What is Repentance?

 Christian perspective.

When many of us think Repentance, we think:

• feeling really bad because we sinned
• promising God, and sincerely too, that we will never do it again
• trying to make things right (usually in order to escape the coming judgment) and making the decision to live a holy life from now on, etc.

But did you notice that there is no Saviour Jesus "who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed..." (Titus 2:14) in any one of the above scenarios of repentance? Also consider Matthew 1:21—

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

But Jesus does not do anything in that “human might and power-driven” kind of repentance, much less save you from your sins. It's all self. You have to save yourself from your sins, make restitution by yourself and live right on your own, or else. That is a Judas kind of repentance. It is not of Christ. Judas too repented- but towards self and not towards God. See this Matthew 27-

“3 Then Judas, which had betrayed Him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. 5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”

The above is repentance unto death and not repentance to life. Recall that Peter also committed a similar sin of betraying Jesus. Peter was sorry too, but he didn't go back to using the commands of the law to correct his lie in order to right himself with God, show how sorry he was or prove anything; he waited for and trusted/had faith in Jesus to do that for Him— to die for His sins. And that is the picture of true repentance; not towards self but towards God, and always accompanied by faith towards Jesus Christ, as it is written—

“testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts‬ 20‬:21‬ NKJV‬‬

Unlike Judas who trusted in his non-existent good/human effort to make things right by doing what the law conmands, Peter acknowledged the truth of Christ's word:

“There is none good but God."

By being steadfast in the faith (believing that what God’s word says about our forever right-standing with Himself and receiving every benefit that His gift of righteousness bestows on us in Christ Jesus), Peter resisted the devil; he resisted Satan's accusations and taunts of guilt in one's conscience that push many into dependence on human effort (the arm of flesh that will fail) to make them right with God. The result? Lyin’ Peter who denied Jesus three times was restored by Christ and given the charge of feeding Christ's sheep— only the one who acknowledges the utter weakness of his humanity to produce even an atom of good and trusts Christ as His good, only that one can feed and lead Christ’s flock aright— when the sheep in his congregation fail as Peter did with his denials, such a pastor will never whack them with more demands of the letter that kills as it did Judas who followed that path of self-justification; rather, he points the weak to Christ as their strength and salvation from those same sins.

So, Peter ended up preaching a sermon where 3,000 people got saved in public, in full glare of the same group who made him so afraid that he denied Jesus, and not because they were no longer trying to catch and kill Christ's followers. The threat to their lives was still very real.

The result of Judas’ kind of repentance has not changed. Judas repented and took the money back to the chief priests and elders in order to assuage his own guilt as well get back into God's good graces. In essence, he tried to do what the law commands in order to get right with God, an effort in futility according to God’s word—

“For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.” Romans‬ 3‬:20‬-22‬ ‬‬

So, Judas went the way of the law to right his wrong. See the NIRV version of the law-full Pharisees’ response to his attempted restitution:

“What do we care?” they replied. “That’s your problem.”

For his efforts, Judas became depressed and suicidal, just like many churchgoers who attempt to set themselves right with God or be godly (be like God) by human striving at obeying the law which kills and is the knowledge of good and evil like the tree of the same name. Did you know that HaSatan (the Satan) is literally “prosecutor at law” in Hebrew?” Judas was devoured by Satan the Accuser/Prosecutor at law who “goes about like a roaring lion…”— accusing people (even non-believers) of sins in the court of their conscience in order to get them to condemn themselves so that judgment can follow. Judas condemned himself and got devoured; he hanged himself. The wages of sin is death. No amount of restitution, law-keeping or good behaviour will suffice. Someone has to die. Christ took our condemnation and died our death.

Now to answer the question:) Sorry this is so long!

The Parable of the Lost Sheep shows us what true repentance is - a gift from God.

Luke 15: 4 - 7 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."

The sheep repented. But how? Let's note five points from this passage, bearing in mind that we are the sheep and Christ the Good Shepherd:

• The sheep got lost (it left the flock either by mistake or on purpose; bottomline is it got separated from the Shepherd)
• The Shepherd went to look for the sheep and found the sheep
• The Shepherd was not mad at the sheep when he found it. He didn't care if it was dirty, depressed, suicidal, addicted to drugs, alcohol or pornography, fornicating, gay, stealing, bleeding, sick, trapped in a thicket (aka held captive by various kinds of sins and addiction,) whatever. He didn't tell the sheep to "stop all the bad things you are doing or else I will not save you. In fact, I will let you rot here and punish you until you come back to your senses." Rather, He was ecstatic! He was just very happy to have found His greatly beloved sheep.
• After He found the sheep, the Shepherd carried it all the way home, on His shoulders, warts and all- rejoicing. He never asked it to walk by itself or do anything to make up for its bad behaviour or earn the right to be carried, protected and provided for. He rescued it from its predicament aka sickness, lack, depression, whatever ill.
• We know that the sheep repented because Jesus said "likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."

