Acts 26:19-20 says, "Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared both to those in Damascus first and in Jerusalem and throughout all the country of Judea and to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance." If we read these two verses only, we would think that the only thing that Paul was preaching was repentance. Paul confessed before King Agrippa's judgment that his work was to cause men to repent and turn to God and do works worthy of repentance. If that was all, then the gospel according to Acts would not be a gospel of faith. In order to understand this verse, we must look at the previous passage. We cannot take a portion of Scripture out of context. It is unfair to do this. Verses 14-20 say, "And when we all fell to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads. And I said, Who are You, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you persecute. But rise up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a minister and a witness both of the things in which you have seen Me and of the things in which I will appear to you; delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me. Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared both to those in Damascus first and in Jerusalem and throughout all the country of Judea and to the Gentiles that they should repent." Why do they have to repent? It is because the Lord Jesus has accomplished the work of redemption. All those who believe in Him will surely obtain this redemption. Repentance is something for the believing ones. Everything is done. Now, all that is needed is to repent. What is to repent? Formerly, one says that there is no need to believe. Now, he says that he will believe. This is repentance.

Suppose I see a person today, and I preach the gospel to him, telling him that the Lord Jesus has accomplished everything. I may say, "My friend, you have to repent and believe in the Lord. As soon as you believe, you will be saved. You have to have a different view towards sin. You also have to have a different view towards faith in the Lord Jesus. You have to repent of your inward condition; in this way you will be able to believe." We can see that the repentance spoken of here is not a matter of works. How do we know that it is not a matter of works? It is because repentance is included in God's salvation. Repentance is a part of salvation. Not only does this repentance have nothing to do with man's work, but it becomes one item within the scope of faith. In the few verses that we just read, we can see one mysterious thing—that repenting is a part of believing. Without repentance, there cannot be faith. Hence, faith includes repentance, and repentance is in faith.