Biblical Repentance VS Religious Repentance

What repentance is NOT.  To the average Christian repentance means tearful remorse, pleading with God asking Him to forgive you of your sin and promising to “never do it again”.  The word repentance has been used as a weapon against the naïve in the church for so long.  I’m convinced that most of the church has no idea what repentance really means.  This “religious repentance” that we see in much of the church focuses on our turning from sin as if our turning from sin saves us.  It is not our turning from sin that saves us but our turning to God that saves us.  This religious “chemo” approach to sin acts as if by our sheer contempt for our sin we can eradicate it like a cancer from our lives.  The Pharisees were experts at “turning from sin”, but they were not saved because they never turned to Jesus.  This whole “Turning From” versus “Turning To” may seem unimportant, but it’s the difference between life and death!  Someone who turns to God automatically turns from sin, but someone who turns from sin does not automatically turn to God.  An unbeliever who turns from sin remains an unbeliever.  This is the reason it is misleading and dangerous to preach repentance as “turning from sin.”  Paul never did. “I preached that they should repent and turn to God” (Act 26:20).  Turning from sin will make you a moral person, but it won’t make you righteous.  Righteousness comes to us through faith in Christ alone.

What is repentance?  New Covenant repentance literally means change your mind.  Nothing more, nothing less.  The Greek word commonly translated repentance (metanoia) literally means to change your mind.  So, to repent is to change the way you think about God, yourself, and others.  It is not something we initiate so much as it is our response to God’s grace and goodness.  When Jesus said, “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15), He was literally saying, “Change your unbelieving mind and believe the good news of the kingdom which is at hand.”  We don’t repent to manipulate God into bringing his kingdom down; we repent because His kingdom is already within our reach.  The King has come, and He brought His kingdom with Him!  We don’t repent to get forgiven; we repent because we are forgiven, we repent to enjoy the benefits of His forgiveness.  He remembers your sins no more! (Hebrews 10:17)

… repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Lk 24:47)

The religious mind reads this and thinks, “I need to repent in order to be forgiven.”  In other words, God will not forgive me unless I do something.  This is “religious repentance”.  God does not need your permission or even your repentance to forgive you.  He has already forgiven you in accordance with the riches of His grace (Eph 1:7).  Forgiveness is part of the good news: repent and believe it.

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. (Luke 5:32)

God repented!  Another reason that repentance can’t mean turning from sin is because the Bible says in several passages that God “repented”.

And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. (Exodus 32:14 KJV)

And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not. (Jonah 3:10 KJV)

What do these passages mean?  They mean God changed His mind.  Thank God for the cross that changed everything!  In the old covenant, God’s blessings were conditional on man humbling himself and being obedient, but in the new covenant, Jesus Christ humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:8) His obedience has been credited to us!

Repentance isn’t something we work up and use to get right with God. That has already happened for us through Jesus.  Remember, Jesus didn’t just die for you, He died as you, and He lives through you.

True repentance requires that we understand the true meaning of the word.

The problem with the common understanding of repentance is that it focuses on a person’s decision and willpower to stop sinning and start behaving.  Does our behavior change when we repent?  Of course, it does.  If our minds have been truly changed, how could our actions not follow?  That, however, is the result of repentance, not the meaning of the word.  Why does this matter?  It matters because when a person believes that repentance revolves around changing bad behavior into good behavior, his whole focus will be on behavior and not on Jesus Christ.  Many Christians are mentally and emotionally tormented by the fear that maybe they didn’t really repent enough when they believed on Christ.  True repentance is simply you trusting in Jesus.  There’s nothing more you could do because He has already done it all. Repentance is joining our will to His work and resting in the fact that it is enough.  That is New Covenant repentance.

The picture of true repentance can be seen in the thief on the cross that believed in Jesus.  At first, he joined in with the other thief mocking and railing against Jesus.  Then, he “changed his mind” about who Jesus was and why He was dying a criminal’s death on the cross.  He simply asked the Lord, to remember him when He came into His kingdom.  He didn’t ask for forgiveness of sin, he knew that Jesus was taking away the sin of the world, which included his.  Jesus replied that, “Assuredly, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”  This repentant thief had no ability to demonstrate ANY works whatsoever.  He simply changed his mind about Jesus and believed in Him.

Repentance is one of the most important things you’ll ever do but you don’t get people to repent by telling them to repent.  When they see and experience the goodness of God, they’ll repent.  It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4).  Paul said repentance comes as a result of learning about the goodness of God.  So, if you want people to repent, tell them how good God is. Preach the good news, which is this: God loves you, He died for you and He offers you His righteousness.