January 13th, 2025
by Raef Chenery
by Raef Chenery
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:7
The word repentance is one of those unpopular words today. Charles Spurgeon aptly noted that “repentance and faith are distasteful to the unregenerate; they would sooner repeat a thousand formal prayers than shed a solitary tear of true repentance.” Unfortunately, even believers today often fall into the same mistake. The word itself has a particular ring of old-fashioned-ness to it, as if repentance represented some old form of Medieval Christianity that was full of drudgery, penance, and boredom. On the other hand, some folks accept that repentance is an important part of the Christian faith, but their view of repentance is so small and limited that they believe they have done the work of repentance simply by taking a brief moment to say a general apology to God for the presence of sin in their life.
Repentance is not only not “old-fashioned,” but it is also not simple. Repentance is a wonderful gift of grace in our life, that allows us to accurately see the vile nature of our sin, lay it before the throne of grace, and be transformed by the saving power of Christ. In one sense we might say that repentance is among the greatest tools Christians have for drawing closer to Christ, for in it we see the great depths to which Christ went to rescue us from wages of our sin. Repentance describes both the one time act of leaving our sin behind and clinging to Christ in salvation, but it also describes the ongoing life of a faithful believer who constantly evaluates his life and through diligent work, casts his sin aside and runs the race with greater efficacy.
What does repentance mean? How might we know we have really begun the process and not just settled for some shallow lip service to sanctification while leaving the real meat of the work behind? In this post I lay out seven aspects of repentance. In general these aspects follow a particular order as proposed below. Indeed, a person can be said to have repented without completing all seven of these steps in a formal sense. But full repentance always culminates in the entire process being achieved. A man who hates his sin, and formally lays it at the foot of the cross, but continues to return to it like a dog returning to his vomit, may be in the process of repenting, but he has not fully repented yet. There is gracious work to still be done.
Step1: Knowledge of Sin
The first step in repentance is that we must gain a knowledge of our sin. In one way or another, God’s law is revealed to us, and we begin to see the reality of our own corruption. The truth is that the trenches of sin run far deeper through our heart that any of us care to admit or consider. Though we have been saved by grace, and have an entirely new nature in Christ, our old flesh continues to wage war against us. At times our sinful lusts and thoughts can culminate in some vile deed or action (James 1:15). These are the easiest sins to become aware of because they are so directly overt. But the inward desires themselves that led to that outward vile deed are also morally culpable, sinful passions of the flesh, and need to be repented of.
How does this first step take place? How do we gain an awareness of our sin? It happens in two primary ways. First, through the Word of God preached, proclaimed, or read. Because the Word of God is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12), when the Word of God is plunged into our hearts it is able to reveal previously unknown sin.
The Word: For some, it is through the Word of God, either preached or spoken or read. Where they read God’s Word and are convicted in their heart of their own sin and faulty standing before God. Unbeliever particularly are unaware of the “deformity of their soul” before a Holy God. They go on in their sinful passions unaware (in one sense) of the maddening folly of their ways.
“Hence I infer that where there is no sight of sin, there can be no repentance. Many who can spy faults in others see none in themselves. They cry that they have good hearts. Is it not strange that two should live together, and eat and drink together, yet not know each other? Such is the case of a sinner. His body and soul live together, work together, yet he is unacquainted with himself. He knows not his own heart, nor what a hell he carries about him. Under a veil, a deformed face is hid. Persons are veiled over with ignorance and self-love; therefore they see not what deformed souls they have.” – Thomas Watson
The Spirit: Others, become aware of their sin through the movement of the Spirit in their life. John 16:8 says that the Holy Spirit will “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment…” The Holy Spirit often uses the Word of God to accomplish this end, but he can also use a hundred other tools which he has at his disposal. He can use a radio broadcast, a friend’s discussion, an overheard story, a dream, and so much more. The point is that we must become aware of our sin.
Step 2: Sorrow for Sin
Second, we must develop a sorrow for sin. Many mistakenly move through “repentance” without any true remorse in their soul, any therefore any sense of the depth of what Christ went through on the cross in order to cover their sin. If we have completed the first step, and come to an awareness of our sin, that awareness must then mature into an affection that moves towards God. Very often folks believe they have repented after a quick almost thoughtless apology to God in prayer. But this is no better than what we often see in children. I have seen many times when I move to reprimand my children for some sin they have committed, that they very eagerly and quickly apologize. While the outward motion looks like correction has been achieved, as a parent I can see their heart is apologizing for nothing more than a desire to get through the reprimanding moment. By standing still and mouthing the words “I’m sorry,” they can quickly get back to their games. As a parent that desires to shape the hearts of my children, I cannot settle for this. And neither will God settle for this kind of shallow confession with us. God loves us far too much for that.
