Repentance, what do you think it is?

[stovebolts]

We like to use big fancy words in church, but do we really understand what they mean?

In your own words, what does Repentance mean?
How is it lived out?
Do you know of a biblical example of what repentance looks like?

 

[JohnDB]

If only there was some kind of "magic switch" and once we accepted Jesus in our hearts we never sinned again.

Hey, I can dream can't I?

 

[Not_Now.Soon]

I think repenting is turning away from. Meaning to stop an action or a behavior. Turn from your sins and turn to God kind of thing. Though it was also pointed out to me once that repentance and guilt / sorrow are also often linked together. So that might be a measure to stand repentance on.

Jonah 3 is my biblical example of repentance.
___________________________________

Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: 2 “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”

3 This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. 4 On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” 5 The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.
6 When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes. 7 Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city:

“No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all.8 People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence. 9 Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”

10 When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.
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[stovebolts]

Good stuff guys.
Who else has some thoughts?

 

[Michael74]

Repent. Decide not to purposely do something anymore.

 

[WIP]

When I was about 16 years old I began a life as a thief. Mostly, I indulged in shoplifting but as I progressed I actually got pretty good at it stealing things as large as car stereo systems and tools. When I was about a month away from turning 18, I got caught. The impact of that situation was enough for me to rethink my lifestyle.

Now, to be clear, I was not a Christian at that time so my turn around had little if anything to do with my faith or lack thereof but it was then that I made the choice to turn away from thievery altogether. I no longer have any desire or inclination to steal. Today, I find it extremely difficult and quite frankly discouraging when I have to stand up to my own wife and defend my honesty with regard to things like filing my income taxes, reporting sales from my farming, reporting to my company insurance when our daughters became ineligible for coverage due to their age or student status, and so forth.

I believe I have repented of that sin. Am I perfect? Highly doubtful for if my life was studied by God I'm sure there are things that would be found.

 

[Tessa]

To me repentance is a realisation how sinful you are, and a sorrow that you ever sinned. It is wanting to never sin again, even though we do.
How do we carry it out? Confess your sins and pray for help not to do them again. Perservere in trying not to sin, and acknowledge that it is God's power that it helping you not to sin.

Peter is my example. He denied the Lord 3 times. The rooster crowed and He realised what he had done. He went outside and wept bitterly.

 

[for_his_glory]

To me repentance is humbling yourself before the Lord as you admit you are a sinner needing God's grace.

It's lived out by being obedient to God's commands. Are we always obedient, no, but God knows our heart and that's God's grace.

David is a great example of a repented heart as he humbled himself many times before the Lord and grace was always sufficient.

 

[JLB]

We like to use big fancy words in church, but do we really understand what they mean?

In your own words, what does Repentance mean?
How is it lived out?
Do you know of a biblical example of what repentance looks like?

Concerning the Gospel: Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand, it means turn to God.

If a person is called to turn to God, then by default, they are called to turn away from Satan as their lord, king, ruler, or master.


The way we obey the Gospel call to repent, is to confess Jesus as Lord.


Not repent of your sins, but repent as in turning away from Satan as lord, and turning to Jesus as our Lord.

[Repentance of sins comes after we are empowered to live in dominion over sin, by His Spirit.]



This is what grants us the forgiveness of sins, by which we are transferred out of the domain of darkness into the kingdom of God; The kingdom of His dear Son.


Here it is from the Lord's perspective.


Words of Christ in red -

• to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins

14 And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’


19 “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. Acts 26:14-20

• that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.

This was a common practice in those days, and was how a kingdom would overthrow another kingdom.


The conquering kingdom would assemble their army and ride to the capital city of the country that was to be overthrown.


They would surround the city as a siege, not letting any supplies or reinforcments in, for several weeks, to soften up the people, and to demonstrat their power and ability to control the area.


Then the king or commander of the conquering army would ride toward the gates of the city with the "gospel", [evangelion] the terms by which they would accept surrender.


King so and so has been set apart for destruction, turn away from him [repent] and bow [bend the knee] before the king of "Babylon", [example] and declare your allegiance to Him, or die with him.


