The Strand Study Bible

JONAH

JONAH

1397

The Christian life starts with grace; it must continue with grace, it ends with grace. 1 NOTE - Nowhere in the Bible is it taught that any feature of salvation depends upon the faithfulness of man ( Heb 6:1 c and Jn 1:13 & 6:28-29 ). 3:3 The city of Nineveh was so large (approximately sixty miles in circumference) that it took three days journey just to travel from one end of it to the other. Nineveh, though not the capital of Assyria at this time, was located on the East bank of the Tigris River, approximately 500 miles from Palestine. 3:5 Matthew 12:41 informs us that the Assyrians “ repented at the preaching of Jonah ” when they believed God . People who love to define repentance as “turning from sin” in order to experience the deliverance of God cite this passage (and especially verse 10) as proof of their definition of repentance. However, if repentance means “turning from sin,” did God sin as well? Verse 10 says that He also repented. Repentance cannot mean one thing for us and another thing for God. Curtis Hutson in Salvation Crystal Clear II notes:

No one is saved by turning; he is saved by trusting. For you to teach otherwise is nothing less than heresy. You are teaching works and reformation for salvation. To say that the word “repent” means to turn from sin is to make God Himself a sinner. The word “repent” in its various forms is found 46 times in the Old Testament. Of that number, God Himself does the repenting 28 times, and man, only 9 times. The other 9 times tell of things of which God will not repent. If “repent” means to turn from sin, then you have God turning from sin 28 times in the Old Testament and man turning from sin only 9 times… “Repentance” in its various forms is found 66 times in the New Testament. Fifty-eight of those times it is translated from the Greek words metanoia and matanoeo … metanoia is the noun of metanoeo , and both words mean…the same thing. The basic definition of the two words is “to change one’s mind.” That is the definition from a Greek dictionary, not my definition. The definition from the Strong’s Concordance of metanoeo is “to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider.” 2

The New Testament Greek word for “ repent ” is PHτDQοHZ ( metanoeo ). It is taken from two Greek words: PHτD ( meta - meaning “ after ”) and QοHZ ( noeo - meaning “ mind ”). The word literally means “ after thought .” Repentance simply means “ to change your mind ” (and in the case of man –to acknowledge your sinfulness), not change your life (turn from sin) ( II Cor 7:10 and I Thes 1:9 ). How foolish we are to add to the Scriptures what’s not there. Just because the people of Nineveh turned from their evil way (vs 10) doesn’t mean that “turning from sin” is a part of repentance. If “turning from sin” is a part of repentance, then fasting (vs 5), sitting in ashes (vs 6), causing others to do the same (vs 7), and crying mightily unto God (vs 8), are all part of repentance and thus a requirement for the deliverance of God. Verse 10 says, “ And God saw their works (plural).” Are all those things required in order to properly repent? If so, then in order to experience the deliverance of God one must add “ works ” to repentance, and then worry as to whether deliverance is even possible (vs 9). Again, if “turning from sin” is a part of repentance, did the man described by Jesus in Luke 17:3-4 truly repent? It says that he sinned against the same person seven times in one day. If “turning from sin” is a part of repentance, then this man failed miserably at repenting. Repentance does not mean that sin has been corrected. It just means that sin has been “acknowledged.” The fact is: God forgives us before we even repent. Note Robert Farrar Capon’s internet interview with Floyd Brown:

Brown : I know that if I go out and I fight and I’m the kind of guy who causes disruptive things, I’m a threat to society. I do bad things and bad things result. I know that if I repent of these things, God will forgive me, but if I don’t ever repent of these things, what’s going to happen? Capon : He forgave you before you repented. That’s crucial. See, that is why it is so outrageous. The gospel is really vulgar, crass and immoral because it says God forgives the world before it repents. In the gospel, repent is always repent and believe. It means turn yourself around from not trusting the forgiveness and trust it. That’s it. It doesn’t mean that you earn it by repenting. You had it before. 3

God paid for every sin before the sin was committed (before the world began – Titus 1:2 and Rev 13:8). All we have to do, as sinners, is acknowledged our sinfulness and accept His great love and forgiveness that He offered us through CHRIST . NOTE – First of all , the people of Nineveh were not repenting in order to be saved from sin and Hell. Nothing within this passage even suggests that the people of Nineveh were being offered salvation. I didn’t notice Jonah bringing a sacrificial lamb under his arm when he entered the city. Did you? According to the Bible, salvation from sin and Hell is by grace (Eph 2:8-9), not works, and these people were working to earn the deliverance of God. The entire context of the passage plainly states that the people of Nineveh repented (changed their minds) concerning what Jonah had been saying about the coming judgment (Jonah 1:2 & 3:1- 4), not the need for salvation. Just because some choose to “turn from their sin” and live right, thinking it would help with their deliverance, doesn’t mean it was a part of repentance. Secondly , true repentance has nothing to do with “turning from sin” and everything to do with “acknowledging” one’s sinfulness ( Mt 3:2 & 27:3 and I Jn 1:9 a ). Like the thief on the cross, who simply “acknowledged” his sinfulness and then acknowledged CHRIST as LORD (Lk 23:39-43), the only part we have in salvation is the beggar’s part. Thirdly , according to Galatians 5:19-21, it is impossible for the old nature within man (which is the only nature man possesses before he is saved) to turn from sin. Seriously, how can a nature that is totally dedicated to sin turn from it? Even the best that the old nature can produce is nothing but a “filthy rag” to God (Isa 64:6). Again, how foolish we are to add to the Scriptures what’s not there. 1 Jones, D. Martyn Lloyd. Spiritual Depression, Its Causes and Cure , Grand Rapids, MI, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 1965. Print. 2 Hutson, Curtis. Salvation Crystal Clear II, Murfreesboro, TN, Sword of the Lord. 2000. Print. 3 Robert Farrar Capon’s internet interview with Floyd Brown (June 19, 2008)