 Hey everyone, it's Isaac and I'm here to let you know that I actually started a Kickstarter for my new book and film I'm super excited about it. I want you to go check it out right now in the link in my description here So there's awesome rewards the book is and the film is about building father-son Relationships and even if you're not a father or a son I think this is something really important to get involved with and encourage and support So yeah, I'm super excited about the project and I love it no matter who you are Get involved. Okay. I'll see you there What does it mean to repent if you spent practically any time in the scriptures? You're bound to come across the idea of repentance This draws us to contemplate the question of what it truly means to repent If you were to Google search you would see an answer to the question But if you're anything like me this answer doesn't seem totally satisfactory To answer this question, I packed up my equipment and hit the road, you know, when we think about repentance your mind may be taken back to the Old Testament when prophets were to You know declare to the Israelites repent repent. You may think back to Jonah who went to Nineveh I'd send him to Nineveh to tell the Ninevites to repent in the New Testament You may think of John the Baptist Calling people to repentance. You know, when you think about repentance, what does it really mean? Sometimes we're a little bit fuzzy on the exact meaning of Okay, what what is repentance here? What does that mean is a one-time thing? Is it multiple? Is it lifestyle of repentance? What does it mean? So that's what we're gonna be talking about today and Yeah, come along for the journey. I Wanted to chat with my friend and associate pastor of my church Chris Wedstein about the meaning of repentance to begin our conversation The basic word in in Hebrew that's translated as repent Has to do with turning So turning away from sin turning away from what is wrong or what is evil and turning to God So I think that basic sense of turning is is really valuable to understand what repentance is and in the New Testament The Greek word has to do with changing of the mind. So it's not just a outward turning away from this action To do these actions, but it's an inward change inward turning you could say to clarify So turning away from what is wrong turning to God seeking to follow God in Sincerity that's that's repentance in a sense. So something it seems to me that that's a slightly different maybe a Very different definition from what we often hear is just saying sorry. Yeah. Oh, yeah Yeah, sure repentance is just a sorry. Yeah, and then that's good that you've repented just saying sorry In a sense can be hard to read We're all familiar with the you know famous people saying sorry after they get caught for something and We maybe we're familiar with our own experience too of saying sorry when we just know it's the right thing to do to say Sorry because oh somebody's upset with me. Sorry, you know, you bumped into somebody and you say sorry, but Repentance is much more Meaningful than just saying sorry. It's something that involves an actual turning of the heart And so you have to think about repentance as a relational thing In relationship to God and in relationship to other people repentance isn't just saying sorry There's a change of the heart that has to take place If we're gonna be in a right relationship with God and right right relationship with other people an example of it would be Psalm 51 where David is convicted about his sin He had sinned on Multiple levels in in a really big way, of course. He had committed adultery. He worked it out So that your eye was killed. So there was he was trying to cover up his sin He was in big trouble in terms of it was a big obvious scandalous sin and some 51 describes this Repentance if you want to know what repentance is that's a great song to look at as I chatted with Pastor Chris I asked him to explain some of the key components of repentance to help us develop a deeper understanding one would be Hating or despising sin not Loving your sin anymore whenever you've acted in a sinful way, whether that's through A wrong kind of aggression or an out-of-bounds kind of lust or Whatever kind of way that you've acted in sin in the moment. It feels good, right? But repentance is a matter of having a distaste for that Displeasure about your sin combined with a sense of wanting To follow God the way that you ought to So it is a seeking after a new obedience a seeking after a new way of life And so it's not just that all I I really feel bad about how I gossiped that moment But I want to actually make things right. I want to speak the truth in love I want to speak In a way that helps people not hurts people for instance So repentance looks like a turning away from what you did that was wrong to do what is right And that comes out of a sense or an apprehension of God's mercy the Westminster Confession of faith describes and defines repentance as involving an apprehension of God's mercy in Christ So it's not just that I feel like oh God's gonna judge me if I don't repent, but you also have a sense that God is merciful God. He's holy and merciful and I want to please him. I want To please him and I have a sense that he is merciful to me. He's a father and so I want to come back and Live the way I ought to be living No, well repentance has to be a way of life an ongoing way of life that's actually something that was Top of the list for Martin Luther when he was putting out his 95 thesis at the time of the Reformation Repentance is an ongoing way of life. It's not just a one-time thing and That's clear in the Bible. You see instructions It's not always just the word repent, but the meaning of repentance that's spelled out We need to continually put off what is Wrong what is sinful and put on the new way of life? And so this this is an ongoing call to the Christian life Putting off those habits and those ways of thinking that are wrong and to put on Heart of compassion a heart of love for God and for other people So yeah, it has to be an ongoing way of life. What would you say to somebody is wondering? Yeah, well I'd say you need to be careful not to get stuck looking inwardly and to be focusing on your Repentance and just thinking did I do enough yet because there's a sense in which you're gonna have to continue to live a repentant life for as long as you live until you meet Jesus face-to-face so There's a sense in which We can sort of get stuck in a rut when we keep looking inwardly at our own repentance And it's important not to put your faith in your repentance actually to put your faith in Jesus and it's actually The kind of repentance that we need is a repentance that comes from faith You can't separate the two things Faith in Jesus means what it means you're trusting Jesus for what? Trusting him to save you from your sins. That means forgive you, but also it means to Move you out of a path of sin into a new path Trusting Jesus means that you don't want to just get stuck in sin anymore forever And so implicitly faith in Jesus saving faith means trusting him to get away from your sin and Repentance comes from faith because it's not just about willpower. It's not just about Hating your own sin because you don't measure up to your own standards Repentance comes from a sense that God is good. God has given me promises. He's given me hope in the gospel Jesus died for me. He rose again This inspires repentance because there's hope. There's a new way of life by the Holy Spirit That's offered to us and so repentance comes from faith To close our conversation I wanted Pastor Chris to give us some insight into what true repentance looks like Versus a false repentance. I think it's really helpful to think clearly about this because there are Ways of responding about your sin that you might think is repentance. That's not What you might call fake repentance or or non True saving repentance Would be something like where you're just not measuring up to your own standards So you're looking at your way of life or certain behaviors and you're saying I wish I was better at that I wish I didn't do that I wish I would get rid of this habit in my life and you're just feeling bad about not measuring up to your own standards That's that might be a sincere way to be but that's not necessarily real repentance real repentance comes from a sense that God is holy God is pure God is filled with light and love and I have sinned against God and that's Why I'm grieving my sin here and so there's a more of a Godward aspect to it and again, it's not just Feeling bad about your sin, but there's also Real repentance that comes from saving faith Involves a sense of hope that God is a merciful God and So we come to God as Christians Not just feeling bad about our sin But believing that God will give us his spirit and will walk with us through this journey of life. So real repentance Shows itself in fruit. It shows itself in positive change in that you're gonna start moving towards God you're gonna start loving God you're gonna start loving other people and It's not just that you get stuck in a path of just hating yourself that if you're if you're end point is just hating yourself That's not real repentance Joy comes out of real repentance It was a great joy to chat with Pastor Chris on a topic so foundational to the Gospel yet a topic often overlooked or neglected It's important to study learn and explore biblical theology as we seek to walk as disciples of Jesus If you have not repented for your sin and placed your trust in Jesus Do it today and begin to follow Jesus as a disciple Hey guys, hope you enjoyed today's video if you did be sure to give it a like and share it with a friend And also you can subscribe if you're interested in watching more videos like this because I'm putting new ones out all the time Thanks guys, and I'll see you next time. Bye