Which comes first: Faith or Repentance?

Justification by Faith and the Relationship of Faith to Regeneration

Well, good evening everyone, and thank you again Brother Andy for a very encouraging walk through the Psalms. I look forward to getting fed every week, and I appreciate you for that. Tonight we're going to complete the lesson that we began last week.

If you'll remember, we were talking about the subject of justification by faith. We're in the larger study of the doctrine of salvation. And I said there were two things about faith that we need to understand in regard to the relationship of faith to two other important subjects.

What was the one for last week? Does anybody remember? Faith and regeneration. Thank you, Kendall. Yes, it was regeneration, which is being born again. And we said that understanding that relationship is important.

And the relationship that really is the part that I want to make sure that we all understand is that regeneration causes faith. And really, honestly, if you wanted to break down what it means to be a Calvinist, if you ever had that question, what is the big distinction?

It's the distinction of where do you put regeneration. Because if you believe that faith causes regeneration, well, you sit firmly on the side of the Arminians. Because you believe that you cause your own spiritual rebirth by your belief.

But if you believe that your belief is the result of God's regenerating your dead soul and giving you the ability to believe, then you sit firmly in the camp of the Calvinist. Really, that is the demarcation point.

Because everything else, predestination, election, and all the rest, really boils down to whether or not you think that you were able to bring about your spiritual rebirth or whether that was something God did independent of you.

So that was last week. So that was faith and regeneration. Tonight, we are going to look at the relationship between faith and repentance. So last week, it was the relationship between faith and regeneration.

Justification by Faith Alone and the Necessity of Repentance

This week, it is the relationship. So we are still really looking at the subject of faith. And we are still really looking at the subject of justification. Because justification is by faith. And it is by faith alone.

But when we say justification is by faith alone, one of the things that the Reformers were very quick to explain was that though they were justified by faith alone, faith, that is true faith, would never be alone.

But that it would be accompanied by a changed heart and a changed life. That is, honestly, that is the first part. Changed heart, that is regeneration. Changed life, that is repentance. So I am going to move this over here because I know where the camera is.

And I just happened to put it where you had it. So I just figured whoever is at home, if I do right on the... But you are left-handed. You kill me, you left-handed people. My mom and brother are both left-handed.

Repentance and Faith as Gifts of God

So tonight we are going to look at the gifts. And here is the thing too, I want you to remember this. Faith and repentance are both gifts of God. Neither faith nor repentance are things that you do independently of God.

And I want to dig into that in a minute. Not just yet because I want to define the word repentance first. But keep in your mind that when we talk about faith and repentance, we are talking about gifts which are both caused by regeneration.

Last week we said regeneration causes faith. But what we are going to see tonight is that faith and repentance are inseparable gifts. And brother Mike and I have actually had a very long conversation about this.

Because Mike calls me, we have good theological conversations. Often times he is on the road going to his jobs. And so he will call me and, hey you got time to chat. And I know what a chat is, it is a theological chat.

And I love it. And we have been doing that for years. Ever since he became, before he was ever an elder. Ever since he became a church member, he calls me two or three times a week. And we just talk about the Bible.

It is a wonderful blessing. And one of the things we have talked about many times is the relationship of faith and repentance. And he says, and I think it is a good analogy. He said it is like a coin.

A coin is one coin with two sides. And the two sides are faith and repentance. And really you are not going to have one without the other. But before we dive into that, let's ask the question. What is repentance?

Because we have all seen the word repentance. In fact in your Bible, go ahead and open to Mark 1. This is a very important verse. Because depending on how you date the gospels. Some people believe Matthew is older.

Some people believe Mark is older. And I tend to believe Matthew is the oldest gospel. But there are some who believe Mark is older. If you believe Mark is older. Then you come to Mark chapter 1. And what you have is the earliest gospel record of the words of Jesus.

If Mark is first. And again I already said I kind of think Matthew is first. But we will leave that for another lesson. But if Mark is first. I want you to notice what it says. It begins by talking about John the Baptist.

