gods), then God would bless them. But it was never intended to imply salvation without Messiah, or that eternal life in heaven would be given to the people.
Once Messiah came, then John the Baptist preached the baptism of repentance, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mat. 3:2). The which means to me that they were to repent and look for Messiah (Who was the kingdom come), for remission of sins was with Him. They needed to repent of their wickedness and stiff- necked ways as a people, which for Jews included a burnt offering (the shedding of blood) in order to receive the kingdom in Christ.
Once Christ died and rose again, then repentance (for the Jew only) was without a
burnt offering; instead, it was with belief in His death and resurrection (for His blood
was shed for all). Their repentance in this case was for a different reason, however, it
was for sending Messiah Jesus to the cross.