Chambers’ Big Mistake: Only the Repentant can Come to God

Alan Manning Chambers, President of the now defunct Exodus International, made a much-publicized apology to the gay community. Some of his apology was well-directed. He apologized for his vulgar language and deception. He had denied the fact that he continued to struggle against same-sex attraction.

However, some aspects of his apology were troubling and scripturally off-center. Citing Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son, Chambers insinuated that the church is supposed to receive everyone into fellowship, even the unrepentant. Chambers calls this “love unhindered” by any judgment or consideration:

• “From a Judeo-Christian perspective, gay, straight or otherwise, we’re all prodigal sons and daughters. Exodus International is the prodigal’s older brother, trying to impose its will on God’s promises, and make judgments on who’s worthy of His Kingdom. God is calling us to be the Father – to welcome everyone, to love unhindered.”  

In this parable, the prodigal son had proved himself entirely unworthy of his father. He demanded his inheritance from his father, went away, and spent his entire inheritance on all the wrong things. Subsequently, he suffered greatly, was humbled by his foolishness, and returned repentantly to his father:

• "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.'” (Luke 15:17-19) 

Clearly, the prodigal son was repentant. His father was so overjoyed that he decided to throw him a lavish party. However, his older brother was enraged by the father’s mercy. He thought the prodigal entirely unworthy of all that his father was lavishing upon him.

While, it is true that the prodigal was unworthy, he had returned repentantly to the father – the very thing that Israel’s Prophets demanded of Israel. However, the older brother understood nothing of mercy, convinced that he never needed an ounce of it:

• He answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. (Luke 15:29) 

We all sin and have fallen short of God’s standards (Rom. 3:23). However, self-righteousness often blinds us to our sins. If we are self-righteous, like the older son, it is inevitable that we will judge and disdain others, thinking ourselves better and more deserving than they.

Chambers is correct that we are “all the prodigal sons.” He also claims that Exodus International had played the older brother, making “judgments on who’s worthy of His Kingdom,” as if some of us are worthy.

Chambers knows Exodus better than I, and so I will not contest his evaluation of his organization. However, he also insinuates that the church, in requiring gays to come repentantly to Christ, is also the older brother.

However, it seems that Jesus Himself requires repentance of any who come to Him. Let’s look at this parable. It is already clear that the prodigal had returned repentantly. This is what it means to return to God. Returning is always a matter of repenting, as the Prophet Samuel required of Israel:

• And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, "If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." (1 Samuel 7:3)

Returning to God without a repentant heart is scripturally unthinkable. It was also unthinkable for Jesus. In this context, Jesus was criticized by the religious leadership for receiving sinners. He responded with three parables, the last of which was the parable of the Prodigal Son. The first also involved something lost:

• "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:4-7)

The “rejoicing” requires “one sinner who repents!” There is absolutely no indication of any rejoicing over a sinner who doesn’t repent. Jesus is responding to the religious leadership to justify the fact that He is associating with sinners who are repentant – something they should all endorse according to Scripture. Had they not been repentant, the leadership could have easily appealed to Psalm 1:

• Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. (Psalm 1:1)

However, since these sinners were repentant, they dared not raise an objection. The next parable relies on a lost coin:

• "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." (Luke 15:8-10) 

Once again, the angelic rejoicing depends upon “one sinner who repents.” Consequently, we can’t celebrate when a gay person enters the church professing a faith but refusing to repent. Instead, the church has every reason to call the sinner to repentance before baptism or fellowship can be offered. To do otherwise is absurd. It would mean receiving the unrepentant as a brother but then bringing church disciplinary charges against him.

The final parable Jesus uses to justify his association with repentant sinners is the parable of the Prodigal Son. Instead of using the analogy of a lost sheep or a lost coin, Jesus brings His argumentation closer to home with a lost son. Instead of rejoicing with the father over the repentant son who has returned home, the leadership are scoffing along with the older brother.

We fail to love the gay person as we ought, if we receive them into fellowship, through baptism, without requiring repentance – the willingness and determination to turn from sin. Instead, we are giving them a false hope. We are enabling them to live the life of destruction. We are telling them the very thing that the false prophets had told Israel, the very thing that destroyed them.

The Prophet Jeremiah proclaimed that the true prophet exposed sin and its dangers in hope of healing:

• The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity. The oracles they gave you were false and misleading. (Lament. 2:14)

Instead, the false prophets proclaimed, “Peace, peace!” We cannot remain indulgent about sin. If we fail to expose it, we bear part of the guilt. God had warned His prophet about this:

• "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. (Ezekiel 33:7-8)

We are all “watchmen.” We are all our brothers’ keepers, and we all have His Word. Therefore, we are all accountable.