And then it talks about the baptism of Jesus. But then it says. Beginning in verse 14. It says now after John was arrested. Jesus came into Galilee. Proclaiming the gospel of God. Notice the word gospel there.

That is important. Because what is the gospel? The gospel is the good news. And up until this point. The gospel is still held in the kernel of the gospel. Because the death, burial and resurrection of Christ had not yet happened.

So the fullness of the gospel was not yet understood. But yet there was still a gospel that was being preached. I mean the gospel goes all the way back to the garden right? The gospel goes all the way back to Abraham.

The bible says God preached the gospel to Abraham. When he said through you all the nations of the world will be blessed. So there has always been a gospel. But what is the gospel that Christ is preaching?

It tells us here what it is. It says Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel. Saying the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent. And believe in the gospel. So the message of Christ.

If Mark is the first. The first words that we have of the Lord Jesus Christ. In his preaching ministry. Are the words repent. Now if there is a word that has fallen on hard times. In modern Christendom.

It is not the word blessing. Because we get that one all the time. It is not the word joy or hope. Or overcome or fulfill. We get those a lot too. It is not even the word faith. Boy the word faith is used a lot.

But if there is a word that has truly fallen out. Of the vernacular of many modern believers. It is the word repent. And it is amazing. When we consider the fact that the first words possibly of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In his preaching ministry. Was that he went about proclaiming repent. Most people. The only thing they think of when they think repent. They think of some guy that is sitting outside. Like with a big sign that just says repent.

And everybody says he is the crazy guy. Right. He might be the only sane one. Because he is the only one that is calling us to what we really need to hear. We need to be preaching repentance. And we are told we shouldn't.

I know many ministers. I know seminaries. That would say that repentance has no place in the gospel. That we are not to call men to repentance. And they would do that because of what I consider to be a misunderstanding of the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

Are we saved by faith alone? Absolutely. Do we call men to repent of their sins? Absolutely. If we do not call men to repent of their sins. We are not preaching the gospel. I believe that with all my heart.

Repentance in the New Covenant and the Ordo Salutis

Turn with me. I just want to show you a couple of passages. Because somebody might say well this is Jesus in the old covenant. Because Jesus was an old covenant preacher. You understand the new covenant is established in his blood.

And so Jesus. Like I always say John is the last of the old testament prophets. John the baptist. Because he was still in the old covenant era. Even though he was written in the new covenant. He is an old covenant prophet.

And someone would say well this is Jesus speaking in the old covenant. But turn to Acts 20. And we know that in the book of Acts we are firmly ensconced in the new covenant. We know that the blood of the lamb has been slain.

The new covenant has been ratified in his blood. And so we know the church is here established as the new testament church. And it stands in Acts chapter 20. And notice what it says in verse 18. Acts chapter 20 in verse 18.

It says you yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time. From the first day that I was set foot in Asia. Serving the Lord with all humility. And with tears and with trials that happened to me.

Through the plots of the Jews. How I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable. And teaching you in public and from house to house. Testifying both to Jews and to Greeks. Of repentance towards God.

And of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. In this passage Paul describes his mission of service to the Lord. And he says his testimony has been simple. My message has been simple. I have preached that you need to repent and believe.

How simple is that? Going back to Mark 1. What did Jesus preach? Repent and believe. What did Paul preach? Repent and believe. You don't have to turn there but Hebrews 6 .1. It says let us leave the elementary doctrines of Christ.

And go on to maturity. Not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works. And of faith towards God. So even the writer of Hebrews who we don't know who it was. But we know that this person is writing a message about the new covenant.

And in the new covenant writings of Hebrews. He says that the message, the foundation that we have given. Is the foundation of repentance and faith. And he calls that the elementary doctrines. Now, as I said earlier.

Some people believe that faith and repentance can be separated. And this is often how it's argued. They will say a person can believe without turning from sin. And I want to address very quickly. Just a very simple.

The Meaning of Metanoia and Turning from Unbelief to Faith

My mind works sometimes in a weird way. But I want you to consider this for a moment. The word repent. In the Greek is metanoia. I think I've explained that in the past. But just for those who weren't here.

