Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, 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.


Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;


Many people do not know or understand the relationship between repentance and salvation or to put it this way, is repentance needed for a man to be saved?

When one understand the true meaning of repentance, the answer becomes obvious.

The Hebrew and the Greek interpretation of repentance are Shube and mentanoa respectively.

The word repentance can be found many times both in the old and new testament.

The misunderstanding of repentance arises due to poor biblical dissection.

Before we go into the true meaning of repentance, let us see what repentance is not.

Repentance is not Sorrow for sins committed

Repentance is not penance

Repentance is not a vow not to go back to sin

Repentance is not confession of sins

Repentance is not trying to undo wrongs that had been committed

In the old testament the word Shube or repentance means to turn from a certain action or course of action. It does not necessarily mean turning from some certain sinful action but turning generally from a certain course of a action.

Even God is said to REPENT, does it mean God had committed sins that he need to change from? Of course the answer is obvious.


Hosea 13:14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

Exodus 32:12 Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

Exodus 32:14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

This words Moses pleading with God to repent from what he was going to do to his people the Israelites.

Repentance can also mean to turn from certain evil or sin one has been living in.

Ezekiel 18:27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.

Ezekiel 18:28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Ezekiel 18:30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

This verses had been used wrongly by many preachers to mean a man had to stop committing sin to be saved from hell but a close examination reveals otherwise.

These verses were written to address the issue of death sentence pronounced by God.

If a sinner turn from his sin, God will spare his life but eventually when he dies he is still going to hell if he still does not know God. Although God let him lead his normal life span because he turned from his sin but if he refuses, his earthly life will be cut short the advantage to the repentant sinner is the that he will have many more opportunity to know God unlike the unrepentant man whose life was cut short because of sin.

The word mentanoa mean 'a chage of mind' or I would rather say 'change of heart'.

In the bible the John the Baptist's ministry was the 'ministry of repentance' that is the ministry of turning the heart of the people back to God


Malachi 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

4:6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.


Luke 1:16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Before Jesus came he needed a people whose heart were already prepared.

Isaiah 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

After the death of John the Baptist, Jesus himself took upon himself that ministry.



Matthew 11:20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: 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 long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

11:22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.

11:23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.

11:24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.

The ministry of repentance is necessary if people are to turn to Jesus. Some teachers or preachers leave repentance out of their ministry leading to a fruitless ministry. It is not the multitude or crowd that determines fruitfulness of a ministry but the quality.

Days after the ascension of Jesus Peter filled with the holy Spirit preached to the Jews saying repent and be converted in Acts 3:19.

Repentance is in essence rejecting our ways and accepting God's way.


Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.


What is the the way of man?
The way of man is believing in his own works, his own mind set thinking his way is superior to God.

What is the way of God?
The way of God is the cross yes dear friend his provision of christ for your all sins and eternal life through Jesus Christ.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

It is left for you to repent from your self centered way to the christ centered way or perish in your sin, the ball is in your court.

Brilliant.
People have misunderstood what the word repentance mean.

Good! Repentance is a result of your Salvation. Repentance causes you to change the way you think and act. Turning from the old (satanic) way of life to the new (heavenly) way of life in Christ.

Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand

Repent people

Sincere repentance... Forsake all evil..the laws of God is way,the truth and life......it shall endure forever..

True repentance leads to Salvation

Repentance to God should be preached in our generation

Before the thread is derailed by a misconception of the relationship of repentance to 'salvation', what is salvation?
Salvation means to be turned away from destruction or preservation from danger.

CodeTemplar:
Before the thread is derailed by a misconception of the relationship of repentance to 'salvation', what is salvation?
Salvation means to be turned away from destruction or preservation from danger.

To add Jesus brought salvation from sin to all who believe on him.

■ Many people do not know or understand the relationship between repentance and salvation or to put it this way, is repentance needed for a man to be saved? When one understand the true meaning of repentance, the answer becomes obvious. The Hebrew and the Greek interpretation of repentance are Shube and mentanoa respectively. The word repentance can be found many times both in the old and new testament. The misunderstanding of repentance arises due to poor biblical dissection. Before we go into the true meaning of repentance, let us see what repentance is not.
▪︎ Repentance is not Sorrow for sins committed
▪︎ Repentance is not penance
▪︎ Repentance is not a vow not to go back to sin
▪︎ Repentance is not confession of sins
▪︎ Repentance is not trying to undo wrongs that had been committed
■ In the old testament the word Shube or repentance means to turn from a certain action or course of action. It does not necessarily mean turning from some certain sinful action but turning generally from a certain course of a action. Even God is said to REPENT, does it mean God had committed sins that he need to change from? Of course the answer is obvious. This words Moses pleading with God to repent from what he was going to do to his people the Israelites. Repentance can also mean to turn from certain evil or sin one has been living in. This verses had been used wrongly by many preachers to mean a man had to stop committing sin to be saved from hell but a close examination reveals otherwise. These verses were written to address the issue of death sentence pronounced by God.
■ If a sinner turn from his sin, God will spare his life but eventually when he dies he is still going to hell if he still does not know God. Although God let him lead his normal life span because he turned from his sin but if he refuses, his earthly life will be cut short the advantage to the repentant sinner is the that he will have many more opportunity to know God unlike the unrepentant man whose life was cut short because of sin. The word mentanoa mean 'a chage of mind' or I would rather say 'change of heart'.
■ In the bible the John the Baptist's ministry was the 'ministry of repentance' that is the ministry of turning the heart of the people back to God Before Jesus came he needed a people whose heart were already prepared. After the death of John the Baptist, Jesus himself took upon himself that ministry. The ministry of repentance is necessary if people are to turn to Jesus. Some teachers or preachers leave repentance out of their ministry leading to a fruitless ministry. It is not the multitude or crowd that determines fruitfulness of a ministry but the quality.
■ Repentance is in essence rejecting our ways and accepting God's way. What is the way of man? The way of man is believing in his own works, his own mind set thinking his way is superior to God. What is the way of God? The way of God is the cross yes dear friend his provision of christ for your all sins and eternal life through Jesus Christ. It is left for you to repent from your self centered way to the christ centered way or perish in your sin, the ball is in your court.

