In this chapter, Paul
refers to his first epistle to the Corinthians, concerning a matter that they
were wrong about. He speaks here of the
effect that his letter had in bringing them to true repentance. They sorrowed after a godly sort. This was the evidence that their repentance
was genuine.
“For observe this very
thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you,
what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire,
what zeal, what vindication! In all
things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” (II Cor 7:11)
In the verse, which I
have taken for my passage tonight, Paul mentions two kinds of sorrow for sin,
one produces repentance unto salvation, and the other produces death. He alludes to two kinds of repentance. And this is the subject of our discussion
tonight.
TRUE AND FALSE REPENTANCE.
In sharing this subject,
I plan to show
I. What is true
repentance?
II. How can we identify
true repentance?
III. What is false and
spurious repentance?
IV. How can we identify
false repentance?
It is high time
professing Christians were taught to discriminate much more than they do
concerning the nature and character of various religious exercises. If Christians had discernment, the church
would not be so overrun with false and unprofitable professing Christians. Lately, I have been frequently led to
examine the reason why there is so much false religion, and I have sought to
know what is the foundation of this problem.
That millions believe that they are religious, and are not, is
shocking. Why are so many
deceived? Why do so many impenitent
sinners, think that they have repented?
There is no doubt that the cause is a lack of discriminating instruction
concerning the foundation of religion, and especially a lack of discrimination
concerning true and false repentance.
I. What is true
repentance?
True repentance involves
a change of opinion concerning the nature of sin, and this change of opinion is
followed by a corresponding change of feeling towards sin. Feeling is the result of thought. And when this change of opinion is such that
it produces a corresponding change of feeling, if the opinion is right and the
feeling corresponds with the right opinion, this is true repentance. It must be the right opinion, because the
opinion the new believer now has is similar to the opinion that God has towards
sin. The kind of godly sorrow that God
requires must spring from the same views of sin that God has.
First. We must have a change of opinion concerning
sin.
1. We must have a change
of opinion concerning the nature of sin.
After a person truly
repents, sin looks totally different than what it looked like before he
repented. Instead of looking desirable
or fascinating, that sin now looks hateful and detestable, and he is astonished
that he ever could have desired such a thing.
Impenitent sinners may look at sin and see that it will ruin them,
because God will punish them for it.
After all, it looks desirable.
They love it. They roll it under
their tongue. If it could end in
happiness, they never would think of abandoning it. But, to the Christian sin looks different. The Christian sees his past conduct as
perfectly hateful. He looks back on it,
and exclaims, “How hateful, how detestable, how worthy of hell, was that
detestable thing in me.”
2. We must have a change
of opinion of the character of sin in its relationship to God.
Sinners do not see why
God threatens sin with such terrible punishment. Sinners love sin so well that they cannot see why God should look
at it in such a light that it makes Him think that it is worthy of everlasting
punishment. When they are strongly
convicted, they see sin differently. As
far as their opinion is concerned, they see it in the same light as a Christian
does, and then all they lack is a corresponding change of feeling to become
Christians. Many a sinner sees his
relationship to God to be such that he deserves eternal death, but his heart
does not agree with his opinions. This
is the situation with the devils and wicked spirits in hell. Listen, you must have a change of opinion
before you can repent. The heart never
goes out to God in true repentance without a previous change of opinion. There may be a change of opinion without
repentance, but you can’t have genuine repentance without a change of opinion.
3. You must also have a
change of opinion concerning the tendencies of sin.
The sinner thinks that it
is incredible that sin should have tendencies that deserve everlasting
death. However, he may completely
change his opinion on this point without repenting, but it is impossible for a
man to truly repent without a change of opinion. The sinner sees that sin tends to ruin himself and everybody
else, soul and body, for time and eternity, and sin is opposed to all that is
lovely and happy in the universe. He
sees that sin is designed, in its tendencies, to injure himself, and everybody
else, and there is no remedy but universal abstinence. The devil knows that this is true. And possibly, there are some sinners here in
this congregation who know it.
4. You must have a change
of opinion concerning the desert of sin.
The word rendered
‘repentance’ implies all of these things.
It implies a change in the state of the mind in all these areas. The careless sinner has almost no right
thoughts about the desert of sin.
Suppose he admits in theory that sin deserves eternal death, he does not
believe it. If he believed it, it would
be impossible for him to remain a careless sinner. He is deceived if he thinks that he honestly believes that sin
deserves the wrath of God forever. But
the truly awakened and convicted sinner has no more doubt of this than he has
of the existence of God. He sees clearly that sin must deserve God’s
everlasting punishment. He knows that
this is a simple matter of fact.
