What is repentance in the Bible? Let me begin with a simple example.
Have you ever been lost while driving?
I remember one evening when I went to the airport to pick some family friend who was arriving. After I picked him up, we got in the car and I began to drive. But as we were chatting away, I took the wrong exit and instead of heading northeast on the highway, I started heading southwest.
I know the area very well. But being night and being involved in conversation, it took me about 20 minutes before I realized I was heading away from home instead of towards it.
When I did realize I felt foolish. And do you know what I did? Guess!
Correct. I got off the highway and rejoined the side that was heading northeast. I corrected my earlier mistake and began to head home.
Have you ever felt that your life is heading in the wrong direction? Well, there is still time to correct this and begin to head home.
In the previous study we learnt about Jesus, and what
His perfect life and death on the cross accomplished. In this study, we will
learn how we can turn our life around and claim His accomplishments on our
behalf. We will study repentance in the Bible.
Here is a simple Biblical truth: Every person is a sinner!
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
“They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, no, not one” (Psalm 14:3).
Note the word “all.” There is no exception. Jesus is the only person in the history of this earth who was sinless.
Some are aware of their sinfulness; others are not. I hear many say, “I am a good person.” Maybe you feel this way too. It is good to be good. Do others think you are good? Maybe if we ask your spouse, or friend, or neighbor, or colleague, maybe they will tell a different story.
But even if you are a good person, you are not sinless. Look at the Ten Commandments. Have you never lied? Coveted something that is not yours? Indulged in impure thoughts? Gossiped? Became angry?
The standards of God are extremely high, and we have all failed them in some way. I am not saying this to make you feel bad. It is simply the reality.
But there is no need to fret. God knows this already. Therefore, He notifies us in Romans 3:23 and Psalm 14:3 quoted above, and many more texts, that we are indeed sinners. He does not tell us to upset us. Or to make us despondent. He just shares with us the reality, in order that we can ask for the solution He has provided.
And that solution to the problem of sin is Jesus Christ! Hallelujah!
That is a good question to ask. This question was also asked to the Apostle Peter. Peter had just preached a beautiful sermon about Jesus and as the crowd listened, they became aware of their own sinfulness:
“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’” (Acts 2:37).
Peter replied with the following extremely important words:
“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
He tells them they need to do two things:
Repent
Be baptized
When a person does these two things, their sins are forgiven, they are right with God and receive salvation. And God will give them the Holy Spirit.
Let us look at another text:
“And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned’” (Mark 16:15-16).
Here Jesus commands His disciples to preach the gospel to all the world and promises that a person who does two things will be saved. What are the two things?
Believe
Be baptized
Let us look at one more text. Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus and makes the following amazing statement:
“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).
Jesus is telling Nicodemus that if he wants to be in God’s kingdom, i.e. if he wants to be saved, he needs two things:
Be born of the Spirit
Be born of water
All three texts indicate that a person needs two things to receive salvation. But what exactly are these two things?
The three texts quoted above say three different things about what I need to do before baptism. I need to:
Repent (Acts 2:38)
Believe (Mark 16:16)
Be born of the Spirit (John 3:5)
What do these three expressions mean? Are they referring to the same thing or to something different?
The answer is simple. They refer to three aspects of the same thing.
Allow me to explain by referring to the incident I mentioned in the introduction. Instead of driving northeast, I was driving southwest. I was driving in the wrong direction and was not even aware of it.
But then I became aware of it. I looked at the signs on the road and they were indicating I was moving away from home instead of towards it. Then I double-checked and realized that was indeed the case. And then I got off the highway and rejoined it heading northeast.
Repentance in the Bible works in a similar way. A sinner lives away from God and may not realize His/her need for God. But then something happens, and they realize that things are amiss. This “something” or rather Someone, who alerts us that our life is moving in the wrong direction, is none other than the Holy Spirit. He can talk to you through a person; or through something you read; or by raising the right questions and thoughts in your mind. And He will draw your attention to Jesus.
But then you need to check that Jesus is indeed the right Person to follow. You have to believe. So, you may take time to think, to pray, to study, to research, to talk with others. Or it may come as a strong thought in your mind, and you just know that Jesus is the only Savior, the only person worth following.
Once you have believed this, in a true and honest way, the natural thing is to change the direction of your life. Just like I changed the direction of my travel. Instead of living away from God, you begin to live with and for God.
So, the three expressions, “born of the Spirit,” “believe,” “repent,” really describe three aspects of the same thing – the realization that your life is missing God, and the decision to turn back to God.
Most people, when they hear the word “repent” they think of someone who did something wrong and feels sorry about it. That is ok. But this is only a small part of repentance in the Bible.
To understand repentance in the Bible, we need to look at the Greek word translated “repent;” the verb metanoeō. It is a compound word, i.e. two words joined to make one word, meta + noeō.
Meta, means to “change direction.” For example, when the Greek Army is marching and the officer wants the soldiers to change the direction of the march, he will shout the word meta and then will add volē, which means “change the direction of your march and start moving in the opposite direction.”
Meta therefore indicates not a slight adjustment, but a complete change of direction.
Noeō, refers to our mind, the way we think.
To put it simply, metanoeō means to change the way you think and behave and move back in the opposite direction. Instead of going away from God, turn back to God from Who we originally came from.
