Jesus calls Judas Iscariot “the son of destruction/perdition” in John 17:12. John uses the Greek word apóleia, which means “destruction, loss”. 

We learn in Matthew 27:3 that Judas was remorseful about his betrayal of Jesus, and he even returned the 30 pieces of silver paid to him for his part in Jesus’s condemnation. Why didn’t this save him?  The Greek word used for “remorse/regret” in Matthew 27:3 is metamelomai, meaning “repent, regret, I change my mind (for the good option)”. Although salvation begins with repentance, it requires more than feeling bad about or regretting your sin (see 2 Corinthians 7:10). The repentance that leads to salvation comes from Christ through faith that He can and will forgive you for your sins and save you. This faith is a gift from God (see Ephesians 2:8-9). The gift of faith from God starts like this:

– You agree with God that you are not good and not one single thing about you is right. You hate your rottenness and your sins and you are honest about it. You stop making excuses or justifying yourself.

– You realize that you need Jesus to make you right by forgiving your sins, removing your sins from you, and reconciling you with God. You trust Jesus to make this atonement on your behalf and you turn away from a life of sin and of relying on your own judgment and will, and now you take up God’s ways, will, and life through Jesus.

– Not only do you trust Jesus for this atonement, but you are also grateful, you love Him more than yourself, more than anyone or anything in your life, even more than that old identity that you clung to, and you rejoice in shedding the ugly, old ways you were proud of before.

– The new you is at peace and filled with joy in God’s love, in His law and ways. You can trust Him, you trust in His promises and His Word.

This kind of conviction and change is the work of the Holy Spirit and is nothing you can muster up on your own (see Romans 7:14- 8:39). Nothing in the Bible says that Judas had any faith at all in Christ as the Messiah. Except for sociopaths, even non-believers of Christ feel guilty if they get someone else killed, especially if they knew them to be an innocent person. Here’s another clue into the situation: Judas was trying to fix his sin himself by giving back the money, as atonement. This is an excellent object lesson: we cannot fix our own sin. We cannot atone enough for breaking the laws of God. Only Jesus can fix that kind of mess. See Matthew 27:3-10 and Acts 1:18-19 for Judas’s fate in the aftermath of his betrayal of Christ.