Mathew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent (command for continuous action, active tense, 1-change of condition-transition 2-to perceive with thought coming into the consciousness.): for (the reason for, because)the kingdom (the rule of God) of heaven is at hand (the completeness of the action, to approach-is here).
The word repent in the Greek is metanoeo-it consists of two word, the first word is meta- it is mostly translated as- with, it means close association.1-it speaks of companionship, fellowship.
The second word is noeo -which means to perceive with thought coming into the consciousness.
The word repent speaks of the change that takes place in the mind, when we open our heart to the influence of the Spirit of God.
Every word that God speaks contains His Spirit or essence in it. God imparts Himself in the words He speaks.
When Jesus said repent, the word was filled with the very love of God. It is the Love of a Father who so deeply cares about the welfare of His children that He is willing to lay down his very life for them.
When Jesus said repent-He was saying listen to me, I love you, your thinking is not right, if you can hear what I am saying, the words I speak will transform the way you think.
Repentance is a change of mind from evil (that which is harmful) to good, from good to better.
Jesus is saying repent-(change the way you think), because the kingdom of heaven is now here.
Romans 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink ;but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The kingdom of heaven is the leadership of the Holy Spirit, where the Spirit is Lord there is liberty. It is the Spirit of Gods governing our heart-His influence in our attitudes, desires, thought level and emotions. When we are filled with the Spirit of God , our thinking becomes inspired, it is on a higher level, we see things clearly in their proper perspective, and our emotions are filled with God’s love, joy and peace.
Jesus said repent -heaven has come to earth, and those who responded-(repented) -received healing for their sicknesses and diseases, so that they felt great, he restored people’s minds so that they could think right, they were no longer in fear and depressed, their emotions were full of wonder and joy, and He also feed the multitudes by taking care of their material needs.
The command to repent-is the entrance of the word into the heart producing an understanding. The anointing upon the word spoken in the Spirit pierces the heart, enlightening the spirit producing conviction-the wisdom of God convincing us of what is good and what is going to hurt us.
The command to repent- is the living word penetrating into the midst of the heart giving light-revelation of the glory of God-His will for our life. No longer do we have to keep falling short of the beauty of the divine nature-the glory of God’s person and actions.
Repentance is the call of God to partake of His nature and abilities, so that we no longer have to be ashamed of the attitudes, the thinking, the feelings and the behavior that result from a life that is not filled with His Spirit.
Luke24 45Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, 46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47And that repentance (a change or alteration of mind) and remission (the power and force of sin sent away) of sins should be preached in (that upon which something is based) his name (implying authority, using his name as his representative, by His authority and sanction) among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48And ye are witnesses of these things. 49And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
Repentance speaks of the change that occurs in our heart –when God opens up our understanding causing us to be willing to turn from that which is not His perfect will.
Remission of sins speaks of the removal of the power of sin in the heart to control the life and the removal of the debt of sin through Jesus’ death on the cross.
Repentance and remission of sins preached in His name-refers to receiving a new quality of life through His Spirit inhabiting our heart, on the basis of God legally paying the debt of sin-the breaking of the law-anything that could be held against us.
Rom2:4 the goodness (from a word that means to furnish what is needed- good natured, gentle and kind, the opposite of severity) of God leadeth (to be led by the Spirit) thee to repentance (a change or alteration of mind)
It is the revelation of the nature of God, who He reveals Himself to be to us, that motivates us to allow God to influence our thinking.
Repentance speaks of the beginning of the transformation of the mind, the restoration or salvation of our soul that results from the Spirit of God possessing our consciousness.
Acts11 14Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. 15And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. 16Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. 17Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? 18When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted (impart by the Spirit) repentance unto (motion into) life (the eternal life of God’s nature).
Repentance is something that God grants us, it is a gift. The call to repent is the call to receive eternal life. It is repentance into life. It is the Spirit of God coming upon us.
Repentance is the beginning of the transformation process.
Conviction, repentance, and faith are foundational to our transformation and without them; no change can take place in us.
We cannot repent without the Spirit of God’s help
Conviction is the revelation of God to our hearts; it is accomplished by the impression of God’s Spirit upon our hearts.
Repentance is the decisive response in light of God’s conviction
Repentance is a total change of mind that changes the way we live. We stop living to please ourselves and doing our own thing. We turn around and go in the opposite direction, living only to please God and obey Him.
