Part 3: A Commentary on all the Repentance Scriptures in the New Testament.

The words repent and repentance appear around 55-60 times in the New Testament depending on which translation you use. Below I have divided each occurrence into six categories. This helps us to see the correct context where repentance is used which is crucial if we are going to apply repentance appropriately to believers today. If your understanding of repentance does not align with these scripture references in their true context then your definition of repentance is possibly wrong and you might want to consider repenting, which really means to change the way you think about repentance.

Here are the six categories you’ll find the words repent and repentance used, along with some commentary to explain to context:

1. Israel’s repentance from Moses to Christ. (31 times).
2. Gentiles repentance towards Christ. (5 times).

3. Believers ongoing repentance of sin? (10 times).

4. People beyond repentance? (2 times).

5. Non-believers unrepentant. (4 times).

6. Causes of repentance. (3 times).

1. Israel’s repentance from Moses to Christ.

John the Baptist preached repentance to Israel:

• Acts 13:24 after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
• Acts 19:4 Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”
• Matthew 3:2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
• Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John’s baptism was not to remove the sins of Israel, it was to tell Israel to believe on the one who was to come, Jesus, for He is the Lamb of God who removes sins. (John 1:29). Repentance is not to get rid of sins, it’s to believe in Jesus, and Jesus gets rid of sins. Moses and the law could not get rid of sins, just temporarily cover them, but Jesus gets rid of sins.

John came to prepare the way for Israel to transition out of works in Moses and into Christ through faith. He baptised in the Jordan which was symbolic of when Israel crossed the Jordan and went into the Promised Land. Moses was not allowed to cross the Jordan nor unbelieving Israel. But Joshua, the man of faith, who is a type of Christ, was the one to lead the next generation of Israelites in. The Promised Land in Hebrews 4 is called the land of rest and refers to entering into Christ. When you put all this together you can see that the Jordan river represents transition for Israel, a leaving Moses and unbelief and coming into the Promised Land through faith. This is all symbolic of the repentance that John preached. John’s baptism in the Jordan was to announce to Israel that the Messiah is here and it’s time to transition once again out of Moses and into Christ. It’s time to repent from Moses/works/unbelief and come to God through Christ/grace/faith.

• Mark 1:4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
• Luke 3:3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,

It’s not repentance that causes the remission or removal of sins, it’s believing in Jesus that removes our sins. Repentance is never a work that removes our sins, rather it’s a change of thinking to believe in Jesus. Repentance is turning to Christ, hence if someone repents by turning to Christ their sins will be removed.

• Matthew 3:8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
• Luke 3:8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

This is John the Baptizer rebuking the religious Pharisees who trusted in their own self righteousness and law keeping to be saved. The fruits of repentance here is not referring to living without sin (although we shouldn’t sin), its referring to not being religious and trusting in your own self righteousness. The fruits of repentance are actually the actions of faith. It’s not trusting in (dead) works, but rather walking by faith in Jesus. For some people repentance has become a work to maintain their relationship with God. These people actually need to repent from repenting and have faith in the finished work of Christ. They need to change the way they think about repentance and draw near to God through grace.

Jesus preached repentance:

• Mark 1:15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
• Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The “time is fulfilled” is most likely referring to the fulfilment of Daniel’s prophecy to Israel (Daniel 9:24-27) in which he prophesied in that time that there would be seventy weeks until the coming of the Messiah who would then put away sin and bring in everlasting righteousness. So Jesus is announcing to Israel that now is the time of the fulfilment of that prophecy. The Messiah is here and the Kingdom of God is now in reach for there is now a change in dispensations. The Old Covenant era is coming to an end and the New Covenant dispensation is about to begin. Before Christ Israel could not actually be born again or enter the Kingdom. Therefore the Kingdom of God was distant and beyond their reach. But now with the coming of Christ the Kingdom of God was at hand, meaning that the Messiah had finally come and through Him you could enter the Kingdom. In order to enter the Kingdom you must repent and believe the Gospel. In other words you must have a revelation that Jesus is the Messiah and turn away from Moses and towards Christ in faith.

Galatians 4:1-7 explains that the coming of Christ marked the “fullness of time” and that He came to redeem those who were under the law and bring them into sonship in the kingdom of God. In Christ we are no longer slaves under the law but heirs of God through grace.

