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Gospels-Acts Passages Which Are Difficult to Categorize Regarding Their Use of Repentance

A. John the Baptist's Preaching of Repentance (Matt 3:2-15; Mark 1:4, 15; Luke 3:3-20; 19:1-10; Acts 19:4)

In the five years since I completed my dissertation on this subject, I have had second thoughts about my treatment of John the Baptist's preaching of repentance. I argued that John's preaching of repentance was a call to a change of mind about oneself and Jesus Christ in order to obtain eternal salvation. I am now much torn between that view and Hodges's view.

Hodges suggests that John the Baptist's call to repentance was a call for the nation to turn from its sins. (14) However, he also suggests that this reformation of life was not a condition of eternal salvation. Rather, Hodges suggests that John's baptism of repentance "was designed to prepare the nation for faith in the Coming One." (15) As self-righteous Jews recognized their sinfulness and turned back toward God, barriers to faith in Christ were removed.

Here are some excerpts from or about John the Baptist's preaching of repentance as recorded in the Gospels and Acts (italics mine):

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!… Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, 'Brood of vipers! Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance'" (Matt 3:2, 5-8).

"John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins… Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying,… 'Repent, and believe in the gospel'" (Mark 1:4, 14-15).

"And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Luke 3:4).

"Then he [John the Baptist] said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, 'Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?'" (Luke 3:7).

"The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, 'After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.' I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water'" (John 1:29-31).

[John said] "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (John 3:36).

"Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John" (John 4:1).

"Then Paul said, 'John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus'" (Acts 19:4).

Several points can be observed from these passages.

First, the Apostle John presents John the Baptist as conditioning eternal salvation solely upon believing in Jesus Christ (John 3:36).

Second, John the Baptist gave two reasons for "repenting." The nation was to repent: (1) since the kingdom was near (Matt 3:2) and (2) in order to obtain the remission of sins (Mark 1:4; Luke 3:4).

Repenting in light of the nearness of the kingdom fits well with Hodges's view. It is a common OT theme that the nation was to turn from its sins to prepare itself for the kingdom. It is one thing to prepare oneself to meet the king. It is another to be a subject of the king. It is quite conceivable that among the many who were baptized by John there were some who had already come to faith in Christ.

On the other hand, repenting in order to obtain the remission of sins does not fit as well with Hodges's view. As shown above, that same expression is used elsewhere in the Gospels and Acts (Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31) to refer to salvific forgiveness.

Third, those being baptized by John were confessing their sins (Matt 3:5). This may have been a spontaneous response by people. Possibly John did not call for this as a condition of baptism. However, in light of his role as the forerunner who was to make straight the Messiah's paths (Luke 3:4) and his response to those who asked, "What shall we do?" (Luke 3:10), it seems more likely that John required the confession of sins before one could be baptized.

Fourth, it is very telling that the Lord Jesus baptized more people than John did and that He baptized "disciples" (John 4:l). (16) Jesus baptized those who had already committed to follow Him. Of course, some of those, Judas being a prime example, were unsaved (John 6:64). If all of the Lord's disciples were baptized by Him and some of them were unbelievers, He did not require people to believe in Him in order to undergo His baptism. Likely John did not require faith in Christ of those he baptized either. If not, then it is hard to conceive of John's call to repentance as a call to eternal salvation.

Jesus' baptism, while never called a baptism of repentance, seems to have been parallel to John's. John 4:1 mentions both baptisms without distinction as to purpose. Our Lord's first recorded exhortation in Matthew, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"(Matt 4:17) is identical to John's preaching of repentance as recorded in Matt 3:2.

Fifth, people undergoing John's baptism were fleeing from the wrath to come (Luke 3:7). While this may well refer to God's eternal wrath, it is at least equally possible that temporal wrath was meant. The Jewish Wars and the fall of Jerusalem with the resultant destruction of the temple in A.D. 66-70 could have been in view.

Sixth, after John was in prison Jesus said "Repent, and (kai) believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15). He might have meant "Repent, that is (ascensive use of kai), believe in the gospel." If so, He equated the two. It is just as likely, however, that Jesus was distinguishing between the two. He may have called for "repentance" as one act and believing the Gospel as another--the latter being the condition of eternal salvation and the former of fellowship and temporal salvation.

What conclusion can we draw from these observations regarding John's preaching of repentance?

One element in John's preaching keeps me from wholeheartedly embracing Hodges's view: that the forgiveness of sins is explicitly linked to John's preaching of repentance (e.g., Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3). As already pointed out above, repentance for the forgiveness of sins commonly refers to salvific forgiveness.

I am torn between the two views. I am slightly inclined, however, in light of the many points in favor of a fellowship-temporal salvation view, to conclude that the forgiveness of sins mentioned looks to a forgiveness that results in temporal deliverance from God's wrath. Thus even nonbelievers who turn from their sins will find that God's judgment against their sin begins to subside. This seems to be the point of Rev 9:20-21 and 16:9-11. While entrance into the kingdom and positional forgiveness are conditioned solely upon faith in Christ--or changing one's mind about Him--temporal forgiveness and temporal salvation are conditioned upon obedience.

I feel that this is a topic which needs much additional attention. Hopefully someone from the Free Grace Salvation perspective will soon write a thesis, or better yet a dissertation, on John the Baptist's preaching of repentance.

B. The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)

The prodigal son planned in his heart to do more than was necessary to gain reconciliation with his father. He did not need to pledge to be a servant and work for his father.

