Bible Truth Foundations
Part 1 of 3: New Life in Christ
Please begin by answering this question honestly in your own words.
Think of a time you were heading in the wrong direction and had to change course. What made you stop, turn around and go a different way?
Luke 15:20 (NKJV)
And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
Two movements in one sentence: a son turning toward home, and a father already running. Hold both as you read the teaching.
The central idea of this lesson
Repentance is not about reaching a standard before returning to God. It is simply turning in His direction. God's response to that turning is not a test; it is a welcome.
The word "repentance" carries heavy freight for many people. For some it conjures images of public humiliation, emotional breakdown or the need to produce a sufficiently dramatic show of remorse before God will take you back. None of that is what the Bible is describing. Repentance is not perfection. It is not a feeling. It is not a threshold of suffering you must cross before forgiveness becomes available. It is a change of direction: a decision made in the mind that then moves through the heart and into action.
Note
The Greek word translated "repentance" in the New Testament is metanoia. It is made up of two parts: meta (change or after) and nous (mind). Literally, it means a change of mind. The Hebrew equivalent carries the sense of turning or returning. Both words are about direction, not degree of distress. You can repent quietly and clearly without any dramatic emotion at all. What matters is whether the direction has genuinely changed.
The parable Jesus told in Luke 15 is the clearest picture of repentance in Scripture. It works from the inside out, showing how a change of mind becomes a change of action:
Luke 15:11–20 (NKJV)
Then He said: "A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants."' And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him."
Notice the sequence. It begins with a moment of clarity: "when he came to himself." That is repentance starting in the mind. Then came a decision: "I will arise and go to my father." That is repentance moving into the will. Then came the action: "he arose and came." That is repentance expressed in changed direction. He did not wait until he was clean, until he had paid back the inheritance, until he could present himself as having reformed. He turned and walked. That was enough to bring his father running.
Note
The son had a speech prepared. He planned to ask to be made a hired servant rather than restored as a son; he had decided he had forfeited too much to expect full restoration. But the father interrupted the speech. He did not let the son finish his carefully constructed case for lesser treatment. He called for the best robe, a ring, sandals, and a celebration (Luke 15:22-24). The point is clear: the son's assessment of how much he deserved was not the deciding factor. The father's character was. God does not restore you to the minimum you think you can reasonably ask for. He restores you to full sonship.
Jesus was direct about the stakes of not repenting:
Luke 13:3–5 (NKJV)
"I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."
Jesus was responding to two recent tragedies. The question being asked was whether those who suffered had brought it on themselves through exceptional sin. Jesus refused that framing, but He used the moment to press a different point: the issue is not comparative sinfulness; it is whether you have turned to God at all. The urgency He attached to repentance was not designed to produce panic but to cut through the comfortable assumption that there is always more time.
Going Deeper
The parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31 extends this urgency into the territory of what lies beyond this life. The rich man, after death, asks for someone to go back and warn his brothers. Abraham's answer is striking: "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead" (Luke 16:31, NKJV). The implication is that the evidence for repentance is already sufficient. The call to turn to God has already been issued clearly enough. What is lacking is not more information but the willingness to act on what is already known. This is why the New Testament consistently presents repentance as urgent rather than something to be deferred indefinitely.
The call to repent does not come from a God who is hoping people will fail to meet the standard. Peter states this plainly:
2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV)
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
God's patience is not indifference. It is the deliberate holding open of a window of time so that more people can turn. His desire is not that any should perish; His desire is that all should come to repentance. The same truth appears in Isaiah, where the invitation and the promise are placed side by side:
Isaiah 55:7 (NKJV)
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
The movement is on our side: forsake the way, return to the Lord. The response is on God's side: mercy and abundant pardon. The two are not negotiated; they are promised. When the turning happens, the welcome is already there.
Acts 26:20 gives a compact description of what genuine repentance looks like in practice. Paul describes what he preached to Gentiles across the known world:
Acts 26:20 (NKJV)
But declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.
Three things: repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. The first is internal: a change of mind. The second is directional: moving toward God. The third is evidential: a changed life that demonstrates the change of direction was real. The third does not produce the first two; it flows from them. Behaviour change is not the mechanism of repentance; it is the fruit of repentance. The order matters because reversing it leads to the performance trap that Sections A and B of this series have already dismantled.
