Do You Have to Clean Up Your Act First to Become a Christian?
Grounded in the Gospel part four. Forgiveness of sins by the grace of God in Christ is free, not requiring your good works, but it does require a heart of repentant faith.
His name was Ducky. That’s what we all called him at least. He was the kitchen manager for a restaurant I worked for when I was in my younger twenties. Ducky was rough around the edges. He also had a teddy-bear side to him on the inside. Through friendly conversations about life, Ducky revealed to me that he had spent time in prison and had rubbed shoulders with some rough characters. I never asked him what he did time for, but the impression I got was it was pretty bad.
One morning as the team was finishing up food prep for the day, everyone left the kitchen to go sit down for break, except Ducky and I. Then all of a sudden, I watched Ducky lean his back against the wall and slide down to the ground. He started coughing blood.
It turns out Ducky’s health was suffering from a serious internal condition that was progressively getting worse. We stopped seeing Ducky around work, some time had passed, and I was concerned about him. So I sent him a text to see if he was alive and to share the Gospel.
He texted me back right away and said he was in the hospital and near death. I did my best to share with him the Good News of grace through Jesus. I wanted him to know he could spend eternity with God through faith in Jesus. I will never forget his response as long as I live. “Colin, you’re a saint, but I’ve done too many bad things for God to forgive me.”
My heart broke.
I explained as best I could over text that God truly does forgive him thanks to Christ dying on the cross for him, and that all he has to do is believe and receive. Our text ended, I prayed a prayer for God to help Ducky receive grace, and I never heard from Ducky again. I often wonder if I will see him again in the age to come.
Ducky had a problem. The Gospel seemed too good to be true. He couldn’t get over the bad things he had done. He didn’t understand grace. He thought forgiveness depended on having a record of good deeds.
Ducky’s problem returns us to question that makes up the title of this article: do you have to clean up your act first to receive Christ? Do you need to change first in order to become a Christian? The short answer to that question is no. But that short answer is also an incomplete answer. You don’t need any good works in order to be saved, but you do need genuine faith.
Sinners Saved by Grace Have Repentant Hearts
Salvation is by grace, not by works. Faith is how that grace is received (faith in Jesus as God the Son and in what He did on the cross). If we were to say cleaning up your act first is required , that would make salvation by works, or works plus grace, not by grace alone. We humans can’t clean up our act first; we’re unable. That’s why we need Jesus. We need Jesus to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves.
So, you don’t need a track record of good deeds in order to earn right standing with God. Got it. Yep. But you do need something. You need genuine faith.
The what and when of repentance
There is no way to trust Jesus by faith for salvation unless you repent. And this is where debates usually start to occur over the meaning and timing of repentance. Some say repentance is a change of mind. Some say repentance is evidenced by a change in behavior. Some say belief comes first, repentance comes after. Others say repentance is an aspect of belief.
The definition of repentance is commonly and correctly said to mean “to turn” or to “change the way you think.” Here are some examples of how the Bible uses the word “repent.” At the very start of His ministry, Jesus said “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). In the book of Acts, some of the apostles were evangelizing to a crowd and they told the crowd to “repent” so that their “sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19). Peter the apostle—in his sermon on the day of Pentecost—told the crowd that they needed to “repent” to be saved (Acts 2:38). The apostle Paul said that God commands all people to repent because of God’s future, pending judgment (Acts 17:30). John the Baptist is famously known as providing a baptism of repentance (Acts 19:3-5). But it’s important to note that John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance was to prepare the way for the coming Lord Jesus (Mark 1:1-5). The point wasn’t to just be repentant over sin. The point was to be repentant over your sin and then trust Jesus as your divine Savior.
Which repentance are we talking about?
It’s helpful to point out there are three types of repentance.[1]
Non-saving repentance: a change of mind about something, anything (can be totally unrelated to Jesus).
Saving repentance: change of mind about who Jesus is as God/Savior.
Sanctifying repentance: progressive sanctification of believers who are continually renewing their minds according to the Word of God.
In this article, I am talking about the second one, saving repentance. And I agree with Ryrie, that “The only kind of repentance that saves is a change of mind about Jesus Christ.”[2] Sorrow over sin or a resolve to not sin do not save by themselves.[3] Feeling bad over sin does not save. Jesus saves. Many sinners miserably regret and mourn over their unbreakable habits, yet never arrive at the feet of Jesus by faith. Jesus saves when we trust Him by faith.
