REPENTANCE-GENUINE

True repentance has a distinct and constant reference to the Lord, Jesus Christ. If you repent of sin without looking to Christ, away with your repentance! If you are so lamenting your sin as to forget the Savior, you have need to begin all this work over again. Whenever we repent of sin we must have one eye upon sin and another upon the Cross. Or, better still, let us have both eyes upon Christ, seeing our sin punished in Him and by no means let us look at sin except as we look at Jesus. A man may hate sin just as a murderer hates the gallows – but this does not prove repentance. If I hate sin because of the punishment, I have not repented of sin – I merely regret that God is just. But if I can see sin as an offense against Jesus Christ and loathe myself because I have wounded Him, then I have a true brokenness of heart. If I see the Savior and believe that those thorns upon His head were plaited by my sinful words; If I believe that those wounds in His heart were pierced by my heart sins; If I believe that those wounds in His feet were made by my wandering steps and that the wounds in His hands were made by my sinful deeds – then I repent of sin after a right fashion. Only under the Cross can you repent. Repentance elsewhere is remorse which clings to the sin and only dreads the punishment. Let us then seek, under God, to have a hatred of sin caused by a sight of Christ’s love.

C.H. Spurgeon

Every man, by his own natural will, hates God; but when he is turned to the Lord, by evangelical repentance, then his will is changed; then his conscience, now hardened and benumbed, shall be quickened and awakened; then his hard hearts shall be melted, and his unruly affections shall be crucified. Thus, by that repentance, the whole soul will be changed, and he will have new inclinations, new desires, and new habits.

George Whitfield

The sure test of the quality of any supposed change of heart will be found in its permanent effects. Whatever, therefore, may have been our inward experience, whatever joy or sorrow we may have felt, unless we bring forth fruits meet for repentance, our experience will profit us nothing. Repentance is incomplete unless it leads to confession and restitution in cases of injury; unless it causes us to forsake not merely outward sins, which others notice, but those which lie concealed in the heart; unless it makes us choose the service of God and live not for ourselves but for Him. There is no duty, which is either more obvious in itself, or more frequently asserted in the Word of God, than that of repentance.

Charles Hodge

True repentance starts with the recognition of the holiness of our God. We cannot rightly perceive the greatness of his goodness without apprehending the puniness of our own. Such a realization causes us to fall down in humility before God.

Bryan Chapell

Holiness by Grace, Crossway, p. 72.

Godly sorrow springs from a view of a suffering Savior, and manifests itself by hatred of self, abhorrence of sin, groaning over our backslidings, grief of soul for being so often entangled by our lusts and passions, and is accompanied by softness, meltings of heart, flowings of love to the Redeemer, indignation against ourselves, and earnest desires never to sin more.

J.C. Philpot

What Is It That Saves a Soul?

Genuine repentance will make itself evident by its deeds and attitudes (Lk. 3:8; Ac. 26:20). The repentant person will:

1. Freely acknowledge his sin (1 Jn. 1:9; Pro. 28:13a).

2. Cease the activity for which he was disciplined or at least seek help if it’s a case of life dominating patterns (Pro. 28:13b; Gal. 6:1f; Jam. 5:19-20).

3. Make restitution and/or ask for forgiveness from those hurt as it is applicable (Phil. 18-19; Matt. 5:23-24).

4. He/she will demonstrate a genuine change of heart, a real concern and godly sorrow over his actions, not in order to be forgiven, but because of the harm caused to the glory of God and the hurt caused others (2 Cor. 7:8-11; Ps. 51:17).

5. He/she will begin to manifest the fruit of the Spirit and a concern for the things of Christ (Gal. 5:22f).

J. Hampton Keathley III

Sin forsaken is one of the best evidences of sin forgiven.

J.C. Ryle

True repentance not only should but will have corresponding genuine works, demonstrated in both attitudes and actions... Those who claim to know Christ, who claim to be born again, will demonstrate a new way of living that corresponds to the new birth.

John MacArthur

Matthew 1-7, Moody, 1985, p. 65.

Genuine repentance consists of more than outward sorrow and tears (2 Corinthians 7:9-11). Repentance will be considered genuine when the offender not only leaves his sin, but also confesses it to all who are affected by it (even to the general membership of the church if necessary, as determined by the elders), and makes restitution when appropriate.

Jim Elliff and Daryl Wingerd

Restoring Those Who Fall, Christian Communicators, 2006, p. 13, www.CCWtoday.org. Used by Permission.