What is repentance?

Is repentance means to turn from sin or does it mean to change your mind?

Biblical repentance simply means “change your mind.” It’s what the word literally means. You can change your mind about anything, but Jesus calls us to change our mind about God and believe the good news (Mark 1:15). Biblical repentance is evidenced by turning to God.

Your definition of repentance reveals whether you are living under grace or works. In the Old Testament, sinners repented by bringing a sacrifice of penance and confessing their sins (Numbers 5:7). But in the new we bring a sacrifice of praise and confess his name (Hebrews 13:15).

We don’t do anything to deal with our sins for Jesus has done it all. Our part is to believe the good news and say thank you Jesus!

Yet no matter how much I preach on grace, some people just can’t see the cross for their sins. They tell me I’m under-selling repentance. What they mean is, “You’re not telling people to turn from their sin.” It’s true. I seldom do. I’d rather talk about God’s goodness than your badness.

Yet often the message we hear is this: “God is holy and he won’t accept you unless you turn from sin.” It’s sold as a message of repentance and it appeals to our Adamic sense of “I can fix what I broke” but it’s utterly false. It’s a lie to promote the flesh and it will keep from Jesus.

Repentance comes as a consequence of hearing about the goodness of God (Romans 2:4). So if you want people to repent, tell them how good God is.

Preach the good news: God loves you, he died for you and he offers you his righteousness. Use words if necessary.