Did John the Baptist Command People to Repent of All Their Sins?

Summary

---

Grace in Focus – Episode Summary

Episode: Did John the Baptist Command People to Repent of All Their Sins?
Date: October 8, 2025
Host: Bob Wilkin
Guest: Philippe Sterling
Podcast: Grace in Focus – Grace Evangelical Society

---

Episode Overview

In this focused 13-minute discussion, hosts Bob Wilkin and Philippe Sterling tackle a listener question regarding the scope and intent of John the Baptist’s call for repentance and baptism as recorded in Luke 3:3. The heart of the episode revolves around understanding the distinction between national and individual repentance, the requirements for Israel in relation to the arrival of the Kingdom, and clarifying common misconceptions about the role of repentance in personal salvation within Free Grace Theology.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Context of John the Baptist’s Message

• Listener’s Question (01:14): Was John the Baptist requiring people to renounce all sins to be baptized and receive forgiveness?
• Scripture Read (01:42): Luke 3:3 — “He went into all the region around the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.”

National vs. Individual Repentance (01:54–03:54)

• National Repentance: John’s call was primarily directed at the nation of Israel, not just individuals. The aim was national harmony with God so the Kingdom could be established.
  • "National repentance, specifically focusing on the nation of Israel, deals with their being in harmony with God so the kingdom that was promised could be established." – Bob Wilkin (02:33)
• Individual Salvation: To be born again remains a matter of individual faith in Christ ("believe the promise of everlasting life in Christ").
• Corporate Responsibility: Even if most Israelites believed, national repentance was still required for the Messianic Kingdom to be established. Obedience to the covenant on a national scale was essential.

2. What If Israel Had Repented? (03:54–04:44)

• Hypothetical: Had the 1st-century Israel repented and believed, Christ's death and resurrection would still need to happen, but the Kingdom could have come soon after.
  • “Even though persecuted, you know, still would have been preserved in some fashion and the return of Christ would have occurred." – Bob Wilkin (05:44)
• Consequences of Not Repenting: Because the nation did not repent, Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in AD 70, and Jews were dispersed until 1948.

3. Eschatological Perspective (04:44–05:44)

• Future Fulfillment: The Kingdom will be established at the end of the Tribulation when Israel corporately repents and recognizes Christ.
  • “At the end of the Tribulation, Israel will fulfill what it didn't do in the first century... they will all be calling on the name of the Lord.” – Philippe Sterling (04:56)
• Scripture Links: Zechariah, Romans 10:13, Joel 2:32 – references to Israel’s future repentance and restoration.

4. Purpose of John’s Baptism (06:07–06:39)

• Preparation for Messiah: John's baptism was an act preparing the nation for Christ, in fulfillment of Isaiah 40.
  • “It was to prepare a people to receive Christ and the kingdom.” – Philippe Sterling (06:39)
• Repentance as Central: Repentance wasn't a side issue but crucial for the coming Kingdom.

5. The Kingdom Offer and Israel’s Response (07:22–09:08)

• Not Only Individual Salvation: Both John and Jesus sought national (corporate) repentance and faith to bring about the Kingdom.
  • “We shouldn't just think John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus were only seeking to get individuals born again... they were there to prepare the nation.” – Philippe Sterling (07:22)
• Re-offering of the Kingdom: Early Acts saw the kingdom re-offered to the nation, but rejection meant its postponement.

Example of Nineveh (Matthew 12:41) (07:59–09:24)

• Comparison: Jesus pointed to Nineveh, who repented at Jonah’s message and were spared, as a condemnation of Israel’s response.
  • “The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.” – Bob Wilkin (08:38)
• Nature of Repentance: Nineveh "turned from their wicked ways" (Jonah 3:10). For Israel, the call was not mere verbal renunciation but genuine transformation of behavior.
  • “Repentance is a work. And Israel needed to turn from its wicked ways." – Philippe Sterling (09:24)

6. Israel’s Failure and Repercussions (09:24–11:07)

• Religious Corruption: Idolatry had faded, but spiritual corruption and hypocrisy remained.
  • "Even their religious leaders were seeking the acclaim of men. They were doing these long prayers so that people would be impressed." – Philippe Sterling (10:23)
• AD 70 as Fulfillment: The consequences of not repenting were realized in the destruction of Jerusalem, paralleling Nineveh’s spared destruction.
  • “Because you didn’t repent in my preaching, you’re going to experience what Nineveh didn’t. You’re going to be destroyed.” – Philippe Sterling (11:06)

7. Repentance and Salvation – Key Distinctions (11:07–11:49)

• Repentance Not a Condition for Being Born Again: Personal salvation is through faith alone, not repentance plus faith.
  • “We need to avoid the error… of saying so in order to be born again, you’ve got to repent and believe.” – Philippe Sterling (11:38)
• Repentance & Works: Are connected to fellowship, harmony with God, and rewards, not the condition for eternal life.

