To bottom line it, there are a bunch of really smart theologians that see repentance as a "Work" and a bunch of really smart theologians that scoff at the notion of repentance being a "Work."
So you're gonna have your view and I'm gonna have mine (the correct view that God agrees with, of course!). But when repentance is purely defined and we see it as it really is, I am baffled how it could be a "Work".
Repentance takes place the moment we allow God to walk through the door of our heart and occupy the position of "First place." It is the realization that God is the one who should control us, that His will is greater than ours, that His way is better than ours, and that His sacrifice was the ONLY work that could ever be beneficial for the betterment of our souls.
A "Work" is an effort on our parts that would help us obtain salvation. I'm sorry, Mike, I know you don't like it when I raise this issue, but it still is what it is. In your description of how you "received the Holy Ghost" I cannot see it as anything but a "Work" in order to receive a "gift." You set aside sin so that you could receive a necessary element of salvation (necessary in your view, anyway). In that description you gave us, you told us something that
you did. That, in my view, constitutes a, "Work."
But salvation is a complete gift, It is our as soon as we grant Christ permission to be "Lord."
Romans 4:2 Was it because of his good deeds that God accepted him? If so, he would have had something to boast about. But from God's point of view Abraham had no basis at all for pride.
Romans 4:3 For the Scriptures tell us, "Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous."
Romans 4:4 When people work, their wages are not a gift. Workers earn what they receive.
Romans 4:5 But people are declared righteous because of their faith, not because of their work.
Is belief a "Work"? Here in Romans, belief is directly separated from a "Work", and repentance is belief in Christ as Lord.
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