How Important Is Repentance for the Christian?

(This blog entry is dependent upon the five previous blog entries on ‘repentance.’ By itself, it might not make sense. So…please read the others first.)

What a question! Of course repentance is vital for the Christian...right?

I am not trying to wrangle words, be argumentative or create novelty, but rather, discover and apply biblical truth. So, I must say that as long as we keep pressing an old and incorrect meaning onto repentance, we will not know how to answer the title question.

Remember, repentance in the New Testament is actually a change in perception. Repentance certainly applied to those who did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God, the prophesied Messiah. The call to repentance after the death and resurrection of Jesus was a call to change one’s perception concerning Jesus. (See Acts 2, giving careful attention to verses 36-47.) But what about repentance after a person becomes a Christian?

The epistles (letters) in the New Testament are addressed to Christians, and repentance is fairly rare in those writings. That is not surprising since Christians have already repented. So in the epistles repentance is most often applied to unbelievers, but also believers who have left Christ or are at risk of leaving Christ.

It has often been taught that a Christian who sins should ‘repent of his sin.’ Paul seems to have said that in 2 Corinthians 12:21. He wondered if when he visited he would mourn...

over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, immorality, and sensuality which they have practiced.

Actually, Paul wrote that they had not ‘changed their perception’ concerning their past sins.

The idea is that they had made a proper faith response to Christ, but they had not changed their thinking about their sin. 

Were they still sinning? “Yes.” 

Did they need to change their behavior? “Yes.”

However, instead of telling them to stop sinning or turn from sin or change their behavior, Paul addressed their thinking, that is their attitude toward sin. If their attitude toward sin changed, then their behavior would naturally follow.

We can see the same thought applied to the seven churches of Asia in Revelation 2 & 3. Over and over Jesus called the Christians to repent. Strictly speaking, He admonished them to ‘change their perception.’

As an example, Jesus said to the church in Ephesus,

But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first….
—Revelation 2:4-5

Note that they had ‘left their first love.’ Their behavior was not separate from a change in their heart. In other words, at one time they had changed their heart (mind) toward Jesus, but then, over time, fell. Their fall marked a change of heart (mind) away from Jesus. The call to repentance was a call to change their mind back to the way it was at first. AND they were to couple that changed mind with changed deeds, as they had done at first.

So, what do we say to the title question? Is it just for religious discussion? What does it matter?

While repentance is first, a call to those who do not believe, it is also vital to believers who have fallen away from Christ. As for the Christian who has already changed his perception of Jesus (repented), he surely must not change his mind back to his former way of thinking!


Mark Stinnett
December 30, 2019

Why Is 'Repentance' in the Bible?

The Question:

The title of this blog entry might be confusing. So, to be clear, the question is not about the concept of repentance, but the word itself. 

In recent blog entries I have shown that the underlying meaning of repentance is a ‘change of mind’ or more accurately ‘a change of perception.’ That underlying meaning is based on the meaning of the Greek term that is translated repentance in our English Bibles. Oddly, the English word repentance has connotations of sorrow and regret. In great contrast, the Greek term is a thinking word and deals with the perceptions of the mind. So, how did a ‘sorrow’ word find its way into our English Bibles where the Greek text had a ‘thinking’ word?

That’s Greek To Me:

Without being overly technical, the Greek word that is commonly translated repentance is metanoia. Its verb counterpart, repent, is metanoeo (pronounced: me-ta-no-EH-o). The two words were used to indicate a change of mind/perception. The change of perception was often followed by regret over the embarrassment of having previously been in error. 

A few modern translations and paraphrases use the phrase change your mind/heart or change the way you think instead of repent where the Greek verb metanoeo appears in the text. That is a great improvement, but most English translations still have repent/repentance, so… 

Why were the terms repent and repentance used in the first place? 

The Translation of Metanoeo:

One way to answer this question is to follow the history of the way the Greek term for metanoeo was translated in early English translations and their predecessors. 

The King James Version (KJV) of 1611 used repent to translate the Greek term metanoeo in every instance. An earlier translation that was a major influence on the KJV was made by William Tyndale in about 1535. The English Bibles before Tyndale used do penance to translate metanoeo. Under strong objection by the Roman Catholic Church Tyndale replaced the phrase do penance with repent.

Tyndale was among the earliest English Bible translators to use the ancient Hebrew and Greek manuscripts of the Bible. Earlier English translations were primarily translations of the Latin Vulgate, a Latin translation of the Bible that had been adopted by the Roman Catholic Church as the official Scripture text. 

