and further from sin-and a daily turning of the soul
nearer and nearer to God.
True repentance includes . . .
a true sense of sin,
a deep sorrow for sin,
a hearty loathing of sin, and
a holy shame and blushing for sin.
To repent is to make . . .
a clean head and a clean heart;
a clean lip and a clean life.
To repent is for a man to loathe himself, as well as his sin.
Is this easy for man, who is so great a self-lover, and so
great a self-exalter, and so great a self-admirer-to
become a self-loather? To repent is to cross sinful self,
it is to walk contrary to sinful self, yes, it is to revenge
a man's self upon himself.
True repentance lies in a daily dying to sin, and in a
daily living to Him who lives forever.
Bishop Ryle
offers this descriptive definition of repentance...
Repentance
is a thorough change of man's natural heart, upon the subject of sin. We are all born in sin. We naturally love sin. We take to sin, as soon as we can act and think-just as the bird takes to flying, and the fish takes to swimming. There never was a child that required schooling or education in order to learn deceitfulness, selfishness, passion, self-will, gluttony, pride, and foolishness. These things are not picked up from bad companions, or gradually learned by a long course of tedious instruction. They spring up of themselves, even when boys and girls are brought up alone. The seeds of them are evidently the natural product of the heart. The aptitude of all children to these evil things is an unanswerable proof of the corruption and fall of man. Now when this heart of ours is changed by the Holy Spirit, when this natural love of sin is cast out, then takes place that change which the Word of God calls "repentance." The man in whom the change is wrought is said to "repent."
C H Spurgeon
Side by side with that faith, God puts true repentance. When a man attempts to convert his fellow-man, he gives him a sham repentance, or perhaps he tells him that there is no need of any repentance at all. Certain preachers have been telling us, lately, that it is a very easy matter to obtain salvation, and that there is no need of repentance; or if repentance is needed, it is merely a change of mind. That is not the doctrine that our fathers used to preach, nor the doctrine that we have believed. That faith, which is not accompanied by repentance, will have to be repented of; so, whenever God builds, he builds repentance fair and square with faith. These two things go together; the man just as much regrets and grieves over the past as he sees that past obliterated by the precious blood of Jesus. He just as much hates all his sin as he believes that his sin has been all put away. (Amos 7:7-8 The Plumbline
C H Spurgeon
wrote that "Repentance and faith must go together to complete each other. I compare them to a door and its post. Repentance is the door which shuts out sin, but faith is the post on which its hinges are fixed. A door without a doorpost to hang on is not a door at all, while a doorpost without the door hanging on it is of no value whatever. What God hath joined together let no man put asunder, and these two he has made inseparable-repentance and faith)
J C Ryle
wrote...There can be no true repentance without faith. You may cast away your old habits, as the serpent casts off his skin-but if you are not resting all upon the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and looking to be saved by simple faith in Him, you may be wise in your own eyes-but you are just ignorant of the root and fountain, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, in all true gospel religion. You may tell us you have repented-but if you have not at the same time laid hold on Christ, you have hitherto received the grace of God in vain.
Vance Havner
wrote that...
It is a change of mind about sin and self and the Savior.-Vance Havner
Scofield
adds that...
"Repent" is the translation of a Greek verb metanoeo, meaning to have another mind, to change the mind, and is used in the NT to indicate a change of mind in respect to sin, God, and self. This change of mind may, especially in the case of Christians who have fallen into sin, be preceded by sorrow (2Cor 7:8; but sorrow for sin, though it may cause repentance, is not repentance. The son in Mt 21:28 lustrates true repentance. Repentance is not an act separate from faith, but saving faith includes and implies that change of mind which is called repentance
Repentance
as used by is a change of mind that results in a change of will. It means "a turn about" or deliberate change of mind resulting in a change of direction in thought and behavior. There is a new attitude to God, to men, to life, to self.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
defines "evangelical repentance" as...
"(1) a true sense of one's own guilt and sinfulness; (2) an apprehension of God's mercy in Christ; (3) an actual hatred of sin (Psalm 119:128 <http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Psalm%20119.128>; 2Corinthians 7:9 <http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/2Corinthians%207.9>, 10 <http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/2Corinthians%207.10>) and turning from it to God; and (4) a persistent endeavor after a holy life in a walking with God in the way of his commandments." (Easton <http://www.studylight.org/dic/ebd/view.cgi?number=T3105>)
Puritan Thomas Watson
(from his excellent treatise on repentance)...
"Unless you repent, you will also perish." Luke 13:5 <http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Luke%2013.5> Repentance is a grace of God's Spirit, whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled and outwardly reformed. Repentance is a spiritual medicine made up of six special ingredients: 1. Sight of sin 2. Sorrow for sin 3. Confession of sin 4. Shame for sin 5. Hatred for sin 6. Turning from sin If any ingredient is left out, it loses its virtue. "I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds." Acts 26:20 <http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Acts%2026.20>...
A W Tozer
said that...
"The best repentance is turning to God and away from our sin-and not doing it any longer!" He also said "I think there is little doubt that the teaching of salvation without repentance has lowered the moral standards of the Church and produced a multitude of deceived religious professors who erroneously believe themselves to be saved when in fact they are still in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity."
Havner
goes on to say that
Another weakness that needs to be corrected is the present‑day accent on conversion without repentance. Do not misunderstand me here. I know that eternal life is the gift of God and that there is nothing meritorious in our tears.... What I do mean is that we have made it easy for hundreds superficially to "accept Christ" without ever having faced sin and with no sense of need (Ed note: We can't put our sins behind us until we are ready to face them.). We are healing slightly the hurt of this generation, trying to treat patients who do not even know they are sick."
In his book called "Truth" (page 31) Vance Havner wrote that...
The message of John the Baptist was "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2 <http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Matt.%203.2>). The Kingdom was coming then in the Person of the Saviour; it was a spiritual Kingdom, the reign of God in the hearts of men. The Kingdom is coming soon; it will be a visible Kingdom when the King returns and once again our message should be "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Christ's message to the church for this hour is "Repent." But who dares to call the average Sunday‑morning congregation to repentance? Said Joseph Parker: "The man whose message is Repent sets himself against his age and will be battered mercilessly by the age whose moral tone he challenges. There is but one end for such a man...off with his head! You had better not preach repentance until you have pledged your head to heaven."
D L Moody
wrote that...
Man is born with his back toward God. When he truly repents, he turns right around and faces God. Repentance is a change of mind. . .
A. W. Tozer
(1897-1963) wrote that...
God will take nine steps toward us, but he will not take the tenth. He will incline us to repent, but he cannot do our repenting for us.
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