Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”
People are often tempted to think that God works and acts the way we do – but He does not. He is not human – in the sense of having a changing and fallible nature such as we have. Although He came in the flesh, He was and still is 100% God.
It is for this reason that He never has a need to repent, which means to change His mind. He knows all things from the beginning of time to the end of it. The Bible tells us that “his word is settled in Heaven” (Ps. 119:89), therefore it never needs updating.
The only time that it might be said that God will repent in the Bible, is when man turns from their sinful ways. While in their sin – God promises to judge the sinner and send them to Hell when they die – if they do not repent and turn from their wicked ways.
In Jeremiah 18, there are two verses that make this plain. Verse 8 says: “If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.” The opposite is also true, as can be seen in verse 10: “If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.”
God’s judgment against sin is sure – whether it be against an individual or a nation. It may not come immediately – but it will come if there is no repentance.
The same is true in salvation. If a sinner does not turn away from sin in their heart – there is no salvation. Christ died to pay for the sin of every human, but if they choose not to repent and trust in Christ as their only Savior, their damnation is sure.
This is why the Bible says: “behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Cor. 6:2). Turn from sin and come to Christ today while there is time.