The Latin Vulgate had a form of the Latin word poenitentia for every occurrence of the Greek term metanoeo. The Latin poenitentia derived its meaning from the Latin verb poenteo meaning: to punish or torment; and later, to make repent; to displease; to feel sorrow or regret.

When the Roman Catholic Church endorsed an English translation of the Bible, the Douay-Rheims Bible (DRB) of 1609, the Latin Vulgate was the source text. It was no surprise that metanoeo was translated do penance which retained the idea of sorrow and punishment for one’s sins.

For comparison, the familiar text of Luke 13:3 is shown below from the Douay-Rheims Bible and the King James Version. Boldface type is used where metanoeo appears in the Greek text.

DRB: "No, I say to you: but unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish."

KJV: "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

Another familiar repentance verse, Acts 17:30, is shown below:

DRB: "And God indeed having winked at the times of this ignorance, now declareth unto men that all should every where do penance." 

KJV: "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent."

['Winked at' in this text meant to 'overlook.']

The same wording for metanoeo is found throughout the Douay-Rheims Bible. This raises yet another question: Why did the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible use a term for sorrow/punishment to translate the Greek metanoeo? 

Doctrine over Accuracy:

The Latin Vulgate was a Latin translation of the Bible completed in about 405 A.D. by a Roman Catholic priest, Jerome. He had been commissioned to by the pope to translate the Bible because of a wide variety of unreliable translations that were circulating in his day. He searched for the oldest and most reliable Greek and Hebrew manuscripts as the source for his translation. Overall, the Latin translation of Jerome was an amazing work. However, for every occurrence of metanoeo in the Greek New Testament Jerome translated using a form of the word poenitentia.

Jerome’s word choice reflected the Roman Catholic doctrine of penance that originated in a work by an early Christian writer named Tertullian. His ‘Sacrament of Penance’ stated that upon sinning there must be contrition, confession and satisfaction.

• Contrition is the sorrow felt within the sinner for sin;
• In confession a person admits their sin in public or in private to a bishop; and
• Satisfaction is any number of acts ordered by a bishop for the purpose of satisfying one’s debt of sin.

With this doctrine firmly in place in the Roman Catholic Church by the time of Jerome it is understandable that he would use a Latin term to promote and preserve this doctrine, and indeed he did. The Latin Vulgate became the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church and remained the text of Scripture for the western world for more than a millennium.

So, the reason for Jerome’s word choice appears to have been linked to the accepted doctrine of penance. Because of the acceptance of his Latin translation the true meaning of the Greek metanoeo was obscured for centuries. When the first English translations appeared the Latin Vulgate was used as the source text. It was not until Tyndale and others who insisted on using the Greek texts as their source that penance was taken out of English translations. Even then, the doctrine of penance had made an indelible mark in the minds of people. 

Tyndale’s choices of the English repent and repentance were tremendous improvements over the infused doctrine of penance, yet they still did not convey the true meaning of the Greek metanoeo: To change the mind/perception. 

Conclusion:

The chart labeled “Figure 1” (below) shows the development of the two English words: penitence and repent. A strong case could be made that the words repent and repentance should not translate the Greek metanoeo. They both descend from Greek and Latin words for punishment and payment for doing wrong. The Greek term poine (see chart) from which the words repent, repentance, penitence and penance descend is not even found in the Greek text of the New Testament.

So, why do the words repent and repentance appear in our English translations? 

In short, they were early English word choices that were improvements over the concept of penance which was introduced into a 5th Century Latin translation of the Bible by a Roman Catholic priest; a translation that has strongly influenced the western world for a millennium.

Can/should English translations do better? Absolutely!

The English language is certainly not lacking with words sufficient to convey the meaning of the Greek term metanoeo (change of perception).

To replace the Greek metanoeo with words that convey sorrow, regret, or worse, penance is inexcusable. Yet, until improvements are made in English translations, Bible readers will do well to learn and remember the meaning of the Greek terms in the Bible behind repent and repentance. They will want to mentally transfer the more accurate and meaningful expression of change one’s perception to the words repent and repentance when they appear in the English text of the New Testament.

Mark Stinnett

December 23, 2019

Lost in the Hazy Holiday Maze

I have an idea I’d like to develop but I’ll need to ask you to use your imagination. So, hang with me; there is a point to this.

Imagine that there is life on other planets and that you are a human-type being that has traveled to earth unnoticed. You look like a normal, average human, easily blending in with the population. Of course, you are not from around here so you don’t really care. You observe.

When you look at the human race, what do you see? You observe the political maneuvering of nations. You see aggressive nations trying to gain a stronger footing among other nations. You see terrorism. You see conflicting definitions of freedom.

