Repent in the Book of Acts

Essentially, to repent means to change your mind; but, as we are seeing, that change of mind is the engine that pulls a train. Repent rarely stands alone, there’s almost always an and that follows. Let’s take a look.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

This is the conclusion of that Pentecostal sermon. Peter said they rejected and crucified Jesus, but that God raised him from the dead. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

What a bold sermon - You rejected and killed Christ!

37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

“How can we correct this wrong we have done?” Repent – change your thinking about Jesus, acknowledge him to be Christ, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ - acknowledge and embrace Jesus as the Christ. The promise: remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Peter’s sermon here: The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses (13-15). Therefore,

Repent – change your mind about Jesus, confess you were wrong in denying him, and be converted – turn to Christ; believe, be baptized, follow him. And the promise: That your sins may be blotted out.

Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

Oh the apostles were so bold! Paul was preaching to Greeks who were wholly given over to idolatry: God now commands all men everywhere to repent of this idolatry – stop worshiping images and return to the one, true God. 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. I think it is safe to say the message was: Repent of idolatry, give it up and believe in Jesus, who was raised from the dead. The promise is resurrection from the dead, judgment, assurance of deliverance in that Great Day of Judgment.

Acts 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

This is Paul speaking to the Ephesians elders, reminding them of his message.

Repentance toward God – the Greeks (Gentiles) worshipped idols and many gods, so this means they had to change the way they thought about God – He is not one among many, He is the one and only God; He is not an immoral scoundrel, He is holy and righteous; He is not temperamental and unpredictable, He is faithful and true; He is not an image made with their own hands, He is the  living God.

and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ – repent and believe; this is the goal of repentance, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 26:20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

Paul has been boldly preaching Jesus to King Agrippa and that he was called to go to the Gentiles 18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. This was his message: Repent and turn to God.

Repent – change your thinking about your idols, they are not God; turn away from them, give them up.

and turn to God - turn to the true God; turn from darkness to light, from Satan to God. How? By believing in Jesus, being baptized in his name, following him.

What was promised to this repentance?  …that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

 

Repent means to change what you think about God, about Jesus; confess your sins; and take the appropriate and required action - turn to God, believe in Jesus, be baptized in his name, do works meet for repentance.

NEXT: Repent in the Epistles

Repent in the Gospels

 

Essentially, to repent means to change your mind; but, as I will demonstrate, that change of mind is the engine that pulls a train. I discovered that repent rarely stands alone, there’s almost always an and that follows. Even when it is not spelled out, it is assumed. Repent and... Let’s look at this.

John the Baptizer

Matthew 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 

2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 

8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 

9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father.

Repent and be baptized; and confess your sins; and bring forth fruits meet for repentance. John’s message was, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand. I know you are waiting and longing for it, but you are not ready for it. You need to prepare yourselves.”

What did they repent of? Sins, which they confessed; attitude, We have Abraham to our father, they thought they were in because of their family ties. They had the proper hope, the kingdom is coming, but they had grown lazy and lax in their living and faith. “Change your mind. Confess your sins. Turn away from this careless living and bring forth good fruit.”

Jesus

Mark 1:14 Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Repent and believe the gospel. “I know you are waiting for the kingdom of God and you think it’s going to come some day. I’m telling you, the time is now. Stop thinking it is going to come, it is here. Believe this good news!”

The Jews had held the hope of the coming Messiah, to some degree, since Abraham. They had been through a lot as a people, and it had been 400 years since the last prophet (Malachi). The hope had become somewhat stale. “He’s coming. Probably not today, maybe not tomorrow, but the Coming One will come. One day.”

Jesus said, “Stop thinking that way. The kingdom is at hand.” (This is the gospel.) “Repent and believe the gospel.”

Matthew 9:10 And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.

11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Why was Jesus eating with publicans and sinners? Was he approving their life of sin? No, he came to seek and to save the lost and lost people are sinners. He was seeking to heal them and restore them to righteousness.

I came to call…sinners to repentance - They need to confess their sins, turn away from that life, turn to Jesus, and follow him.

