Components of Repentance

Repentance is one of the most important concepts of the Bible. Faith and repentance are the necessary components of conversion (Mark 1:14-15). Without it, we are storing up wrath for ourselves (Romans 2:5). But what is repentance – is it being sorry for sin? While it is part of repentance, it is much deeper. It involves at least three components: conviction, confession and change.

Conviction speaks to acknowledging guilt. We see this from David in his simple words, “I have sinned against the LORD” when the prophet Nathan confronted him about his affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah in 2 Samuel 12:13. David later poetically described his conviction in Psalm 51 when he said, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment (Psalm 51:3–4).” He is specific about what he did and makes no excuses for his actions.

Confession is acknowledging our sin both to God and man. First John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Here we see the vertical dimension of confession as it is first a confession to God, and we are lost without His forgiveness. Next, James 5:15 says, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” This horizontal component is important because we hurt other people with our sin. Our confession is not complete until we confess both to God and to those people we hurt with our sin.

Change is the final part of repentance and this is what makes it distinct from an apology. We see this with John the Baptist’s statement to the Pharisees and Sadducees in Matthew 3:8, “bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” Bearing fruit is the sign of repentance. The New Living Translation translates the verse: “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” In other words, if there is no change in the way you live, then you have not repented.

The fruit of repentance can be illustrated with a driving analogy. We live in the Houston, Texas area, south of Dallas and north of Galveston and connected to both cities by Interstate 45. Imagine I decided to drive to Dallas with my wife, but she pointed out that I turned south onto the interstate instead of north. If I said, “I’m sorry”, but continued driving south, my action would not be keeping with repentance because nothing changed in my behavior. If instead exited the interstate as soon as possible and turned around to go north, it would prove I was repentant because I would be doing the opposite of what I was doing before – namely going north instead of south.

When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, it causes pain because it is an offense to God and is hurtful to others. If we are repentant, we will ask God to change us so we no longer desire that sin, and we will stop the behaviors led us to that sin. May we continue to pray and ask God to reveal the sinful thoughts and actions of our lives and to grant us repentance from the traps of this world (2 Timothy 2:25-26).