CadyandZoe
Well-Known Member
Well, if you think you have proven it, I'm unsure whether you know what proof is.Already have proven it by the Bible sufficiently for me to do it. Your choice is your own.
You claim that the Biblical meaning of "repent" involves action. According to the Lexicon, It involves a change of attitude. When I say "prove your answer" I am not asking you to do something that I am unwilling to do.
I give you Bible passages and explain them, quoting the actual text for you to examine. I told you about John the Baptist who spoke of "fruits" of repentance, which indicates actions to be done after one has changed his mind/attitude on a particular issue. We can review several instances of the term "repent" or "repentance" that couple a command to repent with an action to be taken after repentance.
For instance, John exhorted his people to "repent and be baptized" which involves a mental activity (repent) followed by an action (be baptized.) John also exhorted his kinsmen to "bear fruit in keeping with repentance." And the crowds asked him, "So what do we do?" They meant, "What do we do in light of the fact that we changed our minds?" In one instance, John spoke to tax collectors telling them not to collect more tax than was due. In another instance, he told soldiers "do not take any money by force."
The point is, we can demonstrate that repentance is a mental activity associated with a change of mind or a change of attitude. What follows is the process of "bearing fruit in keeping with repentance." This is not the same thing as saying "go and never sin again."
Okay, now you cite or quote scripture to support your point.The Bible doctrine of repentance is from all sinning at once.
Paul argues that we are saved by faith apart from works and in that context "works" are Jewish religious rituals. One does not need to perform Jewish religious rituals in order to attain justification from God. The Protestant phrase "faith alone" came out of the Reformation and in that context "works" were Catholic religious rituals. Same song different verse.It's faith alone without works having anything to do with being saved and justified with God.
You might find a sect of Christianity, claiming that we are justified by "mental ascent" alone, but I would not consider that doctrine to be Christian. As I pointed out earlier, Paul argues that repentance and fruits of repentance are included in the Christian Faith. (Romans 6) To be baptized "into Christ" is to become a disciple of Christ. And one of his fundamental teachings is that he died so that we might be free of sin. Paul rhetorically asks, "How shall we who died to sin, still live in it?"
If we continue to read, we will see that repentance and righteous living are included in our Faith.