Is Repentance A Change Of Mind Or Turning From Sin - Or Both?

[BillG]

Repentance is a change of mind and turning from sin.
What is that sin

John 16:8-10
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;



When a person repents of the sin of unbelief, then to me they are repenting of their lifestyle.
It's a change of mind that says "Jesus I want to be like you"
I'm turning away from what I was and turning to you to be what I should be in you.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

Repentance is a change of mind and turning from sin.
What is that sin

John 16:8-10
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;



When a person repents of the sin of unbelief, then to me they are repenting of their lifestyle.
It's a change of mind that says "Jesus I want to be like you"
I'm turning away from what I was and turning to you to be what I should be in you.

Looking at it this way, I agree..

 

[BillG]

Looking at it this way, I agree..

John 10:22-30
The Shepherd Knows His Sheep
22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch. 24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”

 

[MatthewG]

Repentance is a change of mind.

So walking alone with out God, or Jesus Christ in my life or any direction; I change my mind and start walking with God, and Jesus Christ in my life, and led in a certain direction, that leads to life, as you follow Jesus Christ along the way, into the Truth that He came down from heaven, died, and rose again by God on the third day.

We are justified by believing (having faith ) in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He shed is blood for all sin for all people.
By believing in your heart that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, and you call out to the Lord you shall be saved.

Jesus tells us to Love God and to Love others.

The Holy spirit will start to work in the lives of those who changed their mind and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and their life as they start to grow, and walk in faith, supplication, and prayer. The heart of the new believer, will change over time the more they grow in faith, and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ allowing the spirit, to lead and help.

Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

The old person, of grumbling all the time, and complaining, gossping, angry all the time, hateful, wanting to do harm to others to get back at the them, will change, because Jesus Christ will change that persons heart.

 

[Waggles]

And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
Mark 6:12
G3340 metanoeō to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider (morally to feel compunction): - repent.

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Luke 5:32
G3341 metanoia (subjectively) compunction (for guilt, including reformation); by implication reversal (of [another’s] decision): - repentance.

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;
Acts 3:19
G1994 epistrephō to revert (literally, figuratively or morally): - come (go) again, convert, (re-) turn (about, again).

 

[lancaster]

Peter in Acts 2:38 said, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. In the years since I first received the Holy Ghost it has been my observation that the part about Baptism is not difficult to do and the part of receiving the Holy Ghost is an act of God. The problem for most people is repentance. Repentance is simply making Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives in a total unconditional surrender to Christ's will. Of course when we surrender then we will turn away from sin as a natural consequence of our surrender. When there is total surrender on our part it would be impossible to keep the Holy Ghost from coming into us with a rush. I've seen individuals seek the experience of receiving the Holy Ghost for years and finally receive it. It takes faith for a person to surrender their lives to God. A person can manifest faith to surrender to God even if they are new on the block and dumb as a cluck about theology.

 

[derrickpparker]

On page six (6) of this site I found this---
Love the Stranger as thyself

The one gift above all other gifts is the gift of choice. God gave them a choice and then waited to see if his chosen ones would follow Him in His footsteps as He had commanded. Sadly they have not changed; sad, sad inteed.

Repent
Ask for foregiveness
Honor Thy Father & Thy Mother
Love the stranger as you would love Thyself​

And the Lord will forgive you
If there is a case for repent; this is it
In my view
how about you?
-

 

[eternally-gratefull]

Peter in Acts 2:38 said, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. In the years since I first received the Holy Ghost it has been my observation that the part about Baptism is not difficult to do and the part of receiving the Holy Ghost is an act of God. The problem for most people is repentance. Repentance is simply making Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives in a total unconditional surrender to Christ's will. Of course when we surrender then we will turn away from sin as a natural consequence of our surrender. When there is total surrender on our part it would be impossible to keep the Holy Ghost from coming into us with a rush. I've seen individuals seek the experience of receiving the Holy Ghost for years and finally receive it. It takes faith for a person to surrender their lives to God. A person can manifest faith to surrender to God even if they are new on the block and dumb as a cluck about theology.

