Repentance is the first response of a heart that wants to be saved. It is more than being sorry — it is a change of mind and heart that turns away from sin and toward God.
Key verse
“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,”
Acts 3:19 · NKJV
What repentance is
To repent is to change your mind about sin and self, and to turn to God. It is godly sorrow that leads to salvation, not merely regret (2 Corinthians 7:10).
The fruit of repentance
True repentance shows itself — we confess and forsake sin (Proverbs 28:13), and begin to live differently (Matthew 3:8).
God’s promise
If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us (1 John 1:9). He blots out our sins and gives us a fresh start.
Search the Scriptures
Read these passages in your Bible
2 Corinthians 7:10
Acts 3:19
1 John 1:9
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Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV).
Work through it
Sorrow, confession, and a promise with a condition
The lesson leans on 2 Corinthians 7:10, Acts 3:19, and 1 John 1:9. Read 2 Corinthians 7 from verse 8 so you can see the difference Paul draws between godly sorrow and the sorrow of the world; that distinction is the point of the whole lesson. Acts 3:19 sits inside Peter's second sermon, so read a few verses either side to see whom he was addressing and what he had just done. Then read 1 John 1:9 slowly, because it is a promise with a condition attached, and the condition is confession. Proverbs 28:13 and Matthew 3:8, both quoted in the middle section, are worth adding: one says what covering sin does, the other says what a turned life looks like from outside.
What it asks
Time, honesty, and naming things specifically
The step here is not a feeling but a prayer: naming sins to God specifically rather than in general, asking forgiveness, and turning from them. That is slower work than reading a page, so give it an unhurried hour instead of fitting it between other things. This is lesson two of the six-lesson New Believer study. Lesson one set out why anyone needs saving; lesson three takes up baptism, which the key verse of that lesson places immediately after repentance. All six read free on the site and download as one print-ready booklet with a fill-in-the-blank study and a step to take on every lesson. If a question comes up that the lesson does not answer, take it to your pastor rather than leaving it unresolved.
Curriculum preview
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