For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

— John 3:16

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, thou, and thy house.

— Acts 16:31

The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

— 2 Peter 3:9

testifying to Jews and Greeks alike about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

— Acts 20:21

When they heard this, they had no further objections, and they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.

— Acts 11:18

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

Do you know that God’s Word does not command repentance from sins in order to be saved? The phrases repent of your sins and repent from your sins are not found anywhere in the Bible. At the same time, with that said, every person who has ever believed in Christ for salvation has repented of something. In the New Testament, the original Greek word for repent (verb) and repentance (noun) is METANOIA. It literally means afterthought, change of mind or change of thinking. What we repent of, or change our minds about, can vary. We can repent of good things or bad things. Repentance in and of itself is neutral.

The original Greek word for repentance – METANOIA- doesn’t mean to be sorry or regret. Biblical repentance is a change of mind, not a change of conduct. Repentance is not a work an unbeliever must add to salvation. This would not be consistent with salvation by grace alone, apart from works. When unbelievers trust in Christ for salvation, it is because they have changed their minds. Instead of trusting in the false hope they previously held for life, they now trust in Christ alone for salvation. When we share the gospel, we need to encourage unbelievers to change their minds about what they have been trusting in and urge them to believe exclusively on Jesus Christ.