Sovereign Grace Blog

Is Repentance Necessary In A Christian's Life?

If someone were to ask, “Do I need to have real acts of repentance in my life in order to be saved?” The answer is not a simple “yes” or “no.”

The answer is “It depends on what you mean.”

If you mean, “Are these actions of repentance the means or the primary cause of salvation?” Then the answer is “No way!”

But if you mean, “The primary cause of salvation is God’s grace that creates the new tree of faith within us; and that tree by its nature must bear the fruits of faith/repentance. Then the answer is “Yes!”

That’s why in Luke 3:8 John the Baptist, in unfolding the kind of repentance that leads to forgiveness of sins (Lk. 3:3), said, “Bear fruits in keeping with repentance.”

These actions of repentance, which John summarizes as loving others (Lk. 3:10-14), are the “Fruit” not the “Root” of new birth (which is the new tree within the believer).

You can here the whole sermon here.

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