1. In keeping with the teachings of Jesus Christ, repentance is a component part of the process of being born of water - John 3 vs 1 - 8 which John the Baptist explains is a symbolic washing that marked a change from the following of the Old Way(The Law of Moses) to following instead the New Way(Jesus Christ, God's New agreement in the Kingdom of God).

2. Repentance, as used in the Old Testament, can't, in fact, be considered the same as it used in the New Testament as the New Testament requirement is of abandoning the old way in other to follow the new agreement that God has made available to His people in Jesus Christ, something Jesus Christ addressed during His conversation with Nicodemus in John 3 vs 1 -21.

3. John provided for us, in the Gospels, the meaning of repentance that Jesus Christ Himself, by directly referencing the need to be born of water(baptism), encouraged.

4. The one and only meaning of repentance of importance in the Gospels is found in[b]Matthew 3 vs 7-11[/b] in the words of John the Baptist, the one who was sent to prepare the way for the coming of the New agreement, Jesus Christ.

7 Many Pharisees and Sadducees came to where John was baptizing people. When John saw them, he said, “You are all snakes! Who warned you to run from God’s judgment that is coming?
8 Change your hearts! And show by the way you live that you have changed.
9 I know what you are thinking. You want to say, ‘but Abraham is our father!’ That means nothing. I tell you, God could make children for Abraham from these rocks.
10 The ax is now ready to cut down the trees. Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water to show that you have changed your hearts and lives. But there is someone coming later who is able to do more than I can. I am not good enough to be the slave who takes off his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. - John 3 vs 7 - 11

The change had to take place both in the hearts of the people and in their daily lives meaning they had to completely abandon the old way in order to accept the New way, and Law, Jesus Christ. As John explained in verse 12, God's judgment was already upon the rest of Israel at that time — The Nation of Judah — meaning the end of life under God's Old Law for all. Baptism is meant to symbolize this transition from following the Old Law of Moses to following the New agreement, Jesus Christ, the repentance that is expected of all who wish to belong to the Kingdom of God. So, repentance, as preached in the Gospels is not of personal meaning but instead meaning as stated right there in the Gospels.

alBHAGDADI:
Brilliant.

People have misunderstood what the word repentance mean.

alBHAGDADI , are you 100% certain that you are born again? It is possible to know 100 whether you are or not and I am not talking about having confidence or any of that bullsheet the world tells you. Mental assent amounts to nothing in the Kingdom of God. I am speaking instead of the evidence that God implants in those who have in fact been born again and have gained citizenship in the first leg of the race in the Kingdom of God.

Man was born flesh and blood from his mother's womb. Jesus Christ told you this in His Gospel, affirming what God said in the beginning when He pointed out that man was made from the clay of this earth, not spirit - Genesis 2 vs 6 - 7. So in order to become a citizen of the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom where only those who are born of spirit can gain access, a first step in becoming a Son of God and eventually a partaker in the blessings and rewards of the Kingdom of God, one must first be born-again. And as broken down carefully in His Gospel by Jesus Christ, one must first be born-again before one can then become a citizen of the Kingdom of God.

1 There was a man named Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees. He was an important Jewish leader.
2 One night he came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a teacher sent from God. No one can do these miraculous signs that you do unless they have God’s help.”
3 Jesus answered, “I assure you, everyone must be born again. Anyone who is not born again cannot be in God’s kingdom.”
4 Nicodemus said, “How can a man who is already old be born again? Can he go back into his mother’s womb and be born a second time?”
5 Jesus answered, “Believe me when I say that everyone must be born from water and the Spirit. Anyone who is not born from water and the Spirit cannot enter God’s kingdom.
6 The only life people get from their human parents is physical. But the new life that the Spirit gives a person is spiritual.
7 Don’t be surprised that I told you, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows wherever it wants to. You hear it, but you don’t know where it is coming from or where it is going. It is the same with everyone who is born from the Spirit.” - John 3 vs 5 - 8

○ Born of Water — Is an acknowledgment of the message spread by John the Baptist whose call for repentance as found in Matthew 3 vs 2 Jesus Christ was reiterated beginning at the start of His own Kingdom mission, "Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand" found in Matthew 4 vs 7 & Mark 1 vs 15.

