Metanoia

Repentance (Greek- μετάνοια, metanoia) - changing one's mind. 

Wikipedia says:

In Christian theology, metanoia (from the Greek μετάνοια, metanoia, changing one's mind) is often translated as "conversion" or "repentance," though most scholars agree that this second translation does a disservice to the original Greek meaning of metanoia. In Ancient Greece, this term originally meant “a transformative change of heart; especially: a spiritual conversion," a definition provided by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

In Christianity, the Greek philosophical concept of metanoia has become linked with Christian prayer, in which a prostration is called a metanoia, with "the spiritual condition of one's soul being expressed through the physical movement of falling facedown before the Lord" as seen in the biblical passages of Matthew 2:11, Luke 5:12, and Luke 17:15–16. In this context, the term suggests repudiation, change of mind, repentance, and atonement.

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After telling your kids not to do something, have you ever been challenged by your wife, or someone who knows your past, saying, "but you did it when you were their age"? I have, and it can be frustrating because I did do it when I was their age. But, now that I'm older and wiser, I've had a change of mind about it, and realize that it was foolish of me to do it back then, and I don't want to see my kids make the same mistakes that I made.

I've had similar changes of mind regarding my beliefs about God and His ways. About twenty years ago, I changed my mind about God after hearing some things about Him that peaked my curiosity. This led to me seeking Him and finding Him, just as He promises (Jeremiah 29:13). It's not that I didn't believe in God, because I did, but I didn't know or understand that if I believe in God, I should get to know Him, include Him in my life, and do what He instructs me to do. 

After coming to that knowledge and understanding, and getting to know Him better, I've had a change of mind about many of the things that I used to think and believe, or be apathetic about, before I knew Him. My opinions on certain things have changed because through the years, I have gotten to know God better, and what He thinks about things. Because God is the creator who has all authority, and has installed an order to all things (a law of order), I now understand that my beliefs, opinions, thoughts, behavior, etc., all need to align with His. The apostle Paul wrote about this in a letter to one of the churches that he planted. He wrote:

"casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ"

(2 Corinthians 10:5).

There is evidence of many people in the church who have not done this, but who still rely on their own opinions and beliefs rather than God's. This is one reason why there is so much disagreement and division within the church. Some common examples include opinions on abortion, marriage, and sexuality. Those who are classified as "conservative" Christians, tend to believe that abortion, same sex marriage, and transgender identity are not in accordance with God's ways, while those who are classified as "liberal" Christians tend to believe that they are. So who is right, and who is wrong? The only way to find out is to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. In order to that, one must know God, and that is only achieved by reading the Bible, praying to Him, and listening to what He has to say through His Spirit. As we get to know Him, we will find out what pleases Him, and what He finds good and acceptable. As that happens, we should naturally want to repent, or change our minds about the things that do not please Him or that He does not find good and acceptable. This is because we should, above all else, want to glorify Him, and therefore lay down our own thoughts and opinions, and even our own lives. The Bible calls this "denying ourselves". As we continue to grow closer to God throughout our lives, we become more and more like Jesus. However, this cannot happen if we are not willing to deny ourselves.

When I changed my mind about God, and started getting to know Him, my mind changed about many of the things I used to believe, because there was nothing more important to me than glorifying God. My thoughts about getting drunk, viewing pornography, what it meant to be a husband and a father, the way that I did my job, abortion, marriage, and much more changed. Not because I became a "bigot" or a "hater" when I became a Christian, but because I repented of my own thoughts and opinions once I learned who God is and what His thoughts and opinions are. I brought my thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ. 

Some might say that if that is true, then God's ways are no fun. They are heavy and burdensome, and God is a bigot and a hater. However, God designed the world to operate a certain way, and His way is not only good, but it is the best way. Mankind, in his pride, rejects God and His ways, doing things their own way, rather than the way He created it to be. Because of this, bad things happen. People who sleep around get venereal diseases; a marriage ends when a husband cheats on his wife; an employee loses his job because he's lazy; a country gets an oppressive government regime because people depend upon their own ways of governing instead of God's; a young man loses his life because he drove under the influence of alcohol; a teenage girl gets pregnant because she has sex before she is married. The list goes on and on. These things do not happen because of God, but because man has rejected God and has decided to do things his own way.  

God hates evil. Many of the things which man considers good, are evil in the sight of God. For example, a parent might teach and encourage their five year old child that he can be any gender he wishes. They do this because they believe that it's good to support and encourage children to be whoever (or whatever) they want to be. Though man thinks that it is good for a person to be able to choose which gender they want to be, God does not think so. He created only two genders - male, and female - and He created them in His image to be one or the other. But man in his pride believes that he is wiser than God and chooses to do things his way instead of God's way. He takes what God has made good and perfect, and alters it to suit himself. This leads to serious consequences. There are many stories of transgender people who later deeply regret changing their bodies to become the opposite sex, and fall into depression and/or have committed suicide. This would not happen if man simply did things the way God created them to be.

