| | Definition: | | \Re*pent"ance\ (r[-e]*p[e^]nt"ans), n. [F.
repentance.]
The act of repenting, or the state of being penitent; sorrow
for what one has done or omitted to do; especially,
contrition for sin. --Chaucer.
Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation. --2. Cor.
vii. 20.
Repentance is a change of mind, or a conversion from
sin to God. --Hammond.
Repentance is the relinquishment of any practice from
the conviction that it has offended God. Sorrow, fear,
and anxiety are properly not parts, but adjuncts, of
repentance; yet they are too closely connected with it
to be easily separated. --Rambler.
Syn: Contrition; regret; penitence; contriteness;
compunction. See {Contrition}.
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| | Definition: | | There are three Greek words used in the New Testament to denote repentance. (1.) The verb _metamelomai_ is used of a change of mind, such as to produce regret or even remorse on account of sin, but not necessarily a change of heart. This word is used with reference to the repentance of Judas (Matt. 27:3). (2.) Metanoeo, meaning to change one's mind and purpose, as the result of after knowledge. This verb, with (3) the cognate noun _metanoia_, is used of true repentance, a change of mind and purpose and life, to which remission of sin is promised. Evangelical repentance consists of (1) a true sense of one's own guilt and sinfulness; (2) an apprehension of God's mercy in Christ; (3) an actual hatred of sin (Ps. 119:128; Job 42:5, 6; 2 Cor. 7:10) and turning from it to God; and (4) a persistent endeavour after a holy life in a walking with God in the way of his commandments. The true penitent is conscious of guilt (Ps. 51:4, 9), of pollution (51:5, 7, 10), and of helplessness (51:11; 109:21, 22). Thus he apprehends himself to be just what God has always seen him to be and declares him to be. But repentance comprehends not only such a sense of sin, but also an apprehension of mercy, without which there can be no true repentance (Ps. 51:1; 130:4). |
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