Contrary to Chambers’ claim of “unhindered love,” sin and rebellion does hinder God’s love and those we love need to be aware of this.

Repentance Revisited: Is it Necessary for Salvation?

Is repentance necessary for salvation? Just recently, Alan Chambers, president of Exodus International, a ministry to help gays leave the gay lifestyle, inadvertently raised this issue. He claimed that unrepentant gays are fellow brothers in Christ and will therefore go to heaven:

·        Is there condemnation for those who are in Christ? There is not! There are people out there living a gay Christian life, an active Christian life. God is the one who called them and has their heart and they are in relationship with Him. And do I believe they will be in heaven with me? I do!

This statement affirms that forgiveness and salvation – and they are inseparable – do not require repentance, but simply a profession of faith. However, this raises an important question: “Is a faith that lacks a willingness to repent truly a saving faith?”

According to the traditional Dispensational theologian, Lewis Sperry Chafer, it is:

• Scripture is violated and the whole doctrine of grace confused when salvation is made to depend on anything other than believing. The divine message is not “believe and pray”…”believe and repent”…If they were as essential to salvation as believing they would never be omitted from any passage wherein the way to be saved is stated. (Major Bible Themes, 187).

In order to protect the teaching that salvation is purely a free gift of Grace, Chafer claimed that saving faith is only a matter of mental assent or agreement to certain truths without any need for commitment or repentance. Although I respect his concern, I think that this strategy is a big mistake. I will try to demonstrate how mental assent alone fails to measure up to the standard of Biblical faith.

The demons can also assent to the truths of the Gospel, but this doesn’t save them. James claims that demons believe in “one God” but yet they remain unsaved:

• But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. (James 2:18-19)

Their problem isn’t that they fail to give mental assent to certain truths. Their problem is that their faith isn’t a Biblical faith. It doesn’t contain any commitment or repentance. In fact, the demons probably know the Gospel better than most of us and could quickly acknowledge its tenants.

However, in opposition to this, Dispensational theologian J.B. Hixson claims that the demons’ problem is not that they lack commitment or repentance but that they lack enough Gospel knowledge:

• The object of their [the demons’] faith – the proposition they believe - is the unity of God. No one, demons or otherwise, receives eternal salvation by believing in the unity of God. (162)

However, to suppose that demons only understand that God is One is not Scriptural. Clearly, they understand far more. They show evidence that they believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He will judge them:

• When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. "What do you want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?" (Matthew 8:28-29; also Mark 1:23-24; 3:11; 5:6-7; Luke 4:33-34, 41: 8:28)

Nor should we suppose that this is not all that they understand. They even know something about the way of salvation through the Son:

• Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." (Acts 16:16-17)

Demons clearly have a lot of knowledge. They know Scripture (Mat. 4:6) and have the ability to deceive us (2 Cor. 11:14-15; 4:4; 1 Tim. 4:1) However, we are not saved purely by our knowledge. The Biblical concept of faith must include more than mere knowledge. And it does.

Jesus told a parable about two people – a Pharisee and a tax-collector – who went into the Temple to pray. Only the despised tax collector left “justified” – saved (Luke 18:9-14). Doubtlessly, the Pharisee could give assent to far more doctrine than could the sinner, but evidently, he lacked saving faith – one that includes repentance. Clearly, we are not saved by our knowledge of the Gospel alone. While the Pharisee was in denial about his own sin and was consequently unwilling to confess and repent, the tax collector was clearly repentant. Jesus explained that the Pharisee’s problem was not that he lacked the proper doctrine but that he had refused to humble himself to acknowledge his sin, and that made all the difference.

REPENTANCE IS NOT A WORK; NOR IS IT MERITORIOUS; NOR DOES THE REQUIREMENT OF REPENTANCE CONTRADICT THE BIBLICAL ASSERTION THAT SALVATION IS BY FAITH ALONE.

Repentance is not a meritorious work. John the Baptist contrasts repentance with the good deeds that will be brought forth by a repentant heart:

• But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. (Matthew 3:7-8; Luke 3:8)

It is easy to say, “I repent of my sins.” It is entirely another thing to “produce fruit” that reflect a repentant heart. Although a change of heart regarding our sins (repentance) is key, the Pharisees were often in denial (Matthew 23; Luke 16:15; 18:9). Consequently, God gave the law to give us an objective measure in regards to our spiritual and moral standing. Bringing forth the fruit (good works) required by the law would reveal whether someone was truly repentant and regretted their sins (Rom.3:19-20).

