I’m writing this article simply because I, among many others in the church, grew up with a wrong idea concerning repentance. This wrong paradigm, for too long, kept me from the experience of what I now know as transformation. Although I refuse to point fingers at whomever reinforced this wrong paradigm, I also refuse to stay silent about the true meaning of what the Bible calls “Metanoia”—simply because it’s just too beautiful to remain quiet about.
MY PERSONAL STORY
To me, repentance was at one time all about saying “I’m sorry” for the wrongs done. In fact, the more repentant you were, the more vocal and expressive you were suppose to be. Therefore, repentance was more about an outward act than it was an inward one. The message of repentance was usually communicated by the preacher who would list the usual do’s and don’t’s, and call people to “repent.” This usually meant coming to the altar to “make things right.” Consequently, if you felt sorrowful enough for your sins, the act of repentance was usually expressed by running to the altar, followed with tears, weeping and many other outward acts. This was my perspective of repentance.
I never knew that repentance was essentially an inward upgrade of the mind and perspective—specifically concerning Abba and who we are in Him.
FOUNDATION OF REPENTANCE
Before we dive in, a foundational premise we need to understand is: Repentance hinges on the kindness of God, not the “bad-ness of man” (Romans 2:4). In other words, the goodness of “I am” (not “I-am-not”) invites and provokes us to take up His mind. For this reason, repentance is built on a positive, not a negative. Therefore, repentance is a beautiful thing!
HIS THOUGHTS ARE HIGHER
A passage that communicates the need to live in repentance is Isaiah 55:8, where the prophet declares “My thoughts are not your thoughts…nor are your ways My ways.” An example of how we have focused on the bad-ness of man is how we read this passage—we focus solely on “our thoughts,” instead of “His thoughts.” However, we need to understand that this passage is not a slam on the human race, it’s an invitation into a higher-consciousness—a higher realm of perspective and possibilities. It’s a calling to take on His mind, to see and know what HE sees and knows to be true about you and the Father.
What we limit in our mere carnality and small-mindedness, Christ comes to blow up with the light of His relationship with the Father—proving that what He has, we now have! He gave us HIS relationship, His covenant, His mind (John 17). In other words, when we encounter His faith—what He sees and knows to be true—we are provoked to enter in.
To traverse deeper into repentance, I feel we need to first identify what repentance is not.
What repentance is NOT: Fundamentally, repentance does not revolve on the bad-ness of man, but the kindness of Abba. Likewise, repentance is not saying you’re sorry for what you’ve done. It’s not falling down on the altar in remorse for your actions. It’s not beating the physical body into submission by human will power or aggression, or gritting your teeth and trying harder to overcome outward acts. No, repentance is something much deeper. Let’s look at the Biblical Greek word for repentance, which is metanoia.
Metanoia is a Greek compound word made up of Meta meaning “with, beyond,” and Noia meaning “mind, thought life.” When we put these words together, we see that metanoia means “with or beyond the mind (thought life).” Practically, it’s the act of joining with the (higher) mind of Christ—the transcendent mind—of letting HIS mind (concerning the Father and HIS mind towards you) be in you. It’s joining with the Son of David to slay and uproot any toxic, wicked (twisted) thoughts concerning His nature. It’s seeing as He sees, knowing as He knows.
Although crying and falling down at the altar can be an expression of repentance, that is not fundamentally repentance. This is why Jesus was not saying “fall down, cry, and feel sorry for your acts, for the Kingdom is at hand.” No, He was inviting them to a higher realm of consciousness—of taking up a higher mind—to believe and receive what He knew: that the Kingdom was now upon them and ultimately WITHIN them.
For this, repentance is a muscle we are constantly working. We should never stop repenting , but continually answer the call to “come up here,” to set our thoughts on things above (see Colossians 3:2).
Furthermore, there’s no more expedient way to walk in repentance than by prayer and intimacy with Jesus. Prayer is the act of joining and taking sides with Jesus against anything that hinders the knowledge of His Father and who we are (Matthew 12:30 TPT).
May we join with Jesus and allow His mind to be in us.
Pray this with me: Father of glory, would you release the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus. Would you open my eyes to see what Jesus sees and to know what Jesus knows. I repent, I surrender to the mind of Christ, and I thank you that I am increasing in what You know and see to be true. In Jesus’ name!
-RA