So all these works. Total surrender, Baptism, turning away from sin, and it is these works of our flesh which causes God to give us the Holy Spirit?

Or am I misunderstanding you?

 

[BillG]

Peter in Acts 2:38 said, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. In the years since I first received the Holy Ghost it has been my observation that the part about Baptism is not difficult to do and the part of receiving the Holy Ghost is an act of God. The problem for most people is repentance. Repentance is simply making Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives in a total unconditional surrender to Christ's will. Of course when we surrender then we will turn away from sin as a natural consequence of our surrender. When there is total surrender on our part it would be impossible to keep the Holy Ghost from coming into us with a rush. I've seen individuals seek the experience of receiving the Holy Ghost for years and finally receive it. It takes faith for a person to surrender their lives to God. A person can manifest faith to surrender to God even if they are new on the block and dumb as a cluck about theology.

Try telling that to people who find it difficult to get baptised.
Not because they do not believe but because they feel they need to be perfect and prove they believe but their works.

Or because they have a fear of speaking in public and have to the a great testimony.

Does only one receive the Holy Spirit when saved?

 

[seed_time_harvest]

Nit picking here, but would repentance be more a change of heart?

To answer the question, if one is not willing to turn away from their sin, then the change of heart/mind is of no value.

How would someone turn from sin?
Give GOD ALL the credit.

 

[BillG]

Nit picking here, but would repentance be more a change of heart?

To answer the question, if one is not willing to turn away from their sin, then the change of heart/mind is of no value.

Is not repentance a change of heart that is willing to turn to Jesus.
If not then it's not repentance.
Just regret. Like Judas.

 

[wattie]

Seeking opinions on this:

1. Do you believe repentance is simply a change of mind that requires one to believe in Jesus only for salvation?

2. Or, do you believe repentance is one turning away from all sin?

3. Or, a combination of the two is required?

A change of mind, heart is repentance for eternal salvation.

There will then be fruit from having the Holy Spirit indwelling someone's soul.

The problem with turning from sin being repentance is that if someone falls back into sin.. then the never saved in the first place line comes in.

If it purely believe on Jesus Christ who saves.. then sin afterward.. will be rebuked by Him but it's not attached to salvation

 

[UnderGrace]

AMEN!!!

End of self..... exactly .... repentance is changing one's mind about self-effort and thinking one is good enough to be saved, but rather trusting in, believing in, the finished work of Jesus to save.

Repentance is not about self.

Turning from sin that is the result of repentance.

We are not born again by entering a life of aestheticism and self-effort, defined as turning away from sin.

I don't think anyone is doctrinally looking at what is happening or not happening. It's an experience with God, where you come to the end of self, and turn to the Lord.

Oops..there I said experience again!

 

[UnderGrace]

Amen Wattie!!! Amen!!

The simple true Gospel ..... a change of heart and mind towards God for salvation!!!

A change of mind, heart is repentance for eternal salvation.

There will then be fruit from having the Holy Spirit indwelling someone's soul.

The problem with turning from sin being repentance is that if someone falls back into sin.. then the never saved in the first place line comes in.

If it purely believe on Jesus Christ who saves.. then sin afterward.. will be rebuked by Him but it's not attached to salvation

 

[ArtsieSteph]

Yeah I’d say both

 

[Blain]

Well I would say it's more of a change of heart than mind. I mean the heart of a person is the very essence of who they are and what they are especially so with the believer. Anyone can change their mind about something but that doesn't mean that they will stay on that path. God looks to the heart not the mind if one has a repentant heart they will naturally come to an understanding of repentance and sin.

Honestly to me if we say we don't sin because of a change of mind to me that seems more like a carnal way of not sinning my our own efforts but if we say we don't sin because of a change heart to me that seems more like the persons heart has been molded by God and not by their own efforts. Of course to not sin at all is impossible even if your subconsciously have a single evil thought towards someone you have sinned but that is why there is a difference between a repentant mind and a repentant heart

 

[oldethennew]

Repentance is a change of mind but the repentance in salvation goes farther than just a change of mind. An unsaved man is able to change his mind and stop a particular sin. The repentance in salvation is a result of the creation of the new nature in a born again man.

