Repentance - Change of Mind, Direction and Desire

Welcome back to Applied Christianity.

This is episode 4 of a 52-week journey to becoming a true disciple of Christ

Over the last three weeks, we’ve been laying a foundation.

In Week One, we asked what it actually means to be a disciple — not a Christian label, but a life that follows Jesus.

In Week Two, we asked who is actually in charge of our lives — because discipleship only makes sense if authority has shifted.

In Week Three, we looked at the Kingdom of God — not as heaven after death, but as the present reign of God that demands allegiance.

Today, we come to a word that has been deeply misunderstood, reduced, or avoided altogether.

That word is repentance.

If repentance is misunderstood, everything that follows becomes distorted — grace, faith, the Holy Spirit, obedience, and fruit.

So today, we slow down and ask a simple question:

What did Jesus actually mean when He said, “Repent”?

Many Christians today have been taught a very simple message:

“Believe in Jesus and you are saved.”

“Nothing else is required.”

“Any talk of repentance, turning, or change threatens grace.”

That message is repeated so often that questioning it feels dangerous.

And to be clear — belief matters.

Faith matters.

Grace is real, free, and unearned.

But here’s the problem.

Scripture never treats belief as a static idea you agree with.

It treats belief as trust — and trust always involves direction.

For example,

You might say “so n so” is a great parent.
Patient. Responsible. Caring.

But if you would never trust her with your children,
do you actually trust her — or are you just complimenting her?

Belief that never moves me is not trust

Now take that one step further.

If I say I believe Jesus is Savior, but I insist on remaining in charge of my life, what exactly have I trusted Him with?

This is why the Bible never separates belief from repentance.

Repentance is not adding effort to grace.

It is removing resistance to grace.

It is the moment I stop anchoring my life in myself and place that anchor somewhere else.

Grace saves — but repentance is the releasing of the anchor so the rescue can actually happen.

Without repentance, belief stays theoretical.

And that’s why so many sincere Christians feel forgiven but never transformed.

some pastors or theologians will step in and say something like this:

“You need to understand that the Bible uses different words for repentance.”

“In Genesis or the Psalms, repentance means regret or sorrow.”

“In Ezekiel, it means turning back.”

“In the New Testament, repentance means changing your mind.”

“Only the repentance in Mark and Acts relates to salvation.”

And to be fair — they are not wrong about the language.

The Bible does use different words.

Context does matter.

Hebrew and Greek are not simplistic.

But here’s where the problem begins.

They treat repentance as a set of separate categories instead of a single movement expressed in different ways.

What Scripture shows us is not multiple repentances — but one turning that touches the whole person.

Sometimes that turning is described emotionally — sorrow, grief, regret.

Sometimes it is described directionally — turning back, returning.

Sometimes it is described mentally — a change of mind.

But those are not different gospels.

They are different windows into the same reality.

When Jesus says, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand,” He is not limiting repentance to a mental idea.

He is calling for a whole-life reorientation because a new authority has arrived.

When Peter says, “Repent and be baptized,” he is not narrowing repentance to belief alone.

He is calling people to turn — from self-rule to Christ’s rule with their minds, lives, and loyalties.

Reducing repentance to one narrow definition and then declaring the rest irrelevant to salvation does not come from the story of Scripture.

It comes from breaking the story into pieces and treating one piece as permission to ignore the rest.

The Bible does not invite us to parse repentance away.

It invites us to enter life by turning toward God — fully.

Here’s what often gets missed when repentance is reduced to word studies.

Repentance is not primarily about sin lists.

It is about who rules.

Every time repentance appears in Scripture, it is tied to a shift in authority.

That’s why Jesus never preached repentance in isolation.

He preached it alongside the Kingdom.

A Kingdom means:

• a King

• an authority

• a rule

• an allegiance

So when Jesus says, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand,” He is saying something very specific:

Stop governing your life as if you are the final authority — because God’s reign has arrived.

This is why belief alone is never enough.

You can believe facts about a King and still live as if you rule yourself.

Self-rule is the default human condition.

Repentance is the act of relinquishing that rule.

That’s why repentance cannot be reduced to:

• regret without surrender

• belief without allegiance

• forgiveness without reorientation

Those approaches leave self on the throne.

The Bible’s story is consistent from beginning to end.

Life flows where God reigns.

Death follows where self insists on control.

Repentance is not God demanding more from us.

It is God inviting us to step out of self-rule and into a Kingdom where life is finally possible.

 

For many people, repentance means one of three things.

For some, it means feeling bad.

For others, it means cleaning up behavior.

And for others, it was something that happened once — long ago — when they first became a Christian.

But when we listen carefully to Jesus and the apostles, none of those definitions hold.

Jesus did not say,
“Feel bad, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

He did not say,
“Try harder.”

And He did not treat repentance as a one-time religious doorway.

Repentance, in Scripture, is far more comprehensive — and far more hopeful — than that.

Modern Assumption: “I Believed, So I’m Done”

For many Christians today, repentance is quietly understood this way:

I realized Jesus is real.
I accepted that He died for my sins.
I believed the right things.
I’m saved.
That part is finished.

Repentance, in this view, becomes a moment in the past —
a decision already checked off.

Once belief is settled, life resumes largely unchanged.

Jesus becomes Savior —
but not necessarily Lord.

Faith becomes agreement.
Salvation becomes a status.
And repentance becomes unnecessary going forward.

But this assumption would have sounded completely foreign to Jesus.

