I have to say, I find that notion unpalatable, especially when it flows from the heart of a "believer." Why do we treat this Creator, whose love and provision for us are beyond our own comprehension, with such callous indifference?
Let me show you what I mean.
First, we must understand that repentance (by the biblical definition) means to turn away from sin AND turn back to Yah's ways. So, let's use the example of drunkenness. If that is my sin, and I quit drinking only to replace that vice with another, getting my fix elsewhere, I have not repented. In order to repent, I must both quit drinking AND turn to His ways,meaning sobriety. Keeping that in mind, let's look at the notion that repentance to a loving Father is unnecessary.
I have a son. Let's say he is caught lying and I place him on restriction. He has behaved inappropriately and has been judged righteously. Everyone understands this. Ideally, he will, as a result of his punishment, re-evaluate his behavior and come to understand what he did wrong and why it is unacceptable. Certainly he will know of my disapproval. Let's say that he, of his own volition, comes to me with a sincere apology and admission of guilt. He takes responsibility and commits to not lying in the future. That would be repentance.
Has he earned my love? Of course not, I've always loved him. The rules are there because of my love. Even the punishment was out of love.
Now... because my love for him was never in jeopardy, is his sin irrelevant? Furthermore, is his repentance unnecessary? Of course not! We all know this! This is how we handle our own children as normal fallen human beings. Why in the world would we believe that our perfect, all-knowing Creator (whose children we are) wouldn't care about our sins and ESPECIALLY our repentance?
The thought is ludicrous. It is a highly self-centered belief born out of a stubborn will to do as we please and pay no consequences, not to mention a severe disregard of scripture's warnings to the contrary.
Our Father loves us. Yes - agreed. That love is the reason for His rules/instructions - Torah. Does He love us when we sin (defined in scripture as breaking Torah)? Yes! Are we still subject to the consequences of our sin? Yes! Why? Because He loves us! His correction is meant to guide us back to His ways - to repentance. His love for us was never in question, nor did it fail at any moment. However, we have no excuse. We are guilty of our sins, and we must come to repentance. It is not an option. Without repentance, we will not belong to Messiah!
To say that He loves me so much that I can do as I please and never repent is to be a spoiled brat, living in the arrogance of my own stubbornness. As children of the Most High, let us never be guilty of such insolence!
Let us come to our Father and confess and repent of our sins. Let us correct our course and enjoy the positive consequences - the blessings - of obedience and Torah! We can all agree that our world is losing its mind. We are closer to Messiah's coming kingdom than we have ever been. Let us be ready to meet Him on that day, and conduct ourselves in such as way as to please Him.
"For in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children'. Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead"
-Acts 17:28-31, NASB
