Reference: Repentance
American
A change of mind, accompanied with regret and sorrow for something done, and an earnest wish that it was undone. Such was the repentance of Juda, Mt 27:3; and so it is said that Esau found "no place of repentance" in his father Isaac, although he sought it with tears, Heb 12:17; that is, Isaac would not change what he had done, and revoke the blessing given to Jacob, Ge 27. God is sometimes said to "repent" of something he had done, Ge 6:6; Jon 3:9-10; not that he could wish it undone, but that in his providence such a change of course took place as among men would be ascribed to a change of mind. But the true gospel repentance, or "repentance unto life," is sorrow for sin, grief for having committed it, and a turning away from it with abhorrence, accompanied with sincere endeavors, in reliance on God's grace and the influences of the Holy Spirit, to live in humble and holy obedience to the commands and will of God. This is that repentance which always accompanies true faith, and to which is promised the free forgiveness of sin through the merits of Jesus Christ, Mt 4:17; Ac 3:19; 11:18; 20:12.
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And Jehovah will lament that he made man in the earth, and he will be grieved at his heart
Who shall know God will turn back and lament, and turning back from the burning of his anger and we shall not perish? And God will see their works that they turned back from their evil way, and God will lament for the evil which he spake to do to them: and he did it not
From then Jesus began to proclaim, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.
Then Judas, he delivering him up, having seen that he was condemned, having felt regret, returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests, and the more ancient,
Therefore repent, and return, for your sins to be wiped out, so that times of refreshment might come from the face of the Lord;
And having heard these, they were silent, and honoured God, saying, For also God gave the nations repentance to life.
For ye know also afterwards, wishing to inherit the praise, he was disapproved of: for he found no place for a change of mind, although having sought it with tears.
Easton
There are three Greek words used in the New Testament to denote repentance. (1.) The verb metamelomai is used of a change of mind, such as to produce regret or even remorse on account of sin, but not necessarily a change of heart. This word is used with reference to the repentance of Judas (Mt 27:3).
(2.) Metanoeo, meaning to change one's mind and purpose, as the result of after knowledge. This verb, with (3) the cognate noun metanoia, is used of true repentance, a change of mind and purpose and life, to which remission of sin is promised.
Evangelical repentance consists of (1) a true sense of one's own guilt and sinfulness; (2) an apprehension of God's mercy in Christ; (3) an actual hatred of sin (Ps 119:128; Job 42:5-6; 2Co 7:10) and turning from it to God; and (4) a persistent endeavour after a holy life in a walking with God in the way of his commandments.
The true penitent is conscious of guilt (Ps 51:4,9), of pollution (Ps 51:5,7,10), and of helplessness (Ps 51:11; 109:21-22). Thus he apprehends himself to be just what God has always seen him to be and declares him to be. But repentance comprehends not only such a sense of sin, but also an apprehension of mercy, without which there can be no true repentance (Ps 51:1; 130:4).
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By the hearing of the ear I heard of thee: and now mine eyes saw thee: For this, I shall melt away, and I lamented in dust and ashes.
To the overseer: chanting to David; In the coming to him of Nathan the prophet, when he went in to Bathsheba. Compassionate me, O God, according to thy mercy: according to the Multitude of thy compassions wipe away my transgressions.
Against thee, thee alone, did I sin, and I did evil in thine eyes: so that thou wilt be justified in thy speaking, and thou wilt be pure in thy judging. Behold, I was born in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Thou wilt purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: thou wilt wash me and I shall be white above snow.
Hide thy face from my sin, and wipe away all mine iniquities. Create for me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit in my midst, read more. Thou wilt not cast me away from thy face, and thou wilt not take thy holy spirit from me.
And thou Jehovah my Lord do with me for sake of thy name: for good thy mercy, deliver thou me. For poor and needy am I, and my heart wounded in my midst.
Blessed be thou, O Jehovah: teach me thy laws
For with thee, forgiveness; so that thou shalt be feared.
Then Judas, he delivering him up, having seen that he was condemned, having felt regret, returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests, and the more ancient,
Hastings
Repentance, in the sense of turning from a purpose, is frequently predicated of God in the OT (Ge 6:6-7; Ex 32:14 etc.). Repentance for sin is commonly expressed by 'turn' or 'return' (e.g. De 4:30; Isa 55:7; Eze 3:2; Ho 14:2). Repentance has a prominent place in the NT, alone (Mt 4:17; Lu 15:7; Ac 2:38 etc.), or in conjunction with faith (Mr 1:15; Ac 20:21 etc.), as an Indispensable condition of salvation. The word ordinarily used (metanoia) means literally 'change of mind.' The change, however, is one in which not the intellect only, but the whole nature (understanding, affections, will), is involved. It is such an altered view of God and sin as carries with it heartfelt sorrow for sin, confession of it, and decisive turning from it to God and righteousness (Lu 15:17-18; Ro 6:17-18; 2Co 7:10-11 etc.). Its reality is tested by its fruits (Mt 3:8; Lu 6:43-46). From this 'godly sorrow', which works 'repentance unto salvation' (2Co 7:10-11), is distinguished a 'sorrow of the world' which 'worketh death' (2Co 7:10), i.e. a sorrow which has no relation to God, or to the intrinsic evil of sin, but only to sin's harmful consequences. There may be keen remorse, and blaming of one's self for one's folly, yet no real repentance.
