What Is Repentance?

[lastofall]

[for me anyway] I absolutely agree that the teaching and preaching of repenting is being neglected greatly, although it is of the utmost importance.  Just to add a few saying: first it is the first command that the Lord Jesus commanded as well as the first Word that proceeded out of His mouth when He began His ministry, namely "Repent"..for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:17); which by the way is over-looked or bypassed by many, as if it applies to others, but not them. Another in (Mark 6:12) "And they went out and preached that men should repent"; this is what should be preached, especially now in this present evil world.  Again the Lord Jesus made it exactly clear what should be preached in His Name among all nations in (Luke 24:47) namely "repentance for the remission of sins".

As for what repentance is [for me anyway] it is to feel pain, the pain of guilt for our sins which causes us to amend our ways and doings: or we can bring it into a concise meaning from the Lord Jesus saying "Go and sin no more".

[simplejeff]

7 minutes ago, lastofall said:

namely "Repent"..for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4:17);

A few months or years ago,  I saw a fuller 'expanded' from the original that fits so well perfectly with Jesus Message and Life:

"Turn to Yahweh, for His Kingdom is now, today, at hand (here) " ..... to live in LIGHT (I AM is here; PURE LIGHT: JESUS) to walk in the LIGHT, to live as HE SAYS, 

to come out of the kingdom (out of the control) of the prince of the power of the air,

INTO the KINGDOM of YAHWEH, by following JESUS, doing as HE Says,  set free as He Says..  set free from sin and from all the consequences of sin,  set free from the devil, set free from all guilt and from all shame, set free from the power of the flesh and from the power fo the world (system)......  

LIVING IN UNION with JESUS,  every step, every breath,  every moment:  having once for all time been immersed in Jesus, and remain in Him....  

and yes,  as Scripture Says Clearly "go and sin no more"  (don't do what the prince of darkness says to do ever again) but if anyone stumbles (sins),  we know we now have an ADVOCATE WITH THE FATHER,  so that turning back to HIM,  we may be forgiven for our sins and walk in NEWNESS OF LIFE again ,,  and again, and again......   (70 times 7 times ..... ? ) (no, do not sin on purpose; but if we do sin, we may be forgiven)

[Arigaemus Moses]

On 10/22/2017 at 5:46 PM, angels4u said:

 By Gipsy Smith 

    If there is a man or woman who has been trying to live a Christian life and has no joy in it, and no victory in it, and no song in it – I know the reason.  It is that they have never repented.  They have started wrong.

    Repentance is the most neglected doctrine in the New Testament and the most unpopular.  People do not like to be called to repentance and you do not often hear it preached.  And yet the Bible is a handbook of repentance.  It enforces it, commands it, and so demands it that no substitute can be accepted for it.

    Over sixty times the Scriptures enforce it, and all the Epistles are written to show men how to repent, so that no one need be in a fog as to what repentance means, yet multitudes of people are.

    A spurious repentance means a spurious Christian life, and the reason many church-goers have no joy and peace in the Holy Ghost is because they do not obey the Scripture – “Repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

    You ask, “What is repentance?”  It is not conviction of sin.  Conviction is an element of repentance but you can be convicted without repenting.  No one repents until he is convicted, but not all who are convicted do repent.

    Conviction is not enough.  It is not repentance.  And, “except ye repent, ye shall…perish” (Luke 13:3).  Is sorrow repentance?  No, it is not enough to be sorry for your sins.  Something more than tears is needed.

    If repentance is not conviction, and not sorrow, what is it?  Is it promising to do better?  No.  Some of you have been doing that for years and you are further from God than ever.

    What is repentance?  Repentance is turning from sin to God.

    Repentance is getting hold of that which is your curse by the hair of its head and tearing it out by the roots.  Pride is one of them.  Pride can be as damning as drunkenness – and is.  There is pride of face, pride of place, pride of grace, and pride of race.

    We need saving from our good self, our religious self, our spiritual self – as much as from our bad self.  Satan is very subtle and if he cannot hinder by our badness, he will hinder by our goodness.  If he cannot hinder us by our depths, he will hinder by our heights.  If he cannot alienate us from God, he will hinder us by our self-righteousness, and if we are not careful he will come to us as an angel of light.

    Pride, self-righteousness, sham, fraud, hypocrisy, lust, duplicity – the sin in your life which enslaves you, let it go.  Kill it – and all other things in your life that are wrong will slink away like so many whipped curs.

    What is repentance then?  It is the moral response of the awakened soul to the call of God, the home of the soul.  Have you repented?  Have you turned from sin unto God?

    “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die:  for I have not found thy works perfect before God.  Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent…As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten:  be zealous therefore, and repent” (Rev. 3:2-3, 19).

Repentance is the act of remorse ones compelled and in act confess to those in higher places. To those being the trinity but more so; The Son of God. Did I get that right? O.o

[appy]

The parable of the pharisee and the tax collector in Luke; 18 I think is an excellent example of what true repentance looks like and what self righteousness looks like. True repentance happens when a person recognizes that there is sin in their heart and he/she is sad about it and has the desire to be done with sin. In other words the person's mind and attitude changed towards the sin in their heart so that the person sincerely desired to NOT commit them anymore. There is also a sincere desire to turn to God and recognize that he/she needed God's mercy.

