The Necessity of Preaching Repentance

29 Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. 30 Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17:29-31 (NASB) 

You don’t have to look very hard to find Christians who disagree with our commitment to preach the genuine gospel that the Apostles and our Saviour preached. One of the points of contention in this debate is the necessity or preaching repentance….

Many who are opposed to repentance being a necessary component of salvation see it as “works.”

Our ears have grown accustomed to hearing men told to “accept Jesus as your personal Saviour,” a form of words which is not found in Scripture. It has become an empty phrase. These may be precious words to the Christian–”personal Saviour.” But they are wholly inadequate to instruct a sinner in the way of eternal life. They wholly ignore an essential element of the Gospel, namely repentance. And that necessary ingredient of Gospel preaching is swiftly fading from evangelical pulpits, though the New Testament is filled with it…

Paul confronted the intellectuals of Mars Hill by preaching, “God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). This was no optional note on the apostolic trumpet. It was the melody, the theme of their instructions to sinners. Merely to talk about “accepting a personal Saviour” eliminates this crucial imperative. – Walter Chantry    View article →