Acts 26:19-20

Acts 26:19-20

[19] Whereupon,  O king  Agrippa,  I was  not  disobedient  unto the heavenly  vision:  [20] But  shewed  first  unto them of  Damascus,  and  at Jerusalem,  and  all  the coasts  of Judaea,  and  then to the Gentiles,  that they should repent  and  turn  to  God,  and do  works  meet  for repentance. 

What does Acts 26:19-20 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

We should probably understand Acts 26:20 as a general description of Paul"s ministry rather than as a strictly chronological reference in view of Acts 9:20-30 and Galatians 1:18-24.
"Repent" again means essentially to change the mind. Note the distinction between repenting and performing deeds appropriate to repentance that Paul made in Acts 26:20.
"What is repentance? It is a complete change of attitude. It is a right-about-face. Here is a man who is going on living in open, flagrant sin, and he does not care anything about the things of God and is totally indifferent to the claims of righteousness. But laid hold of by the Spirit of God, that man suddenly comes face to face with his sins in the presence of God, and he turns right-about-face and comes to the God he has been spurning and to the Christ he has been rejecting and he confesses his sins and puts his trust in the Savior. All this is involved in repentance.
"Here is another man. He is not living in open sin, but he has been living a very religious life. He has been very self-righteous. He has been thoroughly satisfied that because of his own goodness and because of his punctilious attention to his religious duties, God will accept him and eventually take him to be with Himself. But suddenly he is brought to realize that all his own righteousnesses are as filthy rags, that nothing he can do will make him fit for God"s presence, and he faces this honestly before God. For him too there is a change of attitude. He turns away from all confidence in self, the flesh, his religion, and cries: "In my hand no price I bring; simply to thy cross I cling." This is repentance. It is a right-about-face." [1]
"Faith in Jesus is where the process ends, but to get there, a person changes his or her mind about sin and God and turns to God to receive the offer of salvation through Jesus. So each of these terms ("repent," "turn," "believe") is adequate for expressing the offer of the gospel, since Paul used each of them." [2]