a brief history of repentance-edited-pdf

8/3/2019 A Brief History of Repentance-Edited-PDF

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF REPENTANCEOR ANOTHER FINE MESS WE HAVE GOT OURSELVES INTO

By SDP MASON CORKERY


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Published By Word Central LTD UK

Copyright Word Central UK LTD

All material held and owned by

Word Central LTD UK

First Published 2011

This book is not to be sold without prior consent of the author and is used solely as a tool

for evangelisation. It is Copyrighted to Word Central LTD and in turn is used throughthat ministry and ministries that agree with the scriptural remit there of.


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A BRIEF HISTORY OF REPENTANCEOR ANOTHER FINE MESS WE HAVE GOT OURSELVES INTO

INTRODUCTION

FOREWORD

This little book is not about condemnation or that we are lousy sinners that need torepent, it is not about putting people down or indeed making people feel low and

depressed and overburdened, It is not about the fact that People feel Gods abandonedthem. Indeed this is Not about me telling you need to Repent.

It is not a complete history or treatise on Repentance nor should it be used as an

academic resource. But with so many people saying that we need to constantly Repent ,or that as a nation we need to Repent I now believe that many have , for whatever reason

caught The Wrong End Of The Stick, as they say in the UK and refuse to let go because

that is what their tradition has taught them. Though Scripture makes it clear, theymisconstrue it and do not understand the necessity ofDividing the Word (2 Timothy 2:15) .

This is in effect A Brief History Of Repentance. Or as I prefer to call it, because Im

into films/ movies, Thats another fine mess we have got ourselves into.

Repentance is mentioned in Hebrews Chapter 6 verses 1-6 and the writer has this to sayabout it:

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on untoperfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from deadworks, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of layingon of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. Andthis will we do, if God permit. For it is impossible for those who wereonce enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made

partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, andthe powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew themagain unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of Godafresh, and put him to an open shame.

(Hebrews 6: 1-6)

I shall return to this again later. However the key here is that today in the whole Church(Not just in certain denominations, but the whole body) we have a problem where people

are seeing repentance as to key to all problems, faults to do with sin, rather than thesolution we got 2000 years ago on the Cross of Jesus.

Many People, in the Body (the Church), are going around, often those in leadership who

should know better, or in ignorance of the Word telling us that we are sinners, and thatwe are in need of that sackcloth and ashes approach. We are told that God will not move

without our daily repentance. Yes we are being told that if we deal with sin, if we do sin,if we commit sin, if we are driven by sin : Then we have to REPENT .


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Not much about Healing here, those scriptural claims are ignored (again a teaching foranother day). We arebasically told to remain Sin Conscious Rather than Jesus

Conscious. We have our eyes drawn off of Jesus and his righteousness down into the

mire of self, that should be dead to sin but alive in Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1: 30; 2Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 2:20-21; Philippians 3:9). We are told to keep looking at theproblem rather than thesolution; we are told we have to get down on our knees and do

the sack-cloth and ashes thing.

That is not however what we are told under the New Covenant. The New Testament doesnot teach this. In fact the Hebrews reading that I just gave (Hebrews 6: 1-6) makes it very

clear that: Repentance; along with Baptism; Laying on of Hands as well as The Resur-rection of the Dead: and Eternal Judgment are all basic teaching that we, as believers,

should already understand. Paul is in effect saying, It is basic stuff and we need tomove onto more important issues.

So how and why has it gone so wrong?

I, along with the fellowship I attend, can be accused (Have been accused) of preaching

oneMessage and that will always centre on the Cross Of Jesus. If you read Romans, or

Galatians, or Hebrews, or the Gospels themselves, they all centre on the Cross of Christand

how Jesus is the centre of all. The Cross is the very centre of History and when it comesto

Repentance and the difference between the Old and The New Testaments then, in a way,The Cross Truly Does Mark the Spot.

QUESTIONS

1. What is your understanding of Repentance as tradition teaches it?

2. We are called to righteousness ; so what do the scripture tell us as opposed to

tradition

3. Repentance should be taught as basic teaching. Do you understand it as such or

is it large and complex

HOW WE SHOULD READ SCRIPTURE TO GAIN THE BEST FROM ITScripture as it stands, and as many have come to believe, says very little about

repentance

itself. In fact if you take all the different words used and what they mean, and breakthem


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down into their individual components of meaning (Which I shall attempt to do later),then

you will see that all the words used by the translators of the Bible for Repentance infact

all have a totally different meaning.

So here today we will look at each of these key words so that when you come acrossRepentance , as used in scripture in the future, you will be able to say: Does it mean

suchand such? Or: Is it about this? Or Is it to be understood in this way? and so on.

Getting that knowledge of the original words found in the scriptures is very important to

us because we are going to find that each word used in scripture, and translated asRepentance, Repent, or Repented, and so forth means completely different things.

Completely , Totally, Different things thus having different meanings attached to them.Scripture has at least 6 or seven meanings when it comes to The word we use as

Repentance. In fact I would say more because if you take a Hebrew word like Shoob(Which we will look up later) we see 20-30 different meanings in that one Word.

Again before we move on here I would like to recommend that if you want to get into

scripture and into the original languages, culture and what words actually mean: Getyourself the Following tools:

A Good translation of the Bible (that goes without saying) A Strongs Concordance Good Greek Interlinear (makes you look intelligent , has Greek above the

English)

A Vines Dictionary (Goes into more detail than Strongs)

E-Sword (Download From Internet of Scriptures and helps, Includes a Strongs- for free) Theophilus (Download From Internet of Scriptures and helps -for free) BlueletterBible.org Internet sight for help with scripture (free)

It goes without saying that we must:

Read the word (Rhema) for ourselves, Listen to teachers grounded in The Word and not Traditions of Men. Ask questions, be Disciples (Mathetis) and Let the Word (Logos) be opened to you through Revelation Knowledge (Epinosis)

gained through Christ (Christos/ Messiach) within you by the Power (Dynamis)

of the Holy Spirit (Hagios Pnuema).

This all centres on Jesus (Yoshua) and the Love that God the Father (Theos Patros) has

forthe World (Cosmos/ Ghey).

So there are sources out there that can help you and I would strongly recommend that you

get those sources because they will really help you to understand what the writers, andthe


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Holy Spirit, was saying to Gods people in their day, in their culture and languages; thusultimately how God is speaking to you now.

1. In the Bible as a whole is much time spent on Repentance in Scripture?

2. What is the Best way to read the Word?

3. Can the Bible speak to us today?

CONFUSION ON REPENTANCE

Did you know that in the Word for example and if you go to the old Testament GodRepents

not once, or twice but several times. We know that God is not evil he cannot do wrong,he is

love so why should he have to repent.

And the LORD repented of the evil(Wrath, Stress- a message for another day)which he thought to dounto his people.

(Exodus 32: 14)And again:

And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it,the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyedthe people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORDwas by the threshing-place of Araunah the Jebusite.

(2 Samuel 24: 16)

So at least 7 times we have the Lord repenting in scripture (Genesis 6:6 ,Exodus 32:14,Judges 2:18 , 2 Samuel 24:16 , 1 Chronicles 21:15 , Jeremiah 26:19 , Jonah 3:10 ).

Repentance , sad to say , is one of those issues that has clogged up the system of whatGod wants to do, and how we are told we have to respond to God. I say this in love.

This is said to and about organizations primarily and Not the people. In the church wehave systems inplace that are stopping the Body Of Christ moving forward.

Thus we are told things like we cannot have revival because we need to have a time ofRepentance and until then we cannot move in Gods will. In Lamentations 3:24-26 it

states that we have to wait on salvation:

The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. TheLORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. Itis good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation ofthe LORD.

