Some form of the word “repentance” appears over 100 times in the King James Version of the Bible. This word appears in both the Old and New Testaments. Jesus even uses this term several times. It is an important stage of the Plan of Salvation.
In the New Testament, it usually involves a change of mind, turning away from sin and toward God. It is often translated from the Greek noun μετάνοια, transliterated metanoia (pron. meh-tah’-noy-ah), and is usually translated into English as some form of repentance.
Louis Berkhof claims this word is better translated as conversion. But as I recall, conversion appears only once in the King James Version of the Bible. It appears in Acts 15:3, and it is a different Greek word, epistrophēn, that means roughly a turning around. Metanoia means changing one’s mind and turning toward God. That is clearly why Bible translators use this word for the English word repentance. It is more descriptive of repentance. Conversion, on the other hand, is used in theology to mean the whole process from repentance to faith. Therefore, I disagree with Berkhof that metanoia means conversion.
The Bible describes repentance as an internal change in a person that produces an external change in the sinner’s life, causing them to turn away from sin and toward God. Other theologians define repentance differently, but the definition above accurately reflects how the Bible uses the term.
Christians must understand that repentance is solely an internal act, but it produces in a sinner’s outward life a recognition that they have sinned and, at the same time, a turning away from sin and toward God. It is closely related to faith. In fact, true faith requires repentance.
Berkhof claims that repentance has three elements,[1] and these can be found in the Bible.
- An intellectual aspect in which one’s mind changes to recognize sin and one’s personal corruption from transgression against God (Rom. 3:20).
- An emotional side in which one changes their feelings about the sins they have committed, sorrowing over transgression against God. This is a godly sorrow that grieves over committing these sins (2 Cor. 7:9), not a worldly sorrow, which leads to death.
- A volitional point of view represents an external fruit of the internal change that recognizes sin and turns away from it and toward God. The sinner seeks forgiveness from God. The other two elements are also involved, and the result is repentance (Rom. 2:4).
Repentance is part of the Plan of Salvation, as I wrote earlier, but it is a key element in the conversion of the elect sinner to belief in Jesus Christ. I will discuss conversion in a later article, but for now we will look at faith.
[1] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, combined ed. (The Banner of Truth Trust, 2021), p. 503-04.
