Repentence: What Does It Really Mean?

[CantThinkofaUserName]

From what I understand, it means to "FEEL sorry" and not to actually SAY (speak, utter, etc) the WORD, "sorry." It also means to "turn away" from your sins.

So I have two questions:

1.) Is there anything else to the word repent that I haven't covered?

2.) Is there any place in the bible that says that you need to literally SAY, "sorry?" Not talking about the technical definition above where it states to "feel sorry", but rather any verse that states that you need to say it.

Thanks!

 

[oi_antz]

From what I understand, it means to "FEEL sorry" and not to actually SAY (speak, utter, etc) the WORD, "sorry." It also means to "turn away" from your sins.

So I have two questions:

1.) Is there anything else to the word repent that I haven't covered?

Repentance means to be attentive to your conscience. Sin is not only defined on paper, it is defined by common sense.

2.) Is there any place in the bible that says that you need to literally SAY, "sorry?" Not talking about the technical definition above where it states to "feel sorry", but rather any verse that states that you need to say it.

No, you just need to make the covenant not to behave in a sinful manner. Jesus will forgive you as much as you need, but He is not a door mat.

Thanks!

Welcome!

 

[elopez]

From what I understand, it means to "FEEL sorry" and not to actually SAY (speak, utter, etc) the WORD, "sorry." It also means to "turn away" from your sins.

The original Greek for "repentance" is metanoia and means "afterthought, change of mind," and is used from sin and evil. In Acts 26:20 the passage suggests we keep our repentance in alignment with our actions. The passage says nothing about actually saying sorry but acting as if we are genuinely so.

So I have two questions:

1.) Is there anything else to the word repent that I haven't covered?

I can think of one thing at least, and even then there could still be aspects of repentance that are left out. It has to do with what I said earlier as being genuine. That consists of the hate towards our sin and the desire to abide in God over sin.

2.) Is there any place in the bible that says that you need to literally SAY, "sorry?" Not talking about the technical definition above where it states to "feel sorry", but rather any verse that states that you need to say it.

I cannot think of such a verse, but I may be wrong. The definition has more than just 'feeling' sorry. There is also acting sorry. I would think that shows more than simply saying it.

 

[CantThinkofaUserName]

Thanks, guys. I've always been under the impression that to repent, one must say that they're, "sorry." I believe most (if not all) of my family and friends have shared the same mentality, as well. I'm amazed it took me so long to recognize that repent actually means to TURN, and, as you say, FEEL. Though I would believe feeling isn't something that you should try to do, but something that should rather happen, no? Which brings me to my next question:

Example: If a child (older, understanding child) performed an act that caused his father to go to jail, and once in jail, his father was beaten and at times even tortured. It's only natural that the child would feel guilty, because his father had to go through such a thing due to his (the child's) own actions.

Question: So why then does one not feel guilty when committing sin? Sure, most people know when they're doing something wrong, but why are we not convicted of sin being such a horrible thing? The only reason I could think of is that perhaps one need to be indwelled with the Holy Spirit before such a thing takes place?

 

[elopez]

Thanks, guys. I've always been under the impression that to repent, one must say that they're, "sorry." I believe most (if not all) of my family and friends have shared the same mentality, as well. I'm amazed it took me so long to recognize that repent actually means to TURN, and, as you say, FEEL. Though I would believe feeling isn't something that you should try to do, but something that should rather happen, no? Which brings me to my next question:

Remember though it's not only about feeling but acting sorry. Our actions should display our apology.

Example: If a child (older, understanding child) performed an act that caused his father to go to jail, and once in jail, his father was beaten and at times even tortured. It's only natural that the child would feel guilty, because his father had to go through such a thing due to his (the child's) own actions.

I cannot think of an act in which the child caused his father to go to jail, unless the child framed his father in which case I could not see him feeling guilty for the fathers torture or punishment.

Question: So why then does one not feel guilty when committing sin? Sure, most people know when they're doing something wrong, but why are we not convicted of sin being such a horrible thing? The only reason I could think of is that perhaps one need to be indwelled with the Holy Spirit before such a thing takes place?

It is fair to say that the Holy Spirit instills within us the conviction of our sins.

 

[CantThinkofaUserName]

Remember though it's not only about feeling but acting sorry. Our actions should display our apology.

Right. To "turn" from your sins, which is what you mean by "acting?"

I cannot think of an act in which the child caused his father to go to jail, unless the child framed his father in which case I could not see him feeling guilty for the fathers torture or punishment.