Secondly. In true repentance, there must be a
corresponding change of feeling.
The change of feeling
concerns sin in its nature, relationship, tendencies, and deserts. The person, who truly repents, not only sees
that sin is detestable, vile, and should be hated, but he truly abhors and
hates it in his heart. That sinner may
see that sin is hurtful and abominable, yet in his heart, he still loves it,
desires it, and clings to it. But, when
he truly repents, he most heartily hates and renounces it.
In relation to God, the
saint feels towards sin as it really is.
And here is the source of those gushings of sorrow that Christians
sometimes break out in when they think about sin. The Christian views the nature of sin, and feels disgusted and
repulsed. But when he views sin in its
relationship to God, then he feels like weeping. The fountains of his sorrow gush forth, and he wants to fall on
his face and pour out a flood of tears over his sins.
Then as to the tendencies
of sin, the individual who truly repents feels sin as it is. When he sees the true tendency of sin, it
awakens a vehement desire within him to stop it, and to save people from their
sins and roll back the tide of death.
It sets his heart on fire, and he goes forth to pray, labor, and pull
sinners out of the fire with all his might, to save them from the awful
tendencies of sin. When the Christian
sets his mind on this, he will do whatever he can to make people give up their
sins. Just as if he saw everybody
around him taking poison which he knew would destroy them, and he lifts up his
voice to warn them to BEWARE.
He has the right feeling
for the desert of sin. He not only
knows that sin deserves everlasting punishment, but he feels that it would be
right, reasonable, and just for God to condemn him to eternal death. Instead of finding fault with the sentence
of the law that condemns him, he thinks it is the wonder of heaven, a wonder of
wonders that God can forgive him.
Instead of thinking that God is hard, severe, or unkind to send
incorrigible sinners to hell, he is full of adoring wonder that he is not sent
to hell himself, and he is amazed that this whole guilty world has not already
been hurled down into endless burnings.
The last thing in the world he would think of to complain about is that
all sinners are not saved: but rather, it is a wonder of mercy that the entire
world is not damned. And when he thinks
of such a sinner being saved, he feels a sense of gratitude that he never
experienced until he became a Christian.
II. What are the works or
the effects of genuine repentance?
I’d like to show you what
are the works of true repentance, so you can clearly know whether you have
repented or not.
1. If your repentance is
genuine, your views and feelings concerning sin changes.
You will be just as aware
of this as you were of a change of views and feelings on any other subject. Now, can you say this? Do you know, that on this point there has
been a change in you, and that old things have passed away and all things have
become new?
2. Where repentance is
genuine, the disposition to repeat sin is gone.
If you have truly
repented, you don’t love sin anymore.
You no longer abstain from sin through fear, and you no longer avoid
punishment through fear, but you avoid sin because you hate it. Is this true with you? Do you know that your disposition to commit
sin is gone? Look at the sins you used
to practice when you were impenitent.
How do they appear to you now?
Do they look pleasant, and would you really love to practice them again
if you had the opportunity? If you do,
if you have the disposition to sin left within you, you are only convicted. Your opinions of sin may be changed, but if
the love of that sin remains, as your soul lives, you are still an impenitent
sinner.
3. Genuine repentance
produces a reformation of conduct.
I believe that this is
the idea chiefly intended in the passage, where it says, “Godly sorrow produces
repentance.” (II Cor 7:10) Godly sorrow produces a reformation of
conduct. Otherwise, it is the same
thing as saying that repentance produces repentance. I believe the apostle was speaking of such a change of mind that
it produces a change of conduct, ending in salvation. Now, let me ask you, are you really reformed? Have you forsaken your sins? Or, are you still practicing them? If you are still practicing them, you are
still a sinner. No matter how much you
may have changed your mind, if it has not wrought a change of conduct, an
actual reformation, it is not godly repentance, or the kind that is approved by
God.
4. Repentance, when true
and genuine, leads to confession and restitution.
The thief has not
repented as long as he keeps the money he stole. He may have conviction, but no repentance. If he had repentance, he would go and return
the money. If you have cheated anyone,
and you do not restore what you have taken unjustly; or if you have injured
anyone, and you do not do whatever you can to undo the wrong you have done, as
far as what lies in your heart, you have not truly repented.
5. True repentance is a
permanent change of character and conduct.
