Repentance is the most misunderstood word in the Bible.
Acts 17:29–31 “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”
Repent* covers any words that start with REPENT, such as repent, repentance, repented, repentest, repenteth, repenting, repentings
Repent* occurs 112 times in 105 verses of the Bible.
Repentance means “a change of mind.”
You can ask ministers in various denominations today, “what is the gospel?” You will get a variety of answers, even though “the gospel” by which we “are saved” is spelled out for you in 1 Corinthians 15:1-6.
In the same way you can ask about the word “repentance” and get varied answers. The problem is that most will answer that wrong even among Bible believing churches. That is a real cause for concern.
When they are honest about it, even those who hold to the false teachings and Calvinism and “Lordship salvation” will admit the word “repentance” means “a change of mind.” Among the more famous of the Lordship salvation teachers through his broadcasts is Reformed Baptist Pastor John F. MacArthur, Jr (Reformed Baptist means Calvinist). In his book The Gospel According To Jesus he writes this about the definition of repentance:
the Greek word for repentance, metanoia, literally means “to think after.” It implies a change of mind [emphasis added].
The basic point is that repentance means “a change of mind.” Men will insist on adding to that, like others do to the gospel.
Repentance in regards to receiving the free gift of eternal life by faith in Christ’s death for our sins, burial and resurrection from the dead is simply a change of mind from unbelief to belief. Jesus said to the Pharisees in John 8:24 “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” Salvation is by grace through faith in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Wrong Definitions
Repentance does not mean to be sorry.
Some have argued that you must weep and feel deep sorrow to be saved. While there is certainly nothing wrong with feeling deep sorrow and being emotionally upset about your sin, that is not what repentance means. Some even argue that most young people who are saved at an early age are not saved because they did not weep over their sins.
Where do they get this idea from?
2 Corinthians 7:10 “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”
Look at the verse again. Godly sorrow will work the right kind of repentance. So it is one of the things that can produce repentance, but it does not say that it is repentance. The goodness of God does the exact same thing and the goodness of God is not repentance either.
Romans 2:4 “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
Repentance does not mean to quit sinning
We have heard some well-known preachers say, “If you want to be saved, repent of your sins, turn from your sins.” If turning from your sins means to stop sinning, then people can only be saved if they stop sinning.
Did you quit sinning when you got saved? 1 John 1:10 “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
Some tell those they are witnessing to they have to quit or give up certain sins in order to be saved. For instance, if they notice the person they are witnessing to has cigarettes, they will tell them to have to get rid of their cigarettes to get saved – no joke. That is a matter of spiritual growth and has nothing to do with being saved. My uncle led his friend to Christ with a New Testament in one hand and a cigarette in the other.
Preaching that defines or implies repentance in regards to being born again means for you that change your conduct (stop sinning), causes real Christians to doubt their salvation since they are still sinning (and will as long as they are in their fleshly, corruptible body). So they get saved again and sometimes again and again. Which is utter nonsense. Did God give you ETERNAL LIFE as a FREE GIFT or not (John 3:16; Romans 6:23; Romans 5:15-18)? John 10:28 “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” What’s so hard to understand about that?
Some insist that the word “repent” or “repentance” be used in witnessing.
Like most cults that try to force fit works into salvation, many will insist you define repentance as a “turning from sins” and tell us you must use that word in every gospel tract and every time you tell someone about Jesus.
If you have to use the word repent, doesn’t it strike you kind of odd that the phrases “turn from your sin” and “repent of your sins” occur ZERO times in the Scripture. That’s odd! The Holy Spirit must have forgotten or He must not have read their literature before inspiring the Holy Scriptures.
If your salvation depends on that one word “repent,” then why does that word not occur even once in any form of the word in the following books of the Bible?
| Old Testament Books | Old Testament Continued | New Testament Books | New Testament Continued |
| Leviticus | Isaiah | John | James |
| Joshua | Lamentations | 1 Corinthians | 1 Peter |
| Ruth | Daniel | Galatians | 1 John |
| 2 Kings | Obadiah | Ephesians | 2 John |
| 2 Chronicles | Micah | Philippians | 3 John |
| Ezra | Nahum | Colossians | Jude |
| Nehemiah | Habakkuk | 1 Thessalonians | |
| Esther | Zephaniah | 2 Thessalonians | |
| Proverbs | Haggai | 1 Timothy | |
| Ecclesiastes | Malachi | Titus | |
| Song of Solomon | Philemon |
You got that right. Out of 27 New Testament books, 17 of them do not mention the word at all. Of the 39 Old Testament books, 21 do not mention the word in any form and of those that do, most mentions are of God repenting.
John is in that list, yet we read in John 20:31 “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” So the book that has John 3:16 and also the book that has 1 John 5:13 (that tells you that you can know you have eternal life) do NOT use the word repent in any of its forms even once. Is this an embarrassing blunder? Of course we should note that the words faith and believe (believ*) occurs 101 times in the book of John alone.
In the book of Romans the only two uses of repentance are in relation to Israel. Chapter 2 of Romans convinces Israel that they are sinners just like the Gentiles. Chapter 11 deals with Israel’s rejection by God is only temporary. Let’s see both verses.
Romans 2:4 “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
Romans 11:29 “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
So not one time in chapter 3 where salvation is so clearly laid out, in chapter 4 where it is so clearly illustrated, in chapter 10 where it tells us how to receive, or the rest of the 16 chapters does the word occur. Isn’t that odd IF repentance means to “turn from your sins.” Yes it would be. Especially since faith and believe (believ*) occure 64 times.
