Aspect of the verb

Let's get a little "down and dirty" with linguistics.  Let's talk about aspect.  I am certainly not an expert, if you want a better explanation of this, do a google search.  I found this one, and I think it suffices:

http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/aspectterm.htm

The two important forms of verbs are the perfect and the progressive.  The perfect aspect describes events that have already been completed at a previous time (here the verb "have" is perfect).  The progressive aspect describes events that are ongoing; events that may have been taking place, but are not yet complete (ing is often an ending).

For a couple examples:
"I have completed a blog post on counting to 3." (have is perfect)
"I am working on a blog post about the aspect of a verb." (working is progressive)

We have a little trouble with this in English.  Lord knows my English knowledge is a work in progress.  Other languages have this too, Greek in particular.  The greek word for "repentance" is "metanoia".  And the word metanoia carries with it an aspect...  And its aspect is, progressive.  Before I get into what that means for us, lets talk about the following scenario of table behavior.

As anyone who has dined with a toddler will know, there is a common theme to their dining routine, standing at the table.  We adults recognize that standing on our chair is bad, not just for etiquette, but for safety!  We know that if a toddler stands on a chair for long enough, they will likely tip the chair over, or at the very least, fall off.  So, what do we tell them as responsible adults?  "Sit."  We may or may not use an exclamation point instead of a period if this is the second time, or third time, or fourth time, or....  What happens if the toddler sits down and then stands back up?  Technically speaking, they did what we commanded.  We said, "sit," and they sat.  But is that what we really meant when we told them to sit?  NO!  What we meant by the command "sit" was actually something more along the line of "Sit, and keep sitting until I tell you to stop!" (If you get to the point where you actually utter these words to the kid, it will always have an exclamation point).  What this means is that the verb "sit" is progressive.  We don't mean it with the intention that you get to be done following directions the moment you comply.  We mean something that is ongoing and continuous.

Back to metanoia.  If this verb is progressive, what will that imply?  When Jesus says, "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand."  It doesn't mean, "Repent, and then go about your business as usual."  It means "Repent, and keep repenting until I tell you to stop!"  Jesus doesn't command us to simply repent one time and then be "saved" forever.  He wants us to continually repent, and not stop.  This intrinsically implies that what we do really matters, otherwise we wouldn't need to keep repenting.  And so, we can rightly say,

I have been saved, (Ephesians 2:5)
I am being saved, (Philippians 2:12)
and if I endure to the end, I shall be saved. (Matthew 10:22)

If I endure to the end... That is, if I repent, and keep repenting until Jesus tells me to stop: Metanoia.

(Thank you to Fr. Richard Simon for the content of this post.  He talked about it in his homily recorded in the "He Must Reign" CD set.)