LEARN BY TOPIC

Repentance

Distinguish confession and real change through accounts of accountability and repair.

1. 1. Read and discover - Read lesson

   World English Bible

   Acts 3:19

   ¹⁹ “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,

   Read the full chapter

   Understanding the passage

   Peter calls for a changed direction in a speech about Jesus; repentance involves response and transformation, not merely felt guilt.

   Reflect

   • What is the difference between feeling guilty and changing harmful behavior?

   Put it into practice

   Name an action that repairs a specific harm.

   Next lesson →

2. 2. Repentance in Nineveh - Read lesson

   World English Bible

   Jonah 3:5-10

   ⁵ The people of Nineveh believed God; and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from their greatest even to their least.

   ⁶ The news reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, took off his royal robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

   ⁷ He made a proclamation and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, “Let neither man nor animal, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed, nor drink water;

   ⁸ but let them be covered with sackcloth, both man and animal, and let them cry mightily to God. Yes, let them turn everyone from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.

   ⁹ Who knows whether God will not turn and relent, and turn away from his fierce anger, so that we might not perish?”

   ¹⁰ God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way. God relented of the disaster which he said he would do to them, and he didn’t do it.

   Read the full chapter

   Understanding the passage

   The account connects public response with turning from violence; change is not reduced to outward signs of penitence.

   Reflect

   • What conduct must change beyond religious gestures?

   Put it into practice

   Identify harmful behavior and one concrete step away from it.

   Next lesson →

3. 3. Asking for a renewed heart - Read lesson

   World English Bible

   Psalms 51:1-12

   ¹ For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

   ² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.

   ³ For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me.

   ⁴ Against you, and you only, I have sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight, so you may be proved right when you speak, and justified when you judge.

   ⁵ Behold, I was born in iniquity. My mother conceived me in sin.

   ⁶ Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

   ⁷ Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

   ⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness, that the bones which you have broken may rejoice.

   ⁹ Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my iniquities.

   ¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.

   ¹¹ Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

   ¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.

   Read the full chapter

   Understanding the passage

   The psalm joins confession, mercy and inward renewal; admitting wrong goes beyond protecting one’s image.

   Reflect

   • What does the psalmist ask to have changed in his heart?

   Put it into practice

   Admit a specific wrong without excuses and seek suitable repair.

   Next lesson →

4. 4. David’s accountability - Read lesson

   World English Bible

   2 Samuel 12:1-13

   ¹ The LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in one city: the one rich, and the other poor.

   ² The rich man had very many flocks and herds,

   ³ but the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food, drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was like a daughter to him.

   ⁴ A traveler came to the rich man, and he didn’t want to take of his own flock and of his own herd to prepare for the wayfaring man who had come to him, but took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

   ⁵ David’s anger burned hot against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die!

   ⁶ He must restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and because he had no pity!”

   ⁷ Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.

   ⁸ I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that would have been too little, I would have added to you many more such things.

   ⁹ Why have you despised the LORD’s word, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

   ¹⁰ Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’

   ¹¹ “This is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.

   ¹² For you did this secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’”

   ¹³ David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin. You will not die.

   Read the full chapter

   Understanding the passage

   Nathan uses a story to confront David’s abuse; admitting guilt neither erases harm nor removes accountability.

   Reflect

   • How does Nathan’s story help David recognize his own wrongdoing?

   Put it into practice

   Hear correction without using your position to defend yourself.

   Next lesson →

5. 5. Zacchaeus and repair - Read lesson

   World English Bible

   Luke 19:1-10

   ¹ He entered and was passing through Jericho.

   ² There was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.

   ³ He was trying to see who Jesus was, and couldn’t because of the crowd, because he was short.

   ⁴ He ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was going to pass that way.

   ⁵ When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”

   ⁶ He hurried, came down, and received him joyfully.

   ⁷ When they saw it, they all murmured, saying, “He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner.”

   ⁸ Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. If I have wrongfully exacted anything of anyone, I restore four times as much.”

   ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham.

   ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”

   Read the full chapter

   Understanding the passage

   The encounter leads to generosity and restitution; changed life concretely affects possessions and treatment of people.

   Reflect

   • How does Zacchaeus show through his actions that he wants to change?

   Put it into practice

   Identify repairable harm and agree on fair restitution.