This usually meant a life of slavery and misery, so some would just fight to the death, but many would defect and go out to bow and confess their allegiance to this conquering king.


The Gospel came to mean good news, because we are called to be sons of God and joint heirs with Christ.


Repent, is an eternal commitment to commit ourselves, trust and obey Jesus as our Lord.

The evidence of our sincereity of our committment is love: demonstrating or expressing our faith through acts of love inspired and motivated by His Spirit within us.

These are the "works" we do "befitting" repentance.

We are not saved: born again, regenerated because we did some good works, and are now deserving to be born again, we are born again by obeying the Gospel command to repent.


22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 1 Peter 1:22-23



Since we have been born again through obeying the Gospel [truth], we have been called to love the brethren with a sincere love, because we have been born again of an incorruptible seed: The Gospel message of the kingdom.




JLB

 

[Luminous_Rose]

In your own words, what does Repentance mean?

Repentance to me means that you completely turn your life around to follow God's laws.

How is it lived out?

It is lived out through our careful choice of actions and words we use towards others. Reaching out to witness and help others shows we have repented of things in our past and continuing to live according to God's word helps us to keep moving forward and not return to our older, perhaps more comfortable ways.

Do you know of a biblical example of what repentance looks like?

The example I like is Saul/Paul. He was guilty of murder against Christians. He spoke against God's church. Later, he repented, and became a witness to spread Christ's word. We know a lot of Paul's writing as a lot of good advice for Christian living.

 

[King Dan of Great the 1st]

I think it means turning back to the Truth, that is, the teachings of the one God sent.

 

[lisa-in-FL]

To me it is a two step process: recognizing the sin in your life and genuine contrition and turning away from that sin.

How is it lived out? Umm . . maybe I'll be able to tell you some day but I still haven't figured it out. There are the sins that are easy to turn from because you don't want to feel that way anymore. But there are the others, the ones that feed your pride or your flesh that you know are wrong but still have an inclination towards.

As for Biblical example: Psalm 51 (David post-adultery) and Philippians 3 (where Paul recounts his former life and counts it all for nothing that he may win Christ)

 

[Razeontherock]

Metanoia is the Greek word for repentance, but I think the explanations here are great already. Does anybody have more insight from the word itself?

In terms of a Biblical example of repentance, I'm the guy that God speaks to through the sacrifices so I'll point to Leviticus 14:1-20. If you read it specifically looking for this context, I believe the Holy Spirit will be able to speak to you plainly, and that picture is priceless! I'll just draw attention to the part where we're presenting ourselves before our great High Priest, shaved completely eyebrows and all, seeking to be cured / cleansed of our dreaded disease leprosy / sin.
The visual picture is that of a radical transformation, and so is the inner / spiritual picture one of radical transformation through brokenness. Other sacrifices expand on this idea, where the animal is cut into pieces and "ordered unto the head." That's us! As we follow our forerunner and Elder Brother, Jesus. This part aligns perfectly with Psalm 51, which has already been mentioned.

Suddenly I'm compelled to break out singing Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord from Godspell

 

[stovebolts]

Lots of really great replies! I got a little side tracked yesterday, but I hope to add my thoughts later today.
Thanks everyone!

 

[stovebolts]

Alright, finally! I'll tell ya all, life can get kinda crazy at times!

I asked the question the way I did to see how many responded the way I thought and put a lot of emphasis on sin, and stopping that behavior and as we can all see, it's a pretty common response.

When I think about repentance, I think about John the baptist. Notice what he says in Matthew 3:2 Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. And to the Pharisees and Saducees he says in verse 8, produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

This tells me 2 things, it's about Gods Kingdom and it produces fruit. Because it produces fruit, that tells me simply stopping a behavior isnt the full story on repentance.

In Luke's account, it reads much like Matthew's account, except he gives more detail in Luke 3:7-14 . They ask, "what must we do!" And John gives them instruction on what to do. Verse 12 is easy, people hated tax collectors because they took more than required and stashed it in their pocket. There is much to say here, but the point is John's reply. Vs 13, Dont collect any more than you are required to.

