Most preachers today preach a Repent of your sins salvation.
Sin is the transgression of God's law. Sin is EVIL works. The opposite of sin is not Jesus. The opposite of sin is GOOD works. The opposite of sin is KEEPING God's law. Repenting of your sins, turning from your sins, is works so most preachers are preaching a works based salvation.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says For by grace are ye saved through faith, and not that of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of WORKS, lest any man should boast.
You are NOT saved by works. You are NOT saved by repenting of your sins, ie turning from your EVIL works. Not convinced? God told us in Jonah 3:10 And God saw their WORKS, that they TURNED from their EVIL ways. That alone says turning from your evil ways, turning from your evil works, turning from your sins is WORKS. The irony is the very next statement says... AND GOD REPENTED... God turned from His sins? No. God changed his mind and did not do the evil he said he would do to them.
Is repentance necessary for salvation? ABSOLUTELY Yes! You need to repent! You need to CHANGE YOUR MIND! Is your faith in good works? Change your mind and put your faith in Jesus. Is your faith in Muhammad? Change your mind and put your faith in Jesus. Is your faith in Buddha? Change your mind and put your faith in Jesus.
If your faith is in anything other than Jesus then REPENT, turn from whatever you have faith in, and put your faith in Jesus.
Nobody has faith that their sins will get them to heaven. You do not repent of your sins and turn to Jesus to be saved. Jesus is NOT the opposite of sin. The issue with salvation is FAITH not your sins.
If you want to know if a church is a good church... check out their statement of faith, if they have a website. If their statement of faith says the issue is your sins and you need to repent of your sins then RUN AWAY!
The Southern Baptist Convention has struggled with their statement of faith and the concept of repenting of your sins as a requirement for salvation for over a hundred years. They don't struggle any more. They now say you need to repent of your sins to be saved. They used to struggle with Calvinism as well. But, that struggle has ended and the SBC is now the Reformed Southern Baptist Calvinist Church Convention.
YES! Repentance IS necessary for salvation. Repent of whatever you have faith in and turn to Jesus and put your faith in him.