Is Progressive Repentance Scriptural?
By Osamagbe Lesley Egharevba | Lagos, Nigeria
During my preaching work in Ghana in July and August 2024, I heard the term “Progressive Repentance” for the first time. This is the idea that an alien sinner may not repent of his sins by ending the sins before he gets baptized. In particular, if you preach to a polygamist or someone cohabiting, and such believes the gospel and is willing to be baptized, some teach that you may go ahead and baptize him while he keeps living with all of his wives pending when he can completely separate from them. Some others argue that while repentance is necessary before baptism, repentance does not require one to end the sins. They see repentance as a commitment to end sins and not necessarily putting an end to the sin itself. And so, they argue that as long as one has made the promise or the commitment to change, then such may be baptized even if such is still in the sin. However, the Bible teaches that repentance is necessary before baptism (Acts 2:38) and clearly, there is no true repentance when your action contradicts what God has commanded. One must bear fruits worthy of repentance to be pleasing to God (Matthew 3:8).
What is Repentance?
Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of action – Matthew 21:29 (KJV). Godly sorrow is NOT repentance (II Corinthians 7:9-10). Repentance means to reverse, to change your mind so you think and act differently. In Matthew 21:28-30, we read: “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go.” Who truly repented? The one that said or the one that went? Jesus said the son who said he would not go was the one who repented and went. It shows that the one who did what was necessary was the one who truly repented. The other son who said he would go is a clear indication that he did not repent since he did not do what he needed to do. So, if a man has not done what he ought to do, he has not displayed true repentance.
It is not true repentance if someone does not show the fruits of repentance or does things that are contrary to the change he should be having. A drunkard who said “I repent” but reduced his consumption from one carton of beer to half a carton has not repented. The man who stole your phone and said “I repent” but wishes to keep the phone for 6 months before he returns it has not repented. The polygamous or cohabiting man who says “I repent” but still living with a woman who is not his wife has not repented.
Some say that we are delaying the salvation of a polygamist if we ask them to end the sin of adultery they are committing before they get baptized. But would baptism wash away sins that one has not repented of? When Jesus noticed that the rich young ruler had a problem with possession, He told him to go and do something first before coming to follow Him. Matthew 19:21 “Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Jesus required that something be done FIRST before the ruler would come to Him. Was Jesus delaying his salvation when He asked him to go and do something first before coming to follow Him? (Please read verse 16 to see that the rich young ruler was asking Jesus what to do to have eternal life). Would saying “I would sell them and give to the poor” suffice for actually selling them and giving to the poor?
Many people I know that advocate the baptism first and repentance later doctrine would not restore a brother who was disfellowshipped for cohabiting if he is still living with the girl but says “I repent” They would not restore a man who was disfellowshipped for marrying a second wife if he’s still living with the woman but says “I repent”? But why would a polygamist be baptized if he says “I repent” but still living with the woman?
If repentance does not mean quitting sin as some said, then it means one may not quit sins before baptism, and so, one may still continue sinning at the point of baptism and some time afterward. If repentance is the decision or commitment to quit sin, then one can decide to quit a sin before baptism and then actually quit the sin some 6 months afterward. So, one can continue sinning some 6 months after baptism. Apparently, let’s just baptize as many people as possible and then we can teach them to change later. That is exactly what some are teaching and that’s unscriptural.
What is the point of baptizing polygamists who are still in that sin in the first place? If after baptism, they perpetually keep living with the multiple wives, what will one do? Leave them alone? Or disfellowship them? What image are we trying to bring to the church when people see us baptizing polygamists and those cohabiting without them ending the sins? Brethren, let us be careful to follow only what God has said so that we can be pleasing to Him.
