Charles Colson was once known as President Richard Nixon’s “hatchet man.” He earned that moniker through his relentless, no-nonsense way of executing the president’s plans. Even if he had to use what we may call “ethically questionable tactics,” Colson made sure he carried out Nixon’s bidding. Colson’s fall from greatness made the headlines as the Watergate scandal of 1973 broke open to the public, and he became one of the chief scapegoats of the whole debacle.

During the fallout of Watergate, Colson visited his friend, Tom Phillips, who shared with him about how he had recently accepted Christ as his Savior and now had a relationship with God. At first Colson was skeptical, but as Tom read an excerpt from C. S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity, he began to see his own pride in a new light. He recognized it was his arrogance that had led him to deceive, cheat, and disrespect others when it was politically expedient. After Tom prayed for him, Chuck said good night and went out to his car. Something told him that he should go back in and pray with Tom once more. Just then, the lights went out in the house. So he started driving home. But before long, his eyes burned with tears, and he pulled over. Right there, alone in that car, Chuck admitted to the emptiness he felt and asked God to accept him in spite of his failures. In that moment, Chuck cried out to God.

In the subsequent weeks, he read from Mere Christianity, eventually concluding that Jesus Christ had to be the Son of God. So he surrendered his heart to the Lord of the universe. From that point of conversion, Chuck’s life was transformed. His wife noticed it. His friends noticed it. Something was radically different about Chuck.

Still, most government officials were very skeptical that Colson had truly changed. When he was tried for his part in the Watergate scandal, Chuck was offered a plea bargain. He was told that if he pled guilty to a misdemeanor he didn’t actually do, he would avoid prison. Here was Chuck’s ticket to go free! All he had to do was lie about committing this misdemeanor. Astonishingly, Chuck refused the deal. He chose to tell the truth, even though it landed him in prison for seven months. The press couldn’t make sense of it. They didn’t understand how Nixon’s brutal “hatchet man” could suddenly have scruples over what seemed to be an easy decision. After being released from prison, Colson started Prison Fellowship Ministries, an organization with the goal of offering inmates the hope of life with Jesus Christ.

Eric Metaxas explained it this way: Colson “had worked hard, in his younger years, for President Richard Nixon—the most powerful man on earth,” but he “spent the second half of his life working even harder for the King of kings.”[1]

Colson’s transformation is not an isolated case. Across the world–for the last two thousand years–there have been countless persons, including myself, who have had their lives changed by Jesus Christ. His story provides a great example of what the Bible calls repentance.

The Call to Repentance

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:1-2, NIV)

The Bible portrays John the Baptist as an eccentric wild man. Matthew describes him as wearing camel’s hair and a leather belt and eating locusts and honey. Some of us imagine a modern day John the Baptist as some half-crazed man running around wearing a sandwich board that says “The End is near.” But John was a prophet – a spokesman – for God. He was commissioned by God to announce the long-awaited arrival of Jesus the Messiah. Jesus had been living a relatively obscure life in Galilee, but He was about to begin His three-year ministry, which would eventually lead Him to the cross. And John the Baptist was the Messiah’s forerunner. The great theme of John’s preaching was repentance.

In a sense, John was the last of the Old Testament prophets. His message of repentance matches what they all said.[2] And the description that we are given of him is meant to highlight the simplicity of his life. He didn’t seek worldly goods. But I think it is also meant to highlight his sold-out commitment to proclaim the Messiah and devote his life to that ministry alone.

John is announcing the arrival of the kingdom of God in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. For the Jew who has been anxiously waiting for the kingdom’s arrival, this is startling news. But John says that one is not automatically admitted into the kingdom. A response is required from us. John calls all the people of Israel to repent – a word that needs to be carefully defined.

The root word (metanoia in Greek) means “to change one’s mind.” But whenever repentance is used in Scripture, it describes a change far more radical than a mere change of opinion. “I used to like plain chocolate, but now I’m more of a chocolate-and-peanut-butter guy” might be a change of mind, but repentance is a total shift in the gravitational center of one’s life. A reorientation of priorities and a renovation of character are the fruits of true repentance. That is why John told those who came to be baptized, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8). Repentance is like making a U-turn and going in a completely new direction in life—albeit imperfectly.

Chuck refused to take the plea bargain, because he was living in a new direction. Honoring the Lord now mattered more to him than a “get out of jail free” card. So he refused the easy path of deception.

