19 Therefore, repent and turn again in order that your sins will be removed. Acts 3:19 (translated from the NA28 Greek text)
One form of religion that claims to be Christian but isn’t is based in something called “easy-believism.” On the other hand, many of the proponents of it will point to what we call “the Gospel” in what follows as the “damnable heresy” of Lordship salvation. I have often shared here using passages such as Acts 3:19 (above) making it clear that the Bible tells us that there is no salvation without repentance and again in Acts 2:38….
“Πέτρος δὲ πρὸς αὐτούς· μετανοήσατε, [φησίν,] καὶ βαπτισθήτω ἕκαστος ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν καὶ λήμψεσθε τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος.” Or, “And Peter said to them, ‘Repent [HE SAYS] and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” In any case, to support the Lordship case, all we have to do is go to God’s Word. In the “easy-believism” case it all comes down to philosophical argumentation.
In this post I want to examine Acts 3:19 more closely, specifically the verb ἐπιστρέψατε,which in the KJV, is translated as “be converted” in Acts 3:19, but literally in this case means “turn” or “turn again.” Before we do this, lets put this verse in context.