Repentance in the New Testament
Repentance in the New Testament
3338 μεταμέλλομαι metamellomai from 3326 and the middle voice of 3199; v AV-repent 5, repent (one’s) self 1; 6
1) it is a care to one afterwards
1a) it repents one, to repent one’s self
3326 μετά meta a primary preposition (often used adverbially); prep AV-with 345, after 88, among 5, hereafter + 5023 4, afterward + 5023 4, against 4, not depart
1) (with genitive)
1a) amidst, among
1b) with
2) (with accusative)
2a) into the middle of, among
2b) after, behind
3) (as a prefix)
3a) association, fellowship, participation with
3b) exchange, transfer, transmutation
3c) after
3199 μέλω melo a root word; v; AV-care 9, take care 1; 10
1) to care about
3340 μετανοέω metanoeo met-an-o-eh’-o from 3326 and 3539; v; AV-repent 34; 34
1) to change one’s mind, i.e. to repent
2) to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins
3539 νοιέω noieo from 3563; v; AV-understand 10, perceive 2, consider 1, think 1; 14
1) to perceive with the mind, to understand, to have understanding
2) to think upon, heed, ponder, consider
3563 νοῦς nous probably from the base of 1097; n m; AV-mind 21, understanding 3; 24
1) the mind, comprising alike the faculties of perceiving and understanding and those of feeling, judging, determining
1a) the intellectual faculty, the understanding
1b) reason in the narrower sense, as the capacity for spiritual truth, the higher powers of the soul, the faculty of perceiving divine things, of recognising goodness and of hating evil
1c) the power of considering and judging soberly, calmly and impartially
2) a particular mode of thinking and judging, i.e thoughts, feelings, purposes, desires
1097 γινώσκω ginosko a prolonged form of a primary verb; v; AV-know 196, perceive 9, understand 8, misc 10; 223
1) to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel
1a) to become known
2) to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of
2a) to understand
2b) to know
3) Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman
4) to become acquainted with, to know
3341 μετάνοια metanoia from 3340; n f; AV-repentance 24; 24
1) a change of mind, as it appears to one who repents, of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done
NOTE: every instance of the four Greek words is included below; they are not translated into other English words, nor do they appear in any other passages.
Mt 3:2 And saying, ‘Repent!<3340>: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Mt 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance <3341>:
Mt 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance <3341>: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Mt 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, ‘Repent <3340>: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Mt 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance <3341>.
Mt 11:20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented <3340> not:
Mt 11:21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented <3340> long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
Mt 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented <3340> at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
Mt 21:29 He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented <3338>, and went.
Mt 21:32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented <3338> not afterward, that ye might believe him.
Mt 27:3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself <3338>, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
Mr 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance <3341> for the remission of sins.
Mr 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye <3340>, and believe the gospel.
Mr 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance <3341>.
Mr 6:12 And they went out, and preached that men should repent <3340>.
Lu 3:3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance <3341> for the remission of sins;
Lu 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance <3341>, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
Lu 5:32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance <3341>.
Lu 10:13 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in you, they had <3340> a great while ago repented <3340>, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
Lu 11:32 The men of Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented <3340> at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
Lu 13:3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent <3340>, ye shall all likewise perish.
Lu 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent <3340>, ye shall all likewise perish.
Lu 15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth <3340>, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance <3341>.
Lu 15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth <3340>.
Lu 16:30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent <3340>.
Lu 17:3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent <3340>, forgive him.
Lu 17:4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent <3340>; thou shalt forgive him. This passage teaches about repentance, and in the context of human relationships. What the party repenting is repenting of is trespass[ing] against his brother.
Lu 24:47 And that repentance <3341> and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Ac 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent <3340>, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Ac 3:19 Repent ye <3340> therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Ac 5:31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance <3341> to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Ac 8:22 Repent <3340> therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
Ac 11:18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance <3341> unto life.
Ac 13:24 When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance <3341> to all the people of Israel.
Ac 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent <3340>:
Ac 19:4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance <3341>, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.
Ac 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance <3341> toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ac 26:20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent <3340> and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance <3341>.
Ro 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance <3341>?
Ro 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance <278>.