Faith required to be saved is produced by hearing the word of God. Hearing and seeing through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. John 16:7-11 Romans 10:17. The repentance of importance is seen in Romans 10:9-10. We must repent of our self righteousness and receive the righteousness of Christ.

We do not have this faith in ourselves but it is produced by Gods grace.

We can speculate as to why Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh. Was It because Jonah was fearful of his life? Did Jonah not want to see Nineveh repent and be saved? You can develop a number of sermons on the subject. I suspect that God needed to demonstrate to Jonah that as Gods servant God would see to his well being regardless of the circumstances into which Jonah was placed. The belly of the fish or the central square of Nineveh is all the same to God.

When the word of God goes forth it accomplished that which God has purposed. This is the word which we declare to a lost and dying world through our witness for Christ. God does the saving all we are able to do is be empty vessels fitted for His service. Isa 55:11

For the cause of Christ
Roger

=====================================================
when our Saviour calls us 'OUT' of this corrupted world, repentance comes automatically,
because we realize just what He has truly done for us and what we were doing against His Will...
we become 'New', day-by-day, only desiring to put off the OLD MAN, and become whom He desires us to be,
according to The Words and Commands of God...

 

[FlSnookman7]

Matthew 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.


I think it is important to realize that when john the baptist said that he wasn't referring to "turning from sin", rather he was telling the jews to stop relying on law keeping and good works to save them and instead trust in Jesus. He was urging them to change their thinking.

 

[OneFaith]

Repentance is a u-turn away from sin- which you can’t do unless you change your mind.

Jesus said a father told one of His sons to go work in the field today. He said he would go, but didn’t end up doing it. He told the other son to go work in the field today. He said no he wouldn’t go, but ended up going. Which one obeyed the father? The one who worked in the field.

You can say you repent all you want, but unless you stop sinning it isn’t true repentance.

 

[joaniemarie]

Just a few thoughts to add., A person can't know how to properly think and do right until they get saved. Coming to Jesus as the only One who can save is the beginning... the power to not desire to sin comes after the new birth when we become new creations and start following.

Also., Acts 20:21 Comes to mind because people repent all the time but towards what? Some are repenting because they are sorry because things didn't turn out the way they planned and had hoped. Judas was certainly sorry for what he did but His repentance wasn't towards God.

I like what Paul Ellis said about repentance because it rings true for all the other things we have in Christ. It's believing the "Good news" and responding to it. After we are born again we continue to respond to God by faith IN Christ for what He has already done in and for us through the Holy Spirit., and we walk forward in the truth by faith. It's all because of Christ in us the hope of glory. The more we learn to walk towards Him following., the more we become like Him.

Interesting side note about how sheep are lead., they are not herded like cattle., they are always following the One who leads who they trust and who takes care of them.

In the new covenant, repentance literally means change your mind. Nothing more, nothing less. It is not something we initiate so much as it is a response to the good news. When Jesus said, “Repent and believe the good news” (Mk 1:15), He was literally saying, “Change your unbelieving mind and believe the glad tidings of the kingdom which is at hand.”

We don’t repent to manipulate God into bringing his kingdom down; we repent because His kingdom is already at hand. (The King has come!) We don’t repent to get forgiven; we repent because we are forgiven. (He remembers your sins no more!)
In the old covenant, repentance implied a turning from, as in “turn from sin.” But in the new, repentance means a turning to, as in “turn to God.” Here’s Paul:

First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. (Act 26:20)

Do you see why the new is better? Under the old, you could turn from sin to… more sin! For instance, if you managed to turn from some nasty habits, your religious flesh would soon get puffed up with pride. Just look at the Pharisees. I doubt anyone repented (i.e., turned from sin) as much as they did.

But in the new, there is only one direction to turn, and that is towards God. And as we turn towards Him, we inevitably turn from sin. This is why we don’t find Paul praying like this: “I keep asking God to help you reprobates turn from your stinking sin”! No, Paul prayed that we would know Him better.