Today’s passage says it
is repentance unto salvation, not to be regretted of. What else does the apostle mean by that expression but this, that
true repentance is a change so deep and fundamental that the person never wants
to change back again? People often
quote this passage as if it said that repentance does not need to be repented
of. But that is not what Paul
says. You will not regret that you repented,
or in other words, your repentance is so thorough that there is no going
back. Your love of sin is truly abandoned. The person, who has truly repented, has so
changed his views and feelings that he will not change back again, or go back
to the love of sin. Please remember,
that the truly penitent sinner exercises feelings of which he will never
repent. The passage says repentance is
“unto salvation”. It goes right on, to
the very rest of heaven. The very
reason why repentance ends in salvation is because this repentance is the kind
of repentance that will not be regretted.
And here I must say, that
you see why the doctrine of the Saints' Perseverance is true, and what it
means. True repentance is such a
thorough change of feelings, and the individual who exercises it comes to hate
sin so much that he will persevere and not go and regret all his repentance and
return to sin again.
III. What is false
repentance?
False or spurious
repentance is said to be worldly. It is
a worldly sorrow. In other words, this
sorrow is a sorrow for sin that comes from worldly considerations and motives
that are connected with this present life, or at most, this repentance relates
to one’s happiness in a future world, and has no regard for the true nature of
sin.
1. False repentance is
not based on that change of opinion that only belongs to true repentance.
A change may take place
with false repentance, but the change is not on fundamental points. A person may see the evil consequences of
sin from a worldly point of view, and it may strongly upset him. He may see that the consequences of sin will
greatly affect his character, or endanger his life. He may realize that if some of his concealed conduct should be discovered,
he would be disgraced, and this may fill him with fear and distress. It is very common for people to have this
kind of worldly sorrow, when some worldly consideration is at the bottom of it
all.
2. False repentance is
also based on selfishness.
It may be simply a strong
feeling of regret in the mind of the individual that he has done what he has
done. He may regret it because he sees
the evil consequences it brought on himself, or because it made him miserable,
or it exposed him to the wrath of God, or injured his family or his friends, or
because it produced some injury to himself in time or in eternity. All this is pure selfishness. He may feel bitter regret in his conscience,
biting, intense, consuming remorse, and yet there may be no true repentance. It may extend to fear. He may have a deep and dreadful fear of the
wrath of God and the pains of hell, yet he may be completely selfish in all
these tings. There may be no hearty
hatred of sin, and no feelings of his heart going out after his mind’s
convictions of the infinite evil of sin.
IV. How can we identify
false repentance?
1. False repentance
leaves our feelings unchanged.
False repentance leaves
the disposition of one’s heart to sin unbroken and un-subdued. His feelings as to the nature of sin don’t
change a lot, so that the individual still possesses a desire to sin. He abstains from it, not because he hates
it, but from a fear of the consequences of it.
2. False repentance works
death.
False repentance leads to
hypocritical concealment. The
individual who has exercised true repentance is willing to have it known that
he has repented, and willing to have it known that he was a sinner. He who has only false repentance, resorts to
excuses and lying to cover his sins, and is ashamed of his repentance. When he is called to the anxious seat, he
will cover up his sins by a thousand apologies and excuses, trying to smooth
them over, and extenuate trying to make them appear not quite as bad as they
really are. If he speaks of his past
conduct, he always does it in the softest and most favorable terms. You see a constant disposition to cover up
his sin. This repentance leads to
death. It makes him commit one sin to
cover up another sin. Instead of that
ingenuous, open-hearted breaking forth of sensibility and frankness, you see a
wavering, smooth-tongued, half-hearted mincing out of something that is
intended to sound like a confession, and yet actually confess nothing.
Where do you stand? Are you ashamed to have anybody talk with
you about your sins? Then your sorrow
is only a worldly sorrow, and it produces death. How often you see sinners going out of their way to avoid talking
about their sins, and yet calling themselves anxious inquirers, and expecting
to become Christians that way. The same
kind of sorrow is found in hell. No
doubt, all those wretched inhabitants of the pit want to get away from the eye
of God. No such sorrow is found among
the saints in heaven. Their sorrow is
open, straightforward, full, and hearty.
Such sorrow is consistent with true happiness. The saints are full of happiness, and yet full of deep and
undisguised, and gushing sorrow for sin.
But this worldly sorrow is ashamed, mean and miserable, and produces
death.
3. False repentance
produces only a partial reformation of conduct.