2Co 7:8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do <3338> not repent <3338>, though I did repent <3338>: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.
2Co 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance <3341>: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
2Co 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance <3341> to salvation not to be repented of <278>: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
2Co 12:21 And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have <3340> not repented <3340> of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.
2Ti 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance <3341> to the acknowledging of the truth;
Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance <3341> from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance <3341>; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Heb 7:21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will <3338> not repent <3338>, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
Heb 12:17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance <3341>, though he sought it carefully with tears.
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance <3341>.
Re 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent <3340>, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent <3340>.
Re 2:16 Repent <3340>, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Re 2:21 And I gave her space to repent <3340>, of her fornication; and she repented <3340>, not.
Re 2:22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent <3340> of their deeds.
Re 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent <3340>. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Re 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent <3340>.
Re 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented <3340> not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Re 9:21 Neither repented they <3340> of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Re 16:9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented <3340> not to give him glory.
Re 16:11 And (men) blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented <3340>not of their deeds.
OTHER VERSES THAT SPEAK OF OR CALL FOR REPENTANCE FROM SIN (turn from sin):
Acts 3:26
Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Ezekiel 18:21-23 ESV
“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?
Proverbs 28:13 ESV
Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Isaiah 44:22 ESV
I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.
Jeremiah 18:8 ESV
And if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it.
Ezekiel 33:14-16 ESV
Again, though I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ yet if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.
Psalm 34:14 ESV
Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
Jonah 3:10 ESV
When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
Joel 2:12 ESV
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
Jeremiah 26:3 ESV
It may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, that I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them because of their evil deeds.
Ezekiel 18:27 ESV
Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life.
Hosea 10:12 ESV / 16 (helpful notes)
Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.
Proverbs 9:6 ESV
Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”
Ezekiel 20:43 ESV
And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed.
Ezekiel 33:19 ESV / 13 helpful votes
And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this.
Ezekiel 33:10-12 ESV
“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’ Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? “And you, son of man, say to your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him when he transgresses, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it when he turns from his wickedness, and the righteous shall not be able to live by his righteousness when he sins.
Luke 15:17-20 ESV
“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
Jonah 3:8 ESV
But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
Ezekiel 14:6 ESV
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.
Jeremiah 24:7 ESV
I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.
Proverbs 1:23 ESV
If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.
Hosea 6:1 ESV
“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
Lamentations 3:40 ESV
Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord!
Jeremiah 7:5 ESV
“For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another,
Proverbs 1:23-33 ESV
If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.
John 5:14 ESV
Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”
Isaiah 30:15
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.
Jeremiah 31:19
After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
2 Kings 17:13
Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah through all the prophets and all the seers, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commands and my statutes, according to all the law that I commanded your forefathers and sent to you by my servants the prophets.”
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Jesus said that He came to ‘call sinners to repentance’; what does He mean?
The Greek verbs μετανοέω – metanoeo – and μεταμέλλομαι – metamellomai – mean to change one’s mind, heart, or understanding, and to take care for something, respectively. The Greek noun μετάνοια – metanoia refers to the state of having changed one’s mind.
Only about one third of the passages mentioning “repentance” or the verb “to repent” in the New Testament specify what the individual was to have repented about. The meaning of the original Greek verb was to change one’s mind, heart, or attitude about something or someone. But most verses in which any derivative of the word is found, simply express the verb as a command, or the noun “repentance” in a general reference, without qualification about what, exactly, the person should be changing their mind, heart, or attitude.
Change necessarily has a beginning point and a culmination; is it possible to determine what God calls men to change their minds “from” and “to”?
Reading the Scriptures, we see that the disciples before Christ’s death, and the apostles after Pentecost, preached repentance to all nations (Luke 24:47, Acts 17:30), and that sinners were those whom Christ called to repent. (Mt 9:13; Lk 15:7) Repentance was clearly something the individual did in themselves, rather than something done to them by someone else, or caused to them by God. (Acts 8:22; 26:20) We also see from the Scriptures that repentance is associated with attitudes of remorse or grief (Mt 11:21; 2 Cor 7:9), is evidently at least part of a response to the message that “the kingdom of God is at hand” (Mt 3:2; 4:17) and plays some role in what is necessary to receive “remission of sins” (Lk 24:47; Ac 2:38, 3:19; Ac 11:18; 2 Cor 7:10; 2 Pe 3:9)
Failure to repent brought Christ’s anger, which we see in Matthew chapter 11, which records His rebuke of the cities which failed to do so when He taught and displayed His power in them, or when He reprimanded the Pharisees for failing to repent and believe Him, when even the “sinners” did so. (Mt 21:32)
The New Testament verses that do make reference to the subject or object of the change in thinking are the following:
Ac 8:22 Repent <3340> therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
Ac 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance <3341> toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ac 26:20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent <3340> and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance <3341>.
