Refusing to obey the gospel is refusing to believe, refusing to repent, Lk 13:3,5, refusing to confess, Mt 10:32,33 and refusing to submit to baptism, Mk 16:16.
If you refuse to repent then you will not believe the gospel and become saved, which results in a lack of sincere confession from the heart and a lack of believer's baptism. Romans 1:16 - For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the
power of God to salvation for everyone who
believes.. According to you, those who believe the gospel are still lost until they repent, confess and get baptized "after" they believe the gospel, but not according to Paul. Again, Romans 10:16 - But they have not all
obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has
believed our report?" For those who don't truly believe the gospel, repentance would merely be self-reformation, confession would merely be lip service, and baptism would merely be a bath.
I agree that belief is more than just a mental assent of the mind. In Jn 6:27-19 Jesus calls belief a wrok that He gave His listeners to do.
Through believing in Him, we are trusting in His finished work of redemption as the all sufficient means of our salvation. If we are trusting in works which follow believing in Him to save us, then we don't truly believe in Him. The work accomplished through believing in Him is we have chosen to trust in His finished work of redemption to save us and not in our works. Saved through faith, not works, not according to our works, not by works of righteousness which we have done.
Jn 3:16---------------believe>>>>>>>>>>>not perish/saved
Lk 13:,3,5------------repent>>>>>>>>>>>not perish/saved
Rom 10:9,10--------confess>>>>>>>>>>>unto salvation
Acts 2:38------------baptized>>>>>>>>>>>remission of sins
Repent and believe the gospel. You reversed the order which turns believe into mere mental assent and repent into self-reformation. Believe unto righteousness, confess unto salvation. Not two separate steps to salvation but chronologically together. The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart "together" (that is, the word of faith which we preach). Repentance is connected to remission of sins. Baptism is parenthetical.
Since there is just one way to be saved, no alternatives. And the ible does not contradict itself then a saving belief includes repentance, confession and baptism.
Repentance is a change of mind which results in the new direction of believing in Christ for salvation. Repentance and believing are inseparable in salvation. Confession is from a believing heart (Romans 10:9,10) and is by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). Belief and confession are not two separate steps to salvation but chronologically together. Salvation is signified, yet not procured by water baptism. Your 4 step formula for salvation is a mixed up patched together different gospel.
You post ", repentance actually precedes saving faith in Christ and is not a totally separate act from faith"
I agree. Again:
If you agree, then why do you place repentance "after" believe? Is it repent and believe the gospel like the Bible says or believe the gospel then afterwards repent? You have it out of order in your 4 step program for salvation.
Jn 3:16--------------believeth>>>>>>>>>>>not perish/saved
Lk 13:3,5------------repent>>>>>>>>>>>>not perish/saved
Can a person truly believe without first repenting? The answer is no.
Since there is just one way to be saved then belief MUST include the work of repenting. THis means all the "belief only" in the world can never save an impenitent person, Rom 2:4,5.
Believing without repentance is not saving belief. You can have mental assent belief in the existence and historical facts about Christ (which falls short of saving belief) apart from repentance, but until you change your mind about your sinful position and need for Christ to save you and choose to trust in Christ's finished work of redemption as the all sufficient means of your salvation, you have not chosen to repent and believe the gospel and are not saved. Mere mental assent belief followed by self-reformation misses the mark.
You post "You place repentance after faith" Why would an unbeliever repent?
An unbeliever is not only an atheist. Anyone who has not yet placed their faith in Christ as the all sufficient means of their salvation is still an unbeliever.
An unbeliever does not believe in Christ, in heaven or hell or even thinks anything about sin.
I was an unbeliever when I chose to repent and believe the gospel. I believed in the existence of Christ and in heaven and hell and also believed that I was a sinner prior to changing my mind and choosing to believe the gospel. Luke 13:3, Jesus calls all to repent or perish. For some people though, prior to coming to the end result of repentance in receiving salvation (faith in Christ for salvation), they must change their minds about other specific things in order to get there. Repentance, metanoia, focuses on changing one's mind about his previous concept of God (as in Acts 17:30) and disbelief in God or false beliefs (polytheism and idolatry) about God (see 1 Thessalonians 1:9). On the other hand, believing in Christ for salvation, focuses on the new direction that change of mind must ultimately take, namely, trusting in Jesus Christ as the all sufficient means of our salvation.
Sins would mean nothing to an unbeliever? Heb 11:6 repentance is not possible nor pleasing to God without faith.