Confession, Sorrow, and Conversion

First of all, repentance involves confession over sin. Those who “were baptized by [John] in the river Jordan” were “confessing their sins” (Matthew 3:6). So confession of sin, admitting you have done wrong, is one aspect of it. But merely owning up to sin is not enough.

Secondly, in the Bible, the truly repentant are always sorrowful over their sin. In Psalm 51, we witness the once confident King David humbly confessing to God his great sin of committing adultery with a woman named Bathsheba.

Listen to how broken David is over his sin:

“Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Psalm 51:1-5, NIV)

Notice David says to God, “Against you, you only, have I sinned” (v. 4). This is an astonishing statement when you consider that he sinned against a lot of people when he committed adultery. He sinned against Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, and even had him killed. He sinned against Bathsheba by luring her into the sin with him. He sinned against his family by dishonoring them. And he sinned against the whole nation by abusing his power and office as king. But David understands that first and foremost, his sin is against God, because it is God—and no one else—to whom he is most fundamentally accountable. It was God who had created him, given him life, and sustained his life for every moment of every day. It was God who had raised him up to be king over Israel. So, most importantly, by sinning at all, David was sinning against God.

David is an emotional train wreck. And yet, that is precisely what God looks for in true repentance:

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17)

So, repentance involves both confession of sin—admitting guilt—and being brokenhearted over your sin. But this still isn’t everything that repentance is. Most importantly, repentance involves conversion of the heart. It involves turning from the sins we love to the God we were made to love.

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,
for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.
Take with you words and return to the LORD;
say to him, “Take away all iniquity.” (Hosea 14:1-2, NIV)

Sin is what separates us from God, and it is only when sin is truly repented of—not just confessed—that we are brought into right relationship with God. It’s not enough to be brokenhearted or even devastated over our sin. We need to turn from that sin and toward God, trusting in Jesus Christ to free us.

Remorse versus Repentance

Many people confuse repentance with remorse. Remorse is a deep sense of grief and anguish over the consequences of sin. The classic example of remorse is Pharaoh. Time after time, Pharaoh says, “I have sinned!” Outwardly, he appears sorrowful, even asking for forgiveness (Exodus 10:17). He admits his failure, but he still isn’t ready to repent. Pharaoh is like the kid who is sorry that he got caught but not really sorry for disobeying his mom.

Consider what Paul wrote the church in Corinth about the necessity of true repentance:

“As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” (2 Corinthians 7:9-10, NIV)

Paul is saying, “Yes, grieve over your sin, but that’s not enough. It must be a godly grief that produces a repentance leading to salvation without regret.”

The clearest example of this difference can be seen in Judas and Peter. Both were disciples of Jesus Christ. Both men ate with Him, talked with Him, and listened to Him teach for three years. Yet both sinned against Jesus in the final 24 hours before the cross. Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss; Peter denied that he even knew Jesus. Judas sinned with false affection; Peter sinned with false ignorance.

Both had committed an unspeakable sin against their Lord. Both grieved over their sin. But Judas never repented. Matthew tells us he was so ashamed of what he had done that he went out and hung himself (Mt. 27:5). Peter, on the other hand, “wept bitterly” (Mt. 26:75), but then he repented. After Jesus rose from the dead, Peter returned to Jesus, and he was restored to fellowship with Him (John 21:7, 15-22). He went on to become the first great proclaimer of the risen Lord (Acts 2:22-36). We have every reason to believe that Peter is now in Heaven with Jesus, and that Judas, tragically, is destined for hell since Jesus called him “a son of destruction” (John 17:12; cf. Matt. 26:24-25). Two starkly different eternal destinies, and the difference between Judas and Peter was repentance.

No wonder Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). Repentance is essential, because we will continue to put ourselves at the center of the universe until we turn to the God of grace and forgiveness.

The biblical teaching on repentance and the examples of Chuck Colson, King David, and the Apostle Peter remind us that no one is beyond hope. As long as there is still breath in your lungs, there is still time to repent. It’s as simple and as hard as turning (or returning) to the Lord.

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10, NIV)

Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!

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[1] Eric Metaxas. Seven Men, 163

[2] See Isaiah 1:16-20; Jeremiah 4:4; 18:8; 26:13; Ezekiel 18:20-32; Hosea 5:4; 14:1-2; Joel 2:12-14; Amos 4:10-11; Jonah 3:10; Zechariah 1:3-6; Malachi 3:7; 4:6.