(Lamentations 3:24-26)

Note again 2 Chronicles 7: 14-22 and such like. These are talking of the Cross , of


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Jesus and his work of Salvation. They are not giving a message (other than prophetic)for us today, for as stated earlier The Work of Salvation took place over 2000 years ago,

and thus any waiting that has to be done is now obsolete. Today we are not called to

Wait Upon the Lord. No! we are called to be disciples and that involves doing and

going out. Yes we pray, yes we respond to God in prayer But there is a New Testament

way and an Old Testament way and those two should never meet.

People are not following what the Lord wants but are Doing whole programmes where

they believe they have to get right with the Lord. Repent! Repent! Repent? We have asystem in place therefore that is teaching people how to approach God in the wrong way.

This sad to say, in this case is mainly to do with those who translated , or this casemistranslated the scriptures.

1. Does God Repent in Scripture

2. They waited on God in the Old Testament so are we called to wait now?

PART I

TRADITION & REPENTANCE

REPENTANCE OVER THE LAST 2000 YEARS: THE EARLY CHURCHRepentance, as used by many in the church today, so often, is not a word that belongs in

the Scriptures at all. We have labelled the Word , as many did the Word Penance thathas gone before it. It has been labelled in so many diverse ways that along the way the

true meanings (yes I use the Plural) have been lost.

I shall look at the history of the word Repentance in a sort of reverse chronology assuch. Thus the post Church era will be looked at first , then the Gospel era and then

finally Old Testament times. This is because when I first broached this subject formyself, so I could give a message on it, this was how the Lord revealed it to me, and

wanted me to do it. Thus if this is what the Lord wanted this is what the Lord gets. Inother words Ill talk about how it is now and go back to the Hebrew Old Testament (Is

there any other).

Today I would argue that repentance has its roots in two sources . The first is a mancalled Tertullian ( Or rather Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus (c. 160c. 220

AD) 2nd

-3rd

century AD he wrote two key treatise, two books if you will, best sellers of

their day called (believe it or not) On Repentance and On Purity. The book was onRepentance, and titled 0n Repentance sounds like a comic routine about to happen.

However what follows is Not funny. Here Tertullian spoke of Repentance and said:

Seize the opportunity of unexpected felicity: that you, who sometime were in God'ssight nothing but a drop of a bucket repent of errors; repent (continually) of having

loved what God loves not.

(Chapter 4. On Repentance)

And again when discussing the work The Shepard of Hermes Tertullian states :


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For if any wavering of the flesh, any distraction of spirit, any wandering glance,

causes you to lose your equilibriumremember God is good! It is to His own and

not to the heathen that He opens His arms. A second penance will receive you and,

after you have been an adulterer, you will again be a Christian. Thus would you s peak to me, Oh kindliest of Gods exegetes. And I would assent, if the book of the

Shepard which alone is favourable to adulterers deserved to be included within thesacred canon, and if it had not been judged apocryphal and false by all the councilsof the churches, even your own! It is adulterous itself and therefore favours its

associates And surely the epistle of Barnabas has found wider acceptance among

the churches than has that apocryphal Shepherd of adulterers.

(On Purity 10 & 20: 36)

In On Repentance and On Purity he stated that one must repent for sins gain and

againand again an again etc.

From those times, referred to as the time of the Church fathers (150 AD), until the

Reformers (1400AD onwards), there was only really one view of repentance that heldout.

Sadly this concept knew little or nothing of the Grace of God. A system based on mansworks of Salvation prevailed and what emerged in that very early Church was a mish

mashof ideas that had true little grounding in the Scriptures. It is Amazing, how quickly, and

that a little beyond the first generation after the Apostles, there was this distorted viewand

acceptance as what came to be known as The Good News (Gospel) which the Apostles

themselves had entrusted to the care of this Church.

There can be no doubt the early Church, and what it felt and indeed believed, was

willing to have martyrs for the cause, that made Jesus, and the Work of the Cross key.However it refused to see a work that was finished. The finished work of the cross .

Rather it became very quickly about an ongoing tyrannical rule of obedience, under fearto a system, rather that about a relationship with Jesus directly. Repentance was a tool

that kept people in check and made them answerable to others rather than God.

Firstly relationship was to the Church, and the Church in turn provided the few thatwere allowed (If meeting a certain criteria) to have a relationship with Jesus for you. You

had to go through a sacramental system based more on a mixture of Paganism and OldTestament ideas and concepts rather than what Jesus, and his followers originally taught.

The idea of Grace was lost and any true relationship with Jesus was seen very little to beobtainable by the common folk.

The church fathers, and those who came after them, believed that salvation began at

one's baptism. It was believed that when someone was baptized their sins, committeduntil that point in life, were forgiven.


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The church fathers had faith that a person would begin the Christian Life with a pure

heart and clean slate. But then that heart would not be clean for very long. Since everyonewould continue to be weighed down by sin after baptism because of a crucial

misunderstanding of what scripture was saying:

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive usour sins, and to cleanse us fromall unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is

not in us.

(1 John 1:8-10)

A part of scripture written to unbelievers, within a church system was misconstrued asbeing about believers, and as they say the rest was history. The Church, because of this,

had to develop, to paraphrase Baldric in Black Adder: A Cunning Plan whereby sinsthat happened Post Baptism would have be atoned and dealt with.

So many people began putting off any idea of baptism until they were near death so thatthey could have the Churches (Thus Gods) utter total forgiveness. The church fathersand those who followed successively dealt with this problem by coming up with

penance as the cure for post-baptismal sins. Thus trying to alleviate one problem anotherwas caused.

The Fathers debated all this as to whether any major post-baptismal sins could be

forgiven at all. It was agreed that even serious ("mortal") sins could have forgiveness.There was how-ever some disagreement at various councils (Church Meetings by those

Ruling the whole Church) as to how many times anyone could repent then be forgiven.

A few of these leaders, notably Hermas, stated categorically that there was only onechance for repentance after baptism and thus holding the scriptural remit of Repent and

Believe (Mark 1: 15). However that concept did not win through. I am not stating herethat Hermas was right in all his teachings, but I am saying that here he seems to have got

it right.

The triumphant view point with those early fathers was that a person could repent and beforgiven on some occasions if warranted. However they did not say exactly the times

one had to repent and why this was believed. So because someone could repent for fearof giving churchmen (Priests, Bishops and other religious), and not lay people note here,

an absolute license to sin. This, of course was why many put off penance/ repentance

until their deathbeds.

In the late 4th

and early to mid fifth centuries, in spite of the fear of giving people a

license to sin, the Church uniformly specified that a person might repent and be forgivenan unlimited number of times.

Then came others , like Augustine, and in and around those centuries Councils were


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Held, and it came to common agreement that this Repent and be forgiven an unlimitednumber of times was what penance / repentance was and everyone in the Church

leadership applauded and so it came to be. No questions asked (Except the wrong ones).No looking at the scriptures, and what they actually held to. And so the idea that was

formed about Repentance / Penance was, like many half truths and lies that grow out of

all proportion, accepted. So that by the 4

th

-6

th

centuries this was a key teaching in theCatholic church. But hey do not condemn it because at this time this was the ChristianChurch , The Body of Christ, for there was no other. So if you want to put a label on it

understand this that this was Christianity.

By the 4thcentury onwards we refer to the leaders of the church historically as The Latin

Fathers. The Latin Fathers translated, or rather mistranslated, and agreed to, New

Testament Greek words like Metanoiaeven when not translated as such (more on thislater) to reflect their misguided and scripturally uninformed theology.

