{"id":2027,"date":"2023-07-19T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thegodofthebible.org\/?p=2027"},"modified":"2023-07-19T16:51:33","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T20:51:33","slug":"repent-what-it-really-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thegodofthebible.org\/repent-what-it-really-means\/","title":{"rendered":"REPENT! (What It Really Means)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"2027\" class=\"elementor elementor-2027\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5a9aac1 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5a9aac1\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-58df6fbb\" data-id=\"58df6fbb\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-bb43dc5 elementor-blockquote--skin-border elementor-blockquote--button-view-icon-text elementor-blockquote--button-skin-classic 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.elementor-blockquote__tweet-button,.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-classic .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button{padding:.7em 1.2em;border-radius:100em;background-color:#1da1f2;color:#fff;font-size:15px}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:hover,.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-classic .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:hover{background-color:#0967a0;color:#fff}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:hover:before,.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-classic .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:hover:before{border-right-color:#0967a0}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button svg,.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-classic .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button svg{fill:#fff;height:1em;width:1em}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble.elementor-blockquote--button-view-icon .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button,.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-classic.elementor-blockquote--button-view-icon .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button{padding:0;width:2em;height:2em}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble.elementor-blockquote--button-view-icon .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button i,.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-classic.elementor-blockquote--button-view-icon .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button i{position:absolute;left:50%;top:50%;transform:translate(-50%,-50%)}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:before{content:\"\";border:.5em solid transparent;border-right-color:#1da1f2;position:absolute;left:-.8em;top:50%;transform:translateY(-50%) scaleY(.65);transition:.3s}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble.elementor-blockquote--align-left .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:before{right:auto;left:-.8em;border-right-color:#1da1f2;border-left-color:transparent}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble.elementor-blockquote--align-left .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:hover:before{border-right-color:#0967a0}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble.elementor-blockquote--align-right .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:before{left:auto;right:-.8em;border-right-color:transparent;border-left-color:#1da1f2}.elementor-blockquote--button-skin-bubble.elementor-blockquote--align-right .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button:hover:before{border-left-color:#0967a0}.elementor-blockquote--skin-boxed .elementor-blockquote{background-color:#f9fafa;padding:30px}.elementor-blockquote--skin-border .elementor-blockquote{border-color:#f9fafa;border-left:7px #f9fafa;border-style:solid;padding-left:20px}.elementor-blockquote--skin-quotation .elementor-blockquote:before{content:\"\u201c\";font-size:100px;color:#f9fafa;font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif;font-weight:900;line-height:1;display:block;height:.6em}.elementor-blockquote--skin-quotation .elementor-blockquote__content{margin-top:15px}.elementor-blockquote--align-left .elementor-blockquote__content{text-align:left}.elementor-blockquote--align-left .elementor-blockquote .e-q-footer{flex-direction:row}.elementor-blockquote--align-right .elementor-blockquote__content{text-align:right}.elementor-blockquote--align-right .elementor-blockquote .e-q-footer{flex-direction:row-reverse}.elementor-blockquote--align-center .elementor-blockquote{text-align:center}.elementor-blockquote--align-center .elementor-blockquote .e-q-footer,.elementor-blockquote--align-center .elementor-blockquote__author{display:block}.elementor-blockquote--align-center .elementor-blockquote__tweet-button{margin-right:auto;margin-left:auto}<\/style>\t\t<blockquote class=\"elementor-blockquote\">\n\t\t\t<p class=\"elementor-blockquote__content\">\n\t\t\t\tOr do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-q-footer\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<cite class=\"elementor-blockquote__author\">Romans 2:4, NKJV<\/cite>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Or+do+you+despise+the+riches+of+His+goodness%2C+forbearance%2C+and+longsuffering%2C+not+knowing+that+the+goodness+of+God+leads+you+to+repentance%3F+%E2%80%94+Romans+2%3A4%2C+NKJV&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fthegodofthebible.org%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F2027\" class=\"elementor-blockquote__tweet-button\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fab-twitter\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M459.37 151.716c.325 4.548.325 9.097.325 13.645 0 138.72-105.583 298.558-298.558 298.558-59.452 0-114.68-17.219-161.137-47.106 8.447.974 16.568 1.299 25.34 1.299 49.055 0 94.213-16.568 130.274-44.832-46.132-.975-84.792-31.188-98.112-72.772 6.498.974 12.995 1.624 19.818 1.624 9.421 0 18.843-1.3 27.614-3.573-48.081-9.747-84.143-51.98-84.143-102.985v-1.299c13.969 7.797 30.214 12.67 47.431 13.319-28.264-18.843-46.781-51.005-46.781-87.391 0-19.492 5.197-37.36 14.294-52.954 51.655 63.675 129.3 105.258 216.365 109.807-1.624-7.797-2.599-15.918-2.599-24.04 0-57.828 46.782-104.934 104.934-104.934 30.213 0 57.502 12.67 76.67 33.137 23.715-4.548 46.456-13.32 66.599-25.34-7.798 24.366-24.366 44.833-46.132 57.827 21.117-2.273 41.584-8.122 60.426-16.243-14.292 20.791-32.161 39.308-52.628 54.253z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-blockquote__tweet-label\">Tweet<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7cdbafae elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7cdbafae\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.14.0 - 18-06-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">Have you ever seen a picture of a street-corner screamer yelling at passers-by to REPENT!? They are usually holding a sign up about the dangers of hellfire.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>It is not a very compelling image.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not sure what they hope to accomplish. I&#8217;m against brow-beating people with undefined words from a book they probably don&#8217;t even respect.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>You might even have been a target of one of those preachers. What did you think he meant when he was screaming at you to REPENT!?<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>This kind of &#8220;ministry&#8221; needs to stop. It does nothing but turn people away from God, His love, and His message of peace, hope, and joy.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>However, if you still want to yell at people to REPENT!, at least get the definition right in your head. Tell your audience what it means to REPENT!, and say it in a loving manner, the way it was intended to be used.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>The common idea of REPENT! is to &#8220;feel bad for your wicked ways,&#8221; or, better, &#8220;turn from your wicked ways.