As John explained in his conversation with the Pharisees, to be born of water — baptized — there is a need for repentance, a visible transition from following God's Old Law of Moses to following God's New agreement of peace —Jesus Christ. In verse 8 of the passage below, John instructs the Pharisees to change their hearts and show by the way that they live that they have in fact changed from following the Old Way to following the New way — Jesus Christ.

7 Many Pharisees and Sadducees came to where John was baptizing people. When John saw them, he said, “You are all snakes! Who warned you to run from God’s judgment that is coming?
8 Change your hearts! And show by the way you live that you have changed.
9 I know what you are thinking. You want to say, ‘but Abraham is our father!’ That means nothing. I tell you, God could make children for Abraham from these rocks.
10 The ax is now ready to cut down the trees. Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
[b]11 “I baptize you with water to show that you have changed your hearts and lives. But there is someone coming later who is able to do more than I can. I am not good enough to be the slave who takes off his sandals. - Matthew 3 vs 7 - 11

Suffice to say, the kind of repentance God desires is not simply an abandoning of one's sinful ways but more importantly, an abandoning of the hold the Old Law had on one to embrace instead a full commitment to following and abiding by the direct teachings and commandments of Jesus Christ alone. Once one is baptized in water after this, one is said to have concluded the work of obedience necessary for one to be Born of water.
○ Born of Spirit(Eternal Life) - In John 3 vs 16, Jesus Christ elucidated that all those who believe in Him will receive Eternal Life in place of the condemnation of Death which they formerly lived under as a result of God's judgment against sinners of Old - Deuteronomy 30 vs 15 - 20. The Spirit of Eternal life, the spirit those who are in fact born again are born of, as described by Jesus Christ in the context of John 3 vs 1 - 21 is not a passive spirit. Rather, He is an uncontrollable invasion of those of the individual who is born of Him — a possession so to speak. This can be vividly seen in what Jesus Christ said of those who are born of the Spirit of Life in John 3 vs 5 - 8

7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”
8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered, “You don’t know what God can give you. And you don’t know who I am, the one who asked you for a drink. If you knew, you would have asked me, and I would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said, “Sir, where will you get that living water? The well is very deep, and you have nothing to get water with.
12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob? He is the one who gave us this well. He drank from it himself, and his sons and all his animals drank from it too.”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.
14 But anyone who drinks the water I give will never be thirsty again. The water I give people will be like a spring flowing inside them. It will bring them eternal life.”
15 The woman said to Jesus, “Sir, give me this water. Then I will never be thirsty again and won’t have to come back here to get more water.” - John 4 vs 7 - 15

In the above passage, Jesus Christ equally describes the Spirit of Eternal life as living water on the inside of those who drink from Him again implying that one does not get a passive spirit but a conscious spirit wielding power inside of them when born of Spirit.

The born-again process is clearly not of the mind but of acts of obedience and also of invasion by the controlling power of the Spirit of Eternal Life who then guides one into the Kingdom of God where eventually — if one continues in submission and obedience — one is able to become a son of God, moving on to attain righteous by seeking first the Kingdom of God(holiness) and God's righteousness as commanded by Jesus Christ. However, none of this will be possible if one is not first born-again. So, ask yourself today, are you born-again? Can you confirm today that the Spirit of Eternal life has invaded your person and is actively working in you pushing you in whichever direction He chooses? or are you pretending to be born again in order to fit into the religious circles of men?

"SIN NO MORE BUT SUBMIT TOTALLY TO THE TESTAMENT OF GOD".

UceeGod:
■ Good! Repentance is a result of your Salvation. Repentance causes you to change the way you think and act. Turning from the old (satanic) way of life to the new (heavenly) way of life in Christ.

1. You have it backward! The first Salvation is instead a result of repentance, not from sin but from following God's Old Way to following God's New Way. Your repentance doctrines which teach you repentance is from sin are in error. Why? The born-again process has nothing to do with the actual resolution of your sin debt but simply to do with resolving the curse of Death that is against you - John 3 vs 16.

True repentance leads to Salvation

True repentance leads to which salvation? Salvation from the condemnation of sin aka Death - John 3 vs 1 - 21 - or Salvation from sin itself - Matthew 24 vs 12 - 13?

Repentance to God should be preached in our generation

The kind of repentance that God sent John the Baptist to preach is the same repentance that God demands even to this day, it is a changing from following God's Old Law to following of God's New Law, Jesus Christ. Any other kind of repentance or doctrine of repentance is unacceptable and will only leave one with religious delusions and nothing else.

CodeTemplar:
Before the thread is derailed by a misconception of the relationship of repentance to 'salvation', what is salvation? Salvation means to be turned away from destruction or preservation from danger.

Na dictionary you use for that abi wetin? Salvation as offered by Jesus Christ comes at risk of eternal destruction, so how do you fact that one?

To add Jesus brought salvation from sin to all who believe on him.

Salvation affords sinners a path to redemption of their sins by way of obedience of God's New Law and Truth.