At the beginning of each Gospel book is a description of John the Baptist. Like many prophets before him, John urged his hearers to repent – which is why he eventually lost his life. The Gospel of Mark shows that Jesus’ public ministry also begins with the proclamation, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15).
What did Jesus mean by repentance?
According to Mark, Jesus used the Greek word metanoia, which essentially means “to change one’s mind”. In modern languages, there may not be one term that exactly matches the original word. In various English translations of the Bible, the word is translated, for example, as “repent”, “convert”, or even “reform”, which has a more demanding tone. The challenge is that the word “metanoia” can also be translated as “penitence” or “regret”. Jesus’ call “to repent and believe the gospel” means that people must both “be penitent” and “reform” – and also receive the gospel by faith.
When we speak of a person who is troubled and fearful because of his sins, his condition is “penitence” or “regret”. The word “repent” or “repentance”, on the other hand, is when he is forgiven of his sins and he believes it. When a speaker teaches about repentance, he may also use the term “grace of repentance”.
It is important to note that both John’s and Jesus’ call to repentance is directed to the human mind, or as it is often called in the Old Testament, the heart. Biblical repentance moves man from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God. Moreover, as a fruit of repentance, his life is also changed outwardly (Luke 19:8).
Repentance by reason
The debates on the history of the doctrine reveal the many disagreements on the subject. Although all human beings have in their hearts at least some sense of the “natural law” given by God, this does not always imply an actual sense of sin due to wrongdoing. The birth of a sense of sin is always the work of God; only he can awaken this sense. God uses the law of his own word as the instrument of awakening. The law reveals sin to man.
The revelation of sin is often followed by a perfectly reasonable and socially good reaction. Man begins to correct his life: to give up bad habits, clean up his act, reconcile conflicts, and correct wrongdoings. This is what we might call reason-based repentance. It leads to good conclusions: ‘I should, I ought to, it would be good, it would be important’. This is how the law works. It leads man to work harder and harder to be acceptable to God. But this path to fellowship with God is impossible for man. No one can earn his righteousness by his works, no matter how good they are, because God requires complete and perfect obedience to the law. None of us is capable of this.
By whose will or power does a person believe?
During Martin Luther’s Reformation (1517-) there was a debate, among other things, about what happens or what should happen in repentance. There were two opposing schools of thought. The first was based on the idea that man could repent and achieve grace independently through repentance, love, and acts of redemption.
This thinking is often based on the doctrine of free will. According to this view, the biblical commands for repentance and change make no sense unless they can be done and brought about by man himself. According to this view, God’s words “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19) is interpreted to mean that man himself is capable of choosing life if he so chooses.
Luther did not accept the doctrine of free will. Having found living faith, he came to a deep understanding of the difference between the law and the gospel as found in the Bible. The law reveals not only man’s individual sins, but also his original sin, his inherent sinfulness. Original sin makes man unable to turn to God and believe in God on his own. Faith, therefore, cannot arise from his own efforts or reasoning, but comes from God according to His grace and choice. This is what Luther called bondage of the will.
In the passage from Deuteronomy quoted above, the law exhorts one to choose life, but it does not give a spiritually dead person the power or ability to do so. In the light of the law, man may understand what he should do, but he has neither the ability nor the power to change his heart. And yet that is what the Bible calls for, a change of mind (heart). So the law drives man to desperation because he is unable to choose life, to repent, and to become acceptable to God. For Luther, the realization that only God can give life to the dead through faith was a merciful one. On this basis we can understand why faith is a gift from God.
Repentance by grace
According to Luther, there are two parts in repentance: penitence and faith. This is what Jesus was referring to when he said, “Repent and believe the gospel.” Penitence alone is not enough; faith is necessary before God (Hebrews 11:6). This means that a person must feel sorrow over their sins (penitence) and receive the gospel, through which faith in Christ is given as a gift. God uses those who already believe, that is, His church, to preach the gospel and to proclaim absolution by the authority of Jesus.
Through the affection of God’s grace, the believing person begins to want to avoid sin and live according to God’s will. Thus, the change in one’s life happens after repentance.
So, when Luther spoke of the two parts of repentance, he was quoting the teaching of Jesus himself. Luther demonstrates the point by asking what was the difference between the penitence of Judas and Peter, or Saul and David. The answer is clear: faith. Repentance before God without the comfort of faith leads to desperation. Therefore, the most important part of repentance is faith, which comes as a gift from God. Faith owns the perfect righteousness, purity, and holiness of Christ.
However, after receiving the gift of faith in repentance, the person is still a sinner. Therefore, he, too needs the strength of the repeated confirmation of the sacraments, prayer, and the support of other Christians, and above all the comfort of the gospel of forgiveness. The same gospel through which he once repented makes him want to give up his sins and live according to the mind of God.Nevertheless, the Christian’s life is a battle until death. The person battles against the desires of corrupted human nature and temptations of the unbelieving world by the power of the Gospel. The enemy of the soul never stops his work, but endlessly presents his alternatives. That’s why our struggle in faith is never perfect and pure. But the child of God who struggles in faith is taught and strengthened by the grace of God (Tit 2:11,12).
Author: Seppo Särkiniemi
Image: SRK, Finland
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