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A.--Yes, that expresses fairly well my difficulty, and in the attempt to solve it I
concluded that the difference must be between heart belief and mere intellectual faith.
B.--We must meet again and carry the subject further.
#6.
Repentance.
pp. 78 - 80
A.--When we were talking over the nature of faith you seemed to imply that something
was necessary before the natural man would believe the testimony of God. I should be
glad if you would take up that point.
B.--Most readily. You will find the answer in the following passages which you might
read: Mark 1: 15; II Tim. 2: 25; Acts 11: 18; 20: 21.
A.(Reads).--
"Repent ye, and believe the gospel."
"If God peradventure will give them repentance unto the acknowledging of the truth."
"Then hath God also to Gentiles granted repentance unto life."
"Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."
B.--Here you will observe that repentance comes before faith, before knowledge and
before life, and that it is necessary for repentance to be directed toward God if faith is to
be exercised in the Lord Jesus Christ. Before we go further, however, we must be sure
that we understand the meaning of the term we use. What does repentance mean?
A.--I understand that repentance is derived from the word penitence, and implies a
certain amount of sorrow for sin.
B.--That is true so far as the English word is concerned, and sorrow or penitence is a
part--perhaps a later part--of Scriptural repentance, but that is not its primary meaning.
What are the Greek words for repent and repentance?
A.(Using Concordance).--Metanoeo and metanoia.
B.--What does meta mean when used in composition with other words?
A.--Meta means "after" or "change".
B.--Can you give me any illustrations of this meaning?