The following are scriptures calling people to repentance or describing what God expects in making that call.
Isaiah 1:16-18
16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. 18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson,They shall be as wool.
Isaiah 55:6-7
6 Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
Jeremiah 8:6
I listened and heard, But they do not speak aright. No man repented of his wickedness, Saying, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone turned to his own course, As the horse rushes into the battle.
Ezekiel 14:6
“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations.
Ezekiel 18:20-23, 30
20 The soul that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. 21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 22 All his transgressions that he has committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? says the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
Ezekiel 33:11
11 Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
Acts 8:22-23
22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.
James 1:21-22
21 Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness [that's repentance], receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word [that's faith], and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.
James 4:8-10
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Revelation 2:5
Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
2 Chronicles 7:14
If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Matthew 12:41
The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.
Read Jonah 3:10 to learn what Jesus was saying that the people of Nineveh can teach to our generation about repentance.
REPENT OR PERISH
Luke 13:1-5
1 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
Matthew 21:28-32
28 But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, 'Son, go work today in the vineyard.' 29 He answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind, and went. 30 And he came to the other, and said the same thing. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into the Kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it, you did not even repent afterward, that you might believe him.
So, Jesus taught that the people who believed John the Baptist's message repented and that showed that they believed him.
Jesus sent his apostles to preach repentance to all nations:
Luke 24:46-47
46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."
On the day of Pentecost, people asked Peter and the other apostles what they must do to be saved and he answered to them:
Acts 2:37-38
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is not given to those who do not repent to turn from rebellion in sin to obedience:
Acts 5:30-32
30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. 31 Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
The apostle Paul preached repentance:
Acts 17:30-31
30 The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to everyone by raising him from the dead.
Acts 20:20-21
(you know...) 20 how I did not hold back from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks (Gentiles) repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Acts 26:19-20
19 "So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds."
Many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1). Don't listen to them and make the fatal mistake of either dismissing repentance or getting repentance wrong.
2 Timothy 2:15, 19
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, correctly handling the word of truth.
19 However God’s firm foundation stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work [not sin!].
Repent! Obey Jesus! Turn away from sin! Be saved!
More:
Romans 2:4-7
4 Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 6 who “will pay back to everyone according to their works:”... (speaking for both Jews and Gentiles - verses 9-10)
2 Corinthians 7:9-10
9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you were made sorry to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly way, that you might suffer loss by us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow leads to repentance leading to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world leads to death.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2 Corinthians 12:20-21
20 For I am afraid that by any means, when I come, I might find you not the way I want to, and that I might be found by you as you do not desire; that by any means there would be strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, whisperings, proud thoughts, riots; 21 that again when I come my God would humble me before you, and I would mourn for many of those who have sinned before now, and not repented of the uncleanness and sexual immorality and lustfulness which they committed.
2 Timothy 2:24-26
24 The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but be gentle towards all, able to teach, patient, 25 in gentleness correcting those who oppose him: perhaps God may give them repentance leading to a full knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may recover themselves out of the devil’s snare, having been taken captive by him to his will.
Hebrews 6:1-6
1 Therefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, let us press on to perfection—not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, of faith toward God, 2 of the teaching of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put Him to open shame.
PS:
Comment on the understanding of repentance being a daily endeavor
PSS:
Comment on how many times a person may repent
People who are backslidden are called to repent to make things right with God (because they aren't). And since they were once saved from sin (John 8:36; Romans 6:5-7, 14, 18), they must have repented already once to get into a relationship with God in the first place. This was the case for the five (out of seven) churches that Jesus told to repent in Revelation 2:5, 2:16, 2:22, 3:3 and 3:19. They all received a warning to repent, and that meant they were facing a life and death situation because of their backsliding. They had to repent or they would eventually perish/be destroyed (not be saved). So, their backsliding wasn't a normal nor an expected situation. And it does not warrant that any believer today would need to be talking about being saved (set free from sin) and foreseeing multiple future instances of repentance right from the start of their relationship with God. That's not the picture to have of neither repentance nor salvation. Going back to sin after having repented and being saved from sin is not the plan. And this lines up with Jesus' words in John 8:35, saying that a slave doesn't remain in the house forever. That goes also for someone who was saved/freed from sin and went back to being a slave of sin by his/her own doing, selling him/herself back to sin.
People do fall away from the faith, from being previously in it and failing to endure to the end (Matthew 10:22, Hebrews 2:1-3, Hebrews 10:38-39, 2 Peter 2:20-22). And for those who are unable to repent an nth time (e.g. Hebrews 6:4-6, Hebrews 10:26-29, Hebrews 12:17), there won't be any change of destination for them from the present time to the time of Jesus' return and of the final judgment. There is a point of no return for someone who would come to know God and believe a lie of the devil and turn away from that spiritual intimacy with the most blessed almighty God.
See also:
Freedom From Sin
Suffer The Cross To Overcome Addictions
Is Repentance Just a Change of Mind?
Repentance Teachings - video playlist
Godly Sorrow Leads to Repentance
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