Guy Duininck: What It Actually Means To Repent
What It Actually Means to Repent
— from "Must We Confess Our Sins?"
The English verb “repent” found throughout the New Testament comes from the Greek verb metanoeō. The verb metanoeō means, “to change one’s mind for the better; to think differently after, to feel a moral compunction, to reconsider.” In contrast to the Greek word pronoeo which means, “to perceive something beforehand,” metanoeō
signifies, “to change one’s mind or one’s purpose after perceiving something.” Most often in the New Testament, the verb metanoeō signified a person’s change of thinking and their decisive change of living away from a life of sin and sinning toward a righteous and God-pleasing life. This change of thinking and lifestyle—this act of repenting—was embarked upon after a person realized the error in their thinking and the sinfulness of in the way they had been living.
The English noun “repentance” found throughout the New
Testament is translated from the Greek noun metanoia. The noun metanoia means, “to perceive afterwards.” It comes from the word meta, which means, “after, implying a change,” and the word noeo, “to the seat of moral reflection.” In the New Testament, the noun metanoia most often characterized that change in a person’s thinking and the consequent change in their living that occurred after reflecting upon their life and realizing that the way they were thinking, speaking, and acting were not in accord with God’s will and were, therefore, sinful.
According to Strong’s Dictionary of New Testament Words, the Greek noun metanoia (repentance) represents, “the change of mind that results when one has begun to abhor their misdeeds.” Strong’s Dictionary also says that metanoia, “embraces the recognition of sin and sorrow for those sins and the change of mind and actions that follow.” Thayer’s Greek Lexicon says that the Greek verb metanoeō can mean, “to feel sorry for what one has done; to feel sorry for offending another; to be conscious of sins and be sorrowful, desiring God’s pardon.” It can also mean, “to heartily amend one’s conduct in a way that shows a true heart and mind change and an abhorrence for sin.”
It is very important to understand how the words “repent” and “repentance” are typically used in New Testament Scriptures; especially their significant connection to the issue of sin and sinning. A right understanding of the meaning and use of these words is especially important at this current hour because some ministers are suggesting that “to repent” simply means, “to change one’s mind,” or, “to renew one’s mind with truth.” Some say that repentance simply means, “to change your mind and believe the gospel.” Others describe repentance as, “accepting God’s forgiveness, His love, and His grace,” or as, “learning the truth about who God really is.”
Although “changing one’s mind” is certainly an important aspect of repentance, the majority of the time the words repent and repentance are used in the New Testament, they refer to that change of living away from a lifestyle of sinning and toward a righteous life that pleases God which began with an awareness of sin and was followed with a strong change of mind to turn from that sin. The preponderance
of the use of the words repent and repentance in the New Testament Scriptures to describe the decision and the action of turning away from sin and turning toward a righteous life suggests that to characterize repent and repentance as simply, “changing one’s mind,” or, “renewing one’s mind in truth,” or, “learning the truth about who God is,” is a significant theological mistake.
