When you first come to Christ, many traditions and practices can feel confusing. You may see people observing Lent, receiving ashes on their foreheads, or speaking about a forty-day spiritual journey before Easter. The language sounds serious and reverent. It often includes Bible verses about repentance, prayer, and fasting.
So what should a new believer think?
Let’s walk through this carefully and slowly.
What Is Lent?
Lent is a forty-day season leading up to Easter. It is traditionally a time of reflection, fasting, repentance, and preparation to remember Christ’s death and resurrection.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent in many churches. On that day, ashes are placed on the forehead as a symbol of mortality and repentance.
The themes themselves are biblical.
Repentance is biblical.
Fasting is biblical.
Prayer is biblical.
Humility is biblical.
But here is the key question:
Did Jesus or the apostles command believers to observe Lent?
The answer is no.
What the Bible Actually Commands
1. Repentance
Joel 2:12–13 says:
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to Me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Notice something important. God says, “Rend your hearts, not your garments.” He is concerned with inward repentance, not outward ritual.
In the New Testament, repentance is not seasonal. It is ongoing.
1 John 1:9 says:
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
That is daily living. Not a once-a-year observance.
2. Fasting
Jesus said in Matthew 6:16–18:
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites… that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret.”
Jesus assumes believers will fast. But He warns against outward religious display.
That is important when we consider visible ash markings or public fasting seasons. The danger is not that fasting is wrong. The danger is when fasting becomes external, structured, and visibly symbolic in a way that could drift toward what Jesus warned about.
3. Special Days and Religious Calendars
Paul addresses religious observances directly in Colossians 2:16–23:
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”
He continues:
“Why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—‘Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch’… according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion… but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”
Paul warns against man-made religious systems that appear spiritual but are not commanded by Christ.
Then in Romans 14:5 he says:
“One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.”
That means this:
Lent is not required.
You are not spiritually deficient if you do not observe it.
And no church has authority to bind your conscience where Scripture does not.
The Cross Is Not Seasonal
Jesus said in Luke 9:23:
“If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
Daily.
The Christian life is not built around spiritual seasons. It is built around daily surrender to Christ.
You do not move toward the cross once a year. You live at the cross every day.
Why We Must Be Careful with Roman Catholic Traditions
Now we need to address something carefully and honestly.
Lent and Ash Wednesday are strongly associated with Roman Catholic tradition. As believers who hold to Scripture alone as our final authority, we must examine doctrine by the Word of God.
This is not about attacking people. It is about guarding the gospel.
1. Salvation: Grace Alone or Grace Plus Works?
The Bible teaches clearly:
Ephesians 2:8–9:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Salvation is a gift. Not earned. Not maintained by rituals. Not strengthened by penance.
Good works follow salvation (Ephesians 2:10), but they do not cause it.
Many Catholic teachings blend faith and works within the sacramental system in a way that Protestants believe compromises the sufficiency of Christ’s finished work.
Jesus said on the cross:
“It is finished.” (John 19:30)
Finished means complete.
2. Mary and the Saints
Catholics speak of “veneration,” not worship, when it comes to Mary and the saints. However, prayers directed to Mary or departed saints raise serious biblical concerns.
1 Timothy 2:5 says:
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
One mediator.
Not Mary. Not saints. Christ alone.
When prayer is directed toward anyone other than God, even with good intentions, it crosses into dangerous territory.
3. Purgatory
The idea of purgatory — a place where souls are purified after death — is not found in Scripture.
Hebrews 9:27 says:
“It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.”
There is no intermediate purification process described in the New Testament for believers.
Romans 8:1 says:
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Christ’s blood fully cleanses. It does not partially cleanse.
4. Tithes and Financial Obligation
In the Old Testament, Israel was commanded to tithe under the Mosaic Law.
In the New Testament, giving is described differently.
2 Corinthians 9:7 says:
“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
New Covenant giving is voluntary and joyful. Not enforced as a law tied to salvation or spiritual standing.
Why Scripture Must Be Our Anchor
As a new believer, this is the foundation you must hold tightly:
The Bible is the final authority.
Jesus is the only mediator.
Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone.
Christ’s work on the cross is complete.
Church history can contain helpful practices. But traditions must always be tested against Scripture.
Acts 17:11 praises the Bereans because:
“They received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”
That is your model.
Final Word
If you are not convicted to observe Lent, you are not resisting God.
If you are walking in the Spirit, repenting daily, trusting Christ fully, and clinging to Scripture, you are not lacking anything.
The Christian life is not built on ashes.
It is built on the finished work of Jesus Christ.
And that work is sufficient.
