Do you want to know what he is? remorse and regret according to the Bible? No one is ready to receive and believe the gospel unless they are also ready to repent and turn from their sins. Remorse and regret are very different, and most people believe that remorse and regret are the same thing. In this study we will show you the difference.
remorse and regret
The word of God (Elohim) is very clear regarding remorse and repentance. This is what his word says:
- Acts 17:30: God (Elohim), regardless of the times of ignorance, now proclaims to all men everywhere that they must repent,
Repentance is one of the basic doctrines of the Bible, but it is also one of the most misunderstood. The definitions that are usually given are very strange and very wrong.
No one is ready to receive and believe the gospel unless they are also ready to repent and turn from their sins. Before meeting Jesus (Yahshua), John the Baptist had only one speech in which he said: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near: Matthew 3:2.
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But if he had kept repeating this word, never showing the people “the Lamb of God (Elohim)“, his work would have been very imperfect. When Jesus (Yahshua) appeared, he was seized by the same statement:
- Matthew 4:17: From that moment Jesus (Yahshua) began to preach and say: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.
And when he sent his disciples to preach, it was with the same message:
- Mark 6:12: They set out and preached repentance.
After having been glorified, when the Holy Spirit (Ruach Ha Kadosh) was sent from heaven, we find Peter on the day of Pentecost, making the same cry heard: repent! And it was this preaching, repentance and faith in the gospel, that produced such wonderful results. Acts 1:33-47
Remorse and regret (What regret is not)
Before I say what repentance is, I will briefly explain what it is not. Repentance is not fear, much less having remorse. Many people confuse these two things. They imagine that they must be alarmed, terrified; they wait for a kind of fear to take over them.
But there are multitudes of alarmed people who do not repent. How many sailors, in the middle of the storm, cry out for mercy to God (Elohim), to start again, once the fear has passed, to swear and misbehave! It was not regret, but fear that made them scream.
- Regret is not an impression either. Many people expect to experience an extraordinary emotion; they would like to give themselves to God (Elohim), but they do not dare to do so before having felt it.
- Repentance is not fasting and mashing either. A man can fast for months and years, and far from renouncing his sin, make his penance a reason to persevere in evil.
- Regret is not remorse. Judas felt remorse, he had them so terrible that they led him to suicide; however, he had not repented. I believe that if he had returned to his Master, if he had thrown himself at his feet and asked for mercy, he would have been forgiven. Instead, he went to the priests and then hanged himself.
Not all the penances in the world involve true repentance. Remember well that you cannot pay for the sins of your soul with the pains of your flesh.
- Repentance is not conviction of sin. It may sound strange, but it is too true. there are examples of men so deeply convinced of his sin that they could not sleep, eat, or drink from him. They remained in this state for months, but they did not convert.
- praying is not repenting. This too may seem strange, and yet many people, desiring to be saved, rely in vain on their prayers and reading the Bible, imagining that this replaces repentance. We can cry out to God (Elohim) and not convert.
- Giving up on a particular sin is also not a sufficient indication of repentance.. Lots of people make this mistake. A drunk will stop drinking and think that he is safe, but he is wrong. Giving up a single sin is cutting a single branch from the tree when the whole tree must be uprooted.
What is the difference between remorse and regret
Now let’s see the difference between remorse and regret with the definition in military language: it is what soldiers call a “u turn right“. Repentance is something similar to a change of direction.
Regret is a change of mind or determination but remorse is not. Take, for example, this parable, told by Christ:
Matthew 21: 28-29 What do you think? A man had two children; and addressing the first, he said: My son, go and work today in my vineyard. He replied: I don’t want to. Then he repented and left.
After saying no, he thought about it and changed his mind. Perhaps, he thought to himself, I didn’t speak respectfully to my father. He asked me to go to work and I refused; I was wrong. But suppose he had spoken thus and stopped there; he would not have regretted it.
Not only did he remain convinced that he had been wrong, but he immediately went to the field to plow. This is how Christ himself defines repentance. If someone says: “By the grace of God (Elohim), I leave my sin and do his will from now on“, that person repents; this is the true conversion.
Can we repent on the spot?
Definitely. It doesn’t take six months to change your mind. There is a moment in the life of any man when he can stop and say: “By the grace of God (Elohim), I will not continue on the path of eternal death. I repent of my sins and turn from them”.
