just one thought here- repentence is not needed for salvation- in as much as we must ‘become clean enough that Christ wil laccept us” The bible simply says ‘believe on the; Lord Jesus Christ” Nothing aobut ‘cleansing ourselves first before we are acceptable”
The word ‘repentence’ does not mean ‘lordship salvation’ where oen must make a life commitment vow to eschew all sin from here on in’ The original word for ‘repent’ simply means ‘change of mind” IE we ‘change our mind about WHO is responsible for salvation” (We do not save ourselves, this is a hard pill for many to swallow because we ‘feel like’ WE have to do soemthign in order to be saved- ie: Work to achieve salvation- The bible is very clear- We need only ‘repent’ Have a change of mind about WHO Saves- Chrsit and Christ alone saves- when we come to that realization, and submit to that reality finally, we have come to a point of ‘repentence”
Roy B. Zuck writes:
Repentance is included in believing. Faith and repentance are like two sides of a coin. Genuine faith includes repentance, and genuine repentance includes faith. The Greek word for repentance (metanoia) means to change one’s mind. But to change one’s mind about what? About sin, about one’s adequacy to save himself, about Christ as the only way of salvation, the only One who can make a person righteous (“Kindred Spirit,” a quarterly publication of Dallas Seminary, Summer 1989, p. 5).
Some claim this is ‘easily salvation’ ‘cheap salvation (in that it cheapens the price Christ paid on the cross by not requiring us to make a vow to never sin again as in lordship salvation)’ etc- however, it’s clear in Gods’ word that the word repentence simply means to have a change of mind/heart about how we ‘get to heaven’ ie we don’t work our way there- and instead means we humbly accept Christ as our only means of salvation- We ‘bow the knee’ as it were- We admit finally to Christ that HE is Lord, and that We are NOT-
This one has me puzzled. So the Prodigal Son was wasting his time hauling his carcass home, accusing himself before his father (and the Father) of not being worthy to be called his son? The author of that Parable is Jesus Christ—but we're supposing that the Prodigal's repentance was a needless detail?
It seems to me that if that were the case, Jesus would have turned to His disciples at this point and said, "And you know, he didn't need to do all that. If he'd just acknowledged Me as his Lord and Savior, *poof!* everything would have been forgiven, no apology or change of heart necessary. Next stop, Heaven. . ."
Jesus wasn't known for shyness. I get the idea that if He had meant that, He would have said it. He didn't. If we're going to go by the words of the Bible, let's do it.
Other implications: St. Peter's tears were for nought. Ditto St. Paul's humbling blindness and helplessness. Ditto the King of Ninevah's sackcloth and ashes—even though that Scripture passage tells us the city's repentance is what saved it. I could go on, but won't.
Suffering has meaning, if it involves giving ourselves in imitation of Christ. It is indeed cleansing (ouch!), as the Bible shows us at every turn. I know you know this. "Faith without works is dead"—and you know what? I'll bet your own faith is not without works.