Acts 17:16-34 God Commands Everyone Everywhere to Repent
Some people believe that "New Testament" Christianity does not require repentance - but only faith. Not true. All the leaders of the church primary focus was repentance. Even Jesus Himself commanded His own church to repent in Revelation chapters 2, and 3 - with grave consequences if they don't.
In this video, we read the passage where it is recorded that Paul preached that God COMMANDS all men everywhere to repent!
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What does that mean to repent? How would you define it?
It means to change. A lot of people think that it means to feel sorry. But we see in the Book of Hebrews that Esau sought repentance with tears, and did not obtain it.
"re·pent
/rəˈpent/Submit
verb
feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one's wrongdoing or sin.
"the priest urged his listeners to repent"
synonyms: feel remorse, regret, be sorry, rue, reproach oneself, be ashamed, feel contrite; "
What would be the difference between you having an argument that repent means "to change" verses you having an argument that the word being translated in that context should have been translated to 'change'? Is that what you actually mean?
Repent, OT form is Tshuva - meaning "to turn back", "to return".
Repent, NT form is metanoeō meaning literally, "to change your mind".
However, in search of an accurate definition, it would be insufficient to stop there. In order to get a fuller understanding of it's meaning you must look at it's real-world usage. In scripture we see that Esau did NOT attain repentance even though He sought it with tears! Obviously, in practical usage, the word repentance does not mean to feel sorry, regret, or remorse. Esau felt great sorrow, regret and remorse. However, he was NOT able to repent.
I get my definition by the careful consideration of two things. 1. By studying the listed definition in the original Hebrew and Greek, AND 2. By studying it's practical usage in scripture. Coupling those two factors in the equation, there is no other logical conclusion but to say that the word "repent", as used in scripture, means "to change". Obviously that includes changing your mind, causing you "to turn", thus in most circumstances leads to changing your life (at least in the NT sense).
Where do you get your definition from?