TRUE AND FALSE REPENTANCE

“For godly sorrow works repentance to Salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world works death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10.

The Christian Religion sets several simple standards of doctrine and action with which we can govern our spiritual life and physical daily living. Jesus says, “My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30) and when we act according to His precepts and commands we find that living as Christ would have us live is easy and a light burden. Many people who are not converted to Christ think that it would be a great burden or a heavy and painful cross to become a genuine Christian. This is not so. If the person is genuinely converted, all will be well. Life may be difficult, but with God’s help, all will be well. However, if the conversion is spurious or false, then the burden may end up finally being painful and heavy.

Let me explain. Whenever we go to do some work, we all recognise that there is a right and a wrong way to do the job. If we do it right the first time, the job will go well, the results will be what we require, and the job will be done in a reasonably quick time. However, if we try to cut corners, or do the job in a different fashion, we all know that we generally run into trouble with the job, the results do not come up to standard (and may not even be acceptable) and we will have wasted a lot of valuable time and effort and possibly material.

It is the same with conversion. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple and very direct and cannot be added to and must not be made “easier”, for by doing so we lose the impact, the very essence of the Gospel. It is also the same with Repentance. It cannot be left out of the Gospel, for the Lord Jesus Christ says, “Unless you repent, you shall all perish in a similar way,” (Luke 13:3 and 5). Nor can Repentance be glossed over, for God “commands all people everywhere to repent.” (Acts 17:30). Nor should Repentance be made the only part of the Gospel essential to Salvation, for confession of sin (1 John 1:7-10), true faith, and cleansing of sin by the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:5-9) are also indispensable parts of the Gospel. We must look at Repentance in its true form to enable us to be truly converted. Any false form of Repentance will only lead to a spurious conversion and a false hope in Christ.

In Christian theology to REPENT means to have a change of mind, turning from sin to God. REPENTANCE is a change of ways or actions, turning from unrighteousness to holiness. TRUE REPENTANCE is such a sorrow, hated and abhorrence for a sin that the individual forsakes that sin entirely. The love and desire for that sin is crucified, put to death, and never allowed to grow in the heart or mind again. The repentant sinner sees that all sin is a transgression of God’s Laws of Holiness and Purity which were ordained for his or her personal cleanliness, holiness and ultimate happiness. He or she sees that any violation of these perfect eternal laws is a slap in God’s face, and he or she hates himself or herself for hurting God so by sinning in such a base, degrading way. He or she regards sin in himself or herself, whether “small” or “great”, to be contrary to the type of person God wants them to be (“You must be Holy, for I am Holy.” 1 Peter 1:16; Leviticus 11:45), and knows that any sin, all sin, will lead to eternal punishment and death. “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23).

True Repentance is a gift of God (Acts 5:29-32) which stems from right thoughts and motives. The repenting sinner wants to get right with God to please Him, to be profitable to Him, and so that sin may no longer have dominion over his or her body and life (Romans 6:12-18). True Repentance results in the person making right whatever he or she has made wrong, where possible. He/she makes restitution where necessary, without counting the cost. He or she knows that God would require him or her to pay back what he or she has stolen, or to try to help those whom he or she has hurt in one way or another. Their repentance leads to righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 20:18-21), Holiness (Hebrews 12:12-15), Purity (1 Timothy 4:11-16), and love of all things good, pure and holy (Philippians 4:5-9). Have you experienced this?

FALSE REPENTANCE on the other hand is not sound as genuine Repentance is sound. Spurious Repentance stems from wrong motives (“I don’t want to burn in Hell, so I had better repent”), and does not involve a hatred and an abhorrence of sin (The sinner still wants to sin but is afraid of being found out). He thinks that if he or she repents intellectually, he or she will be alright with God and can then carry on doing as he or she thinks is right. This is just plain selfishness. There is still a love for self and sin, rather than a love for God and righteousness. False Repentance is generally only temporary in nature, for the person having it continually relapses into his or her past sins. It is a forced reformation, for the person thinks that he or she must repent. (In True Repentance the sinner wants to reform. There is a difference. The first is of the head, the second of the heart.) False Repentance does not involve a hatred of sin and all evil. It does not make restitution unless beneficial to the person himself or herself. It degrades the Lord Jesus Christ. It leads to self-righteousness in the person and a desire to tell others how wrong they are, demanding that they repent. (Jesus calls, the devil demands). Being judgemental has no part in the Kingdom of God and His Christ.

This is True and False Repentance. The first is to love God, the other is to love self. The first is to hate sin, the other is to continue to love sin. We either love God and abhor sin, or we love sin and abhor God.

What will you do?