Don't I have to stop sinning first?
What repentance is, from Acts, Luke, and Paul.
The short answer Settled
No. Repentance is a change of mind toward God, and it is one turning with believing. Scripture calls the same turning by either name. Sorrow can lead to it, and a changed life follows it, but neither one is repentance itself.
One turning, two names
When Peter told the church in Jerusalem what had happened in Cornelius's house, he said God gave those Gentiles "the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ" (). The church heard him and answered, "Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life" (). Peter called it believing. The church called it repentance. It was one event.
At Athens Paul said that God "now commands all men everywhere to repent" (). Luke describes the people who responded: "some men joined him and believed" (). The call was to repent, and the answer to it is called believing.
The word itself points the same way. The Greek word for repentance, metanoiaGreekμετάνοιαmetanoiarepentance3341 · Noun, in the form Greek dictionaries list it, is made from words for a change and for the mind. In repentance a person changes his mind about God and about himself: he stops depending on himself and depends on God's Son.
One message, either word
After He rose, Jesus said "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations" (). When Peter preached to the Gentiles, he said "whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins" (). The forgiveness Jesus joined to repentance, Peter promised to whoever believes.
John wrote his whole Gospel "that believing you may have life in His name" (), and the word repent is not found anywhere in the entire book. If repentance were a second condition beside believing, a book written so its readers would have life could not leave it out.
Not the sorrow, not the fruit
Many think repenting means feeling sorry enough. But "godly sorrow produces repentance" (). The sorrow comes first and leads to repentance, so the two are not the same. When Judas "was remorseful" (), Scripture uses a different word altogether.
Others think repenting means cleaning up one's life. But Paul preached "that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance" (), and John the Baptist said, "bear fruits worthy of repentance" (). The works are called fruit. They fit the repentance, and they come after it.
A driver who finds he has been going the wrong way may groan about it first, and he will drive the right road afterward. But the turn happens when he changes his mind about where he is going.
A gift from God
Repentance is something God gives. Peter said God exalted Christ "to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins" (). The church said God "granted to the Gentiles repentance to life" (). Paul wrote of those who oppose the truth, "if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth" (). Repentance leads to knowing the truth: it is a change in what a person holds to be true. What God grants is not a reform a person offers to earn salvation.
The usual objection
Many people hold that to repent is to turn away from one's sins: to stop them and change how one lives. Jesus said, "unless you repent you will all likewise perish" (), and He preached, "Repent, and believe in the gospel" (), naming two things. On this view a person must give up his sins as well as believe, and no one is saved until his life has changed.
Repentance is necessary; Jesus said so. The question is what it is. Scripture calls the same turning by both names. Where the two words stand together, as in "repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (), they name one turning from its two sides: the mind changed toward God, and trust placed in His Son. The changed life is real, and it matters, but Scripture calls it the fruit of repentance, not repentance itself. A person who waits until his life is clean before he turns to Christ is waiting for the fruit before the tree is planted.
The words behind it
| Word | Where | Form | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| μετάνοια metanoia, "repentance" (Strong's 3341) | ; | Noun, in the form Greek dictionaries list it | From words for a change and the mind: a change of mind. |
| πιστεύσασιν pisteusasin, "when we believed" (4100) | Aorist active participle | What Peter called believing ... | |
| τὴν μετάνοιαν ἔδωκεν εἰς ζωήν tēn metanoian edōken eis zōēn, "granted … repentance to life" (3341, 1325, 2222) | Aorist active indicative | ... the church called repentance, and said God gave it. | |
| ἐπίστευσαν episteusan, "believed" (4100) | Aorist active indicative | The answer to the call to repent. | |
| λύπη μετάνοιαν … κατεργάζεται lypē metanoian … katergazetai, "sorrow produces repentance" (3077, 3341, 2716) | Present indicative | Sorrow leads to repentance; it is not repentance. | |
| μεταμεληθεὶς metamelētheis, "was remorseful" (3338) | Aorist passive participle | A different word: regret. | |
| ἄξια τῆς μετανοίας ἔργα axia tēs metanoias erga, "works befitting repentance" (514, 3341, 2041) | Adjective with nouns | Works that fit repentance, set beside it. | |
| καρποὺς ἀξίους τῆς μετανοίας karpous axious tēs metanoias, "fruits worthy of repentance" (2590, 514, 3341) | Noun with adjective | The changed life is called fruit. | |
| δῷ … μετάνοιαν εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας dō … metanoian eis epignōsin alētheias, "grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth" (1325, 3341, 1922, 225) | Aorist subjunctive | God gives it, and it leads to knowing the truth. |
No textual variants affect the conclusion.
This study checks the Greek Received Text against the Majority Text, and the written Hebrew against its traditional reading. If a difference could change a conclusion, this note explains it. Otherwise it says that none does.