Question for Bible-Only Christians

[Pwrlftr]

Powerlifter,

I respect your effort here…I did read it…I just don’t find it satisfactory. You rightly contend that there was no sola scriptura prior to the writing of all the scriptures. The problem is that you apparently contend that all authority disappeared once scripture was written, assembled, and canonized. There is absolutely no evidence for this proposition any where in scripture. Moreover, the idea of sola scriptura and the demise of Tradition and the Church as coexisting authorities did not arise until the Reformation. Please answer the questions that I am concerned about and dispel my doubts.

If I can’t convince you of the most basic concepts of sola scriptura and how it has been badly handled in the OP I won’t be able to dialogue with you effectively at all.

Either I am not presenting what I believe clear enough or there are other issues coming into play.

Regardless, we will just be wasting each other’s time.

 

[Pax]

So it is your contention that NT baptism starts in Matthew 28?
Lets go a little deeper. Did the Apostles go and baptize Gentiles after Matthew 28? When did they start doing this?

After Pentecost, the apostles began preaching and baptizing. We see this in Acts 2:37-41 where it says:

“Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him.” And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”

Baptism is also clearly prefigured in the OT and is done so in one place that specifically ties to the aforementioned quote in Acts.

Ezk 36:25-28 says:

I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Going statement for statement we see an unmistakable pattern and prefiguring in Ezekiel and it is clear that God will use water to cleanse us (forgive our sins), that he will change our hearts (and they were cut to the heart), and that he will put a new spirit within us(we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.)

There is much more in the OT that can be connected to NT baptism, but we will move back to your question concerning baptism and gentiles. In Acts 10 Peter goes to the house of Cornelius. Cornelius was a gentile and he and his whole household were baptized. Verse 48 caps off the story with the statement, "And he[Peter] commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. There are many more examples that make it clear that the gentiles were being baptized as they were being evangelized and brought into the NT family of God.

I hope this addresses your question.

 

[Pax]

If I can’t convince you of the most basic concepts of sola scriptura and how it has been badly handled in the OP I won’t be able to dialogue with you effectively at all.

Either I am not presenting what I believe clear enough or there are other issues coming into play.

Regardless, we will just be wasting each other’s time.

I think that perhaps you should simply try a little harder. I am not nearly as concerned with the OP’s set up as I am the questions that follow…those questions seem reasonable. Likewise, it is a set of questions that anyone that believes in sola scriptura should be able to answer. This, from my point of view, is not unlike my expectation that all Christians should be able to answer the question as to “why they actually believe that Jesus is divine?”

 

[Pax]

If I can’t convince you of the most basic concepts of sola scriptura and how it has been badly handled in the OP I won’t be able to dialogue with you effectively at all.

Either I am not presenting what I believe clear enough or there are other issues coming into play.

Regardless, we will just be wasting each other’s time.

I have seen many different definitions of sola scriptura. Pick one that suits you. If you feel that I have thus far been unfair to the doctrine please help me out.

If you think it’s all a waste of time, then that’s OK too.

 

[Fred_4]

If I can’t convince you of the most basic concepts of sola scriptura and how it has been badly handled in the OP I won’t be able to dialogue with you effectively at all.

Either I am not presenting what I believe clear enough or there are other issues coming into play.

Regardless, we will just be wasting each other’s time.

No, you are not presenting what you believe clearly enough when you merely refer one to the Westminster creed. And I apologize for the last post I made on this thread. It was unkind. I tried to retract it, but could not. So anyway, I apologize.

 

[MrS]

After Pentecost, the apostles began preaching and baptizing. We see this in Acts 2:37-41 where it says:

“Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him.” And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”

Baptism is also clearly prefigured in the OT and is done so in one place that specifically ties to the aforementioned quote in Acts.

Ezk 36:25-28 says:

I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Going statement for statement we see an unmistakable pattern and prefiguring in Ezekiel and it is clear that God will use water to cleanse us (forgive our sins), that he will change our hearts (and they were cut to the heart), and that he will put a new spirit within us(we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.)