This affection is developed as we truly pour over Scripture and lay our heart before God. We must not move too quickly through this step. We must not be afraid of being confronted by sin’s depths. Remember, there is no depth that sin might run that Christ has not already covered by his grace.
Step 3: Confession of Sin
The third step is confession. The scriptures teach us
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
In confession we get specific. We talk to God about specific sins that have taken a hold of us and the damage they have done. In this step we do not want to be general, but we want to be specific. If we have truly been grieved over specific sins, then we must confess those specific sins to God, not just the vile deeds but the heart, the posture, the thoughts that led to the deed must also be confessed to God. “God I have been harboring so much bitterness towards this person…God I have sensed a deep feeling of discontent in my soul… God I confess to jealousy… to idleness… etc.” Remember, these steps build upon each other. In fact, one of the reason our confessional lives are so weak is because the first two steps are often not there! If you begin having a sorrow over your sin, confession will follow!
A warning is required at this step though. Just as there are false confessions in the criminal justice system today, so are there false confessions before God.
Circumstance: Some confess simply because of their circumstances. They find they made some error that has led them into a difficult circumstance, and they believe that if they confess their sin, their circumstance will improve. The problem with this is that there is no real sorrow of sin, and therefore the confession is driven primarily by seeking one’s own glory, and not the glory of God.
Fear of Judgment: Second, some confess simply because of the fear of Hell. They view confession as a religious process required to stay in right relationship with God and to ensure their eternal destiny. Many Christians have prayed the “sinners prayer”, but have truly no real sorrow, and therefore no real confession from the heart.
Step 4: Breaking Away from Sin
Fourth, we must break away from our sin. Repentance means turning from sin. And so, true repentance, means not returning to the same sin that you have repented of, otherwise you would only be somewhere in the process of repenting, but have yet to truly repent. To break away from sin means to turn fully from it, to commit one’s heart and mind to forsaking whatever sin was plaguing you. Many folks begin the process of repentance, but settle along the way for only a partial victory. They are like the blind man that Jesus healed, and at first sight said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” It was not until Christ placed his hands over the blind man’s eyes once more and healed him fully that he was able to see in full. We must not settle for a half-repentance, a diminishing of sin but not a removal of sin from our lives. So long as the sin persists, we must diligently put all of the means of grace available to us in this life to work in order to rid us of that sin.
Step 5: Deep Hatred of Sin
Fifth, this will produce in you a deep hatred of sin.
Psalm 119:104 “Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.”
A repentant heart, has learned to hate sin. They have learned to see sin for what it is. To see how it destroys lives, and destroys marriages, and destroys churches. They have tasted and seen how beautiful Christ their Savior is and therefore they have had their hearts changed to hate the very thing they one found pleasure in. This doesn’t mean we hate people, no we love people tremendously. But we really hate sin. We hate sin because we know what it is. It is poison. It is death. It is an affront to God. We must be like Jael, the righteous woman in the Old Testament, who when she discovered that Siserah was asleep in her tent, she took out a tent peg and drove it through his temple. Yes, our hatred of sin must grow so strong that that when we discover its remnants lingering in our camp we kill it before it does any more damage to us or to our household.
Indeed it is true that many faithful saints who have truly repented of one particular sin, will discover in time that some new temptations, perhaps many years later, revives thoughts towards that old dishonorable passion. If we hate the sin, then it is there at that moment that we must strike the serpent’s head.
Step 6: Gratefulness for Christ’s Forgiveness of Sin
Sixth, at this point what will naturally be developed in a faithful follower of Christ is gratefulness for Christ’s forgiveness of sin. It is when we have truly seen sin for what it is, in all of its filth and dishonor, and we have realized how deep the crevices of sin run throughout our heart, that we are able to look up and see the cross in all of its glory. For on the cross, Christ died for all of our sin. Not just the aspect of our sin that we know, that is easy to see, but the depths of it including the passions and affections that drove the sinful deed in the first place. If Christ has truly taken our place underneath the wrath of God, and we have therefore been given grace upon grace, then when we repent we should look to the cross and be overwhelmed the love of God. We should see our sin on Christ’s shoulders, and in a humble adoration cry out, “I am not worthy of such love.” Every time we dig a little deeper, and discover some new aspect of our fallenness that has not yet been mortified, there ought to be a continual looking up to Christ in gratefulness.
7 Deep Love of Virtuous Living
Seventh and finally, biblical repentance produces a deep love of virtuous living. It is not only that we hate the bad, but here we truly learn to rejoice in the virtuous, and to live the virtuous by the power of the Holy Spirit. At this step, Christ’s design for life becomes attractive. We see his law and we understand his law in all of its beauty. Far from some arbitrary rule of life, God’s law is the good. Now, having repented of our sin, our affections are changed to truly delight in God’s way. We can cry out with the Psalmist, “Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it” (Psalm 119:35).
