What is Repentance? True Repentance and How to Earn God’s Forgiveness

Repentance. It’s one of the current buzzwords that Christians use. You see it on social media, in videos, and blog posts. Repent, repent, repent. Unfortunately, it is often used incorrectly. The general consensus is that it means to seek forgiveness for your sin, but it is so much more than that.

So, what is repentance?

Throughout scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, there are many mentions of repentance. We are told to repent if we want to be saved – and many are very quick to tell you that. But when you begin to pin them down and talk about it, more often than not they don’t truly understand what it is.

In Hosea 4:6 the Lord said that His people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Today we are seeing that this is more apparent than ever. In part, it is due to a lack of study. People might be reading the Bible, but they aren’t studying it even though 2 Timothy 2:15 doesn’t say “read” to show yourself approved. It says study.

Let’s study this out and find out what true, biblical repentance is.

What is the biblical definition of repentance?

Like many other concepts in scripture, there are several layers to repentance. The meaning goes far deeper than many realize.

Merriam Webster defines repent as a verb that means “to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life,” “to feel regret or contrition,” and “to change one’s mind.”

When we look at the Greek text, the word for repent is Metanoēsate which means to reconsider or think differently.

So as you can see, repent goes far beyond asking God to forgive you of your sins or for feeling sorry for your sin. It means being transformed in heart and mind so that you are changed and are compelled to forsake those things that are displeasing to God and are wrong in His sight.

One of the clearest biblical definitions of repentance in scripture is found in Psalm 51:16-17:

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;  a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

Repentance means feeling convicted and responding to that conviction by relinquishing the practice, behavior, thought, or activity that triggered the conviction. It is humbling, it kills the flesh which breaks the spirit so God can do His work within, and it is marked with a contrite heart that draws Him to you, but most of all, it evokes profound change.

What does it mean to repent?

To truly repent means to change your ways. If you do something that is an offense to God, the Holy Spirit will prick your heart. When you feel that conviction if you are humble and seeking to please God, you will begin to repent. And when you repent you will ask for forgiveness, then do your best to not commit that offense again.

In John 8 we see Jesus talking to the adulteress that the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him in the hopes that He would condemn her. Instead, he gave her this beautiful directive for repentance:

10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

Go and sin no more. That is the basis of repentance, but if you read on, there’s more:

12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Repentance is walking in the light of Jesus Christ. It means going and sinning no more AND choosing to follow Him, and walk with Him. It means giving your life over to Jesus, which is such a natural progression to the salvation that repentance brings.

Repentance and Salvation

Repentance is part of the salvation plan. In Luke 5:31-32 Jesus said He came to call the sinners to repentance, to minister to the sinners:

31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 

32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

That is a preparation for salvation.

But perhaps where repentance as part of salvation is most clear is in Acts 3:18-19:

18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer.

19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

So, when we repent, our sins are blotted out. When our sins are blotted out, we are saved. What a wonderful, beautiful act of grace that is.

How do you repent?

It is the will of God for everyone to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9) and the first step is repentance. 

In Ephesians 4 we find a three-step process for repentance:

22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 

23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 

24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

We are called to:

1. Let go of our “old self” - a self that has been misled by desires that are contrary to God’s desires for our lives.
2. Change our minds about what is “good”, “bad”, “fun”, “right”, and “wrong” - oftentimes we have a different definition of these things than what God’s word tells us.
3. Put on the new self -  a self that is created to truly become like Jesus; living for the very things for which Jesus died to produce in His people, the church.

Repentance should be a part of your daily prayer. In the prayer template that Jesus gave His disciples in Matthew 6:9-13, forgiving others and repenting are both included:

12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

We are human. We make mistakes. The beautiful thing is when we make mistakes we have a way to correct them – repentance. Make repentance a regular part of your prayer life and watch your relationship with God as well as your own life, transform.

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