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>Neither idea is quite right. There&#8217;s an important nuance when it comes to REPENT!, that might incorporate feelings of guilt or shame and a turning away from wicked behavior, but those aspects are not the real meaning of REPENT!<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><i>The goodness of God leads to repentance. Romans 2:4<\/i><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>Notice that it is God&#8217;s goodness that entices a person to repent. It is not threats of punishment or condemnations of wicked deeds.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\">A person cannot truly repent unless they understand God&#8217;s goodness.<\/span><br><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">Why would this be?<\/span><br><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\">Screaming REPENT! at someone induces fear, not love. It might cause feelings of shame or guilt.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\">Shame and guilt never lead anyone to repentance. It might have lead people to beg for mercy, but it has never caused anyone to turn their face toward God, to seek a relationship with Him.<\/span><br><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\">God wants people to love Him from a reasonable consideration of the facts, not from threats or yelling or thunder. The only way to get permanent, unfailing, unmovable love is through love.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\">If you do not understand God&#8217;s goodness, you cannot repent! Repentance is based on knowing God, understanding His character of love, not on hearing threats of violence or death because of your own selfishness.<\/span><br><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\">(You may be getting a clue as to what repentance really means.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">If I&#8217;m told of God&#8217;s goodness and love, and I am able to watch Jesus as He interacts with sinners who are just like me, always showing them love, then, as the Bible says, His goodness at least tempts me to turn my face toward Him in hope&#8211;the act of repentance!<\/span><br><\/p>\n<p>Then, when we see the true nature of our Creator God, that He loves us with a love that cannot be squelched or diminished in any way, regardless of who we are or what we have done, we fall in love.<\/p>\n<p><i>We love because He first loved us.<\/i> (1 John 4:19, NIV)<\/p>\n<p>Do you see the idea?<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>Yelling REPENT! on a street corner does not lead to repentance.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>You might try yelling GOD IS LOVE. Or even GOD IS GOOD! That is sure to generate some good conversation, even if someone remarks, &#8220;God is NOT good!&#8221; Now we have a dialog worth pursuing.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>So, what does REPENT really mean?<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>It means, simply, to <em>turn your face toward God<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\">The Contemporary English Version translates Romans 2:4 like this:<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\"><i>Don&#8217;t you know that the reason God is good to you is because&nbsp;<span style=\"font-size: 24px; font-weight: 700;\">he wants you to turn to him<\/span>?<\/i><br><\/p>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\">Upon understanding His goodness, we turn our face toward Him and behold Him, because His goodness is attractive, like the smiling face of a mother to her young child. Then, by the law of worship, &#8220;we become what we behold&#8221; (see 2 Corinthians 3:18).<\/span><br><\/div>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>Do you see how repentance works? Do you see where repentance is in the process of God healing us?<\/p>\n<p>Repentance does not come first. It simply cannot!<\/p>\n<p>The first step is a revelation of the God of love of the Bible.<\/p>\n<p>When people perceive the love&#8211;the goodness&#8211;of God, whether through Bible reading or from someone preaching the good news, it is attractive and appealing; they turn toward this God to get to know more about Him.&nbsp;<span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">They begin to seek the truth about God. They want to get to know this God of love.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\"><i style=\"\">And this is the way to have eternal life\u2014<b>to know you<\/b>, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth <\/i><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\">(John 17:3, NLT).<\/span><br><\/p>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\">Once a person receives the truth about God and they learn more about Him, they are compelled to start a relationship with Him.<\/span><br><span style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\"><br><\/span><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">We must behold God, completely and truthfully, in order to be changed. We cannot change ourselves. We are leopards with spots (Jeremiah 13:23)! Only God can make the changes necessary in us to fully heal us of our fatal condition and make us more like Jesus.<\/span><br><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">He promises to finish the work He started in us (Philippians 1:6).<\/span><br><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 24px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\">All we can do is walk in the light we are given, while we let God do His work (Philippians 2:13).<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\"><br><\/span><\/p>\n<p>I want to always accurately portray our God&#8217;s loving character and how He deals with sinful human beings. The true picture of Jesus as God of love is so compelling that we do not need to resort to threats, coercion, or condemnation.<br><\/p>\n<p>We don&#8217;t need to shout REPENT! on the street corners. We just need to tell people the good news about the God of love of the Bible, and repentance happens.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2896ee6 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con\" data-id=\"2896ee6\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;content_width&quot;:&quot;boxed&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2330735 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2330735\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@benwhitephotography?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\">Ben White<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/1urNubNAQbI?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\">Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People shouting REPENT! on street corners at strangers are not doing the work of the God of the Bible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2063,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":""},"categories":[9,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegodofthebible.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2027"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegodofthebible.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegodofthebible.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegodofthebible.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegodofthebible.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2027"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/thegodofthebible.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2066,"href":"https:\/\/thegodofthebible.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2027\/revisions\/2066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegodofthebible.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegodofthebible.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegodofthebible.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegodofthebible.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}