TOTPD!
Note: I began writing this response before Did posted his comment above.
racerx_is_alive wrote:
Didymus, are you claiming that repentance is unnecessary? Or are you claiming the very different idea that we have no power in and of ourselves to repent?
Like StrongRad, I won't pretend to speak for Did. What I will say is that I believe repentance is a very real and necessary part of the process of sanctification. However, it's important to carefully place the pieces of the process in the right order. We can find the right order all over the place in scripture, but I think one passage that puts it forth very succinctly is this one:
Romans 8:29-30 (numbers and emphasis are mine) wrote:
For those whom [God] (1) foreknew he also (2) predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also (3) called, and those whom he called he also (4) justified, and those whom he justified he also (5) glorified.
So the process of sanctification was from the beginning initiated by God and in the end will be finished by God. This is why God is called the "the author and finisher of our faith" (Heb. 12:2).
To answer your question, I believe that we don't have any power to repent in and of ourselves until we are born again. Consider the classic analogy of the life preserver. Many Christians posit that as sinners we have fallen overboard and are floundering in the sea. Christ, through his atonement and propitiation for our sins, has thrown a life preserver to us. Our responsibility -- whether that's simply saying the sinner's prayer and confessing our sins or if it entails following a list of commandments, submitting ourselves to certain ordinances (or sacraments), and enduring to the end -- is analogous to our reaching out and grabbing the life preserver. The problem with this analogy is the Bible says we're dead in our trespasses (Eph. 2:5; Col. 2:13)! We're not out there treading water -- we've already drowned and sunk to the bottom!
If you claim we can reach out and grab the life preserver, meaning we can repent and clean up our lives, and that this leads to salvation (or justification) after we've been working at it for a while, you're putting things in the wrong order and denying the clear teaching of scripture that we're dead.
Repentance and the submitting of ourselves to commandments, ordinances (sacraments), etc. are all part of the process of sanctification, but they come after -- in other words, are the natural outworkings of -- our justification. We submit ourselves to these things because we've been born again, we've been given a new heart, and our nature has been changed -- we want to seek after God. These things are part of the glorification process, and if God has started the process, he is faithful to finish it (Phil. 1:6). These things will be present in varying degrees in every justified (saved) person's life, not because we need these things to become justified, but because they are the next logical step in the progression of a person through the process of sanctification. They are also clear evidence that a person has been justified, which is why James can say that faith without works is dead.
For more evidence that works (including repentance) result from justification, not precede it, check out these passages:
Eph. 2:8-9 (emphasis mine) wrote:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
This passage shows clearly that our salvation is not the result of any works, and it's not our own doing, which means faith and repentance can't even start the process. But what immediately follows this passage?
Eph. 2:10 wrote:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
The works result from the salvation.
And again:
Titus 3:3-7 (emphasis mine) wrote:
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Here again, the passage excludes any kind of works-righteousness. God saves us according to his own mercy, not because of our faith, repentance, or works. But what immediately follows?
Titus 3:8 wrote:
The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.
It is excellent and profitable for those who have believed in God and are now justified to devote themselves to good works. Again, the works proceed from justification rather than being conditions for it.