It was just an example. Albeit, a not-so-good one. lol

What I'm trying to get at is, that if because of our actions, we indirectly cause harm to our family members, then most would naturally feel bad. It's only human.

I was trying to strike a comparison with Christianity. That because of our sins, Jesus was beaten, tortured, and then ultimately killed. Such a thing didn't happen because we're perfect, but rather because of our sinful nature. But still many (including myself) don't feel horrible when we do the things that caused Jesus to go through such a thing - a thing that took place because of US.

It is fair to say that the Holy Spirit instills within us the conviction of our sins.

Thank you.

 

[razeontherock]

Wow, great post #4!

First of all let me say I'm glad to see Elopez mention "metanoia." I encourage you to do a word search on CF and find a thread(s) on the subject! We have not even scratched the surface of the concept here!!

Next, I will point out feelings are not nearly as important as you seem to think: "we walk by Faith, not by sight." (2 Cor 5:7)

Saying "I'm sorry" is not a spelled out necessary step, but making amends is! (See Matthew 5:24) Rarely will amends be made merely by an apology; metanoia is a TOUGH concept, and God's Love is "tough love." Let me interject a wonderful picture of metanoia from the OT, of someone sitting in God's Presence completely shaved, which was very weird in those days. What this implies is that God wants a TOTAL change! "Old things are passed away, behold all things are made new." Repentance is about being dead with Christ, that we may be raised with Him - and this can be experienced (to some extent) in the here and now!

So you see that repentance is a VERY exciting topic, and might almost be thought of as the life-blood of Christianity. Truthfully, Jesus' shed blood is the lifeblood, and metanoia is like the negative connection of a car battery; no matter how good the Power source is, it still takes both a positive and a negative connection before you get any power ...

One more verse that has always spoken greatly to me on the subject:

"As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. (2 Cr 7:10) For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment!"

I quoted this in the ESV because KJV makes this passage hard to read, but I encourage you to read it in the KJV because of the use of the words under discussion here:

"Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
2Cr 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, [what] clearing of yourselves, yea, [what] indignation, yea, [what] fear, yea, [what] vehement desire, yea, [what] zeal, yea, [what] revenge!"

I would say "godly sorrow" is not a normal act of 'feeling sorry,' but a gift of the Holy Spirit. So you ask about CONVICTION, and indeed the function of the Holy Spirit is primarily to convict us of sin, of righteousness, and of Judgment. Also to testify to us of Jesus Christ and to Glorify Him, which I say is just a different way of saying the same thing.

Guilt is NOT conviction! Feeling guilty I strongly believe is satan's counterfeit of conviction and the gift of the Spirit of godly sorrow that works repentance. And it is indeed a great and terrible thing to come face to face with the reality of how awful sin truly is. I think that's a necessary step, but God doesn't confront us with that right away. If He did, we would all fall away, melting before his Presence rather than growing in it. He doesn't place upon us more than we can bear ...

 

[CantThinkofaUserName]

Excellent, raz! Thanks for the thoughtful and detailed reply. Really appreciate it.

"Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance."

Yet again:

Sorrow: Feel or display distress

Nothing about uttering the word, "sorry." So, so glad I figured this out.

 

[razeontherock]

Here's a very liberating bit:

forgiveness is based on Jesus' decision to forgive! what Scripture indicates He requires is our confession of sin; i.e., agreeing with God about what our personal sins are. We can pray for Him to take that and turn it into godly sorrow and repentance. (1 John 1:9)

 

[CantThinkofaUserName]

Let me ask you this: Is it biblically mandated that one confess their sins to a priest? Or can one directly confess their sins to God?

 

[Emmy]

Dear CantThinkofaUserName. Repentance means: to feel sorry for and not do it again. The Bible wants us to feel sorry for and to change our whole attitude from selfishness to become a new person, to be "reborn." In Matthew, chapter 22, verses 35 -40: Jesus tells us what God wants from us: " Love God with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our minds. Also: Love our neighbour as ourselves." All we know and meet we will treat as we would love to be treated: with kindness, a friendly smile, forgive rather than accuse, and helping hands rather than ignore. God will see our sincere efforts, and God will approve and bless us. God will also see that we love Him: Because we follow His Commandments to love. To Repent is the first step, then we treat others, as we would like to be treated, and gradually we will change into children/sons and daughters, which God wants us to be. God is Love, Jesus died out of Love for God and for us, and the Holy Spirit will give us all the Love we ask for. Jesus told us to: " ask and ye will receive," then we thank God and share all with all around us. The world will notice, too, and will know that we are true representatives of our Loving Heavenly Father. To Repent is the start of the way which God wants us to go. I say this with love, CantthinkofaUserName. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

 

[St_Worm2]

Let me ask you this: Is it biblically mandated that one confess their sins to a priest? Or can one directly confess their sins to God?

