John Owen
Hebrews 6:1. Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God.
Repentance from dead works. This expression, “dead works”, is exclusive to the Apostle and to this epistle (see 9:14). Elsewhere he speaks of men being “dead in trespasses and sins”. What he there ascribes to their persons he here ascribes to their works. The sins of unregenerate people are called “dead works” in respect of their nature; they proceed from a state of spiritual death. And in respect of their end, they are dead because deadly; they procure death and end in death. What is required, and what they were taught, in relation to these “dead works” is repentance.
Repentance is the first thing required of those who take upon them the profession of the gospel. Without this, whatever is attempted or attained is only a dishonour to Christ and a disappointment to men. This is the method of preaching, confirmed by the command and example of Christ Himself: “Repent and believe the gospel”. And almost all the sermons that we find – not only of John the Baptist in a way of preparation for the declaration of the gospel, but of the apostles also in pressing the actual reception of it on Jews and Gentiles – have this as their first principle: the necessity of repentance. Hence it is said in the preaching of the gospel: “God . . . commandeth all men everywhere to repent”.
It is therefore evident that this was the first doctrinal principle which was pressed on, and fixed in, the minds of men as to their duty, when first instructed in the gospel. The supreme original cause of repentance is the goodwill, grace and bounty of God. It is directly bestowed on the souls of men by Jesus Christ as a fruit of His death; and the nature of it is expressed in the conversion of the Gentiles – it is “unto life” (Acts 11:18). Repentance is a
1Taken with editing from “An Abridgement”, by M J Tryon, of Owen’s Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
change of mind concerning “dead works”, everything that has the nature of sin is now seen to be evil – evil in itself, evil to the sinner, evil in its present effects and consequences. Repentance respects the will and affections; the change of the will, or taking away the will to sin, is the principal part of repentance; it is a repentance from dead works, that is, in relinquishing them.
No interest in Christ or Christian religion is to be obtained without “repentance from dead works”; the Lord Jesus came not only to save men from their sins, but to turn them from their sins – to turn them from their sins that they may be saved from them. That any person living in sin without repentance should have an interest in Christ is inconsistent with the glory of God and the honour of Jesus Christ.
And of faith toward God. Repentance is coupled with faith; they can never be severed. Where the one is, there is the other; and where either is absent there is neither, whatever is pretended. The whole is expressed by “Repent ye, and believe the gospel”. Hence you read that Paul testified both to Jews and Greeks “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ”.
Faith in God as to accomplishing the great promise, in sending His Son Jesus Christ to save us from our sins, is the great fundamental principle of our interest in and profession of the gospel. The promise of sending Jesus Christ was the first express engagement that God ever made of His faithfulness and veracity to any creatures. Hence this was the first and immediate object of faith in man after the Fall. The first thing proposed to man was to believe in God, with respect to His faithfulness in the future accomplishment of this promise; and faith concerning its actual accomplishment is the first thing required of us. This is the greatest promise that God ever gave to the children of men, and therefore faith in Him in relation to this is both necessary to us and tends greatly to His glory.