Last sentence of the fourth chapter: Repentance, metanoia, does not mean feeling badly about one's sins, kicking or shaming oneself for one's wrongdoing. Instead, repentance means change, and without change, without deep thoroughgoing change, one could not enter and participate in the kingdom."
There are moments when I want to say, "Okay," and then I have to back off and ask, "but how can this be?" Yes, repentance does mean change. Yes, life change ought to accompany repentance, but how can life change accompany repentance without a change of heart? And how can any rebellious, faith less human being change his own heart? This entire chapter (actually beginning with his description of the "truer" Good News) leaves me with the idea that if we just stop rebelling and relate to God everything would be just fine. Let's do a little personal behavior modification and we'll all be happy in the kingdom. Camp seems to consistently deny that there is a "heart/spirit" component of kingdom life preparation that only God in his grace can accomplish and that as a matter of divine power recreating the human heart/spirit.
Am I missing something here? Can we become citizens of the kingdom because we want to. Is it really so simple that "Jesus dealt with your sins and opened the door. You don't worry about your sins and come on in?" Not likely, I think. What do you think?
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Interesting, Dale. I didn't get that sense, so that you picked up on it I appreciate. Not sure. I'd have to go back and read that chapter again.
Obviously there is a Holy Spirit dancing in the heart component to saving repentance. But that said, common repentance can even be done by atheists. One could argue I suppose that "then God ordained that" - but I see no reason to have to assume that. John, after all, preached repentance to the masses and the Holy SPirit had not yet been poured out Joel-style.
So I guess we have to define what kind of repentance we're talking about. But at a basic level I didn't see any disagreement with Camp. It really is about simple obedience, which as I said, even an atheist COULD do. My brother in law was an atheist at the time he did his senior thesis for his undergrad work and he studied behavior modification. Such repentance began with a change of mind about a behavior and then a new behavior to replace the previous one. (what we'd call repenting from the bad behavior to, in this case, simple obedience to, well, himself/his new plan).
So yes, Dale, I'd say at a basic level repentance is about simple (1) stopping being disobedient, (2) turning away from the sin, and (3) turning toward God. Such turning is repentance.
I also sense your intuition in wanting to move more into the heart and the dance of the Holy Spirit. Thats where I'd agree with saving repentance... the kind that leads to salvation (Zacheaus style, Cornelius style, woman of the town style, whatever) is clearly a work of the Holy Spirit and I don't know that any evangelical would argue with that.
Thoughts? Have I helped or simply muddied the waters?
REV
I expect that "repentance" is not an either/or but a both/and. However, you mentioned "saving repentance" and that provides a clarification, or even a different category of repentance. Would Camp make the distinction you've made between psychological "repentance" and "saving repentance?" And more importantly, would the NT writers make such a distinction?
Thought provoking question. Is there a biblical distinction? Or in other words... can we think of a case of someone repenting but having it not be eternally salvific? (for that would reveal a distinction then obviously). Questions...
Did Judas Iscariot repent?
Why was John preaching repentance? His message was pre-Jesus' gospel.
David repented of adultery, lying, and murder. He was clearly pre-Jesus. Notions of "salvation" (in our evangelical sense) were far from him.
Several of Paul's companions "abandoned him to live like the world" - are they still "saved"? Or did they never repent in the first place?
OK thats just a little off the top of my head. Requires more investigation. Thoughts for now?
REV
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