A change of mind or attitude about God. When someone repents, they recognize they have been wrong and choose to trust in Jesus instead. This change in thinking leads to changes in how they live (Acts 20:21).
How Do Faith and Repentance Work Together?
Trusting in Jesus (faith) and changing your mind about God (repentance) go together. The Bible teaches that both are important when someone becomes a follower of Jesus. Sometimes, teachers focus more on explaining repentance because it helps people understand how to follow Jesus. For example, Jesus said there is joy in heaven among the angels over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:7). The apostles described Gentile conversion to Christianity as God granting them "repentance unto life" (Acts 11:18). True repentance and trust in Jesus always go together. You cannot have one without the other. Believers may feel or be aware of one aspect more than another, but both are essential in conversion.
How Do We Practice Repentance?
Repentance is not just something you do once. It is a new way of thinking that helps you live the way God wants you to live. Each day, followers of Jesus look at their wrong actions and mistakes. This helps them continue to trust God and change their ways.
David's story of his adultery with Bathsheba provides one of the main examples of an expression of repentance (Psalms 51). Whole churches or groups of people are sometimes called to repent together (Revelation 2:5). Second Corinthians 7 describes corporate repentance in three main movements:
expressing sorrow for sin
resolving to forsake old sinful ways
promising changed behavior
While repentance is often accompanied by deep feelings, it is based on convictions about the sinner’s own need before a holy God.
How Was Repentance Important to Early Christian Preaching?
Both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ preached repentance ((Matthew 3:2; Mark 1:4; 1:15). Before Jesus went up to heaven, he told his closest followers to spread his message to everyone (Luke 24:44–49). This is called the Great Commission. The apostles continued the same kind of preaching. We can see this in Acts 2 when Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost. When he told people to turn to God and trust in Jesus, about 3,000 people became followers of Jesus that day.