Why Salvation Requires Repentance

Today’s devotion offers additional insights and Bible study in the notes below. I encourage you to take some extra time to do this additional study because this subject is of vital importance and we need to accurately understand it.

Matthew 7:21-23 and 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 address two groups of people who think they are serving God. Both groups are self-deceived. Their works count for nothing.

But the people in 1 Corinthians go to heaven and those in Matthew go to hell.

Matthew 7:23 is key.

Jesus says He never knew the unfaithful in Matthew, even though they professed Him as their Lord. He calls them “evildoers.” They appear to think they are saved because they’ve done ministry in Christ’s name, but Jesus knows they’ve never genuinely repented of their sins. They may have spoken words of repentance, but biblical repentance is more than words. It’s a change of heart.(1) 

In contrast, the genuine believers in 1 Corinthians 3 have wasted their lives on useless pursuits; but they’ve obviously repented of their sins or they wouldn’t be saved.

Sin separates us from God. If a person genuinely follows Jesus, their sins will bother them. They won’t excuse them or ignore them. They will face them and repent. 

It’s the difference between those who “barely escape” the flames of God’s judgment and those who don’t escape at all.

(1) Metanoia is the Greek word most commonly translated repentance in the New Testament and it means “change of mind, change in the inner man.”

Additional Notes and Bible Study Suggestions

Important notes:    

➯ We don’t “lose our salvation” when we sin. All Christians sin. But genuine believers repent of their sins and refuse to live sinful lifestyles. 

➯ We can identify bad fruit in the church (Matthew 7:15-17), but we aren’t able to see people’s hearts and accurately identify all true and false converts. That’s not our job. 

➯ But we can and should examine our own hearts (2 Corinthians 13:5). Do you have doubts about your salvation? Do you have doubts about the “building materials” of your faith? Please pray about these things and seek godly counsel.

➯ Sometimes we equate a sinful lifestyle only with sexual immorality, but 2 Timothy 3:1-5 lists quite a few lifestyles that reflect people who “have a form of godliness but deny its power.” And Galatians 5:19-21 also lists lifestyles of unsaved people. In addition, Matthew 6:15 and Matthew 18:21-35 contain a strong warning in relation to genuine salvation.

Categories: Studiu biblic