True repentance requires true effort. In the salvation process, there is no condition that requires more determination and more concentration than the one that requires personal change.
God required repentance in the Old Testament. It’s interesting that half of the instances of the word “repent” in the Old Testament are found in Jeremiah and Ezekiel (two prophets who prophesied to the falling and fallen southern kingdom of Judah). The Lord had permitted and used Babylon to bring judgment on His sinful people. Through these two prophets, God begged them to repent (Jer. 25:5; Ezek. 14:6; 18:30).
Jesus required repentance in the New Testament. The very first thing that Jesus came preaching was, “Repent” (Matt. 4:17). He warned, “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). In five of the seven letters that Jesus sent to the churches in Asia Minor, He pleaded with them to “repent” (Rev. 2:5, 16, 22; 3:3, 19).
Repentance is a change of one’s mind or one’s purpose. In Matthew 21, a man initially told his father that he would not go as instructed, “but afterward he repented himself, and went” (21:29, ASV). The ESV translates the word “repented” in this verse as “he changed his mind.”
Godly sorrow leads to true repentance. In chapter 7 of 2 Corinthians, Paul draws a contrast between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. Worldly sorrow is temporary (7:8), has no long-term benefit (7:9) and leads to death (7:10). One might be sorry by worldly standards, but until one sorrows according to God’s will and based on godly standards of life, true repentance will never take place, nor will life be produced.
A penitent heart is not enough. Repentance is an inward change of heart and mind that is not discernible outwardly. At least, not until the repentance leads to action. John the Baptist said it this way, “Bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Matt. 3:8). There must be an outward manifestation (a change of lifestyle) to correspond with inward change. That’s why the word “repent” is often followed by an action in the New Testament: “Repent, and believe” (Mark 1:15); “Repent, and…be baptized” (Acts 2:38); “Repent…and be converted” (Acts 3:19); “Repent…and pray God” (Acts 8:22); “repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance” (Acts 26:20); “repent and do” (Rev. 2:5).
Repentance is a command of God you’ll never regret obeying. God “now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). Repentance that leads to “salvation” is “not to be regretted” (2 Cor. 7:10). Anything you need to change?