I don't necessarily reject a doctrine because there are negative connotations attached to it through a particular organization or person, but at the same time I don't really want to associate myself too much with one good apple out of a dozen bad ones, so to speak.
I did read all of the post, including the commentaries, where they said God doesn't repent for us. If faith is a gift then isn't repentance a gift too?
What do you make of this passage:
2 Timothy 2:25,26 NIV
25Opponents must be gently instructed,
in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,
26and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
How does God grant someone repentance?
In the shortest of answers... Yes He does grant repentance and without that, there is no repentance. How it is done, takes a lot more time to contemplate.
But before I go further, let's make sure both of us are on the same page with what repentance is. Repentance, Biblically speaking, means to "turn from something to something". Usually, to turn from what is right in our own eyes, to what pleases God. Therefore, it is more than just a change of mind, it is a change of nature. To show it is more than a change of mind - note what John the baptizer said:
Mat 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said unto them, Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Mat 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of repentance:
John was not commanding them, here, to repent - rather he was saying to them: Show me your fruit... show me something that proves you have genuine repentance. Bringing forth worthy fruit takes more than a simple change of mind.
In 2 Timothy 2:25 & 26 - we have the call, to help a brother who has strayed - come to his senses. This requires reasoning with him on our part and praying that God will grant him repentance. The idea in the Greek text is, this brother or sister, is in opposition with themselves or in other words, they are getting in their own way - on a principle, a proper understanding or the revealed truth of something and/or all of the above. However, for them to turn from it, God must grant repentance unto them.
While repentance is a command and is required for salvation, it is also something God gives. We see this in Acts 11:18 -
And when they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also hath God granted repentance unto life.
This represents an initial repentance but because of it, there will be many, many other things to repent of in a believer's life - as I am sure you know. I have strayed many times and thanks be to God for turning me back.
The best verses, on God granting repentance, is found in Jeremiah 31:18 & 19 -
Jer 31:18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a calf unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
Jer 31:19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. (Note, the word order here - first God turns - then the one turned, repents - then and only then, can that one be instructed.)
But how does God grant repentance? I think we must be careful here and not take to much liberty. The Scriptures do say that it has to do with the heart and the conscience. The heart - represents our very nature and the conscience - our mind.
Apart from God's work in Regeneration, the Scriptures say we have a heart "of stone" in our natural state.. A stony heart cannot be "pricked". It takes a heart of flesh - soft and pliable, just like a new born babe. So the first thing God has to do, is a heart transplant. Give us a new nature.
Eze 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Eze 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
While this is a prophetic passage, every single believer has had this done to them. From Adam to the present. Jew and Gentile. Jesus Christ called it the New Birth or being Born Again. The Holy Spirit comes and gives the appointed person, at the appointed time, a new heart/new nature, in the process called Regeneration by theologians. This change in ones nature and being made spiritually alive, gives that one a tender conscience versus an inoperable conscience or seared conscience.
1Ti 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
After Regeneration, the renewed conscience/mind, thirsts for answers as to what has happened to it. The answers are of course in the Bible.
This new nature, has the ability to perform the initial repentance, with the help of the Holy Spirit. But repent from what? Through the reading of God's Word and/or hearing God's Word preached and now possessing the ability to hear and understand what is heard, that soft heart is "pricked" and the conscience deeply moved by the power of the convicting Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
[On a side bar - if I can, I would like to make a comment about the two things highlighted in blue. 1.) The gift of the Holy Spirit. This is not the New Birth/Regeneration. The gift of the Holy Spirit refers to the gifts given to each believer. The type of gifts that this group had just been eye witness to and the same that Paul wrote about in his first epistle to the Corinthians. 2.) Note again God's Sovereignty in salvation. Who's hearts were pricked and believed and will believe? Answer: As many as the Lord our God shall call. But a better rendering of the Greek would be: "..even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto Himself." (Because the Greek word rendered: "shall call", is in the middle voice).]
Through the Gospel, we come to understand our own hand in putting the Lord Jesus Christ to death. Our sins killed the one who knew no sin. The Spirit uses this to convict us in our inner most being and under this knowledge, drops us to our knees in repentance. We are ashamed and beg God to forgive us. We will learn that we have been forgiven and that the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, working in concert, made it possible.
I don't know if this answers your question sufficiently but as I indicated earlier, I do not want to be guilty of of hemming God in or associating to God what does not belong. Please let me know if the answers need further examples or Scripture proof.