There is much more in the OT that can be connected to NT baptism, but we will move back to your question concerning baptism and gentiles. In Acts 10 Peter goes to the house of Cornelius. Cornelius was a gentile and he and his whole household were baptized. Verse 48 caps off the story with the statement, "And he[Peter] commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days. There are many more examples that make it clear that the gentiles were being baptized as they were being evangelized and brought into the NT family of God.

I hope this addresses your question.

It is so great to see a concept presented briefly, to the point and with support from the Bible. You do a great service to Truth.
God Bless you for your (name removed by moderator)ut.

 

[moondweller]

After Pentecost, the apostles began preaching and baptizing. We see this in Acts 2:37-41 where it says:

“Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him.” And he testified with many other words and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”

It was those who “received” his word that were subsequently baptized. IOW, they first believed.

Going statement for statement we see an unmistakable pattern and prefiguring in Ezekiel and it is clear that God will use water to cleanse us** (forgive our sins)**, that he will change our hearts (and they were cut to the heart), and that he will put a new spirit within us(we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.)

Well, let’s see if your interpretation of Ezekiel is true:Acts 10:43 "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins."No. Peter himself does not say water baptism causes forgiveness of sins, but rather the one "who believes in Him."Acts 10:44 "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message."Well look at that. Before even one was baptized with water the Holy Spirit fell on them (because they believed Peter’s words concerning Christ). And just as in Acts two, the Gentiles who believed in Acts ten were baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ, not through water, but through faith in Christ alone.

"And he[Peter] commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

But only AFTER they first believed.

The fact is, no one after the cross was baptized with water until they FIRST believed the gospel message. IOW, the Scriptures testify that entrance into the kingdom of His beloved Son is through FAITH alone, not water.

Paul clearly understood this N.T. principle:1 Cor 1:17 "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void."Which was standard Pauline theology as he took the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles:Gal 3:23-27 "But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor {to lead us} to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ (i.e., by the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor. 12:13) have clothed yourselves with Christ."I hope this helps you out, Pax. There’s no power in water. God operates through faith.

 

[MrS]

It was those who “received” his word that were subsequently baptized. IOW, they first believed.Well, let’s see if your interpretation of Ezekiel is true:

I hope this helps you out, Pax. There’s no power in water. God operates through faith.

Actually if you could understand the way they spoke in the Jewish communities… with a heavy use of idoms (we might call a level of sarcasm)…

example… “… if you do not work, you will not be fed…” sounds simple enough. Yet we are not told to starve the little ones, the aged, the infirmed etc.

However, if we understand the common idiom… “…if you do not work (and you CAN work), you will not be fed…” is is a bit easier to understand and accept.

Same with repent and believe… “…(those who can repent must repent) and believe…”

Your understanding would deprive the retarded, the babies, the infirmed, the deaf and blind and dumb, of all hope.

The Catholic understanding puts all hope inthe saving work of Christ.

Faith is important. But we are saved by Grace alone…working through Faith… in love.

If God works only through our Faith… which is a “work”… then He depends on us. NOT. He only asks for our cooperation to attain salvation… IF we are capable of rendering it. IF NOT, we are at His Mercy… for He wills that all be saved.

.

 

[jmcrae]

What public event, made manifest to the whole Church of God, signified this change-over?

Upon what date, or over what period of time, did this event occur?

The death of the last apostle I suppose would be the event.

You suppose. Are you sure?

This seems like something important to know, since any development of doctrine after that point would have had to be based on Scripture-alone, and not from any of the Oral Tradition that had not been “enscripturated.”

(I’m not seeing the evidence of this, since ten years later, St. Ignatius of Antioch is still telling people to listen to the Bishops. But if there had been a clear command to the Church to stop listening to the Oral Tradition from the Bishops, and to start going by Scripture Alone, surely St. Ignatius would have known about this? He seems never to have heard of it, though.)

