When you think of ‘repentance’ what do you think of?

I wonder: Do we really, REALLY understand what it means?

Keep reading. You might just change the way you think about repentance. And it will be good news for you.

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For not a few Christians, ‘repentance’ denotes some form of threat.

The ‘God-as-a-nasty-policeman’ image comes up immediately no matter how hard they try to erase it. It’s a scary image, certainly not one that you’d ever associate with the gospel of good news.

If you view repentance from the lens of God-the-policeman, it’s time to ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you in a fresh way. 

St. Jerome’s Misleading Translation of Jesus’ Word ‘Metanoeite’ and its Damaging Results

Sadly, much of the problem seems to have originated from St. Jerome’s fourth century translation into Latin of the Greek word ‘metanoeite’, spoken by Jesus in Mark 1:15. Apparently Jerome translated this Greek word into the Latin word ‘paenitentia’, which has the connotation of doing something; in this case of doing penance.

But ‘doing penance’ is a mischaracterization of what Jesus really meant.

Jesus meant:

“Change your mind and heart. Look for your fulfillment and happiness in what I’m offering you now.’ 

In the same way, in Mark1:15, Jesus never meant you merely to ‘believe’ His message, the gospel, as though it were simply a helpful moral philosophy.

Instead, Jesus meant: “Entrust yourself to the good news I am bringing you.”

In fact, I would translate Jesus’ words regarding repentance in this way:

“Take the simple medicine I am offering you. It rescues you from the real damage that sin dumps on you, on Me, and on everyone else in the world. This is really the only way that you’ll ever have the means to live the high-quality, healthy, joyful, peace-filled, and full life that I have promised you (John 10: 10).”

The words ‘Repent’ and ‘Believe’ (the gospel) both have connotations of a moral order rather than of the deep, inner spiritual transformation that Jesus wants and has planned for you and that, in actual fact, represents the backbone of His Good News.

Both words suggest that we have to DO something to put things right with God; or else, He’ll ‘get’ us.

I want you to know that this understanding of what it means to repent is the absolute opposite of Jesus’ own teaching!

Your sins are, in fact, an opportunity to RETURN TO AND EXPERIENCE Jesus’ LOVE for you.

Nothing makes the Lord rejoice more than when we sinners turn back into the protective arms of His love! (Luke 15: 3 -7)

This is the only way we can receive the healing we deserve.

True repentance, i. e. spiritual maturity and transformation, is only possible with the supernatural power and help of the Holy Spirit, of His healing LOVE for you, and of His singular ability to guide you into (to open your spiritual eyes to) all truth.

True repentance, therefore, is not initiated simply by your decision (well-intended though it is) to modify your behaviour.

Yes, opening yourself to God’s healing will gradually result in changes of behaviour. But these behaviour changes alone cannot guarantee a fundamental change of heart, or the ongoing healing into maturity that God wants so much for you.

Behaviour changes might help you for a while; but in the end they will do nothing to heal the fundamental cause of your behaviour. Eventually, you’ll repeat the same mistake!

God will definitely forgive you each time. But you’ll find it hard to grow in the way that will bring you true healing and the high-quality life that the Lord has always wanted for you.

Note

(In Part 2, I’ll explain more about what makes you and I repeat the same sins again and again!)

One Other Damaging Result of St. Jerome’s Translation

The other damaging result of Jerome’s translation is that it further magnifies the already scary image that some Christian women struggle with: namely, the image of God as the ‘nasty-policeman’ who is not only waiting to catch them out in their sin but takes pleasure in doing so!

Of course, the exact opposite is the truth.

When we ask Jesus’ forgiveness, we fall into the arms of a God who is waiting to LOVE on us, to SMILE at us, NOT to beat us up. (Luke 15: 3 -7)

Note

In Part 2, I’ll explain the huge role that our images of God play in our relationship/friendship with Him and how they affect our repentance either positively or negatively.

NEVER fall for this Temptation!

Never think you must fix your mistakes before you can approach Jesus.

That’s a lie of the devil.

Don’t fall for this temptation! 

That’s what the devil wants you to believe. You see, the devil knows that if you try to fix your sins on your own before returning to Jesus, you will just go round and round in circles and eventually give up!

Giving up in hopelessness is what the devil wants you to do.

You can be absolutely sure that there’s nothing whatever of God the Father or His Son, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit in that strategy.

Absolutely nothing.

Remember:

Satan uses your sins to try to separate you from Jesus.

Jesus uses your sins to bring you closer to Himself.

God ALWAYS Forgives You

I want you to know that the Lord ALWAYS forgives you from the very first moment you ask Him to.

He knows you can’t put things right on your own.

All He asks of you is the willingness to return to Him and let Him heal you and gradually lead you into your true destiny as His daughter!

This continual returning to God when we sin is precisely what the Old Testament prophets understood and taught so well.

This ongoing returning, i.e. the repeated surrender to God’s love and care, is the sole object of your Christian journey.

In fact, it’s the sole goal of Jesus’ entire message.

