One massive stumbling block to the doctrine of repentance and the biblical report is the doctrine of once saved always saved; or in Reformed Theology, the Perseverance of the Saints. These doctrines generally state that a person who is saved by grace will always stay saved, no matter what. In American Evangelical circles (i.e. Baptist), once a person has made a decision for Christ, they are saved for all eternity with no chance of ever falling away and being lost. the Reformed version of this argues that God will bring the elect person back to repentance in His time.
But is this the biblical report? I do not think it is, although I have much greater sympathy for the Reformed version than I do the American Evangelical version, since the Reformed version at least affirms the necessity of repentance.
I think we can look at three passages and see what Scripture has to say on the topic. Two of the three passages are from Jesus, and one is from the book of Hebrews.
In the Gospel of St. Luke, Jesus speaks of the Tower of Siloam and repentance. The passage can be found in St. Luke 13:1-5. Twice, our Lord says, "...unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." (v. 3, 5) Hence, Christ says that no repentance ends in death. Clearly He is also not speaking of physical death.
The second passage, also from the mouth of Christ, is the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, found in St. Matthew 18:21-35. Christ concludes the parable with the following words: "Then his master summoned him and said to him, you wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you? And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from the heart." (v. 32-35) Here we see Christ being very clear that a servant who does not forgive will not be forgiven. Unless the servant repents.
Finally, we have in the book of Hebrews the following warning: "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries." (Hebrews 10:26-27) Strong words.
We should be able to see quite clearly that a person who does not repent is not in a state of grace. They are unsaved. This applies to non-believers as well as persons that were previously believers. An unrepentant Christian is an oxymoron. An unrepentant person is not a Christian. They are unsaved; not in a state of grace.
Luther writes, in the Smalcald Articles, "It is, accordingly, necessary to know and to teach that when holy men, still having and feeling original sin, also daily repenting of and striving with it, happen to fall into manifest sins, as David into adultery, murder, and blasphemy, that then faith and the Holy Ghost has departed from them [they cast out faith and the Holy Ghost]. For the Holy Ghost does not permit sin to have dominion, to gain the upper hand so as to be accomplished, but represses and restrains it so that it must not do what it wishes. But if it does what it wishes, the Holy Ghost and faith are [certainly] not present. For St. John says, 1 John 3:9: Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, ... and he cannot sin. And yet it is also the truth when the same St. John says, 1:8: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." (SA III, III, 43)
The Lutheran Church has always taught that repentance is needed for all sin, for everybody. Repentance has two parts. They are contrition and faith. The Augsburg Confession states:
"Of Repentance they teach that for those who have fallen after Baptism there is remission of sins whenever they are converted and that the Church ought to impart absolution to those thus returning to repentance. Now, repentance consists properly of these two parts: One is contrition, that is, terrors smiting the conscience through the knowledge of sin; the other is faith, which is born of the Gospel, or of absolution, and believes that for Christ's sake, sins are forgiven, comforts the conscience, and delivers it from terrors. Then good works are bound to follow, which are the fruits of repentance." (AC XII 1-6)
Here, in these two quotes from the Lutheran Confessions, we see the proper use of both the Law and the Gospel. Contrition is a Godly sorrow for sin, both original and actual. This is a function of the Law. Faith is a function of the Gospel, which receives the good gifts of God; namely, the forgiveness of sins via Word and Sacrament.
As we can see, per the Scriptures and the Confessions, there is no such thing as an unrepentant Christian who is in a state of grace.
Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. St. Matthew 3:2
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It is good to see you back, brother Andrew.
ReplyDeleteGood to be blogging again. Hope all is well.
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