[HarvestLabourer]

I think the simplest way to show what repentence is, 
is to take Jesus's saying on repentance, and then check back to how it said it in the law.

In the New Testament, Jesus announced it like this.
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matt 4:17)

But in the law, Jesus said it like this.
Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day,
that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; (Deut 11:8)

This of course confirms all the other scriptures which say we have to keep all the commandments,
and to keep the Lord's saying,
and to do the whole of the law,
if we are to remain in the kingdom of God.

 Proverbs chapter one is probably the best word on repentance.
 
Turn you at My reproof:
behold, I will pour out My spirit unto you,
I will make known My words unto you.
Proverbs 1:23

Praise the Lord
Paul

[HarvestLabourer]

No response. OK.
There are heaps more scriptures that show us what repentance is.

This one is most descriptive for me.

And it shall come to pass,
when all these things are come upon thee,
the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee,
and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
And shalt return unto the LORD thy God,
and shalt obey His voice according to all that I command thee this day,
thou and thy children,
with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity,
and have compassion upon thee,
and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
Deuteronomy 30:1-3

Not only does that passage tell us what repentance is, 
but also when we will do it, and that the Lord comes when we do it.
I just think that is awesome, and it happened for me just like God says.

Here is another excellent description of repentance.

My son, if thou wilt receive My words, and hide My commandments with thee;
So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
Yea, if thou cry after knowledge, and lift up thy voice for understanding;
If thou seek Her as silver, and search for Her as for hid treasures;
Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom: out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous: He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.
He keeps the paths of judgment, and preserves the way of His saints.
Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity;
yea, every good path.
Proverbs 2:1-9

The beauty of these descriptions, for me, not only do they tell us what repentance is,
but they also give us an idea of the outcome we should expect from repentance.

Glory to Jesus
Paul

 

[7trumpets]

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Strongs #G3341 repentance
μετάνοια
metanoia
met-an'-oy-ah
From G3340; (subjectively) compunction (for guilt, including reformation); by implication reversal (of [another’s] decision): - repentance.

met-an-o-eh'-o
From G3326 and G3539; to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider (morally to feel compunction): - repent.

To repent is to have a change of heart/mind after you have sinned.   Its not God's will that "any should perish" and He hopes all will repent of their sins. 

[bluelotus]

Great article. I know people who can't repent. They believe there is a God and they want to do the right things that the Bible tells them. But they can never honestly say "I am a sinner. All my righteousness is like filthy rags before God." They can't let the conviction work in their lives because it tells them they're not OK. If they would just let the conviction tell the story of their utter despicability, then they could be honest before God, saying "Thou only art holy...just and true are Your ways, O King of the nations!" (rev 17)

Then, they could set about having the mind of Christ, becoming a new creation, by believing the same things that Jesus Christ believed.

[Celtic Baptist]

On ‎28‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 3:53 AM, 7trumpets said:

To repent is to have a change of heart/mind after you have sinned.   Its not God's will that "any should perish" and He hopes all will repent of their sins. 

In the Holy Bible AV 1611 (KJV) God repents more than anyone. Does this mean God is a sinner and repents from his sins? God forbid. It just means the word 'repent' means to have a change of heart, direction, decision, act or thought. For example, if I were to plan to drive north to the beach but then change my mind and drive south to the city... that would be repentance.

 

In salvation terms, 'repentance' is when one changes from unbelief (1-99% on Christ but 1%+ in something else, someone else or their own works or will) towards 100% belief on Jesus that he has done it all for us.

 

Just because one then has 100% trust and faith on Jesus and they are eternally secured and saved... does that give them the right to sin? God forbid. God tells us to strive to be sanctified and pure. We need to remember that we will get punished by God if we are saved because as any father, he will punish us in this life or the next. He will certainly remove our treasures in heaven. I fear the LORD, and that is enough to turn me away from serious sins.

 

Does that then mean I am sinless or sin-free? No way. The Bible says a foolish thought is sin. We are all sinners and if it were our goodness that would get us into heaven then none of us would be going. It's a free gift from God via his begotten Son Jesus. That is truly the GOOD news. Amen

Edited December 4, 2017 by Celtic Baptist

[Blood Bought 1953]

I,like multitudes of others,used to live in “The Fool’s Paradise”. That’s the place of the deluded,the place where Satan’s biggest lie has taken root...”Well, I ain’t perfect but I’m doing the best I can,and I sure ain’t as bad asthose guys in prison! God will let me go to Heaven! God—-give me what I deserve!   Then  Jesus will tell them.    “ OK you want what you deserve?”.....Depart from me,I never knew you. If you are blessed enough,The Holy Spirit will reveal to you that you are bankrupt sinner before God,and you are worthy of Hell and that alone.that is repentance....a change not only of the mind but of the heart....exiting the Fools Paradise, and crying out.....Lord Jesus have mercy on me , a sinner......God is looking for contrite (repentant) hearts...that is the starting point of  Christianity.....God will finish the work He started.....Faith in the Shed Blood of Jesus.....plus nothing!