• Mark 2:17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
• Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
• Matthew 9:13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

Those who consider themselves well and in no need of a physician/doctor were the Pharisees and Scribes to whom Jesus was speaking to in these scriptures. They were righteous in their own eyes and therefore didn’t see their need for a saviour and hence rejected Christ. Jesus was unable to call them to repent because of this. Yet the “sinners” and tax collectors were believing in Him and receiving Him. These are the one Jesus can call to repentance. This repentance is to turn from dead works in Moses (relying on works to save) and to have faith in Jesus. God’s desire is not for us to rely on our own sacrifices to save us but to receive His mercy, which is Christ’s sacrifice that saves us. Works focuses on our sacrifice but faith receives mercy/His sacrifice.

• Luke 10:13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
• Luke 11:32 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
• Matthew 11:20 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent:
• Matthew 11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
• Matthew 12:41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
• Luke 13:3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.
• Luke 13:5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

Jesus demonstrated through signs, wonders, miracles and preaching that He was the Messiah and that the Kingdom of God was near. However many religious Jews rejected Him because of hard hearts of unbelief. Similar to the generation of Israel who failed to enter the Promised Land because of unbelief, these Israelites likewise were also in danger of not entering the Kingdom of God because of their unbelief and rejection of Jesus the Messiah. His contrast of certain Jewish cities to Gentile cities is to further highlight Israel’s unbelief as even these Gentiles cities had once repented at the preaching of earlier prophets. His warning to them is that if they don’t repent by turning from unbelief and to faith in Him, they too will fail to enter the Kingdom and perish. Repentance here is not about getting rid of their own sin, it’s about receiving Jesus as Messiah.

• Luke 15:7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
• Luke 15:10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

Again Jesus is speaking to Pharisees and seeking to expose their own self righteousness. They didn’t see a need to repent from dead works and believe in Jesus, yet the lost sinners were. Jesus was trying to help the Pharisees see that God is not happy with their self righteousness, but His desire is that everyone repents and receives the righteousness of God that comes through Jesus Christ. When someone realises they are lost and in need of Christ and receives Him, this is what makes God happy. Not ninety-nine self righteous people who don’t see a need to repent.

• Luke 16:30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’

This is the rich young ruler who died and went down to Hades/Hell and was speaking to Abraham who was across a great chasm in Paradise (Abraham’s bosom). This rich young ruler who relied on his riches for salvation (figuratively self righteousness) woke up in Hell. Whereas poor Lazarus, who died at the same time, relied on the mercy of God and woke up with Abraham in Paradise. Both Hades and Paradise were a waiting place for all those who died before the finished work of Christ. Hades was for the unrighteous dead who would await the final judgement and then be turned over into the lake of fire for eternity. Paradise was the waiting place of all the Old Testament saints including Abraham, who waited for the Messiah to come and offer the perfect sacrifice that would finally remove their sins and deliver them from this not so nice waiting place adjacent to Hell. This is why after Christ died He descended into the depth of the earth and set captivity free and when He rose from the dead and ascended He led them up into the new paradise which is now in Heaven. (Ephesians 4:8-10). This new waiting place is also for all those who die in Christ now as we wait for the return of Christ and consummation of the ages (the final judgement, the ushering in of the new heavens and earth and the eternal state). This rich young ruler asks Abraham to send somebody back to his family to tell them (figuratively) not to rely on Moses but Christ. Abraham tells him that his family have the law and the prophets and if they will not listen to them, then they would not listen to anyone, even someone who returns from the dead. This is a powerful statement because the law and the prophets all point to Christ. They were given to point Israel to Christ yet when you are blinded by self righteousness and unbelief you will not see Christ and your need for His righteousness that comes by grace through faith. (Romans 3:21-26 confirms these things).

• Luke 17:3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.
• Luke 17:4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

Jesus is showing the contrast between law and grace here, and again it’s to expose the self righteousness of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were very big on rebuking and punishing but very small on forgiveness. Note what John Lightfoot’s commentary says about the Pharisees, “They allow, from Leviticus 19:17, that a man may rebuke a hundred times if there be any need for it; nay, that it is the duty of a disciple to rebuke his master if occasion be. But as to forgiving him that offends, they abuse the words of the prophet, Amos 1:3, “for three transgressions”; and that of Job 33:29, “Lo, God worketh all these things three times with man”; and teach that a man is not bound to forgive a fourth trespass.”

These verses were not given to teach believers a doctrine to seek God’s forgiveness through repentance every time you sin. They were given to expose the false religion of the Pharisees and show us that through grace the nature of God’s forgiveness is unlimited. We therefore should not always be looking to expose people’s sin and rebuke them for it, but rather, like God, have a heart of grace and forgiveness.