Remember, you are not from around here. So, you have no allegiance to the U.S. or to Spain or to Indonesia. What does it all mean/matter?

You continue on relatively unnoticed for a while...watching people as they scurry from one place to another, going to work, working after work, playing, being entertained, arguing, struggling, fighting, living, dying. Individuals are doing a lot of maneuvering too. To what end?

Let’s extend this imagination tour beyond days to years, even to centuries. What was happening in the place where you are ’right now’ one thousand years ago? (Trees???)

In your mind go to a population center. Imagine being able to observe people and nations for a millennium. You can see the struggles and triumphs. You observe the rise and fall of power, the shifting of wealth, enterprise and foolishness, the proud and the lowly.

You watch the seemingly unending cycle of life. The repetition was startling at first, but now you can identify patterns and can accurately anticipate the outcome of choices and actions.

A thousand years pass and you return to your home to report. What will you say about the people and the nations of the earth? 

---------------------

My purpose in this outlandish journey has been to challenge you to step away from your personal life and its desires and stresses and joys, and disconnect...to think about God.

Do you know why it makes sense that God identified Himself to Moses as, “I Am Who I Am”? He transcends place and time. God created place. God created time. He is the one who really can step back and comprehend all places in all time. For that reason we would do well to respond as Moses did when God revealed Himself: Moses bowed low and worshiped.

Yet, God can also look directly into your life at this place at this time. In fact, He does look, because He is interested in you. So, while He seems to be distant because of His divine nature, His love for you draws Him into your life.

God has seen it all. He has watched the endless parade of nations as well as the cyclical and tiresome ways of man. And at the right time God entered into His creation as a little baby. That little baby was Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God. And He grew up, and He became the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He rules the nations and ultimately every knee will bow to Him.

He did not come to earth so that we could hustle and bustle, and exchange gifts, and have lots of food and football and fun and fellowship with friends and family. It doesn’t really matter how you celebrate Christmas or whether you celebrate Christmas if you get lost in the maze of holiday haze and forget why He came. 

So...stop! 

Remember.

Read the words of Jesus slowly.

I    came    that    they    may    have    life…

Mark Stinnett

How Important is Repentance?

What a question! Of course repentance is vital...right?

Over the past few weeks I have written about the meaning of the Greek term behind the word repentance as it appears in the New Testament. A more refined and accurate meaning of the word is a change of perception. So, the question might be asked, “How importance is one’s perception”?

One of my daughters has traveled extensively in Italy. She has noted numerous times that some Italians think that all Americans are rich. Obviously, that is a perception. Yet, because of that perception assumptions are made. For example, a border guard might hold an American’s passport demanding a significant sum of money for safe passage. After all, Americans have money.

A person’s perception may or may not be rooted in truth. Regardless, decisions are based on one’s perception of truth. When the American tourist truthfully tells the border guard that he is not wealthy and does not have enough money, the border guard does not believe him. And why? Perception: Americans have money.

So, the border guard tells the tourist to get the money from family or friends. The tourist objects saying that his family and friends don’t have that kind of money. Again, the border guard does not believe him. Perception.

All of the border guard’s actions were filtered through a mind that accepted the perception that Americans have money. Everything the tourist said was filtered through and interpreted with ears that perceived that Americans have money.

Repentance is not merely a change of mind; repentance involves a correction and realignment of one’s perception from error to truth. Until we come to terms with this meaning of repentance we will continue to misunderstand scripture.

What is your perception of God?

Your perception of God will determine the way you approach the Bible; the way you think about the creation account in the Book of Genesis; the way you perceive sin, and how you perceive salvation from divine judgment.

The way you perceive God will determine the way you think about the created world, your fellow man, your family, the government, the church and even the value of life.

Your perception of God will ultimately define your understanding of truth. I want to be clear: Truth stands independent of your perception. There is only one truth: We call it reality. However, people make decisions and take action based on their perception of truth.

So, if you hold to an erroneous perception, for example, that there is no God, then you will have a skewed sense of reality. Your decisions and actions will not align with the way things really are.

Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent (change their perception), because he has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. 
—Acts 17:30 (NASB95)

“Yes,” repentance is vital. 

That is the only way to have a correct perception of God and sin and righteousness...a correct perception of truth. 

Repentance leads to salvation!


Mark Stinnett

December 15, 2019

The Object of Repentance, Part 2

The meaning of repentance has been unintentionally ambiguous. “Repent of your sins” is often intended to mean “Turn from your sins.” Curiously, the statement “Repent of your sins” is not found in the New Testament.