Much of this is not intentional on the part of man. In many cases, he just simply doesn't know. Many people in the world have never even heard of Jesus, and many others are like I was, and do not know that God has a law of order in His creation. Still others reject Him without any real basis of doing so. I am confident that if they knew the real God - the real Jesus - they would not reject Him, but find that they love Him deeply and do not want to live without Him any longer.

Paul's purpose for writing that the church needs to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, was not only for personal instruction to the individual members, but to instruct the members to persuade those outside of the church that they too should know God, thus bringing their thoughts (bringing every thought) into captivity to the obedience of Christ. This of course, is not an easy task, and it takes time and dependence upon God. People who are strong in their opinions are not easily persuaded to change their minds. But this is the way in which God has given His people to build His Kingdom and to conquer the world. When people change their mind about God as I did, and believe that Jesus is Lord, they leave Satan's dominion, and enter the Kingdom of God, thus conquering Satan's territory, and planting a flag of victory for Christ there.

After one's initial repentance (changing their mind about God), there is more to come. Repentance is not a one time deal that occurs at conversion and allows one to go on living life their way instead of God's way. This is a rejection of God and is sin. They may have changed their mind about God, but they do not really believe that He is who He says He is, otherwise they would submit to His authority. Jesus said, "Repent and believe the gospel." Jesus is the Christ (the King), the Son of God, and the Lord. God His Father has given Him all authority in heaven and on earth. There are various kinds of belief, but these are the things that we must believe about Jesus, because if we believe them, we will want to live for Him, submitting to His authority. And with submitting to His authority comes repentance (changing our minds) of the things that do not please Him or glorify Him.

Because God has given man a tester, there are times when we will fail the test by succumbing to the temptation of sin. This happens when we are not walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16) and therefore our guard is down. When this happens, we must confess our sins and repent of our sins. If we don't, it may be that we believe that it is not sin, and therefore we do not need to confess and repent. But "if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1John 1:8). 

If we do something which we formerly believed to be sin, but now we think that it's not, then we should be concerned, because our mind has been changed from believing that sin is evil to believing that sin is okay. The apostle Peter wrote that it is worse for someone who has known the righteous ways of God to turn away from it, than for someone who does not know it. He said that it is like “a dog returning to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” (2 Peter 2:22).

James warned the church to be aware of the consequences of giving in to our desires. He said that it is a deception to believe that our desires will not lead to sin, and that sin will not lead to death (James 1:14-16). Later he wrote to resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7). Similarly, the apostle Paul wrote to flee from sexual immorality because it is different from other sins in that it is a sin against your own body, and your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. He continued by saying that we are not our own, but were bought at a price (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). 

If we know God and His ways, but do not resist the devil or flee from sexual immorality, we will find ourselves in a worse condition than what we were in before we knew them. We will find ourselves no longer wanting to follow after God or His ways, but once again following after our own desires. Our minds will have reverted back to its old ways. God allows us to return to Him if we repent by turning back to Him, but it seems that there comes a point of no return, not because God will not take us back, but because we have come to the point where we don't want to go back.

 According to Hebrews 6:4-6, if a Christian falls away from their faith in God, it is impossible for them to be renewed again to repentance because they are crucifying Christ again for themselves, and defiling His name. Someone who is in that condition cannot truly repent, and therefore cannot be renewed, or restored (ESV) again to repentance, simply because their love for God has grown cold, and they no longer want to be in a relationship with God. Their heart has been hardened towards God, and their mind has been reverted back to what it once was. God is faithful and His desire is that all people will be saved and will come to a knowledge of the truth, so if a Christian falls away from God, it is not because of anything that He did, but because they did not heed His warnings or take the necessary precautions to perservere and remain faithful to Him. 

Repentance is a gift that God gives in His own time. In the following passages, God first gave repentance to Israel, and then later to the Gentiles:

‭Acts 5:31

[31] God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

‭Acts 11:18

[18] When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

The timing of repentance is not up to us. If we decide that we're going to live our lives our way, and then repent as we lay dying on our deathbed so that we can go to heaven, well, it doesn't work that way. Jesus said that noone comes to Him unless God draws Him. God is the one who draws people to Himself, we don't get to decide when it's convenient or beneficial for us to follow Jesus. Though a man on death row might call out to God and repent, God may not grant him repentance. He might only be doing so because he committed a heinous crime and was caught, not because he is truly sorry for what he did. Repentance must be genuine. God knows if we are being genuine or if we have our own agenda. Why should God grant someone repentance on their deathbed, if they've known about God their entire life, but refused to follow Him? It is not up to us to decide. He will only grant repentance in His time to those who are truly sorry for their sins and want to change. 

Repentance is more than just confessing our sins and saying I'm sorry. It's turning away from sin and changing our minds about it. Formerly, you might have enjoyed a certain sin, or did not realize that it was sin, but now that you know God, you do know that it's sin and you hate it. You may still succumb to the temptation from time to time, but it is no longer your master. Jesus is your master, and therefore you live for Him and not for your sin.