Repentance, Part 4

The concept of repentance is so common in our language and so integral a part of our concept of salvation that the meaning of the word has become blurred and even skewed from its original meaning.

In the second article of this series on repentance I wrote about things that repentance does not mean. In the last article, I ended by stating that the focus of repentance is not our sin, but Christ.

In this article, I will try to put these ideas into a common thread in an attempt to help understand the meaning and the purpose of repentance.

Old Testament

In the Old Testament, there are two words which are most often translated repent. The first of these (nacham) is a word that is most often translated “comfort.” When it is translated as repent, the primary meaning is of regret for past actions or decisions. Very many of these are references to God, who never needs to repent of sin since He knows no sin.

1 Sam. 15:29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent (have regret, ESV; change his mind, NIV): for he is not a man, that he should repent.

(The study of the use of the word repent in relationship to God is another whole study that would merit some space, but since that is not the object of this lesson, I will defer it to another time.)

The second word used for repent (shoob) in the Old Testament means to turn or to turn back. It also may mean a change of heart. The word is used three times in the following text from 1 Kings, but translated three different ways. This is part of a prayer Solomon prayed for the dedication of the newly completed Temple.

1 Kings 8:46-49

46 When they (the people of Israel) sin against you – for there is no-one who does not sin – and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to his own land, far away or near; 47 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their conquerors and say, “We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly”; 48 and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you towards the land you gave their fathers, towards the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; 49 then from heaven, your dwelling-place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.” (NIV)

Another example of the multiple use of the word shoob is found in Ezekiel 18:27-32.

Though the sample is admittedly small and the study brief, we can safely come to the understanding that the meaning of repentance is not that we repent of something, but that we turn from something. We are not instructed in Scripture to repent of our sin in the sense of calling attention to it and confessing it. Instead, we are called to turn from our sin as a result of a changed heart.

New Testament

In the New Testament, the words translated as some form of the word repent are all related to the word metanoia. The word is a compound word. The first part (meta)addresses location or direction. It “denotes a change of place or condition.”  The second part refers to the mind. It means “to exercise the mind, think, comprehend.” Together, the word metanoia indicates a change in the direction or focal point of the mind. (Zhodiates 1992, 969)

To carry this a little further, the prefix meta implies “motion (in pursuit of or following) after a person or thing.” When used in a compound word, the prefix implies fellowship, partnership, participation, proximity, motion or direction after, transition, and change. (Zhodiates 1992, 966)

Based on this brief study, one immediately realizes that there is so much more implied in the word repent than simply expressing sorrow for sin or even turning from it in abhorrence, even though these are critical elements of the process.

Repentance is coming to a realization of the error of one’s plans and purposes and experiencing a turn in an opposite direction from the path regularly followed. For there to be a turning from something, there very naturally has to be a turning to something else.

In the context of the plan of redemption, that “something else” that we turn to is in actuality someone else – the person of Jesus Christ.

This is where we have gone wrong in our understanding of repentance. We have understood somewhat the idea of sorrow for our sins. As we reflect upon our sinful behavior, we may even experience abhorrence and revulsion of the sin. The problem is that with time our revulsion weakens and we never truly turn away from those sins.

And even when we attempted to turn away, we are typically unsuccessful because we never completed the process. We may have turned away from our sin for a season, but we never turn toward Christ.

Repentance means that we turn to Christ in fellowship, relationship, and obedience. He becomes the focus of our lives.

Look back at Mark’s version of Jesus’ first sermon. In Matt. 4:17, the sermon simply said, “Repent.”

But Mark added, “…repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

Several times the New Testament mentions these two aspects of salvation together. That is because the process of repentance is not ended by turning from sin, but by believing in Christ as Savior.

That is the subject for the next lesson.