“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15, ESV) For years, I believed in God. I confessed faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
I called myself a Christian. I knew about Jesus and accepted that He was real. If you had asked me then, I would have answered yes without hesitation.
Yet as I look back on my life before January 2012, one question stands out. Had I believed without ever truly repenting?
This question matters. Jesus began His ministry by joining these two: repent and believe in the gospel. For much of my life, I understood belief. Repentance was foreign to me.
When Sorry Was as Far as I Went
Before Christ, prayer was rare in my life. When I did pray, my words were brief and shallow.
There were times I knew I had sinned. I told God I was sorry and thought that was enough. Looking back, I see what I missed. I knew how to apologise. I did not know what it meant to repent.
There is a difference. We can feel sorry because we regret what we have done. We may feel uncomfortable or even ashamed before God. But Scripture calls us further.
Paul writes:
“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”
2 Corinthians 7:10 (ESV)
Paul separates grief from the repentance it can produce. Sorrow over sin may lead us to repentance, but sorrow alone is not enough. Repentance means turning.
What Does It Mean to Repent?
In the New Testament, to repent means a changed mind. In Scripture, that change always leads to turning towards God.
Peter preached:
“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.”
Acts 3:19 (ESV)
Later, Paul described his ministry as calling people to “repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance” (Acts 26:20).
This helped me see my former life more clearly. Saying, “God, I am sorry,” left me unchanged. Repentance called me to turn.
Derek Prince makes this distinction strongly in his teaching on repentance. He describes repentance as a change of mind that leads to a changed direction. Emotion may accompany it, yet the defining issue is the decision to turn towards God. That distinction resonates deeply with my own experience.
Before Christ, I could regret my sins and still live on my own terms. I believed God existed. I had religion. But I did not know what it meant to yield my life to Christ.
When the Word Became Alive to Me
When I came to Christ in January 2012, repentance became deeply personal. I have written previously about how this conversion also changed my understanding of baptism in I Was Baptised Before I Knew Christ. For the first time, I began to understand the seriousness of sin before a holy God. The Holy Spirit brought conviction into areas of my life that I had previously accepted or excused. Scripture began reaching places within me that religious familiarity never had.
The Bible had not changed. I had. The Word began to speak with an authority I had never known. Through Scripture and the Spirit, repentance became part of my walk with God.
I learned that repentance is more than saying sorry. It means agreeing with God about sin and turning when He calls. I did not stop sinning overnight. But my relationship with sin changed.
Sin could no longer rest where it once did. Conviction now called for a response. When the Spirit exposed something in me, repentance became the path back to obedience and fellowship with the Father.
Repentance and Faith Belong Together
This is where the words of Jesus in Mark 1:15 become so important:
“Repent and believe in the gospel.”
Paul uses remarkably similar language when describing the message he had preached:
“testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Acts 20:21 (ESV)
Repentance and faith meet at the crossroads of conversion. Repentance turns us towards God. Faith places our trust in Christ.
We bring nothing that earns salvation. Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ. Yet the gospel calls us to turn to the God who saves. Repentance is more than a hurried apology.
Jesus Himself said:
“No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Luke 13:3 (ESV)
Those words carry weight. Repentance stands at the foundation of the Christian life.
What About Repentance After Conversion?
There is another question worth asking. If repentance belongs to conversion, why should a Christian continue repenting?
Because conversion begins a life in which God continues to expose sin and shape us into Christ’s likeness. We stumble. We need correction. The Spirit continues His work in us. Repentance should remain familiar ground for every Christian.
If someone professes faith in Christ for years but feels little conviction over sin or desire to turn when Scripture confronts them, that should lead to honest self-examination.
Paul told the Corinthians:
“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.”
2 Corinthians 13:5 (ESV)
We must be careful here. Christians grow at different paces. Some understand repentance more clearly than others. A person may truly repent without using the word. The deeper question is the heart’s response: When God confronts my sin, do I want to turn to Him?
I Believed in God. Something Was Missing.
Looking back, I can say what once sounded strange. I believed in God before I knew Christ. I believed Christian truths. I was surrounded by religion. I sometimes prayed and told God I was sorry.
Yet belief existed without surrender. When God brought me to repentance and faith, Christianity was no longer just something I believed. Christ became the One to whom my life belonged. That difference has stayed with me.
Perhaps this raises an uncomfortable question. You may believe in God. You may call yourself a Christian. You may feel sorry when you have done wrong. But the deeper question is this: Have I ever truly turned to Him?
The invitation of Jesus remains as clear today as it was when He first proclaimed the gospel in Galilee: “Repent and believe in the gospel.”
For me, those words mean more than feeling sorry. They mark the turning point that changed my life’s direction.
Shalom, Jacques
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