"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9
Understanding repentance is pivotal to understanding salvation. There are churches that teach repentance means to stop sinning (called Lordship Salvation). There is that appearance in some cases, however, if that is true then salvation is no longer by grace but of works (Rom. 11:6). What's more, many of the occurrences of repentance deal with God Himself. That would mean that God is a sinner!
Within God's Word, there are terms that have more than one meaning. For example, Heaven can refer to the sky, outer space, or where God dwells (see Heaven lesson). Repentance is such a term, and because of this, it is incredibly important that we look at this topic through the lenses of the Bible:
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." - 2 Timothy 2:15
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" - 2 Timothy 3:16
Whenever we look at repentance, we need to look at it within its proper context in order to grasp the definition. The term repent appears 46 times in the Bible, repentance occurs 26 times, repented 32 times, and repenting one time. Repentance, in some fashion, can be found 105 times in God's Word so it is important to understand its usage!
Definition #1 - Grief
The first time that we see repentance take place in the Bible is in the book of Genesis:
"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them." - 6:5-7
Within these verses we find the first definition for repentance: grief
There is the argument that repentance means to change one's mind, but if that is applied to this setting that would create a contradiction in God's Word. The Apostle Paul wrote in Hebrews 13:8 that "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever". If God is the same today as He was back then, that would mean He cannot change His mind for that would make Him double-minded (James 1:8). Additionally, Malachi 3:6 states that God never changes.
"For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left." - Deuteronomy 32:36
Here is another example of God carrying out judgment, but feeling sorry for those that will be impacted by His punishment. Remember: God does not desire that any should perish and wants every single person to come to a saving knowledge of Him (2 Peter 3:9, 2 Cor. 7:10).
Another example of God feeling sorry for His people is found in Judges:
"And when the Lord raised them up judges, then the Lord was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the Lord because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them." - 2:18
Even though Israel had done wrong and was being disciplined through oppression, He still felt sorry for them and gave them another chance to do right.
This grief is not solely used in the context of God. When the Tribe of Benjamin was nearly wiped out, Israel repented (Judges 21:6).
Other examples of this definition can be found in: 1 Samuel 15:11, Job 42:6, Jeremiah 15:6, Acts 2:37-38 and 5:31
Definition #2 - Change of Mind
After God struck Egypt with the final plague, He gave Moses instructions on the route that the Israelites were to take upon their exodus.
"And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt." - Exodus 13:17-18
Within the context of this verse, it is evident that God was not worried about the children of Israel being overcome with grief. They had nothing to be sorry for as they has been enslaved. This instance of repentance refers to them changing their minds. This is further expounded upon in the next chapter when the Israelites came to the Red Sea.
"And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians marched after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness." - Exodus 14:10-12
God did not want His people to be overcome with fear. Fear is powerful. Fear can make a person change their mind which is why "...God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Tim. 1:7). Notice that once fear is removed, we have a sound mind. The Israelites were joyful to be free from the Egyptians and plundered them while recognizing that they had God's favor (Ex. 12:31-36), but soon after, they were afraid of dying in the wilderness and were willing to go back into bondage.
Other examples can be found in: Acts 3:19, 11:18, 19:4, 20:21, 26:17-20
Definition #3 - Cease from an Action
"Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people." - Exodus 32:12
1 John 4:8 states that God is good. James 1:7 says that everything good comes from God. We established in the first definition that God cannot change His mind because He has always been the same. God is good and eternally good! That is His nature. Numbers 23:19 further establishes this character trait:
"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? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?"
God is good and cannot sin (2 Cor. 5:21, Heb. 4:15, 1 Jn. 3:5). God is all-knowing (Ps. 147:5, Is. 40:13-14, 1 Jn. 3:20). Because God is sinless and knows all things, He cannot change His mind for that would imply that He didn't have all of the information before pronouncing judgment. Under the light of Scripture interpreting Scripture, God is not changing His mind, but is showing His grace. God's grace means to withhold judgment.
Repentance, in this context, would mean that God is withholding judgment - not changing His mind.
Further evidence of this definition can be found in 2 Samuel 24:16 when the Lord told His angel to stop judgment:
"And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite."
Other examples can be found in: Jeremiah 18:8 and 10, Amos 7:3, Jonah 3:9-10, Zechariah 8:14, Matthew 3:2, 8, and 11, Mark 2:17 and 6:12, Luke 13:3, Acts 2:38 and 17:30
Rightly Dividing
As we have seen, repentance has different meanings which is why we must keep the term within proper context. There are verses within God’s Word where repentance is mentioned more than once and this can cause confusion if we do not rightly divide. Let's look at 2 Corinthians 7:10 when the Apostle Paul said:
"For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death."
What Paul was saying in this verse is that once a person understands why Christ took our sins upon Himself (Is. 53:5-6), that person will be grieved. That grief will cause a person to resolve in his or her mind God's precious gift of salvation.
Another example is found two verses earlier in 2 Corinthians 7:8 as Paul was talking about his previous letter to the Corinthian church:
"For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season."
Paul, in this verse, was saying that he did not change his mind about writing his first epistle, but he was grieved having to do so.
Repentance is required for salvation (2 Cor. 7:10) because it is only through that grief that one can truly believe the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4) and appreciate what Christ did for us. When we rightly divide the definitions of repentance, we can be certain of our salvation and we can protect ourselves against false teachings.