These so called apostolic fathers taught that for anyone to retain salvation from eternal

Hell and Judgment a person had to feel remorseful for, and confess sins to a man calleda Priest and then do Acts Of Penance as prescribed by the priest. That was to do

works or to give money to the church or say set prayers; usually a mixture of all three.

The word chosen in the Latin (the central language of its day in the known World ofthe West) for Repentance was the Word Penitentia. Thus a group of my favourite people

Theologians, came along and started writing ideas about this word and createdmeanings

that did not exist in the word Penance to begin with.Thus Penance came to mean adoing

of stuff like getting down on our knees and begging God, or giving taxes, or farmproduce

to the Church, or crawling miles on pilgrimage, or whipping yourself until your flesh wassubdued (Until the next time). There was quite a list. Thus a procedure started to happen

within the Church that became accepted and was seen as the norm.

Also Jerome [Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus] (c.347420 AD) translated scriptureinto Latin and used this word Penitentia (Penance). So the Word was now in the Bible

as well as official Church teaching. (Thus the Latin Vulgate Bible). The Vulgate tookcentre stage and became the translation accepted by the Christian world.

So Jerome translated the original Greek Bible into Latin (No Hebrew at this point , another story

for another day). This was in the late 4th-century it was called the Vulgate. and was

commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 AD. By the 13th century this revision had cometo be called the versio vulgata, that is, the "commonly used translation",and ultimately it

became the definitive and officially promulgated Latin version of the Bible in the RomanCatholic Church.

In the fifth century under such a system people in the Church (and in the West that wasseen as the only place to be- so virtually everyone) believed these things. Then was when

it came to be that people were baptized as infants, and as young children. Children were


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repentance. Those who are were burdened about, and for, the purity of the Gospel ofGrace will be disappointed that Luther , and others, held to a view of salvation that held

within it the possibility of relinquishing it by departing from the faith of Christ..

The power of the Roman church (now one of many denominations), had been broken to

some degree and would no longer be the key proponent of Grace thus being limited andbecoming more so as time wore on. The Reformers looked back to Jesus Christ and theApostles rather than the church fathers but they looked through angry spectacles of

rebellion and anger, rather than Grace, took hold as a new tradition was formedwrongly. For in going against the old, and not holding on to the Word and what was

said in the Bible, much was lost rather than gained. A anti view of Catholicism becamecommon place. When it came to looking at scripture, rather than looking at what

scripture truly said in context and how it was said a pious religious attitude returnedparticularly when it came to looking at a view of repentance as found purely in the

Gospel. Protestantism may have left Catholicism behind in theory but in much of thepractice and understanding it remained the same.

This is the idea of Repentance, found more in tradition than in the word, that we still

have with us today.

Erasmus and the Reformation (1517AD ff) happened at around the same time but henever felt the need, or want, to Leave the Roman Catholic Church. Now I am not

knocking all Catholic teaching here there has been some good teachings and the CounterReformation (Or The Catholic Reformation) achieved some move forward (Particularly

The Council of Trent and more recently Vatican II (2).

Erasmus (Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus) (14661536) however in the 15th

to 16th

centuries decided to write a New Testament translation into the Late Latin (Mixture ofLatin and French) of the Bible and replaced the word Penitentia with Resipiscere

(become reasonable again; recover, come to the senses) derived from the Vulgar Latinword sapere (taste of; understand; have sense) derived from the Proto-Indo-European root

It is this Word translated as:

Resipiscere [re-sip-ee-see-air]: Resipiscence \Res`i*pis"cence\ , n. [L. resipiscentia,from resipiscere to recover one's senses: cf. F. r['e] sipiscence.] Wisdom derived from

severe experience; hence, repentance. [R.] --. Bp. Montagu

However because of the Reformation and what lay beyond it other denominations cameabout, came up, appeared (Take-Your-Pick). These grouping thus formed their own

traditions. These traditions are mostly the traditions that we have in place today.

Let us be clear about this, and I say this with some knowledge as the Reformation issomething I have studied and read about until it literally comes out my ears, politics, as


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well as theology, were key motivating factors. For many of the German princes it nowmeant wealth could be kept by them rather than giving it to Rome (the Pope). It was all

about money and power, and the like. These princes knew that if they went along with the

Reformation good things would happen, most notably no more money and political

kowtowing to Rome but money and power that would stay and stop with them. So yea

they became supporters and Reformers too. But let us say some theology took hold.

Both Calvin, and Luther (Chief Reformers were to teach that all of a persons sins were

forgiven when a person was to become a Christian (Note here this refers to Baptism andPost Baptism and not directly to the Born Again experience). Such was radically different

to what The Roman Catholic Church had said before. Thus logically penance, and thesystem it had created, would stop in those churches that would break away from

Catholicism and be adopted the thinking of what came to be known as the Reformation.

The reformers view therefore, on forgiveness of sin, is a crucial step here. It is importantthat we know exactly what happened and why it got even more convoluted as the idea of

repentance jumped across a notch but not necessarily in the right direction.

Luther stated that the Roman Catholic idea of Penance itself was unnecessary, and saidthat anyone who discarded their faith, in Christ, and then fell into sin could, indeed

would, perish unless they returned to Christ again through renewed faith. It was now

about Christ alone and Not the Church. Luther referred to Jerome's ( a church Fathers)

view, and the established position of the Church, that any penance/ repentance was aboutfaith and returning to the Church through Christ. Indeed Luther was to write:

You will likewise see how perilous, indeed, how false it is to suppose that penance is the

"the second plank after shipwreck," and how pernicious an error it is to believe that the

power of baptism is broken, and the ship dashed to pieces, because of sin. The ship remains

one, solid, and invincible) it will never be broken up into separate "planks. In it are carriedall those who are brought to the harbour of salvation, for it is the truth of God giving us its

promise in the sacraments. Of course, it often happens that many rashly leap overboard into

the sea and perish; these are those who abandon faith in the promise and plunge into sin.But the ship itself remains intact and holds its course unimpaired. If anyone is able

somehow by grace to return to the ship, it is not on any plank, but in the solid ship itself that

he is borne to life. Such a person is the one who returns through faith to the abiding andenduring promise of God.

(Luther's Works, vol. 36, P61)

So Luther rejected penance/ repentance as understood by Catholicism. He believed andconceived that penance

"Torture [d] poor consciences to death.

(Ibid P89)

However Luther still held on to the requirement of something that was in fact not thatmuch different to penance. He stated that in order to be saved from eternal judgment a

person must, must make an effort in continuing in the Christian faith, on a moral anddoctrinal basis.


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Calvin, on the other hand, rejected any idea of the performance of what was known as

Acts of Penance to atone for sins so that a person could maintain salvation. He actuallystarted to teach that Jesus Christ's death, once finished and completed, finally and

completely atoned for all the sins a person would or ever could commit in the past,

present or future.

Both Calvin and Luther came to the conclusion that continued to carry on and

development and thus retained a neo classical sense of "a change of mind." (Metanoia-seenotes below). Repentance, they, and their other adherence stated, was a change of mind

where anyone who had recognized their sinfulness, and need of forgiveness for thosesins, turned, in faith, to God who would then provide forgiveness in Christ.

Because of the idea of Penance and the ideas that had developed in the older Church the

newer denominations decided to rebel against that. Thus the newer movements in theChurch decided that it was Faith Alone (Sola Fide) when it came to Repentance that

was crucial. There should be nothing about Doing when it came to Repentance.

Martin Luther was a keen reader of Romans. I would dare to say that it was probably hisfavourite book of the Bible. It was from Romans that he got his ideas regarding

Reformation. As he read the Book and let it seep into his very being he realised thatwhat the church taught regarding Repentance was totally wrong. God does not

continually want people to do to get to heaven. We are called to Love and not putmoney into grand building but in helping and feeding the poor.

