Repentance

nabi Isaiah 30:15

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.”

What is Repentance?

The word repentance in the Scriptures means: afterthought, change of mind, and turning around.

Let’s look at some words used in the Bible to describe it:

a. turning (to the Lord/Mawla) – Injil, Acts (of the Hawariyun) 9:35

b. repenting – Injil, Acts 2:38; 3:19; 8:22

c. returning – Tawrat, 1 Sam 7:3

d. conversion (turning to Allah) – Injil, Acts 15:3

Repentance is therefore a change, a turning, a return, and a conversion of mind and life from sin towards Allah.

The motives for repentance

1. God’s kindness – Injil, Romans 2:4

2. God’s patience – Injil, 2 Peter 3:9

3. conviction of sin, awareness and acceptance of guilt before Al Baseer/the All Seeing – Injil, Acts 2:37-38

What are some of the evidences of repentance?

1. godly sadness, sorrow – Injil, 2 Corinthians 7:9-10

2. deep change of life – Injil, Luke 3:7-14

3. restitution – Injil, Luke 19:1-10

Why We Need Repentance?

Tawrat, 2 Chronicles 7:14

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

According to this verse, if we are to walk on the Straight Path, we need HELP from above. There are four requirements for receiving rahmat (mercy) from Allah:

humility
earnestly seeking Allah
leaving our ways = repenting
praying

How Did Isa Teach Us to Handle Temptation?

It is important to know that the devil cannot make us do evil. He cannot control our minds, unless we give up our will to him. For this to happen, we must let go of our trust in Allah. Every sinful desire we cherish, though, affords sheytan a foothold. Every point, in which we fail to meet the divine standards, is an open door by which he can enter to tempt and destroy us. Every failure or defeat on our part gives occasion for him to reproach Isa Al Masih.

For more details, go to Desire of Ages, chapter 13.

In Injil, Mark 14:38, Isa bids us:

Watch and pray in dua' that you do not come into temptation.

If we do fail, we can find rest in Allah. He is prepared not only to forgive, but also to lead us on by Ruh Allah (the Spirit). This is that same Spirit which led the nebiim (prophets) and rasuli (messengers) throughout the ages. This same Ruh led Isa Al Masih into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. When Allah presents us with a trial, He has a purpose to accomplish for our own good.

What Did Isa Mean by Finding Rest in Him?

Matthew 11:28-30

Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

The prophet Muhammad (saws) and his earliest sahaba (companions) suffered heavily in the hands of the citizens of Mecca. Many of the old nebiim (prophets) were tortured and even lost their lives for delivering the message given to them by Allah. None of that, though, compares to the suffering born by the one called the Ayah lil Aalamina (Sign for the Worlds, Quran 21:91), Isa Al Masih.

This same Isa is the one telling us to find rest in Him. What does He mean by that? The closer we rely on the help of Isa Al Masih, the one who is Alive and close to the throne in Heaven, the more we try to emulate His character, the lighter our burdens will be. Nothing is too heavy for Allah. Nothing that we are faced with is bigger than what Isa Al Masih faced during His time on earth.

Isa is speaking here to all of us. We are all weighed down with burdens that He tells us He can remove. The heaviest burden we bear is the burden of sin, and the weakness, shame and guilt which inevitably come with it. Without Isa Al Masih, our sin and its weight would crush us. In the book of nabi Isaiah 53:6 we read:

The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

The Injil makes it clear that this ancient prophecy was fulfilled by none other than Isa Al Masih.

Isa invites us to cast our cares on Him because He is the one who carries us upon His heart. Isa knows our weaknesses, our wants, and where the strength for our temptations can be found. The Injil says this about Him:

Injil, Hebrews (to bani Israil) 4:15

Our great intercessor is not unable to understand our weakness. He suffered exactly the same trials, but without committing any sin.

What He is essentially inviting us to do is confine us to His will. He desires that like Him, we will have a will which is high, noble, and elevating.

For more on this subject, please read the Desire of Ages Chapter 34.