Continual evil, senselessness, ignorance, and foolishness are the rocks to which man’s mind is chained. He is completely unwilling to believe in God and the claims of Christ. His very ability to will and execute decisions is also chained. But even deeper, man desires, loves, and wants sin. His emotions are chained just as tightly to the rock of lusts of the flesh, eyes, and pride of life (cf. 1 John 2:15-17). All in all, man’s nature is bleakly described in terms of depravity. He is not as evil as he possibly can be, but his entire being is sinful through and through, with his entire heart (mind, will, and emotions) enslaved completely to the passion and destruction of sin. What hope can there be for such a one?

Sociological and psychological contributions to man’s problems have been observed already. Both “sciences” understand man’s surrounding environment and past history to be the main contributors to man’s condition. Education is the ultimate savior of mankind. If man can only be educated fully then change will take place. Change occurs when man can finally accept his past, and only then can he get on with the present. This outlook understands that mere acceptance of the past, no matter what kind of past it may be, will change man’s problems. Rather than fight to change, man must give up and accept what is reality. Dealing with reality then becomes the topic of the next five dozen psychotherapy sessions. Yet the only problem is that psychology and sociology haven’t told people that their guiltiness before God is the true reality. Instead, they tell them that “they just haven’t adjusted to their environment or social situation yet. They are not responsible for many of their actions.”[1]

The consensus of Scripture on man’s problems is that the heart of the matter is man’s heart. But even though man is completely engulfed in his self-styled, handmade tomb of sin and destruction (cf. Psa. 7:14-16), the same Scriptures, which exclaim the judgment of God on such a one, also proclaims the good news for the same. What good news is this? Man can be delivered from his status of depravity, and his heart can be set free from sin forever. The heart, as observed in the Part I, consists of the mind, will, and emotions. Part II concluded that sin holds man’s heart, in its entirety, imprisoned in sin, and completely unable to help himself or better his status or condition. Now we will observe and conclude that man’s heart is actually delivered out of this sin through the mercy of God in conversion.

If the mind, will, and emotions are all held captive by the Devil to do his will (2 Tim. 2:26), then God must actually invade man, capturing his heart, in order for that man to desire to do God’s will. This process is known as conversion, commonly referred to today as well as in Scripture as being “born again.” It is a sovereign and merciful act of God that He enacts at His pleasure and freedom (John 1:12-13; Rom. 9:15-16). Being born again involves several aspects, and the two I will focus on here are repentance and faith (cf. Acts 20:21). Both of these elements are part of the once-and-for-all conversion man experiences. Yet both are uniquely different in the work each element plays within that one act of conversion. Since repentance represents salvation in terms of faith (e.g. Matt. 22:31; Mark 1:15; Acts 20:21; Heb. 6:1),[2] my purpose here in Part III is to observe specifically the application of repentance to man’s heart, thereby affecting his salvation from sin.

Repentance (metanoia – Gk. Noun) means a change (from meta meaning “after”) of mind (from nous). This word merely depicts the state of one who has changed his mind. “Repent” is the verbal side of the word (metanoeo), which depicts the action of changing one’s mind. The involvement of the heart in repentance can be stated summarily here. Since the mind is the decision-making faculty of the heart, facts (which the mind processes) and feelings (which the emotions process) must inform it. When the emotions contribute their portion to the decision to repent, it is because the emotions have also changed, feeling truly sorry. And this in turn, results in a change of action, as the will simply carries out what the repentant mind and emotions have already decided to do. Strictly speaking, in regards to sin, “repentance thus becomes a holy abhorrence, a righteous condemnation, a conscious repudiation and renunciation of sin, a voluntary turning away from a life of sin, a determinate breaking with evil.”[3] Now observe the data from Scripture concerning repentance, which builds this summary.[4]

At the outset, repentance must be observed from the two standpoints Scripture gives. First and foremost, repentance is actually something that God grants or gives to an individual. Twice in Acts, Luke states this clearly. God granted repentance to Israel in 5:31, and to the Gentiles in 11:18 God granted them repentance, which led to salvation. To those who teach false doctrine, our prayer is that God would grant them the knowledge, which would lead them to repent from their false doctrine. But though it is a gift, man is commanded to use that gift, or act upon it. John the Baptist, Jesus, and Peter all had one thing common – their very first sermon involved a demand for Israel to repent (Matt 3:8; Luke 3:8; 13:3; Acts 2:38; 3:19). To Simon the Magician, a command to repent of the wicked intention of his heart is issued by Peter (Acts 8:22). And further, God has now called all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). Finally, five of seven churches all received the same exhortation from Christ to repent (Rev. 2:5, 16, 21, 22; 3:3, 19).[5]

Now regarding the involvement and effect of repentance on the heart, observe first the emotions. Repentance without a doubt involves an emotional change in feelings towards sin. The Hebrew language uses the word nacham to portray what we understand to be the emotional aspect of repentance. It means, “to be sorry,” “to regret,” or “to have pity.”[6]

2 Corinthians 7:9 speaks of a sorrow which leads to repentance. It should be noted closely that this sorrow has a standard though: the will of God. In other words, sorrow for sin is truly sorrow when sin is seen in light of God’s will found, of course, in God’s Word. “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation…” (2 Cor. 7:10).