Obedience isn’t repentance. Instead, obedience is the fruit of repentance. If we truly regret our sins, we will turn from them. At least, we will try. A good tree bears good fruit.

Paul makes the same distinction between repentance and its fruit. In his defense before King Agrippa, Paul distinguishes repentance from the “deeds” of repentance:

• “First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.” (Acts 26:20) 

Clearly, Paul did not regard repentance as a meritorious act or “deed.” Instead, true repentance brings forth deeds as does faith.

The ISBE defines “repentance” (Greek, “metanoeñoô”) as:

• Spiritual change implied in a sinner's return to God. The term signifies "to have another mind," to change the opinion or purpose with regard to sin. 

In some instances, the ISBE defines it as a feeling but never as a work or as obedience. As a change of heart and mind, repentance seems to be almost synonymous with faith.

1. Faith is a turning to God; repentance is a turning away from sin.
2. Faith is a trust in God; repentance rejects trust in self.
3. If faith is the determination to live for Christ, then repentance is the determination to turn from sin.

Seen in this way, faith-repentance represents a single turn away from sin and to God. They are opposite sides of the same coin, not two separate activities. When I turned to Christ, I simultaneously decided that I no longer wanted my old life.

There are many evidences that a real Biblical faith and repentance are synonymous and therefore inseparable. They both come as gifts from God:

• For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephes. 2:8-9; also Rom. 12:3; Phil. 1:29; Acts 18:27; 16:14; 13:48; 3:16)

The same principle also applies to repentance. It is granted by God:

• When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life." (Acts 11:18; 3:36; 5:31; 2 Tim. 2:24-25).

Repentance leads to salvation as does faith. There are many other verses that list repentance as the requirement for salvation without any mention of faith:

• He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46-47)

• Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. (2 Cor. 7:10)

• Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, (Acts 3:19; also Acts 2:38; 8:22; 17:30; 20:21)

These verses are clearly referring to salvation – forgiveness of sin and reconciliation with God. Why is there no mention of faith here? Are these verses suggesting that faith is unnecessary for salvation? Of course not! However, if repentance is inseparable from the concept of faith – both being opposite sides of the same coin - then it would be redundant to say “repent and believe.”

Consequently, when John the Baptist and Jesus preached “repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand,” it was understood that this command also entailed a trust in God. Repenting from sin, while totally neglecting God, is a ludicrous idea. Likewise, trusting in God, while continuing to trust in our own sinful devices, is equally ludicrous.

The Hebrew Scriptures often mention “repentance” or “turn back” in the place of faith. In consecrating the Jerusalem Temple, King Solomon specified repentance as a condition for forgiveness and restoration:

• "When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and confess your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their fathers.” (1 Kings 8:33-34; also see Jer. 24:7; Ezek. 18:30-32; Mal 3:7; Isaiah 1:27; 59:20)

A refusal to repent is a refusal to trust in God. Just imagine one of your congregants requesting that you baptize them, saying:

• Pastor, I fully trust in Jesus and believe whatever He teaches. However, I must be totally honest with you. I simply refuse to stop molesting little boys. It’s just too important to me. However, I understand that faith is simply mental assent to the truths of Scripture. Therefore, I agree that pedophilia is wrong, but I’m not going to give it up.  

This, of course, is ludicrous. If someone trusts in Jesus, he will do what Jesus tells him to do! When someone refuses to do this, it means that he doesn’t trust in Him. Instead, he believes that he knows better about what is good for him than does Jesus. This is not faith but self-deception.

If you were to baptize him and extend him the right-hand-of-fellowship, you would then have to quickly retract it and bring church disciplinary charges against him. How ludicrous!

However, it would have been very different if the pedophile had said instead:

• Pastor, I don’t have the strength to quit molesting, but I want to trust that Jesus will help me.

In contrast, this is a cry of repentance and a willingness to follow Jesus! This is also a demonstration of faith.

Faith entails repentance and therefore, repentance is not an extra condition for salvation. Dispensational theologian Charles C. Bing defines saving faith (“pisteuo”) as merely “to be convinced of something” (101). However, this falls far short of the robust portrait of faith that we receive from Scripture. In Scripture we find that faith is not simply a decision to acknowledge certain precepts. Because the natural man is opposed to the light (John 3:19-20), regards the things of God as “foolishness” (1 Cor. 2:14), and, consequently, does not seek God (Rom. 3:10-12), a change of heart is required.