8. God’s Patience with National Repentance (11:49–12:16)

• God’s Longsuffering: Drawing from patterns with the Canaanites and citing Second Peter, God’s delay is based on mercy, allowing time for repentance.
  • “God is forbearing... not willing that any should perish.” – Bob Wilkin (12:08)

9. Resources for Further Study

• Books Mentioned:
  • Bob Wilkin, The Gospel is Still Under Siege
  • Philippe Sterling, Turn: The Power of Repentance (especially from Ezekiel)
  • Zane Hodges, Harmony with God
• All available at FaithAlone.org

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On National Repentance:
  "Even if they had [believed], there’s that second condition of repentance, right?... They had to turn away from sinful patterns and to be obedient to the stipulations of the covenant with God that they had.” – Bob Wilkin (03:29)

• On Purpose of John’s Baptism:
  “It was to prepare a people to receive Christ and the kingdom.” – Philippe Sterling (06:39)

• On the Consequence of Unrepentance:
  “Because you didn’t repent in my preaching, you’re going to experience what Nineveh didn’t. You’re going to be destroyed.” – Philippe Sterling (11:06)

• On Repentance in Salvation:
  “We need to avoid the error... of saying so in order to be born again, you’ve got to repent and believe.” – Philippe Sterling (11:38)

• On God's Character:
  “God is very, very long suffering, very forbearing, very loving, very merciful, very gracious.” – Philippe Sterling (12:16)

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Listener Question Introduction – 01:11
• Scripture Read: Luke 3:3 – 01:42
• National vs. Individual Repentance – 01:54–03:54
• What if Israel Repented in the First Century – 03:54–04:44
• Future Repentance and Kingdom – 04:44–05:44
• Purpose of John’s Baptism – 06:07–06:39
• Matthew 12:41 & Nineveh Example – 07:59–09:24
• Religious Corruption in Israel – 10:23–10:46
• AD 70 and Consequences – 11:06
• Repentance vs. Belief for Salvation – 11:38
• God’s Longsuffering and Forbearance – 12:08–12:16
• Recommended Resources – 12:40–12:49

---

Summary Tone

The tone is instructional and exploratory, blending theological seriousness with pastoral encouragement. Bob and Philippe engage deeply with Scripture and Free Grace doctrine, emphasizing clarity between national and individual requirements, and lovingly caution against common theological confusion regarding repentance and salvation.

---

Key Takeaway

John the Baptist’s call to repentance and baptism was primarily a national call to prepare Israel to receive Christ and the promised Kingdom—not a demand for individual sinless perfection as a condition for personal salvation. Salvation remains a matter of personal faith, while repentance—particularly national repentance—is about corporate restoration, preparedness for the Kingdom, and experiencing God’s promises on a grander scale.

Transcript

[Bob Wilkin]

The following is a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society.

[Host]

Welcome to Grace in Focus. Today we're talking about John the Baptist. How he confronted the people of Israel with a message of repentance and baptism and remission of sins. But was his message mainly to individuals or to a nation? Let us consider this in the next few moments and we're glad you're with us. This is a ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society, which comes to you each weekday. And our email address is faithalone.org on that site you can find information about our magazine. It comes out six times per year. It is also called Grace in Focus and we feature some great authors and articles about our free grace position. You can have it. We want you to have it for free. The only caveat to that is that if you live outside of the United States, the 48 contiguous United States, you do have to pay the postage. Otherwise free. So sign up for it [e-mail].

[Philippe Sterling]

And.

[Host]

Now with our discussion today, here are Bob Wilken and Philippe Sterling.

[Philippe Sterling]

We have a question, I think. Is it from Paul?

[Bob Wilkin]

Yes. Paul asks, I have a question about Luke, chapter three, verse three. Does this verse mean that John the Baptist was expecting people to renounce all their sins and once they did that, they would then be permitted to be baptized in the river so they could receive God's forgiveness? I guess that would be good to read Luke 3. 3.

[Philippe Sterling]

Yeah. Do you have that there?

[Bob Wilkin]

And he went into all the region around the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

[Philippe Sterling]

Okay. So it's important to recognize that, that both John the Baptist and Lord Jesus in their ministry said, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. You've got that in Matthew 3. 4 and Matthew 4:17. That wasn't the beginning of Jesus ministry. Jesus ministry began earlier with the wedding at Cana and John chapter three. But in his public ministry, that was early in his public ministry. And those were calls for what we would call national repentance. What's the difference between national repentance and individual repentance?

