Synods 2020/2021 and “in the way of repentance” (5)
This article examines the doctrinal dispute within Protestant Reformed synods regarding the relationship between repentance and remission of sins, establishing that repentance is entirely the work of God's sovereign grace rather than a human work that precedes God's pardoning action. Huizinga provides careful theological definition grounded in Scripture and the Reformed confessions, distinguishing repentance from good works of obedience and clarifying the proper theological order of salvation. The piece demonstrates how synodical deliberation addressed protests that confused the nature of repentance and its role in the ordo salutis.
Let's go up to 35,000 feet to see the lay of the land. There are really two issues in the dispute over repentance. One: what is repentance? Two: how does it relate to remission? Is it permissible to teach that repentance precedes remission or does that put man before God, so that the pardoning God must wait upon the penitent sinner? The second issue is the main issue of dispute. Protests to synod said: repentance cannot be prior to remission, because repentance is a good work and good works...
Full article available on sb.rfpa.org