On the other hand, such a pledge did not hinder his reconciliation, since the young man understood, or possibly came to understand when he met his father, that reconciliation was available just for the asking--by grace alone with no working or pledging to work.

In the first two parables of Luke 15, the Parables of the Lost Sheep and of the Lost Coin, the term for repentance, metanoia, is explicitly used. It is not, however, used in the third parable, the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

When did the prodigal "repent" and what did his repentance consist of?

These questions cannot be answered dogmatically since the text does not explicitly say. It is possible that he "repented" when he met his father and found that he accepted him with open arms and would not let him finish his planned speech. Bailey argues that only when he met his father did he repent--that is, only then did he realize that reconciliation could not be earned--that it could only be accepted as a pure gift. (17) Alternately, he may have "repented." when he was in the far country and "came to his senses" (v 17).

The latter view allows for two possible understandings of the content of the prodigal's repentance in the far country. One view is that he repented when he decided that any role in his father's house would be better than his pigpen existence outside of his house. The problem with this view is that the prodigal seemed to believe he could earn reconciliation by working. If this was the prodigal's "repentance," then that was not required for reconciliation. Indeed, this thinking would need to be corrected before he could be reconciled.

Another view is that the prodigal repented when he decided to turn from his sinful ways. Again, if one holds this view he would have to argue that this repentance was not a condition of reconciliation with the father. This is the position of Zane Hodges on the parable. (18)

The prodigal changed his mind in two senses at two different times. When in the far country he changed his mind about his lifestyle and decided to seek reconciliation with his father. When actually in his father's presence he realized that reconciliation was only available as a completely free gift. It could not be bought.

Which change of mind led to the prodigal's reconciliation with his father? Clearly the latter. The father would not let him buy his way into the household. The prodigal had to accept reconciliation as a free gift.

Which change of mind represented the prodigal's "repentance"? I am inclined to the view that his "repentance" was his recognition and acceptance of the free gift of reconciliation. It, of course, was built upon his recognition of his sinfulness and need of reconciliation. When the prodigal accepted his father's grace gift there was joy in heaven in a parallel fashion to the finding of the lost coin and the lost sheep in the first two parables. (19)

Conclusion

There are only two views of salvific repentance which are consistent with the Gospel: the view that repentance is essentially synonymous with saving faith and the view that repentance is not a condition of eternal salvation at all.

It has been shown that in some passages one can understand repentance as a condition of eternal salvation and in others not. These views are not exclusive.

It is my view that the Gospels and Acts primarily use the terms metanoia and metanoeo essentially as synonyms for faith in Christ. The call to change one's mind about Christ, after the new evidence of the resurrection is brought forth (e.g., Acts 2:38), is parallel to calling one to place his or her faith in the Risen Christ in light of the proof of the resurrection (Acts 10:40-43).

Nevertheless, it is clear in some passages (e.g., Luke 17:3-4) that those terms are used to refer to changes of mind about one's sinful behavior. In such cases what is at stake is fellowship, not eternal salvation.

The preaching of John the Baptist and the Parable of the Prodigal Son are very difficult to categorize. At this time I am inclined to view John the Baptist's call to repentance as a call to turn from one's sinful deeds. John's Gospel is clear that John the Baptist conditioned eternal salvation upon faith in Christ alone and not on turning from one's sins as well. It seems likely, though, that temporal and not eternal salvation is what the Synoptic authors are focusing upon in John the Baptist's preaching.

The Parable of the Prodigal seems to deal with eternal salvation--this best fits the motif of "joy in heaven in the presence of the angels" in the first two parables of Luke 15. The repentance, while not clearly identified, seems to be the prodigal's acceptance of the free gift of reconciliation.

The call to repentance is not uniform in the Gospels and Acts. In some cases it is a call to eternal salvation (e.g., Acts 2:38; 11:18). In other cases it is a call to temporal salvation (e.g., Acts 17:3-4). In some cases the change of mind called for is about Christ. In others it is about one's sinful ways.

When studying the concept of repentance in the Gospels and Acts and the rest of the NT, it is important to ask two questions: (1) Is temporal or eternal salvation in view? and (2) What is one being called to change his mind about--Christ, one's sinful ways, or something else?

We will explore these questions further in the next article in this series: "Repentance in the Epistles and Revelation."

Dr. Bob Wilkin (Th.M., Magna Cum Laude, and Ph.D. in New Testament from Dallas Theological Seminary) was born and raised in Southern California. After graduating from college he joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ, serving two years each at Arkansas State University and North Carolina State University. During his seminary studies, Bob served in a variety of ministries including a year each in college and high school ministry, a year as a hospital chaplain, and three years as a pastor. After receiving his doctorate, Bob taught at Woodcrest College (formerly Dallas Bible College) in Lindale, Texas and then at Multnomah Bible College in Portland, Oregon.

Feeling that there was a great need for an educational and networking organization for Christians who believe in the freeness of the Gospel, Bob started Grace Evangelical Society in June of 1986. In July of 1987 he left his teaching position to devote full time to heading up this ministry. Since its inception, readership of the bimonthly newsletter, Grace In Focus, has grown from 30 to over 9,000. (www.FaithAlone.org)

Dr. Wilkin has written a book, Confident in Christ: Living by Faith Really Works, two booklets, You Can Be Sure, and There's a New Day Dawning, and hundreds of newsletter and journal articles. He regularly speaks across the country.

Bob and his wife Sharon live in Highland Village, Texas.