He never spoke of repentance as a box to check
before moving on to “normal life.”

When Jesus said, “Repent,”
He was not inviting people into a belief system.

He was confronting an entire way of living under the wrong authority.

If repentance were only about acknowledging facts about Jesus,
then nothing would need to change after belief.

But everywhere repentance appears in Scripture,
it is followed by movement:
a turning
a leaving
a reorientation

The idea that repentance ends once belief begins
is not taught by Jesus,
the apostles,
or the early church.

It is a modern shortcut —
and it explains why so many Christians feel forgiven
but never actually transformed.

When Jesus begins His public ministry, His first message is simple and direct.

Matthew 4:17 — “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

Jesus connects repentance directly to the arrival of the Kingdom.

A Kingdom means:
a King
authority
rule
allegiance

So repentance is required not because people are especially sinful that day,
but because a new authority has arrived.

Repentance, here, means:
Change your mind about who is in charge — because God’s reign is now present.

You cannot enter a Kingdom while remaining self-governing.

Repentance is the doorway because authority must change before life can.

Acts 2:38 — “Repent and be baptized… for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Notice the order.

Repent.
Be baptized.
Forgiveness.
Spirit.

This repentance is not mere regret.

It is a decisive reorientation:
turning from self-rule
acknowledging Jesus as Lord
publicly identifying with Him through baptism

Repentance and faith are inseparable here.

Repentance turns us away from self-governance.
Faith entrusts us to Christ’s leadership.

That repentance begins the Christian life.

Scripture does not teach multiple kinds of repentance.

It teaches one repentance that touches every part of life.

Repentance is best understood this way:

Repentance is a change of mind that reorients my life under God’s authority —
and that reorientation reshapes what I believe, how I live, and how I love.

That single repentance expresses itself in different arenas.

First, it changes who is in charge.
That’s conversion.

Second, it changes how I live.
That’s ongoing formation.

And third, it changes how I relate to others.
That’s relational healing.

These are not different repentances —
they are the fruit of the same turning.

This is Why Repentance Always Feels Ongoing

This is where many sincere Christians become confused or discouraged.

They assume that if repentance were real,
they wouldn’t need to keep returning to it.

They think:
If I truly repented, why am I still seeing broken patterns?
Why do old desires still surface?
Why does God keep confronting areas I thought were settled?

But that expectation misunderstands what repentance actually does.

Repentance does not mean everything in us is instantly healed or aligned.

It means direction has changed.

When authority changes,
light increases.

And as light increases,
new areas come into view.

Repentance is not God reopening settled issues —
it is God revealing deeper ones.

This is why repentance continues throughout the Christian life.

Not because salvation was incomplete,
but because transformation is progressive.

The same turning that brought us into the Kingdom
now continues to reshape us within it.

That’s why Scripture never presents repentance as a moment we graduate from.

It is the posture that keeps us responsive, teachable, and alive.

Without ongoing repentance:
growth stalls
self-justification returns
grace becomes an excuse
discipleship becomes theoretical

But with repentance rightly understood,
correction becomes mercy,
conviction becomes guidance,
and change becomes hopeful instead of crushing.

Luke 17:3 — “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.”

Jesus is speaking to disciples — not outsiders.

Repentance is not a one-time event.

It is an ongoing posture of humility, correction, and return.

Not perfection — but direction.

Without repentance:
grace becomes permission
faith becomes agreement
discipleship becomes theory
fruit never lasts

But repentance is not punishment.

It is invitation.

Salvation isn’t winning a golden ticket that lets me into something while I stay the same.
It’s relinquishing control —
so the Holy Spirit can begin reshaping my life from the inside out.

Salvation begins the relationship.
Sanctification is what unfolds when I stop resisting God’s leadership.

Scripture

Read slowly. Do not rush. Pay attention to repentance language and authority shifts.

• Matthew 4:17
  This is Jesus’ opening proclamation. Notice that repentance is required because the Kingdom has arrived. Ask yourself: What must change if a King is now present?
• Acts 2:38
  Pay attention to the order Peter gives. Repentance comes before forgiveness and the Spirit. What does this say about repentance as reorientation, not emotion?
• Luke 17:3
  Notice that Jesus expects repentance within ongoing relationships between disciples. This is not conversion language — it is formation language.
• Luke 24:46–47
  Observe that Jesus commands repentance to be preached alongside forgiveness. Why do you think repentance cannot be assumed or skipped?

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Christian Thinkers

C. S. Lewis
Mere Christianity

• Book IV, Chapter 4 — Counting the Cost

Why this chapter:
Lewis confronts the idea that Christianity can be accepted without surrender. He makes clear that coming to Christ always involves yielding control, not merely agreeing with doctrine.

“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.”

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George MacDonald

Unspoken Sermons

• Repentance
• The Way

(If using The Consuming Fire, focus on the sermons dealing with obedience, return, and sonship.)

Why MacDonald:
MacDonald insists that repentance is not punishment but return — the turning of the child back toward the Father. For him, repentance is the doorway into life, not a barrier to grace.

WEEKLY REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1. Have I understood repentance primarily as emotion, behavior, or reorientation?
2. Where might God be inviting me to change direction rather than just feel regret?
3. Is my life moving toward Christ’s authority — or quietly preserving my own?

 

Repentance is not about being crushed by guilt.
It is about being freed by truth.
Direction, not perfection, reveals a changed life.

FORWARD-LOOKING

Next week, we’ll look at the New Covenant — and why real repentance always leads to a new source of life within us.