Do I Need to Repent to be Saved? (What is Repentance?)

Jesus’ Proclamation of the Gospel and the Call to Repent

At the start of Jesus' earthly ministry, He proclaimed the gospel and said, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel. Since Jesus said we must repent, it must be pretty important.

What Repentance Means Before God

What is repentance? To repent means to change one's mind. In the case of repentance before God, we change our mind about our sin, realizing that we have done evil in the sight of God. And we change our mind about God, knowing that He is holy and righteous and good.

When you repent and believe, you're turning from something to something else. You're turning from the direction of your sin, which leads to death and eternity in hell, and you're turning to go in the direction of Christ, which leads to life and eternity with God.

Godly Grief and the Turn From Sin

But the off-ramp to turn you around from unrighteousness to God's righteousness is grief over your sin. 2 Corinthians 7 .10 says, Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Joel 2 .13 says, Rend your hearts, return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Psalm 7 .12 says, If a man does not repent, God will wet his sword.

Returning to the Lord for Compassion and Pardon

Isaiah 55 says, Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake His way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him.

And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon when we understand the text.