Repentance
in the Bible is not "sorrow for sin," as many are mistakenly taught. The Greek word
for repentance, metanoia, literally
means “a change of mind.”
I
remember the first time I learned this truth I was 34 years of age, sunbathing
on St. Pete Beach, Fla., where my mom and step-father had a beachfront condo. I was lying on a towel in the bright afternoon sun, struggling with a sand-blowing
breeze to turn the pages of itinerant world evangelist Oscar Woodall’s
biography, Search for Security.
In
the chapter entitled Turning Point,
Woody, an insurance pioneer for Met Life credited with initiating the
company’s London offices and winning top salesman of the year, had just lost a job. The passage reads:
“For most men, Woodall reflected, life begins at 40. But it seems to be coming
apart for me at this critical age. Where do we go from here?
“In
the past, faced with such significant crossroads, Woody would have poured a
drink for himself and another for his wife as they pondered their next course
of action. But somehow, instinctively, he knew things were different this time.
He must have a clear mind and heart for such a time as this. Surely alcohol was
not the answer.
“In
mental turmoil, on that night of nights for Oscar Woodall, December 13, 1966,
all the things he had ever heard and read about God and Jesus Christ seemed to
race across his mind, clamoring for attention. Suddenly, without warning, he
had found himself alternately praying, sobbing, crying out to God for
direction.
“God, he prayed, I do not desire to be the president of my country or my company, I
desire to know You. I want You to take my life and use it for Your good purpose,
whatever that means and I don’t know what it means.
“As
he cried and sobbed for what seemed like hours. Woody thanked God for a wife at
his side who said to him simply, ‘You have taken it to the Lord; now leave
it there.’ Words of wisdom, to be sure, he reflected.
“After
a restless night, with anguish
of soul, struggling with his emotions, he arose at about 4 a.m. and put on his robe
before going out to walk in the yard. As he walked, he prayed—and as he prayed,
he wrestled with God as Jacob must have done, he thought later. God was
breaking his will.
“During
that most eventful night of his life, Woodall discovered what repentance was
all about: changing his mind about himself and seeing himself as God saw him—a hopeless,
helpless, lost sinner who deserved hell. He realized he had been running his
own life, doing his own thing, giving God only lip service.”
*****
As
Paul writes in II Corinthians 7, [9] Now I
rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for
ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in
nothing.
[10] For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
[10] For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
“Notice
sorrow led you to something else, so they’re not the same,” explains Preacher
Richard Jordan. “The passage is to Believers, so he’s not talking about
salvation from hell. He’s talking about salvation from defeat and destruction
in the Christian life and overcoming sin. The ‘sorrow of the world’ will ruin you;
it will kill your Christian experience to where it falls apart, withers up and
dies.
“Repentance
brings you to the place of objectively evaluating what you’re doing and doing
the right things in response to it and properly going forward. The world’s sorrow
is when guilt comes into place, but instead of it being real guilt, it’s the
psychological feelings of shame and rejection and fear and lack of self-worth.
It’s not true repentance.
*****
“In
Matthew 27, in the momentous events leading up to the Cross, Peter displays
godly sorrow that effectively changed him, while Judas represents a false kind
of repentance. With Judas, it’s the, ‘I’m sorry I got caught; I’m sorry I made
a mistake,’ and not an objective recognition of what the real issue is, which
is, ‘I am the one who’s wrong; I’m responsible.’
“Matthew
27:3 says, [3] Then Judas, which had betrayed
him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the
thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders.
“Judas says, ‘I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent
blood.’ That’s
a pretty good confession, isn’t it? Is that a true statement? It sure is. Does
Judas want to do right? Well, he brings the money back.
“Verse
5 says, [5] And he cast down the pieces of silver
in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
“He
was pretty sorry for what he did, wasn’t he? I mean, he’s got the remorse of
conscience. He goes out and kills himself. That’s being pretty depressed and
remorseful for what you did. But that’s the sorrow of the world.
“Judas
has all these guilt feelings that come on and he’s crying out, but it’s the
repentance of despair. This is just the guilt syndrome. He’s just sorry for the
problems he caused; the mistake he made.
*****
*****
“On
the other hand, Peter, it says, ‘Went out and wept bitterly.’ You know what I
bet Pete did? I bet he went right back to the Garden of Gethsemane he just came
out of, over to the very spot where his Savior, his Lord, had been praying and
had asked him to pray. I bet Peter got back down on his face in that spot and
got the thing right between him and the Lord.
“You
know where Judas went? He went to the priest. You ever hear anybody go to
confession? Judas went up to a bunch of priests that were called ‘father,’ that
wore long black robes and did all kind of little hoodley-doos and they took his
confession.
“Now,
you know what would make one guy do one thing and another guy do the other?
Your heart. Faith. Judas says, ‘I have sinned,’ and he sure had, but he didn’t
have the real repentance unto salvation; it was the sorrow of the world that
works death and so he goes out and hangs himself.
