Repentance: How to Bring the Glory of God Back

Repentance brings back the glory of God and returns man into the presence of God

Repentance is essential to return to God so His glory may again dwell in our lives. Only then will we have times of refreshing, revival, rest, and peace.

Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,”

Without repentance—without a change of direction—we will not see the glory of God. Until we make a U-turn, a 180-degree turn around, there will be no restoration of His glory.

For repentance to come, we must call the sin “sin.” As the prophet Isaiah said:

Isaiah 58:1 ““Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins.”

For example, if you have sex with a woman you have not married, you are committing the sin of fornication. That’s the truth, whoever you are. There are people so important—by the world’s standards—that pastors dare not tell them that they are in sin. That keeps them from repentance and prevents the present of God from reaching those people and the outpouring of His glory upon their lives.

True Repentance

Repentance is the English translation of the Greek metanoia, where meta means to turn and noia refers to the mind; in other words, it is a change of mind, as manifested in one who repents of a purpose he has formed or of something he has done.

Metanoia describes compunction, the primary sense of repentance, and complete conversion. It reflects a change of direction, a different conduct, and a new outlook on life.

Repentance is man’s permission to God to intervene in areas of life that he cannot change. It is the birth canal through which people are born again into the Kingdom of God and remain in it. That is why Jesus preached when He began His ministry, saying:

Mark 1:15 “and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.””

Repentance is the work of the Holy Spirit

Repentance and Conversion

Where there is true repentance, there is true conversion.

The word converted means to change to another form; it alludes to a total transformation. If you have not changed, you are not converted because change is the evidence of conversion. Both conversion and repentance imply a change of course, direction, thinking, and behavior. For example, a person who used to be an alcoholic, adulterer, fornicator, liar, or was foul-mouthed or lazy, is no longer any of that. This shows that he has changed and turned from his evil ways to follow Jesus.