I’m definitely not against experiencing sorrow. If anything, I’m very much for experiencing sorrow over sin. Godly sorrow over sin is a good thing (2Corinthians 7:10). We ought to be sorrowfully broken over our sin, but let’s not act like our feelings have saving power in themselves. The question is not whether sorrow over sin is a good thing, the question is whether within that sorrow there is faith in the forgiver of sins.
There are many forms of repentant tactics that we sneaky sinners love to employ— none of which have anything to do with Jesus or saving faith. The great Puritan, Thomas Watson, lays out examples of these counterfeit forms of repentance in his little book called The Doctrine of Repentance. I have summarized those examples elsewhere.
If I could add anything to Ryrie’s view about saving repentance, it would be this: saving repentance will contain within it an internal attitudinal shift away from sin and some measure of desire not to sin.
A Heart Change Away from Sin and Towards Jesus
People need a changed heart in order to be saved; they need to trust in Jesus by faith.
A sinner does not just casually, non-chalantly trust Jesus by happenstance. One does not accidentally trust in Christ. One does not depend on Jesus by faith as Savior unless they are convinced they need saving in the first place! That’s one of the reasons why God gave the law in the first place—to show us our sin and our need of a Savior (Galatians 3:19-29, Romans 7:7). The Holy Spirit also works to convict us of our sin (John 16:8), and a primary way He does that is through the written Word (the Bible) which the Spirit inspired and has purposed to be useful for reproof and correction (2Timothy 3:16). The point is God’s grace is involved in changing our sin-loving heart to turn to Jesus, to cling to Him, and to start to love Him.
So, I agree with what seems to be the majority of Protestant Christians in saying turning to Christ by faith involves some measure of turning away from sin. You cannot love sin and love Jesus equally. It is impossible to come to Jesus by faith for salvation and to be neutral about sin. The problem of sin is an essential aspect of the Gospel.
Here's how I put it: you don’t need to change on the outside first to become a Christian, but you do need to trust Jesus by faith, which involves a change on the inside. Grace is first, repentance second, transformation third.
Let’s get controversial
Let’s make this practical to real life by opening a big can of worms. Let’s say a gay or lesbian family member of mine approaches me and tells me “Colin, I love being gay. I love living with my gay partner. I will always be gay. That is who I am. I love that about me. I’m never going to change. But I’m also deciding to have faith in Jesus. What do you think about that Colin?” I would scratch my head and say, “I’m glad you’re interested in trusting in Jesus, but please know Jesus is going to ask you to say no to that. If you don’t give it up now, you will have to give it up soon.” Do they have to clean up their act first? No. They can come to Jesus as they are. But they cannot trust Jesus as their savior by faith and stay as they are. An unwillingness to change reveals they either misunderstand who Jesus is or misunderstand the issue of sin. Something is off. I would ask my family member, “So if you’re unwilling to repent from your sin, why is it that you want to place your faith in Jesus in the first place? What is Jesus saving you from?” Who knows what they would say.
Former lesbian activist turned Christian author/evangelist Rosaria Butterfield agrees with me on this issues of repentance from sin being an essential element of saving faith. In an article, Butterfield compares progressivism to the message of the Good News, and she says:
“The gospel message, in contrast, is ‘repent and believe’ (Mark 1:15), and repentance bears genuine fruit (Matthew 3:8). The phrase ‘repent and believe’ is called a synecdoche, a phrase where the two parts serve as one whole. Genuine faith contains both elements: repentance and belief, and without both, it cannot be real faith.”
As recent as several months ago, Butterfield talked about this very topic of repentance on the Becket Cook show. Butterfield’s story is she was a feminist professor/activist who was in the middle of living with a lesbian partner, when somehow by the grace of God she heard the Gospel. She was convicted of her sin, knew her lesbianism was wrong, came to Jesus as she was, and through a long relational process of discipleship into the faith, she was able to say no to her old way of life as she embraced new life in Christ. On the Becket Cook show, Butterfield offered sharp rebukes to progressive groups that call themselves “Christian” but are dangerously advocating for a faith in Christ without repentance from sin.
