The title of chapter 3 of When Heaven Invades Earth by Bill Johnson is simply, “Repent to See.” He then stated, “Most Christians repent enough to get to heaven, but not enough to see the Kingdom.” It seems then his message is that repentance is incomplete until it leads to seeing the Kingdom or “the realm of God’s dominion.” But is repentance all about seeing Johnson’s sense of God’s kingdom?
The primary message of Jesus, according to Johnson was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17b). He suggesed this was an unexpected declaration by Jesus. Johnson said, when Jesus said this, “He brought His whole world with Him!” So, Johnson believes Jesus brought heaven to earth.
The expression cannot mean the kingdom is a present reality because John the Baptist used the same exact words in Matthew 3:2. Jesus was simply repeating the call made by John the Baptist for repentance. The context of the verse indicated Jesus intended to continue the preaching done by John the Baptist after John was arrested (Matthew 4:12). A complete quotation of the verse helps make this clear: “From that time forward [the time of John’s arrest], Jesus began to preach, saying ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near’” (Matthew 4:17). In his commentary on Matthew, Leon Morris said:
The expression does not mean that the kingdom is already here is surely indicated by the fact that John the Baptist used exactly the same verb and on his lips the expression cannot mean that the kingdom is a present reality. There is a sense in which God has acted decisively in sending his Son: the kingdom is here in his words and deeds. But there is another sense in which the culmination of the kingdom in all its fulness is a future reality: the best is yet to be. Both truths are important.
Jesus began his ministry with the same emphasis John had, a call for repentance, not to announce that he brought his world in heaven to earth. In the New Testament, the words translated ‘repent’ in the Greek are, metanoeō and metamelomai. They typically mean ‘to change one’s mind,’ ‘to regret,’ or ‘feel remorse,’ as the parable of the tax collector in Luke 18, and 2 Corinthians 7:8-10 illustrate.
In the Old Testament, the two words usually translated as ‘repent’ were nāḥam (to be sorry, or change one’s mind) and šûḇ (turn back, or return). The New Bible Dictionary commented how the NT sense of ‘repent’ was influenced by the OT sense of šûḇ: “repentance not just as feeling sorry, or changing one’s mind, but as a turning round, a complete alteration of the basic motivation and direction of one’s life.” So, a better translation for metanoeō was suggested as ‘to convert’ or ‘turn round.’
In John 8, we see an example of Jesus encouraging this sense of repentance, even though metanoeō or metamelomai did not appear in the text. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery to him and referenced the Mosaic Law that commanded she be stoned to death (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22-24). But Jesus replied that whoever was without sin should be the first to throw a stone (John 8:7). No one did, and they all went away. Jesus asked her then if there was anyone who condemned her, “She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more” (John 8:11).
The repentance Jesus expected from her was simply a ‘turning around.’ It was not to turn around and then strive to see the Kingdom of God. The New Bible Dictionary added:
It also helps to explain why John the Baptist demanded baptism as an expression of this repentance, not just for obvious ‘sinners’, but for ‘righteous’ Jews as well—baptism as a decisive act of turning from the old way of life and a throwing oneself on the mercy of the Coming One (Mt. 3:2, 11; Mk. 1:4; Lk. 3:3, 8; Acts 13:24; 19:4).
Reinforcing this observation in the gospel of Mark, after Mark noted John’s arrest in 1:14, he said Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
Completely ignoring the significance of these texts, Johnson went on to say that Jesus came to offer the benefits of His world (heaven) to everyone who surrenders to His rule: forgiveness, deliverance and healing. According to Johnson, this goal of the Christian life was stated in the Lord’s Prayer, where Jesus said: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). This striving to manifest a Kingdom Now, dominion theology was imposed upon the text of the Lord’s Prayer by Johnson.
After quoting Matthew 6:10 again in chapter 5, Johnson said it was the primary focus of all prayer: “if it exists in heaven, it is to be loosed on earth.” See “Deconstructing the Lord’s Prayer,” “Kingdom Now: Bringing Heaven to Earth,” and “Dominionism in Eden” Part 1 and Part 2 for further critique of his dominion theology and misuse of the Lord’s Prayer.
