Repentance is a good thing!
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” (Acts 3:19 NIV)
The word “repent” is a very misunderstood word!
Most people, when they think of the word “repent”, picture a scene from an old movie with a weird person holding a sign on a street corner and yelling “repent” in a loud angry voice at people going by. It’s implied that repent means to stop doing some kind of evil behavior, or sin. Even though this may be true in many cases the word “repent” simply means to change direction. To go the opposite way. Another word that says the same thing is the word “turn” which means to turn around. It’s like seeing someone about to go into a ditch and you warn them to turn away from it. It’s a very good thing when they do, and it’s terrible when they don’t.
The Bible definition
In the Bible the word repentance literally means “the act of changing one’s mind.” True biblical repentance goes beyond remorse, regret, or feeling bad about one’s sin. It involves more than merely turning away from sin. Eerdmans Bible Dictionary includes this definition of repentance: “In its fullest sense it is a term for a complete change of orientation involving a judgment upon the past and a deliberate redirection for the future.”
Ongoing repentance
Repentance is not necessarily about when you stop doing bad things—that’s actually the result of repentance. It simply means you used to think one way and now you think another way. It is a necessary part of change. And that’s a good thing! When reading and studying the Bible daily, you are often confronted about changes you should make in your life The sooner you “repent” and turn towards God, the better your spiritual growth will be.
Repentance is a necessary part of following Christ
There is a problem, even rampant today, of easy believeism, where you are told to simply believe (or receive) Jesus, without having to turn away from sin. And that’s dangerous because just believing is not enough; even demons believe and are not saved! “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror” (James 2:19 NLT). Jesus said clearly that you cannot be saved unless you turn away from sin and towards Christ. “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:3 NIV)
Therefore
Repentance is rethinking your life and changing your direction to match how Jesus thinks. It’s when you turn from darkness to light and towards doing what matter to God. True repentance results in a radical and persistent pursuit of holy living, walking with God in obedience to His commands.