A simple, yet guaranteed, way to return to God and surrender to God’s love and care is to learn how to ‘soak’ in His healing LOVE, PEACE, and JOY . You do this by spending quiet time in His presence for 5 – 10 minutes each day, (the same time it takes to drink a cup of coffee!).

Let’s Look Again at the Meaning of 'Metanoia'

(i. e. ‘Repentance’)

Jesus’ Actual Words Concerning Repentance

In the following 3 translations of Jesus’ words in Mark 1:15, the more accurate meaning of ‘metanoia’ emerges.

The word ‘repent’ does not appear in these translations.

He (Jesus) said, "The time has come! God's kingdom will soon be here. Turn back to God and believe the good news!

Mark 1:15: Contemporary English Version

“The time has come at last—the kingdom of God has arrived. You must change your hearts and minds and believe the good news.”

 Mark 1:15 J.B. Phillips New Testament 

“Time’s up! God’s kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message.” The Message Translation

So here is the Underlying Meaning of Jesus’ Words:

 “Turn back to God and believe the good news!” (Contemporary English Version)

“You must change your hearts and minds and believe the good news.” (J. B Phillips)

“Change your life and believe the Message.” (The Message Translation)

Meaning of ‘Repent and believe the good news’

According to Strong’s Concordance

Repent (metanoeite)
From ‘meta’ and ‘noieo’; to think differently or afterwards, i.e. reconsider

Believe (pisteuete) from pistis; to have faith, i.e. credit; by implication, to entrust

Gospel (euangeliō) from the same as euaggelizo; a good message, i.e. the gospel

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Note, then, that Jesus doesn’t speak about ‘doing’ penance.

Instead Jesus says …

• ‘Think differently’( i. e. change your mind and heart)
• ‘Entrust yourself’ (i. e. surrender yourself) to the good news of the gospel

An Inner Transformation, Not a Mere Change in Your External Behaviour, is what Jesus Wants for You

Are you beginning to understand that an inner transformation, not a mere change in your external behaviour, is really what Jesus wants for you?

And do you understand now that He has provided the means to enable you to embark on this transformation?

Reflect on the following 3 passages of scripture:

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “You must change your hearts—for the kingdom of Heaven has arrived.”

Matthew 4:17 J.B. Phillips New Testament

 

“Now it’s time to change your ways! Turn to face God so he can wipe away your sins, pour out showers of blessing to refresh you, and send you the Messiah he prepared for you, namely, Jesus.

 Acts 3:19 Message Translation

 “John’s baptism was a baptism to show a change of heart,” Paul explained…

Acts 19:4 J.B. Phillips New Testament

You Can’t FULLY Understand What Sin is and the Harm it Does to you, God, and Others Unless You KNOW in your Deepest Being that You Are Loved!

Here’s the thing.

You can’t FULLY understand what sin actually is unless you know and regularly experience God’s completely unconditional LOVE for you —warts, weaknesses, sins and all!

And you can’t FULLY understand the harm that your sin does to the Lord, to yourself, and to others until you know in the deepest part of who you are that God loves you JUST AS YOU ARE RIGHT NOW, unconditionally!

How I myself came to understand sin, and what it does, and what true repentance needs to be

It was only at the age of 35, in my ‘second conversion’, when I was introduced for the first time to spending regular time in the Lord’s presence, and there to soak in His healing LOVE, that the Lord himself began to show me what sin really is, and the huge damage it does, and why we need to repent i. e. change the direction of our hearts and minds.

He showed me that when you view repentance simply as the moral , ‘goodie-2-shoes’ thing to do, your Christian journey becomes a rollercoaster ride of feeling sorry for your sin and perhaps even confessing it, but then repeating it again and again without ever accessing the POWER to experience freedom from it!

He showed me instead the healthy and healing way to view repentance:

God wants your freedom from sin because He knows that sin wounds not just Him and others, but it wounds YOU YOURSELF!

So set off on the road to true and lasting freedom! Let your transformation (genuine and true repentance) begin to happen.

Please know that it’s NEVER too late!

An Exercise for Returning to the Lord

Try this exercise.

Read s-l-o-w-l-y, twice, the story of the prodigal son, Luke 15: 11 – 32.

Using your God-given imagination, imagine yourself to be the son.

Then try to answer the following 4 questions as honestly and specifically as you can.

1. What’s the worst thing you experienced since you left your father’s home? 

2. What made you decide to return to your father? Be specific. 

3. What are you thinking, dreaming about, and wishing as you set off on your journey back to your father? 

4. What do you regret most about your decision to leave your father’s house? List 2 or 3 specific things.

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Now take a few minutes to imagine yourself as the forgiving father.

What were your feelings when your son left you? Specify 2 or 3 raw emotions you think you would have experienced.

What do you most wish for him?

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Now read Luke 15: 3 -7. Read it s-l-o-w-l-y, twice.

Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.

You might like to finish this little exercise by listening quietly to this song sung by John Michael Talbot: Hosea - Come back to me (link below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB0TWvag_Ic

Watch out for Part 2 of this article coming in 2 weeks

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Want more help? Keep your eyes open for my teaching webinar coming up in 2 months.