If you look closely, you'll find that the sheep did ONLY TWO THINGS in the passage. The first is it got LOST. The second, it CONSENTED/ALLOWED ITSELF TO BE CARRIED when it was found by the Shepherd. Neither involved determining by human effort (the arm of flesh which God's word says will fail) to put an end to being bad or doing good works in order to earn the right to be carried all the way home. It didn't try to use the Good Shepherd simply as a crutch seeing as some of its body parts were still functional aka that horrid neither cold nor hot/part-law and part-grace doctrine. The sheep admitted that it was utterly helpless and could do nothing by itself, just as Christ says in John 15:5-

“...for without Me you can do nothing."

Did you also notice that the sheep did not find its way to the Shepherd by itself, as it is written in John 6:44-

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day."

And there we were thinking that we, our Lord Jesus' sheep, in our own good sense and morality, decided to forsake sin and follow Jesus when in reality, it was our heavenly Father that made it happen!

The Shepherd did everything, as He is offering to carry all who are helpless in sin and addiction today. This great love and compassion aka the "goodness of God" shown to someone who has gone astray is what leads to true repentance. In order for repentance to take place, you need to see how utterly helpless and destined for hell you were without Christ, no matter how obedient you are; and this takes God’s grace as we see in the story of Cornelius' repentance to life in Acts 10-11; Peter's words did not even hint at that “stop bad; do good” repentance as the world knows it, yet the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard him.

But some Jews were aghast at Peter’s action— understand that Cornelius was a centurion, a position that a Roman soldier acquired by working his way up diligently from the bottom ranks of the Roman Legion. His subordinates were mostly infantry soldiers so if any crucifixion of a Jew was to take place, he gave the infantry direct orders to that effect; as a former infantry soldier, he had likely driven nails into the hands of many Jews and hoisted up several stakes himself! What’s more? He was still a centurion when Peter visited him and the Holy Spirit fell on him— the lost sheep found and carried with rejoicing by Christ despite the huge mess that is your life right now. But the religious Jews were shocked. How could Peter associate with this Gentile heathen Cornelius whose job it was to enforce the laws and implement the punishment of their Romans occupiers? Peter explained to them what happened and—

"When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”"

Repentance is a gift that is as a result of the goodness of God.

Repentance to life is not beating one's breast in regret for sins, engaging in acts of restitution to assuage one’s guilty conscience and promising God that one will be good from now on so that one can inherit eternal life as many agents of Satan preach from some pulpits today. That kind of Judas repentance smacks of self-righteousness (how could "I" have done this?) and leads to death. It also usually expresses itself when a person is (afraid of) suffering the consequences of particular actions, like Judas—-the goodness of God isn’t up for consideration in such repentance to self.

Also consider the prodigal son who went back home because he was hungry and not because he loved and missed the Father. He went back because he knew that the Father would show him some goodness. The prodigal son was going to ask to be hired as a servant so he could "earn his keep;" much like how many in the church who vow to do all sorts of religious or “good” things if "God would just help me this time." But all of that is not true repentance. In fact, it is Pride. God's word says “The arm of flesh will fail" and “There is none good but God", but man pridefully plods on in the same human strength/arm of flesh and trusts in his non-existent good to make things right with God who gave up His own Son to set us right with Himself. It is the goodness of God that leads to repentance. Romans 2:4-

"Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?"

But when it comes to repentance as the world knows it, the wrath of God or the fear of judgment is what leads to repentance. That is not true repentance. It is a Judas kind of repentance. It is penance—-paying for your own sins. But the only payment that will suffice is death. True repentance means changing your mind about God. The word “repentance” — metanoia in the original Greek text— is a merger of two Greek words:

meta — change

noia — mind

It means changing your mind about God— you used to see God as a harsh Taskmaster who is demanding obedience to the Ten Commandments and just waiting in the wings to catch you in your sins so that He can whack you with punishment. But as you experience His Goodness (personified by Jesus) more and more, you get to see Him as who He really is — like the loving Father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

The kind of attitude that the Father showed to the returnee prodigal son is what leads to true repentance. The Good Shepherd showing love to the sheep in spite of its many failures, sins and addictions is what leads to repentance. Repentance to life is a gift that only God can grant. It cannot be manufactured by self or achieved by threats of fire and brimstone.

But many of us believers do not see how helpless we are and how much we need God's gift of repentance because His mercy in our lives is so supernaturally natural that we think that we "did good all by ourselves." We don't watch porn/steal/fornicate, etc so we look down on others who do and tell them to "repent, or else...!," not realising that the only reason why we are not wallowing in sins right now is the same reason why Peter could challenge Christ by thinking that he could never deny Him: God's restraining hand which protects us from the vagaries of Time and Chance and prevents us from being sifted to destruction by Satan.