Or maybe you don't know. The word metanoia is a compound word in the Greek. Meta means to change. Meta, think of like metamorphosis. Means to change form. When a butterfly goes from a caterpillar to a butterfly.

That's a metamorphosis. It's a change of form. So meta means to change. Noia in Greek. The root noio is the word. And the Greek means the mind. It's the mental faculty of the man. Therefore, the word repent in Greek.

When you construct the word. It means change your mind. However, when you do word breakdown like that. It can become a little sketchy. That's called etymology. It's studying the roots of words. And that can become a little sketchy.

For instance, television. Comes from the word tele. Which means far. And visio, which means see. So if you break down television. It means far see. Well, that's not really what it means. But you understand then how meta noia.

Meaning change the mind. Can mean a little more than just to change the mind. Repentance means to turn. The concept of repenting means to go from one thing to something else. And the concept of the idea of the changing of the mind.

Many of you maybe could understand this. If I gave it to you in the simplest of forms. You've all probably gotten in your car to go one direction. And at some point in the midst of your travel. You changed your mind and turned around and went home.

Right? You went the other direction. Now the reason for the change in direction. Was because the change of the mind. Mic is out? Yeah, it is. Thank you, brother. Well, we're back. If you missed anything on the audio.

I apologize. Thankfully, I do triple backups on my audio. So we'll have it for the recording at least. My back. How long was I gone? Just a few seconds. Just a few seconds. Well, thank you for catching that, Dan.

Okay, so we're back again. Meta noia means to change the mind. But the idea is turning. The idea is to turn from one thing to the other. So right away, I want you to consider this. Because I was asked years ago.

And I remember this conversation. It was a dear brother in the Lord. And we were discussing the concept of repentance. And he said, which comes first? Repentance or faith? Now, I don't want you to argue.

And I don't want to play. Go back and forth with everyone. But for a moment, think of it. Think for a second, which comes first? Repentance or faith? And then I'm going to give you my thought on the subject.

Because here's the thing. It's not as if I can take you to a verse. And say, see here, this is where it says this comes first. But this does bring us to the issue of what we call the ordo salutis. That's a Latin phrase, which means the order of salvation.

And the ordo salutis really is a larger conversation. Because you can go all the way back to the question of which came first. The decree of God to save. Or the decree of God to allow men to fall. And that goes back to the question of infralapsarianism and supralapsarianism.

The question of how did God in His decrees work in the fall and His plan to save. And so there's a lot that this could really dive into that I'm not wanting to dive into tonight. But the question though is, when you start going down the list.

Okay, we know regeneration precedes faith. That's part of the ordo salutis. That's what we've been talking about. Regeneration precedes faith. But on what side of faith comes repentance? And that's an important question.

And I want you to know that I'm going to give you the answer that I best think. But I am in no way dogmatic. And I will grant that if Brother Andy were preaching. He might have a slightly different thought than I.

Or if Brother Mike were preaching, he might have. Or Brother Richard. So I'm not going to be dogmatic. But I'm going to give you my reasoning. Then of course if you want to get Andy afterward to reason you a different direction.

I don't know if he would. I don't think we've talked about this particular question. But as I said, it's not a dogmatic issue for me. But here's what I think. I think that the very act of faith is turning from one thing to another.

It's turning from unbelief to belief. And therefore the very act of believing is an act of repentance. Yes, and thank you. That's what we talked about the two-headed coin, right? The two sides. Because when you are an unbeliever, you are in a state of constant sin.

The Bible says that which is not of faith is sin. And so when you are not a believer, everything you do is just sin continuously. Because it's not of faith. And therefore the first action of turning from sin and turning to belief is an act of repentance.

It's repenting of unbelief. You see?

No, you had your hand up, Brother. Go ahead. No, I was just going to say, before you gave your answer, I was thinking. I don't know if you would have a desire to repent. Is that right or is that wrong?

See, now we're going to get into the particulars of repentance. I'm with you, but you understand what I'm saying. It's turning from unbelief to belief is an act of repentance. You would agree? So I would say in that sense, that immediate belief is an act of repentance.

