Repentance

Lesson Outline for July 10, 2025

Repentance

• What is repentance?
• How do I receive repentance?
• Who do I ask for repentance?
• Of what do I need to repent?
• Why do I need to repent?
• When I ask for forgiveness, have I repented?
• How would you describe a good person? What is the standard for good?
• Do you compare yourself with another for self-justification / righteousness

Hebrew and Greek Terms / Definitions

• Repent – #H7725 “sub” – to turn back from evil, turn away from / G#3341 “metanoeo” (2 words – after/understanding).  To change one’s mind for the better, amend with abhorrence one’s past sins.
• Sin – #H2398 “hata” miss the mark, incur guilt, forfeit /#G266 “hamartia” – lawlessness, violate divine law, to miss the mark
• Devil – #G1228 “diabolos” Satan, Devil accuser, false accuser,
• Webster – “the action or process of repenting especially for misdeeds or moral shortcomings”

Repentance is an inward change of our heart (soul) producing an outward change in our behavior. Christian repentance means turning from sin, from rebellion against God and turning to the Jesus Christ as our Savior and the work He did on the cross and overcoming death – to do God’s will. Repentance does not originate with man but is granted by God.

Let’s look below for deeper understanding

The green is the author’s notations in the verses below. Bold text added for emphasis

Why do we have to repent?

Lev 19:2 ESV – 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”

• God’s standard establishes the legal and moral standard
• Are we held to God’s standards?
• Jesus refined this even more discussing sins of our heart
• What does James 2:10 say?
• God has not revised His scale for justice; instead, He provided His Son 2 Cor 5:21
• We are held to the God’s “absolute moral law” which Jesus continually reminded us in the NT- and then pay our debt – the debt none of us could repay

 

What keeps us from repenting?

Luke 16:15 ESV – 15 And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”

• Could it be any of the following..,
• Compare ourselves with others – I’m not as bad as __________
• Look at my ledger of good and churchee deeds – I give $, I pray for people, I’m not a murderer, a molester, I’m not cheating on my _______… I’m serve on the church council, I serve my community in ____
• Trust ourselves before trusting God
• Think we can perform enough to please God into forgiving us
• A good God understands my struggles, my history.., it’s really not my fault – we frame God into something not found in His word – this is manipulation; it’s self-deception
• Our pride is an abomination to God and keeps us from repentance
• God knows our hearts and wants to renew, restore and change our hearts

 

What produces repentance and who grants repentance”

Act 11:17-18 ESV – 17 If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 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.“

• Who is Peter talking to? Messianic Jews – the discussion was about eating with uncircumcised – Gentile believers
• I’m thinking they glorified God after repenting of their religious pharisaic spirit – the Messianic Jews were trying to hold the Gentiles to OT Jewish ceremonial law
• I’m thinking the religious Messianic Jewish “circumcision council must have repented too for their Pharisaical posture?
• All of us need to circumcise our heart
• What does repentance lead to? Life – and allows us to rebuke the enemy’s accusation as “true” but paid for by Jesus Christ

2 Cor 7:9-10 ESV – “9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. 10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”

2 Tim 2:24-26 ESV – “24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”

• Who is Paul talking about here? Believers; workers approved by God
• Who grants repentance? God does! And, then we are led to, and can understand His truth!
• “Knowledge” is the recognition and acknowledgment / discernment of divine things
• Anything other than God’s truth is a “perversion” a twisting of truth and brings one into Satan’s barroom where we invite intoxication and partner with error and ungodly (satanic) thinking patterns
• Coming to our senses – natural and spiritual senses – we escape from the snare of Satan
• “Accuser” is a legal term; the devil is granted legal right when we lack repentance
• Repentance and following God’s will – So we don’t do Satan’s will; All of us have been snared by the devil at some level in our life; thus, you have given the accuser legal right
• How do we know God’s will for us? By filling our soul (heart/mind) with His word, His thoughts – we clutter our minds with our own desires/thoughts, we are bombarded daily with the things of this world, not God’s Kingdom, the “enemy” can put thoughts in our mind – this is combatted by ABIDING in Jesus Christ

 

Case study – Religious man v. sinner

• Luke 18:9-14 ESV – 9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
• Describe your thoughts on the characteristics of the two men, how did they vary?
• Is there anyone you consider a “good for nothing” below you; contempt – despised, good for nothing, no account, worthless.
• When we say someone is worthless, what are we saying? God’s most special creation – in His image and likeness – OUCH!
• Who was the Pharisee praying to? Himself
• Pharisee’s position and posture – just like his religious position, he thought he was closer to God by his works, performance, etc – and probably postured himself in the part of the temple (Holy Place) where priests were allowed, and not others
• Tax collector position and posture – positioned himself in the “outer area” this is where Jesus used a whip on those that had turned God’s House into a den of thieves
• Who had the Godly sorrow? Right – the tax collector!
• Who repented and left justified, and what is justified? Not the Pharisee – “justified” is our legal standing – no longer under God’s penalty for our sin

 

Identificational Repentance

Deut 23:2 ESV – 2 “No one born of a forbidden union may enter the assembly of the LORD. Even to the tenth generation, none of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD.

Jer 14:20 ESV – 20 We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against you.

Matt 23:29-32 ESV – 29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.”

• We don’t repent for our ancestor’s repentance or salvation but rather the sin done to us, and handed down via curses; we cancel the debts of our ancestors against us – we cancel the debt done against us by them – the American Civil War is an excellent example of identificational repentance
• In Deut 23:2 what is known as the “bastard curse” or ‘curse of illegitimacy” is another example – 10 generations means “in perpetuity” until broken – this curse is breakable, even if your mother and father have “passed on” or maybe it was a generation further back – we use identificational repentance to forgive them of their debt to us – we cancel their debt to us and can break the curse
• The Pharisee were like those who murdered the prophets in the prior times
• They were living by the sins of their fathers, and would do the same in the future – plainly as Jesus described, the Pharisee did not repent

 

Can we diminish Holy Spirit in us?

Consider the following

1 Thess 5:19-23 ESV – 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Eph 4:30-32 ESV – 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Act 7:51 ESV – “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.”

• Christians can resist Holy Spirit and quench His work in your life – You get to choose
• When we quench Holy Spirit we weaken God’s work restoring and binding up our broken heart (soul) hotter the fire, the more sanctification
• We put away bitterness, wrath, anger slander, malice etc – these ensnare us, shackle us, keep us at varying levels of captivity, torment, pain,

 

Last thoughts

• Repentance is granted by God when we confess our sins, ask for forgiveness with godly sorrow
• Holy Spirit will change our desires, “wanter,” our soul resulting in a real change
• The tax collector is an example of a repentant heart – and received “justification”
• Justification is our Legal Standing with God
• We receive Jesus Christ’s Spirit when we are born-again – this begins to restore our soul; restoring our soul (heart, mind, will, seat of emotions, etc) is sanctification
• Your posture and position to the Father is based on your relationship with His Son, Jesus Christ
• The “tax collector” got freedom, advanced his freedom by surrendering to God – he cried out to the Father – just like the younger son in the parable of the Loving Father / Prodigal Son
• Your repentance is what changes your position and BREAKS legal rights from the enemy

 

Other verses on repentance for self-study

Mark 1:14-15 ESV – 14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Matt 3:1-2 ESV – “1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Luke 13:2-4 ESV – “2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?”

Act 2:38 ESV – 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Neh 1:4-9 ESV – “4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 And I said, “O LORD God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’”

Neh 9:2-3 ESV – “2 And the Israelites separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the LORD their God.”

God Bless you

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