No wonder these confused preachers present it as what is missing in preaching today. Their misuse and misdefining of repentance is not just missing from sound Bible preaching, the Holy Ghost excluded it in 16 New Testament books including the Romans road chapters and the entire books of John and Galatians where salvation are major topics. Even 1 Corinthians that spells out “the gospel” by which we are saved doesn’t contain the word repent in any form in the entire book.
Somebody is confused. Either the Spirit of God is confused or they are. Well, we know which of the two it is. Romans 3:4 “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.”
Things That Are Different Are Not The Same
Jesus is the only way to be saved (Acts 4:10-12; John 14:6). Therefore Allah, Muhammad, Buddha, and other religions are not the way. They are different.
Salvation by grace through faith is not the same as salvation by works!
Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Romans 4:2–5 “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
Our part in salvation is that we are ungodly, guilty sinners. Any attempt to include man’s efforts, works, reforms, etc., are perverting the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-6; Galatians 1:6-9).
Repentance and God
God repents 28 times in the Old Testament. Another nine passages tells things God about which will not repent.
They want us to believe that repent means to “turn from sin,” “quit sinning,” “be willing to turn from your sin”? Well, then you would make God a sinner then.
Psalm 110:4 “The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever After the order of Melchizedek.”
Jeremiah 18:5–10 “Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.”
The false notion of turn from sin will not work. First of all, God has no sin to turn from (1 John 3:5). Secondly, in the two passages above, a change of mind is the only definition that will work.
Repentance and Old Testament Israel
Let us first say in regards to Israel and to the Old Testament that emphasis was on physical life, a literal land inheritance, and being a good citizen in a country. These are vastly different subjects than that of the salvation of your soul. You must get this difference in order to rightly divid the word of truth (1 Timothy 2:15).
Ezekiel 18:30–32 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.”
Notice the change of mind is given before and in addition to “turn yourselves from all your transgressions.” This has to do with the ruin of the people that leads to physical death (Proverbs 16:25) and not receiving the free gift of eternal life. You will never find a verse that deals with the salvaiton of your souls that says “turn yourselves,” but rather “not of yourselves” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Matthew is a transitional book with the emphasis on Israel. In Matthew 3 John shows up. His baptism is explained in Acts 19:4 “Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”
John the Baptist is specifically preaching about the literal and visible kingdom promised to Israel, known as the kingdom of heaven. Remember the emphasis on being a good citizen regarding Israel. This kingdom is physical in nature (Matthew 8:11), while the kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom (Romans 14:17). Both will be unified under the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 3:2 “And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 3:8–9 “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”
Above, they were to have a change of mind about things. Additionally, they were to bring for “fruits meet for” (fitting or matching their professed) their change of mind.
When the context has to do with God demanding good conduct from Israel or a group of people to stave off their physical judgment, then obviously a change of mind they will have to produce more than lip service saying they have repented (changed their minds). For example, look at the book of Jonah in relation to Nineveh.
Matthew 12:41 “The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.”
Repentance In The Book Of Revelation
Revelation 2:5 “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”
Revelation 2:16 “Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.”
Revelation 2:21–22 “And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.”
Revelation 3:3 “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”
Revelation 3:19 “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”
Revelation 9:20–21 “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”
Revelation 16:9–11 “And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.”
The references in Revelation chapters 2 or 3 are aimed at the church getting right. They are already saved and are facing discipline. Chapters 9 and 16 of Revelation is directed at the lost who refused to change their minds about their wicked deeds.
Charles C. Ryrie in A Survey of Bible Doctrine he writes a nice summary in this manner:
To repent is to change your mind. However, this only defines the word, not the concept, for you need to ask, Change your mind about what? Depending on how you answer that question, repentance might be a synonymous concept to believing in Christ or it might become an additional requirement for salvation. If repentance is understood to mean changing your mind about your sin—being sorry for your sin—this will not necessarily save. There are plenty of criminals in and out of jails who are repentant in this sense. They are sorry for making certain mistakes, but this does not mean they give up a life of crime. People can be sorry for their sins without wanting to accept the forgiveness of a Saviour.
But if repentance means changing your mind about the particular sin of rejecting Christ, then that kind of repentance saves, and of course it is the same as faith in Christ. This is what Peter asked the crowd to do on the day of Pentecost. They were to change their minds about Jesus of Nazareth. Formerly they had considered Him to be only a blasphemous human being claiming to be God; now they changed their minds and saw Him as the God-man Saviour whom they would trust for salvation. That kind of repentance saves, and everyone who is saved has repented in that sense.
There is a third use of the concept of repentance and that is in the Christian life. A Christian needs to repent—that is, to change his mind about particular sins committed. If he does repent, then he will confess those sins and experience forgiveness.
Repentance and The Salvation of Your Soul
Gentiles needed a change of mind about the difference between their gods and the true God
Acts 17:29–31 “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”
Note: “Godhead” is the Bible word for the Trinity.
What sin sends people to hell? The answer is not believing on the Son.
John 3:18 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
2 Thessalonians 2:12 “That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
1 John 5:9–13 “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
So repentance in context of the salvation of your eternal soul and the receiving of the free gift of eternal life has to do with a change of mind from unbelief to belief in Jesus and the gospel.