[Bob Wilkin]

Well, national repentance, specifically focusing on the nation of Israel, deals with their being in harmony with God so the kingdom that was promised could be established.

[Philippe Sterling]

Right. Let's put it this way. Individually, there's only one requirement to be born again, right?

[Bob Wilkin]

Yes. And that is simply to believe the promise of everlasting life in Christ.

[Philippe Sterling]

But corporately, for the nation of Israel, that's not enough. Right. Let's say the majority of Israel at the time of Christ had believed in him, but they had been an unrepentant nation. They had been a nation in sinful practices, wicked ways, and they were not turning to the Lord. Now they didn't, as a nation believe in him, so I get that. But even if they had, there's that second condition of repentance, right? Right.

[Bob Wilkin]

They had to turn away from sinful patterns and to be obedient to the stipulations of the covenant with God that they had. And this was a national matter for the Messiah's kingdom to be established. And had that generation done that with John the Baptist, with Jesus and the apostles, Jesus still have died and risen from the dead.

[Philippe Sterling]

Right.

[Bob Wilkin]

And ascended to heaven.

[Philippe Sterling]

That was required.

[Bob Wilkin]

That was required. But then within the seven year period of the 70th week of Daniel, that would have been established. He would have returned and established the kingdom. Now the nations still would have suffered the persecution and all of that, but because they were in harmony with God, then all of the promises would have been fulfilled and. And Christ would have established a kingdom.

[Philippe Sterling]

Potentially in the first century.

[Bob Wilkin]

Right.

[Philippe Sterling]

Could have been as early as 40 AD. Yes, but because they did not, then we get 70 AD with the destruction of the temple, which Jesus had prophesied by the way, that there wouldn't be one stone left unturned. Also the death of over a million Jews. And also they were kicked out of the promised land until 1948.

[Bob Wilkin]

Yes, now they have to return. But Zechariah talks about a time yet to come where the nation will finally acknowledge the one whom they have pierced, and then he will return.

[Philippe Sterling]

And the one whom they've pierced who is returning is the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, but at the end of the Tribulation, Israel will fulfill what it didn't do in the first century. That is, it will be a believing nation, so that all of the adult Jews will be believing in him. Any unbelieving adult Jews would have died during the Tribulation, but secondarily, they will all be calling on the name of the lord, like Romans 10:13 and Joel 2,32, they'll all be calling on the Lord in terms of corporate worship, because they're all going to be in fellowship with him, right?

[Bob Wilkin]

Yes.

[Philippe Sterling]

And so they'll meet that requirement. And so at the end of the Tribulation, he'll set foot on the Mount of Olives and he will destroy all the enemies of Israel at Armageddon.

[Bob Wilkin]

Yes. Now this could have happened in the first century had the end, the nation as a whole repented of sins and experiencing the cleansing, a cleansing for fellowship and communion with the Lord. And then even though persecuted, you know, still would have been preserved in some fashion and the return of Christ would have occurred.

[Philippe Sterling]

Okay, so coming Back to Luke 33, what was the purpose of John's baptism? We're told it was a baptism of repentance. But why did he baptize people? Because the prophets in the Old Testament for the most part, were not baptizing people. But here we have now this forerunner of the Messiah and he's baptizing people.

[Bob Wilkin]

So he is preparing for the Messiah.

[Philippe Sterling]

Isaiah 40.

[Bob Wilkin]

Isaiah 40. So it was to prepare a people to receive Christ and the kingdom and the kingdom.

[Philippe Sterling]

So ultimately this repentance was not some tangent. This was central to the kingdom coming.

[Bob Wilkin]

Absolutely.

[Host]

We will rejoin in just a moment. But years ago, Zane Hodges wrote the Gospel Under Siege. Sadly, this is still true. And GES president Bob Wilkin has recently written its sequel. Bob's new book, the Gospel is Still Under Siege is a book about theological clarity on the biblical teaching about eternal salvation. It is available now. Secure yours today at the Grace Evangelical Society's bookstore. Find [e-mail] store. That's faithalone.org store. Now back to today's content.

[Philippe Sterling]

We shouldn't just think John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus were only seeking to get individuals born again. Right. They were there to prepare the nation so that the nation would receive Messiah in repentance and faith and the kingdom would come.

[Bob Wilkin]

Yes. Especially as we look at the Gospel of Matthew, we do see the preaching of John the Baptist and then the preaching of Christ, which is repent and be ready.

[Philippe Sterling]

Right.

[Bob Wilkin]

And then in the sending forth of the apostles. And their first mission was to the house of Israel with a message of repentance?