There is no Biblical mandate to confess to a priest, but if you're a Roman Catholic and want absolution, according to the RCC, only a priest will do. I believe this to be based on the principle of binding/loosing from Matthew 16:18-19 and 18:18.

On the other hand, according to the Bible, you are to confess your sins and God will forgive them (Psalm 32:5/1 John 1:9), whether it's to a priest or just in a prayer to God. James, in fact, even admonishes us to "confess our sins to one another" (James 5:16).

Yours and His,
David

 

[CryptoLutheran]

From what I understand, it means to "FEEL sorry" and not to actually SAY (speak, utter, etc) the WORD, "sorry." It also means to "turn away" from your sins.

So I have two questions:

1.) Is there anything else to the word repent that I haven't covered?

2.) Is there any place in the bible that says that you need to literally SAY, "sorry?" Not talking about the technical definition above where it states to "feel sorry", but rather any verse that states that you need to say it.

Thanks!

The word in the New Testament translated as "repentance" is metanoia, an overly literal translation would be "beyond-mind". From the best I can tell, the word refers more to something like an overhaul in one's thinking, behavior, and attitude. Repentance or metanoia isn't something one does now and then when they feel sorry for having messed up; but is rather an ongoing process in which we are having our patterns of thinking, our behavior and our very attitudes become more in line with God's will by our being transformed and conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

St. Paul says, "Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

This is a moment-to-moment thing, repentance is a state of living we must continue to pursue and actively do so. Not simply an act or feeling now and again, but a way of living in which we are, moment by moment crucifying our flesh, dying to ourselves and to the world, and finding life more and more in Christ and in our self-emptying of ourselves in love for other people.

Day by day, moment by moment, praying and hoping and striving toward the perfection and the goal of being more like Jesus.

In our Epistle reading from the lectionary yesterday we read from St. Paul's letter to the Philippians in which he writes,

"Let this persuasion be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the shape of God, did not exploit His equality with God. Rather He emptied Himself, and took on the shape of a slave, and became the likeness of humanity. And being found in fashion a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:5-8)

That's to be our goal, and repentance is about our struggle and pursuit of getting there. To be able to empty ourselves as Christ did, to not regard ourselves as too important or above humbling ourselves and being a servant to everyone around us--even if it kills us in the process. Just earlier the Apostle had written,

"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each regard others more highly than themselves." (Phil. 2:3)

-CryptoLutheran

 

[CantThinkofaUserName]

Thanks CryptoLutheran and Emmy.

There is no Biblical mandate to confess to a priest, but if you're a Roman Catholic and want absolution, according to the RCC, only a priest will do. I believe this to be based on the principle of binding/loosing from Matthew 16:18-19 and 18:18.

On the other hand, according to the Bible, you are to confess your sins and God will forgive them (Psalm 32:5/1 John 1:9), whether it's to a priest or just in a prayer to God. James, in fact, even admonishes us to "confess our sins to one another" (James 5:16).

Yours and His,
David

Hi David. So as a Christian, it's not required to confess to a priest? I mean is it generally accepted within the Christian community that confessing to a priest is something the RCC requires?

 

[CryptoLutheran]

Thanks CryptoLutheran and Emmy.



Hi David. So as a Christian, it's not required to confess to a priest? I mean is it generally accepted within the Christian community that confessing to a priest is something the RCC requires?

Scripture itself says, "Confess your sins one to another," and in John's Gospel Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit upon His apostles telling them that they have the authority to forgive sins, "Whoever's sins you forgive are forgiven them".

In the Apostolic churches (that is, those churches which retain Apostolic Succession) that authority given to the apostles is passed down through succession by the laying on of hands down to the bishops and priests of the Church.

So in Catholicism the Sacrament of Absolution is that when confession of sin is made to a rightly ordained minister of the Church that minister has been appointed the authority to pronounce forgiveness. Now, it must be firmly understood that that forgiveness does not come from the priest or bishop but from God, the priest or bishop is merely speaking on behalf of Christ. The purpose of which is to bring comfort and grace to the guilty and despairing conscience.