In chapter 5 of When Heaven Invades Earth, “Praying Heaven Down,” Johnson quoted Smith Wigglesworth and John G. Lake before he systematically deconstructed the Lord’s Prayer to be consistent with his sense of dominion theology. Wigglesworth said if you want anything from God, you have to pray it down. Lake said: “The Church has been negligent in one thing. . . she has not prayed the power of God out of heaven.” Ultimately, the Lord’s Prayer has a radically different meaning and significance if you accept Johnson’s (and Wigglesworth’s and Lake’s) interpretation. For more information on Smith Wigglesworth and John G. Lake, see the William Branham Historical Society.
Returning to Johnson’s misunderstanding of repentance and his distortion of Matthew 4:17, “to change one’s mind’ or repent (metanoeō) is similar to what Johnson said: “Repentance means you change your way of thinking;” and “Repentance is often defined as doing an about face.” But then he adds, “And it is only in changing the way we think that we can discover the focus of Jesus’ ministry—the Kingdom. . . The focus of repentance is to change our way of thinking until the presence of His Kingdom fills our consciousness.”
The Second Blessing of Repentance
Johnson teaches that there is a second phase to repentance, or a second stage to the life of faith. We first repent to get to heaven (to be born again, to be saved) and then we have to repent further, in order see His invisible Kingdom. If we only repent enough for salvation—getting to heaven—we haven’t repented enough to see the Kingdom, the realm of God’s dominion. In other words, there is a “second blessing” that comes with completed repentance.
This so-called second blessing refers to a second work of the Spirit, bringing a believer to a higher Christian life. Now, Johnson does not explicitly talk about a second blessing with repentance after salvation. But he does say repentance means you change the way you think—“the renewed mind is the result of a surrendered heart”—and “God wants to do more than just getting us out of the red.” Now consider the following discussion of a second blessing after salvation in Got Questions.
The term second blessing traditionally has been understood in two ways by Christians. One way refers to John Wesley’s teaching that there was an act of God where “a believer was granted deliverance from both inward and actual sin.” Wesley did not believe in sinless perfection, but thought “believers should grow to a point of being wholeheartedly devoted and obedient to Christ.” This ‘perfection’ could be realized by either an instantaneous second work of grace or a gradual growth of grace. Even this immediate sense of blessing was preceded, and followed by, a gradual growth of grace.
The second way to understand second blessing refers to the Pentecostal doctrine of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. “This is described variously as the crucial blessing to be sought, the ultimate experience to strive for, and the greatest achievement of the Christian.” The Assemblies of God, the Pentecostal denomination Bill Johnson grew up in and was originally commissioned as a minister in, states: “All believers are entitled to and should ardently expect and earnestly seek the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This experience is supposedly distinct and subsequent to the experience of new birth.
In conclusion, Johnson said repentance was not complete until it envisioned His kingdom. Referring to the discussion where Jesus told Nicodemus he’d have to be born again to see the kingdom (John 3:3), Johnson said: “That which is unseen can be realized only through repentance.” You’re supposedly blind to this superior reality before repentance. “Without changing the way you think you’ll never see the world that is right in front of you.” (p. 38)
Remember the initial quote of Johnson at the beginning of this article: “Most Christians repent enough to get to heaven, but not enough to see the Kingdom.” In other words, there is a two-step process to the Christian life. First you repent enough to get to heaven, but you won’t be able to see it. You have to repent further in order to see what is right in front of you. According to Johnson, Satan’s attempts to anchor our affections to visible things was easily resisted once our hearts were aware of the presence of his world; when they have complete repentance. “Our abundant life is hidden in the Kingdom realm.”
Johnson habitually misinterprets Scripture and knits together quotes from other sources to support of his aberrant theology, as he did here. His declaration that Jesus brought heaven (his whole world) with him isn’t supported by the text. He’s wrong to say you have to have a second experience of repentance to see the Kingdom.