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". The only time it means to turn away from sin, is if the verse actually says to "repent of sin".
Unfortunately, today if you look up the word in Google, you dont get Strongs definition. You get Websters Dictionary's definition. That definition is to have a change in ones life as a result of penitence. The problem with that is that Webster doesnt give the definition according to the Greek language in the first century. Webster gives current meanings to words as the definition.
Consider the word "Nice". If you look the word up in Webster dictionary today, it means to be kind or agreeable. Did you know that when the word first entered the English language in the 14th century, it meant "foolish"? So if a document written in the 14th century was to mention someone was very nice, If you looked the word up in Webster, you would come away thinking the person was very kind. But if you looked it up in a dictionary from that day, you would learn the person was a fool. That is why we should not look up word definitions in Webster. We should follow what it says in Strongs. According to Strongs, the definition of Metanoia is simply to have a change of mind.
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 mind, we will go to hell. The question is what do we have to have a change of mind 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 mind and believed.
That is what the word 'repent' means. To have a change of mind. When repentance is used in connection to sin, it means to have a change of mind and turn away from sin. When repentance is used in connection with salvation, it means to have a change of mind 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. There are a couple different ways one could interpret this scripture.
1) That if we turn away from sin, God will forgive us.
2) You could swap the word "for" with "because". In short it would mean, "Repent (Have a change of mind and believe) and be baptized because God has forgiven your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
However, as I already pointed out, repent does not mean to turn from sin. It only means to have a change of mind and believe. So with that understanding, the second option is the only right understanding.
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". The only time it means to turn away from sin, is if the verse actually says to "repent of sin".
Unfortunately, today if you look up the word in Google, you dont get Strongs definition. You get Websters Dictionary's definition. That definition is to have a change in ones life as a result of penitence. The problem with that is that Webster doesnt give the definition according to the Greek language in the first century. Webster gives current meanings to words as the definition.
Consider the word "Nice". If you look the word up in Webster dictionary today, it means to be kind or agreeable. Did you know that when the word first entered the English language in the 14th century, it meant "foolish"? So if a document written in the 14th century was to mention someone was very nice, If you looked the word up in Webster, you would come away thinking the person was very kind. But if you looked it up in a dictionary from that day, you would learn the person was a fool. That is why we should not look up word definitions in Webster. We should follow what it says in Strongs. According to Strongs, the definition of Metanoia is simply to have a change of mind.
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 mind, we will go to hell. The question is what do we have to have a change of mind 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 mind and believed.
That is what the word 'repent' means. To have a change of mind. When repentance is used in connection to sin, it means to have a change of mind and turn away from sin. When repentance is used in connection with salvation, it means to have a change of mind 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. There are a couple different ways one could interpret this scripture.
1) That if we turn away from sin, God will forgive us.
2) You could swap the word "for" with "because". In short it would mean, "Repent (Have a change of mind and believe) and be baptized because God has forgiven your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
However, as I already pointed out, repent does not mean to turn from sin. It only means to have a change of mind and believe. So with that understanding, the second option is the only right understanding.
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.
