Is repentance necessary for forgiveness?

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mustaphadrink

Senior Member
Dec 13, 2013
1,987
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83
#21
We know that God told us to repent, but did God tell us that if we don’t repent, we will not be forgiven?

Psalms 51: 17 The sacrifices of god are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

God hears our repentance, but is it a requirement?
On the day of Pentecost Peter said to repent and be baptised for the forgiveness of sins. Repentance...forgiveness of sins. No repentance, no forgiveness of sins. If it wasn't necessary he would not have said it.
 

de-emerald

Well-known member
May 8, 2021
1,652
574
113
#22
We know that God told us to repent, but did God tell us that if we don’t repent, we will not be forgiven?

Psalms 51: 17 The sacrifices of god are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

God hears our repentance, but is it a requirement?
I know that repent means to think differently in greek. to have a change of mind.
In a sence you could say that repenting of a sin you have done isnt a requirment because it can take time for your mind to change after youve been convicted.
I personaly feal that we are forgiven of all sin once we ask Jesus into our life.
If we do sin afterwards we should get convicted by the holy spirit and then we should ask for forgiveness. But we can fail to act upon conviction straight away i feal untill we have a change of mind.
 

Gideon300

Well-known member
Mar 18, 2021
5,441
3,222
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#24
On the day of Pentecost Peter said to repent and be baptised for the forgiveness of sins. Repentance...forgiveness of sins. No repentance, no forgiveness of sins. If it wasn't necessary he would not have said it.
How about reading the rest of God's word so that you have the whole counsel of God.
 
E

eternally-gratefull

Guest
#25
If one does not repent, they would never come to faith your whole mindset and thinking about God and what he says about you must do a 180 or you will never come to saving faith

now the ops interpretation of repentance is another story altogether
 
Mar 4, 2020
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#26
Non repentance would be to continue to willfully live according to the sinful nature after coming to Christ. Also, repentance is not a work of the law, it's a change of mind, a turning with God. If a person is unrepentant he continues living according to the sinful nature, which leads to death. As we continue in faith, we are being transformed into the image of Christ, which is the fruit of the Spirit.

Repentance is not just an admission, but action. Remember what John the Baptist said to the religious leaders:

"But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance."

So, proof of repentance is required by our actions.
My point is that, after coming to Christ, people still live according to their sinful nature, even if they are too blinded by self-righteousness to see it. Happens all the time.

Repentance is more for your benefit so that you have a good conscience about what you do. You'll never stop sinning or be able to earn forgiveness by your works of repentance. That's my point. The Bible says to repent while going into exhaustive detail about how we're sinners and aren't good enough without Jesus.

The big take away is that repentance is just your effort to try to stop sinning and that's great, God wants that.

I can't find a verse that says repentance is necessary for forgiveness of sins though, just to be clear, but repentance is necessary to actually believe Jesus died for our sins. Without changing our mind about ourselves and who Jesus is then there is no repentance.
 
E

eternally-gratefull

Guest
#27
My point is that, after coming to Christ, people still live according to their sinful nature, even if they are too blinded by self-righteousness to see it. Happens all the time.

Repentance is more for your benefit so that you have a good conscience about what you do. You'll never stop sinning or be able to earn forgiveness by your works of repentance. That's my point. The Bible says to repent while going into exhaustive detail about how we're sinners and aren't good enough without Jesus.

The big take away is that repentance is just your effort to try to stop sinning and that's great God wants that.

I can't find a verse that says repentance is necessary for forgiveness of sins though, just to be clear, but repentance is necessary to actually believe Jesus died for our sins.
The part in bold is what peter meant when he told over 3000 people to repent and they would receive the gift of the spirit
 

PennEd

Senior Member
Apr 22, 2013
13,614
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#28
We know that God told us to repent, but did God tell us that if we don’t repent, we will not be forgiven?

Psalms 51: 17 The sacrifices of god are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

God hears our repentance, but is it a requirement?
Repentance is a requirement for salvation.

However, let’s make sure we’re talking about the right repentance.

We need to repent of the belief that our dead works save and keep us saved.
Only the belief in Jesus’ death, for the payment of our sins, and His Resurrection can save us.
NOT a repentance of sins. Once we are saved, born again children, THEN the Holy Spirit gives us the power to turn from our sins.
 

Grandpa

Senior Member
Jun 24, 2011
11,551
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#29
Repentance is a gift of God.

Its what He gives His People as He draws them to Himself.

Ezekiel 36:25-27
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Hebrews 10:22-23
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)


Repentance isn't just a change of mind. It is a change of heart. A change of Spirit. A change in your whole Way and Path.


