K129 What is the fruit of repentance?

Many people argue and debate on the true meaning of repentance. However, we can never truly understand the meaning of repentance without knowing the fruit of repentance. Is it biblical to have the fruit of repentance? Of course, the call to repentance with its fruits is mentioned clearly throughout the Bible. Is it applicable to us? Of course, it is necessary to everyone including:
1. The Pharisees - Mat 3:6-8 KJV And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.  (7)  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  (8)  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

2. The false prophets - Mat 7:15-23 KJV Beware of false prophets .. (16)  Ye shall know them by their fruits .. .. (20)  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.  (21)  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord .. .. (22)  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  (23)  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

3. The sinners - Act 26:20 KJV But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. Of course, Paul was not talking about just good works; he was talking about the fruits of repentance which will lead to doing more good works.

Although the three Bible passages above were preached or spoken to three different groups of people, they speak to us the importance of the fruits of repentance to all the believers:
1. If we had ONLY repentance without the fruits of repentance, we would be like the Pharisees who confessed their sin outwardly, but inwardly they were never born again. The Pharisees believed, repented, and confessed like the people; but they had no fruit of repentance, no regeneration, no redemption, and no restoration. They believed in corban law (Mark 7:11-13), 'easy-believism', or hypocritical repentance which gave people the false impression that God would only want to make it 'EASY' for them to believe, to repent, or to have good opinion of Him without making it necessary for them to turn away from their sins and keep His commandments (including the Ten Commandments or the commandment of the Lord to honour their parents too):

2. If we had ONLY good works without the fruits of repentance, we would be like the false prophets who could confess doing many good works in the name of the Lord; but they would be ultimately rejected by Jesus. Jesus shows us that they were the false prophets not because they did not do any good works; but because they did not have the fruit of repentance to do God's will. Hence, a believer is not saved by good works; but he is certainly not saved without the fruits of repentance too. He could be a false prophet even if he is able to preach the gospel with a lot of good works in the name of the Lord. Obedience and good works alone cannot save unless he has the faith in Christ to repent and turn from sin too. In the parable (Mat 21:28-32), the false prophets and the Pharisees could be the second son who said that he would go and do the will of God, but in the end, it was the first son (which consists of the publicans and the harlots) who did the will of God and entered the kingdom of God first through repentance and believing in God's words (v31-32). What do this parable of the two sons and the parable of the prodigal son mean? Both parables about the two sons mean that God loves all of us (including the Pharisees and the false prophets) because we are all His sons, but He can't help us if we refuse to repent or do His will. He can't help us if we just want to think of His grace only, His goodness only, His inheritance only, or the good opinion of Him only.

3. If we had NO repentance and NO fruits of repentance, we would still be sinners who do not know God. If we had no fruit of repentance, we had no regeneration, no redemption, and no restoration, and He can't have 'good opinion' of us.

Many will argue, "Yes, we know the importance of the fruits of repentance. But you have not defined what is the fruit of repentance. Hence, we can just tell everyone that we have all repented 'effortlessly' when we would just change our mind, believe, and confess based on Rom 10:9-11. When we repent (without any effort or will to do anything), we are saved whether we want to turn away from our sins or not. When we repent, the fruits of repentance will just come to us automatically, supernaturally, and effortlessly. We don't have to preach repentance over and over again in our churches today. If we are not sick of preaching it, God would get sick of hearing it .."