Caution
Matthew 7:21-23 records Jesus saying to some people on that day: "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practise lawlessness." These were people who had prophesied, cast out demons and done many wonders in His name. The warning is not that works are unimportant; it is that works without genuine relationship and genuine turning of heart are not repentance at all. Lip service, religious activity and emotional experiences are not substitutes for the actual change of direction that repentance describes. Jesus is looking for the real thing: a person who has genuinely turned toward the Father and whose life over time reflects that turning.
Luke 15:7 (NKJV)
I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
This verse sits in the same chapter as the prodigal son parable. Jesus had already told the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin, each ending with a celebration when what was lost was found. The pattern is consistent: one person turning is cause for joy in heaven. Not relief. Not approval. Joy. That is the character of the God you are turning toward.
Practical Tip
Acts 3:19 (NKJV) states: "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." Notice the phrase "times of refreshing." Repentance is not only the removal of guilt; it is the beginning of something new. If there is an area of your life where you know you are heading in the wrong direction, do not wait for the situation to become desperate, as the prodigal did. Make the decision now. The father in the parable was watching the road. He will see you while you are still a great way off.
Work through these on your own before your group meets. Type your answers directly into the table below. Your answers are saved automatically in your browser.
Note: answers are saved to your browser on this device. If you are viewing this inside Google Sites, open the file directly in your browser for reliable saving.
| Question | My Answer | Group Discussion Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Read Luke 15:17-20. Trace the prodigal son's repentance through three stages: the change of mind, the decision of will, and the action taken. What was each stage, in your own words? | ||
| Read Luke 15:20-24. The son had a prepared speech asking only to be a servant. What did the father do instead? What does this tell you about how God responds to repentance? | ||
| Read 2 Peter 3:9. God is described as "longsuffering" and "not willing that any should perish." How does that change the way you understand the call to repent? Is it a threat or an invitation? | ||
| Read Acts 26:20. Paul describes three things: repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. Put these in your own words. What is the correct order, and why does the order matter? | ||
| Read Luke 15:7. Heaven's response to one sinner repenting is described as "joy." Not relief or approval, but joy. What does that tell you about how God views the moment of someone turning to Him? |
These questions are designed for open conversation at any level of experience. There are no trick questions and no single correct answer.
Repentance is not a single event at the start of the Christian life. It is a posture that shapes the whole of it. These applications address three distinct areas where that posture is tested.
| Context | How I Apply This |
|---|---|
| When you have gone wrong | The prodigal waited until he was desperate before he turned for home. You do not have to. The moment you recognise you are heading in the wrong direction, that recognition is the beginning of repentance. Do not wait until the consequences are severe. Do not wait until you feel sufficiently sorry. Make the turn. The father in the parable was watching the road before the son arrived; that is the God you are turning toward. |
| In how you talk about repentance with others | The word carries heavy negative associations for many people. When repentance comes up in conversation, resist framing it as a demand for remorse or a punishment threshold. Frame it as what it is: a change of direction toward a God whose response is already settled. Luke 15:20 is the clearest one-sentence picture: the father ran before the speech was delivered. Let that image do the work. |
| In ongoing patterns, not just single events | Acts 26:20 describes "works befitting repentance" as part of the picture. If an area of your life has been turned over to God in repentance, the fruit of that should become visible over time. This week, identify one area where you have said the words of repentance but the direction has not genuinely changed. Bring that honestly to God and ask for the grace to take the actual step, not just the language of it. |
Tap each card to reveal the answer.
What does repentance mean?
A change of direction: a change of mind that leads to a change of will that leads to a change of action. Not a feeling, not perfection, not a punishment threshold. The Greek word is metanoia: a change of mind.
What did the father do when the prodigal was still a great way off?
Luke 15:20
"When he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him."
Luke 15:20 (NKJV). The welcome came before the speech.
What is God's desire for all people, according to 2 Peter 3:9?
2 Peter 3:9
"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise…but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."
2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV). His patience is not delay; it is invitation held open.
What three things does Acts 26:20 say repentance involves?
Acts 26:20
1. Repent (change of mind). 2. Turn to God (change of direction). 3. Do works befitting repentance (evidence of genuine change). Works are the fruit, not the mechanism.
What is heaven's reaction when one sinner repents?
Luke 15:7
"There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."
Luke 15:7 (NKJV). Joy. Not relief or approval. Joy.
What happens to sins when a person repents and is converted?
Acts 3:19
"Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."
Acts 3:19 (NKJV). Blotted out; and refreshing follows.