What is Repentance in the Bible

All Christians know they need repentance. The call to repent is ubiquitous in the Bible and is a prerequisite to salvation. But what does it mean precisely?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines repentance as “the action or process of turning from sin and dedicates oneself to the amendment of one’s life.” While the Oxford dictionary says, it’s “feeling or expressing sincere regret or remorse about one’s wrongdoing or sin.”

As always, the Bible defines it a bit differently. Biblical repentance is more than turning away from sin; it also involves a return to something. And it’s more than a feeling or expression of regret; it is a complete change of mind. For further understanding, let’s look at the original Hebrew and Greek Words.

Repentance in Hebrew

There are two key Hebrew words for repentance in the Old Testament: shub and nacham.

Shub means to turn back, bring back or return. It appears over one thousand times in the Old Testament as repent, return, restore, turn, and bring. For instance, it is translated as turn and repent in Ezekiel 14:6, which says, “Therefore say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.”

The noun form of shub is shubah. It means retirement or withdrawal and appears as repentance in Isaiah 30:15 NASB. The Bible generally use shub as a call to turn away from sin (1 Kings 8:47, Ezekiel 14:6) and to return to the Lord (Jeremiah 4:1).

Nacham means to be sorry, console oneself, or change of mind. It occurs 128 times in the Old Testament as a change of mind, comfort, relent, and regret. It only appears as repent in Job 42:6, which says, “therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

Nacham is often used to express God’s grief over man’s sin or the relentment of His judgment. In Genesis 6:6, God nacham (regretted) that he had made man on the earth. And in Exodus 32:14, He nacham (relented) from the disaster He had spoken.

Note that these are anthropomorphism—ascribing human characteristics to God. God is omniscient and cannot change his mind like we do (Numbers 23:19).

Repentance in Greek

There are also two Greek words for repentance in the New Testament: Metanoia/metanoeo and metamelomai.

Metanoia means a change of mind or change of the inner man. Its verb form metanoeo means to change one’s mind or purpose. Metanoeo comes from the Greek word meta, which means changed after being with, and noiéō, which means think. Hence metanoeó literally means to think differently afterward, or as an afterthought.

It first appears in Matthew 3:2, which says, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!”

Metamelomai means to regret or care afterward. It comes from the Greek word metá, which means changed after being with, and mélō, which means to care or be concerned with. Metalomai literally means “to experience a change of concern after a change of emotion and usually implying to regret, i.e., falling into emotional remorse afterward.” It appears only six times in the New Testament; Matthew 21:29; 32; 27:3, 2 Corinthians 7:8, and Hebrews 7:21.

Though metamelomai involves a change of mind leading to remorse, it doesn’t mean a change of heart. For example, Judas had metamelomai. Matthew 27:3 says, “Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.”

Putting it all together

Repentance, in its simplest definition, is a change of mind, a turn from one thing to another. It’s not a superficial change, such as deciding to have rice instead of pasta for dinner. Rather, it is an irreversible change of heart that leads to a shift in behavior and a change of life.

In the Bible, repentance always regards a change of mind about sin and God.

Since the fall, we have all turned away from God and embraced sin. Psalm 14:2-3 says, “The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together, they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.”

Therefore, true repentance is a complete change of mind, heart, and will. It involves an irreversible turning away from sin and returning to God. (1 Thessalonians 1:9).

The change of mind toward sin is not casual. It involves a profound hatred for sin, and godly sorrow or grief about it (2 Corinthians 7:10). If sin means to miss the mark (holiness), then repentance is turning away from that wrong path. And even though we will stumble and fall on our way, we will never return to willful sinning (1 John 3:9).

The same goes for our change of thinking towards Christ. When we genuinely repent, we acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, our Lord, and Savior (Acts 2:36).

Repentance and faith

Repentance is an integral part of salvation. In our natural state, we reject God and embrace sin. But when we repent, we think differently about Him and our sin. This means we can’t have faith in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins without changing our minds about Him and rejecting sin. That’s why there is no proclaiming of the true gospel without including repentance.

John the Baptist proclaimed, “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4). Jesus began His earthly ministry with “repent for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). The disciples “went about and proclaimed that people should repent” (Mark 6:12), and Peter concluded his sermon on Pentecost day with a call to repentance (Acts 2:38).

Even though Scriptures often call sinners to repentance without mentioning faith, and vice versa (Acts 16:31), the two are inseparable. They are two sides to the conversion coin. If Scripture only mentions one, it implies the other. Jesus Himself said to “repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15).

The question is, which one comes first, repentance or faith? Should we change our minds about sin before we have faith in Christ? Or should we first trust Jesus before we can repent? 

The Bible doesn’t give a definite order because there is no delay between faith and repentance. We turn away from sin to turn towards Christ.

John Murray said in Redemption Accomplished and Applied, “The question has been discussed: which is prior, faith or repentance is an unnecessary question, and the insistence that one is prior to the other is futile. There is no priority. The faith that is unto salvation is a penitent faith, and the repentance that is unto life is a believing repentance. It is impossible to disentangle faith and repentance. Saving faith is permeated with repentance, and repentance is permeated with saving faith.”

Scriptures on repentance

Here are a few more things to know about repentance from the Bible.

God wants repentance from everyone

“For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.” – Ezekiel 18:32

“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” – Acts 17:30

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” – 2 Peter 3:9

Jesus came to bring us to repentance

“And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” – Luke 5:31-32

“And said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” – Luke 24:46-47

“God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” – Acts 5:31

Repentance is a gift from God

“When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” – Acts 11:18

“Correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.” – 2 Timothy 2:25

Godly sorrow leads to repentance

“As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.” – 2 Corinthians 7:9

Repentance leads to forgiveness

“When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.” – Jonah 3:10

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.” – Acts 3:19

“But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” – Romans 2:5

Repentance precedes salvation

“For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’ But you were unwilling.” Isaiah 30:15

“Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” – Luke 13:4-5

“And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” – Acts 2:38

Repentance bear fruits

“Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” – Matthew 3:8

“But declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.” – Acts 26:20

  Grace and peace to you!