What if repentance is not about feeling guilty, regretful or ashamed? How do you define repentance?

[Genez]

Jesus says the Spirit Himself teaches believers directly:
“He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13),
“He will teach you all things” (John 14:26), and John says
“you have no need that any man teach you” in the sense of false teachers because “His anointing teaches you” (1 John 2:27).
That does not eliminate pastors — it eliminates dependence on men as the final authority.

You are skipping something.

John was written to his disciples - the future Apostles.

They had to have a unique walk with the Spirit because the NT would not be in writing for years to come.

 

[wattie]

IMHO, the word repentance may have been misunderstood by Christians for generations. In English it sounds like guilt, regret, and endless apology. But the original Hebrew word is teshuva, derived from the verb shuv, meaning to return. Not to feel sorry. To physically turn around and move in a completely different direction. Our Understanding of this single word could reframe everything Jesus meant when He said repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For easy reference:
Matthew 4:17: "From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"Mark 1:15: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." Luke 13:3 & 13:5: "No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."Luke 5:32: "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." Jesus taught that heaven celebrates when a person repents, comparing it to a lost item being found or a prodigal child returning home (Luke 15:7, 10).

Repent means a 'change of mind, heart'

At getting eternally saved, this is, led by God, a change of mind about who Jesus is. Not a change of behaviours.

God repented of what He did with Israel.

 

[DavidLamb]

Heb 12:17

Just as long as we understand that this is talking about BLESSING and not SALVATION.

Is salvation not a blessing? Is repentance not part of being saved?

 

[OMC]

You are skipping something.

John was written to his disciples - the future Apostles.

They had to have a unique walk with the Spirit because the NT would not be in writing for years to come.

John’s Gospel absolutely records Jesus’ words to the disciples, but the written book is not aimed at a secret apostolic tier; John himself says the opposite.
John 20:31 states the purpose of the book: “these are written that you may believe,” meaning future readers who will never meet Jesus physically.
John 17:20 shows Jesus praying not only for the disciples but “for those who will believe through their word,” which means the apostolic experience becomes the pipeline for all later believers, not a unique Spirit‑walk unavailable to the church.
The disciples did have a foundational role (Eph 2:20), but the Spirit‑walk pattern Jesus describes in John 14–16 is explicitly universal: the Spirit abides “forever,” not for one generation; the Comforter teaches “all things,” not only apostles; and Acts 2:39 extends the Spirit‑gift to “all who are afar off.” The world‑system behind the “unique walk” claim is elitist‑revelation mysticism, trying to turn normal Christian life into a first‑century privilege, but Scripture makes the abiding, Spirit‑led walk the defining mark of every son of God (Rom 8:9,14).

 

[Genez]

John’s Gospel absolutely records Jesus’ words to the disciples, but the written book is not aimed at a secret apostolic tier; John himself says the opposite.
John 20:31 states the purpose of the book: “these are written that you may believe,” meaning future readers who will never meet Jesus physically.
John 17:20 shows Jesus praying not only for the disciples but “for those who will believe through their word,” which means the apostolic experience becomes the pipeline for all later believers, not a unique Spirit‑walk unavailable to the church.
The disciples did have a foundational role (Eph 2:20), but the Spirit‑walk pattern Jesus describes in John 14–16 is explicitly universal: the Spirit abides “forever,” not for one generation; the Comforter teaches “all things,” not only apostles; and Acts 2:39 extends the Spirit‑gift to “all who are afar off.” The world‑system behind the “unique walk” claim is elitist‑revelation mysticism, trying to turn normal Christian life into a first‑century privilege, but Scripture makes the abiding, Spirit‑led walk the defining mark of every son of God (Rom 8:9,14).

​

John 17:20​

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those ​

who will believe in me through their message.​

​

That is a given and not what I was getting at.

What Jesus told them about their personal spiritual experience was about what we need for knowing our history.
Do we need to know how to load muskets today when studying colonial American history?

It seems possibly you're concerned with the potential hyper-spiritual kooks out there.
I was dealing with presenting some historical facts for their moment in time.

Fact. We are not to walk as apostles did in the pre-canon days, not having the full canon of NT Scripture.
Jesus was giving them foundational information as to what they were to expect.
What Jesus told them was to happen to an apostle does not directly apply to our experience.
The hyper-spiritual kooks do not make that differentiation.

We must share some common aspects with the apostles as Christians as we walk in our own spiritual lives according to what is now available and known in the written word. The written word, they did not have when they began their spiritual journey and quest.

That was all I intended to say.