Mark records Jesus` first words: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is near! Repent and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15). “Repent and believe.” Jesus says, change your mind and be convinced – accept this new good way as truth. Why is “and believing” important? Why is faith important? Well, because you can repent, change your mind, be convinced that something is wrong, and then take another wrong path. Or maybe you see the wrong thing, but don`t believe that Jesus is the way to do things right. The true penitent is aware of guilt (Psalm 51:4, 9), pollution (51:5, 7, 10), and helplessness (51:11; 109:21, 22). He therefore understands that he is exactly what God has always seen him and what he claims to be. But repentance includes not only such a feeling of sin, but also a concern for mercy, without which there can be no true repentance (Psalm 51:1; 130:4). 1. The verb metamelomai is used for a change of heart, for example to evoke regret or even remorse for sin, but not necessarily a change of heart. This word is used in reference to the repentance of Judas (Matthew 27:3).
No one regretted his wickedness. Jeremiah 8:6 Jonah prays, gets spat on dry land, and God tells him once more to go to Nineveh. Jonah too. He walks through the city shouting that Nineveh will be overthrown in 40 days. The people of Nineveh immediately reacted with fear and respect. Even the king rises from his throne and asks the whole city to humble themselves, turn away from their evil ways, and sincerely cry out to God, hoping that He will show them mercy. And God does. So this is the greater part of Jonah`s story, but there are many other biblical stories that teach us what repentance is and how to repent. If you do not repent, you will all perish in the same way. Luke 13. Acts 3. Our English Bible often mentions repentance, which most interpret as regret.
As such, it seems to be a feeling rather than an action. We punish ourselves in our thoughts and feelings for what torments our soul. Moreover, the remorse often seems to never end. In a biblical context, repentance means acknowledging that our sin is offensive to God. Repentance can be superficial, like the remorse we feel out of fear of punishment (like Cain), or it can be profound, like recognizing how much our sins cost Jesus Christ and how His saving grace cleanses us (like Paul`s conversion). Thank you for your words of encouragement Robert! God`s grace and mercy are amazing, and repentance is part of His beautiful plan. 🙂 The process of repentance only makes sense if there is a place to return. And this became possible thanks to Jesus, our Messiah.
He opened the doors for us so that we could return to the Father. So, if Teshuva means “to return,” then instead of fearing it, it can become the most beautiful experience for any believer. When you read the Bible, knowing a few Hebrew words will always improve your understanding. In Paul`s letters, the verb metanoeo [metanoevw] appears only once (2 Cor 12:21) and the name metanoia [metanoevw] four times (Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:9 2 Corinthians 7:10; 2 Tim 2:25). The negative word “unrepentant” appears in Romans 2:5. Many conclude that for Paul, the broader concepts of “faith” (pistis [pivsti”]) and “believe” (pisteuo [pisteuvw]) include the idea of repentance. As mentioned earlier, Luke joined them in his account of Paul`s preaching at Ephesus (Acts 20:21). Thank you for your encouragement and feedback, Eric! What great insight into the deeper meaning of repentance. I didn`t know the word in Hebrew. I love the idea of “EYES COME OPEN”. This fits well with how we can respond to truth 1. 🙂 feeling pain, sadness or regret for something done or said; how to regret having wasted a lot of time in idleness or sensual pleasure; regretting hurting or hurting a friend`s feelings.
A person only regrets what he himself has done or said. Like many others, I believed that repentance meant feeling really bad or ashamed. I thought it meant being full of grief or even self-hatred. English secular definitions of repentance are not far from this. To repent and to convert meant to obey God`s revealed will, to trust in Him, to turn away from all evil and ungodliness. Every man must “turn away from his evil way” (Jeremiah 26:3; 36:3). Amos lamented God that, despite all that He had done for or for the people, “you have not returned to me” (4:4, 8–11). Hosea anticipated the day when Israel would “return and seek the Lord their God and David their King” (3:5).
So he asked them to return to the Lord their God and say, “Forgive all our sins and receive us with mercy” (14:2b). It is very difficult to express the true idea of rethinking sin when we translate the word “repentance” from the New Testament into other languages. The Latin version gives “good repentance” (poenitentiam agere). But “repentance” etymologically means pain, sorrow, distress, not a change of thought and purpose. Thus, Latin Christianity was corrupted by the pernicious error of portraying sorrow for sin instead of presenting the task of sin as the main idea of repentance in the New Testament. It was easy to make the transition from penance to penance, so Romanists present Jesus and the apostles as an invitation to repentance (poenitentiam agite). The English word “repentance” derives from the Latin repoenitere and inherits the guilt of the Latin, making grief the main idea and keeping it in the background, if not completely out of sight, the fundamental New Testament idea of a change of heart concerning sin. But the warnings of the ancient prophets, Jesus, and the apostles show that change of heart is the dominant idea of the words used, while the grief that accompanies it and the resulting reform of the nature of the Fall enter into the experience. When God calls us to repentance, He challenges us to taste and see that He is good (Psalm 34:8). He wants us to trust His truth and His ways, not our old ways of thinking (Proverbs 3:5). This is why we so often find repentance associated with faith.
Conviction is an invitation to repentance, not shame. It is a call to follow your own path to follow God`s way. By this definition, I find myself in a regular pattern of repentance. Through Bible study, fellowship, and prayer, God continues to change my perspective, change my mind, and convince me that God`s way is better and the way of life is better. God does not condemn us. He doesn`t ask us for tears and promises to do better or “fix” things. So how does He lead us to repentance? The Bible`s definition of true repentance is a transformation of thought that leads to a change in action. As Paul said, “Do not allow yourselves to be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your minds, that you may prove what the good, pleasant, and perfect will of God is” (Romans 12:2). Thus, you repent by being changed in your thoughts and beliefs. When you act in accordance with your change of mind, you show your remorse.
Jonah`s story is one of the best examples of repentance in the Bible, not only for Jonah, but for everyone else in history. The Hebrew word naham is an onomatopoeic term that implies difficulty breathing, hence “gasping”, “sighing”, “moaning”. Of course, this meant “complaining” or “crying,” and if emotion was evoked by the desire for good for others, it was confused with compassion and sympathy, and if stimulated by a consideration of one`s character and actions, it meant “repentance,” “repent.” In order to adapt language to our understanding, God is portrayed as repentant when belated punishments are finally to be imposed or when impending evil has been averted by a true Reformation (Genesis 6:6; Jonah 3:10). This word is translated as “repentance” about 40 times in the Old Testament and refers to God in almost all cases. The basic idea is not the personal relationship to sin, neither in one`s experience of sorrow, nor in the renunciation of a wrong path. But the consequences of sin are manifested in its use. God`s heart is grieved by man`s iniquity, and in love He gives His grace, or in righteousness He puts an end to His mercy. This shows God`s excited emotions that cause Him to treat people differently. Similarly, it is only in this case that the consciousness of personal transgression is evident when used in relation to man. This distinction in the application of the word is signified by statements such as “God is not man, that he may repent” (1 Samuel 15:29; Job 42:6; Jeremiah 8:6). There are some fundamental truths we need to understand about repentance for it to be meaningful.
First of all, it is always a good time to repent, and it is never too late. If the Bible teaches us anything about forgiveness, it is that it is always “on the table.” But it is up to us to achieve it. Since this is a biblical concept, let me emphasize its Hebrew significance here. The Hebrew word we translate as “repentance” is teshuva (תשובה, pronounced “die-shoo-vah”). And teshuva is much more than a feeling of guilt or regret. In fact, it derives from the verb “return”! This message comes at the right time for me, as I move away from terrible guilt and shame to want to change, but it wouldn`t change me.