Remorse, also called compunction, is an emotional expression of personal regret felt by a person after he/she has committed an act which they deem to be shameful, hurtful, or unwise. Remorse is closely allied to guilt and self directed resentment. It is an emotion experienced by one who feels they have violated their moral or ethical code.
Repentance – to repent literally means to rethink or change one’s mind. Biblical repentance may involve the emotion of remorse, but it doesn’t stop there. Repentance is a change of attitude that leads to a decision, that in turn leads to a change in behavior.
2 Corinthians 7:10 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
Judas vs. Peter
The difference between godly and worldly sorrow is graphically illustrated in the cases of Judas Iscariot and Simon Peter.
Matthew 27:1-5 1 When morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people plotted against Jesus to put Him to death.
2 And when they had bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
3 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”
5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.
Both of them betrayed Christ, but with different motivations. Judas intended it for harm, Simon Peter for self preservation.
I’ve wondered about Judas Iscariot. How could someone who sat under the direct ministry of Jesus, who did miracles in His name, turn against Him? Various films about the life of Christ have tried to give a more “reasonable” explanation for Judas’ betrayal; that he wanted Jesus to come before the Sanhedrin to explain His mission, and that he had no idea that Jesus was being taken to a trial and not a hearing. I’m curious on how the popular series The Chosen is going to present it.
We cannot know what was going through Judas’ head, but we can look at what the scripture says about him.
First of all, Judas was a full fledged disciple, called by Jesus to “follow Me” just as the other disciples. Jesus made no distinction between him and his colleagues. When Jesus sent the disciples out two by two, Judas was right there with them, casting out demons and healing the sick.
About the only hint that there was something amiss with Judas is found in this passage from John:
John 12:3-8 3 Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.
4 Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said,
5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.
7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.
8 For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”
Judas was the treasurer of Jesus entourage. It would take some money to support thirteen men traveling around. Jesus did have a source of income; many of the people He ministered to responded with offerings to His group, or by inviting them for meals, etc.
There was enough coming in that it was common for Jesus to give to the poor. When Judas left in the middle of the Last Supper, that is one of the things the disciples assumed he was going to do – make an offering to the poor from the money box.
Judas pilfered from the money box he was in charge of. There was enough in it that what he took wasn’t missed. Was Judas corrupt from the beginning? We don’t know for sure, but I don’t believe so. Satan was searching for someone amongst Jesus’ disciples he could use to get at Jesus, and found the seeds of something – perhaps a disillusionment, Jesus being not quite what Judas expected – that he could work with. The Tempter tempted, and Judas fell prey.
Was Judas then an innocent victim? Was he an unwilling pawn in God’s plan, forced to play the role of a betrayer by predestination?
No! God always gives people a choice. But He does know beforehand how people are going to choose. That is the difference between foreknowledge and predestination. God knew Judas would betray His Son, and so He worked it into His plan; but the choice still belonged to Judas.
At the Last Supper, Jesus makes the announcement that one of His own disciples would betray Him. John asks Jesus which one it would be, and Jesus replies it would be the one to whom He hands the piece of bread after He had dipped it.
John 13:27 27 Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”
Judas became possessed by Satan himself, the devil. The betrayal of Jesus was too important a task to trust to an underling. Previously I asked whether Judas was an innocent victim; he was not innocent, but he was a victim. When Judas went to the Sanhedrin, he was not in control of himself. But Satan never could have gotten control unless the seeds of betrayal were not already in Judas’ heart.
When the deed was done, and Jesus was arrested, Satan left Judas – to bear the guilt and remorse for what he had done. That is one of Satan’s tactics. He’ll pressure you to do something that you know is wrong, and when you do, he will then condemn you for doing what he pressured you to do.
Judas could not live with the knowledge of what he had done, and committed suicide. He had remorse, but he did not have repentance.
Peter
Matthew 26:31-35 31 Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
32 But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”
33 Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.”
34 Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”
35 Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And so said all the disciples.
Good old impetuous Peter. Jesus tells them that all of the disciples will be made to stumble and scatter, but Peter says “Maybe these other guys, but not me!” And then Jesus tells him he will have denied Him three times by morning.
This was actually grace on Jesus’ part – Peter would have been absolutely devastated by his own betrayal, but Jesus knew it was going to happen ahead of time.
Was Peter a coward when it came down to it? His boast that he would die for Jesus an empty promise? Actually not. Consider the night that Jesus was arrested. Matthew 26:47 says that Judas came “…with a great multitude that came with swords and clubs…” to arrest Him. There were trained soldiers (no Romans, these would be a Jewish guard) among them. We are told that one of the disciples rushed this multitude and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. John 18:10 tells us it was Peter that did this.
Where did Peter get the sword?
Luke 22:35-38 35 And He said to them, “When I sent you without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you lack anything?” So they said, “Nothing.”
36 Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.
37 For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end.”
38 So they said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”
It’s interesting that this passage comes immediately after the one where Jesus tells Peter he would deny Him three times before the rooster crows twice.
So Peter was “packing”, at Jesus’ request. And at the time when the crowd came to arrest Jesus, he was absolutely willing to give his life for Jesus. But he was a fisherman, not a soldier, and the only harm he managed to do was cut off someone’s ear. And Jesus picked the ear up and put it back on the man’s head (Luke 22:51)!
Jesus put a stop to the resistance real quick. He didn’t want Peter to die for Him, He was going to die for Peter. In John 18:8 Jesus basically says, “You got Me, so let these others go”. It was the plan all along that the disciples should abandon Him and scatter.