The reformation that is
produced by worldly sorrow extends only to those things that the individual has
been strongly convicted of. The heart
is not changed. You will see him avoid
only the most important sins, the ones that he has given a lot of attention to.
See that young
convert. If he is deceived, you will
find that there is only a partial change in his conduct. He reforms in certain areas, but not in
other areas. He still practices some
things. You will notice this if you get
to know him very well. Instead of
finding him tremblingly alive to sin everywhere, and quick to detect it in
everything that is contrary to the spirit of the gospel, you will find him, perhaps,
strict and quick-sighted concerning certain things, but loose in his conduct
and lax in his views on other points, and very far from manifesting a Christian
spirit concerning all sin.
4. Usually, the
reformation produced by false sorrow is temporary even in those things that are
reformed.
The individual is
continually relapsing into his old sins.
The reason is, the disposition to sin is not gone. It is only checked and restrained by fear,
and as soon as he has a hope and is in the church, and is bolstered up so that
his fears are relieved, you see him gradually backsliding and returning to his
old sins. This was the reason why the
house of Israel, kept returning to their idolatry and other sins. They only had worldly sorrow. Today, you see it everywhere in the
church. Individuals are reformed for a
while, and taken into the church, and then they fall back into their old
sins. They love to call it growing
cold, or backsliding, or something similar, but the truth is, they always loved
sin, and when the occasion presented itself, they returned to it, just like the
sow that was washed returned to wallowing in the mud because she was always a
sow.
Please understand this
point thoroughly. Here is the
foundation of those periods of action followed by inaction that you see so much
of in religion today. People are
awakened, convicted, and as time goes on, they receive some hope and settle
down in a false security, and then away they go. Perhaps, they may be on their guard enough so they won’t be
turned out of the church, but the foundations of their sins are not broken up,
and they return to their old ways. The
woman that loved dress still loves it, and gradually returns to her ribbons and
jewelry. The man who loves money still
loves it, and soon slides back into his old ways, dives into business, and
pursues the world as eagerly and devotedly as he did before he joined the
church.
Go throughout society,
and if you find thorough conversions, you will find that their most troubling
sins before conversion are the farthest from them now. The real convert is least likely to fall
into his old besetting sin, because he abhors it the most. But if he is deceived and worldly minded, he
always tends to fall back into the same sins.
The woman that loves to dress up comes out again in all her glory, and
dresses like she used to. The fountain
of sin was not broken up. She has not
purged out iniquity from her heart, but she regards iniquity in her heart all
the time.
5. The reformation
produced by a false repentance is a forced reformation.
The reformation produced
by a false repentance is not only partial and temporary, but it is also forced
and constrained. The reformation of one
who has truly repented comes from the heart.
He no longer has a disposition to sin.
The Bible promise is fulfilled in him.
He actually finds that wisdom’s “ways are ways of pleasantness, and all
her paths are peace”. (Prov 3:17) He experiences that the Savior's yoke is
easy and His burden is light. He feels
that God's commandments are not strict and harsh but joyful. “More to be desired are they than gold, yea,
than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” (Psalm 19:10) But this spurious kind of repentance is very different. It is a legal repentance. It comes from fear and not from love. It is a selfish repentance. It is anything but a free, voluntary, hearty
change from sin to obedience. You will
find, if there are any individuals here that have this kind of repentance, you
know that you do not abstain from sin by your own willful decision, or because
you hate sin, but because of other reasons.
It is more because your conscience forbids it, or you are afraid that
you will lose your soul, or your hope, or your character, than because of your
hatred of sin or your love to do the will of God.
Such people always need
to be pressured to do their duty.
Sometimes they will have to be shown specific passages of scripture, or
else they will make excuses for their sin, evade their duty, and think there is
no great harm in doing what they do.
The reason is, they love their sins, and if there is not some explicit
command of God that they dare not fly in the face of, they will practice
them. This is not true with genuine
repentance. If something seems contrary
to the great law of love, the person who has true repentance will hate it and
avoid it, whether he has a clear command from God for it or not. Show me such a man and I tell you he won't
need a clear command to make him give up drinking, making, or selling strong
drink. He sees that it is contrary to
the great law of unselfish love, and he truly hates it, and would no more do it
than he would blaspheme God, or steal, or commit any other abomination.
So the man who has truly
repented does not need a “Thus saith the Lord”, to keep him from oppressing his
fellow men, because he would not do anything wrong. Anyone who had truly repented of sin would hate anything of the
kind.
6. This spurious
repentance leads to self-righteousness.
