Spurgeon on Repentance

"Remember that the man who truly repents is never satisfied with his own repentance. We can no more repent perfectly than we can live perfectly. However pure our tears, there will always be some dirt in them; there will be something to be repented of even in our best repentance. But listen! To repent is to change your mind about sin, and Christ, and all the great things of God. There is sorrow implied in this; but the main point is the turning of the heart from sin to Christ. If there be this turning, you have the essence of true repentance, even though no alarm and no despair should ever cast their shadow upon your mind."

C. H. Spurgeon, All Of Grace, page 70.

HT: Christ is Still Deeper

The Shame of Sin

If I was asked to sum our culture up using only one word, I might choose "shameless." No one seems to be ashamed of anything. Let me provide an example. Recently a mother of twins, each of which had been conceived by a different father (see My Twins Have Different Dads, went on one of the national morning news shows to discuss her experience. Of course this story is sensational and I'm sure it grabbed ratings, but while I was watching it I just kept thinking, "Is any one ashamed of anything anymore?" Here was a woman who had had sex with two different men within a couple days time and, as a result, had ended up pregnant - one child with each man; but instead of feeling some shame for had taken place, she was on national television being celebrated as a wonder of human reproduction.

Puritan Thomas Watson, in his book The Doctrine of Repentance, lists the different elements of repentance, in which he includes shame. He writes that each of these are is a necessary element of repentance and argues that you cannot have true repentance without all of these. Here is Watson's list: the sight of sin, sorrow for sin, confession of sin, shame for sin, hatred for sin, and turning from sin.

If Watson is correct, and I think his assessment is quite biblical, then our culture is in deep trouble. We seem to have lost shame; in fact, we're often quite prideful about our own sin. Are you ashamed of anything in your past? If so,has that sense of shame lead you to your knees in repentance or led to guilt that further separated you from God.

Read a sermon on shame, The Shame of Repentance, by Pastor H. Leon Ben-EzraPastor of Faith Reformed Church, Erie, PA

Continual Repentance

O God of grace,

Thou hast imputed my sin to my substitute,
and hast imputed his righteousness
to my soul,
clothing me with a bridegroom’s robe,
decking me with jewels of holiness.

But in my Christian walk I am still in rags;
my best prayers are stained with sin;
my penitential tears are so much impurity;
my confessions of wrong are so many
aggravations of sin;
my receiving the Spirit is tinctured with
selfishness.

I need to repent of my repentance;
I need my tears to be washed;
I have no robe to bring to cover my sins,
no loom to weave my own righteousness;

I am always standing clothed in filthy garments,
and by grace am always receiving change of
raiment,
for thou dost always justify the ungodly;

I am always going into the far country,
and always returning home as a prodigal,
always saying, Father, forgive me,
and thou art always bringing forth
the best robe.

Every morning let me wear it,
every evening return in it,
go out to the day’s work in it,
be married in it,
be wound in death in it,
stand before the great white throne in it,
enter heaven in it shining as the sun.

Grant me never to lose sight of
the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
the exceeding righteousness of salvation,
the exceeding glory of Christ,
the exceeding beauty of holiness,
the exceeding wonder of grace.

HT: Justin Taylor