Thus it came about that now, instead of the ideas and conceptual doctrines of the

Church Fathers, it was Luthers and Calvins view of repentance (as an essential part ofSalvation), that the Protestant (The Churches that broke away from Roman

Catholicism), were to move forward and adhere to.

These Reformers, and those that claim to follow in the tradition, retain a high but faultyview of repentance and grace. They have indeed never really totally found a proper

understanding of grace and repentance they so depart into a man-made, legalistictraditional " Anti-Gospel". Based on a faulty premise, but with shades of truth they revert

often to a more Catholic form of theology and do not even see it

The Roman Catholic concept and praxis (theory put into practice) regarding repentancecontinues beyond the Reformation. Indeed the Catholics a wee bit later (but not by much)

had a Reformation of their own called the Counter Reformation (1600-1700AD ) and thisand its affects have continued to the present with modifications.

The Roman Catholic Church had decided that There was No scriptural qualification

under

the New Covenant for any of this Reformist theology so the Church Authorities

decidedthat tradition too needed a part to play. Tradition, it was stated, should have equal


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validation to the Word Of God. And thus the Duary Rhemes Bible that was toappear a

s the official Catholic bible in the 1880s and beyond.

Now take your standard Bible, thats what we call the Word (That is scripture). And

timesthe thickness of the book 40-100 times that is What has happened within churches (BothCatholic and Protestant as tradition took on equal and then more validation within these

setups (systems of Faith) as the Word of God took less. Interestingly enough what The

Pharisees did with the Law and what Jesus had been against. Do we ever learn? But hereI

digress.

When Luther established himself A man called John Melechothan came along (AnotherTheologian - Note if I ever refer to anyone as a theologian it is an insult tantamount to

Pharisee[?])) and added more to what Luther had said. There also came along people likeZwingli and Calvin who also wrote tomes and added traditions, still in place today, that

only, like what Catholicism did earlier, added to what scripture stated and thus formedtheir own traditions. Thus it goes on and on and on.

1. How did the Reformers make a mistake when it came to Repentance

2. Why did the Reformers make that mistake ?


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THE WRONG VIEW PERSISTS TODAYThe views of Calvin and Luther continue also. Their views have, in some ways been

modified as well so that today there are basically three Protestant views regardingrepentance

Turning away from Sin (One must do first. Stop being a drunk, or stop fighting) Have the want/ resolution to stop sinning (The want resolution to stop) Change of Mind (Recognition of a persons sin, their need for Jesus work of salvation)

It was at what is referred to Reformation that those mistranslations of Latin scripture

wereindeed challenged.

The first two ideas are talking about a need to be sorry about sin then accept that

Lordship of Jesus Christ. The final view puts more enthuses on the Grace of Jesus andlooks to Jesus before one looks to sin.

Some people the three Protestant views of repentance mentioned above do not however,it would seem, believe that salvation once obtained is a safe and untouchable state.Some Protestants even state that salvation is lost when unfaithfulness sets in (and

regarding) one's conversion and turning away (Back sliding) takes place; all of whichhave no place within a Post New Testament setting. On top of which such teaching is

inconsistent with any Reformers' view of sin, repentance and Jesus'.

Some Protestants, as stated, have gained a Roman Catholic view of repentance (one inwhich confession to a person as representing the Church and a formal praxis of penance

are exchanged with confession directly to God and an informal system of penance where

one claims works so as to earn Gods love and Grace). But As stated by Robert N

Wilkin there are even more Protestant views here

In reality, then, there are actually six Protestant views of salvific repentance: 1) turn from

sins and keep on doing so to obtain and keep a salvation which can be lost. 2) turn fromsins to obtain an eternally secure salvation, 3) be willing to turn from sins and then, after

conversion, actually turn from sins as a manner of life to gain and keep one's salvation, 4)

be willing to turn from sins to obtain an eternally secure salvation, 5) change your mindabout yourself and Christ to gain initial salvation and then turn from your sins as a manner

of life thereafter to keep that salvation, and 6) change your mind about yourself and Christ

to gain an inviolable salvation.

(Study By: Robert N. Wilkin)

When it comes to God and Repentance It is not a matter of balancing scales (As in the

Islamic Tradition) or following rules and regulations (As in the Jewish Tradition). Acombination of these ideas that had crept into the Catholic mindset as the world oftheology and philosophy had grown and a great deal of cross fertilisation had taken place

as academic culture was saturated with these ideas. If you read for instance ThomasAquinas in the 11

thcentury and his philosophical discourses you will see ideas discussed

and expounded particulary with Islamic scholars.


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Take this recent quote:

The first step on the path of affinity to God is repentance, which is the topic of my

talk tonight. What does repentance mean and what is its nature psychologically andwhat is its consequence spiritually? For many of us, it seems a simple matter but

have we ever thought of analysing it psychologically? Repentance is a characteristic of the

human being that sets it apart from animals. The human being possesses certain

high aptitudes and distinctive qualities which are not found in animals. One of these isthe ability to repent. It does not mean only uttering the phrase, "I seek forgiveness from

God, the Most High and I repent to Him." It is not something verbal. It is a

psychological and spiritual state, a revolution of the mind and the above phrasedescribes that state but it is not the state itself. So if we utter this phrase several

times a day, it does not mean we are penitent. True repentance once a day brings us stage

by stage nearer to God.

([Islamic] Discourse Eight from Spiritual Discourses by Ayatollah Mortaza Motahhari)

If not for the tag you could see many Christian traditions talking like this today. But I

digress.

Protestants thus should know that any ideas that centred around Penance were not partof the New Covenant way. By Repenting they are chiefly meaning Metanoia (More on

that in a minute). Metanoia : that one time event of coming to the Lord, admitting who I

am both before, then in Christ, as my old way has gone and I accept Jesus finished work

on the Cross. Thus now I become a new creation in Christ (My own definition). So letme break it down. Repentance is where:

I am sorry for my past life, I die to that I am Born Again I accept Jesus (and it is done). In response, out of love (Grace), I live the new life

I know that this is very simplified and is only there as a pointer and is not intended to be a

theology. So that is Repenting and Believing in a nut shell.

Though the theologians in these traditions will say they follow what is in scripture it isstill about us having to Wait or Do to be right with God. This is done all the time with

the post Reformation ideas of repentance. Thus we still, in the Church systems, showhow we repent by:

Doing good works (Rather than a response of Love to the God who loved me first). We show how we repent for the people (again an Old Testament Idea, nothing in the

New Testament- In fact Jesus was the repentance sacrifice For the people 2000 years

ago on the Cross).

Thus we have our ideas of Repentance.The response of the reformation and what came after was a response to something not


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true and not totally scriptural to begin with, thus we have this mixture that is not whollybased in the dividing of the Word and keeping people trapped in the Law rather than

Grace and truth.

We have Old Wine in New Skins/ Bottles ; we have Old Cloth put on New (Mathew9:16-17; Mark 2: 21-22; Luke 5:36-39; 1 Corinthians 5:7-8; Hebrew 8:13;)

This idea has saturated our churches (Small c for denominations big C for the Church)

so much that today we have churches, not to far away from here, all over Britain, allover

Europe and all over the World that teach stuff like:

We cannot have revival in our Land because we have not had a time of repentance,because God is angry with us, we need to be right with God

It would seem that God must have had a memory lapse regarding the Cross. Thus we areconstantly told that we need to ask God to come down and forgive us for our sins so we

can move forward. It is as if we are asking him to come down from the Cross only to

have to get back on it again and again and again [sic].

to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves theSon of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

(Hebrews 6: 6)

But somewhere in the World every minute of everyday this goes on all over the World.