Disputes have arisen in theology as to the priority of faith or repentance, but unnecessarily, for the two, rightly viewed, are but the positive and negative poles of the same state of soul. There can be no evangelical faith which does not spring from a heart broken and contrite on account of sin; on the other hand, there can be no true repentance which has not the germ of faith in God, and of hope in His mercy, in it. The Law alone would break the heart; the Gospel melts it. Repentance is the turning from sin; Gospel faith is the turning to Christ for salvation. The acts are inseparable (Ac 20:21).
James Orr.
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And Jehovah will lament that he made man in the earth, and he will be grieved at his heart And Jehovah will say, I will wipe out man whom I formed from above the face of the earth; from man even to cattle, even to the creeping thing and even to the birds of the heavens; and I was grieved that I made them.
And Jehovah repented concerning the evil which he spake to do to his people.
In straitness to thee, and all these words found thee in the last of the days, and thou didst turn to Jehovah thy God and heardest to his voice;
The unjust one shall forsake his way, and the man of vanity his purposes, and turn back to Jehovah, and he will pity him, and to our God, for he will multiply to forgive.
And I shall open my mouth, and he will cause me to eat this roll.
Take with you words and turn back to Jehovah: say to him, Thou wilt take away all iniquity, and take good: and we will requite the fruits of our lips.
Do ye therefore fruit worthy of repentance.
From then Jesus began to proclaim, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.
And saying, That the time has been completed, and the kingdom of God has drawn near: repent ye, and believe in the good news.
For it is not a good tree making decayed fruit; neither a decayed tree making good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit. For of thorns they gather not figs, nor of the bramble do they harvest the grape. read more. The good man out of the good treasure of his heart, brings forward the good thing; and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart, brings forward the evil thing: for out of the abundance of the heart does his month speak. And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not what I say?
I say to you, that so shall joy be in heaven over one sinful repenting, more than over ninety-nine just, which have no need of repentance.
And having come to himself, he said, Many hired of my father abound in loaves, and I am perishing with hunger! Having risen, I will go to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
And Peter said to them, Repent, and be each of you immersed in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Testifying to both Jews, and Greeks, repentance towards God, and the faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ.
Testifying to both Jews, and Greeks, repentance towards God, and the faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ.
And grace to God, that ye were servants of sin, but ye listened from the heart to the type of teaching in which ye were delivered. And freed from sin, ye were subdued to justice.
For grief according to God works repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but grief of the world works death.
For grief according to God works repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but grief of the world works death. For behold, this same that ye grieve according to God, what care it wrought in you, but defence, but indignation, but fear, but anxious desire, but zeal, but punishing! In every thing ye recommended yourselves to be holy in this affair.
Morish
The idea conveyed in this term is of great importance from the fact of its application not only to man but to God, showing how God, in His government of the earth, is pleased to express His own sense of events taking place upon it. This does not clash with His omniscience. There are two senses in which repentance on the part of God is spoken of.
1. As to His own creation or appointment of objects that fail to answer to His glory. He repented that He had made man on the earth, and that He had set up Saul as king of Israel. Ge 6:6-7; 1Sa 15:11,35
1Sa 15:2. As to punishment which He has threatened, or blessing He has promised. When Israel turned from their evil ways and sought God, He often repented of the punishment He had meditated. 2Sa 24:16, etc. On the other hand, the promises to bless Israel when in the land were made conditionally on their obedience, so that God would, if they did evil, turn from or repent of the good that He had said He would do, either to Israel or in fact to any nation. Jer 18:8-10. He would alter the order of His dealings towards them, and as to Israel He said, "I am weary with repenting." Jer 15:6. In all this the responsibility of man is concerned, as well as the divine government.
But the unconditional promises of God, as made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are not subject to repentance. "The gifts and calling of God are without repentance." Ro 11:29. "God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it?" Nu 23:19; 1Sa 15:29; Mal 3:6. And this must hold good in regard to every purpose of His will.
