Acts 17:30

"The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent"The times of ignorance" The times previous to the preaching of the gospel. "God overlooked" Paul is not saying that ignorance was an excuse or that before Gentiles hear the gospel they are without sin, because we find many cases (in time past) which God held Gentiles accountable for their actions (the Flood, Genesis 20:7; the Canaanites, Genesis 15:16; Leviticus 18:1; and Gentiles in general, Romans 1:18). But the thought is that God generally allowed the Gentile nations to walk in their own ways of ignorance, without bringing immediate judgment upon them. At various times God punished the Gentiles (the Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, Egypt, Canaanites, Babylon, and Nineveh), but this was the exception and not the rule, compare with Acts 14:16 "And in the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own way". McGarvey notes, "By saying that God had overlooked the times of ignorance, Paul does not mean that He had excused it; for this would be inconsistent with this call to repentance" (p. 128). The call to repentance demonstrates that, while God had not immediately judged Athens for its sins, God does hold them presently accountable. Stott notes, "It is not that He did not notice it, for that He acquiesced in it as excusable, but that in His forbearing mercy He did not visit upon it the judgment it deserved" (p. 287).

Acts 17:30 "But now He commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent" The word repent infers that all men can change. Therefore the doctrines of predestination, total hereditary depravity and irresistible grace are false, because such doctrines are based upon the premise that man is too depraved to change, and that the gospel message is insufficient to convict the heart of the sinner. Without miraculous intervention from God on man's mind, no man would ever change. God has not predetermined who can be saved, and none have been excluded from salvation, apart from their own freewill choice (2 Peter 3:9). Any sin can be forsaken. There exists no sin that is impossible to flee (2 Timothy 2:22). Non-Christians are accountable to God's law and have sins of which they need to repent. Repentance is not an option for salvation, and person cannot be saved prior to repentance (Acts 2:38). All other religious systems are devoid of salvation. The Athenians were very religious, and yet they were commanded to repent. "The Epicurean might later regret some of the ways he had sought for pleasure but he would not repent. The Epicurean mind had little time for sorrow. The Stoic was ready to accept the consequences of his actions with. serene apathy. Either school of philosophy had little room for any idea that they needed repentance" (Reese p. 634). Note that many people want. substitute for repentance. They want to be able to say, "I'll accept the physical consequences of my sin so leave me alone", or, "I'm not whining or complaining due to the trouble my foolishness has caused me,. should get some credit for that". God will not accept anything, but true godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10; Psalms 51:17).