Again Going back to Lamentations 3: 25-26 where there are calls for Gods OldTestament people to wait on the Salvation of the Lord.

The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of theLORD.

This was not about us waiting to get God to move, no not at all. That was then and thisis now and Salvation came 2000 years ago and this was the Hope and waiting going on

here. We Do Not Have to wait on the Lord anymore.

There is then a major misunderstanding on the meaning of Repentance our body ofChrist. As we have seen this due to wrong mistaken teaching and the misconceptions

handed down over the generations. Most people, as we have seen, would say repenting issincerely asking forgiveness for a persons sin. We are told that God will not move for us

as individuals and Nations because of Our Sin. But we miss the point God did move2000 years ago and that movement was Jesus and that is the central issue here. It is about

our relationship to God as it is Now not s it was in the Old Testament days. Repentanceis not weeping and wailing over sin or some emotional experience of confession. This is

remorse or regret (Meatmelomai).

1. Is Repentance now seen as being about us or does it truly focus on Jesus FinishedWork of the Cross?


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PART II

SCRIPTURE & REPENTANCE

REPENTANCE: GREEK STYLE

What I am going to do here is give you the meaning of a word and then show severalscriptures regarding the Word as translated Repentance so that you will understand the

words in their original form and how they fit into scripture.

I used Strongs and E-sword here, along with other material, to help me with this. I have

also added some ideas myself but will let you know the Seanisms when we get to them.

So here we go:

REPENTANCE = METANOIAThe first word to study here is:

/ metanoia/(pronounced-met-an'-oy-ah).This Is:

To change ones mind, emotion, (by implication spiritual state (Seanism- as

we are changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and made a new creation) from

one aspect to another/(subjectively);compunction (for guilt, includingreformation)

by implicationreversal(of [anothers] decision): - repentance(?)

(Strongs)

Note the idea of compunction forward is a Strongs addition and I would argue that itcomes out of the tradition of the translators.

Metanoia, I would argue, means a change from one aspect to another. Thus our minds,

emotion and spiritual state are changed from one aspect to another. Thus it is thatmoment and that time when we were Born Again and make that stand declaring the

need for Jesus in our lives that It is done. It starts in our spirit and from then on we workit out from our mind

The readings here could be many but let us take just a few:

2 Timothy 2: 25-26 [metanoia]:In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventurewill give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; Andthattheymay recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captiveby him at his will.


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Metanoia about acknowledging the truth and taking people out of the snare of the World

and the Devil. Again to emphasise this Hebrews 6: 1-3 & 6 [metanoia]:

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on untoperfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works,and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands,and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, ifGod permit.If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance;seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and puthim to an openshame.

This is not about coming again and again and again but a one off change that takes affect

in our spirit and then starts to work its way out to our mind and body.

And just once more so the point and truth shall sink in; 2 Peter 3: 3-12 [metanoia].Read this whole section because it really does put Repentance/ Metanoia into perspectiveand can leave no doubt.

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking aftertheir own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the

fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of thecreation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God theheavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: Butthe heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store,reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord asa thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack

concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering tous-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come torepentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in thewhich the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shallmelt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall beburned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of

persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for andhasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fireshall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

This is where we get the Anglo-Saxon (English) word metamorphosis.

Metamorphosis is made up of two Greek words:

Meta

With/ Alongside/ After/ Along With/ Beyond/ Among / Behind,

And


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Morph (asis):

That is to transform from one state to another/ To Shape/ To Mould/ To take from onestate and move another

So we see that God comes alongside with us, He shapes us and moulds and he transformsus from one state (that of Sin) has moved among us to bring us into righteousness.Repentance is how we change. We are transformed and renewed to become new

creations and we are made into Gods own righteousness in Jesus Christ. Transformationand moulding happens right away. That is in our spirit but it still has to come out and be

worked out from our mind to our body (Romans 6: 1-23; Philippians 2:12)

1. What is the meaning of Metanoia?2. What does Repentance mean now we now this truth?

REPENTANCE = METAMELOMAIThe 2nd word used for Repentance and the word in Greek here is:

(metamellomai) (pronounced:Met-am-el'-lom-ahee)

This has the shortest explanation of all the Words here which can mean:

To CareAfterwards, that is,regret: -repent (self) (?).

Thus to Take care after an event, To be sorry, T0 REGRET.

We are allowed to feel sorry. That is fine. We are allowed to feel sorry for our sins. Infact if you read 2 Corinthians 7:8-11:

For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent [metamellomai],though I did repent [metamellomai]: for I perceive that the same epistlehath made you sorry, though it were but for a season (short time). Now I

rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance[Metanoia]: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye mightreceive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance

[Metanoia] to salvation not to be repented of[Ametameletos]: but the sorrow ofthe world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowedafter a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, whatclearing ofyourselves, yea, whatindignation, yea, whatfear, yea, whatvehement desire,yea, whatzeal, yea, whatrevenge! In allthings ye have approved yourselves to beclear in this matter.

Note both Metamelomai and Metanoia are both mentioned here. If you go on to read

chapter 8 you see that these were new Christians who had come to the Lord through thisfirst letter of Paul. Thus Paul had written a very strong letter to a fellowship that had

some unbelievers in it. Paul was sorry , he regretted writing the letter for a short time.


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The Greek word used here in 2 Corinthians 7 is: This can mean a Season, or hour, short time. Kings James Translators to be applauded here because though it can mean aliteral hour it can mean for a time or a season. Thus we know it is about being sorry ,

regretting, for a Short Time but there is no rule or compunction dictates what this is.

So it is Okay to feel sorry for a short time for a while. That is Okay. But the key thing

here is it is not about Gods relationship to us. It is nothing to do with Gods relationship

to you and me. God is Not there waiting for you to come back. Then welcoming us oncewe say we are sorry :

Hey about time! Welcome back now

God has already accepted you in your Born Again state. This is more about yourmentality, your psychology. This is about you being sorry, about any of us being sorry ,

regretting for a short time. However if you are feeling sorry for something, Repenting andkeeping hold of something for 3, 6, 12 months after an event there is something that is

psychologically damaging and wrong about that. Thus you do not move forward. You donot build that relationship with God, you lose revelation and what is more you open

yourself up to negativity and unbalanced thinking and emotional states lie Depression ,stress and rage.

So we do the wrong, the fault, the sin and are sorry for a short time. We Regret it, we

get the emotion out the way and then we move On. We realise that the reality is aboutthe Work already done through Jesus and the Cross 2000 years ago and our Born Again

nature. There may be sins we are not aware of or that have not been revealed to us. Butthe key is that we do not have to be taken out of our state of Grace in Christ, sure we

acknowledge them , but we learn, work out what they are and move on. So you are notthere anymore. So as the old adage goes All is well with you and God at least on your

side there was never any doubt that God was always there for you.

That is a good lesson that we all need to learn.. When I first wrote this down s amessage, teaching for the beginning of August 2011 I had an incident happen which is

really a very good illustration here.

Myself and my wife were walking our dogs on the beach as we often do. When we see noone around we let them off for a run. We had four dogs at this time. Three of our own and

a dog that we were looking after for a friend. Our friends dog is virtually blind and canonly see very little. So we let him off the lead but just after we notice that there was a

family on the beach. We tried to call the dog back , it did not happen and he knockedover one of the children (Not seriously).

My wife Carol is such a witness for the Lord and so apologised. I was at the other end of

the beach with two of our other dogs and started walking over. This gentleman and hiswife would not accept my wifes apology and starting being abusive and rude to her.