If you let that moment pass, it may be too late. Don’t wait to deeply feel your sins; if you are convinced that you are on the wrong path, that is enough; Turn around immediately, that is real repentance, and that is salvation.
All the examples of conversions in the Bible are instant conversions. Repentance and faith come, most of the time, suddenly; when a man makes a decision, God (Elohim) gives him strength; He doesn’t ask you to do the impossible.
That man wants, that God (Elohim) can. He would not command “all men to repent” if they could not. Those who do not repent and believe in the gospel have only themselves to blame. True repentance must bear fruit. If we have wronged someone, we cannot ask God (Elohim) to forgive us until we have corrected the wrong.
Analysis of the word “repentance”
The word repentance will not appear in our recent dictionaries for several years, which says a lot about the moral state of our so-called modern society… However, in the form of synonyms, the definition is as follows:
- big regret
- pain
- remorse…
But in Greek, which is the original language of the New Testament texts, the words associated with repentance do not have the same meaning. Repentance is mainly translated by 2 Greek words”metanoia and metanoeo” What does it mean: change of opinion or attitude.
It is important to remember this detail in order to understand repentance from a biblical perspective.
The origin of regret
There are two categories of repentance, because two different moments:
- One at the time of our entry into salvation. (the first)
- The others, obtained during salvation, do not have a direct consequence, but it is their evolution that leads to consequences, positive or negative. ()
1- This “THE” repentance, the first, the one that has been given to us and that must be preceded by faith. This repentance is a new state of mind and it concerns our whole life, it is the starting point of a new state of mind until Jesus (Yahshua) returns.
Remember that “Repentance” it means “change of mindset or attitude“
This repentance there, the lost are always asked for, in a solemn and often urgent way. (Luke 13.3; Acts 3.19; Mark 1.15…)
two- And there are all the other repentances that God (Elohim) calls upon His children (saved people) on a daily basis.
In the vast majority, this repentance is requested from people who no longer want to repent, or who do not consider it necessary. (Luke 17,3; Revelation 2,5…)
- Luke 17.3: “See for yourselves. If your brother has sinned, rebuke him; and if he regrets it, forgive him“
I keep 5 elements in the greeting:
- faith
- repentance
- sanctification
- the grace
- the forgiveness
It is very important to know that of these 5 elements, none is produced directly by man, but all are not given by God (Elohim).
The origin of these 5 elements is divine.
(Ephesians 2: 8-9; Romans 2: 4; 1 Peter 1: 2; Galatians 3:18; Acts 26: 18…)
- Ephesians 2.8: “Because by grace you have been saved through faith. Y it doesn’t come from you, It is the gift of God (Elohim)”.
- Romans 2:4: “Or you despise the riches of his kindness, his patience and his tolerance, without recognizing that the goodness of God (Elohim) leads youto repentance?”
These 5 elements can be divided into 2 categories.
1st category:
- faith.
- repentance.
- sanctification.
They are elements led to evolve, grow, progress… (2 Timothy 2:25, 1 Peter 1: 2…)
While in the 2nd category:
They are perfect and successful elements
Repentance is, therefore, like a seed that God (Elohim) has given us, it must progress and bear fruit.
- Matthew 3.8:” Bear therefore fruit worthy of repentance”
Steps before repentance
From the genesis, until the first disobedience of humanity, Adam did not limit himself to opening his eyes to the existence of good and evil, but this disobedience also revealed the bad side of the field he chose.
Adam acquired consciousness and it is now through it that he can see the badness of the choice he made. Since then, man has chosen this evil field from generation to generation, and this choice is linked to slavery… We are slaves to sin.
- John 8.34 “Truly I say to you,” answered Jesus (Yahshua), “everyone who commits sin is slaveof sin.”
Remember that a slave’s will and choice are extremely limited.
As in cycling, there are two important points:
- the ability of the bicycle (its technical performance that determines its limits but also those of the cyclist, however strong it may be)
- and the condition of the cyclist’s health (their physical performance)
There are also two important sides of the will:
- There is ability of the will (of what it is capable of within your limits)
- and is user status of willpower (your health: willing or corrupt)
Unfortunately, there is no will in man to get closer to God (Elohim), I would even say the opposite. Life was in Christ, but He said:
- John 5.40“You don’t want to come to me to have life”.
Or also, when after having prepared the great meal, the teacher invites his guests to freely enjoy what he has prepared…