What does the word “Repent” actually mean in the Bible? It’s Not What You’ve Been Taught

I’ve only been born again (John 3:3) since 2017, and I know that my testimony like many others, is nothing but miraculous. God has been working in my life, my whole life, and I finally see, as the veil has finally been lifted. I encourage all of you to research yourself what the truth is and pray to God about these matters, and He will show you the way. So when I got saved, I went down many rabbit holes of deception and false doctrines that kept me in fear and condemnation. How did I find the right path? I continued to seek God through prayer and reading His word on these matters over and over until he lead me to what truly was the correct Gospel of the Bible, which is this: I Corinthians 15:1-4. Ephesians 2:8-10, and Ephesians 4:30 are a couple of scriptures that helps us understand that salvation truly is a gift and cannot be worked for. Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived a perfect sinless life, shed His blood on the cross to pay for all our sins, past, present, and future, and rose on the 3rd day, and that all I need to do is believe that He died and rose again to pay the debt for my sins, it is a gift from Him, so I am able to be right with God. Once I believe, I am sealed until the day of redemption, (Ephesians 4:30).

Without further ado, what does repent mean anyhow? Well, I always thought that it meant we must repent in order to be “right” with God, we must say we are sorry and turn from our sins in order to get to heaven one day. When I did a Bible study myself on this subject, that is not what that word means at all.

So let’s take a look at what the Bible tells us. The version that I use almost all of the time, is the King James Version because it is a word for word translation from the original languages of the Bible, which are Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek.

When I plug in to the search engine “repent of sins” (which by the way, no verse in the KJV says repent of sins anywhere, click this link and see for yourself) on the website called Biblegateway.com with the King James Version, 6 verses pop up. When I plug in “repent of sins” for the NLT (New Living Translation), guess how many verses pop up? Thirty-two! Why is there such a vast difference? Certain translations have been manipulated, ultimately changing God’s Holy word. Let’s break down a verse and I’ll show you the differences.

Acts 2:38
Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” NLT version

Acts 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. King James Version

Wow! Just take a look at the NLT version. My jaw just dropped. It says, “each of you must repent of your sins,” wow, really? KJV says “Repent and be baptized.” It says nothing about repenting of your sins; it only uses the word repent. So the NLT added the word “sins”…hmmmm….Let’s look at repent closer from the original languages. The word “repent” from the Greek language means metanoeo, which means, to change one’s mind. So…..

Let’s replace repent with change one’s mind for the KJV verse above. Then Peter said unto them, change your mind, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. We are we to change our minds about what? We are to change our mind’s about unbelief in Jesus Christ, to believing in Jesus Christ. We have just changed our mind about not understanding salvation in Jesus Christ to understanding and believing in Jesus Christ, that is true repentance. It says nothing about changing your mind about sin, does it? It does in the manipulated NLT version, but not the KJV. In the NLT, I will also add that it says to turn to God…hmmm, The KJV says nothing about turning to God. So, the NLT version added those words. This is manipulation of the text. I advise all readers of the Bible to pray about the version you are to seek and truly understand the origins and always pray for understanding. It truly is a life or death situation, meaning, can you find salvation in the NLT version? Most likely No. Can someone be saved from this version, well, sure, however, will they be very confused on salvation and the good news of Jesus Christ? YES! I have seen it with my own two eyes!

To sum up, we have repented when we believe in Christ and his finished work on the cross, plain and simple. Repenting of sins is not in the KJV Bible, which is a word for word translation from the original languages of the Bible. When people tell you, you must repent of your sins to stay saved or to get saved, is complete nonsense. I have given you a short Bible study here. If it doesn’t make sense to you, please be a good Berean and search these things out for yourself. Pray! Pray about your questions and concerns. We need to come to Christ as humble servants in our quest to understanding His ways, His word, and how to honor Christ. I will never compromise on the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ. I will speak the truth!

Blessings, Love, Gina