The word repentance is one of those unpopular words today. Charles Spurgeon aptly noted that “repentance and faith are distasteful to the unregenerate; they would sooner repeat a thousand formal prayers than shed a solitary tear of true repentance.” Unfortunately, even believers today often fall into the same mistake. The word itself has a particular ring of old-fashioned-ness to it, as if repentance represented some old form of Medieval Christianity that was full of drudgery, penance, and boredom. On the other hand, some folks accept that repentance is an important part of the Christian faith, but their view of repentance is so small and limited that they believe they have done the work of repentance simply by taking a brief moment to say a general apology to God for the presence of sin in their life.
Repentance is not only not “old-fashioned,” but it is also not simple. Repentance is a wonderful gift of grace in our life, that allows us to accurately see the vile nature of our sin, lay it before the throne of grace, and be transformed by the saving power of Christ. In one sense we might say that repentance is among the greatest tools Christians have for drawing closer to Christ, for in it we see the great depths to which Christ went to rescue us from wages of our sin. Repentance describes both the one time act of leaving our sin behind and clinging to Christ in salvation, but it also describes the ongoing life of a faithful believer who constantly evaluates his life and through diligent work, casts his sin aside and runs the race with greater efficacy.
What does repentance mean? How might we know we have really begun the process and not just settled for some shallow lip service to sanctification while leaving the real meat of the work behind? In this post I lay out seven aspects of repentance. In general these aspects follow a particular order as proposed below. Indeed, a person can be said to have repented without completing all seven of these steps in a formal sense. But full repentance always culminates in the entire process being achieved. A man who hates his sin, and formally lays it at the foot of the cross, but continues to return to it like a dog returning to his vomit, may be in the process of repenting, but he has not fully repented yet. There is gracious work to still be done.
Step1: Knowledge of Sin
The first step in repentance is that we must gain a knowledge of our sin. In one way or another, God’s law is revealed to us, and we begin to see the reality of our own corruption. The truth is that the trenches of sin run far deeper through our heart that any of us care to admit or consider. Though we have been saved by grace, and have an entirely new nature in Christ, our old flesh continues to wage war against us. At times our sinful lusts and thoughts can culminate in some vile deed or action (James 1:15). These are the easiest sins to become aware of because they are so directly overt. But the inward desires themselves that led to that outward vile deed are also morally culpable, sinful passions of the flesh, and need to be repented of.
How does this first step take place? How do we gain an awareness of our sin? It happens in two primary ways. First, through the Word of God preached, proclaimed, or read. Because the Word of God is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12), when the Word of God is plunged into our hearts it is able to reveal previously unknown sin.
The Word: For some, it is through the Word of God, either preached or spoken or read. Where they read God’s Word and are convicted in their heart of their own sin and faulty standing before God. Unbeliever particularly are unaware of the “deformity of their soul” before a Holy God. They go on in their sinful passions unaware (in one sense) of the maddening folly of their ways.
“Hence I infer that where there is no sight of sin, there can be no repentance. Many who can spy faults in others see none in themselves. They cry that they have good hearts. Is it not strange that two should live together, and eat and drink together, yet not know each other? Such is the case of a sinner. His body and soul live together, work together, yet he is unacquainted with himself. He knows not his own heart, nor what a hell he carries about him. Under a veil, a deformed face is hid. Persons are veiled over with ignorance and self-love; therefore they see not what deformed souls they have.” – Thomas Watson
The Spirit: Others, become aware of their sin through the movement of the Spirit in their life. John 16:8 says that the Holy Spirit will “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment…” The Holy Spirit often uses the Word of God to accomplish this end, but he can also use a hundred other tools which he has at his disposal. He can use a radio broadcast, a friend’s discussion, an overheard story, a dream, and so much more. The point is that we must become aware of our sin.
Step 2: Sorrow for Sin
Second, we must develop a sorrow for sin. Many mistakenly move through “repentance” without any true remorse in their soul, any therefore any sense of the depth of what Christ went through on the cross in order to cover their sin. If we have completed the first step, and come to an awareness of our sin, that awareness must then mature into an affection that moves towards God. Very often folks believe they have repented after a quick almost thoughtless apology to God in prayer. But this is no better than what we often see in children. I have seen many times when I move to reprimand my children for some sin they have committed, that they very eagerly and quickly apologize. While the outward motion looks like correction has been achieved, as a parent I can see their heart is apologizing for nothing more than a desire to get through the reprimanding moment. By standing still and mouthing the words “I’m sorry,” they can quickly get back to their games. As a parent that desires to shape the hearts of my children, I cannot settle for this. And neither will God settle for this kind of shallow confession with us. God loves us far too much for that.
