Repentance

The definition for the Greek word for repentance  (metanoia) is usually "a change of mind;" however,  I believe the word's usage has more the idea of  “a resolve to think or do differently.”

It may seem that the definition of repentance as a change of mind allows for “belief” to be one kind of repentance (a change of mind from unbelief to belief), but believing may often be more a cause of repentance.

I believe “repentance” is best understood as a distinct response that follows belief. I believe this is the best way to understand the references to the people of Nineveh concerning their responses to the preaching of Jonah.

Luke 11.32: The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

Jonah 3.4-5: Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk. Then he cried out and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" So the people of Nineveh believed God , proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.

The Ninevites believed the Divine message through Jonah, and the result was repentance which was evidenced by their actions of fasting and the putting on of sackcloth.

Repentance is not turning from sin, for even God repented (or relented): Then God saw their works, that they turned [Hebrew: shuwb] from their evil way; and God relented [Hebrew: nacham] from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. Jonah 3.10

Turning from something was the result of repentance, as the Ninevites turned from their evil and God turned from His wrath.   This turning is the result and translates the Hebrew word “shuwb,”  but the repentance translates the word “nacham,” which in the case with God, was the resolve to not destroy Nineveh, because Nineveh resolved to turn form the evil they did-and they did turn from it.

With respect to human repentance, this resolve could refer to seeking harmony or getting right with God. The result of repentance, such as with Nineveh, was the actual turning from their evil, translating the Hebrew word “shuwb.” This would be the "fruit" of repentance, as was what was sought by John the Baptist from particularly the Jewish nation in preparation for the Messiah and the Kingdom of heaven: Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance… Luke 3.8 The outcome of this would be salvation from temporal wrath.

Escape from temporal wrath (temporal salvation) is the result of repentance as seen in light of the Ninevites and the repentance of Israel at the preaching of John.

Repentance can be and usually is conditioning or preparatory for the one condition of eternal life which is faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Seeking to get right with God is never complete until one believes on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation from the eternal penalty of sin. This is probably why Jesus' message to Israel was a call to both repentance and belief in the gospel, because they were to get right with God--as His people should--and believe the gospel of the kingdom, which would result in justification: Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." Mark 1.14

Acts 17.30-31: Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.

The command for all people to repent was a call in connection with a proper view of God--he's not an idol--especially from the time that God has revealed Himself in the person of Jesus Christ.
The resolve to get right with God and turn from idols is commanded in light of the gospel of Christ, but justification--eternal life--only results when one believes in Christ for eternal life; such repentance would have as its aim such content and belief.

2 Corinthians 7.9-11: Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance [leading] to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

The above account reveals that sorrow can precede repentance, and this situation involves those already Christian. This sorrow is also defined as godly sorrow. I believe this kind of sorrow is one that sees things from a divine perspective, a perspective that sees one's actions as bringing harm to the name of God or the kingdom of God. Godly sorrow leads to repentance, a resolve to do differently. This resolve to do differently leads to salvation. I believe this salvation is the temporal kind, though probably spiritual in nature, such as restoration of fellowship with God or approved character before God. The word regretted is introduced here. The salvation that follows godly sorrow and repentance is not to be regretted. (Consider Matthew 21.29 where regret would precede repentance--where one thinks about a decision and regrets it and then resolves to do differently--repents--and does as previously asked.) The fruit of repentance of the Corinthians is seen in the actions given of the Corinthians above by Paul.

In the following chart, I seek to show the relationships between belief and regret with repentance and the fruit of repentance.