Then of course Butcho Husband comes into the equation and starts putting his, that ismy penorth in as well:


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What do you think you are doing? What you saying to my wife? You want tosay that to me? Blah! Blah! Blah!

And on it went as an argument developed. I was yanked forward by the wife as she pulledon the lead around my neck and stupid personal things were said on both sides.

I Was Wrong! Yes: I Was Wrong! But it did Not effect my relationship with God. But it

effected how I felt and thought. It effected me. So I had a time for a couple of hours. WellI had a short time of around 30 minutes where I got the Carol (thats my wife)

Repentance session, I wont dwell on that. But I had a couple of hours following where Iregretted what I had done. Of course Satan came in;

You are teaching on Repentance? I dont think so. How can you, you are such ahypocrite and sinner phone and tell the Pastor to forget it. Cancel. You are not worthy

to do it

I realised that my dead flesh still doing its headless chicken thing on the beach spurredme on. But I saw that I was the righteousness ofGod ( 1 Corinthians 1: 30, 2 Corinthians5:21, Philippians 3:9, James 2: 23).

Even though I acted this way I bear no ill will to that family and would gladly apologiseif I saw them again. Just adding that in case some one will argue that what I did was

wrong and did not show love as it states to do in 3 John. I still love and do not hate themor myself. Two years ago I probably would have been angry then brought down and the

have several days of depression. That did not happen. I got back on living under Christand being open to his Grace.

I did not have to go through a ritualistic thing, confessing this that and the other or go

through 3 days of this or a week of that or 6 weeks of this. Again a cross fertilization thathas crept into the Church through Pagan rituals, Islam and Judaism. I did not have to

phone up , or meet up with people saying I would not be teaching on Sunday. I did nothave to claim I was a sinner. But can claim I am the righteousness of Christ. But the

righteousness of Christ was not working that day and like the proverbial dead headlesschicken I did my own fleshly thing.

So what it boils down to with our second meaning of Repentance is this: Metamelomai is

to Have regret. It is to be sorry.

Here are two readings:

Matthew 21:28-31 [Metamellomai]


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But what think ye? Acertain man had two sons; and he came to the first,and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I willnot: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, andsaid likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whetherof them twain did the will ofhis father? They say unto him, The first. Jesussaith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots gointo the kingdom of God before you.

Hebrews 7:21 [metamellomai]:(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by himthat said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent [1] , Thou arta priest

for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)

This is about regret, it is about being sorry to others, to self and to God. This is apsychological thing. God in his infinite wisdom knows our psychology and has put

resources into place for us here. But it is not about God being affected by this. We are

and because we are God has given us a way to deal with it but not to go back again tobeing cut off from God. No! We are still Gods righteousness and we can still move inthat position we are Not Dirty Disgusting Sinners in Need Of Judgement. All that was

done on the Cross 2000 years ago. It truly belittles the power of the Cross to sayotherwise.

There is a third Greek word not really worth mentioning but it makes a guest appearance

once and so shall be covered. This as much as anything to get it out the way.

A (Ametameletos) (Pronouncedam-et-am-el'-ay-tos)

A (Ametameletos) (Pronouncedam-et-am-el'-ay-tos)(As a negative particle) and a presumed ; irrevocable: - without repentance, not to

be repented of. NOT TO REGRET

To be without Repentance, to be without Regret, By implication not to be repented of.This has one key scripture only:

Romans 11: 29 [Ametameletos]For the gifts and calling of Godarewithout repentance.

Here it is saying that Repentance is not about Gods gifts, that repentance is not in the

equation here. But this is the key I believe when It comes to this word. God will neverchange his mind on the issue. Gods Living Word is His will and choice. We can thus

trustthis Word completely and with A confidence renew our mind (Metanioa). We are thus

lead


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into all truth by the Holy Spirit who enables us to remain in Gods power and keep in hisrighteousness not by anything we do but by what has already been done by Christ.

That is saying that God never changes his mind, does not have to be sorry or apologise.

SUMMING UP THE GREEK CONCEPTSIn Romans 12:2 it states that Born Again believers must be :

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by therenewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, andacceptable, and perfect, will of God.

We are transformed by that initial repenting at our conversion our spirits are completely

new and we are new creations however the changing our mind, feelings and thoughtsabout something, in the physical realm has to be worked through and takes time. So we

are on a continual road of change where we are being transformed in the physical.

This change of mind will thus brings about a change of actions. Thus true Repentance(Metanoia) has taken place. We can apologise to God if we want and this is the root of

Metamelomai. But our relationship with him (On his side) is not effected. One can butwonder in Joy as God has put there the psychological, and emotional, tools to help us

(On our side return to him).

1. What does Metamelomai mean ?

2. Does Metamelomai mean that we have to keep Repenting to an angry God?

LETS GO THE HEBREW WAYThe Hebrew words now are what we need to look at. So we can draw a conclusion and

seehow all this fits together.

Hebrew was a symbolic language it was a pictorial language thus a word would form a

picture in the mind and this would associate itself with an idea which in turn mayassociate

to another word and picture and on it goes. Sometimes we translate Hebrew words but

canmiss some of the concepts of what it was saying, or even add more than it originally

meant.

Hebrew was therefore a very descriptive language. Remember that at the Fall we lost

contactwith the Spiritual. We thus needed a way that could explain the spiritual, in ways and

Terms, that people could understand in the Old Testament times. Thus God used the best


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language to do that and that was a pictorial language and one of the best to use wasHebrew

And so God used that.


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Na^cham / Nhm(Pronounced Naw-kham')The first word is :

Na^cham / Nhm(Pronounced Naw-kham')This is :

To Sigh/Breathe Heavily /ToBeSorry/ To Pity/ To Be Consoled/ ToRue / ToAvenge(oneself)/ To Comfort ( oneself)/ To Ease [oneself] Into / To Repent (-er, -ing, self).

(Strongs)

It is to sigh with deep emotion. Note that in John 14 John refers to the Holy Spirit as theComforter. Many of the Na-cham references are the ones that refer to God Repenting

(Getting heavy with emotion???).

Genesis 6:6 [Naw-kham']

And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and itgrieved him at his heart.

Or:

Deuteronomy 32:36 [Naw-kham']

For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants,

when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.

Psalm 90:13 [Naw-kham']

Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.

But we (people) can be laid heavy with emotion too:

Job 42:6: [Naw-kham']

Wherefore I abhormyself, and repent in dust and ashes.

Exodus 32: 12 [Naw-kham']:

Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bringthem out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the

face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evilagainst thy people.


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1. Does God Repent in the Old Testament?

2. What does Naw-kham mean when it speaks of Repentance?

[No^cham] ( Pronounced No'-kham)

The second word here is :

[No^cham] ( Pronounced No'-kham)

Thus this means:To Stop / Be Rueful, / To Have Desistance: - repentance?

(Strongs)

No-Kham here can be seen in the following scripture:

Hosea 13:14 [No'-Kham]

I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them fromdeath: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction:repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.

This is about stopping, finishing, ending.

1. What shall be kept from Gods Eyes and why?

2. Repentance here just means what?


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shu^b (PronouncedShoob)The 3

rdword and most used in scripture is the word as you can see This seems to mean

so

much:

shu^b (PronouncedShoob)To Turn Back (hence, away) transitively or intransitively, literally or figuratively(not necessarily with the idea ofreturn to the starting point)/ Generally toRetreat/To doAgain /(cause to) answer (+ again), Bring (again, back, home again)/ Call [tomind]/ Carry Again (back)/ Come again / Reconsider/ Continually Convert/ Deliver(again)/ Deny/ Draw Back/ Fetch (be brought home again)/ Get [oneself] (back)Again/ Give (Again)/ Go Again (back, home)/ Repent/Recall/

Recompense, Recover Refresh/ Relieve/ Render Again/ Requite Rescue (get back)/Restore (Bring Back)/ Retrieve/ (cause to, make to) Return/ Reverse Reward, SayNo Again/ To Send Back/ To Set Again as was/ Slide Back (Not Back slide)/ Still/Surely/ Take Back (off of) /Cause To/ Make To/ Turn Again/ Self Again/Away / Back

/ Back Again / Backward/ Forward (as was) / From /Off To/ Withdraw/ Go 0utAgain /Hinder Again / Pull in again/ Put (Again, Up Again).