As regards man, repentance is the necessary precursor of his experience of grace on the part of God. Two motives for repentance are presented in scripture: the goodness of God which leads to repentance (Ro 2:4) and coming judgement, on account of which God now commands all men to repent (Ac 17:30-31); but it is distinctly of His grace and for His glory that this door of return to Him is granted (Ac 11:18) in that He has approached man in grace and by His glad tidings, consequent on His righteousness having been secured in the death of Christ. Hence God's testimony is "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Ac 20:21.
Repentance has been described as "a change of mind Godward that leads to a judgement of self and one's acts." 1Ki 8:47; Eze 14:6; Mt 3:2; 9:13; Lu 15:7; Ac 20:21; 2Co 7:9-10; etc. This would not be possible but for the thought of mercy in God. It is the goodness of God that leads to repentance. Ro 2:4.
Repentance is also spoken of as a change of thought and action where there is no evil to repent of. 2Co 7:8.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Jehovah will lament that he made man in the earth, and he will be grieved at his heart And Jehovah will say, I will wipe out man whom I formed from above the face of the earth; from man even to cattle, even to the creeping thing and even to the birds of the heavens; and I was grieved that I made them.
God is not man, and will he lie? and the son of man, and will he grieve? Did he say, and will he not do? and speak, and will he not establish?
And the messenger will stretch forth his hand to destroy Jerusalem, and Jehovah will lament for the evil, and he will say to the messenger destroying among the people, Much now: let go thy hand. And the messenger of Jehovah was near the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
And they turned back to their heart in the land which they were carried captive there, and they turned back and supplicated to thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We sinned and acted perversely, and did evil;
Thou didst reject me, says Jehovah; thou wilt go backward; and I will stretch forth my hand against thee, and I will destroy thee; I was weary of lamenting.
And that nation which I spake against it turned back from its evil, and I lamented for the evil which I proposed to do to it. And the moment I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant: read more. And it did evil in mine eyes not to hear to my voice, and I lamented for the good which I said to do well to it
For this, say to the house of Israel, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Turn ye back, and turn away from your blocks; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
For I am Jehovah, I changed not; and ye the sons of Jacob were not finished.
And saying, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.
And having gone, learn what is this, I wish mercy, and not sacrifice: for I came not to call the just, but the sinful to repentance.
I say to you, that so shall joy be in heaven over one sinful repenting, more than over ninety-nine just, which have no need of repentance.
And having heard these, they were silent, and honoured God, saying, For also God gave the nations repentance to life.
Therefore truly, God having overlooked the times of ignorance, now announces to all men everywhere to repent: Wherefore he set a day, in which he is about to judge the habitable globe in justice by the man whom he appointed; having offered faith to all, having raised him from the dead.
Testifying to both Jews, and Greeks, repentance towards God, and the faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ.
Testifying to both Jews, and Greeks, repentance towards God, and the faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ.
Or the abundance of his goodness and forbearance and long suffering dos thou despise; not knowing that the goodness of God brings thee to repentance?
Or the abundance of his goodness and forbearance and long suffering dos thou despise; not knowing that the goodness of God brings thee to repentance?
For the favors and calling of God not causing repentance.
For if I also grieved you in the epistle, I regret not, and if I did regret: for I see that that epistle, if also for a time, grieved you.
Watsons
REPENTANCE is sometimes used generally for a change of mind, and an earnest wishing that something were undone that has been done. Esau found no place for repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears; he could not move his father Isaac to repent of what he had done, or to recall the blessing from Jacob and confer it on himself, Heb 12:17; Mt 3:2; 4:17. Taken in a religious sense it signifies conviction of sin and sorrow for it. But there is,
1. A partial or worldly repentance, wherein one is grieved for and turns from his sin, merely on account of the hurt it has done, or is likely to do, him; so a malefactor, who still loves his sin, repents of doing it, because it brings him to punishment.
2. An evangelical repentance, which is a godly sorrow wrought in the heart of a sinful person by the word and Spirit of God, whereby, from a sense of his sin, as offensive to God, and defiling and endangering to his own soul, and from an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, he, with grief and hatred of all his known sins, turns from them to God, as his Saviour and Lord. This is called "repentance toward God," as therein we turn from sin to him; and "repentance unto life;" as it leads to spiritual life, and is the first step to eternal life, Mt 3:2; Ac 3:19; 11:18; 20:12. God himself is said to repent, but this can only be understood of his altering his conduct towards his creatures, either in the bestowing of good or the infliction of evil: which change in the divine conduct is founded on a change in his creatures; and thus, speaking after the manner of men, God is said to repent.
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And saying, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.
And saying, Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.
From then Jesus began to proclaim, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.
Therefore repent, and return, for your sins to be wiped out, so that times of refreshment might come from the face of the Lord;
And having heard these, they were silent, and honoured God, saying, For also God gave the nations repentance to life.
For ye know also afterwards, wishing to inherit the praise, he was disapproved of: for he found no place for a change of mind, although having sought it with tears.