Repentance is something beautiful and worth reminding and remembering
I will tell them, No, you will not be sick of preaching it or hearing it because, every time when repentance is preached, it is a good reminder, confirmation, assurance, and confession of your faith that you have turned away from sin by the grace of God. God would not get sick of it too because He has been waiting to capture that beautiful picture when many of His (prodigal) sons would return home with that big surprise (in tears) on their face, upon receiving His forgiveness without expecting or demanding for it. That was a big contrast compared with the time when men (Adam and Eve) would demand, crave, or lust for the goodness, power, riches, inheritance, or likeness of God the Father in the garden of Eden. But now God saw that beautiful change on their face and heart. So, He quickly took out His 'camera', snap it, show it to all His angels, and tell them that that was the most precious moment He had been waiting for when His sons would genuinely turn back to Him without expecting or demanding anything from Him. He would frame it up in His 'gallery', and He would want us to always remember it .. forever ..  (if we are sick of it, something is very wrong !)
Many still argue, "Why do we keep remembering it if it is something that makes us agonize, cry with tears, or feel condemned? Don't you know that when we believe, we have no more sin conscience (Heb 10:2)? We should remember only something that is positive, glorious, or relaxed; for example: rest, peace, grace, blessing, and love. I don't find any scripture which tells us to remind ourselves of sins or repentance, except 1 John 1:9; however, we have rejected 1 John 1:9 and considered it as inapplicable to us; it is only applicable to the agnostic believers, the law believers, or those who are not truly perfect, or those who do not believe perfectly or rightly like us .."
I will tell them, Whether you believe perfectly or rightly, you still need to repent with the right attitude, right conscience, or the fruits of repentance. Please read your Bible again. Did you read Heb 10:2 with all the rest of the Bible verses in that chapter?
1. The whole chapter of Heb 10 explained clearly that there was no more sin conscience to remind the Jews of offering animal sacrifice under the Old Covenant.
2. It did not say that there was no more sin conscience to remind us of repentance under the New Covenant
I will tell them, There are many scripture verses which remind us of our sins and repentance too. So, I do not have to talk about 1 John 1:9 and argue with you on why it is worth reminding about our confession of sins and repentance. In fact, 1 John 1:9 is also a reminder and assurance of God's faithfulness and forgiveness too. Hence, it is certainly applicable to all of us. But, we do not want to build our whole Bible knowledge, principle, and doctrine based on just 1 John 1:9, just one Bible verse, or just our good intention, we should read the whole Bible and understand what God has to say about our sins and repentance. After this, I will explain what is the fruit of repentance:
Gen 3:3-6 KJV  .. (4)  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:  (5)  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.  (6)  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
In the past, Adam and Eve thought that it was 'cool' to live independently or freely away from ALL God's commands (anyway God has only given them one command). They thought that they could really live like God's sons only if they could be like God who gave them the law and command and know good and evil. Hence, when they desired and took the fruit, they departed from the law of God for worldliness (earthly desires - see 1Jn 2:16), and the glory of God departed from them.
1. Hence, in the garden of Eden, the fruit became the fruit of men's rebellion (through eating, sinning, and rebelling).
2. Today men are all given the grace to return home, but they can only turn back and go home by taking the fruit of repentance now (through 'eating', repenting, and obeying too).
Many will ask, "We know that we need to repent and obey; do we eat?"
I will tell them, When we 'eat' the Holy Communion, repent, and obey His commands, we remember the Lord's death and we remember the forgiveness of God.
Many Pharisees thought that when they knew God's laws, 'improve' on God's laws, or change God's laws, they would know how to solve men's problem too. However, Jesus and John the Baptist rebuked them sharply regardless of whether they had good or bad intention for men. The Pharisees did not have the fruits of repentance and yet they wanted to teach and give men the false impression that they could turn to God when their lives were full of hypocrisy:
Mat 3:7-8 KJV  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  (8)  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

The fruit of repentance is turning away from sin
I will tell them, But you do not have the fruit of repentance if you would just want to believe or change your mind only. If you argue that repentance is just change of mind, then I would say that repentance is not complete without the fruit of repentance which is turning away from sin.
The fruit of repentance is not a work; but it must be a determined mind or a change of mind to turn away from sinful works to righteous works. It must lead to living and doing God's righteousness too. If the fruit of repentance or turning away from sin does not show people that we have turned away from our sins, we have not repented with the fruits meet for repentance yet.
Many will argue, "What makes you think that the fruit of repentance is turning away from sin? But Paul said, When we repent, we turn to God (Act 26:20). Hence, we don't have to turn away from our sins. If we have to tell the people to repent, we should just tell them turn to God. This will draw more sinners who would just want to change their mind only or turn to God only. Who knows, if more people turn to God, one day they will all be encouraged to turn away from their sins too. That will ultimately save more people and lead more people to live righteously too."