The individual who has
this false repentance may know that Jesus Christ is the only Savior of sinners,
and he may profess to believe on Him and to rely on Him alone for salvation,
but he really places ten times more reliance on his reformation than on Jesus
Christ for his salvation. And if he
would watch his own heart, he would know that this is true. He may say he expects to be saved by Christ,
but, in fact, he is dwelling more on his reformation. His hope is based more on his reformation, than on the atonement
of Christ. All he is doing is patching
up his own righteousness.
7. This false repentance
leads to a false security.
This person believes that
the worldly sorrow he has is true repentance, and he trusts in it. It is a curious fact, that as far as I have
been able to understand the state of mind of these people, they seem to take it
for granted that Christ will save them because they have felt sorry for their
sins, although they are not aware that they have ever felt any rest in
Christ. (Matt 11:28) They felt sorry, then they got some relief
and felt better, and now they expect to be saved by Christ, when their own
conscience is trying to tell them that they have never felt a hearty reliance
on Christ.
8. This kind of
repentance hardens their heart.
The individual who has
this kind of sorrow becomes harder in heart, in proportion to the number of
times that he exercises such sorrow. If
he has strong emotions of conviction, and his heart does not break up and flow
out, the fountains of feeling are increasingly dried up, and his heart becomes
increasingly difficult to reach. Take a
real Christian, one who has truly repented, and every time you bring the truth
to bear on him so as to break him down before God, he becomes more and more mellow,
and more easily affected, excited, melted, and broken down under God's blessed
word as long as he lives--and into all eternity. His heart gets into the habit of going along with the convictions
of his understanding, and he becomes as teachable and moldable as a little
child.
Here is the big
difference. Let churches, or individual
members, who only have this worldly repentance, pass through a revival, wake up
and bustle about, and then grow cold again.
Let this be repeated and you find it increasingly difficult to rouse
them, until as time goes on, they become as hard as a granite millstone, and
nothing can ever rally them to a revival again. Directly over against this are those churches and individuals who
have true repentance. Let them go through
successive revivals, and you find them growing increasingly mellow and tender
until they get into such a state that if they hear the trumpet blow for a
revival, they kindle and glow instantly and are ready for the work.
This difference is as
broad as the difference between light and darkness. It is easily observed in churches and among church members. You see the principle illustrated in
sinners, who after passing through repeated revivals, by and by will scoff and
rail at all religion, and although the heavens hang with clouds of mercy over
their heads, instead of heeding it, they reject it. This is also true among church members. If they do not have true repentance, every fresh excitement
hardens their heart and makes them more difficult to be reached by the truth.
9. False repentance sears
their consciences.
Such people will likely
be very upset and distressed at first, whenever the truth is flashed on their
minds. They may not have quite as much
conviction as the real Christian. But
the real Christian is filled with peace at the very time that his tears are
flowing from conviction of sin. And
each repeated season of conviction makes him increasingly watchful, tender, and
careful, until his conscience becomes, like the apple of his eye, so tender
that the very appearance of evil will offend it. But the other kind of sorrow, which does not lead to a hearty
renunciation of sin, leaves the heart harder than before, and as time goes on
sears the conscience as with a hot iron.
This sorrow produces death.
10. False repentance
rejects Jesus Christ as the ground of hope.
Because
they depend on reformation and sorrow, or anything else, it never leads to a
true reliance on Jesus Christ, that the love of Christ will constrain him to
labor all his days for Christ.
11. False repentance is
transient and temporary.
This kind of repentance
is sure to be regretted, as our passage today says. As time goes on you will find these people becoming ashamed of
the deep feelings that they had. They
do not want to speak about them, and if they talk about them, it is always
lightly and coldly. They perhaps
bustled about in time of revival, and appeared to be engaged as much as
anybody. Very likely, they were among
the leaders in everything that was done.
But now that the revival is over, and you find them opposed to new
measures, and changing back to the way they were, and ashamed of their
zeal. They in fact regret their
repentance.
Such people, after they
have joined the church, will be ashamed of having come forward to accept Christ
as their savior. When the height of the
revival has long passed, they will begin to talk against being too enthusiastic,
and the need to get into a more sober and consistent way in religion. Here is the secret; they had a repentance of
which they afterwards regretted.
You sometimes find people
who profess to be converted in a revival, turning against the very measures,
and means, and doctrines, by which they profess to have been converted. Not so with the true Christian. He is never ashamed of his repentance. The last thing he would ever think of being ashamed
of, is the excitement of the feelings he felt in a revival.