27:3-5 If Judas repented of what he had done to Jesus why could he not have been saved?

V3 here tells us that Judas repented of what he had done, but it was not true repentance - he was seized with remorse.

Repented here is from the same Greek word as remorse, metamelomai, which means little or nothing more than a selfish dread of the consequences of sin, rather than a deep regret at the cause of sin, which is what true repentance is. metamelomai is never used of true repentance towards God in scripture (cp 2Cor 7:8).

Here we see it used twice. It means that even though Paul had caused the Corinthian church sorrow because of his letter, he did not regret – metamelomai – it, notwithstanding at the time he did regret – metamelomai – writing it. However, their sorrow led them into true repentance – metanoia – which means a complete change of mind – from evil to good – towards God (cp 2Cor 7:8-11).

This teaches what true repentance is. It is not merely being seized with remorse at the consequence of sin as Judas was, but having Godly sorrow for sin that works repentance toward God and brings with it salvation (cp Acts 2:22-24, 32-41).

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