More Controversial Than You’d Think

What is repentance?

Defining something as essential to the gospel as repentance should be pretty straightforward, right? Sadly, that’s not the case. It’s a lot more controversial than you’d think.

Historically, Christians almost universally believed that repentance involved a whole-hearted turning from sin to God through Christ. Today, however, many adamantly argue that repentance is nothing more than a change of mind about Jesus. To suggest that repentance involves something more than a change from unbelief to belief has now become tantamount to preaching a works-based gospel![1]

In today’s post, I would like to clarify the nature of repentance by surveying the terms God’s Word uses to define or describe repentance.

Word Studies

The words “repent” and “repentance” are found 106 times in the KJV (42 in the OT, 64 in the NT). The concept, however, is taught throughout the Scriptures.

Old Testament

God reveals truth progressively in the Scriptures. It is important therefore to explore what the Bible says about a given topic by seeing how it is developed in both the Old and New Testament. To divorce the New Testament’s teachings on repentance from its Old Testament context would be a grave mistake indeed![2]

The most common word for repentance or conversion (these terms overlap and are basically synonymous) in the Old Testament is the Hebrew verb שׁוב (sub), which means “to return; to turn in an opposite direction.” This word points to a change of direction, purpose, loyalties, or intent. The Septuagint translates שׁוב with the Greek word ἐπιστρέφω (epistrepho), which means to turn or convert. The other OT word for repent, נחם (naham), signifies sorrow or pity and is used primarily in reference to God’s “repentance.”

In summary, Bruce Demarest states, “The OT verbs for repentance denote, negatively, a turning from old sinful ways (I Kings 8:35; Neh.9:35; Is.59:20; Ezek.3:19) and, positively, a turning to the Lord (Ps.51:13; Jer.4:1; Hos.14:1; Mal.3:7).[3]

New Testament

The New Testament authors use three key words to communicate the idea of repentance:

Term 1: ἐπιστρέφω

We have already mentioned the first word, ἐπιστρέφω, which refers to a change of purpose or direction.[4]  Two excellent examples of this word are found in I Thess. 1:9 and Acts 26:18-20. In I Thess. 1:9, Paul describes the conversion of the Thessalonians as a turning from idols to serve the Lord. Conversion here refers to a “clean break,” a decisive, whole-hearted decision to turn from idols to serve the living God.

The Pillar New Testament Commentary notes, “These believers had made a true response that was a reflection of their conviction that what they heard from Paul was the word of God (2.13). The first movement of this conversion was to God, and as a result they turned from idols. There was no syncretism between their new faith and old religious loyalties. Nor did they take half a step by adopting God into their pantheon, placing him alongside their other religious loyalties. They took the radical step of abandoning those gods that were part of the worship of their family and their community.”[5]  

Term 2: μεταμέλομαι

The second word, μεταμέλομαι (metamelomai), is found only six times.[6] It communicates the idea of sorrow, grief, remorse, or regret. Matthew used this word in reference to the “repentance” of Judas Iscariot (Mt.27:3). According to BDAG, μεταμέλομαι means “to have regrets about something, in the sense that one wishes it could be undone, be very sorry, regret; or, to change one’s mind about something without focus on regret, change one’s mind, have second thoughts (Mt. 21:29,32; Heb. 7:21).”[7] It is important to note that the NT authors don’t use this term in reference to repentance unto salvation.

Term 3: μετάνοια

This word is the biggie! The primary word translated as repentance in the NT is μετάνοια (metanoia). This word is the center point of much confusion and controversy. Today’s emphasis on repentance merely as a “change of mind” appears to be based upon a faulty understanding of this word. This oversimplification of the word, as we shall see, doesn’t line up with a careful study of its etymology and usage in the NT.

μετάνοια comes from the prefix meta, meaning “change,” and noia, meaning, “mind, thought, reason; attitude, intention, purpose; understanding, discernment.”[8] This “mind change” involves a lot more than simply deciding to order a #2 from Chick Fil A instead of your typical #1.

The word νοια is a dynamic word that played a key role in Greek thought and philosophy (as used by Aristotle, Homer, and others), so much so that there was no adequate equivalent in the Hebrew language translated νοια in the Septuagint.[9] The mind, according to the ancient Greeks, was far more than simply a person’s intellect or ideas (as divorced from his emotional or volitional capacities, responses, or involvement). It was the totality of the inner man, “the sum total of [his] mental and moral state of being.”[10]

Change of Mind, Heart, and Direction

μετάνοια refers to a change of mind, purpose or direction that leads to a turning from sin to God.[11] J. Goetzman states, “The predominately intellectual understanding of μετάνοια as a change of mind plays very little part in the NT. Rather, the decision of the whole man to turn around is stressed. It is clear that we are concerned neither with a purely outward turning nor with a mere intellectual change of ideas.”[12] The Exegetical Dictionary remarks that this word refers to a change of mind, outlook, direction, purpose, or intent that includes a decisive turning from sin to God and is accompanied by evident fruits.[13] The Concise Greek English Dictionary of the New Testament defines it as a “change of heart, turning from one’s sins, change of way.”[14] The DBL defines it as a change of life “based on [a] complete change of attitude and thought concerning sin and righteousness.”[15]  

Conclusion (and Shameless Plug)

Repentance, and specifically μετάνοια, is not simply a “change of ideas” about Jesus. It is an all-encompassing concept that involves the whole person decisively turning from sin and hollow religion to God through Christ.     

To help believers communicate repentance faithfully, I’ve written an evangelistic Bible study handbook called “Discovering Hope: Exploring the Good News of Jesus Christ.” If you would like a free PDF copy of the book, you can email me at colberts@odbm.org.

[1] For example, in his book Basic Theology (p. 390), Charles Ryrie states that saving repentance is a change of mind about Jesus Christ “so that whatever a person thought of Him before, he changes his mind and trusts Him to be his Savior. That is the only kind or content of repentance that saves (Acts 2:38; 17:30; 2 Pet.3:9).” Ryrie also remarks in Balancing the Christian Life (184), “The content of repentance which brings eternal life, and that which Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, is a change of mind about Jesus Christ.” This definition is based on the etymology of the primary word translated as “repent” in the New Testament, μετανοέω.

[2]     We must remember that many within the NT audiences were Jews who would have been thinking in terms of the OT teachings on repentance. They certainly would not have divorced the OT context from the message of the NT preacher. The OT lays the foundation for our understanding of this subject, just as it does with the rest of the gospel.

[3]     Bruce Demarest, The Cross and Salvation. (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1997), 251

[4]     See Mt. 13:15; Jn. 12:40; Acts 3:19; 26:18, 20, 27; 2 Cor. 3:16; I Thess.1:9.

[5]     Gene L. Green, The Letters to the Thessalonians, The Pillar New Testament commentary (Grand Rapids, Mich.; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos, 2002), 106.

[6]     Mt.21:29,32; 27:3; 2 Cor.7:8; Heb.7:21

[7]     William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 639.

[8]     Barclay Moon Newman, A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament. (Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche     Bibelgesellschaft; United Bible Societies, 1993), 121–122.

[9]     Horst Robert Balz and Gerhard Schneider, vol. 2, Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1990-), 478.

[10]   Ibid, 680.

[11]   W.E. Vine, Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. (Old Tappan, NJ: Revell, 1981), 3:280.

[12]   J. Goetzman, “Conversion,” in Colin Brown, gen. ed., New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), 1:358.

[13]   Horst Robert Balz and Gerhard Schneider, Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament, 416.

[14]   Barclay Moon Newman, A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament, 115.

[15]     James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament), electronic ed. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).