In light of this, metanoeō does not have to do with feelings, feeling sorry about something wrong that you have done. It has to do with an intelligent, intentional decision to abandon a life of sin and choose a life with God.
Life with God is a life of obedience. God’s will is expressed in the Ten Commandments. Repentance in the Bible, therefore, means to accept God’s commandments as the rule of life for my life, and choose to live in harmony with God’s expressed will.
Believe is part and parcel of repentance in the Bible.
There are two kinds of “believe.” One is a mere acknowledgment that something is true. James explains:
“You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe -- and tremble!” (James 2:19).
Factual acknowledgment is a good place to begin but is not enough. Even the demons have such a faith!
To believe in Jesus means not only to accept factually that Jesus died for my sins, but to entrust my life in His care.
An acrobat once tied a rope across two sides of a large waterfall and stated that he was planning to walk on it. A crowd gathered to witness the dangerous undertaking.
The acrobat stood and asked the crowd: “Do you believe I can walk on the rope from one side of the waterfall to the other and back without falling?” Some in the crowd said yes, others hesitated.
The man then began to walk on the rope. The crowd held its breath in worry. If he fell, he would surely die. The walk was completed without incident. The crowd sighed a sigh of relief and cheered.
The acrobat then announced that he would walk on the rope again, but this time pushing a wheelbarrow. A much more difficult undertaking. “Do you believe I can do it?” He asked again.
By this time, impressed by his first successful
attempt, they all started shouting that he could. One man was especially vocal
in his support, "I believe you can do it, I believe you can do it."
The acrobat turned to this man. “Are you sure you believe I can do it?”
“I am sure you can!” Replied the man.
“Are you totally sure?”
“1000 per cent!” Shouted the man.
“Ok then, get in the wheelbarrow,” offered the acrobat.
The man frowned and walked away. He believed the acrobat could do it but didn’t want to entrust his life to the acrobat.
The man did the right thing to walk away. Why risk his life for no obvious reason?
But sometimes, the faith believers put in Christ is equally shallow. They proclaim to believe but whenever a difficulty appears, they walk away, compromise.
To believe in Jesus means not only to accept factually
that He died on the cross on my behalf. It means to entrust my life in His
care. To choose to live with Him the way He wants me to live. Exactly as was
the case with the word metanoeō, what repentance in the Bible is.
We saw above that both the words “repent” (metanoeō) and “believe” have a deeper significance that may at first appear. What about the expression “born of the Spirit?”
To be “born of the Spirit” means to live a life guided by the Holy Spirit.
“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).
“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
In a subsequent study we will see how the Holy Spirit makes us holy and equips us to help others. To be “born of the Spirit” means to be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to do His work of transformation in my life.
The three expressions, repent, believe, be born of the Spirit all indicate not an emotional feeling, but a lifelong decision that I now belong to God and will live according to His will.
Ok, so I have felt the Holy Spirit moving in my heart, I have believed that Jesus is the only Savior, and I choose to live my life with God. What next?
The three texts we looked at above, make it clear what the next step is:
Peter said be “baptized” (Acts 2:38)
Jesus said be “baptized” (Mark 16:16)
Jesus said be “born of water” (John 3:5)
To be born of water means to be baptized. When a person goes into the water, it symbolizes the death of the old life. When the person comes out of the water, it symbolizes the beginning of a new life with Christ. A new birth. You can read more about baptism in the relevant study.
So, after a person has repented/believed/been born of the Spirit, the next step is baptism.
When God invited Israel to be His people, He asked them if they were willing to obey Him, especially the Ten Commandments which are the heart of the covenant between God and His people. Three times they replied in the affirmative:
“Then all the people answered together and said, ‘All that the Lord has spoken we will do’” (Exodus 19:8).
“And all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words which the Lord has said we will do’” (Exodus 24:3).
“Then he [Moses] took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, ‘All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient’” (Exodus 24:7).
Three times they promised to keep God’s commandments. But we know that immediately afterwards they broke the commandments when they made the golden calf.
God knew they would. But He nonetheless made the covenant with them, knowing they would break it.
But imagine if they had said, “No we won’t keep God’s commandments.” Or, “we will keep nine of God’s Ten Commandments.”
Do you think God would have made the covenant with them? Probably not!
What I am saying is this. When I accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord, I am making a vow, a promise to follow God’s will, to keep His commandments. In all likelihood, I will at some point fail. Maybe many times.
But there is a difference if I say, “I accept God’s commandments” and then fail at some point or at many points; from saying “I do not accept them.”
In the first instance I accept but fail because of human weakness. In the latter instance I refuse God’s authority.
This is why in the covenant God made there was forgiveness for human failings, but there was no forgiveness when sin was committed in willing open defiance to God’s will.
What this means for you and me is this. I need to accept God’s will for my life as expressed in the Ten Commandments and vow to follow them. Along the way I will fall; but I will rise again and continue in my walk of faith.
“For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity” (Proverbs 24:16).
God will not judge us so much on performance but on commitment. Commit to Him and He will gradually and eventually fully write His commandments on your heart:
“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jeremiah 31:33).
Repentance in the Bible can be summed up in the following statement/prayer. If you want to experience forgiveness pray this prayer aloud.
Dear Jesus I know you died for me. I believe it.
I recognize that you are the only Savior. I ask You to forgive me my past sins and empower me to live a life in farmony to Your will and for Your glory! Amen!
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