2Co 12:21 And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have <3340> not repented <3340> of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.
2Ti 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance <3341> to the acknowledging of the truth;
Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance <3341> from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Re 2:21 And I gave her space to repent <3340> of her fornication; and she repented <3340> not.
Re 2:22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent <3340> of their deeds.
Re 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented <3340> not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk:
Re 9:21 Neither repented they <3340> of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Re 16:9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented <3340> not to give him glory.
Re 16:11 And (men) blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented <3340> not of their deeds.
In the majority of the above verses, people are instructed to or described as having not “repented” of wicked deeds. Acts 20:21 records the apostles, speaking to both Jews and Gentiles about “repentance toward God”. Acts 26:20 says they “should repent and turn toward God”, and Paul wrote to Timothy that perhaps God may give those opposing the gospel to have “repentance toward acknowledging the truth” as the man of God patiently and humbly taught truth to them.
In the book of Revelation, members of some congregations in Asia are commanded to “repent” because of some failure on their part, and the unbelievers in the latter chapters are said to have not repented of their wicked ways in response to God’s execution of wrath upon the world.
In these verses, we see that the words “repent” and “repentance” are most frequently used in the specific context of people “changing their minds from” or “taking care over” their own wicked actions. Additionally, they are used in reference to men changing their minds “toward” God. Can we use this information to conclude that the other times that men are called to repent, that it is also intended for them to understand that they must repent from sin and repent towards God? To suggest that the non-specified instances of the call to repent refer exclusively to the changing of the mind from being “against God” to being “for God” is begging the question; because the object of repentance is unspecified in the majority of verses, we must look deeper to answer the question.
When we look at other passages of Scripture in Old and New Testaments, we see many instances of men being called to turn away from sin and to turn toward God. If repentance is a change of mind, the man who has chosen to pursue sin must surely “change his mind” toward sin, and no longer choose to pursue it, just as surely as he must choose to change his mind from avoiding God to believing God and receiving His salvation through Christ. God is the culimination point – the telos. The beginning point is sin.
Jesus said that no man can serve two masters; he will either love one and hate the other, or hold to one and despise the other. We cannot actively choose to embrace sin at the same time as actively choosing to embrace Christ. Christ brings a new life in which sin has no place; while we are in the flesh and we will certainly sometimes fall, our attitude toward sin must change if we are to recognize our offense against God and our need for His salvation, and this recognition is the repentance to which men are called. The only compelling reason to “change one’s mind” against those wrongs that we find enticing, is the faith and love of Jesus Christ. If we are convinced that we are guilty against God, and that our righteous Lord has died to free us from the penalty of our sin, then we will hate sin because of its offense against God and the cost to the Lord we love; our minds will have turned against sin for Christ’s sake, and “for” Him because of His grace.
Some wrongly interpret the concept of ‘repentance from sin’ as a person working to stop sinning, but that is neither what the words mean, nor what is needed for men to receive Christ. Salvation is not earned by our actions, but is gifted to us by the Lord only if we believe. God’s gift is salvation received by faith; nothing we can do can earn His forgiveness. Yet the Biblical presentation of gospel includes the call to repent, which can only be the change of mind concerning sin and God; it can never mean action that a man can take. Repentance from sin is not a change in behaviour, but a change in attitude toward what is offensive to God. A change in behaviour is not the repentance, but a result of the repentance that accompanies salvation.
Jesus’ message to the world is “repent and believe the gospel” (Mr 1:15) Change the mind from sin to God. Reject sin, receive Christ. Repentance is no more a work than faith; they are both a condition of the ‘mind’ or self, and describe the relationship between self and God.
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