Luke 16:30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

This is the story of the rich man and Lazarus, which is part of the larger context. In 1-13 he taught his followers, No man can serve two masters…Ye cannot serve God and mammon. In 14, the Pharisees, who were covetous, derided him. This is part of his response. The poor man Lazarus dies and goes to Abraham’s bosom; the rich man dies and goes to hell, where he is in torment because of his covetous ways (25). He doesn’t want his brothers to follow him. The repentance he wishes for them and which they need involves embracing No man can serve two masters…Ye cannot serve God and mammon. A change in thinking and living.

Luke 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Repentance and remission of sins is at the beginning of the gospel and at the end of the gospel. Repentance and remission of sins are still part of the message for all nations. Repent, believe, be baptized, remission (forgiveness) are all still intertwined.

 

Repent means to change your mind (change your thinking about the kingdom, salvation, sin, Jesus), confess your sins, and take the appropriate and required action.

 

NEXT: Repent in the Book of Acts

Repentance: A Definition

 

The first thing I did was make a list of all the occurrences of repentance in the New Testament, including every form: repent, repentance, repented, and repenteth. (Yes, I use the King James.) As you will quickly notice, they all boil down to two words: repent and repentance.

Repent is μετανοέω (metanoeō). This is the verb. 

Repentance is μετάνοια (metanoia). This is the noun.

The simplest way to explain this is repentance is the thing; to repent is to do that thing. Now isn’t that clear? Haha! Just to make it even clearer, the purpose of my study was to determine what that thing was (repentance) so I would know how to do it (repent).

Right away I noticed there was another word used sometimes, a synonym of sorts, μεταμέλομαι (metamelomai). I say a synonym of sorts because while it is very close in meaning, they are not exactly the same. I will explain that a little later in a separate post.

Now definitions

Repentance (metanoia) the thing, means a change of mind, a change in your thinking. At one time you thought one way, then something happened, you received new information, and you repent (metanoeo), you change your mind and begin to think a different way.

Early in my Christian life I was taught that repentance was nothing more than simply changing your mind. A good example of this is Luke 17:3-4:

Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

Repent here seems to be simply, “I was wrong. I shouldn’t have done or said that.” (At least the brother confesses he was wrong.)

Another example of this bare-bones definition is from Luke 13:1-5

1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

It seems the Jews thought if something bad happened to someone, they must have sinned. Jesus said, “Quit thinking like this. Change the way you think about these things.” This reflects the essential meaning of repent.

However, he went on in v 6-9 to speak a parable about a fig tree that was not bearing fruit and in danger of being cut down. He was challenging them to change the way they think about sin and suffering and to bring forth the fruit of living for the Lord.

And that’s what I learned about repentance: it is more than simply changing your mind. It is changing your mind for the better; a new way of thinking which results in a new way of living.

 

NEXT: Repentance: What is it really?

Repentance - A Kingdom Principle

 

Repentance is a kingdom principle

The New Testament opens with, In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matt 3:1-2) John was announcing the kingdom of heaven* and calling for people to repent. This is the very essence of a kingdom principle!

Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. (Mark 1:14-15) The Lord began his ministry announcing the kingdom of God* and calling for people to repent.

When Jesus sent the disciples out two by two, they went out, and preached that men should repent. (Mark 6:12)

Jesus looked for repentance: 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 10:13)

Jesus said there was joy in heaven because of it: I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. (Luke 15:7)

Repent is a gospel principle

As the gospel began with repentance, it ends on the same note:

And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46-47)

The first gospel message ended with this invitation: Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:38)

Peter continued to preach it: 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 3:19)

Was this only a message for the Jews? No!

Paul preached it in Athens: And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: (Acts 17:30)

In Ephesus: Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:21)

He preached it to Jews and Gentiles: But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. (Acts 26:20) Obviously a gospel principle!

 

Finally, it is a church principle

 The clearest and longest explanation of repentance is found in Paul’s second epistle to the Corinthians. We will look at that separately.

Repent occurs 12 times in the book of Revelation; 8 of those times are in chapters 2 and 3, the letters to the seven churches.

 

Repentance is a fundamental part of the kingdom of God: John the Baptizer preached it; the Lord Jesus Christ preached it; the apostle Peter preached it; the apostle Paul preached it; and it is found in the last book of the Bible!

 

* kingdom of heaven was simply a Jewish way of saying kingdom of God.

 

NEXT: The words used