As faith works by love (Gal 5:6) and Jesus said that it is only the repentant person, who obeys Him, who loves Him (John 14:21) therefore, TRUE faith and repentance and love are really all the same thing – different aspects of the same thing. They cannot be separated. The unrepentant “christian” has no faith, they have cast it away, or they never had faith to begin with.
True repentance is not “works”, or “law” or “earning salvation”, it is faith.
Otherwise, the backslidden Christian, when rebuked by Jesus to repent, would think that he maintains his salvation by the “works” of repentance – that each time he repents he has “earned” salvation.
That’s wrong thinking. It’s the wrong perspective.
Jesus doesn’t see it that way.
He sees rebellion against Him as unbelief and a rejection of Him.
He doesn’t see repentance as the situation of a person doing something to maintain their salvation, per se, bcos the real issue with Jesus is whether that person truly wants Him or rejects Him. To continue in sin is to reject the Person of Jesus Christ. That’s the way He takes it, that you don’t want Him. It’s not a matter of “keeping score”, it is a personal matter, a question of love.
Therefore, to truly repent is not a “work” or “works”, rather, it is to decide not to reject Jesus Christ, but to desire Him and worship Him, and esteem Him as worthy, an expression of love and faith.
To simply give up the rebellion and yield to Him by faith is not “works for salvation”, it is faith. It is the ONLY Biblical faith. Any other “faith” is a crock.
But when we consider the reality of this, we realize that the way Christianity is heading, into the end-time delusion, the falling away, it is fast becoming a Christianity which has no true faith at all, bcos there is little true repentance from sin.
Like Jesus said, When the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8).
Ian Vincent 
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