Is repentance a requirement for salvation?

We received an email about a discussion with a pastor who argued that repentance isn’t required for salvation—at least not for everyone. 

His claim: “Repentance is required for Jews, but not for Gentiles.

It’s true that John the Baptist preached repentance to Jews before the cross (Mark 1:4), and Peter echoed that message to an early, primarily Jewish church (Acts 2:38). But those two examples don’t prove the pastor’s claim.

Some also conclude that because Jesus alone secured salvation and He gets all the glory, repentance must be an excluded “work.” However, the Bible doesn’t support that idea, nor do the biblical and secular definitions of repentance.

Secular Definitions: Repentance

Repentance is the activity of reviewing one’s actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs. It generally involves a commitment to personal change and a resolve to live a more responsible and humane life—deep sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin or wrongdoing; regret for any past action.

Biblical Definitions: Repentance

Repentance is a turning away from sin, disobedience, or rebellion, and a turning back to God (Matthew 9:13; Luke 5:32). 

In a broader sense, it can mean simply a change of mind (Genesis 6:6–7) or a feeling of remorse or regret for past conduct (Matthew 27:3). True repentance, though, is a “godly sorrow” for sin—an act of turning around and going in the opposite direction. This kind of repentance leads to a fundamental change in a person’s relationship with God—an attitude of sorrow for personal sin that turns a sinner to God.

Repentance and Faith

We are saved by grace alone, through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8)—but repentance is part of the faith through which we receive that grace. It’s often been said that faith and repentance are inseparable, in the same way that the command to come here cannot be fulfilled without leaving there.

We Are Called to Jesus

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Coming to Christ begins with His calling us, but also involves an action on our part—and that action is repentance. It’s a choice we make in our hearts and minds to turn from self-sufficiency and put our trust in Jesus. This is not an outward work, but an inward desire.

“For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:10).

The Bible describes coming to Christ as a turning from darkness to light—that is repentance. Paul, who was commissioned by Jesus as the apostle to the Gentiles, declared this kind of turning when he recounted his conversion and Jesus’ words to him (bracketed information added):

“So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. [Jesus said…] ‘But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, [Paul was sent to the Gentiles] to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’” (Acts 26:15-18)

“…to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God…” (vs.18).  The word “turn” in Jesus’ commission is the Greek word “epistrepho, which is defined as to revert, to convert, or to turn.  It’s the same word used in this verse and translated “conversion.”

So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. (Acts 15:3)

It’s clear that Paul was sent to the Gentiles, and it’s clear that he spoke of converting, i.e., turning, them from their sin to their Savior.  So back to our question…

Is Repentance Required for Salvation?

We’ve established that repentance is a turning to Christ that precedes salvation. So it is correct to say that repentance is required for salvation. It is not a work. It is a heartfelt, mindful response that exercises our God-given free will to choose, and it reflects the condition of the heart, which God judges for salvation. As Romans 10:10 tells, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” 

Heart and Mind

Turning from what one has or who one was to who Jesus is and what He offers is a willing surrender of the mind and heart—a choice so intertwined with faith that if someone insists on calling repentance a work, they must also call faith a work. No one questions the necessity of faith for salvation—and repentance is simply a component of exercising faith and trust in Jesus.

Old Covenant Repentance vs. New Covenant Repentance

God repeatedly told the people of Israel to remember who He is, to repent of sin, and to return to Him. The Israelites were not redeemed by the blood of Jesus—they were sanctified only by the blood of animal sacrifices, and they did not have the Holy Spirit permanently indwelling and guiding them as believers do today. They repeatedly forgot their God and wandered far from Him into grievous sin. Repentance was essential to being in right relationship with Him.

During the Church Age, repentance turns a sinner—Jew or Gentile—to Christ in faith, resulting in His saving grace being poured out, and the person coming into right relationship with God.  But it doesn’t stop there. Since we are sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30), our union with Christ is secure, but our communion with Him can waver when we turn away. Therefore, repentance remains essential—not to secure our union with Him, but to restore our communion with Him.  We must continue turning from the darkness of sin toward the light of Christ.

Jews vs. Gentiles

Now, back to the pastor who claimed that “repentance for a Gentile is not a requirement for salvation; repentance was required for the Jew for salvation.” 

Beyond misunderstanding what repentance actually is, he misses something more basic: when it comes to salvation, there are only two kinds of people—those whose sins are forgiven by God, and those whose sins are not forgiven. 

Salvation is always about coming to God in faith to receive forgiveness for sin. Under the Old Covenant, God gave the Israelites a way to come to Him, and they had to choose to take it by offering a blood sacrifice from a repentant heart with a desire to be forgiven of their sins.

Now under the New Covenant, all must come to Jesus with a repentant heart and a desire to be forgiven of their sins. The big difference is we need not bring a blood sacrifice, for “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” (Ephesians 1:7  )

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