What is Repentance?
Repentance can be misunderstood in several ways. It can be treated as a formula. It can be left at the “front door” of one’s salvation as a cause of the whole. It can be over-analyzed as to some necessary emotional state that ought to accompany it. It can be confused with its fruit, or (on the other extreme) detached from that fruit. It can even be denied altogether by those who would nevertheless profess to be Christians. Because of the great importance of this issue to all believers, I have arranged a series of the most frequently asked questions I have personally received on the topic with my answers below each.
Q1. What does repentance even mean?
Repentance means to “turn from sin.” It involves knowing one’s sin, hating it for Christ's sake, and turning to him for forgiveness.
Q2. Doesn’t the Greek word suggest it’s just a change of mind?
It is true that the word metanoia most woodenly would mean “change of mind,” from the root noun for “mind” (nous) and the preposition meta, which can mean “after” or “behind” or “next.” However, some common sense is in order. If the question is meant to pit a change of mind against a change of life, I can only start by asking the questioner what exactly he is changing his mind about? The concept is used in the Bible to speak of one’s stance toward sin. For instance, John the Baptist spoke of “the fruits of repentance” (Mat. 3:8), Jesus spoke of the link between a tree and its fruit (Mat. 7:15-20; 12:33-37) and Paul speaks of the fruit of the Spirit in contrast to the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-23. Clearly one point of this is to say that one kind is genuinely saved and the other is not, and that it is the manner of one’s life that proves this out.
Q3. Are repentance and faith works?
Strictly speaking, all that we do are “works.” What you are meaning to ask is whether they are meritorious works. They are not. Only Christ’s work merits God’s favor. That is, repentance and faith do not and cannot contribute to justification as a material cause, since God's standard of righteousness is perfect. Repentance too is a fruit of regeneration.
Q4. How do I know if I’m repentant enough?
The Bible never presents us with that category. Any “enough” language belongs to the category of justification. And only Christ is enough there. Repentance is what naturally follows anyone who is truly born again. If you are saved, you will hate your sin, confess it when you're aware of it, and turn to Christ's grace for a deeper view of his gospel.
Q5. Are we only forgiven of our confessed sin? Or even those we haven’t repented of?
We are forgiven of all if we believe in Christ. Psalm 19:11-12 is one instructive passage in this regard. There we have the distinction between hidden faults and presumptuous sins. That there is deliverance from hidden faults is absolutely necessary. We cannot scratch the surface of the depths of our sin, and yet such sins are still sins. So, all that to say, Yes, we are forgiven in spite of not being able to perform to x level in our repentance and confession.
Q6. Which comes first: repentance or faith?
It depends on the angle from which we approach the question. Viewed from the gospel call especially, one may think that repentance ought to come first. But there is an important sense in which faith must always come first. We must see spiritually the holiness of God, the evil of our sin, and the eternal stakes in order for repentance to make sense in the first place. At the very least, repentance cannot be viewed as a “precondition” for coming to faith. The Westminster Confession of Faith XV calls repentance unto life “an evangelical grace” for this reason.
Q7. Is delayed repentance still true repentance?
Yes and no. The delay itself is increased sin. Yet, the repentance itself is still repentance. The parable of the two sons (Mat. 21:28-32) is a good picture of this.
Q8. Must there be complete hatred or sorrow of sin for repentance to be real?
No doubt our hatred of sin and sorrow over our committing it are elements of true repentance. However, we need to get straight the difference mentioned above between the ground of our righteousness (Christ alone) versus fruit which will vary in each Christian. Again, watch those “enough” categories; even if we do not use the exact word. No Christian in this life hates their sins “enough.” But all Christians can trust that the Holy Spirit inside of us will increase that zeal as we grow in the faith.
Q9. Why would we need to keep confessing and repenting if we’re already saved?
First, it is important to understand that the Christian life as “a life of repentance” isn’t just some invention of Luther. It is in the Lord’s Prayer—“forgive us our debts” (Mat. 6:12).This does not mean that one is digging up former sins. Nor does it mean having to be “re-saved.” Rather, as the sin nature remains, we will naturally sin every day. That distorts things on our side. God’s grace has not moved an inch; yet our fellowship with Him has been disrupted. That means we must forsake such sin whenever we are aware of it. Why would a true Christian not constantly want to leave behind more and more of the sin that would cling to him? This is the meaning of 1 John 1:8-2:1. Christians will still sin. And the good news is not that our own powers can put that away, nor is it to pretend that we haven’t sinned, or at least, not so bad. The good news is that Christ’s blood and righteousness never loses its power from our first faith to our dying breath. Repentance is a continual turning, from sin to Christ, that recognizes such good news.
