# The Mystery of Repentance - Spiritual Capsule (1)

> Who hasn't heard about repentance in church? Most of the time the talk has no depth. So how does the Bible actually teach us to understand it? Repentance as metania, a change of mind in synergy with the Holy Spirit.

*2017-01-26T14:09:58Z*

![Fresco-style icon of the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Greek title: "The Parable of the Prodigal Son"): at left the son leans on his staff among pigs, in the center three angels and a throne, at right Christ embraces the returning son.](/uploads/sites/1274e232-e31c-46f4-a48b-27b854406479/media/spiritual-capsule-1-mystery-of-repentance.jpg?w=1600&h=1188)

Who hasn't heard about repentance in church, or from some preacher preaching in church?! Honestly, almost every time we go to a meeting, all we hear about is repentance, and how to repent, and how to stop sinning, and ways to stop sinning, and so on!!

And most of the time this talk is empty of depth, nothing but a showy piety dressed up in a bit of spiritual talk and some verses from the Bible that have no depth to them!

So how does the Bible actually teach us to understand repentance?!

#Repentance\_and\_Metania

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12: 2)

"Be transformed" in Greek is "μεταμορφοῦσθε", and this word is pronounced "metamorfo," and it means a state of change in the inner form [^1]

"Your mind" in Greek is "νοός", and this word is pronounced "nous," and it means mind

And from the two words ("be transformed," "μετα," pronounced "meta," and "your mind," "νοός," pronounced "nous") comes the word "metanous," which we now say as "metania."

The metania is a state of change in the inner form that takes place inside the mind!

And it is the biblical description of repentance, because the truth is that repentance is not stopping sinning, nor is it that I stop doing one particular sin and that's all, but it is a state of change that takes place in the mind out of full conviction. For example, if I think that murder is something normal, then the metania about murder is that I say that murder is something unnatural, and not just saying it, but saying it as a result of a change that happened inside, in the mind.

And when we understand that repentance is a metania, meaning a deep inner change that takes place inside a person's mind, and it turns his way from darkness to light.

#Synergy (the Work of the Holy Spirit in Repentance)

And here comes the question: is this change something I do?! I mean, am I the one who changes? Or is something changing me?

There is a term called (Synergy), a word of Greek origin meaning (unity of work), and it has become a deep theological term that explains the Orthodox teaching on how grace agrees with human effort in every good work[^2]

The change, or let's say the metania, is a joint work between the soul and the Holy Spirit. The soul's role is that it decides to change, but this change is the work of the Holy Spirit in the human soul. So for repentance to be real and to truly come from the inside (a metania), it has to be in fellowship with the Holy Spirit in a relationship of synergy, as we explained its meaning.

#Repentance\_in\_Practice

1- I need to deepen my thoughts, my motives and my conduct:

In practice, in order to repent, the first thing I need to do is to deepen my thoughts and my depths, because as we said, repentance is a deep inner change, not just a change in the outward form, because "the Holy Spirit does not work on the surface or from the outside; He works on the inside and in the utmost secrecy."[^3] So in order to meet the Holy Spirit and start a relationship of synergy, I have to deepen my thoughts, my motives and my conduct, and this is the first step of repentance. And as soon as I do that, I will find my conscience waking up and alerting me to the things I did that were evil or close to evil, and at that moment I will meet the Holy Spirit, who in turn will enter into a partnership with me whose goal is the salvation of my soul!

That is why the metania we do in the church begins with a prayer, a cry, in which we deepen all our motives, summed up in two words, "Lord, have mercy." Every time I see the inner distortion that is inside me, and every time my conscience wakes up to things I did, I have nothing in front of me but one word to say, "Lord, have mercy."

Many people wonder why on Good Friday (the day of salvation) we say "Lord, have mercy" and do metanias 400 times. Is it about the number? Of course not. But the Church, with a spiritual awareness of the metania, wants to tell us that this day is the memorial of salvation, and she takes us all the way to the Cross so that we leave all our sins there, and every metania and every "Lord, have mercy" brings out what is inside us, and to the extent that we are faithful, to that extent the Holy Spirit removes from inside us every bond of sin.

2- Submission to the authority of the Holy Spirit:

With the beginning of your cry, the Spirit of Christ will be awakened in you, and this time is not a time for talking but a time for submission, as the Scripture says: "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts"[^4] and as the Church taught us that declaring submission to a person is by prostration, so for that reason the second step in the metania is the prostration (submission).

It is as if you are declaring before the Holy Spirit that you are handing your heart over to Him, so that He can start working with you on the salvation of your soul and the deep inner change begins in earnest, the change that will transform your whole life into the image of Christ Himself, because quite simply the Holy Spirit takes everything that is Christ's and declares it to you[^5]

3- The Spirit of the Resurrection:

At the time when we prostrate in the shape of the Cross ("to declare that we bear the cross behind Christ"), the Holy Spirit begins to deal with our human spirits and begins to change the mind. That is why, in your prostration, do not rush, and do not get up from the ground until you feel from your depths that the Holy Spirit is pushing you to get up. Do not get up until you actually feel that you have received something, that you have received "the Spirit of the Resurrection."

The Spirit of the Resurrection, or the Life-giving Spirit, you will feel Him as Daniel felt Him[^6] a kind of power that has a sweetness to it, and it will push you to pray, and it will fill your heart with words. Be faithful, and do not let yourself lead the prayer, or let your feelings and emotions be what lead the prayer; let the Holy Spirit take the helm and move you. Then a prayer will come out of you that makes you say to yourself, "How am I saying this?" And here a movement of true repentance really begins inside you.

#Repentance\_Is\_a\_Mystery

Repentance is a deep and mighty mystery, because it is not just a moment that happens in life and after that you are a repentant person once and for all. No, the repentant person is a person who lives in the mystery of repentance, every day he repents, every moment he repents, and every moment he deepens his deeds and his words, and he says with David, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord"[^7] So repentance turns into a life, not just a failed attempt to stop one particular sin, but rather a striving in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, who leads my life in a great mystery called the Mystery of Repentance, and repentance becomes a life and not just moments we spend in prayer or metanias.

Fady Mondy

19/1/2016

[^1]: HELPS Word-studies - 3339
[^2]: Ma‘a al-Rūḥ al-Qudus fī Jihādinā al-Yawmī [With the Holy Spirit in Our Daily Struggle] - Fr. Matta El-Meskeen - cover
[^3]: Ibid. p. 5
[^4]: (Heb 3: 15)
[^5]: See (John 16: 14)
[^6]: See (Daniel 10: 10)
[^7]: See (Ps 19: 144)

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Source: https://abba.fadymondy.com/en/blog/spiritual-capsule-1-mystery-of-repentance