Two Theological Approaches
What I’ve been doing in this article is threading the needle between two schools of Christian thought. One school of thought is called “lordship salvation,” which was popularized by John MacArthur and a host of other reformed theologians. The other school of thought is called “free grace,” which has also been supported by many theologians—the most well-known probably being Zane Hodges. Lordship salvation emphasizes the necessity to repent in order to be saved, and it emphasizes the importance for new Christians to realize their genuine salvation entails Jesus being their Lord and Master now. For example, it might be said, ‘Jesus is either Lord of all, or not Lord at all.’ Free-gracers emphasize that the grace of God is free. “All you have to do is believe in the Lord Jesus—repentance from sin comes after,” they might say. Typically, free-gracers point to the thief on the cross (Luke 23:40-43) as the prime example of free grace. The thief on the cross had no time to demonstrate obedience; all he had was faith. And Jesus essentially said, ‘you’re with me now.’
A criticism of free grace is it more easily promotes false converts because they aren’t required to change anything about how they live their lives to be saved (it appears that continuing to sin is perfectly okay). A criticism of lordship salvation is it too easily promotes works-based salvation. I know and have had pastors that are on either side of this debate. After years of being in the lordship salvation camp, I’m now in the middle. Both schools of thought are correct to a certain extent, however both seem to understand repentance as a work or a fruit rather than an attitude or heart-stance. As evidenced by the thief on the cross who had no time to change his life or clean up his act, repentance isn’t a work. However, even the thief on the cross took ownership over his sin in what may be considered repentance.
There were two thieves on the cross next to Jesus. One recognized Jesus and yet mocked Him saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39). The first thief demonstrates what we might consider to be a hard, unrepentant heart in his flippant response to Jesus. In stark contrast, the second thief—the one free-gracers point to—recognized his wrongdoing and that he deserved the punishment he was receiving. He demonstrated repentance in his ownership of his sin. He said to the unbelieving thief, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deed; but this man [Jesus] has done nothing wrong,” (Luke 23:40-41). Right after this, the second thief demonstrated his faith when he personally addressed Jesus saying, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). The second thief shows us that salvific faith includes both belief in Christ and a change of heart (repentance from sin). The key is the state of the heart—the acknowledgement that you would fix the wrongdoing if you could—not that you have fixed it—and a trust in Jesus to do what you cannot.
The heart has been changed by grace, and the fruit will follow in time.
Receiving Forgiveness of Sins by Believing What God Has Said
My friend Ducky did express repentance over his sins and remorse over his past. He had that. But what he lacked was a belief that God forgives him through the blood of Jesus. Ducky was stuck in shame and the Good News about God’s available grace seemed too good to be true. What’s the remedy? We ultimately have to take God at His Word. God says that while we were yet His enemies, Christ died for us (Romans 5:10). God also says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” (1John 1:9). We either believe what God says, or we don’t. Unbelief is a pesky grace-blocker.
The hard part about the Gospel for some—like Ducky—is how undeserving we are to be freely forgiven by grace. We feel so undeserving that we don’t receive. It seems unfair to accept free forgiveness without having to pay for it or earn it. If I clean up my act first maybe it seems more right. This dilemma reminds me of the first couple lines in the classic hymn Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus.
Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
and to take Him at His word;
just to rest upon His promise,
and to know, "Thus saith the Lord."
The Gospel says forgiveness of sins and restored relationship with God is free to those who receive by faith. But it also says free grace had a cost. It cost Jesus His own life, by His own choice, and He said, “It is finished,” (John 19:30). Even though the Good News can seem too good to be true, at the end of the day, it is true. When we realize that, we can’t run to the Father fast enough because we see how good God is!
Oh, how sweet it is.
[1] Charles Ryrie, So Great Salvation (Chicago: Moody Press, 1997), 83-89.
[2] Ryrie, So Great Salvation. 85.
[3] Ryrie, So Great Salvation. 89-90.
In the next article in this series called Grounded in the Gospel, we will discuss the already-not-yet aspect of the Gospel. What we will find is the already-not-yet aspect to the Gospel means there is an already-not-yet aspect to our salvation.
About the Authors
Colin and Rachelle became Christians as adults at the end of college, then they met at church, and got married in 2016. They have a passion for Christian discipleship and for helping people live for Jesus with a biblical worldview. Colin aspires to be a vocational pastor, professor, and to write books that help Christians. Colin reads non-fiction books for fun and is passionate about helping people live healthy transformed lives through God’s grace. Colin graduated from Phoenix Seminary with an MA in Christian Ministry in 2025. Rachelle is a Jesus-loving artist who loves to paint, write poetry, and can often be found reading in front of the fireplace with a cat on her lap. Rachelle loves the original languages of the Bible and has a passion for truth. Rachelle will graduate from Phoenix Seminary with an MA in Bible and Theology in 2026.
