20 I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, 21 solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 20:20–21
Why would anyone seek earnestly to be saved if there wasn’t something to be saved from? There needs to be something so daunting and dangerous besetting us to drive us to fear grave consequences. At that point, we cry out to someone to extend a strong rescuing hand. In the case of the fiery eternal destination we all face, the proverbial cliff, who is capable of reversing our course, who possesses the power to reach out and save us (just as Jesus did for the fast sinking Peter, Matthew 14:28-31) other than someone who has conquered sin and death himself?
Our salvation requires a permanent change of mind toward God (in the Greek metanoeo), then a reaching out in faith to Christ to save us. Whether it is our realization of the doom that awaits us, or an understanding of who the God of the Bible is, or the guiding hand of a sovereign God, or in truth, all of the above, there has to be repentance as defined, then salvation is only available through our faith in Christ. It is a mysterious transaction, but these elements must be present.
Down through time, man has created theologies by which to explain the new birth. All lead to endless debate because they fail to codify the mystery of salvation, that it involves, as Paul solemnly testified to the Ephesians, both repentance and faith. Let the example of the obedient blind man be our peace of mind and settled view, that “one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” (John 9:25)
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