© 1998 Jeffrey Brian White

The whole point of any study in the Scriptures is for one's spirit to be nourished by the written Word of God and built up in the knowledge of God. It is not for simply gaining knowledge about God, but about gaining knowledge which helps us to get to know God better and better. It is about seeing the will and purposes of Yahweh confirmed and established in our lives and beings as the Spirit of God makes the teaching and record of the Scriptures become alive within us. It is about being transformed by the very power of God into unique Sons of God who shine forth his glory unto all creation in every circumstance and in all that we do. It is about being healed from the inside out - healed from our sins, healed from injuries inflicted by others, healed from the corrupt nature from which these evils come forth, released from the destructive effects of human traditions passed down through one's family, religion, and culture.

We will begin with the nuts and bolts of relating to God through the Bible. In the Letter to the Hebrews, is is written »For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it« (Hb 4:2, KJV). This is also true of the things written in the Scriptures. First and foremost, we must believe the Scriptures. This does not mean that we understand everything, but that we consciously place our faith and trust in the God of the Scriptures, Yahweh, who has revealed himself in the New Testament as the Father, the Son of God Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, you should be asking Jesus to open your heart and mind to the things of God on the one hand and to open the Scriptures to you on the other, for he has prevailed to do just this (Rv 5:5). Prayer, that is, talking to God and asking him questions is absolutely essential to any study or learning of the things of God recorded in Scripture.

The textbook for good Bible study is a good literal translation of the Bible, such as the New King James Version, New American Standard Version, Rotherham's Emphasized Bible, Today's English Version, or the King James Version of 1611 (especially if you understand Elizabethan English) as well as other translations. Any transation may be used, but the more literal, generally speaking, the better. Paraphases and looser translations can useful, but literal is best. It is preferable also to use one WITHOUT footnotes, because the footnotes in some translations, while sometimes helpful, tend toward a dependence upon the editors' opinion rather than upon the Word of God itself.

The Bibles which we use are mostly translations of much older texts. Almost all of the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew. Some parts were written in Chaldean. All of the New Testament was originally written in Greek, although some parts, notably the Gospel of Matthew, may have been originally written in Hebrew. These languages are very different from English. As a result, some passages in the original texts are difficult to translate exactly. Some passages can be translated in several different ways. This is the reason why there are so many different translations of the Scriptures in various languages. The good part is that all translations generally agree when compared to one another. And from my studies, I can also say that the translations which are available to us are good enough. The important thing is simply to read through all of the books of Bible so that you can gain an acquaintance with the content that is actually in it.

More than anything else, we need to place our trust in Jesus that he will deal with us and reveal himself to us. FAITH is absolutely essential:

Faith is real; it is SUBSTANCE and EVIDENCE. Faith is the Substance of God's hope, that is, his expectation. And Faith is Evidence, the evidence of what Jesus is doing and where he is leading us. Without Faith, we cannot even begin to please God. The most basic thing you and I need to believe is that GOD IS! God exists. God exists right now. He is now. He is Ehyeh, I AM! This where is we begin.

Through Faith we understand... Any real UNDERSTANDING of Jesus will come through Faith. Understanding does not come by education or intelligence.

In the passage above, the writer tells us two things to believe. Firstly, to believe that God is. Secondly, to believe that God rewards those who diligently seek him. Yahweh is RIGHTEOUS! And he will not withold reward from the person who deserves it. Consider Jesus' teaching on this SEEKING:

This instruction of Jesus, to SEEK FIRST the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness, is the way into freedom from the cares of this earthly life and its worries. Jesus' desire for each of our lives is that we be seeking after the Kingdom of God, that is, the establishment of his government operating in our lives, in our hearts and in our consciousness and awareness. When Jesus is in his rightful place as Lord in our lives, he blesses abundantly and moves supernaturally on our behalf. And your heavenly Father is a good giver:

Ask, seek, knock. God will do his part - he will respond. If you will simply do the asking, seeking, and knocking, Yahweh will give, lead you into discoveries, and open things to you that you would never imagine. Ask in prayer and seek in the Scriptures.

FAITH and PRAYER always go together. Prayer is simply talking to Jesus. This talking can be questions, requests, confessions, simple expression, sharing your thoughts, singing, etc. Jesus hears very well. It's not the activity of prayer which does anything, but Jesus, the God who hears and responds.