The fruit of repentance is more than just turning to God
I will tell them, Of course, the fruits of repentance are plural and many. They are certainly not limited to turning away from sin. However, we should never preach like the lukewarm churches who always neglect or negate the words and doctrine of Jesus Christ. By telling the people that repentance is just to turn to God without turning away from sin, the lukewarm churches will mislead many in the end time:
1. the ignorant sinners may naively think so and interpret that they can repent better without turning away from their sins, whilst,
2. the hypocritical sinners may even boast that they can become more righteous and receive more grace even if they do not have any intention to turn away from their sins too.
(Lukewarm churches are always changing their minds and 'repenting'. They are good in changing their preaching and doctrinal stand on repentance, law, judgement, and sin too. When you say that we must repent and be saved, they will tell you that grace is enough and repentance is obsolete or redundant. When you ask them, Are you against repentance? they will always bring you into a long confusing debate and argue vehemently that they have been falsely accused or misunderstood, that they preach repentance too, that their repentance is just to change their mind only, believe in God only, or turn to God only, and that their repentance is always better than many others; and many others are jealous of them)
I will ask them, Do you know what is turning to God? It means that before you turn to God, you need to turn away from something first. If you know the teaching of the Lord from the parable of the prodigal son, you should know that before the prodigal son turned to his father, he turned away from his world of sins or his sinful living. In fact, Jesus always told the people to sin no more or to turn away from sin before and after delivering them:
Mat 4:17 KJV  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Joh 5:14 KJV  Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
Joh 8:11-12 KJV  She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.  (12)  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Luk 13:5-9 KJV  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.  (6)  He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none  .. ..  (9) And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.
Hence, if we preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and tell the people to turn to God, we must tell them to turn away from their world of sins or from their sinful living too. Otherwise, we have not preached the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Mat 6:24 KJV  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Turning to God and Turning to sin are two mutually exclusive thoughts or attitudes too. You cannot turn to both; when you TURN, you must turn your face towards one and your back towards the other (or vice versa). Hence, if we have really turned to God, we would have clear determination to turn away from sin; we would not turn back to sin willfully again and again, become tossed to and fro in sinful lifestyle, or compromise (like the lukewarm believers or ding dong bell preachers) on God's doctrine. If we have really turned to God, we would not preach easy-believism or false repentance which will please everyone (like the Pharisees) who would just want to turn to God and be saved from the wrath of God by just confessing their sins outwardly, without any fruit of repentance or turning away from sin.
Mat 3:7-8 KJV  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  (8)  Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
Of course, the gospel of grace or the gospel of prosperity can be preached like an amazing gospel from the parable of the prodigal son, but if it is focused on just what we can get without turning away from our world of sins or without the fruits of repentance, it is the gospel of the 'prodigal sons' or the gospel of the preachers who love being the prodigal son; but it is not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Hence, when we say that we turn to the Lord, it means that we believe in His words, turn from our sins, and live for Him too:
Rom 10:9-10 KJV  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  (10)  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
2 Corinthians 5:15  And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

The fruit of repentance is turning away from the lust of the flesh
Many think that the Israelites who wandered under Moses were faithless people who had never really turned to God. Yes, when the Israelites had problems, they did 'turn' to God (with a lot of their complaining and weeping about their lack of meat); but they did not turn away from Egypt or from the goodness of what they could get in Egypt. Of course, eating meat is not a sin; but eating meat with the lust or thinking of our flesh (with no turning away from our lust) is an abomination to God.
Num 11:4-6 KJV  And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?  (5)  We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:  (6)  But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes .. .. (31) And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea .. .. (33) And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.  (34)  And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.
Similarly, today many believers are faithless people who have not really turned to God even though they may think that they are following Jesus. They did 'turn' to God (with a lot of 'weeping' and prayer to Jesus about their poverty or problems); but they have not really turned away from this world or from the goodness of what they can enjoy in this world yet. They have forgotten that, like the Israelites who wandered under Moses, they are the wanderers under Christ too, before they will pass on and cross over to the kingdom of God. They have forgotten the Israelites' lesson that: God may answer the lust of our flesh when we 'weep' for it. Sometimes, it may seem like a favour or grace to have it answered by God; but it could be a wrath even while we still prosper and boast, and have the 'meat' yet in between the teeth of our mouth:
1Jn 2:15-18 KJV  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  (16)  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  (17)  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.  (18)  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
Gal 5:16-18 KJV  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.  (17)  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.  (18)  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
The lust of the flesh will stop us from entering the kingdom of God. This is the reason why those who were under Moses or under the law could not enter God's kingdom. This is also the reason why we know that the Israelites could not enter their promised land: it was not mainly because they were under Moses or under the law; it was because they were still under the lust of the flesh.