 

[moondweller]

Actually if you could understand the way they spoke in the Jewish communities… with a heavy use of idoms (we might call a level of sarcasm)…

example… “… if you do not work, you will not be fed…” sounds simple enough. Yet we are not told to starve the little ones, the aged, the infirmed etc.

However, if we understand the common idiom… “…if you do not work (and you CAN work), you will not be fed…” is is a bit easier to understand and accept.

Same with repent and believe… “…(those who can repent must repent) and believe…”

What does this have to with water baptism? Anyway, “repenting” means a change of mind.

Your understanding would deprive the retarded, the babies, the infirmed, the deaf and blind and dumb, of all hope.

No. I leave these in the hands of God. But you’re espousing the unbiblical notion that just sprinkling water on infants, and others incapable of personally believing, will forgive them of sins and bring them into the kingdom of Christ. Sort of a baptismal assembly line that stamps out “Christians” as soon as they’re born. There’s no such teaching in Scripture.

The Catholic understanding puts all hope inthe saving work of Christ.

And yet no Catholic believes he can truly know if he’s saved until the end of his life. If they would truly put all their hope (faith) in HIS saving work on the cross, then they would surely know.

Faith is important. But we are saved by Grace alone…working through Faith… in love.

Yes, God Himself saves by His infinite grace through faith in Christ alone. Salvation is because of His love toward us, in Christ, not ours toward Him.

If God works only through our Faith… which is a “work”… then He depends on us. NOT. He only asks for our cooperation to attain salvation…

This is a contradictory statement. If He asks for your cooperation to “attain” salvation, then He does depend on YOU. But faith, according to Scripture is not a work:"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, the gift of God; not as a result of works…"Notice one is saved by grace, through faith, not as a result of works. Faith is not regarded as a work.

IF we are capable of rendering it. IF NOT, we are at His Mercy… for He wills that all be saved.

But not all will to believe. But it is true that the gospel is presented to those who are capable of believing. If they refuse to believe they will die in their sins (Jn. 8:24). We have no revelation on the rest and can only leave them in the hands of God, nor do we make up our own doctrines concerning them. “For now we see in a mirror dimly” (1 Cor. 13:12).

 

[jmcrae]

What does this have to with water baptism? Anyway, “repenting” means a change of mind.

To “repent” is to stop committing sins. Since babies don’t sin, they don’t have to stop committing sins. By baptism, they are incorporated into the faith of their parents. (We don’t baptize babies who aren’t likely to be raised in the Catholic faith.)

But you’re espousing the unbiblical notion that just sprinkling water on infants, and others incapable of personally believing, will forgive them of sins and bring them into the kingdom of Christ.

Actually, we pour water over them, or else completely immerse them in water - Catholics don’t do “sprinkling.”

 

[Pwrlftr]

You suppose. Are you sure?

This seems like something important to know, since any development of doctrine after that point would have had to be based on Scripture-alone, and not from any of the Oral Tradition that had not been “enscripturated.”

(I’m not seeing the evidence of this, since ten years later, **St. Ignatius of Antioch is still telling people to listen to the Bishops. **But if there had been a clear command to the Church to stop listening to the Oral Tradition from the Bishops, and to start going by Scripture Alone, surely St. Ignatius would have known about this? He seems never to have heard of it, though.)

What exactly were the bishops teaching? Were they teaching “tradition” that isn’t found in scripture? If so, what are these unwritten traditions?

Were the “traditions” they were teaching found in scripture?

 

[jmcrae]

What exactly were the bishops teaching? Were they teaching “tradition” that isn’t found in scripture? If so, what are these unwritten traditions?

The Sacraments, the doctrines about Mary, Purgatory, and all the other teachings of the Church that we don’t find explicitly mentioned in Scripture, but which come down to us via the Oral Tradition that was given to the Bishops from the Apostles - along with everything that we do find in the Scriptures, as well, of course.

