Is repentance necessary for forgiveness?

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?

Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all men everywhere to repent. – Acts 17:30

I have a document with a whole lot more scriptures regarding the need to repent for salvation, but I figured this one was good enough.

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Strong's Concordance

metanoeó: to change one's mind or purpose

Original Word: μετανοέω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: metanoeó
Phonetic Spelling: (met-an-o-eh'-o)
Short Definition: I repent, change my mind
Definition: I repent, change my mind, change the inner man (particularly with reference to acceptance of the will of God), repent.

HELPS Word-studies

3340 metanoéō (from 3326 /metá, "changed after being with" and 3539 /noiéō, "think") – properly, "think differently after," "after a change of mind"; to repent (literally, "think differently afterwards

Acts 17:30 30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

It is not a suggestion for good living, or something God requests us to do, but here it is plainly stated that it is a command. That means that if you want to sin, you die!! It is treated as a prayer asking God to allow us to sin, and that prayer is answered. Sin that is not forgiven always results in death.

It does NOT mean that if you want to sin, you die.

How do you come up with this codswollop?

Absolutely. There is no remission of sins without repentance, and that is very clear in the Bible.

Which is why I listed the scripture which demonstrates the need for repentance. Why are you responding as though I was saying the opposite? I am posting below what I originally posted and which you responded to:

"Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all men everywhere to repent. – Acts 17:30

All you did was provide the same scripture that I did.

You did not mention baptism also,.....Acts 2;31.... et al.....was that an omission

The subject of this thread is "Is repentance necessary for forgiveness?"

Acts 17;30 does not support that conclusion which is in direct opposition to the Jewish animal sacrifice and other practices periodically for sin forgiveness....or do you have other biblical support for that conclusion?
If you offer references ...please...from 1611 KJV Bible for study.

The word metanoeó means the same thing no matter which translation you use. As I said, I have many more scriptures which demonstrate the need for repentance for salvation. To not repent would mean that one would continue willfully living according to the sinful nature, which is why repentance is required.

Seems almost counter intuitive at first. On one hand, there's a command to repent of our sins. On the other hand, our righteousness is like a filthy rag. So our repentance is more of a good conscience toward God and not sinless perfection. If we say we have no sin then the truth is not in us even after repentance.

Repentance really boils down to changing your mind, admitting you're a sinner in need of God's grace, and just trying not to sin.

Bottom line, forgiveness of sin doesn't come from repentance. Forgiveness of sin comes from the blood offering of Jesus Christ and that's what we put our faith in. If righteousness came from works of the law, Christ died in vain.

Repentance is an indication of God's mercy and work in us. He knows our nature and we won't repent. If you are remorseful, repentant, you are bearing and exhibiting the righteous fruits of the Lord.

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.

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"?

I believe that when we repent, we acknowledge our unworthiness. At that point, we surrender to God.

It goes along with what Jesus said during the Sermon on the Mount:

Blessed is the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Mat. 5:3.

This is the very essence of the Gospel.

Paul said that he found his actions were sometimes contrary to what his repentance directed him to do.

Romans 7: 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Repentance is, likely, necessary for sanctification. I say it that way because what if circumstances open your eyes to an issue but you were not actively “repenting” of said issue? You still end up changing in spite of repentance (i.e.; the revelation led to your repentance). Say you see the ugly in you in someone else and God opens your eyes to what you’re doing (that is ugly)? That’s happened to me before.

As for forgiveness, the blood of the Lamb. 🩸 It cleanses us of all sin. So repentance is necessary for initial forgiveness (judicially forgiven by God; coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ). But I would argue that ongoing repentance is for sanctification and not judicial forgiveness before God.

Repentance, it’s fair to say, will be in the life of a believer. Only the purpose it serves is not the maintenance of eternal security, as that belongs to Jesus Christ as our High Priest who intercedes on our behalf and shed His blood for us.

I feel like I worded this weirdly. Semantics a bit. What I mean to say, tl;dr, is that repentance is for sanctification and not eternal salvation (in respect to an ongoing process).

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.

In order to be forgiven, one needs to acknowledge that they are a sinner. Unbelievers mostly think that they are good people, no matter how messed up they are in reality. Repentance is fundamentally a change of mind. Why would anyone ask for forgiveness if they believe that they have done nothing wrong?

Sin is a debt that we owe God. If a sinner acknowledges their debt and asks for forgiveness, God will oblige. The sinner needs to know the basis of that release from debt. it is because it's already been paid for by the death and shed blood of the Lord Jesus. I did not have a contrite heart when I accepted Christ. My motives were entirely selfish. I did not want to go to hell. But being born again means a new heart and sin grieves the new spirit that God puts in us.

Christians are fundamentally different in God's view. We are already forgiven. We cannot lose relationship. We can and do lose fellowship when we sin. We can have immediate cleansing and restoration when we confess our sin. (1 John 1:9)