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

[bytheblood]

In Matthew 5:17-19, Jesus said that he came to fulfill the law in contrast with saying that he came not to abolish it and he warned against relaxing the least part of it, so should not interpret Jesus fulfilling the law as meaning that he abolished our obligation to obey it. "To fulfill the law" means "to caused God's will (as made known by the law) to be obeyed as it should be" (NAS Greek Lexicon: pleroo), so Jesus proceeded to fulfill the law throughout the rest of Matthew 5 by correcting what the people had heard being said and by teaching how to correctly obey it as it was originally intended.

Every time someone stops at a traffic light they are completing their obligation to the law, carrying out their obligation to the law, satisfying their obligation to the law, or correctly meeting the expectation of the law, but at no point are they removing their obligation to continue to stop at traffic lights, but rather it is something that they need to keep fulfilling in perpetuity. When a husband is fulfilling his marriage vows he is correctly doing what he has vowed, not doing something that is once and done.

According to Galatians 5:14, anyone who has loved their neighbor has fulfilled the entire law, so again it refers to correctly obeying it, moreover, it refers to something that countless people have done and should continue to do in perpetuity, not to something unique that Jesus did to remove our obligation to love our neighbor.


Everything in the Law of Moses is either in regard to how to love God and our neighbor, which is why Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-40 that those are the greatest two commandments and that all of the other commandments hang on them, so the position that we should obey the greatest two commandments is also the position that we should obey the rest of the commandments that hang on them. For example, if someone thought that they just needed to love God and their neighbor, so they did not need to refrain from committing idolatry, favoritism, or kidnapping, then they would have an incomplete understanding of what it means to love God and their neighbor, and the same is true for everything else in the Law of Moses. The greatest two commandments are much easier said than done, so thankfully God gave us the rest on the Law of Moses to flesh out what it looks like to correctly obey them. Someone who was correctly obeying the greatest two commandments would be indistinguishable from someone who was correctly following the rest of the Law of Moses because they would both be following the same example that Jesus set for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to it. Moreover, in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, the way to obey the greatest commandment in the Bible is essentially by being zealous for teaching obedience to the Law of Moses. The way to obey the greatest two commandments in the OT did not change when the NT quoted them.

If you obey the two greatest commandments then you have fulfilled the rest, period.

 

[Lovette]

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).

It means "change of mind", in a fancy term, "paradigm shift." What you described is more like "penance".

 

[bytheblood]

In Matthew 5:17-19, Jesus said that he came to fulfill the law in contrast with saying that he came not to abolish it and he warned against relaxing the least part of it, so should not interpret Jesus fulfilling the law as meaning that he abolished our obligation to obey it. "To fulfill the law" means "to caused God's will (as made known by the law) to be obeyed as it should be" (NAS Greek Lexicon: pleroo), so Jesus proceeded to fulfill the law throughout the rest of Matthew 5 by correcting what the people had heard being said and by teaching how to correctly obey it as it was originally intended.

Every time someone stops at a traffic light they are completing their obligation to the law, carrying out their obligation to the law, satisfying their obligation to the law, or correctly meeting the expectation of the law, but at no point are they removing their obligation to continue to stop at traffic lights, but rather it is something that they need to keep fulfilling in perpetuity. When a husband is fulfilling his marriage vows he is correctly doing what he has vowed, not doing something that is once and done.

According to Galatians 5:14, anyone who has loved their neighbor has fulfilled the entire law, so again it refers to correctly obeying it, moreover, it refers to something that countless people have done and should continue to do in perpetuity, not to something unique that Jesus did to remove our obligation to love our neighbor.


Everything in the Law of Moses is either in regard to how to love God and our neighbor, which is why Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-40 that those are the greatest two commandments and that all of the other commandments hang on them, so the position that we should obey the greatest two commandments is also the position that we should obey the rest of the commandments that hang on them. For example, if someone thought that they just needed to love God and their neighbor, so they did not need to refrain from committing idolatry, favoritism, or kidnapping, then they would have an incomplete understanding of what it means to love God and their neighbor, and the same is true for everything else in the Law of Moses. The greatest two commandments are much easier said than done, so thankfully God gave us the rest on the Law of Moses to flesh out what it looks like to correctly obey them. Someone who was correctly obeying the greatest two commandments would be indistinguishable from someone who was correctly following the rest of the Law of Moses because they would both be following the same example that Jesus set for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to it. Moreover, in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, the way to obey the greatest commandment in the Bible is essentially by being zealous for teaching obedience to the Law of Moses. The way to obey the greatest two commandments in the OT did not change when the NT quoted them.

" The greatest two commandments are much easier said than done, so thankfully God gave us the rest on(f) the Law of Moses to flesh out what it looks like to correctly obey them." NO, God gave us the Holy Spirit to "flesh out" what He commands and that is to love Him and our fellow man. There is nothing inherently wrong with TRYING to satisfy the requirements of the ten commandments, just as there is nothing inherently wrong with keeping the Jewish feasts, except if you think that you will gain anything from God for it, no righteousness or justification comes from doing them. But you can do them BECAUSE you HAVE ALREADY, through Christ, been MADE righteous and HAVE BEEN justified by His blood. Again, just love God and your fellow man. Trying to keep the whole law is a yoke of bondage. Instead, Jesus said" Take MY YOKE upon you, and learn of Me; for I AM meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For MY YOKE is EASY and My burden is LIGHT" Matt. 11: 29-30. Get some rest for your soul Soyeong.