 

[MrS]

But you’re espousing the unbiblical notion that just sprinkling water on infants, and others incapable of personally believing, will forgive them of sins and bring them into the kingdom of Christ. Sort of a baptismal assembly line that stamps out “Christians” as soon as they’re born. There’s no such teaching in Scripture.And yet no Catholic believes he can truly know if he’s saved until the end of his life.

unbiblical notion… well that would imply that only the Catholic Bible is a source of teaching, and not the teaching authority established by Christ.

stamps out “Christians” as soon as they’re born …reminds be of Christ himself being presented in the temple by his parents in the Old Covenant requirements, as were all male children. The new coventant would hardly give us the requirement of baptism and then withhold it until we “did” something by asking for it. By the way, where are your requirements (sinners prayer, altar call, OSAS, found in the Catholic Bible, or the Protestant smaller versions?

no Catholic believes he can truly know if he’s saved until the end of his life …actuallly a Catholic should understand that he has not truly attained salvation and complete sanctifiaction until the end. Nothing unclean enters heaven no matter how much that unclean person thinks they are clean and saved.

St Paul, the Catholic Apostle understood this as he prayed for his fellow christians to pray for him, lest he fall. In the meantime he advises that we work out our salvation in fear and trembling (of what?.. of losing it of course.)

.

 

[MrS]

. Sort of a baptismal assembly line that stamps out “Christians” as soon as they’re born. ).

Sort of God’s answer to the sin of Adam which stamps out the unity with God as soon as our life begins.

.

 

[moondweller]

To “repent” is to stop committing sins.

The Greek word is, metanoeo, and means to to think differently, or afterwards, i.e., reconsider. Of course it’s always a change of mind for the better. One would change his mind (repent) about living a sinful life once he believed the word of the cross and was saved. We see an example of this process when Peter spoke the word of Christ resurrected to his Jewish brethren:Acts 2:36-38 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ–this Jesus whom you crucified. Now when they heard {this,} they were pierced to the heart (or, smitten in conscience), and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter {said} to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."They were to “repent,” change their minds about this Jesus whom they crucified, knowing now that God raised Him from the dead and has made Him both Lord and Messiah. Having believed they were then to be baptized in His name, thereby publicly professing their inward faith through which they received forgiveness of sins and the indwelling of Holy Spirit.

Nowhere in the preaching of the gospel of salvation were men told to repent of their sins. But instead they were told to believe in Christ for the forgiveness of sins. John’s “baptism of repentance” made way for Israel to put their faith in the resurrected Christ:Acts 19:4 "Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus."Though they go hand and hand, Paul differentiates between “repentance” and "faith:"Acts 20:20-21 "…how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God (not “repentance of sins”) and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.Certainly there must be change of mind (heart, conscience) toward God before one puts his faith in Christ.

By baptism, they are incorporated into the faith of their parents.

Can you show me where any of the Apostles ever taught this doctrine of “faith by association” through baptism? Can you show me exactly where it’s taught that the faith of parents can be transferred, by water, to their offspring?

(We don’t baptize babies who aren’t likely to be raised in the Catholic faith.)

I’ve seen many infants baptized strictly out of religious conformity and Christian culture. The parents had no more faith in Christ than your every day pagan.

Actually, we pour water over them, or else completely immerse them in water - Catholics don’t do “sprinkling.”

Then you nullify Pax’s argument that baptism was prefigured in the O.T., quoting the prophet Ezekiel

Baptism is also clearly prefigured in the OT and is done so in one place that specifically ties to the aforementioned quote in Acts. Ezk. 36:25-28 says: I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.