So we accuse others not realising the log in our own eye and James 2:10 which shows us that all it takes to be guilty of breaking the whole law is to slip up in one area: without God's gift of righteousness by faith through Christ, the one who feels relief to learn that it is his neighbour's house that is on fire and not his own house (this one does not "love thy neighbour as thyself!") is in the same boat of unrighteousness as the one who fornicates or molests children! Only the one who is without sin can cast the first stone...but all have sinned.

Christ alone is the righteous foundation for our salvation, even salvation from sins, from the moral sinner to the vilest offender. We all need His saving Grace to the same degree. There is none good but God.

Many of those whom we see as “wallowing in sin" are trying hard to stop but are failing because they are taught that repentance is “stop sinning and obey the Ten Commandments.” There is no Christ saving from sins here. So they sin more, “For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace.” Romans 6:14.

This lack of true repentance is why many in the church are quick to judge and condemn and threaten sinners with hell fire for the bad things they do instead of pointing the helpless sinner who is held captive by sins to Christ of whom it is written in Titus 2:14-

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Also Matthew 1:21-- "She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

The worst part is those self-righteous "pastors" who misinterpret repentance and demand godliness from man think that everyone except them is just itching to commit sins, as if Judas was enjoying his betrayal money somewhere. In reality, Judas was depressed and suicidal for his imperfections! Believers, by God's Grace, don't let fake pastors use God's law with which they beat the flock to drive you into Judas’ depression and suicide mode because of your sins. God's word says you need Someone to save you from your sins. His name is Jesus Christ. He says your arm of flesh/human effort at trying to be godly (be like God) will fail.

Repentance to death is being ashamed of sins committed because we think that they are beneath us, not realising that "there is none good but God" and that the potential to commit heinous sins is the same in everyone and dependent on the circumstances in which one finds himself. The reason why many of us are not committing particular sins is because we have not been tempted beyond what we can bear in those areas. God sees this potential and how favourable circumstances can make some people think that they are above some sins, but if a big enough trial came our way and it was up to us to save ourselves, apart from God’s merciful and restraining hand, like Peter with his denials, we would all fail woefully. Our success at doing the right thing has got nothing to do with our strong moral resolve or non-existent prowess at keeping the Ten Commandments for the purpose of morality after we got saved. God’s Word addresses this truth in Romans 1 where a group who “suppress the truth” of righteousness by faith (verses 16-19) devolved into sin after “God lifted off His restraining hand…” —

“24 This is why God lifted off His restraining hand and let them have full expression of their sinful and shameful desires…”

Man’s default mode is to do wickedness (Romans 3:9–18.) Of ourselves, there is no good in anyone of us — Romans 7:18-

“For I know that nothing good lives within the flesh of my fallen humanity. The longings to do what is right are within me, but will-power is not enough to accomplish it.”

But we often think we did good all by ourselves. The potential to commit heinous crimes is in everybody. God sees this potential and how, like Peter who denied Christ after boasting, favourable circumstances can make some people think that some sins are beneath them and that they can keep the law as a guiding principle for morality after being saved. No, friend. Not a single one of us has it all together by ourselves concerning the issue of sins. Our salvation from acts of sin, even after we got saved, it is in Christ's hands and not in our puny arm of flesh that will fail. See this written for us in 1 Corinthians 10:12–13 (TPT)–

12 "So beware if you think it could never happen to you, lest your pride becomes your downfall. 13 We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously." 1 Corinthians 10.

If God were not screening and filtering… well, just look at Peter who trusted his ability to be good before he was humbled by his denials. Christ makes the saving difference for we who believe. In Him, God does not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear and with every trial He is the Way of escape.

Repentance to death is trying to set things right by human effort like Judas, making the decision to stop wrongdoing on our own with the aim of escaping punishment and trying to get right with God by keeping the Ten Commandments, an impossible feat according to Romans 3:20-

"For no one can be made righteous in the sight of God by doing what the Law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are."

There is no Jesus on such ground. No one can sustain that kind of lifestyle on their own. If we could, there would have been no need for Jesus to come and save us; to redeem us from EVERY lawless deed, this according to Titus 2:14

Repentance to life is a gift from God. It is having a change of heart about God and it comes from knowing the love of Christ. It is consenting to be carried all the way by our Saviour Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd. True repentance comes from realising just how much God loves us and that He gave Jesus to die for our sins and to save us from sin and death which was our destiny. It comes from knowing that there is no condemnation for you when you are in Christ— only the one who has sins can benefit from the gift of no condemnation. Christ Himself finds, saves from sins, carries and helps His sheep with no questions asked; He leads us on the path of righteousness (remember "The Lord is my Shepherd”) so we don’t have to live right; we get to live right.