Disciples preached repentance:

• Mark 6:12 So they went out and preached that people should repent.
• Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
• Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
• Acts 5:31 Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

This repentance is turning away from dead works and believing in Jesus. It’s Jesus who gets rid of our sins not our repentance. Repentance is simply putting our faith in the one who gets rid of our sins. Hence if we repent and believe in Jesus then we will receive the forgiveness of our sins and be cleansed of all of them.

• Hebrews 6:1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

This is a great verse that shows us what repentance truly is. It’s turning away from dead works and toward God in faith. These are the very first (elementary) teaching of Christ that someone has to understand in order to be saved. That’s why if someone doesn’t understand these teachings they cannot go on to maturity (perfection). This is simply because they are not saved. You cannot grow in maturity as a believer if you are not actually a believer.

2. Gentiles repentance towards Christ.

• Luke 24:47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
• Acts 11:18 When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.”
• Acts 17:30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,

The Good News is that God has also granted the Gentiles repentance to be saved whereas they did not have this before. Now if Gentiles would turn away from unbelief and have faith in Jesus, then God would also forgiven them all their sins and give them eternal life. It took awhile for Jews to realise and accept that Gentiles could also be saved! Yet it was always there included in God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12.

• Acts 20:21 testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

This verse reveals the very nature of the repentance that Paul preached. It’s not about confessing every single one of your sins from the start of your life until now in order to be saved. Repentance is about turning to God through faith in Jesus. God doesn’t require us to confess all our sins in order to be saved, just that we are sinners in need of a saviour and to believe in Christ.

• Acts 26:20 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.

Works befitting repentance is not going back to reliance on the law for our salvation but continuing in faith. Works befitting repentance are the actions of faith. To think that we must earn, keep or complete our salvation by works is the very thing that we repented of when we put our faith in Christ. Therefore let us walk by faith in Christ and not reliance on our works. These are the works befitting repentance.

3. Believers ongoing repentance of sin?

• Acts 8:22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.

If you read the verses before and after this verse you will see that the context is about a false convert who thought he could buy the ability to baptise people in the Holy Spirit. This was offensive for which Peter strongly rebukes him because this ability is a gift from God through faith and not something you can buy or earn with money. He was clearly not a true convert as Peter says of him, “may your silver perish with you”, “You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right before God”, “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.” This is probably not something you would say to a believer.

Many people try to apply this verse to believers today to tell them that they must repent of each sin ongoingly in order to be forgiven and restored to God. But these are not doctrinal statements to a believer. The Bible teaches us that by believing in Jesus we receive the gift of forgiveness of all of our sins and that we are made perfect before God once and for all, that there is peace between us and God and that we have open access to Him through the blood of Jesus to come boldly before Him anytime.
(Col 2:14, Heb 10:10,12,14, Rom 5:1-2, Heb 4:16, Heb 10:19-22).

Peter is essentially telling this false convert to change the way he thinks and to put his faith in Jesus that this very sin and all his sins may be forgiven.

Repenting from idolatry:

• 2 Corinthians 12:21 lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.

Paul here is referring to those, who before being saved, engaged in idolatrous practises of worship which included having sex with temple prostitutes and the likes. They then got saved (or possibly not) and came into the church but did not discontinue their idolatrous practises. Perhaps they were just caught in sinful habits, but most likely they were continuing in idolatry because they still trusted in it and not fully in Christ. This is offensive to the apostle Paul and to the Gospel because it mixes Christ with idols. This is something people must repent of. A believer must repent from dead works and put their faith fully in Christ. If this was the case for the Corinthians then as soon as they repented from idols their behaviour would have changed. They would have no longer continued in the unclean, sexually immoral and lewd worship practises of idolatry. I believe this is the focus of this scripture. Now of course believers today should not carry on in fornication and impure behaviour. But repentance is about a change in your thinking which causes a change in your behaviour, it’s not about changing your behaviour in order to cause a change in your thinking. A true change in behaviour comes from a true heart change. You can threaten someone to change their behaviour with hell, punishment and being cut off from God, but has there been a true heart change, and if not, how long will the change last?

• Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
• Revelation 2:16 Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.
• Revelation 2:21 And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.
• Revelation 2:22 Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.
• Revelation 3:3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.
• Revelation 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

All these rebukes are very similar to our previous scripture 2 Corinthians 12:21. If you look at the context of all these churches you will see that they were either going back to the law or back into idolatry. In fact there was so much idolatry in some of the churches that it was even in question if people in the church were saved, having not properly believed in Jesus. (See the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22).

The warning is for all these churches to repent of idolatry and works otherwise Jesus was going to shut them down. The reason is because they were getting so far away from the true Gospel that they were doing more harm than good in the world. Many people want to make these rebukes about moral and habitual sin from which Jesus calls us to repent, but actually, this is an issue of not mixing Christ with idols.