It's turning from an unbeliever to a believer. And I think that in a sense, that's the repentance that we're being called to. When Jesus says, repent, He's saying, repent of your unbelief and believe.

Turn from your unbelief and believe and live. And so we talk about repentance. And I use what I call the big R and the little r, repentance. What are you talking about? Well, big R repentance is when somebody says, have you repented and trusted in Jesus?

I can say yes. But I also say this, my whole life is lived in daily repentance. Because my whole life is dealt with sin every day. I have the three great enemies of my soul, which are the flesh, the world and the devil.

And therefore, every day, I am repenting. Jesus said, when you pray, pray like this. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins. Luke uses the word sin. Matthew uses a different word, which typically means debt or trespass. But either way, the idea is, forgive us of what we've done wrong.

And Jesus said, this is the daily prayer. When you pray, pray thus. And how often are we to pray? Multiple times a day. And what are we to pray when we pray multiple times a day? Lord, forgive us of our sins.

And I call that little r, repentance, because that's the daily living of repentance. That's the daily living out of the walk Andy was talking about. Our walk is repentance. So when you say, well, what's the big R?

The big R is when we turn from sin to Christ. When we turn from unbelief to faith. That's the big R, repentance. And it recognizes that the direction I was going was the direction of hell. It was the direction of lostness.

It was the direction of hatred towards God. It was a direction of rebellion. It was a direction of disobedience. And I've turned from that and I've turned to God. And so I would say that I think you can't separate the two.

And if you had to make one priority over the other, I don't think you really can. Because the very act of believing is an act of turning from unbelief. And so with that being said, our life, our new life in Christ begins with repentance and faith.

Repentance and Faith as Gifts Granted by God

And so I want to point out. I said earlier I was going to tell you that faith and repentance are gifts. I want to point out now why I believe that. I remember years ago I was having a conversation. I was 24.

I was just starting to study the doctrines of grace. And I was really just starting to come to a conclusion about where I stood on Calvinism and Arminianism. And where I stood on reformed theology. And I was really...

I was in seminary and I was hearing negative things on one side. And I was reading things on the other side. I was really being confronted. I spent so many hours just studying and praying and asking God to be clear with me as to what his word said.

And I remember a guy, sweet boy, young man. He and I were talking about this. And he was from a different denomination. And I said, faith and repentance are gifts from God. And he said, no they're not.

And I said, oh they truly are gifts from God. And he said, cite your source. I'll never forget that. Because I was at that moment not ready to cite my source. You ever had somebody do that to you and you just stumped, brother?

I was stumped. I remember right where I was. I remember where I was standing. I remember the moment that I couldn't cite my source. And I was like, I know this is true, but I can't quote chapter and verse.

And so it really did a number on me to remember that. Wow, that was 15, 16 years ago. And I still remember it like it was today. So tonight I'm going to cite my source. I'm a little late. Conversation is far gone.

But I want to just point to a few verses that would encourage me to understand that repentance and faith are gifts. First one, let's look at Acts 11. If you would just very quickly. And I'm going to try to bring this to a close on time.

So we'll do this rather quickly. Acts chapter 11. This is at the house of Cornelius. You remember he was a Gentile who was brought to faith. And that happened in Acts chapter 10. And now Peter's reporting what happened in chapter 11.

So if you read chapter 10, then read chapter 11. It's almost the same thing because it's Peter's report of what just happened. So it's almost like reading the same story twice. And it says in verse 18.

When they, that is the Gentiles, heard these things, they fell silent and they glorified God. Oh, I'm sorry. No, I'm sorry. This is the Jews. The Jews hearing these things that Peter's saying. When they heard these things, they fell silent and they glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.

So right there, at least from pure language, repentance is said something that God gives. God gives repentance. He granted them the repentance. Now, someone might argue with that and say, well, that verse doesn't prove anything.

Because all that saying is God gave them the ability, but they still had to act on it. So it's still their action that's doing it. I say, OK, well, I disagree. But that's the response. That's a response.