Moses confessed to Israel that “to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know” or believe (Deut. 29:4; NASB). However, Moses promised that God would “circumcise your hearts…so that you may love him” (Deut. 30:6). As Ezekiel revealed, faith is predicated upon a new heart and Spirit:

• I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

This new heart (along with the Holy Spirit) – the pre-condition for faith – would not only produce assent to His truths, but also a love for God and a readiness “to follow my decrees.” It will also produce a willingness to turn from the old life (repentance):

• Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. (Ezekiel 36:31)

In contrast, the “gay Christians” do not loathe their sins. Faith and repentance are a package deal. They are inseparable. They come from the same gift of a new heart. The reality of the New Covenant will not allow us to affirm a faith that lacks commitment and repentance. In the end, when God pours out His Holy Spirit upon Israel, they will not simply acknowledge a certain set of truths, but they will also repent of their sins and seek Him (Zech. 12:10 -13:1).  Jeremiah described this New Covenant reality: God would "put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). As a result:

• They will always fear me [faith]…so that they will never turn away from me [repentance]. (Jeremiah 32:39-40)

Being born again – receiving and new heart and the Spirit – means that we will receive those truths that we had once hated and rejected. It also necessarily means that we will repent of our former ways, including our hatred of the light! It is impossible to believe if we still retain our former hatred of truth and refuse to repent of it. Faith and repentance are as inseparable as the heads and tails of the same coin.

In the Book of Revelation, Jesus informs five churches that that they must repent if they are to be saved. For instance, He promises the church at Laodicea:

• Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (Rev. 3:19-20; also see Rev. 2:5; 16; 22; 3:3)

They were naked and Jesus told them how they could obtain “white garments” of salvation by means of repentance. Salvation was the issue. There can be little doubt of this. The church at Sardis had been encouraged that if they did repent, “I will never blot out his name from the book of life” (Rev. 3:5).

Telling people that they need not repent in order to be saved might be comforting, but it is a false and temporary comfort. Jesus warns the church at Ephesus that if they didn’t repent, He would remove their lamp-stand. However, if they did repent, they would “eat at the tree of life” (Rev. 2:7).

This is the very type of message we need to be telling the “gay Christians!” However, we shouldn’t underestimate the force of the temptation that Alan Chambers experienced. It is just too easy to overlook the need to repent when others insist that you regard them as brethren in Christ, and then treat you like a hero after you compromise.

“Gay Unrepentant Christians”: An Oxymoron?

Can we say that “Gay Christians” are truly Christian at all? Randy Thomas of Exodus International – a Christian ministry that helps gays to leave the gay life – claims that we can’t say this:

• I have been involved in and among the so-called “ex-gay” movement for almost 21 years. While rare, there is an argument I have encountered saying that a person’s response to homosexuality is the litmus test of whether someone is truly applying The Gospel or not. Every time I hear this it gives me chills. The truth is that if there actually is a litmus test, that test is Jesus Himself. To put anything else in place of Him as being the singular evidence of salvation, The Good News (Gospel), is simply idolatry by a different route.

According to Thomas, trusting in Jesus alone is enough to guarantee salvation. Although this is true, it raises the question, “What does trusting in Jesus mean?” Does it mean that we can continue to live the old life or does turning to Jesus also mean turning away from the old life? Can you follow Jesus and still follow the old life, a life that requires church discipline proceedings?

In other words, does trusting also entail repenting or can we trust Jesus while refusing to repent of our sins, claiming that we need not repent, since repentance is not necessary for salvation?

Faith and repentance are used interchangeably in the Bible. This suggests that they are opposite sides of the same coin and that you can’t have one without the other. Furthermore, they both represent a change of mind and heart, and not a meritorious work. Therefore, by insisting on the necessity of repentance, no extra requirement is added to Salvation. It remains a free gift along with faith and repentance (2 Tim. 2:24-25; Acts 5:31; 11:18).

Here are some verses that indicate that repentance is necessary for salvation:

• But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. (Matthew 3:7-8; Luke 3:8)

• “First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.” (Acts 26:20)

• When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life." (Acts 11:18)

• He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46-47)

• Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. (2 Cor. 7:10)

• Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, (Acts 3:19; also Acts 2:38; 8:22; 17:30; 20:21) 

• "When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and confess your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their fathers.” (1 Kings 8:33-34; also see Jer. 24:7; Ezek. 18:30-32; Mal 3:7; Isaiah 1:27; 59:20) 

In light of these and many other verses, it is ill-advised and dangerous to tell people who refuse to repent that they will be saved if they trust in Jesus without repentance. Instead, a real trust in Jesus is a willingness to do what He says. If we refuse to do this, then we don’t trust in Him. It’s like claiming to trust in your doctor, while you refuse to do what he tells you to do. This isn’t trust!