Repentance entails knowing God as "Abba, Father" whose desire is for His children to "prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers."- 3 John 1:2.

Repentance (metanoia in the original Greek text) is having a change of heart about God: Metanoia literally means “a change of mind, change in the inner man” and this is the work of the Holy Spirit in all who believe. See 2 Corinthians 3:18-

“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into His glorious image.”

In its context as used in the passage, the one with veiled face is the one who is striving to obey the law in order to be godly. In essence, repentance to life is realising that we have in God a loving Father who gave His own Son to die for our sins and gives us all things freely with Christ (Romans 8:32); not a hard Taskmaster who is just waiting in the wings to catch us when we mess things up so that He can punish us or let the devil have a go at us!

Everyday, in the lives of believers, repentance is taking place. Everyday, we see more and more how much we are loved and how much we need Jesus to carry us like the lost but found sheep. The more we see His goodness, the more we love Him and our neighbour too. Very difficult to do things that could hurt the ones you love so you don't want to sin:)

1 John 4:19 says "We love because He first loved us." When you start to realise just how much you are forgiven and loved by our Abba Father, not only will you have this change of heart to love God, you will also have no desire to return to your vomit! It is the goodness of God that leads to repentance. Romans 2:4.

Notice that the only way the sheep got home was by being carried on the Shepherd's Shoulders. (Self-)righteous works can't take us to heaven or help us enjoy God's blessings here on earth. Isaiah 64:6 describes man’s self-produced righteousnesses- works of the law- as "a menstrual rag" in His sight—

"We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."

Whatever we imagine that God is asking us to manufacture by human might and feel that God should take into consideration in keeping us blessed, it amounts to an abomination in the sight of God as it is written in Isaiah 64:6. In the matter of our salvation unto eternal life, God's saving Grace Who is Jesus Christ does it all. All who are in Christ have salvation. "...much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Romans 5:17.

Also, no one, not even you, can snatch the sheep away while it is with the Shepherd - John 10:29-30 -

"My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”

As believers in Christ, we can't “lose our salvation.” Our Saviour Jesus Christ (the Lord our Shepherd) is the one holding and keeping us. The way to lose your salvation is to stop believing that He died for your sins and reject His gift of righteousness by trying to produce some of your own from keeping the law in order to merit eternal life or be saved from issues of life; that is the definition of unbelief and it is “whosoever believes” that will “not perish but have eternal life.” Believer, He will never let go of you or let you fall. No matter what, He will never leave you nor forsake you. No one can snatch you away from Him. He will help you and uphold you with His righteous right Hand. If our salvation depended by a hair's breadth on how well we obeyed the Ten Commandments, on us, we've already failed. The arm of flesh will fail.

A little further down in Luke 15 we find the Parable of the Lost Son, aka The Parable of the Prodigal Son. The younger son didn't remember his father when he still had his inheritance. He did not repent/return home to his father because he was sorry. He returned because he was hungry! I like to think that he was dirty, hungry and smelling of pigs when he returned home. Everyone would have looked down on him. Yet, his Father, a Jew who see pigs as unclean, embraced and kissed him in his pigful state, treating him to the best clothes (a picture of the robe of righteousness) and the fatted calf. This is the treatment you get when you come to Jesus just the way you are. No effort. No trying. He will clean you up and set you up after you have messed everything up.

This is why Christ came - to save us from our sins, the curse and God's wrath; that we might have eternal life in Him. His has perfected all who believe. He says in Matthew 11:28 -

“Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

See, it says ALL and not just people who have managed to not "do bad things." In fact, if you can manage even by an inch, then you don't need Jesus, for here is who can be a beneficiary of God’s salvation in Romans 5:6 (TPT)—

“For when the time was right, the Anointed One came and died to demonstrate his love for sinners who were entirely helpless, weak, and powerless to save themselves.”

In reality, this encompasses everybody, including super-pious Nicodemus who was the first recipient of Christ’s “For God so loved the world…” No one alive can match Nicodemus when it comes to obedience to the law and doing good works, but at the time John 3:16 was being spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ, Nicodemus was worldly — a part of the world that God so loved: still destined to perish and not have everlasting life but for God’s Salvation; unless he repented aka became born-again. And John 6:37 tells us that He will never cast us out—

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out."

Would you like to enjoy God's Grace and live righteously in Christ Jesus? Then let it all hang out before Him as Peter did after his copious denials; be helpless in His help like the lost sheep. No need for well-crafted prayers. Like our Heavenly Father, we prefer our kids’ badly drawn and typo-filled birthday cards to the most fancy greeting cards in the world.

Believe Right and you will Live Right.