Now of course if believers are committing sinful behaviour they should feel sorry about it and stop. They should not think it’s okay to just go ahead and live in sin, and they certainly should not be proud of it. And this is what our next couple of verses are about.

Repenting from pride:

• 2 Corinthians 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.
  2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
  

The background to the Corinthians repentance here is that there was a guy in the church who was sleeping with his father’s wife and the Corinthian believers, to Paul’s astonishment, were proud of this fact when they should have been mournful. Paul challenges them on this issue in 1 Corinthians 5:1-3:

“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this?”

Something in the thinking of the Corinthian believers could not see that what this man was doing was horribly wrong and grieving God. After Paul’s rebuke the church got a revelation that their attitude towards this man’s sin was wrong and their hearts were filled with godly sorrow. This sorrow led them to change the way they thought about this man’s sin and see it from God’s perspective. This change in their thinking is what Paul called “repentance”. Repentance in the Greek (metánoia) means “to change the way you think”. Repentance is not pleading and begging for forgiveness in order to maintain our relationship with God. Repentance is seeing things the way God sees them and aligning our hearts, thoughts, attitudes and will to His.

Repentance is not being sorry. Being sorry is what causes repentance. What causes sorrow is a revelation that what you are doing is wrong and grieves God. Saying sorry and asking for forgiveness is not repentance. Saying sorry to God is simply saying sorry to God but repentance is changing the way you think about how God sees that sin. So the Corinthians had a revelation of God, as a consequence their hearts were filled with humility and godly sorrow, and this led them to change the way they thought and acted about this man’s sin. And the story turns out really good. The man actually stops sinning and comes back into alignment with God in his thoughts and behaviour so Paul urges the Corinthians to bring him back into fellowship and be gracious to him.

4. Believers beyond repentance?

• Hebrews 6:6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
• Hebrews 12:17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.

These are the only two scriptures that sound like a believer can be beyond repentance. But is this actually what they are saying? When you understand the true context I don’t believe they are. However there are teachings today that suggest a believer can go too far into sin or rejecting their faith that they can lose their salvation and never be able to repent again in order to be saved again. The truth is, the actual context of these two verses do not support this. The first one is actually speaking about how impossible it is for a true believer to fall away. The writer is encouraging the Hebrews to move on to maturity but they couldn’t because they were still struggling with the most basic understanding of salvation through faith in Christ rather than salvation by Law keeping. He’s actually trying to give them assurance of salvation because their law mindset kept telling them they fell away from Christ every time they sinned/broke the law. This law mindset was hindering them from moving on to maturity so the writer helps them understand that being in Christ is not the same as being under the Law. It’s impossible to fall away in Christ because it’s impossible for Christ to be crucified again. We are in Christ and He is our life, therefore if Christ can’t die again it means neither can we. Christ’s life is the guarantee of our eternal life now.

The second scripture refers to Israel missing out on salvation if they trust in works rather than Christ. Jacob being a type of Christ and Esau representing the Law. The blessing and inheritance from God comes through Christ not the law. Repentance for the remission of sins was never granted to Israel under the Law, it is only a gift that is found in Christ. (Acts 5:31).

5. Unrepentant non-believers:

• Revelation 9:20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.
• Revelation 9:21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
• Revelation 16:9 And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.
• Revelation 16:11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.
  

6. Causes of repentance:

To unbelievers:

• Romans 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
• 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

This is speaking of God’s patience with the lost, giving them time to repent and come to salvation. The fact that He doesn’t just judge and condemn people to hell now, which He could, shows His patience and goodness and His desire for all to come to Him through Jesus.

To believers:

• 2 Timothy 2:25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,

• 2 Corinthians 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.

This refers to believers changing the way they think (and consequently behave) because they were lovingly confronted by someone with the truth.

Concluding thoughts:

We need to renew our mind to the true definition of repentance and limit our scriptural application of it to this boundary, for to go beyond would constitute distortion of sound doctrine.

And this is the true definition: Repentance is turning from dead works toward God through faith in Jesus. It’s giving up that old way of thinking that our works earn us something with God and submitting our thinking  to the grace of God. It’s renewing our minds to align with Christ’s truth. Ultimately repentance is about aligning our heart and mind with God’s heart and mind. Right behaviour will always follow this.

 

By Ryan Rufus.

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Articles you may find interesting:

Part 1: Thinking right about repentance.

Part 2: What repentance is and is not to the believer.