The disciples fled, but John and Peter wanted a closer look to see what was going on.
John 18:15-16 15 And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Now that disciple was known to the high priest, and went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.
16 But Peter stood at the door outside. Then the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door, and brought Peter in.
I thought that was interesting – John was known to the high priest. He wasn’t just some backwards young fisherman from Capernaum – he had some kind of connections.
We know what happens next. A servant girl comes up to Peter, and says “aren’t you one of His disciples?”. Peter denies it. It happens again. Then a man who was a relative of the guy that Peter cut his ear off, says, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with Him” (Peter did make himself rather conspicuous). Peter denied again. One of the gospels says he cursed.
Then the rooster crowed.
Luke 22:61-62 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”
62 So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
What a blow that would have been! Peter felt great remorse. But, he had hope that he would be forgiven. When the disciples gathered, he was with them. When the women came with stories of the empty tomb, he rushed out to see. He had godly sorrow – that led to repentance.
Many dictionaries treat the word repent as a synonym for remorse, i.e., that it is feeling sorry for a wrong you have done. This is not accurate.
Repentance is not an emotion, it is a decision. An emotion of sorrow can lead to repentance, but just feeling sorry doesn’t mean you have repented. It doesn’t have to be coupled with a great emotional upheaval. Remember in its literal form, to repent means to rethink.
Fruits of Repentance
Repentance is a decision to change. If it was a true repentance, which is an inward act, it should produce some sort of change of behavior – that is the fruits of repentance.
People who answer an altar call, but you never see any change in behavior – i.e., they don’t even start coming to church, or read the Bible, and they just go back to living the way they always did – did they repent or did they just respond emotionally to an evangelistic plea?
In Christianity the aim of getting people to repent is to reconcile them to God. We are in the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). This involves getting a person to recognize their sinfulness, their need of a Savior, and to see Jesus Christ who died for their sins as the solution. The decision that has to be made is not to change all their wicked ways (impossible to do on your own), but to turn their lives over to the lordship of Christ.
There should be some sort of manifested fruit of this decision – a desire to know more about the things of God, and like newborn babes desiring the milk of the Word (1 Peter 2:2). But a newborn Christian needs help and guidance. They may be hungry spiritually, but may not know how to feed themselves (just like an infant).
The role of an evangelist is to bring people to that point of decision.
The role of a pastor (which comes from a word meaning shepherd) is to feed the sheep.
Luke 3:7-8 7 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
As a Christian grows, they will display fruits of repentance, i.e., a change of behavior. Some changes may come right away as a result of a person’s decision for Christ, and some may require some growth.
We cannot see the heart of a person as Jesus did, so we must look to the outward. The Bible tells us “by their fruit you shall know them.” (Matthew 7:15). If there truly was a decision made on the inside, there will be some evidence of it on the outside.
But, don’t judge someone as not being saved because you see unchristian behavior or an outward sin in their life. Have you always been perfect/
Repentance brings righteousness, which is right standing with God. This is true of a sinner getting saved, but also of the born again Christian who sins.
1 John 1:8-9 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Repentance has to have a hope set before it: i.e., the hope of forgiveness, reconciliation, and the power to change.
More about fruit
John 15:1-6 1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
The key to bearing fruit is to remain connected to God – abiding in Him. We mentioned before that repentance brings righteousness. There are many verses that talk about the fruits of righteousness.
Verse 2 talks about pruning. What is the purpose of pruning? It is to cut away pieces that are not producing so they don’t take up resources/energy. The result is those resources and energies then get routed to the branches that are producing, so the vine will produce more fruit.
People have had all kinds of ideas about what it means when God “prunes” you. One thing it can mean is cutting out some activities that are distractions to our spiritual life. These things are not necessarily “bad”. Like the soldier that doesn’t entangle himself with the affairs of this life in 2 Timothy 2:3-4, he prioritizes those things that are in line with his purpose.
People have connected pruning with being disciplined. It is much better to prune yourself than for God having to take things from you. The good soldier disciplines himself.
People have also thought that God disciplines them by sending trials and tribulations to perfect them. But Jesus actually tells us the method used to prune us in this passage, but we don’t recognize it because we don’t know Greek.
The Greek word translated prunes (or purges in KJV) is kathairo. The next verse Jesus says “You are already clean because of the Word I have spoken to you”. The word translated clean is kathoros, which comes from the same root as prunes.
You are pruned by the word.
John 15:16 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
Notice that we are appointed to bear fruit, and that our fruit should remain. This word means to abide, remain, continue, endure. It will last.
1 Corinthians 3:11-15 tells us about the judgement seat of Christ, where the believer’s good works (their deeds done in the body, not their sins) are judged. Those works not wrought in Him are burned. They won’t remain.
Repentance isn’t just about “sin”
When we think about sin, we think about breaking one of the ten commandments, or for the Christian, maybe we didn’t walk in love. Things we would need to apply 1 John 1:9 to.
But the word translated sin, hamartia, comes from an archery term to miss the mark. You missed the target, the goal, what you were aiming for.
Remember to repent in its basic form means to change your thinking. There are many areas where we need to change our thinking which we normally wouldn’t classify as sin because it’s not breaking a commandment. But if we have an incorrect image of ourselves or God, that is something that needs to change in our thinking.
We should be making adjustments to our thinking to better line up with the word of God every day. And that also is repenting.
