Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
What Does it Mean to Repent?
The Bible is full of verses telling us to repent. There are countless preachers and pastors and priests who are using these scriptures in their sermons. The problem however is they too often use this word in the wrong way and it is leading to a lot of false doctrine being taught.
I have heard it taught many times int he past that the definition of the word 'Repent' is to "Turn away from sin"! Anyone who teaches this definition is either being deceitful or they simply have never looked it up for themselves. The truth is, it has nothing to do with sin at all.
The word 'Repent' is translated from the Greek word 'Metanoia'. When you look this word up in Strong's Concordance, you find it means to "Have a change of mind" or to "have a change of heart". The only time it means to turn away from sin, is if the verse actually says to "repent of sin".
Luke 13:3 (NASB)
3 No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
This is often taught that it means we must turn away from our sin or we will go to hell. But in truth, it has nothing to do with sin. It is saying that unless we have a change of heart, we will go to hell. The question is what do we have to have a change of heart about?
Ephesians 1:13 (NASB)
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise,
According to this verse, after someone hears the Gospel of Christ and believes it, God sends the Holy Spirit to them to seal them with the promise of salvation. So where was the repentance? It happened when they believed. After hearing the message of truth, which is the Gospel of Christ, and believing, they have repented, because they had a change of heart and believed.
That is what the word 'repent' means. To have a change of heart. When repentance is used in connection to sin, it means to have a change of heart and turn away from sin. When repentance is used in connection with salvation, it means to have a change of heart and believe. The interesting thing is that there are no verses where it uses repent in connection to both sin and salvation.
Acts 2:38 (NASB)
38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
I figured some of you might try to drudge this verse up to use against me, so I decided to save you the trouble. The common mistake here is to believe this is speaking of Water Baptism, even when it never mentions water. There are two types of baptism in the Bible. Water and of the Holy Spirit. This is speaking of baptism of the Holy Spirit. Which by the way, actually happens imediately upon believing. Go back to the verse in Ephesians we already covered up above. The moment someone hears the gospel of Christ and believes, God sends the Holy Spirit to seal them with the Holy Spirit. That is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now in Acts here, it is not speaking of the "gifts" of the Holy Spirit. It does not say we will receive "a" gift of the Holy Spirit, but "the" gift of the Holy Spirit. That is because the moment we believe God gives to us the Holy Spirit to seal us with the promise of salvation. That is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
So the next time someone tries to tell you that you must repent of your sins to be saved, remember that repent has nothing to do with sin unless the verse actually says it is about repenting of sin. And you will not find a single verse that says you are saved by repenting of sin.
I have heard it taught many times int he past that the definition of the word 'Repent' is to "Turn away from sin"! Anyone who teaches this definition is either being deceitful or they simply have never looked it up for themselves. The truth is, it has nothing to do with sin at all.
The word 'Repent' is translated from the Greek word 'Metanoia'. When you look this word up in Strong's Concordance, you find it means to "Have a change of mind" or to "have a change of heart". The only time it means to turn away from sin, is if the verse actually says to "repent of sin".
Luke 13:3 (NASB)
3 No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
This is often taught that it means we must turn away from our sin or we will go to hell. But in truth, it has nothing to do with sin. It is saying that unless we have a change of heart, we will go to hell. The question is what do we have to have a change of heart about?
Ephesians 1:13 (NASB)
13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise,
According to this verse, after someone hears the Gospel of Christ and believes it, God sends the Holy Spirit to them to seal them with the promise of salvation. So where was the repentance? It happened when they believed. After hearing the message of truth, which is the Gospel of Christ, and believing, they have repented, because they had a change of heart and believed.
That is what the word 'repent' means. To have a change of heart. When repentance is used in connection to sin, it means to have a change of heart and turn away from sin. When repentance is used in connection with salvation, it means to have a change of heart and believe. The interesting thing is that there are no verses where it uses repent in connection to both sin and salvation.
Acts 2:38 (NASB)
38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
I figured some of you might try to drudge this verse up to use against me, so I decided to save you the trouble. The common mistake here is to believe this is speaking of Water Baptism, even when it never mentions water. There are two types of baptism in the Bible. Water and of the Holy Spirit. This is speaking of baptism of the Holy Spirit. Which by the way, actually happens imediately upon believing. Go back to the verse in Ephesians we already covered up above. The moment someone hears the gospel of Christ and believes, God sends the Holy Spirit to seal them with the Holy Spirit. That is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Now in Acts here, it is not speaking of the "gifts" of the Holy Spirit. It does not say we will receive "a" gift of the Holy Spirit, but "the" gift of the Holy Spirit. That is because the moment we believe God gives to us the Holy Spirit to seal us with the promise of salvation. That is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
So the next time someone tries to tell you that you must repent of your sins to be saved, remember that repent has nothing to do with sin unless the verse actually says it is about repenting of sin. And you will not find a single verse that says you are saved by repenting of sin.