It is good to be Sure about many things, but there is one thing above all that we need to be sure of: That we have repented. But what is repentance? The word “Repent” is the Greek word metanoeo – a compound of meta and nous. The word “meta” means to turn, and the word nous is the word for mind, intellect or will. When the two words are combined, they become the word metanoeo – the word repent- which depicts a radical decision to completely change in the way one thinks, lives, and behaves. Therefore, repentance is not a passing emotional sorrow for past sinful actions. Millions have experienced such, but their lives later proved that they had never repented at all. Repentance is a solid, sober, hard intellectual and willful decision to take a new direction, to turn about face, and to move from an old pattern of rebellion against the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to one of loving submission to Him as Lord of all of life.
God in His Word uses another very strong verb to describe true repentance – the word Epistrepho, which means to be completely turned around. Thus Paul commended the Thessalonian believers very highly because they had “…turned (epistrepho) to God from idols to serve the living God” (1 Thess. 1:9). Note Paul did not say the Thessalonians had just claimed to repent but they had showed it by the change in the way they THOUGHT, LIVED, AND SERVED.
If one’s spiritual journey did not begin with sincere repentance, then his journey has never begun, and he needs to take to heart the often repeated warning of Jesus, “Unless you repent, you will perish” (Luke 13:3, 5), meaning to perish (apoleisthe) in eternal separation from God in hell.
Conclusion: REPENTANCE IS THE STARTING PLACE FOR ALL BELIEVERS. You may have had an emotional upheaval of some kind, but do not mistake that for Repentance. Repentance is acknowledging sin, deliberately turning away from it, and living a life to prove it. Are you sure you have repented? If not, just do it without delay. Tomorrow could be too late. Remember “Esau found no place for repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears” (Hebrews 12:17b).