Hi ~

Here’s Matthew 3:1–2:

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

And here’s the note I wrote next to that verse in my wide-margin Bible back in 1993 when I was 35:

“This ‘Repent’ contains with it the urgency that the sinner have a strong sense of his sin and its atrocity before God. This is the sense that I need to have in order to have a truly right relationship with Him.”

When I reread that note more than 30 years later, I said out loud, “Wow.”

Months later, when I came back to it again while preparing to write this email, I said “Wow” again.

Not because I was impressed with my insight, haha.

No, I was astounded at my brainwashing.

Here’s why:

If you’ve read the chapter on “metanoia” in Untwisting Scriptures Book 4, you already know that the Greek word translated “repent” isn’t primarily about sin at all.

That truth alone was a major paradigm shift for me.

But there was something else at work in my thinking.

I believed that in order to have a right relationship with God, I needed to carry around a constant, crushing sense of how atrocious my sin was.

Can you see how twisted that is?

Where did that belief even come from?

As far as I can remember, it was the only way of thinking I’d ever heard or read (aside from a few bright spots here and there that didn't quite sink in to my brainwashed head).

It wasn't until about 10 years later--10 years after I wrote that note--that this twisted view began to unravel for me.

And another 10 years before it became clear enough to write about in a way that others could understand.

To go from

“I must stay bowed down very low before God, always conscious of my vile sin”

to

“I am a beloved daughter of God, and I can come joyfully and boldly into His presence through my Lord Jesus”—

that is a journey of freedom and healing, through His truth.

If you haven’t yet read the chapter in Untwisting Scriptures Book 4 that explores what “repentance” really means, you can get that book here.

If you’re like me, having a right understanding of the New Testament word translated repentance could change your life too.

It’s a journey, for sure. But what a worthwhile one.

With you in hope for your own untwisting journey,

Rebecca

Untwisting Scriptures at heresthejoy.com

See my Untwisting Scriptures series

Trauma-informed Christian book coach at Rebecca Davis WordWorking

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