In Lutheranism we also have Absolution, though we don't necessarily call it a Sacrament (there is some disagreement over this in Lutheranism). We just usually do it publicly at the start of the Divine Service, where we corporately as the Church confess our sins in a single voice, and the pastor speaks the words of Absolution--which comes from the authority of Christ and power of God--over the entire congregation. Private confession is available to those who desire it.

So it's not a "Catholic thing" per se, it's a Christian thing; it's just that it can often be misunderstood. For example, no Catholic has to confess their sins to their priest, nothing says they have to do it that way. They are free to confess their sins to God in prayer (as all of us Christians ought to) and forgiveness is freely available. What private and public confession offers for us, however, is the chance to hear the words of forgiveness and grace spoken to and over us, to hear those words, "Your sins are forgiven". We should not underestimate the power in hearing those words, to hear it told to us that God loves us, forgives us and accepts us because of His unconditional kindness and compassion for us.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[razeontherock]

Let me ask you this: Is it biblically mandated that one confess their sins to a priest? Or can one directly confess their sins to God?

One way of looking at this is that Jesus is our Great High Priest ... there's a whole world of understanding waiting for those who will come to know Him in this capacity of His!

 

[St_Worm2]

... no Catholic has to confess their sins to their priest, nothing says they have to do it that way. They are free to confess their sins to God in prayer (as all of us Christians ought to) and forgiveness is freely available.

-CryptoLutheran

Hey Crypto, excellent post in general above, but I wanted to point out one thing about repentance and forgiveness in the RCC that I think you may have gotten wrong. From the CCC, Section II / Chpt II we read:

1491 The sacrament of Penance is a whole consisting in three actions of the penitent and the priest's absolution. The penitent's acts are repentance, confession or disclosure of sins to the priest, and the intention to make reparation and do works of reparation.

1493 One who desires to obtain reconciliation with God and with the Church, must confess to a priest all the unconfessed grave sins he remembers after having carefully examined his conscience. The confession of venial faults, without being necessary in itself, is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church.

1494 The confessor proposes the performance of certain acts of "satisfaction" or "penance" to be performed by the penitent in order to repair the harm caused by sin and to re-establish habits befitting a disciple of Christ.

1495 Only priests who have received the faculty of absolving from the authority of the Church can forgive sins in the name of Christ.
​

So while confession is certainly permissible to someone other than a priest, if you also want to be forgiven, apparently a priest is required if you are RC (or have I misread the CCC somehow?).

Yours and His,
David

 

[elopez]

Right. To "turn" from your sins, which is what you mean by "acting?"

By 'turn' from our sins I take to mean more of a mental feature. We change our mind. Our change of mind, if genuine, will correlate to our actions which outwardly show our change.

It was just an example. Albeit, a not-so-good one. lol

What I'm trying to get at is, that if because of our actions, we indirectly cause harm to our family members, then most would naturally feel bad. It's only human.

Perhaps a better example would be that of a father's actions affecting his son. I would agree. At least the father should feel bad, yes.

I was trying to strike a comparison with Christianity. That because of our sins, Jesus was beaten, tortured, and then ultimately killed. Such a thing didn't happen because we're perfect, but rather because of our sinful nature. But still many (including myself) don't feel horrible when we do the things that caused Jesus to go through such a thing - a thing that took place because of US.

If you're trying to point out the hypocrisy in Christians sinning and not feeling guilty which would mean to neglect the sacrifice of Christ, I am not sure I understand. It goes back to the whole genuinely repenting thing. We repent because we really feel as if we violated God's love, not because of our own personal gain. As with your analogy to which I tweaked, the father would not begin to apologize to his son for his own advantage but if he really is human and feels sorry he would do so because he honestly felt bad.

A Christian does not habitually sin because of Christ's sacrifice, and even though abstaining from sin completely is impossible in this life, when we do sin I would say most Christians realize they're wrong and begin to feel shame.

Thank you.

It's only true.

 

[CantThinkofaUserName]

What private and public confession offers for us, however, is the chance to hear the words of forgiveness and grace spoken to and over us, to hear those words, "Your sins are forgiven". We should not underestimate the power in hearing those words, to hear it told to us that God loves us, forgives us and accepts us because of His unconditional kindness and compassion for us.

I don't know if there is a difference in repenting to a priest vs repenting to God, but I've never thought about it that way. Good to have a new outlook. Thanks.

 

[CantThinkofaUserName]

One way of looking at this is that Jesus is our Great High Priest ... there's a whole world of understanding waiting for those who will come to know Him in this capacity of His!

Thanks, raz.