“By
the way, there are seven people in the Bible who say, ‘I have sinned.’ You talk
about a good sermon. If you want to study repentance and the different kinds of
repentances in the Bible, get your concordance and start back over in Exodus 9
with Pharaoh; it’s just a hypocritical confession of a hardened sinner. In
Numbers 22 is Balaam and then there’s Saul in I Samuel 15 and Achan in Joshua
7.
“With
David in II Samuel 12 is the repentance of a saint and then there’s the
Prodigal Son. He comes and says to the father, ‘I have sinned against heaven
and in thy sight.’
*****
“When
Judas says, ‘I have betrayed innocent blood,’ you ought to write in your margin
by that verse Acts 20:28: [28] Take heed
therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost
hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased
with his own blood.
“I’m
sure Judas didn’t fathom what he was saying. You know whose blood it was that
was poured out at Calvary? It was God’s blood. There’s not much doubt in my
mind why the new bible translations changed that verse.
“Judas
didn’t know the half of it. That blood wasn’t just innocent; that was God’s
blood. We sing the song, ‘There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from
Emmanuel's veins; And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their
guilty stains.’
“Folks,
the blood that flowed through Emmanuel’s veins; that’s just another way of
saying, like the words up on the wall go, ‘Unto Him that loved us and washed us
from our sins in His own blood.’ That’s a hymn-writer’s poetic way of saying
that the blood that is the basis of our salvation was God’s blood. As Matthew
1:23 says, ‘Emmanuel, which being interpreted, is God with us.’
*****
“Now,
notice how they responded to Judas in Matthew 27:4: [4]
Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they
said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
“The
chief priests and elders said, ‘What’s that to us?! Big deal, buddy, beat it!
You got a problem, go take care of it yourself!’
“That
shows you the situation Israel was in. They’re ignoring the fact that Christ was
innocent and that Judas was guilty. They just say, ‘Tough apples, man! We know
what we want to do and we’re going to go do it!’ They’re out to get it done and
they’re going to accomplish it.
The
account in Matthew 26 reads, [65] Then the
high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further
need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.
[66] What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.
[67] Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,
[68] Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?
[69] Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.
[70] But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.
[71] And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.
[72] And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.
[73] And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
[74] Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.
[75] And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.
[66] What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.
[67] Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,
[68] Saying, Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, Who is he that smote thee?
[69] Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee.
[70] But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest.
[71] And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth.
[72] And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.
[73] And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
[74] Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.
[75] And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.
*****
“Peter’s
saying in verse 74, ‘I don’t know that guy! Get off my back. Leave me alone. I
don’t know that sorry bum!’
“There’s
a great lesson there. He begins to curse and swear. The reason people curse and
use God’s name in vain is they’re trying to show by what authority they speak.
They’re trying to invoke the authority of somebody bigger than they are to put
other people down and lift them up.
“That’s
exactly what Pete’s doing here. You need to remember, people, that what’s in
Peter is in you. We’re all kin to Adam and the thing that made Peter do what he
did is he got out of sorts and quit walking in the Word of God and in the doctrine
Christ kept giving him. Peter kept ignoring it and not paying attention to it
and that’s what happened to him.
“Watch
the last verse: [75] And Peter remembered the
word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me
thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.
“You
see that? You know what Peter had been doing ever since verse 31? Christ said,
‘All of you are going to be offended, for it is written,’ and Peter said, ‘I
don’t care what anybody else does but I’m not! I don’t care what the Bible
says; I’m not going to be offended!’
“Christ
said, ‘Pete, before the cock crows three times you’re going to deny me three
times,’ and he did. Luke 22:60-62 says, [60]
And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet
spake, the cock crew.
[61] And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
[62] And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.
[61] And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
[62] And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.
*****
“Can
you see the scene? Can you see it in your own life? Here you are out in the
flesh, doing it yourself and forgetting about the Word and the doctrine that
ought to be operating in you, and all of a sudden the cock crows. And as quick
as it does, you know where Peter looked? He looked at the Lord to see if the
Lord was looking at him.
“Their
eyes met and brother, you talk about some glance! There’s the Lord walking
across the porch, tied up, blood on His face, His garments torn, the cock crows,
and it’s interesting Peter knew where He was.
“Peter’s
out there, ‘Not me, I don’t know Him,’ but he knew right where to look to see
Him! He knew what was going on. That’s a look from Jesus Christ that made him
go out and weep bitterly. That’s real repentance. That’s a godly sorrow that
WORKS repentance.”
“Godly
sorrow works repentance and what happened to Peter was he remembered the Word. Somebody
said one time, ‘If you have a hard time remembering the Word, get a better look
at Christ.’
“That’s
what Peter did. He saw the Lord, and when he did he remembered and the Word
convicted him and he went out and got right; he changed his mind. What tore him
up was not so much what he did, because that wasn’t the issue, but who he was.
The godly sorrow worked a change in mind and attitude in him.”
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