»with the mouth« - Our prayer must be verbalized if it is to truly be called 'prayer'. I can receive God's righteousness by simply believing that God raised Jesus from the dead, but I won't partake of his salvation if I won't make that confession. Likewise, the Lord is RICH to them who call upon the Lord Jesus. »calling« is not the same as thinking, it is verbal. And salvation is much more than simply being forgiven my past sins. The Greek word for salvation is the word soteria. »Salvation« is an English translation of soteria. Soteria means literally 'a complete saving, deliverance, preservation'. This is what God is seeking to do in people's lives.

Generally speaking, abbreviations are used when referring to Bible verses in print. For example in the verse reference Ro 10:8-13, KJV from the quotation above, Ro stands for the Letter to the Romans, 10 stands for Chapter 10, : separates the chapter reference from the verse reference, and 8-13 stands for the verses within the referenced chapter. KJV is an abbreviation representing the Bible translation from which the quote was taken, in this case, the King James Version or Authorized Version of 1611.

This was the prayer of repentence of King David after Nathan the prophet spoke to him concerning the commission of several interrelated sins:

Psalm 51 displays all the basic elements of confession, repentence, faith, and turning toward God when we need to.

The subject of Repentence is one which is simple to understand, but which is able to be understood in great depths due to the greatness which Yahweh has intended to demonstrate in Adam since the beginning. It says in Hebrews 6:1-3:

Yahweh's intention for every human being is for that individual to personally come to repentence and faith. This is expressed in Acts 17:30-31 »And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth ALL men every where TO REPENT: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given ASSURANCE unto ALL men, in that he hath raised him from the dead« (KJV) and in Paul's instructions to Timothy »I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have ALL men TO BE SAVED, and TO COME UNTO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH« (1Ti 2:1-4, KJV). Jesus does not bow to human prejudices, nor does he agree with them. Right away from these verses alone, we can see that Jesus is neither racially nor ethnically prejudiced. In fact, he is not sexually prejudiced either. The word translated as »men« in these quotes is the Greek word anthrôpos, which simply means 'human being' regardless of gender, especially when it is plural, as it is here.

Taken together, these two passages tell us several things about Repentence. The fact that God commands all men to repent indicates that we all need to repent. Repentence is the proper response to any warning of any oncoming judgment of God. On the plus side, it follows that we can receive the Assurance which God has already given in raising Jesus from the dead. And this is the single most important point of repentence that we need to come to. We need to move from indifference and unbelief regarding Jesus' resurrection to believing the fact that God has raised Jesus from death. For this reason Paul was moved by the Spirit of God to exhort Timothy to pray for all people to repent, be saved, and come into the knowledge of the truth. Yahweh's desire is for all to be saved. Salvation and Assurance comes as we repent and believe. From there, we can then come into the knowledge of the truth.

In almost all places in the New Testament where the word »repentence« is used, the Greek word being so translated is the word metanoia. Likewise, the verb »repent« translates the Greek verb metanoin, which is the verb form of metanoia. If we reconstruct metanoin with modern English cognate morphemes (English word roots which descend from the same Proto-Indoeuropean roots as the Greek word roots), the result is the verb to MIDKNOW. As a noun, MIDKNOWING means a transitional state of mind or changing of the mind. Thus, to 'midknow' means 'to change your mind' and 'midknowing' means a 'changing mind'. In Hebrews 6:1, it is changing our minds from dead works.

In Old Testament, two words were translated as »repentence« and each one represents a different facet of our repentence from dead works:

naham - touches the EMOTIONS. It means 'to feel sorry, to grieve, or to groan' and relates to our emotional responses to actions of sin or to the presence of sin. In effect, this aspect of repentence is an expression Jesus' own sorrow over man's sin. It is written: »And Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented Yahweh that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart« (Gn 6:5-6, KJV). There are two kinds of sorrow or regret which people experience over sin: »For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death« (2C 7:8-10, KJV). Most people do not experience godly sorrow, but die inside and become bitter over their sorrows. The difference is made in whether or not we approach Jesus with our guilt and regrets. We must confess these things to God if we are ever going to be free of their influences and effects upon our feelings. As John wrote: »If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness« (1J 1:9, KJV) and »For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things« (1J 3:20, KJV).