(Strongs & Other Lexiconsources)

As you can see it has so much to it and can be hard to really pin point what it means. I

coulddo a very traditional thing and say that there are some mysteries that God does not yet

wantus to know. But that is not true. Just by looking at how the word is used in The Word we

canget some idea.

Shoob on the whole seems to mean to Come Back From, or to Return To. This can be:

a place, or a state, or idea, a concept, or even an original point etc.

So let us look at Shoob readings. I am not even going to pretend to know what it means inTotal; but I ask you to ask the Holy Spirit to show you as you read the following

passagesfrom Scripture.

1 Kings 8: 47 [Shoob]

Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carriedcaptives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of themthat carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have doneperversely, we have committed wickedness;

Now you know that here is about returning to The Land and not a state of righteousnessetc.


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And again Genesis 31: 13 [Shoob]:

I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thouvowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return

(repent) unto the land of thy kindred.

But I can see that without knowledge of the word you can be drawn to thin that this is

about

Repentance from sin.

However the following is all about sin.Ezekiel 18:30 [Shoob]:

Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to hisways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all yourtransgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

Come back to God, turn back to God. Note also in Ezekiel

Ezekiel 14:6 [Shoob]

Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent,and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from allyour abominations.

Return to God, Return to the way you were before you had idols. Remember to that thiswas

to a people , culture, society and not to individuals but it spoke to individuals within thatgrouping (namely the Jews).

The next scripture is from Obadiah. You know the only way Id really want kids (yes

Imweird that way) is if I could give them good old Testament names like Obadiah, or

Jeremiah,or Amos (Good old Jewish Yorkshire names. Anyway lets move on.

Obadiah 1: 15: [Shoob] states:

For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, itshall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return (Repent) upon thine own head.

1. Shoob means what when it comes to Repentance?

2. Is Shoob easy to define and if not why?


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AFTERWORD

TIEING UP LOOSE ENDS

There are three points before we close I see that need to be addressed here. There may bemore, and please if there is let me know. These three points need to be clarified. So I will

attempt to do so with Gods help and the Grace of Jesus.

If Repentance (Metanoia) is a done deal then:

1. Why do we have readings like Romans 6 ( 1ff)2. Why do we read and see Judas Repent (Matthew 27:3) and why is he lost.3. What of 1 John 1: 9

1. Romans 6: 1ff is not that difficult if we read in context. Look at what Paul is talking

about before this section and we see it is about faith and obedience to that new life we

have in God and what he goes on to talk about afterward is about the Law and how itis spiritual and our flesh is carnal.

Now to put all this in context. We are called into a new life with Jesus and because ofJesus. we no longer have to be guided by our flesh but are guided by the spirit. We

are servants of righteousness. We are not Sin conscious anymore but centred onJesus. We are servants of sin no longer. Because I am dead to sin, through what

Jesus has done I am not under its penalty. This does not mean that I can, in the flesh,sin freely but it does mean because I have Christ in me so I Just do not want or have

the desire to sin because I love God so much. Of course like healing, salvation,deliverance, and the rest this still has to be worked out. But it has all taken place thus

we have to bring out of our spirit that truth of our Redemption that has taken place.Repentance is only ongoing for us as we Work it out into our flesh and mind But we

are not called to do it again and again and again for this would truly be an insult toThe Cross of Christ (see also Hebrews 6-7)

2. Judas regretted (Metamelomai), not Repented (Metanioai) [Matthew 27:3] . His wasaworldly repentance of self pity and loathing filled with fear hate and depression. This

was no Repentance Unto Salvation. We may not like it or understand it yet but weshould not dwell on this if it brings us down. Remember though this was prophesied,

this was Judas choice and I believe that. Regret Metamelomai however is NotMetanoia, and as we can see from scripture Judas did not come to repent and believe

(Mark 1: 15).

3. On 1 John 1:9. We must note that this was written to a fellowship that was made up

of a

strange mix of Gnostic Jews, as well as believers. Thus Johns call here is twofold a


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call to conversion but a call to not to be drawn back to old ways. We are called tobear fruit and as we work out what our repentance means this will come to fruition.

Thus Confessing all our sins before God and then making a list all the bad,

wicked evil things we can remember, and even some we cannot then weeping,

gnashing and wailing in sackcloth and ashes the punishing ourselves (Our Egos andFlesh) in the hope that we may be forgiven, is NOT what Repentance is about.

This is NOT the way we are to come before God, as if by our works, doings or what wesay we cannot obtain our forgiveness from sin this way. Jesus has done it our job is to

accept and believe this truth.

The only way that we are ever forgiven of our sin is by that Born Again process andbelieving in what Jesus has already done for us on that Cross. The Forgiveness of God

has come from our simple belief that Jesus has paid the price once for ALL and that Hehas dealt with sin and the effects of Sin forever.

There is more I know but for now that is where I am at.

CONCLUSION

So you see when we break it all down, see the contrasts, rather than holding on totraditional

view points that have left us in the mess we are now in and leaving us seeingRepentance

without truly understanding its simple intricacies that we see in scripture; if that is theword

we choose is just Repentance (as traditionally understood) and not Metanoia.Metamelomai,

Naw-Kham, Naw-khom, or Shoob we then miss out on so much as well as getting caught

upin a tradition that can, without even knowing it many times, hold us back from God.

That moment that we give ourselves to the Lord, come to him knowing who he is, who

weWere, and are now living in him because of the finished work upon the Cross then this

is

the Repentance unto Salvation mentioned in 2 Corinthians 7.

However Regret, and weve all had a few (What many today refer to as Repentance) isfine.

You do it for a short time and move on, or back to. But it is your relationship with Godthat

is effected NOT HIS RELATIONSHIP TO YOU. Read John 17, Or Galatians or Hebrews


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Or a plethora of scriptures in the New Testament and see how true this is.

The key is that your Repentance is done you can still regret but this does not effect Godsrelationship to you. God is not waiting in Judgement on you the believer. It may seem

we

are effected in our relationship to God but that is another issue. All God ever sees nowwhenhe looks at us is Jesus finished work and Jesus himself in us

We maybe become aware of Sin Patterns in our life as we grow with the Lord however

thisis our awareness and it is still something God dealt with 2000 years ago upon that sweet

Cross of Calvary. God dealt with those sins , you have just become aware of them butthese

along with past sins and future sins were dealt with at your conversion.

The Dealing with our transgressions (sins and other stuff) has happened. But what can bewrong with the old style Repentance you ask. Hebrews answers that question:

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tastedof the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, Andhave tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing theycrucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an openshame.

If we keep Repenting old style we keep taking Jesus to the Cross. Jesus wishes us to

grow in

relationship with him not to be held back by those things that focus on ourselves ratherthan

God (Read the whole of Hebrews).

The work of the Cross is finished for Jesus then and for us now ( John 17:4, 19:30) . All

wehave to do is believe, and the effects that the Cross showed us will bear fruit (John 15: 1-

8)as we knowledge the Fathers Love in and through Jesus. This work of God comes out

fromour spirit through to our flesh and mind. We gain revelation (already there) as we grow

inknowledge of Jesus, who he is and what he has done for us. Because this is spiritual

knowledge revelation then comes from the Holy Spirit who now dwells within us.