If we don’t place our hearts in a position for God to grant us repentance, it is impossible for God to deal with our sins. God cannot forgive the sins of someone who continues to live in independence and will not press into the kingdom, will not surrender their life to the total Lordship of Jesus Christ.
God grants repentance through The Spirit penetrating our heart. The conviction or convincing influence of The Spirit enlightens our understanding so that we see how wrong it is to live a life where we are in control, where we are making all the decisions.
The problem with human beings is that everyone is making decisions based on self, instead of letting God rule. Self is the basic problem, and sin is the fruit. The root of all sin is self-will or living in selfish independence.
Humans relate to God by asking Him to help them live a better life, instead of really giving Him control of their lives. They are still self-sufficient and never have become broken in spirit. They still regard their lives as their own, and try to change themselves by their own human resources.
The difference between spirituality and religion is that religion puts the responsibility upon the individual to improve their own life by self-effort. This never works because in ourselves we do not have the power. We cannot live up to the standard of behavior that religion sets for us. Religion is a set of beliefs that determines what we believe is right and wrong, our own standard or the standard of the church or religion we belong to.
Only the Spirit of God can live according to His standard which is His nature. It is only when we are filled with The Spirit that we are enabled to live in the flow of His Spirit in our heart which empowers us to do God’s will. Spirituality is manifesting the divine nature or the fruit of the Spirit. This is the result of His Spirit working in us to desire and to do according to His good pleasure. When we are filled with the Spirit, His Spirit flows out. It is God in us doing the speaking and the acting. His love and joy and divine attributes are what moves us. This is the result of keeping our spirit active and in tune with His Spirit. We are receiving the inflow of His Spirit, we are partaking of Him. He flows in us and then through us.
We need to realize that we are the problem, and self cannot be improved to come up to God’s standard. The Spirit was given not to make us better, but to replace us with Himself. It is only through intimacy with Him, that we are lifted into a new realm where we become conscious of Him. When we become aware of His Spirit, we are partaking of His Spirit which is our transformation. We are seeing and hearing and feeling and acting in His Spirit.
We have to stop partaking of the flesh and partake of The Spirit. When we sow to the Spirit we reap the life of the Spirit. When we sow to the flesh which is the independent self-life we reap a different spirit, thoughts and feelings that God is not in.
Until we make a decision to turn everything over to the rule of God, we have not experienced repentance and we are not living in the kingdom of God.
When we accept the principle of our own powerlessness to live according to God’s standard, we can then look to the Lord to fill us with Himself. It is only then that we can submit to God’s rule and the source of sin which is the independent self-life can be cut off. Then there will be on more fruit of sin because there will be no more self-will. Self cannot improve self. The self-life has to be denied in order for it to be displaced with God’s life.
Our humanity or soul-life must be totally surrendered to the will of the Father and totally available to the control and possession of the Holy Spirit. It is only when we are filled with the Spirit, that He can be manifested through us.
The real depth of repentance reaches into the righteousness of God. Anything that does not reach into the righteousness of God is imperfectly done. Making excuse or trying to better yourself will only cause the self condemnation to stay with you. The spirit is still aware that the job is not done, so you are continually condemned. Self condemnation is removed completely when you honestly repent to the depth, when you face the thing to its very depth of reality. “If there is any more of this, bring it up, Lord; I’ll face it all right now.”
Once you bring it all out, something within wants to give way to the built-in impulse to secrecy, to cover over. We always try to cover over. That is why we do not remember everything. We are built so that our memories will, in time, block out what we want to block out. Sometimes mental problems exist because people cannot face their experiences or situations, so they blank them out even if they have to blank out their whole conscious way of life and their sanity. The desire for secrecy must be faced and repented of. Start there if you really want to find what is wrong with you. Say, “God, I repent of being such a hypocrite that I want to cover over even to myself. I repent of trying to keep things so secret and hidden.”
When you have repented thoroughly, the work is done so perfectly that when you go to wait before the Lord, you will respond like David did in some of his psalms. It will almost sound like boasting. “O Lord, I love You with a whole heart. I have set my heart on You.” You are not always going to be finding impurities. There will be an end to it. Then will come the confidence, We are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Philippians 3:3. That is one of the greatest texts in the Word of God; so deep, so beautiful.