Each time John tells them what they need to do, he is directly countering what they did wrong.

Paul puts it this way in Epesians 4:25 - 29. Paraphrasing, if your a thief, stop stealing, get a job and then give to those in need.

Repentance isnt just about stopping your stealing. It's about earning your own way so you can help somebody else that may need to steal just to eat.

He goes on to talk about lying. Repentance isnt just about stopping your lying. It's about telling the truth because sometimes just keeping your mouth shut is as good as a lie.

But I think the greatest example is Paul himself who killed Christians. As we know, he was a great evangelist and brought many to Christ.

For me, growing up wasnt ideal and I didnt have very good guidance. As a result, sin was not only natural, but it was normal. I know what I'm not supposed to do, but I dont always know what I'm supposed to do. And this is the great thing about Gods Word because it tells us HOW to live our life as new creations and Children of the Most High.

In short, if sin is missing the mark, then repentance is hitting the mark and we will never hit the mark if we put down our bow.

Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure in a field, and a man sold all he had to purchase that field. Jesus also said that where ones treasure is, there is heart will also be. Did you notice your heart follows what it treasures?

Do you love God? Is He your treasure? If He is, then you'll find a way to make things right and that only happens when we ourselves ask, "What must we do?" and the fruits of our repentance will be made known to the world like a light on a hill.

God bless you all.

 

[humble soul]

Repentance is a kind of surrender. Stopping the pretence. "It's no one's fault but my own. " Taking responsibility. Not blaming others any more. "I was wrong Lord. Point me in the right direction. " Essentially it is hardcore humility.
This all sounds good. I am a better writer than practitioner. Just another hypocrite I guess.
I've been feeling repentant lately. About my lifestyle and attitude to women in the past. I want to learn to treat them with the respect they deserve.

 

[stovebolts]

Repentance is a kind of surrender. Stopping the pretence. "It's no one's fault but my own. " Taking responsibility. Not blaming others any more. "I was wrong Lord. Point me in the right direction. " Essentially it is hardcore humility.
This all sounds good. I am a better writer than practitioner. Just another hypocrite I guess.
I've been feeling repentant lately. About my lifestyle and attitude to women in the past. I want to learn to treat them with the respect they deserve.

I believe God has equipped each believer to be the person God designed him / her to be.
God, through the Holy Spirit can prick our heart. If your heart has been pricked about your lifestyle and treatment of women, then that not repentance. It's just feeling guilty. When you change your behavior and attitude and live out this new belief, then it's repentance that's bearing fruit and the guilt turns to joy.
Every tree that does not bear fruit gets cut down and thrown into the fire. Sometimes fear is the entry point into understanding. Understanding leads to love, and there is no fear in love.
You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength because where your treasure is, your heart will follow.
Is Jesus your treasure? Are you willing to sell all you have that you may purchase a new field?

 

[humble soul]

Feeling repentant is different to showing repentance I think.

Adj.

1.

repentant- feeling or expressing remorse for misdeeds penitent ashamed - feeling shame or guilt or embarrassment or remorse; "are you ashamed for having lied?"; "felt ashamed of my torn coat" regretful, sorry, bad - feeling or expressing regret or sorrow or a sense of loss over something done or undone; "felt regretful over his vanished youth"; "regretful over mistakes she had made"; "he felt bad about breaking the vase" impenitent, unremorseful, unrepentant - not penitent or remorseful

 

[humble soul]

When you change your behavior and attitude and live out this new belief, then it's repentance that's bearing fruit and the guilt turns to joy.
Every tree that does not bear fruit gets

I just said I was feeling repentant, which is the first step. Better than nothing.

 

[Hopeful]

We like to use big fancy words in church, but do we really understand what they mean?

In your own words, what does Repentance mean?
How is it lived out?
Do you know of a biblical example of what repentance looks like?

Repentance means to turn from something, and in the case of things biblical, the turn is from all sin.
Permanently.