The Two Parts of Repentance

By Rev. Jacob Ehrhard

A fter Jesus returns from His temptati on by Satan in the wilderness, He begins His public ministry with the preaching of repentance. “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14-15). In Greek, repentance is metanoia. It’s a change of mind, a new way of thinking.

The first part of this change of thinking has to do with the knowledge of sin. By nature, we consider ourselves to be generally good people who occasionally do some bad things. And by reason and observation that may be true for all but the worst of the worst. But reason cannot grasp the depth of the problem of sin. It must be revealed to us, and that’s the particular work of God’s Law. “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:19-20).

Repentance begins with contrition. Contrition is simply sorrow for sin, or as defined by our Lutheran Confessions, “terrors striking the conscience.” This doesn’t necessarily mean a severe emotional breakdown complete with weeping and gnashing of teeth (although it can); it doesn’t necessarily mean dragging ourselves around in sackcloth and ashes (although it can). First and foremost, contrition is a knowledge of sin— acknowledging that even our best and holiest works are sinful works. It’s the admission that, left on our own, we are lost and condemned and destined for destruction.

But if repentance stops with contrition, it’s not repentance. It’s incomplete without its second part. Repentance is completed by faith. Faith believes that for Christ’s sake, the sins revealed by God’s Law—the sins we acknowledge and are sorry for—are forgiven. This faith doesn’t just spring up on its own, but is born of the Gospel. It’s a result of Absolution. Faith is not complete until we hear, “I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The words of forgiveness create faith in forgiveness, and repentance is complete.

In this way, the word repentance is a figure of speech called a synecdoche (si-NEK-duh-key). This is when a whole thing is referred to by one of its parts. But repentance always includes faith in the forgiveness of sins. Jesus’ first sermon on repentance is to “repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). When He rises from the dead, Jesus repeats this mandate, but extends it to the entire world. “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem’” (Luke 24:45-47). Peter’s first sermon on Pentecost echoes this theme. “And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 2:38).

Properly speaking, repentance begins with contrition and is completed by faith. But there is also a third part we could add, although it’s not repentance, per se. To deliver godly consciences from these mazes of the learned persons, we have attributed these two parts to repentance: contrition and faith. If anyone desires to add a third—fruit worthy of repentance, that is, a change of the entire life and character for the better—we will not oppose it (Apology of the Augsburg Confession XIIa.28). This is the gift of the Holy Spirit, which Peter proclaims in his Pentecost sermon.

But repentance must never rest on its fruits. To make repentance depend on a change of character or a moral improvement in life is to put the sanctification cart before the justification horse. Faith in the forgiveness of sins drives sanctification; we cannot be holy without first believing that our sins are forgiven. The specific changes in character and life are like a load of apples pulled in the cart. They are the fruits that are delivered by faith and the sanctification caused by the Spirit.

We see the approaching season of Lent as giving us Christians 40 days to reflect upon repentance. Certainly, we should intensify our fight against our sinful lusts, and perhaps even take up a discipline to restrain the Old Adam that makes war against the Spirit in each of us. But let us not stop there. Let us also redouble our reflection on the Gospel, and thus intensify our faith with the comfort and consolation that our sins, no matter how great, are forgiven for the sake of Christ. And when these 40 days are finished, let us journey to the cross on Good Friday where our Savior shed His blood, and find an empty tomb on Easter Sunday. And by God’s grace, we will even find some fruits of the resurrection in a new life.

Rev. Jacob Ehrhard is pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, Missouri.