A Lesson on Repentance

When I teach Sunday School, I end each lesson with a homework question. It’s not homework in the academic sense; it’s designed to give people a chance to reflect on what we learned and how we can apply it.

Last Sunday, I closed with a question about repentance–what helps it and what hinders it.

Now, I don’t like to pose questions without doing the work myself, so I attempted to jot down a few thoughts. And one of the first that came into my mind was a Bible verse about Esau:

“For you know that even afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.” – Hebrews 12:17 (NASB)

Until this week, I’d always interpreted this to mean that Esau tried to repent but couldn’t. He looked for repentance but was turned down. But it dawned on me that the “it” he sought for with tears might refer to “the blessing,” not “repentance.” This accords with the distress of Esau that Genesis portrays: 

“Esau said to his father, ‘Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me, me as well, my father.’ So Esau raised his voice and wept.” – Genesis 27:38 (NASB)

You know what would have helped me reach this conclusion sooner? Another Bible version! The NASB isn’t wrong, but the NIV clarifies what Esau was seeking:

“Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.” – Hebrews 12:17 (NIV)

The funny thing is, I’ve had NIV Bibles for decades, so I know I’ve read this verse before in that version. But for some reason, the NASB rendition has always stuck in my head, and again, I thought that what Esau wanted was repentance.

And that idea had bothered me for years because it suggested that God ignored Esau’s heart. He couldn’t repent, even though he wanted to.

That seems unfair, but the NIV translation put the issue to rest. Repentance wasn’t something God or Esau’s father withheld from him. It was a matter of timing. His brother Jacob had stolen the blessing and there was no getting it back.

This should have settled the matter for me, except there are other verses!

Like I said, I was addressing the Sunday School homework question, so I did a word search of the word “repent” and all its cognates on the Blue Letter Bible website. The NASB lists these words occurring 71 times in 67 verses. But a few stood out because they treat repentance as a God-given gift.

• “He is the One whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” – Acts 5:31 (NASB)
• “When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, ‘Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.’” – Acts 11:18 (NASB)
• “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and restraint and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” – Romans 2:4 (NASB)
• “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, skillful in teaching, patient when wronged, ²⁵with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, ²⁶and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.” – 2 Timothy 2:24-26 (NASB)

I put some phrases in bold to make a point. It looks like repentance is a work of divine grace, not human effort. If people are going to turn from their sins and trust in Christ, it’s God’s grace that’s going to make that happen. Unaided, the heart won’t–can’t–repent. But the Holy Spirit can bring people around.

Yet the majority of verses in the BLB list are calls to repentance. Isn’t it a waste of time to tell people to do something they can’t do?

This reminds me of my misunderstanding of Esau. I was wrong to think that he couldn’t repent. He could, but he was too late. The blessing he sought was gone. Hebrews 12:17 says that he could find “no place” for repentance. He changed his mind (which is what repentance means), but he couldn’t change the situation.

How sad!

I suppose this reinforces the urgency of repentance. The call of God for people to turn their hearts toward Him is crucial but limited. It won’t last forever. The Lord will turn people over to their sins if they insist.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator–who is forever praised. Amen. ²⁶Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. ²⁸Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. – Romans 1:24-28 (NIV)

The positive and hopeful verses about repentance declare that God grants the capacity to turn from sin. These verses in Romans 1 show that the Lord gives people over to the opposite of repentance. He honors their refusal. Either way, God remains in control. He is in the position to give, either blessings or judgment, depending on what people do with His call. Respond, and the blessings flow. Reject, and consequences follow.

All this is basic to the gospel. Rehearsing the course of his ministry, the apostle Paul said, “I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:21, NIV).

Salvation in Christ is for everyone who wants it. And so is repentance. They’re both important. Without repentance, we have no reason to trust in the work of Jesus at the cross. Why would He die for us unless we had a need for a Savior? But if we recognize our shortcomings, we appreciate what the Lord has done for us. His death and resurrection give us blessings that exceed even the one Esau sought.

And His gifts will never end!

So don’t be afraid to misinterpret a Bible verse. Keep reading and God will guide you to the truth. It might take a few decades, but you’ll get there!