Its not some sort of exchange. You give God your repentance of sins and He owes you Salvation? No. Salvation doesn't come from you. It comes from God. All the "requirements" of Salvation are gifts from God.
 
Mar 4, 2020
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#30
The part in bold is what peter meant when he told over 3000 people to repent and they would receive the gift of the spirit
Bingo. No matter what works we do to repent, we gotta know we're sinners and know Jesus died for our sins. What Peter said is the natural conclusion about what repentance really is when examining numerous scriptures.
 
Jun 5, 2018
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#31
Repentance is a gift of God.

Its what He gives His People as He draws them to Himself.

Ezekiel 36:25-27
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Hebrews 10:22-23
22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)


Repentance isn't just a change of mind. It is a change of heart. A change of Spirit. A change in your whole Way and Path.


Its not some sort of exchange. You give God your repentance of sins and He owes you Salvation? No. Salvation doesn't come from you. It comes from God. All the "requirements" of Salvation are gifts from God.
Thank you(y)
 

JBTN

Active member
Feb 11, 2020
220
79
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#32
Think about this:

“To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.””
‭‭Acts‬ ‭10:43‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/59/act.10.43.esv

Peter says here that everyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins. He also says that all the prophets bear witness to this. When I think about that this comes to mind:

“Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭24:44-48‬ ‭ESV‬‬
https://www.bible.com/59/luk.24.44-48.esv

Didn’t Peter’s statement in Acts 10:43 reflect the understanding he received when his mind was opened in Luke 10:44-48. Metanoeo means “a change of mind“ or “to think differently after” as Ahwatukee posted in post #2. Hasn’t your mind changed when you believe in Christ. Doesn’t that represent a change from an unbelieving or unknowing mind to a believing mind. Doesn’t that mean that you think differently after hearing the gospel.

A change of mind is definitely required for forgiveness of sins.
 

Jackson123

Senior Member
Feb 6, 2014
11,769
1,371
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#33
We know that God told us to repent, but did God tell us that if we don’t repent, we will not be forgiven?

Psalms 51: 17 The sacrifices of god are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

God hears our repentance, but is it a requirement?
Yes, we need to believe God teaching, and believe god teaching is also mean repent, from don't believe.
 
S

SophieT

Guest
#35
On the day of Pentecost Peter said to repent and be baptised for the forgiveness of sins. Repentance...forgiveness of sins. No repentance, no forgiveness of sins. If it wasn't necessary he would not have said it.
but who was Peter talking to? John the Baptist said the same and who was he talking to?

we are always on a learning curve with God and those who think 'repent' and think they 'repent' do not understand how deep their relationship with sin really is (I have no clue how you view this; I am just responding generally)

I don't think we understand that while repentance means a 180, it does not make us any holier than we were prior to the turning. We are already 'dead in the water' so to speak and ONLY the shed blood of Christ cancels our appointment with eternal death.

Besides, too many associate repent with OT verbage and not a new life in Christ...we are not perfect, but we are perfectly forgiven
 
S

SophieT

Guest
#36
God hears, but what is God hearing?
Is God hearing a prayer of regret, of remorse, of true sorrow?
Or, is God hearing I got caught and Your Word demands I do something about it?

It's a requirement, if God is able to hear a true broken heart sorry for the actions they've committed.
It's a waste of God's time if it is only repetitive jargon.
yeah

you know, I was 5 when I accepted Jesus. I heard about Him in Sunday School, but our teacher was not about 'repentance' to a bunch of little kids...but more along the lines of 'Jesus loves you so much He died for you' mixed in with Bible stories of all that Jesus did.

So no, I did not wear out my knees as a 5 year old, but as I grew up and understood why Jesus died, I changed my mind about many things.

smh. I was not a 'bad' child but I was headstrong and independent and the only thing I knew to do was to pray and ask God to help me be 'better.'

pounding people over the head with sin and repentance is not the way God dealt with me and how many come to know Christ because they themselves have been treated badly or abused and they are seeking shelter?

yeah, this one size fits all repentance or die routine is not what I find in scripture
 
S

SophieT

Guest
#37
A change of mind is definitely required for forgiveness of sins.
yes. a change from unbelief in God to belief in God and Christ. even a child can understand that.
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,614
13,863
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#38
And how do you come up with your play on words you do in your usual posts?

If you repent of sins you do not want to sin. That is repentance. If you want sin in your life you are not repenting of sin. It has been established that repentance is a command. How do you come up with your "codswollop"?
You're the one playing with words and inventing doctrines.
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,614
13,863
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#40
What doctrine hae I, in your opinion, inented?
This one: "If you repent of sins you do not want to sin. If you want sin in your life you are not repenting of sin."

Not only are you employing a logical fallacy, but your statements are inconsistent with Scripture.