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| Repentance saves; but how does it save, and saves from what? "...except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." If ye repent, ye shall not perish; ye shall be saved. But saved from what? |
"Repentance does save" and "Repentance does not save" are BOTH biblical statements when rightly divided; they are not contradictory. But both the Calvinists and their first cousins Arminians are equally confused.
There is a Facebook page by the name of 'Arthur Pink Quotes'. I saw the quote (the screenshot above) - post dated
When I saw the quote in my news feed, it was already shared 61 times, Liked and Loved and have Awed 98 others, but has zero comments.
So I left the first comment and a brother responded. Then I left another. I anticipated that the administrator wouldn't be happy with my comments, so I screenshot the quote and copied the few comments. They are found below.
Just now I discovered the comments have been deleted.
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Sing F Lau (first comment)
Some clarification will help.
Repentance DOES SAVE; it saves DIFFERENTLY from the way God saves us in Christ.
Christ saved us from the eternal consequences of our sins, He saved us from the lake of fire, that is eternal salvation.
Only those whom Christ has SAVED with eternal salvation is capable of repentance; the indwelling Holy Spirit works the graces of repentance and faith, thus enabling the saved ones to repent and believe.
Repentance does save; it saves a child of God (only a child of God is able to repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ) from lies and falsehood, brings him into the truth of God and his salvation by Jesus Christ. This is temporal salvation, dealing with our well-being on earth.
Stephen W
Sing F Lau, Yes very true, I've just recently learned the difference between eternal and temporal salvation. it's a wonderful doctrine that brings clarity to the scriptures and removes the otherwise seeming contradictions. Unfortunately, I think Mr Pink is referring to eternal salvation. aloha.
Sing F Lau (in response to Stephen)
Without a biblical distinction between:
a. the salvation that God had purposed, Christ had secured and the Holy Spirit has applied to each elect while dead in trespasses and sins - bringing him into the state of grace and salvation, and
b. the salvation that a SAVED man (by God's free and sovereign grace) must work out for himself with fear and trembling, through repentance, faith and works...
there will always be confusion and inconsistencies and contradictions, and sometimes outright lies and falsehoods.
Acts 2:40 KJV — And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
Stephen W
Right again and well said, brother. It sure is a difficult thing to help people see.
Sing F Lau
Interestingly, the passage referenced to the quote is Luke 13:5.
A Jason Sides quoted the same passage in a different place but with the same intent as Pink, and I left this comment for him
I love it when you appeal to Scriptures...That passage reads like this.
13:1 ¶ There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Did you note the word LIKEWISE... LIKEWISE... LIKEWISE. How did the Galileans perish? They perish by suffering a BLOODY and CRUEL death. That's the destruction spoken of. It has nothing about gaining eternal life or getting into heaven. And it is pretty plain that only that who are ALREADY BEEN GIVEN eternal life that is able to believe.
But almost everyone believes that this passage speaks about eternal salvation or eternal destruction! All blind leading the blind!
Luke 13:1-5 speaks of perishing in calamities, not about perishing eternally in the lake of fire. People perished in disasters. The Jews were warned that they would LIKEWISE perish if they repent not. Christ was warning them that they would LIKEWISE - LIKEWISE - LIKEWISE perish under the hands of the Romans in the coming destruction of Jerusalem. If they do believe, then they would take heed of Christ's warning about the impending destruction coming upon Jerusalem in 70AD, and save themselves.
Oh Jason, read and study the Scriptures, and learn to rightly divide the word of truth!
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