[Philippe Sterling]

Absolutely. In fact, they were re offering the kingdom in the book of Acts early on. This is a dispensational perspective, of course. But had they have responded during the early preaching of the apostles, then the kingdom could have come, let's say in 50 or 60 or 65 AD. But because they didn't, it fell. Now let me give you a verse that relates to this. Matthew 12:41. Can you turn there? Matthew 12:41. This is where Jesus has been preaching in Israel and he's been calling upon the Jewish people to repent and they've been unresponsive to his ministry.

[Bob Wilkin]

And this is where Jesus says the men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

[Philippe Sterling]

What happened? If you read Jonah, chapter three, Jonah comes in and says 40 days, and then comes destruction. Nineveh is going to be destroyed. All the people, men, women and children, they're all going to die in 40 days. What do they do?

[Bob Wilkin]

They repent on sackcloth and ashes and even on the animals themselves. And the king himself lays aside his robe, sits down in a pile of dust, and as a result, God relents of that destruction.

[Philippe Sterling]

Jonah 3:10 says that. It says because they turned from their wicked ways. So coming back to Paul's question, was he calling them to turn from all their sin? Well, he said renounce. Renounce is probably the wrong word, because renouncing your sins isn't quite the same as turning from them. They turned from their wicked ways. And it says God saw their works. Repentance is a work. And, and Israel needed to turn from its wicked ways. Now, fortunately, idolatry wasn't a major problem, or at least as major a problem at the time of Christ as it had been during much of Israel. Right?

[Bob Wilkin]

Yes. After the exile and everything, the Jews as a people turn away, it seemed, from idolatry, you know, for centuries. But yet, you know, where they're willing to acknowledge the their dependence on God and receive the promised Messiah as Isaiah had forecasted as Genesis 3:15 and all of that.

[Philippe Sterling]

And they were still a corrupt, wicked people. Even their religious leaders were seeking the acclaim of men. They were doing these long prayers so that people would be impressed. They were giving their money so people would be impressed.

[Bob Wilkin]

There was a great deal of economic corruption that was occurring where they, of course, Jesus cleansing the temple at the beginning of his ministry and then again at the end.

[Philippe Sterling]

Exactly. And that was what they needed to turn from all of these things. But here, here's my point. If you think of Matthew 12:41 implicitly, what the Lord Jesus is saying is, because you didn't repent in my preaching, you're going to experience what Nineveh didn't. You're going to be destroyed.

[Bob Wilkin]

Yes.

[Philippe Sterling]

And it wasn't going to be 40 days. It was going to be more like 40 years. But it was going to OCC. And that's what happened in AD 70. So I think it's important to recognize that Israel needed as a nation to be believing and repentant. And if they weren't, the kingdom was not going to come. And that will happen at the end of the tribulation. But we need to avoid the error which so many people make of saying so in order to be born again, you've got to repent and believe.

[Bob Wilkin]

Yeah. There's that distinction between believing for everlasting life and repentance and works for reward and for experiencing fellowship and harmony with God.

[Philippe Sterling]

That's on the individual level. But on the national level, if Israel does not repent, the kingdom's not going to come. And on the national level, we've seen this before. God didn't allow the Canaanites to be destroyed for 400 years because their sins were not yet filled up.

[Bob Wilkin]

And God is forbearing Second Peter not willing that any should perish. Have that destruction occur.

[Philippe Sterling]

Yeah, because he's very, very long suffering, very forbearing, very loving, very merciful, very gracious. Well, thanks so much Paul. Great question. You know, I love this issue of repentance. In fact, I have a book called Turn and the Power of repentance from Ezekiel 18 and Ezekiel 31 that expression turn and live occurs. Check it out if you get a chance. Go to faithalone.org of course there's a.

[Bob Wilkin]

Book by Zinn Hodges, Harmony with God.

[Philippe Sterling]

It's great, it's powerful. So you might check that book out as well. Well, thanks so much. And Philippe, what are we going to do?

[Bob Wilkin]

We're going to keep grace in focus.

[Host]

We invite you to check out our Monday, Wednesday and Friday five minute YouTube videos at YouTube Grace Evangelical Society. You will love the content and learn a lot. Maybe you've got a question or comment or feedback. If so, please send us a message. Here's our email address. It's radioaithalone.org that's radioaithalone.org Please make sure your question is as succinct and clear as possible. That would be a great big help. Come back for our next episode talking about a Muslim convert being baptized against parents wishes. Hope to see you then. And in the meantime, let's keep grace in focus.

[Bob Wilkin]

The proceeding has been a listener supported ministry from the Grace Evangelical Society.