Of course the sprinkling of clean water here is not literal, but figurative for the spiritual cleansing of the nation of Israel. It’s not an O.T. prefiguing of N.T. water baptism but a prophecy of national Israel’s future restoration and spiritual regeneration after being called back into their ancient homeland. A future event:Ezek 36:24-28 "For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God…Ezek 36:33 'Thus says the Lord GOD, “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt.” (cf. Rom. 11:26-27). The context has nothing to do with N.T. water baptism, but all to do with the future, spiritual cleansing of the Jewish nation of Israel at the end of the age when their Messiah returns (cf. Zech. 12:10).

 

[MrS]

“…one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism…”

Gee I wonder why baptism is included in this verse … must be important.

And perhaps each leads to the next… yep, pretty important .

.

 

[Pax]

But faith, according to Scripture is not a work:…
…
…Faith is not regarded as a work.

I am not going to get into a major discussion of faith and works because I want to continue to focus on baptism and how it relates to salvation. Nevertheless, I will address briefly your statement that faith, according to scripture, is not a work. You made this statement twice in your prior post as shown above.

Please be advised that faith is both a gift and and a work. Interestingly enough, scripture does not expressly say that faith is a gift, but we can easily deduce from scripture that it is a gift. In contrast to this, scripture is actually fairly explicit in stating that faith is a work. This can be seen in the following passages:

In John’s vision in the book of Revelation, Jesus warns members of the church at Ephesus that they might be destroyed if they do not repent and return to the love they once had. This is very clear in Rev 2:4-5 where Jesus says, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then from what you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” Then again just before addressing the transgressions of the church at Thyatira, Jesus says in Rev 2:19 that, "I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.” These verses are significant in two ways. They show the necessity of love in the plan of salvation, and they show that both love and faith are referred to as works.

This linkage is also made by Paul in Galatians 5:6 where we read, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any avail, but faith working through love." Likewise, Paul tells us the importance of love when he says, “So faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love”(1 Corinthians 13:13). Paul also says in Corinthians 13:1-13 that “IF I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing….Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. …So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Paul also makes this point in 1 Thessalonians 1-4

PAUL, SILVANUS, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. We give thanks to God always for you all, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brethren beloved by God, that he has chosen you;

Jesus, our divine savior, has this to say about faith as a work.

John 6:28-30
Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you?

I hope this helps on this issue.

 

[Pax]

Then you nullify Pax’s argument that baptism was prefigured in the O.T., quoting the prophet EzekielOf course the sprinkling of clean water here is not literal, but figurative for the spiritual cleansing of the nation of Israel. It’s not an O.T. prefiguing of N.T. water baptism but a prophecy of national Israel’s future restoration and spiritual regeneration after being called back into their ancient homeland.

I would say that you could not be more wrong about the prefiguring of baptism. I will not argue against your view that the passage in Ezekiel represents a spiritual cleansing of Israel. It is most likely both. One must appreciate the depth of scripture and recognize that God may be telling us about more than one thing at a time.

I could go into a little more depth on the comparison of the passage in Ezekiel and Acts to totally nail the connection, but I think what I gave you should be sufficient. Likewise, it is important to remember that all OT prefigurements are “a shadow of the good things to come”[Hebrews 10:1]

Clearly, NT baptism is greater than any baptism of the OT or any prefiguring statements in the OT

 

[Pax]

…
…Nowhere in the preaching of the gospel of salvation were men told to repent of their sins.

…
…

Most absolute statements are wrong and this one is no exception to that rule. In fact scripture will show that the statement is absolutely false. Try the following:

Matthew 3:1-2 [John the Baptist says:]
IN THOSE days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 4:17
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 11:20-24
Then he began to upbraid the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! woe to you, Beth-saida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Caperna-um, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”

1 Mark 1:14-15
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Mark 6:10-12
And he said to them, “Where you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet for a testimony against them.” So they went out and preached that men should repent.

Luke 5:31-32
And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Acts 2:38
And Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 3:17-19
"And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

Acts 11:17-18
If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?" When they heard this they were silenced. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance unto life.”

I could go on and on with more scripture, but this should be more than sufficient.