Sins mean something to an unbeliever who has come to understand and find conviction in the fact that they are a sinner in need of a Savior (Romans 3:23; 6:23). For those who love their sin and couldn't care less about needing a Savior, sin means nothing. Without repentance it's impossible to come to faith in Christ. Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. How do you define repentance? Become sinless after faith?
In Rom 10:9,10 Paul first puts confession before belief but then puts belief before confession. Why/how can someone confess a thing they do not believe in their heart?
I'm glad you pointed this out. Confessing with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in our heart that God raised Him from the dead are not as two separate steps to salvation but chronologically together. Romans 10:8 - But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU,
in your mouth and in your heart" (together) that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, (notice the reverse order from verse 9 to verse 10) - that if you
confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and
believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 For with the heart one
believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. Confess/believe; believe/confess. In 1 Corinthians 12:3, notice - ..no one can say that Jesus is Lord except BY the Holy Spirit. There is divine influence or direct operation of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a person when confessing Jesus as Lord. This confession is not just a simple acknowledgment that Jesus is the Lord (even the demons believe that), but is a deep personal conviction, without reservation, that Jesus is that person's Lord and Savior. So simply believing in our head (and not in our heart) that God raised Him from the dead does not result in righteousness and simply reciting the words "Jesus is Lord" not by the Holy Spirit from a check list of steps as if they are simply magic words that automatically get us an entry pass through the door of eternal life is not unto salvation.
In Mat 21:32 Mk 1:15 Jesus was speaking to Jews who were already believers in God, not atheists. They had the OT law given to them but were not believing and obeying it. If they had been believing the OT law they would have known that Jesus was the Messiah the OT prophets spoke about. So they needed to repent and believe God's law. The Jews needed to repent of their hard heart they had toward Christ then they could come to believe in Christ and realize they were lost in their sins and needed to repent of those sins.
They needed to repent and believe the gospel. For John came to them in the way of righteousness, and
they did not believe him; but
tax collectors and harlots believed him. Who was saved? Those who refused to repent and believe or those who chose to repent and believe?
In Acts 20:21 Paul was "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks"..."repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Paul was summarizing His preaching he had done in Ephesus: to the Jews He preached repentance toward God to the Gentiles he preached faith in Christ. One cannot force order of events into ths summary Paul was making.
Why does that same order come up three different times (Matthew 21:32; Mark 1:15; Acts 20:21) if the order is believe the gospel then repent "afterwards" in order to become saved? Can someone truly believe the gospel without first repenting "changing their mind" in the process?
Rom 10 "And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard" If one cannot believe what they have not heard, how can one repent when he has not heard or believed Christ?
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Once they have heard of Christ and have become convicted of their sinful position and need for a Savior, then they can repent and believe the gospel. Of course we come to believe in the existence and historical facts about Christ before we choose to trust in Him as the all sufficient means of our salvation. If our belief falls short of trusting exclusively in Christ for salvation (and we are trusting in works for salvation) then we don't have saving belief.
One cannot be saved unless they FIRST confess Christ. One is a denier of Christ and remains in that sate until they do confess Christ.
Belief in the heart and confession in the mouth are together when receiving salvation. It's not believe today and finally confess next week. Romans 10:8 - But what does it say? "The word is near you,
in your mouth AND in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach):
In Rom 10:10 Paul said confession is UNTO salvation. Paul did not say confession is BECAUSE one is already saved.
Read it all. Paul said with the heart, one
believes unto righteousness and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation TOGETHER. The word is near you
in your mouth AND in your heart.
Jn 12:42 "Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:"
They obviously failed to publicly confess Christ in this situation in front of the Pharisess, but does that mean they never confessed Christ? The Apostle Peter at one point failed to confess Jesus before men and denied Him three times (John 18:17,25-27), but after the Holy Spirit was given, he was a different man who boldly confessed Him (Acts 4:8-13). We know that Peter was saved even though he had a weak moment and the same may be true for these Jewish rulers as well.
Belief alone, that is, belief void of confession cannot save.
Belief that is void of confession (all together) is not saving belief from the heart. One snap shot in someone's life failing to publicly confess Christ does not mean that they never confessed Him at all. Peter had a weak moment and failed to publicly confess Christ, even denying Him three times in one snapshot of his life but does that mean his belief was void of confession and cannot save him? You have turned salvation into a works based performance rather than salvation through faith in Christ.