The order of repentance and faith

The sequential order of faith and repentance evidently makes a fun and fine debating point. Some of the debate is substantial, and other of it is peripheral.

All Campbellites and some Baptists put faith before repentance, citing that knowledge must come first before one came repent. “It’s just common sense,” they say. I am satisfied to be a simpleton in this regard. I accept the order that repentance and faith are placed in the scriptures rather than submit it to human logic for what must be first. Our Lord’s own preaching (e.g. Mark 1:15-16) places repentance before faith. In Matthew 21:32 and 2 Timothy 2:25 repentance is in order to believing and acknowledging the truth. One must also be careful to distinguish the belief of accepting facts that are truth, and the belief of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Cf. James 2:19. Often those who put faith before repentance only mean believing facts when they speak of faith.

These scriptures put repentance before faith:

• Matthew 21:32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
• Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
• Acts 19:4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
• Acts 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
• 2 Timothy 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
• Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, “There must be faith in general before you can repent, because if you do not believe certain things about God, you do not act upon it, and there is no repentance. But I am referring to faith in the special sense of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In that case, repentance comes before faith and Paul puts them in that order: ‘Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.’”

“Why must repentance come first? Well, you will find that it always comes first in Scripture…Repentance is of necessity the first message, and it surely must be. It is Scriptural, yes, but Scripture also enables us to reason. Let me put it to you like this: Why should men and women believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? It is no use just asking them to believe in Christ. They are entitled to ask, ‘Why should I believe in Him?’ That is a perfectly fair question. And people do not see any need or necessity for believing in the Lord Jesus Christ if they do not know what repentance is. Of course, you may be inviting them to Christ as a helper, or as a friend, or as a healer of the body, but that is not Christian conversion. No, no, people must know why they must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Law is our schoolmaster (Gal 3:24) to bring us there, and the Law works repentance.”

Saving faith should not be reduced to a mere assent to correct facts. Beyond that, the repentance of faith and the faith of repentance are “inseparable graces” neither readily nor easily separated in a time sequence.