Here for me is a radical truth . I would now prefer and would rather drop the wordRepentance, because of all the negative crap that has been built into it by mens tradition.

We did this with the word Penance (in the Protestant and Catholic traditions) altogether.I


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would rather have the original words and the concepts they provide.

Metanoia (One time coming to God, Accepting Jesus, change of state)

Metamelomai (Regret, state of being sorry for, similar to but not totally same as Naw-kham)

Naw-kham (A heavy state, emotionally charged to lead one to breath heavily and to sigh)

Naw khom (To stop, Cease from, have Desistance to)

Shoob (To return to state [emotional, mental, physical], return to place, to go back to)

It would be odd at first. Many are now coming to terms with Metanoia the rest couldfollow But you know, and I say this in grief , rather than any pride, I do not think the

majority of the Church are ready for this yet and so I shall keep saying Repentance withthe

rest of them (us) but correcting lovingly, where I may, and being open to that truth thathas

been revealed to me and now hopefully to you.


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So again repeating what I just said , for those skimming through. It is all about Jesus andhis finished work on the Cross. I hate the concept of putting him up there: again, and

again,and again, and again. Many Traditionalist in Christianity hold on to what they believe is

true

but these are things not even true of the old covenant. We perceive God sees us in theflesh,we fail to see that we are New Creations ( 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15; Ephesians

4:24; Colossians 3: 10) in him and we hold his righteousness (Romans 5:17; Romans10:4;

Philippians 3:9)

Thus as "Born Again", New Creatures in the Righteousness of Christ Jesus our oldsinful nature has been washed clean by the precious Blood of Jesus. Our spirit (that

which is Spiritual) is sealed by the Holy Spirit. Now having been washed clean of oursin nature, once and for all, our spirit is eternally sealed so that the sin of that nature

cannot be put on it again. We are now in our spirits Dead to Sin.

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present

with me; buthow to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I donot: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I

that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is

present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see anotherlaw in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to

the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me

from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the

mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

(Romans 7: 18-25)

However we still live in a sinful physical body that has drives to sin. But that body is

now dead to us it is like a headless chicken running about. It is crucial that we allunderstand the New Born Again Spirit does not sin because it Loves God so much,

and in response to his love for us it requires to please God. It responds, not because ithas to, not through religious traditional views of an angry God, But because it wants to

and it loves God so much.Here I am talking to those truly born of the Spirit of God and not just church going

traditionalist. I am speaking to those who are in , or require to be in , a relationship withGod.

This is not about a remit to sin. As Paul says many times: GOD FORBID! Far from itbecause we now walk in the freedom that Gods love brings us we do not want to sin.Our

drive lies elsewhere as we live in obedience to his will and his choice for us in Jesus.

Sin separated us from the presence of God but we are now not thrown out of HisPresence

any longer every time we do something we should not. Jesus has paid the price for us


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onceand for all if we keep using the religious view of repenting then all we do is make a

mockeryof the Cross and make Jesus, and thus God a liar:


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For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenlygift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God,

and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again untorepentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an

open shame.

(Hebrews 6:4-6)

And

God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thoumightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

(Romans 3:4)

He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not

God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his

Son. (1 John 5:10)

One more thing that bothers me is how whole sacramental systems have been built up

around the issue of Repentance and the like. For a word that really appears very little inscripture it has taken on the weight of crucial complicated teaching where in reality, as

youbreak it down, it is simple, direct and, seems to mean exactly what it says on the label.

Feastdays, fast days have been created all around this issue. In some denominations a whole

period (Lent) is put aside on this issue as it is Man rather than Jesus that is focused on.

Though there are scriptures that would seem to support traditional views, I believe theseneed to be read in context, and with the mind of Christ, through unfiltered thoughts

(That isnot entirely filtered by our Earthly concepts and experiences) of revelation. Reve lation

willhappen and the Church will grow and learn as it works out these issues. But hey that is

another bowl of cherries.

Love and Grace go with you all.

SDPA Mason-Corkery


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Acknowledgements

To my dear wife Carol, to my friend and Pastor Vic Cameron and his wife Nuncy, To

Daveand Chris, Jo, and the others who are great friends at Moray Grace fellowship. To others

toothat I can share a laugh and fellowship with. You know who you are.

Love & Grace and many thanks

Sean


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alister E McGrath, Christian Theology, An Introduction 4th

edition (BlackwellPublishing

Oxford 2007

Robert Williams,A Guide to the Teaching of the Early Church Fathers (Grand Rapids:Eerdmans, 1960), P142.

Luther's Works, vol. 36, The Babylonian Captivity, 61

Robert N. Wilkin (Study By): The Doctrine of Repentance in Church History

Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society Volume 1, No. 1 -- Autumn 1988

Thomas F. Torrance, The Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers (Grand Rapids:Eerdmans, 1959).

Hermas,Mandate,

Polycarp,Letter to the Philippians

Justin Martyr, The First Apology, 15-16;

Origen,Homilies on the Psalms, On Psalm 37

Ambrose, Concerning Repentance

Augustine, On Christian Doctrine, 1.17-18;

Augustine, On the Creed, 15- 16.

Anselm,De Concordia III: Grace and Free Choice, 8;

Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, IV: 71-72.

Clement of Rome, FirstEpistle to the Corinthians

Cyprian,Epistle 52 , Treatise on the Lapsed,

Jerome,Letter122: To Rusticus,

John Cecil Anderson, "Repentance in the Greek New Testament" (Th.D. dissertation,

Dallas Theological Seminary, 1959), 14ff.

CalvinInstitutes of the Christian Religion,

Luther's Works, Vol. 48,


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Dirksen,Metanoia, 79-80

James Graham, "Repentance,"Evangelical Quarterly 25 (1953): 233;

George Peters, "The Meaning of Conversion,"Bibliotheca Sacra 120 (1963): 236, 239; R

Rudolph Schnackenburg, The Moral Teaching of the New Testament(Freiburg: Herder

and Herder, 1965), 25-33;

A. H. Strong, Systematic Theology (Philadelphia: Judson Press, 1912), 832-35;

Eugene La Verdiere, The Need for Salvation: A New Testament Perspective," ChicagoStudies 21 (1982): 234.

William Barclay, Great Themes of the New Testament(Philadelphia: Westminster Press,

1979), 72-73;

William Douglas Chamberlain, The Meaning of Repentance (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,1943), 47, 143-44, 216, 222-23;

Billy Graham, The Meaning of Repentance (Minneapolis: The Billy Graham Evangelistic

Association, 1967), 5-11;

George Ladd, The Gospel of the Kingdom (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959), 95-106; 1.

Bob Stokes,Repentance, Revival, andtheHoly Spirit (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), 10-16, 24,

John R. W. Stott,Basic Christianity (London: Inter Varsity Fellowship, 1958), 111-32,

Effie Freeman Thompson,METANOEO and METAMELEI in Greek Literature Until 100

A. D., Including aDiscussion ofTheir Cognates and of Their Hebrew Equivalents(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1908), 24-25.

H. A. Ironside,Except Ye Repent (New York: American Tract Society, 1937), 34, 53,

171-76;

Charles Caldwell Ryrie,Biblical Theology of the New Testament(Chicago: Moody Press,1959), 116-17;

Richard A. Seymour,All About Repentance (Fayetteville, GA: Clarity Publications,

1974), 33, 46, 62;

Treadwell Walden, The Great Meaning of Metanoia (New York: Thomas Whittaker,1896), 4-9, 79-81,125,151.

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