WHAT IS REPENTANCE?

Mike Johnson

What is Repentance?This is a crucial question.  It is essential to understand the meaning of repentance because repentance is necessary for salvation.  In Acts 2:38, Peter told the people they needed to repent (in addition to being baptized) for the remission of sins.  Thus, repentance is undoubtedly essential.

There are several words which occur in the original language translated repent.  One of these words means sorrow or regret.  This word is not the same word found in Acts 2:38.  Many people are sorrowful about their sins, but few are willing to repent in the real sense of what repentance is.  For example, the Bible tells us that Judas repented (Mt. 27:3) after he betrayed Christ.  The word used here, in the original, means sorrow.  He did not repent in the sense of what God requires of sinners.  Sorrow is involved in repentance, but it is not, within itself, repentance.  2 Corinthians 7:10 tells us that godly sorrow “worketh,” or produces repentance, so “godly sorrow” is not the same thing as repentance.

What then is repentance?  The Bible defines it for us.  In Matthew 12:41, Jesus referred to what had happened at Nineveh when Jonah preached there.  Jesus said that the people of Nineveh repented.  Now, what did they do?  From Jonah 3:6-8, we see that there was sorrow involved.  However, verse ten points out that they “turned from their evil way.”  The repentance God requires of us in such passages as Acts 2:38, Luke 13:3, Acts 17:30, and Acts 11:18 means “a change of heart or attitude toward one’s sin that results in a reformation of life.”

There are at least three factors pointed out in the Bible, which can cause repentance.  As we have already noted, the first is godly sorrow (2 Cor. 7:10).  A second factor is God’s goodness (Rom. 2:4), while a third factor is the judgment which is to come (Acts 17:30-31)

Repentance is required to become a Christian (Acts 2:38) as well as for the Christian who sins (Acts 8:13, 18-22).

In closing, consider Acts 17:30, which says, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.”  Have you repented?