Turn with me to 2 Timothy 2. Because again, like Brother Andy was doing earlier, wanting to build his case, right? You don't build your case on one verse. You look around, you find the passages that are speaking on this subject.

And in 2 Timothy chapter 2, Paul is talking to Timothy. And he's telling Timothy that he ought not be quarrelsome, but he ought to be kind. Because he's a minister of the gospel. And notice what he says in 2 Timothy 2 .24.

He says, The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth.

And they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will. Notice what it says. It says the reason why when we're speaking to unbelievers, the reason why when we're speaking to those who are opposed to our message, the reason why we ought to be kind and gentle with them is because we do not know whether or not God is going to grant them the gift of repentance.

And so we don't need to be obstacles in the way of God's gift. We need to be as it were like ambassadors. 2 Corinthians 5 tells us we need to be ambassadors who do what? They make the gift accessible.

They say here it is. And so he says you be kind, you be gentle. Because you don't know who you're talking to. And you might be talking to somebody that God will give the gift of repentance to. So this again is a passage which clearly says that it is God who gives the ability to repent.

Turn with me to Acts again. Sorry I have to show you these because again this is a 16 year old debt I'm repaying here. I've got to at least go back and again in my mind Acts 13 .48. Because we're going to move now from repentance.

We've shown that repentance is a gift. Now let's look at faith itself. Because I've heard many people say oh no faith is not a gift from God. Faith is what we contribute to our salvation. In fact I've heard people say this.

They have said God does 99 but you have to do your 1%. And your 1 is believe. But notice what Acts 13 .48 says. When the Gentiles heard this, that is the gospel. They began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord.

And as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. Notice it doesn't say as many as believed were appointed to eternal life. And by the way you can go to the Greek and it's very clear. As many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

So what preceded the other? God's appointing them to eternal life preceded their faith. God's appointment brought about their belief. I can take you to several other passages. Lydia's Acts 17. The Bible says God opened her heart and she believed.

You can go to John 6 where Jesus said no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. No one can come unless it be granted to him by my Father. And all the Father gives me will come to me.

All of these passages prove beyond doubt that faith is something that God brings into the heart. It is not something that we produce on our own. And therefore faith and repentance. Because what is the first act of repentance?

It's believing. It's turning. Faith and repentance both are gifts of Almighty God. And you say, but wait a minute, those are things were commanded to do. How can God command something that has to come from him?

Outside of Jerusalem, a man died and he had two sisters. And he was a friend of Jesus and they put him into the tomb. And Jesus waited several days before he came to the man's grave. And when he arrived, the sisters were saying, Jesus, if you had come, he would not have died.

And Jesus said, I am the resurrection, the life. He who believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live. And they said, oh, we know he will live again in the resurrection. And Jesus walked over to the temple or to the, to the, to the tomb, rather.

And he said, Lazarus, come forth. Now, I ask you this. Could Lazarus have moved the muscle if God had not given him life? No, that's the same, the very same analogy to we who were dead in our trespasses and sins.

We are called repent and believe. And we will not repent and believe until the God of heaven gives us new life. Augustine said this, God, grant what thou commands and command what thou will. Listen to that again.

I'll say it the backwards way, because the backwards way is a little easier to understand. God, command what you want us to do and give us the ability to do what you command. That's the heart of all of this.

God commands us to repent. He commands us to believe. But we who are dead in our trespasses and sins are absolutely unable to do so until given the gift of life. By the power of the spirit of God to repent of our sins and trust in his son.

So I hope that this has been an encouragement to you. I hope this has helped open your eyes a little bit more to what repentance is. Do we have a daily repentance? Yes. The very first act was when we turn from our sin and turn to Christ for salvation.

That was our first act of repentance. And that is what we should call them into. Turn from your sin and turn to Christ. Let's pray. Father in heaven, I thank you for your word. I pray that this has been encouragement to all of those who will hear who are here tonight.

Lord, and I pray that you would, by your mercy, by your grace. Lord, please help us to better understand what it means to repent and believe and help us to live a life of daily repentance. In Jesus name we pray.

Amen.