Repentance and Faith for Justification
As taught in the Pentecostal / Charismatic tradition
The necessary human response to the Gospel: turning from sin and trusting in Christ alone.
The central question that the Pentecostal tradition seeks to answer regarding the doctrine of salvation is not merely "How is a person saved?" but "How does the transformative power of the Holy Spirit initiate a radical redirection of the human soul through the grace of Jesus Christ?" Within the Pentecostal movement, salvation is viewed as a holistic, experiential, and crisis-oriented event that begins with the "New Birth." This subtopic—Repentance and Faith for Justification—serves as the threshold of the Christian life. It addresses the mechanics of how a fallen, spiritually dead individual is legally declared righteous before a holy God (justification) and internally regenerated by the Spirit.
By the end of this lesson
- **Identify** the two essential human responses to the Gospel—repentance and faith—and explain their necessity for justification within Pentecostal theology.
- **Distinguish** between worldly sorrow and godly repentance (*metanoia*), articulating why the latter is a requirement for the New Birth.
- **Explain** the forensic and transformative dimensions of justification, showing how God declares the sinner righteous based on Christ's merit.
- **Articulate** the relationship between grace and human volition, defending the Pentecostal view that grace is prevenient but not coercive.
- **Trace** the "New Birth" concept in John 3:3 to the broader Pentecostal emphasis on experiential salvation.
- **Defend** the necessity of the "preached Word" in the salvific process, using Romans 10:13-15 as the primary scriptural foundation.
- **Apply** the doctrine of justification by grace through faith to the practice of personal evangelism and the assurance of salvation.
- **Compare** the Pentecostal understanding of "living faith" with views that treat faith as a mere intellectual assent or a work of the law.
Scripture
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