This affection is developed as we truly pour over Scripture and lay our heart before God. We must not move too quickly through this step. We must not be afraid of being confronted by sin’s depths. Remember, there is no depth that sin might run that Christ has not already covered by his grace.
Step 3: Confession of Sin
The third step is confession. The scriptures teach us
1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
In confession we get specific. We talk to God about specific sins that have taken a hold of us and the damage they have done. In this step we do not want to be general, but we want to be specific. If we have truly been grieved over specific sins, then we must confess those specific sins to God, not just the vile deeds but the heart, the posture, the thoughts that led to the deed must also be confessed to God. “God I have been harboring so much bitterness towards this person…God I have sensed a deep feeling of discontent in my soul… God I confess to jealousy… to idleness… etc.” Remember, these steps build upon each other. In fact, one of the reason our confessional lives are so weak is because the first two steps are often not there! If you begin having a sorrow over your sin, confession will follow!
A warning is required at this step though. Just as there are false confessions in the criminal justice system today, so are there false confessions before God.
Circumstance: Some confess simply because of their circumstances. They find they made some error that has led them into a difficult circumstance, and they believe that if they confess their sin, their circumstance will improve. The problem with this is that there is no real sorrow of sin, and therefore the confession is driven primarily by seeking one’s own glory, and not the glory of God.
Fear of Judgment: Second, some confess simply because of the fear of Hell. They view confession as a religious process required to stay in right relationship with God and to ensure their eternal destiny. Many Christians have prayed the “sinners prayer”, but have truly no real sorrow, and therefore no real confession from the heart.
Step 4: Breaking Away from Sin
Fourth, we must break away from our sin. Repentance means turning from sin. And so, true repentance, means not returning to the same sin that you have repented of, otherwise you would only be somewhere in the process of repenting, but have yet to truly repent. To break away from sin means to turn fully from it, to commit one’s heart and mind to forsaking whatever sin was plaguing you. Many folks begin the process of repentance, but settle along the way for only a partial victory. They are like the blind man that Jesus healed, and at first sight said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” It was not until Christ placed his hands over the blind man’s eyes once more and healed him fully that he was able to see in full. We must not settle for a half-repentance, a diminishing of sin but not a removal of sin from our lives. So long as the sin persists, we must diligently put all of the means of grace available to us in this life to work in order to rid us of that sin.
Step 5: Deep Hatred of Sin
Fifth, this will produce in you a deep hatred of sin.
Psalm 119:104 “Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.”
A repentant heart, has learned to hate sin. They have learned to see sin for what it is. To see how it destroys lives, and destroys marriages, and destroys churches. They have tasted and seen how beautiful Christ their Savior is and therefore they have had their hearts changed to hate the very thing they one found pleasure in. This doesn’t mean we hate people, no we love people tremendously. But we really hate sin. We hate sin because we know what it is. It is poison. It is death. It is an affront to God. We must be like Jael, the righteous woman in the Old Testament, who when she discovered that Siserah was asleep in her tent, she took out a tent peg and drove it through his temple. Yes, our hatred of sin must grow so strong that that when we discover its remnants lingering in our camp we kill it before it does any more damage to us or to our household.
Indeed it is true that many faithful saints who have truly repented of one particular sin, will discover in time that some new temptations, perhaps many years later, revives thoughts towards that old dishonorable passion. If we hate the sin, then it is there at that moment that we must strike the serpent’s head.
Step 6: Gratefulness for Christ’s Forgiveness of Sin
Sixth, at this point what will naturally be developed in a faithful follower of Christ is gratefulness for Christ’s forgiveness of sin. It is when we have truly seen sin for what it is, in all of its filth and dishonor, and we have realized how deep the crevices of sin run throughout our heart, that we are able to look up and see the cross in all of its glory. For on the cross, Christ died for all of our sin. Not just the aspect of our sin that we know, that is easy to see, but the depths of it including the passions and affections that drove the sinful deed in the first place. If Christ has truly taken our place underneath the wrath of God, and we have therefore been given grace upon grace, then when we repent we should look to the cross and be overwhelmed the love of God. We should see our sin on Christ’s shoulders, and in a humble adoration cry out, “I am not worthy of such love.” Every time we dig a little deeper, and discover some new aspect of our fallenness that has not yet been mortified, there ought to be a continual looking up to Christ in gratefulness.
7 Deep Love of Virtuous Living
Seventh and finally, biblical repentance produces a deep love of virtuous living. It is not only that we hate the bad, but here we truly learn to rejoice in the virtuous, and to live the virtuous by the power of the Holy Spirit. At this step, Christ’s design for life becomes attractive. We see his law and we understand his law in all of its beauty. Far from some arbitrary rule of life, God’s law is the good. Now, having repented of our sin, our affections are changed to truly delight in God’s way. We can cry out with the Psalmist, “Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it” (Psalm 119:35).
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