What Is Repentance?

Ray Comfort posted an analysis of this today on his FaceBook page:

My comment:

To me, it stems from the actual meaning of the word “Repentance”. It comes from the Greek, metanoia, “meta” meaning “Change” and “noia” meaning “Mind”. Since the mind, for the Hebrews was the “Seat of the soul” and the place where you believe and “Know” things, changing your mind quite literally means changing what you believe or know. But it means more than that to my way of thinking, since obviously, you are not changing your mind in a vacuum, or more correctly we should say “What are you changing your mind about?”

I say that the key thing we are changing our minds about is the AUTHORITY of Christ, His Lordship over us, and His RIGHT to be Lord. Some people may refer to this as the “Lordship” model, I refer to it as the “Kingdom” model. The key question then is: “Who’s in charge?” Does Christ have the right to sit on the throne of your heart? And, by extension, “Who is in charge of your life? God? Or you?”

If, as is taught in the Gospels, Jesus has the authority to be the Lord of our lives, then we have the obligation to allow Him to be in charge and to be ruler over our lives and EVERYTHING we do. Turning from sin, becoming disciples, joining in fellowship and entering into accountable relationships with other believers then follows logically from Christ’s Lordship over our lives.

I should conclude by saying that repentance is more than simply “Turning from sin.” It is an act of total surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

4 thoughts on “What Is Repentance?”

And, as to whether or not repentance is “Required” for salvation, I give you the words of Jesus Christ Himself in Mark 1:14-15 –

“14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.””

That word repent in there is used in the imperative – it is a command!

Here’s an article, this one says basically that you need to repent in order to be saved, but says that repentance is not “Turning from sins”, roughly. It’s written to combat the heresy (their words) of John MacArthur’s “Lorship Salvation”.

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Believer%27s%20Corner/Doctrines/turn_from_sin.htm

In that respect, I should give you what one of our elders taught in our classes at Hope Chapel. There are two things required to be saved:

1. Believe in Jesus Christ
2. Change your life by following Him

There are some out there who neither believe in Jesus, and obviously don’t follow Him. Those would be classed as agnostics and atheists. Then, there are those who believe, but don’t follow Him. James 2:19 says “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” Many humans, also believe, but it does nothing for them, their lives do not change, there is no evidence of salvation. They confess Heaven, but live like Hell. Those people are not saved either. There are many, and the Bible is also filled with examples of those who follow Jesus for the things He can do for them, they treat Christ like a “Genie in the bottle” seeking to get something to enhance their own lives, while giving nothing back.

Finally, there are those who believe, and follow. As I stated in the article I wrote, I believe that repentance is this attitude that we give our lives to Jesus Christ because only He has eternal life, and He has our best interests in mind, and will teach us the right way to live with one another. Complete surrender, complete trust.

Mind you, not that any of us does it perfectly! We humans are a sad lot. But occasionally, we get close, we get glimpses of what Heaven is like.

A good article on the origins of some of our biblical words. Repentance is the first word discussed.

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Fall_Holidays/Elul/Teshuvah/teshuvah.html

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Jesus Freak! says:

2015/05/04 at 13:02

And, as to whether or not repentance is “Required” for salvation, I give you the words of Jesus Christ Himself in Mark 1:14-15 –

“14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.””

That word repent in there is used in the imperative – it is a command!

Jesus Freak! says:

2015/05/21 at 16:16

Here’s an article, this one says basically that you need to repent in order to be saved, but says that repentance is not “Turning from sins”, roughly. It’s written to combat the heresy (their words) of John MacArthur’s “Lorship Salvation”.

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Believer%27s%20Corner/Doctrines/turn_from_sin.htm

In that respect, I should give you what one of our elders taught in our classes at Hope Chapel. There are two things required to be saved:

1. Believe in Jesus Christ
2. Change your life by following Him

There are some out there who neither believe in Jesus, and obviously don’t follow Him. Those would be classed as agnostics and atheists. Then, there are those who believe, but don’t follow Him. James 2:19 says “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” Many humans, also believe, but it does nothing for them, their lives do not change, there is no evidence of salvation. They confess Heaven, but live like Hell. Those people are not saved either. There are many, and the Bible is also filled with examples of those who follow Jesus for the things He can do for them, they treat Christ like a “Genie in the bottle” seeking to get something to enhance their own lives, while giving nothing back.

Finally, there are those who believe, and follow. As I stated in the article I wrote, I believe that repentance is this attitude that we give our lives to Jesus Christ because only He has eternal life, and He has our best interests in mind, and will teach us the right way to live with one another. Complete surrender, complete trust.

Mind you, not that any of us does it perfectly! We humans are a sad lot. But occasionally, we get close, we get glimpses of what Heaven is like.

Jesus Freak! says:

2015/06/09 at 11:03

A good article on the origins of some of our biblical words. Repentance is the first word discussed.

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Fall_Holidays/Elul/Teshuvah/teshuvah.html

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