Jesus requires repentance:

• “But unless you repent, you too will all perish…But unless you repent, you too will all perish." (Luke 13:3-5)

Jesus also says this in so many other ways:

• “You are my friends if you do what I command.” (John 15:14)

• “If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” (John 15:6)

Although such works do not save, they reflect whether or not we trust Jesus or not. A good saved tree produces good fruit!

Thomas probably means well. He tries to justify his stance in terms of building bridges with the “Gay Christians”:

• Do I think they are going to hell? Not if they truly believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. If they do claim Him as such, then we are probably going to have a healthy discussion on various topics concerning sexuality, relationships, and identity.

Although this is a noble ideal, we are first called to faithfulness to God and His Word before any consideration of what might produce desirable results. However, if it’s not according to Scripture, in the long run, it will not produce desirable results.

Faith, Repentance, Salvation and Obedience: Do they all Go Together?

What is the relationship between faith (repentance), salvation and obedience? This question has always been foremost in understanding our faith and often misunderstood. The president of Exodus International, Alan Chambers, recently claimed that unrepentant gays are fellow brothers in Christ and will therefore go to heaven:

• Is there condemnation for those who are in Christ? There is not! There are people out there living a gay Christian life, an active Christian life. God is the one who called them and has their heart and they are in relationship with Him. And do I believe they will be in heaven with me? I do! 

Chambers, who heads an organization which helps gays exodus the gay life, evidently separates repentance from salvation. Although he seems to believe that this lifestyle is sinful, he doesn’t believe that repenting of this behavior is necessary for salvation. He claims that unrepentant gays will go to heaven regardless of their lifestyle commitment.

Sadly, for many Christians, Chambers’ stance makes a lot of sense. If we are saved by grace through faith, apart from any good deeds or works of the law (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 3:27), then it would seem that their refusal to repent shouldn’t disqualify them.

We also recognize that we sin daily, even though we are called to be perfect as He is perfect (1 Peter 1:15-16), and yet we are still forgiven and assured of salvation. How then can we point the finger at the unrepentant gays? And isn’t it hypocritical to do so!

No! Faith contains repentance – a willingness to turn from the old life and follow Jesus everywhere. It is impossible to turn to Jesus (faith) if we don’t turn from something (repentance) - our old ways. The two go together as the opposite sides of the same coin go together. You can’t have the one side of the coin without the other. If we are not willing to repent, we are also not willing to trust in Jesus, and this represents a lack of saving faith. Consequently, we find that many verses associate repentance with salvation and a lack of repentance with an absense of salvation:

• You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. (Rev. 2:4-5)

• Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Rev. 2:16

• I have given her [Jezebel] time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. (Rev. 2:21-22)

• Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. [20] Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (Rev. 3:19-20)

In each of these verses, salvation depends on repentance (as it also does on faith). After we realize that we are in sin – and homosexuality is clearly delineated as a sin – we must repent. Jesus also required repentance:

• “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." (Luke 13:3-5)

Repentance and faith are so inseparable that the Bible uses these terms interchangeably. Clearly, Chambers wants to show Christian love to the unrepentant gay community, but love requires warning:

• If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. (Hebrews 10:26-27) 

Repentance and faith are inseparable. The homosexual therefore cannot say, “I have faith even if I don’t repent of my gay lifestyle.”

While obedience isn’t the same thing as faith, it too will accompany a true faith. While the Reformers declared that we are saved by faith alone, it is a faith which is not alone. Faith and a changed life should go together, at least eventually. Consequently, if faith doesn’t produce any changes, it isn’t really faith. If I have faith in my doctor, I’ll do what he tells me to do. Likewise, if I have faith in my Savior, how much more will I do what He tells me to do!

Obedience is closely associated with faith. This is why James claimed that he could show off his faith by his works:

• What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. (James 2:14-19)

According to James, a saving faith is a living faith – one that, along with the Spirit, produces deeds. A living seed will germinate. So too a living faith! While obedience isn’t the cause of salvation, it should be the fruit of salvation. According to Jesus, a good tree will produce good fruit (Matthew 7:17). While the fruit doesn’t make the tree, it indicates what kind of tree it is. It also exposes false teachers for who they are.