shubh - touches the WILL. It means 'to turn back'. We need to choose to turn back to God. The key to this is understanding that if we continue to do our own will, we will not be doing God's will. Peter wrote that we »no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God« (1P 4:2, KJV). There is great reward in doing the will of God. Jesus knew this and taught it, saying in one place that he himself sought not his own will, but the will of his Father who sent him. (Bear in mind that Jesus had no sin to repent of, but knew instead the value of doing the will of his Father.) We have pursued our own course, choosing whatever we wanted to do, and strayed further and further from the heart of God through it. In repentence, we turn from being self-willed to being God-willed. Consider the contrast: »Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever« (1J 2:15-17, KJV). Both Enoch before the Great Flood and Elijah after the Great Flood did the will of God and neither one ever died! Indeed, there is great reward in turning from our own wills and instead embracing the will of God.

Jesus invades our lives with a message of repentence. He comes in many ways. He may come concealed in a person's words, but he's there. He may come through something we read, but he's there. He may come with a burst of power, or in perfect silence. He may speak directly, or give revelation pertaining to our need to turn, but he calls us into Metanoia, into a change of mind that will touch on our feelings and draw upon our wills.

Acts 5:30 makes it clear that it is through JESUS that God gives repentence. Repentence is therefore the gift of God through Jesus Christ. The same thing is expressed in this verse:

Note that the »Gentiles« simply means the 'nations'. Anyone from any nation can be given Metanoia. And many have come, believed, and received repentence and forgiveness of sins through believing in Jesus. All we need to do is believe and ask for it. Yahweh shows mercy from one generation to the next, as it says in Romans 2:1-4: »Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?«

Very simple. Remember, Metanoia has to do with the MIND. It says in Romans 8:5-7: »For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.« Repentence is the means given by God through which we move from being carnally minded to being spiritually minded. It is not through meditation disciplines nor through philosophy nor yet through psychology that we enter into life, but through a changed mind, a heart that is focused on Jesus and his purposes. Most so-called 'problems' will simply disappear as we keep turning our attention toward Jesus. God has given; we need to receive; and we receive by believing, confessing our sins to Jesus, as often as necessary and possible. Remember, healing is one of the results of repentence. All that life has been is nothing. All that stands before us is the present moment. Let us therefore believe within the present moment and set ourselves in agreement with God granting us experiential repentence. Until we repent, we look at everything through death-colored glasses. As we change our minds and begin to agree with Yahweh, starting perhaps with the text of the Bible itself, the Spirit of God moves in and transforms our consciousness in the direction of the spiritual, and then the Scriptures begin to be unveiled. We begin to see everything more and more through life-and-peace-colored glasses. And God is the Giver. And his motive is dedicated love. »For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life« (Jn 3:16, KJV). As we continue to change our minds to believe what the Scriptures actually say, God's forgiveness touches different parts of our beings and he changes us within. And the Scriptures become more and more understandable.

It says in 2.Timothy 3:14-17: »But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.« When the apostle Paul wrote this to Timothy, he was writing to a man who had known God for many years and who like Paul taught others in the Faith of Christ. This is important to know. He wasn't telling Timothy anything which Timothy did not already know, but encouraged him in what he did know: »continue thou in the things which thou hast learned«. Although repentence has a very definite beginning in anyone's life, it is also an ongoing work in the life of the believer in Jesus, and therefore requires an ongoing exposure to the Scriptures. The Spirit of God grants repentence. All Scripture, the Old Testament and the New Testament, are given by inspiration of God. »Inspiration« means 'breathed'. You should know that the Holy Ghost (also called the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of God) is the Breath of God. In fact, both of the Greek and Hebrew words for 'spirit', pneuma and ruwakh, can be translated as 'breath'. As you continue to read the Bible, you can fully expect the Lord to take the writings which he breathed into the prophets and the apostles and breathe their content into your spirit. In other words, the Spirit of Jesus will make the words you read come to life in you. As they come to life, you will discover things within you which need to change. The proper response is to believe and talk to Jesus about them, confessing your sins, and asking the Lord to change you. This he is willing to do. Ask him all of your questions. He is gracious and kind to all who call upon him. He forgives sins and works to change the person within. The long-term effect of this relating to the Lord is a transformed mind and heart, life and peace.

More shall yet be to come...