Question 1

What is repentance?

Accepted Answer

2 Chronicles 7:14“If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”Proverbs 28:13People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.Jeremiah 25:5“Each time the message was this: ‘Turn from the evil road you are traveling and from the evil things you are doing. Only then will I let you live in this land that the Lord gave to you and your ancestors forever.’”Jeremiah 35:15“‘Time after time I sent you prophets, who told you, “Turn from your wicked ways, and start doing things right. Stop worshiping other gods so that you might live in peace here in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you would not listen to me or obey me.’”Ezekiel 18:27“If wicked people turn from their wickedness, obey the law, and do what is just and right, they will save their lives.”Matthew 3:2“Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”Matthew 16:24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.”Repentance involves being grieved for our sin against a holy God and making a commitment to live a new life in service of God. It means turning from a life ruled by our sinful nature and turning to God for a new nature, which comes when God’s Spirit begins to live in us. When God forgives our sins, we have a new sense of hope for the future.Luke 19:8Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”Repentance is made complete by changed behavior, showing others and God that our lives are truly different in a positive way.Exodus 9:33-34So Moses left Pharaoh’s court and went out of the city. When he lifted his hands to the Lord, the thunder and hail stopped, and the downpour ceased. But when Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he and his officials sinned again, and Pharaoh again became stubborn.Repentance that produces no lasting change is insincere and counterfeit. Repentance is not just intending to turn from a life ruled by sin but actually doing it.Psalm 32:3-5When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. . . . Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.Acts 3:19Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.1 John 1:9-10If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.One of the first essential steps to repentance is confession, which means being humbly honest with God and sincerely sorry for our sins—the ones we know about and the ones we are unaware of. Confession restores our relationship with God, and this renews our strength and spirit. When we repent, God removes our guilt, restores our joy, and heals our broken souls. A heart that truly longs for change is necessary for repentance to be genuine.

Question 2

Why does God want me to repent? Why is it important?

Accepted Answer

Leviticus 26:40“At last my people will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors for betraying me and being hostile toward me.”Romans 3:23Everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.All people need to repent because everyone has sinned and betrayed God, putting a profound gulf between us and God.1 Samuel 7:3Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you want to return to the Lord with all your hearts, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Turn your hearts to the Lord and obey him alone; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.”2 Chronicles 30:9“If you return to the Lord, your relatives and your children will be treated mercifully by their captors, and they will be able to return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful. If you return to him, he will not continue to turn his face from you.”Jeremiah 3:22“My wayward children,” says the Lord, “come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts.” “Yes, we’re coming,” the people reply, “for you are the Lord our God.”Repentance is necessary for an ongoing relationship with God. We must turn away from anything that prevents us from worshiping and obeying God wholeheartedly.Proverbs 28:13People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.Isaiah 55:7“Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.”Jeremiah 3:12Therefore, go and give this message to Israel. This is what the Lord says: “O Israel, my faithless people, come home to me again, for I am merciful. I will not be angry with you forever.”1 Timothy 1:16God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.Repentance is necessary because it is our only hope of receiving God’s mercy. Those who refuse to see and admit their own sins cannot be forgiven for them and have placed themselves outside God’s mercy and blessing.Ezekiel 18:30-32“Therefore, I will judge each of you, O people of Israel, according to your actions, says the Sovereign Lord. Repent, and turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you! Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel? I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!”Ezekiel 33:11“As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?”Romans 6:13Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.1 Corinthians 15:22Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.2 Corinthians 5:17This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!Galatians 2:20My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.Titus 3:5He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.Repentance is necessary because it allows us to receive a new life from God, literally, a life where the very spirit of God lives within us.Ezekiel 33:10-11“Son of man, give the people of Israel this message: You are saying, ‘Our sins are heavy upon us; we are wasting away! How can we survive?’ As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?”Ezekiel 33:12-16“Son of man, give your people this message: The righteous behavior of righteous people will not save them if they turn to sin, nor will the wicked behavior of wicked people destroy them if they repent and turn from their sins. When I tell righteous people that they will live, but then they sin, expecting their past righteousness to save them, then none of their righteous acts will be remembered. I will destroy them for their sins. And suppose I tell some wicked people that they will surely die, but then they turn from their sins and do what is just and right. For instance, they might give back a debtor’s security, return what they have stolen, and obey my life-giving laws, no longer doing what is evil. If they do this, then they will surely live and not die. None of their past sins will be brought up again.”Luke 24:47“‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’”Acts 2:37-38Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”Acts 3:19“Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.”Repentance is necessary because it allows us to receive forgiveness for our sin.Matthew 11:20-24Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn’t repented of their sins and turned to God. . . . “you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead. For if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today. I tell you, even Sodom will be better off on judgment day than you.”Luke 13:3“You will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.”Repentance is necessary because those who refuse to repent of sin have no hope. By embracing their sins, they embrace eternal death by cutting themselves off from the lifeline of Jesus Christ, who offers forgiveness and eternal life.Jeremiah 5:3Lord, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to be corrected. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent.Repentance is necessary because those who are unrepentant reject God and remain in sin’s grasp.

Question 3

Is repentance a one-time event, or do I need to repent each time I sin?

Accepted Answer

Psalm 51:16-17You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.While salvation is a one-time event, God is pleased by a broken and contrite heart that is willing to continually confess and repent of sin.1 John 1:8-9If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.Confession and repentance of sin is a constant mark of the person walking in the light of fellowship with God, keeping the relationship close and the lines of communication open.

Question 4

I’ve done too many horrible things. Could God possibly forgive me?

Accepted Answer

Ezekiel 18:22“All their past sins will be forgotten, and they will live because of the righteous things they have done.”Matthew 18:21-22Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!”Ephesians 1:7He [God] is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.No matter how terrible our past or how many sins we have committed, God will forgive us if we approach him with an attitude of humble sincerity and confess our sins. To think that some of our sins are too bad to be forgiven is to minimize the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection on our behalf.Psalm 51:11-13, 16-17Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you. . . . You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.God’s grace is greater than our failures. Temptation only wins when it keeps us from turning back to God. No matter how often we fail and move away from him, God welcomes us back. Recovery begins when we return to God. He promises to forgive us, help us start over, and give us joy.