METANOIA IN HEBREWS: EXEGETICAL INSIGHTS

The term metanoia appears three times in Hebrews (6:1; 6:6 and 12:17), interestingly with a negative approach in each instance, as a warning against turning away from the Redeemer, not as an exhortation of turning to the Redeemer (cf. Heb 12:25). In Heb 6:1, the author exhorts the audience to continue to grow in faith, otherwise the continual preoccupation with fundamental beliefs will turn vital elements into trivial ones. If a Christian is constantly preoccupied with foundational aspects of the faith (e.g. metanoia), that becomes a sign not of his desire to be firm in faith, but a sign of immaturity. Following this exhortation, in Heb 6.6, the repentance is a kind of repentance that does not reflect salvation, but a religious non-salvific experience of God’s working power. Similar to those at Kadesh Barnea and similar to thorns and thistles that experience rain from heaven, those described in Heb 6 were informed by God’s Spirit, but not transformed by him. Regarding Heb 12:17, the text describes the concept of changing the mind with reference to Isaac not Esau. Thus, the passage does not describe the impossibility of repentance of an apostate believer, but warns about God’s immutable decision regarding those that live in willful ignorance of divine grace. The author of Hebrews is very emphatic when it comes to the notion of repentance and attaches it to the notion of perseverance. Perseverance becomes a sine qua non feature of repentance. The people at Kadesh Barnea, like the ones described in Heb 6, and like Esau’s experience in Heb 12, are the type of people that have experienced God’s power, but have ignored his redemptive power, and because of this ignorance, repentance becomes an impossible experience.