Repentance must have the fruits of repentance (or turning away from sins)
I will tell them, You said that Paul told the people to just repent and turn to God (Act 26:20). Did you continue to show them the second part of that Bible verse, i.e. to do works meet for repentance too? If you bother to tell the people to repent and turn to God, what's the problem if we tell the people to repent and turn to God and turn from their sins too? You argued that the Bible tells you to turn to God and that is considered as the fruit of repentance, but do you know that Jesus, Paul, and even Peter had all shown us clearly that repentance or turning to God must involve changing, conversion, or turning from sins too:
Act 3:19-26 KJV  Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ..  (23) And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people .. (26)  Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
Peter has just shown us that there is a close relationship between repenting and turning away from our sins. In fact, most God's prophets (eg. Jonah, Samuel, Elijah, .., and Malachi) would preach and tell the people to repent AND turn away from their sins too. But only the false prophets will repent (or preach repentance) without turning away from their sins. Like the Pharisees, they will just want to change their minds and think that God is too gracious to judge their sins committed under grace. Hence, sometimes we would hear something that is said like this from the pulpits: "Jesus did not come to make bad people good; but dead people live". Yes, it is cool to say it and hear it, but it reflects two things:
1. The preachers who say it are not cool at all because they are ignorant and they did not read their Bible. If they read the Bible, they will know that Jesus came to set the people free from the bondages of sin so that they are free to do righteousness or live in the righteousness of God. We may not be totally perfect or good, but we would turn away from sin and always  align our life to live and shine with the light of Christ.
2. The preachers who give the impression that they do not need to turn away from sin and do good may just want to impress others that they can preach better than the repentance preachers. However, unknowingly, they could have ended up preaching lukewarm doctrine which:
a. will mock at others who teach repentance and turning away from sin;
b. but elevate and flatter themselves for teaching their own hypocritical principles with more effortless prosperity, more 'lawless' philosophies, more successful testimonies, and more 'godly' or 'humble' living

Lukewarm churches or believers do not have the fruits of repentance
Lukewarm churches are always changing their minds or 'repenting'. They are good in changing their preaching and doctrinal stand on repentance, law, judgement, and sin too. When you say that we must repent and be saved, they will tell you that grace is enough and repentance is obsolete or redundant. When you ask them, Are you against repentance? they will always bring you into a long confusing debate and argue vehemently that they have been falsely accused or misunderstood, that they preach repentance too, that their repentance is just to change their mind only, believe in God only, or turn to God only, and that their repentance is always better than many others; and many others are jealous of them.
Hence, I believe that they are not just a fictitious group of people mentioned in Rev 3:14-22; they do exist in our generation today. The more they deny it or the more they argue that they are falsely accused by others, the more likely they are the ones in Rev 3:14-22. Why? They are rich, they are increased with goods (they prosper), they boast and claim that they can see (but they are blind), they preach repentance and yet they do not really repent (they may show that they are hot; but they are actually cold), they may keep saying that they hear Jesus only, but in reality they will never hear or do His words; instead, they will hear only their own favourite preachers (or the lawless ones) who have no more law for them ..
Rev 3:16-19 KJV  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.  (17)  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:  (18)  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.  (19)  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Many argue that any Bible warning or passage which tells them to repent or to turn away from sin can never be applicable to them because they are in Christ, and hence, they are too righteous to hear the warning or commandment again. They would use both their hands to cover their eyes and their two feet to cover their ears, but ironically their mouth will be left open to speak arrogantly that all God's preachers cannot see what they see because all God's preachers' eyes are covered by a veil.
Many would just come up with their own crazy idea that any Bible verse which has the words 'If we' (and if they do not like it) is not for them. So, you will hear their all kinds of theories which prove that 'if we' confess our sins (1 John 1:9), 'if we' sin wilfully (Heb 10:26), 'if we' keep His commandments (1 John 2:3), .. etc, are not applicable to them. I will ask them, Do you know that there are many 'If we' Bible verses in the Bible? How would you differentiate which one is for us and which one is not for us? I think you would love to get busy with explaining every Bible verse to your believers who are deceived to think that they cannot do without you. But please pray tell which of the following 'if we' Bible verses are for the believers, and which are for the agnostic believers:
Gal 5:25 KJV  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
2Ti 2:12-13 KJV If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:  (13)  If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
Heb 2:3 KJV  How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Gal 6:9 KJV  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
1Co 11:31-32 KJV  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.  (32)  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. 