Observe the Scriptural elements of godly repentance. Those who mourn over their sin are called blessed (Matt. 5:4). Those who are brokenhearted and crushed in spirit because of their sin will find that the Lord is near (Psa. 34:18; 51:17). Humility and contrition exemplify the one who trembles in fear at God’s Word (Isa. 66:2). Finally, Joel describes repentance, returning to God, as requiring the whole heart (demonstrated during this time period through fasting, weeping, mourning, and tearing of garments.) (2:12, 13). Examples of godly repentance may be found in David (Psalm 51); Josiah (2 Kings 22); Ezra w/ Israel (Ezra 10); Job (42:6); Peter (Matt. 26:69-75); Tax-gatherer (Luke 18:13); and the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:21). Examples of repentance that is not according to the will of God would include Cain (Gen. 4), Ahab (1 Kings 21), and Judas (Matt. 27:1-10).[7] At this point, it must be clearly stated that “the sharpness of sorrow is not what constitutes the repentance: the repentance consists in the change of mind, resulting in change of life, and the sorrow for sin is its accompaniment.”[8] This leads us to an examination of repentance and the mind.

Repentance is a mental change of mind concerning nature and results of sin. 2 Tim. 2:25 describes repentance as a result of proper God-given knowledge – a knowledge that leads to repentance. Because the mind is the faculty of determination and intention, it must turn from all intentions of evil (Acts 8:22). The times of ignorance have passed – all men everywhere know what is sin and God has commanded them to repent (Acts 17:30). Isaiah succinctly stated the task at hand for Israel: they were to cease from doing evil and they were to learn to do good (1:16-17).

Here is one place where education, godly, biblical education, is necessary in order to repent. Lightner understands repentance in this fashion when he states that “all who have trusted Christ as Savior have changed their minds regarding Him and their son…God the Holy Spirit uses the facts of Scripture and causes the sinner to change his mind about himself, his sin, and the Savior.”[9] With his feelings and intellect now changed, and having repented from sin inwardly, the natural result is an outward change in behavior. This is called “”fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matt. 3:8). And “repentance, if it is to be genuine, must be accompanied by fruit-bearing. A merely outward confession of sin will never do.”[10]

Repentance is finally a volitional change that is demonstrated in the determination to cease from sin and follow Christ (Isa. 1:16-17 – stop doing evil, learn to do good). Primarily spoken of in terms of “turning” from sin, the Old Testament illustrates this concept colorfully in God’s repeated pleas to Israel (Ezek. 18:21,31; 2 Chron. 7:14; Isa. 55:7; Acts 3:19). The volitional element of repentance is also seen in the many demands made for repentance, observed in the passages above.

The Hebrew word shuv best resembles what is thought of today as repentance. “It indicates turning from evil to God, from evil ways to God’s ways.”[11] The New Testament Greek parallels to shuv are metanoeo and metanoia, also mentioned previously. These emphasize a change of mind and attitude, which causes one “to make a decision that changes the total direction of one’s life.”[12] The emotions may be sorry for sin, and the mind may even determine that sin (of some particular size or shape) is hazardous or not useful any more.[13] But “there must be that inward change which expresses itself outwardly in God-glorifying conduct, fruit-bearing in keeping with conversion.”[14] Turning from our rebellion to Christ as Lord with our whole selves involves: our minds – we must agree with God that we have wronged Him and deserve His judgment, and we must realize that His goodness shown to us in many ways was designed to humble us unto repentance; our emotions – we should despise our sins and sinful nature; and our wills – we should determine to turn from our rebellion and serve our Creator and Redeemer, seeing Christ alone a the payer for and the power over our sin.[15]

In conclusion then, the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. And even though man’s heart is desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9), even though his mind, will, and emotions are all held in complete and total enslavement to sin, God has so mercifully and graciously provided a means whereby he can be made free. God’s free gift of repentance, consisting in salvation and acted upon upon responsibly by man, powerfully affects complete and lasting change in man’s thinking, feeling, and acting. Praise be to His glorious Name for providing a way out of our hellish predicament!

Footnotes

[1] Metzger, Will. Tell the Truth: The Whole Gospel to the Whole Person by Whole People. (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1984), 54.

[2] Actually, any one of three terms is sufficient to portray salvation: Repentance (Luke 15:7; Acts 17:30,31); Faith/Believe (Acts 16:31); and Turn (Acts 9:35; 14:15; 1 Thess. 1:9).

[3] Peters, George W. “The Meaning of Conversion” in Bibliotheca Sacra 120 (19 63):239

[4] A helpful tool in observing how different writers of Scripture applied repentance, see Donald Guthrie’s New Testament Theology (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1981. For repentance in Acts see page 587f.; for Paul’s writings see page 589ff.; in Hebrews see 595f.; in 2 Peter see page 598; and in Revelation see page 601.

[5] Conversion is an act of both God and man. Man must turn and be converted (isa. 55:6-7; Ezek. 33:11; Acts 3:19), and God also turns and converts man (Psa. 80:3,7,19; Jer. 24:7; 31:18-19; Acts 3:26).

[6] Richards, Lawrence O. Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1985) 522.

[7] The reader is encouraged to examine closely Thomas Watson’s The Doctrine of Repentance (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1987), specifically chapters two and three on “Counterfeit Repentance” and “The Nature of True Repentance” parts 1 and 2. These chapters clearly outline through Scripture applied to experience the two types of repentance.

[8] Peters, p. 239.

[9] Lightner, Robert P. Sin, The Savior, and Salvation. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers (1991), 167.

[10] Hendrickson, William. An Exposition of the Gospel According Luke in New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1978), 205.

[11] Richards, 522.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Two of three evidences of counterfeit repentance listed by Thomas Watson, 5-6.

[14] Hendrickson, 205.

[15] Metzger, 47. Part Two of Metzger’s book (pp. 75-104) is excellent reading on the issue of the heart. In that part he spends chapters five through seven specifically applying the gospel of Christ to the mind, will, and emotions. In addition, the book is filled with suggestions on communicating this to the lost.