Meaning of true repentance: 'I am wrong'

“Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years. It means undergoing a kind of death.”—C.S. Lewis

Repentance in the Bible is not sorrow for sin. The Greek word for repentance, “metanoia,” literally means “a change of mind.”

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.

Jordan explains, “Notice sorrow led you to something else, so they’re not the same. 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.

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In Matthew 26-27, 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,’ " explains Jordan.

“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 hoodilidoos 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.’

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“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 on the wall, ‘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.’

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“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.

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“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.

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“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."