# What Are Repentance and Baptism According to the Orthodox Understanding?

> Starting from St. Peter's answer at Pentecost, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized," this post explains repentance as metanoia (a change of mind) and the metania as an act of repentance, and Baptism as the gift of the Holy Spirit, ending with witness in life and word.

*2016-12-01T18:04:39Z*

![Quote card with an icon of St. Abba Macarius the Great: "Whoever does not seek from now and receive the light of the divine Spirit as life for his soul, when he departs from the body will be cast on the left in dark places, and will not enter the kingdom of heaven." - St. Abba Macarius the Great, Homily 30: 5 - 6.](/uploads/sites/1274e232-e31c-46f4-a48b-27b854406479/media/repentance-and-baptism-orthodox.png?w=815&h=815)

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" 38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."[^1] Merely reading these verses fills us with longing for the atmosphere of the early Church, the Church of the Apostles, with its overflowing gifts and overflowing love, the one, only, holy, catholic and apostolic Church; and we sense at once the power of ecclesial authority and the economy of the Trinity in the Church.

But if we search for the secret that made "St. Peter the Apostle" speak a few words and so many souls believe, even though he was the one who "denied the Savior!", we will find no answer except "the work of the Holy Spirit." And when we ask, together with those who were present at this sermon, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?", St. Peter the Apostle answers, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." With some brevity, St. Peter set out the Christian life in a single line!!!

### 1- Repentance:

The Greek word "μετάνοια" (metanoia), which today is pronounced "metania," is the word the writers of the Bible used to express the act of repentance, and it means "a change of mind."[^2] Accordingly, repentance is not, as some think, an attempt to stay away from sin, or even to do many good works, or even to please God! Even if all these things are praiseworthy, they are considered fruits of repentance and not the other way around! Nor are they repentance itself! Repentance according to the biblical understanding is a change that takes place within the mind, that is, a decision a person takes within his mind to change the direction of his life from walking in darkness to the knowledge of the light! And it is also not, as some think, a one-time event! Rather it is renewed whenever we feel deep inside that there is something of the darkness of this world within us; we must renew the decision of repentance that we took within our mind! The Church understood repentance in this way, and so there came out for us a unique liturgical jewel, namely "the act of the metania" (prostration). We hear a great deal about metanias and how we perform a metania, and some consider them merely prostrating on the ground and getting up again and repeating it several times; but what is the benefit of such an act? Does God need my worship in this form?! The matter in the metania is not about God!!!! On the contrary, it is about you, as a human being! The metania as an act is an act of repentance and not an act of worship, contrary to what some understand. The Church understands the metania as if we were standing in sin, so we go down to the ground in complete submission, to declare our sins and cry out "Lord, have mercy," and then Christ comes and lifts us up from sin, and fills our hearts with the Holy Spirit and raises us up again! In this way the Church offers us a precious jewel called the metania, which explains to us the true understanding of repentance by an act that is very simple but very deep!

### 2- Baptism:

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.[^3] The water is given for repentance, but behind the water there is a deep mystical act that Christ Himself performs, the giving of the Holy Spirit, or as St. Matthew says, "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." Our enlightened Church, through the liturgy of Baptism, makes these truths of the faith clear to us, so you find that most of the liturgies speak about the Holy Spirit, the divinity of the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the symbols of the Holy Spirit such as "oil and the olive tree" and the like, because she wants to take us to another depth. For just think: do we say that the newborn, forty days old if a boy and eighty days old if a girl, understands these deep theological words about the Holy Spirit?! In truth he does not understand, because he does not yet perceive what is happening! But the Church has set down something more than wonderful, which is the godparent (Ashbin). The word "Ashbin" is a Syriac word meaning a guardian, or a custodian, or one who is responsible, or one charged with a specific responsibility. The Church established the rite of the godparent to serve two parts. For the child being baptized, this godparent is the teacher and guide on the spiritual path: a teacher of what the godparent received before God at Baptism, so that he is faithful over it until he hands it on again to the child during his life; and a guide who leads the baptized to eternal life and plants the knowledge of God in him from childhood.

On this basis, the child receives the Holy Spirit from childhood in Baptism, and the work of the Spirit continues in him, and the work of repentance, or the metania, keeps the work of the Holy Spirit firmly in this child's mind, but only if the godparent who received the faith on his behalf is faithful enough to hand the faith on to the child as he received it. But if the godparent abandons his role in handing on the faith, then naturally this child will not be able to walk in the spiritual life, and if he wants to walk in the spiritual life after he grows up he will find it difficult, because he did not receive the faith and did not receive the teaching about the Holy Spirit that was spoken at Baptism, so it is as though he starts to build without a foundation. This shows the importance of the godparent in the Mystery of Baptism and the seriousness of this responsibility. On this basis, repentance goes hand in hand with Baptism and is necessary so that the power of this Baptism, by water and the Spirit, appears in our bodies and our spirits; for whenever we offer repentance, in that repentance we regain our Baptism, and the work of the Holy Spirit is renewed within us once again.

### 3- Witnessing by the Word:

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.[^4] It is clear that the Lord Jesus tied witnessing about Him to the coming of the Holy Spirit, because if we think about this in a simple spiritual way, we find that no one in the whole world can bear witness about a God he does not know! It is absolutely impossible for us to say that we know God while the Spirit of God does not dwell in us! And this is what St. Paul said: "...and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:3).

Thus the act of repentance and Baptism become inseparable, so that the Christian may live a life of witness to the Lord Jesus, not only a witness in words, but a true witness that he offers by a good way of life before all people, and his spiritual words that describe his practical life, and not merely talk, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

"As the life of the body in the world is the soul, so the life of the soul in the eternal, heavenly world is the Spirit of God! Therefore whoever seeks faith and nearness to the Lord must seek to receive the divine Spirit from now, for He is the life of the soul! And to this end the Lord completed His coming, to give the soul the Holy Spirit from now, as life for it.. For if someone does not seek from now and receive the light of the divine Spirit as life for his soul, then when he departs from the body he will be cast on the left in dark places, and will not enter the kingdom of heaven.. But the soul that walks in the fire of the Holy Spirit and in the divine light is not harmed by evil spirits; rather, if any of them comes near it, he is burned by the heavenly fire of the Spirit."[^5]

[^1]: (Acts 2:37 - 38)
[^2]: Strong's Greek 3341
[^3]: (Matthew 3:11)
[^4]: (Acts 1:8)
[^5]: St. Abba Macarius the Great, Father of the Wilderness of Scetis - Homily 30: 5 - 6

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Source: https://abba.fadymondy.com/en/blog/repentance-and-baptism-orthodox