(Luke Geraty) “Christians don’t need to repent,” said the young man. “Jesus died for our sins … past, present and future,” he continued, “so you don’t need to spend all of your time asking him for forgiveness. He has already forgiven you!” According to this young man, all the church needed to do was lean into its identity as righteous daughters and sons of God! Part of me agrees with some of the points being made by those who make these types of statements. It is absolutely appropriate to place emphasis on the Christian’s ontology, namely our union with Christ. Our identity as God’s children is rooted in our connection to Jesus and our reception of the soteriological benefits related to the cross, both those experienced in the immediate and those promised on the eschatological end.
But there are some serious issues with the suggestion that (1) Christians don’t need to repent and (2) the Holy Spirit doesn’t convict Christians. Yes, you read that correctly … advocates of the “Christians do not need to repent” concept also suggest that the Holy Spirit does not convict Christians; rather, the Spirit is said to convict the world alone. Again, there are serious problems with these two ideas, both on a biblical-theological level as well as on a practical level. To name several of the issues I think need to be dealt with: CONTINUE
