Sunday, July 15, 2018

True Repentance

First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. (Acts 26:20 NIV)

In English, repentance seems to mean "a turning from sin." The Cambridge dictionary defines repent as "To be very sorry for something bad you have done in the past and wish that you had not done it:"(UK) or "to be sorry you did or did not do something:"(US).

In the Bible, the Greek word translated as repent means "a change of mind". When that change of mind results in action that lead to Christ, it is a true repentance.

Judas repented, but he had "a change of mind" about what he had done. He did not turn to Christ, but turned to himself and found no hope. He then committed suicide. That is not true repentance.

Peter wept bitterly (Luke 22:62) about his denial of Jesus. But he turned back to Jesus. This is true repentance.

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