The lukewarm believers will deny the words of the Lord based on their own principles and assumptions
Of course, when I said that the lukewarm people would use both their hands and their feet to cover their eyes and ears, I did not mean that they did it literally. Of course there are many principles a lukewarm believer will use to deny hearing the words of the Lord subtly. Using the 'if we' Bible verses to negate all other Bible verses is just one of their own principles. Their second principle is using only one Bible verse to negate all other Bible verses: for example,
Act 13:38-39 KJV  Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:  (39)  And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Many hyper grace preachers are known to have quoted the above to challenge God's preachers and ask, "Where, where is the need to repent when Paul would only tell us the forgiveness of sins?" or "Where, where is the need to keep God's laws based on the Bible verses above?"
I will ask them, Will you ask Jesus also, "Where, where is need to repent ?" when He taught you how to pray and confess your sins to God? Luk 11:2-4 KJV  And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.  (3)  Give us day by day our daily bread. (4) And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Will you ask ignorantly again, "Where, where is repentance?" when you read Eph 1:7-9 KJV In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace ?
Of course, the principle of not mentioning something in a particular Bible passage can never give you a valid ground to conclude that something is not necessary at all. Repentance and forgiveness of sins are always linked and together even though, sometimes, only one of them is mentioned explicitly in a Bible passage. Hence, you cannot conclude that the Ten Commandments were the main culprit which brought death just because there was no mention of death before the commandments were given too.
Will you still ask, "Where, where is the sound doctrine which teaches us?" and quote from Tit 2:11-12 KJV For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, (12) Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
I will tell them, Did you read the top of the chapter before you conclude that only grace can teach; and not sound doctrine? Tit 2:1-3 KJV  But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:  (2)  That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith ..
Sometimes, you could not find it because you did not read your Bible diligently. Sometimes, you could not see it because you simply could not see with common sense.

True repentance is a must for all the true believers of Jesus Christ
Hence, the Bible is very clear about the repentance which can save us. It must be the repentance with the fruits of repentance or turning away from sin. If the repentance has fruit of repentance, it has turning away from sins or the intention to turn away from sin:
1. True repentance is not just good works (or doing good works); it is an attitude or change of mind which must think of (have the intention of) doing good or doing God's works too
2. True repentance is not just a change of mind to believe, to think of our salvation, or to have good opinion of God only; it is a determined mind with the intention and will to keep His words, do righteousness, and live a holy, glorious, and acceptable life for Christ, not only in this present world but also in the kingdom of God that is to come, and we the believers will all do the same with the same mind until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and even forever more eternally, and amen and amen ..

2 Corinthians 5:15  And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
Jesus did not only die to pay for our sins and redeem us; He died so that we might live worthily for Him too. Hence, true repentance is not just a change of mind to believe, to think of our salvation, or to have good opinion of God only; it is a determined mind and will to repent, turn away from sin, and live for Him.

Rom 12:1-3 KJV  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  (2)  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.  (3)  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Eph 5:9-17 KJV  (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)  (10)  Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.  (11)  And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. .. (15)  See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,  (16)  Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  (17)  Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

1Pe 2:20-22 KJV  For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.  (21)  For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:  (22)  Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

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