As James indicates, there are numerous kinds of belief. The devil believes but evidently lacks a saving faith. Instead, a saving faith will produce fruit. Therefore James can boast that he demonstrates his “faith by what I do.” They are that closely associated.

Obedience should follow faith. If we truly believe, we will keep His Word:

• Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him…If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. (John 14:21-24)

If we do not abide in His Word, He will not “make [His] home” with us, and we will not abide in His saving love:

• If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. (John 15:10)

At this point, many will balk, “Well, this sounds like salvation by works or obedience –that we have to obey up to a certain level of perfection in order to remain saved.”

It might sound that way, but if we have saving faith, we will be obedient and remain. If I believe that someone is waiting outside to shoot me, I will be obedient to this belief and call the police. At least, when we fail to be obedient – and we will – we can confess and repent and find restoration and forgiveness (1 John 1:9).

This is because our Savior has promised to keep us (Romans 8:38-39). John claims that because we have His seed within us, we can’t continue sinning as we had (1 John 3:9; 5:18). Consequently, we don’t earn our salvation. Instead, He earned it for us and will keep us.

He also promises that He will work all things together for our good (Rom. 8:28). This means that nothing will be able to deprive us of our salvation (Phil 1:6).

Besides, there are great blessings in obedience that the faithful would not want to forsake. There is great “delight” in doing the will of God (Isaiah 11:3). There is also great confidence and assurance in obedience.

John promises that as we walk in love and obedience, fear of judgment dissolves, because we see we walk in the footsteps of Jesus (1 John 4:16-18). The unrepentant gay cannot have this.

   

Chambers is extending a false hope and a false love to the unrepentant gays. A true love will confront the willfully unrepentant in hope that they will repent. A false love will indulge, perhaps complimenting themselves that they are “good people” for doing so. We must pray against the apostasy that now racks the beloved church of our Lord.

Who is Saved: The Unrepentant?

 

There has been a lot of flap over reparative therapy (RP). Can it take away same-sex attraction (SSA)? Recently, the president of Exodus International, a ministry that helps Christians leave the gay lifestyle, has expressed his doubts about the effectiveness of RP in removing SSA. Alan Chambers instead prefers Christian discipleship programs focused on helping Christians resist various temptations.

No problem there. I too have my doubts about RP’s effectiveness in eliminating SSA. Although our Lord can easily remove our various temptations and weaknesses, He often leaves them for us to struggle through them (2 Cor. 12:9-10). However, this is no reason to dismiss Christian counseling. It might be helpful to understand the connection between their SSA and their early childhood influences.

However, knowledge doesn’t equate with cure. Through therapy, a female friend saw the connection between being repeatedly sexually abused by her father and her SSA. This understanding made her hesitate before plunging into the homosexual lifestyle. However, she still had the SSA and plunge she did. Consequently, she cut me off. (Despite all of the propaganda about Christian families cutting their children off as they take this plunge, I have no knowledge of such a family. Those Christian parents that I know have tried desperately to maintain a loving relationship with their wayward children. Instead, in every case of which I am aware, it is the children who reject their parents.)

However, Chambers, speaking at the Gay Christian Network, a group that supports this lifestyle, stated “we’re Christians, all of us,” and “we all love Jesus,” despite the fact that he continues to maintain that homosexuality is a sin. (World, August 11, 2012, 13)

This is truly problematic. While we all sin, repentance (along with faith) and confession are central to forgiveness and a relationship with Christ. According to Him, without repentance, we can only expect judgment:

• Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. (Rev. 2:5, 16)

• Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. (Rev. 3:3)

Jesus explained that without repentance, there could be no basis for eternal confidence. His disciples asked why tragedy had befallen a certain group of Galileans. Jesus answered:

• "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. (Luke 13:2-3)

Consequently, we have no Scriptural authorization to assure the unrepentant kidnapper or pedophile that they are Christians or that they are going to heaven as long as they merely profess a faith in Jesus. This isn’t a saving faith. It’s delusion. A faith that saves is a faith that repents. I cannot claim that I am trusting in Jesus if I refuse to do the things He tells me to do. This isn’t trust. If I trust in my doctor, I will do what he tells me to do. If I don’t do them, I really don’t trust him.

Although Chambers’ assurance to the Network was inclusive, it left God and His Word out of the picture. Sometimes love requires a warning and not a false but soothing word.

Chambers made a serious but common mistake. I pray that he will see that the approval of God is more important than the approval of men and that he will confess his mistake.