On one occasion when Peter was preaching in Jerusalem he called the people to repentance:

“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away….” 
—Acts 3:19

Peter did not say, “Turn and return….” Rather, the Greek word translated repent meant to change one’s perception. (See previous blog entry.) So, what did Peter mean? What was the object of repentance? The people were to change their perception about what?

Peter had been preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He had been declaring that the ancient promise to Abraham and many Old Testament prophecies had been fulfilled in Jesus.

When Peter called for repentance, he was specifically inviting the people to change their perception about Jesus. They had, in ignorance, rejected Jesus as the Messiah, so they needed to change their perception. Not only that, he insisted that they ‘return.’ The implication was that they had turned away from God.

On another occasion Peter gave the Holy Spirit to some believers. A new Christian, Simon, was amazed and tried to buy the power from Peter so that he could do the same. Rebuking him, Peter said:

Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 
—Acts 8:22

Did Peter mean, “turn from this wickedness”?

That would make sense, but that is not the meaning of the word repent. The remainder of the verse helps us to understand that the problem was Simon’s ‘intention of his heart.’

Yes, it was wicked; and yes, he needed to turn. But Peter literally said, “Change your perception of this wickedness of yours….” More specifically, Peter was addressing the intention of Simon’s heart. Simon had perceived that the authority to give the Holy Spirit could be purchased. He needed to change his thinking, his attitude.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth to explain something about repentance:

For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. 
—2 Corinthians 7:10

As explained in an earlier blog entry, the Greek term for repentance was generally used in a negative sense. A person was compelled to change his perception because he had not used forethought. Only after a decision was made and a course of action taken did sound reasoning take place. That approach was viewed as foolish, not wise. So, it was natural for regret to accompany repentance because of one’s error and backward thinking.

However, God does not see things the same way when it comes to faith in Jesus. When a person changes his perception concerning Jesus (repentance), the result is not regret. It is true that his previous perception was in error and that his thinking was foolish. However, God assures the believer that when he changes his perception about Jesus there is no regret. The simple reason is that changing one’s perception about Jesus leads to salvation. So, in that case genuine sorrow motivates repentance and joy follows...no regrets!

Mark Stinnett

December 8, 2019

The Object of Repentance, Part 1

Repentance is a change of mind, or more accurately, a change of perception. (See the previous two articles.) But what does that look like in real life? Is repentance always about sin?

When you think about it, the word repentance is rather neutral. After all, if you called a friend and announced, “I’ve changed my mind,” he would be waiting for you to finish your statement. He needs context; you are changing your mind about what???


Imagine when sailors finally learned that the world was not flat. They repented of their perception of the shape of the earth. At that point everything changed. They perceived that they could freely sail the oceans without fear of falling off the edge into an abyss. (There were other things to fear, but not the edge of the earth.)

I know that belief in a flat earth is not a moral issue, but that is the point. The Greek term behind repentance was not always used in reference to morality. The context in which the word was used defined the object of repentance.

Let’s turn to the New Testament and see a few examples of repentance...in context.

John the Baptist came onto the scene preaching

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 
—Matthew 3:2

So, what was the object of repentance? Or, we might ask, “Repent of what?” Or more accurately, “Change your perception about what?” If we were to replace the word ’repent’ with the meaning of the Greek term…

“Change your perception, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Does that help to clear things up?

John was announcing the coming of the kingdom of heaven saying that it was near in time. He insisted, “Change your perception.” That was a wake-up call that alerted people to change the way they had been thinking about the arrival of the kingdom of heaven. Their nation had been waiting and waiting and waiting...and waiting. Now! The time had come.

A person’s mind would be more alert the next time they went to the synagogue to hear the scripture read. They would be more interested in the word-of-mouth news of events transpiring in other locations. They might go to their local rabbi and ask to be reminded of the signs that would accompany the coming of the kingdom and the Messiah.

Everything coming into their mind and going out of their mind would be filtered through this new information, this new perception.

Another repentance verse, spoken by Jesus, is a often quoted:

“I tell you, no, but unless your repent, you will all likewise perish.” 
—Luke 13:3

Interestingly, Jesus was not talking about sin at all. Rather, the people had approached him with the ‘headline news’ of their day wondering what He thought about it.

Jesus actually rebuked them for being distracted by their muddled cause-and-effect thinking associated with the horrible news that had little to do with them personally. He then told a parable instructing them to refocus their minds; to focus on their response to God, not everyone else’s response to God. Change the way you are thinking; change your perception...or you will perish just like the others.

Repentance is vital, but repent of what???

Only when we answer this question does repentance make sense.

(Next week, additional examples to consider.)

Mark Stinnett

December 1, 2019