What St. Paul Says about Repentance in His Epistles
What is Repentance for St. Paul?
Holy
Scripture is the recorded history of man’s relationship with God. The main
message of this history is that of repentance. Repentance is the message of the
Old Testament in the Law of Moses and the proclamations of the Prophets. This
is also the message of the forerunner of Christ St. John the Baptist. Our Lord
God and Savior Jesus Christ proclaims this same message of repentance
throughout His public ministry. St. Paul in his epistles to the early Christian
communities instructs them in the same message: Repent.
St Paul
and Christ“Repentance” in the English language is often understood as deep
sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin, wrongdoing, or regret for
any past action. While this understanding is an aspect of the scriptural
understanding of the word “repentance,” it is not a complete understanding of
the word.
The Greek
word from the New Testament that is translated as repentance is μετάνοια
(metanoia). The understanding of μετάνοια in the Greek language is that of
change; a change of heart, a change of mind, a change of being. St. Paul was
not only a Hebrew but he also had Roman citizenship. As a Roman citizen St.
Paul was fluent in the Greek language giving him a full understanding of the
word μετάνοια. Μετάνοια is used sparingly in St. Paul’s epistles: Romans 2:4; 2
Corinthians 7:9-10; 2 Timothy 2:25; and Hebrews 6:1, 6:6 and 12:17.
In the
Old Testament the concept of μετάνοια is expressed by the Hebrew words שׁוּב (shub),
meaning to turn back or return, and נָחַם
(nacham), meaning to regret or be sorry for. St. Paul was very familiar with
this Old Testament concept of repentance. He was a Pharisee prior to his
conversion and the son of a Pharisee. Gamaliel, a Pharisee doctor of Jewish Law
and a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the mid-1st century AD, was the
teacher of St. Paul.
It is
with this understanding of change or turning back toward God that St. Paul
understands repentance from his life experience. In his epistles, St. Paul
unites the understanding of repentance in the Hellenic world with that of the
Hebraic world. This understanding may be seen in the following from his
epistles:
God Waits For Our Repentance
God
patiently awaits our repentance out of His love for us while respecting our
free will to reject Him. The greatest gift that God gives us is time to change
our ways and return to Him. St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans says the
following about God waiting for our repentance. “Or do you despise the riches
of His goodness, forbearance, and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness
of God leads you to repentance?” ( Romans 2:4) It is God that waits and suffers
for His wayward children, us, to return to our intended path of living in
communion with Him by giving us the time to lead us to repentance. St. Cyprian
in his treatise On the Advantage of Patience states the following regarding
this verse “He (St. Paul) says that God’s judgment is just, because it is
tardy, because it is long and greatly preferred, so that by the long patience
of God man may be benefited for life eternal” to further illustrate that delays
His judgment to give us time to repent.
How Should One Repent?
In order
to repent we must first realize that there is something is not right in our
life; that we are not living up to what God had intended for us. St. Paul
speaks to this in Hebrews 6:1 “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the
elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again
the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God.” St. Paul
reminds us that repentance is an ongoing process it does not end with the
realization that we are not in line with God’s intended life for us. St. John
Chrysostom, in his commentary on this verse, brings out that the focus should
be on the full restoration to a life with God when he says “‘let us go on unto
perfection?’ Let us henceforth proceed (he means) even to the very roof, that
is, let us have the best life. For as in the case of the letters the Alpha
involves the whole, and as the foundation, the whole building, so also does
full assurance concerning the Faith involve purity of life. And without this it
is not possible to be a Christian, as without foundations there can be no
building; nor skill in literature without the letters.”
When we
arrive at this realization of that there is something is not right in our life;
or the setting of a foundation of repentance, sorrow for the wrong doing creeps
in to motivate us to move forward in the process of repentance. St. Paul
address this in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 when he says “Now I rejoice, not that you
were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made
sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For
godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but
the sorrow of the world produces death.” St. John Chrysostom comments on this
verse in the following way “…(St. Paul) praises of them…that the sorrow brought
some gain. For a father also when he sees his son under the knife rejoices not
that he is being pained, but that he is being cured; so also doth this man.”
St. Paul and St. John are pointing out that this is a joyful sorrow. It is not
joyful that the person is suffering from their sin but they are being healed by
taking action to return to a Godly life. St. John Chrysostom further states
that “…the blessed Paul hath said he needs not to adduce (cite as an example)
from other sources the proof of what he said, nor to bring forward those in the
old histories who sorrowed, but he adduces the Corinthians themselves; and
furnishes his proof from what they had done.” In short we do not need any more
example of the truth of this other then what has occurred in our own lives.
St. Paul
shows us that it is possible to be sorrowful for sin but not repentant when he
speaks of Esau in Hebrews 12:17: “For you know that afterward, when he wanted
to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance,
though he sought it diligently with tears.” St. John Chrysostom, in his
commentary on this verse, makes this point even more clear when he says, “Judas
also repented, but in an evil way: for he hanged himself. Esau too repented; as
I said; or rather, he did not even repent; for his tears were not [tears] of
repentance, but rather of pride and wrath.” We must realize that our sorrow
leads us back to God.
Instruction in Repentance
We must
all be instructed in repentance as St. Paul instructs the young Bishop Timothy
in 2 Timothy 2:25 with the following words: “in humility correcting those who
are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may
know the truth.” St. John Chrysostom further elaborates on this point by saying
“…it is possible…to touch more effectually by gentleness… teach…those who are
willing to be taught…From constant teaching, it often happens that the plow of
the word, descending to the depth of the soul, roots out the evil passion that
troubled it. For he that hears often will at length be affected.” It is by gentle reminders that that we
continue in our life in repentance.
If any of
us should fall away from this life of repentance St. Paul instructs us in
Hebrews 6:6 with the following: “if they fall away, to renew them again to
repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him
to an open shame.” St. John Chrysostom further instructs: “For behold the love
of God to man! We ought on every ground to have been punished at the first; in
that having received the natural law, and enjoyed innumerable blessings, we
have not acknowledged our Master, and have lived an unclean life. … Again we
fell away, and not even so does He punish us, but has given medicine of
repentance, which is sufficient to put away and blot out all our sins.” St. Paul
and St. John do not deny that it is a terrible thing to fall away from a way of
life that returns us to God and what He intended for us, but, they point out
that through applying the medicine of repentance it is possible to turn yet
again to God in His mercy because of His love for us.
Summary
For St.
Paul repentance is about a return of man to God. This entails a realization of
man’s separation from God and the deep sorrow that comes from that realization.
That realization is a joyful event because it is at that point the beginning of
the healing of the whole man, body and soul, occurs. St. Paul identifies the
healing of repentance as continuous with profound struggle.
Source: https://frmilan.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/repentance-in-the-epistles-of-st-paul/
