QUEST. LXXVI. What is repentance unto life?
ANSW. Repentance unto life, is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner, by the Spirit and word of God; whereby, out of the sight and sense, not only of the danger, but also of the filth and odiousness of his sins, and upon the apprehension of God’s mercy in Christ, to such as are penitent, he so grieves for, and hates his sins, as that he turns from them all to God, purposing and endeavouring, constantly to walk with him in all the ways of new obedience.
In speaking to this answer we shall consider the subject of repentance, viz. a sinful fallen creature; and that, though this be his condition, yet he is naturally averse to the exercise thereof, till God is pleased to bring him to it; which will lead us to consider, how the Spirit of God does this; and what are the various acts and effects thereof.[222]
1. Concerning the subjects of repentance. No one can be said to repent but a sinner; and therefore, whatever other graces might be exercised by man in a state of innocency, or shall be exercised by him, when brought to a state of perfection; yet there cannot, properly speaking, be any room for repentance: some, indeed, have queried whether there shall be repentance in heaven; but it may easily be determined, that though that hatred of sin in general, and opposition to it, which is contained in true repentance, be not inconsistent with a state of perfect blessedness, as it is inseparably connected with perfection of holiness; yet a sense of sin, which is afflictive, and is attended with grief and sorrow of heart, for the guilt and consequences thereof, is altogether inconsistent with a state of perfection; and these are some ingredients in that repentance which comes under our present consideration. Therefore we must conclude, that the subject of repentance is a sinner: but,
II. Though all sinners contract guilt, expose themselves to misery, and will sooner or later be filled with distress and sorrow for what they have done against God; yet many have no sense thereof at present, nor repentance, or remorse for it. These are described as past feeling, Eph. iv. 19. and hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, Heb. iii. 13. as obstinate, and having their neck as an iron sinew, and their brow as brass, Isa. xlviii. 4. And there are several methods which they take to ward off the force of convictions. Sometimes they are stupid, and hardly give themselves the liberty to consider the difference that there is between moral good and evil, or the natural obligation we are under to pursue the one, and avoid the other. They consider not the all-seeing eye of God, that observes all their actions, nor the power of his anger, who will take vengeance on impenitent sinners; regard not the various aggravations of sin, nor consider that God will, for those things, bring them to judgment. So that impenitency is generally attended with presumption; whereby the person concludes, though without ground, that it shall go well with him in the end; such an one is represented, as blessing himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination; or, as it is in the margin, in the stubbornness of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst, Deut. xxix. 19. Or if, on the other hand, he cannot but conclude, that with God is terrible majesty, that he is a consuming fire, and that none ever hardened themselves against him, and prospered, and if he does not fall down before him with humble confession of sin, and repentance for it, he will certainly be broken with his rod of iron, and dashed in pieces, like the potter’s vessel, broken with a tempest, and utterly destroyed, when his wrath is kindled; then he resolves, that some time or other he will repent, but still delays and puts it off for a more convenient season, and though God gives him space to do it, repenteth not, Rev. ii. 21. Thus he goes on in the greatness of his way, till God prevents him with the blessings of his goodness, and brings him to repentance. And this leads us to consider,
III. That repentance is God’s work; or, as it is observed in this answer, wrought by the Spirit of God: whether we consider it as a common or saving grace, it is the Spirit that convinces or reproves the world of sin. If it be of the same kind with that which Pharaoh, Ahab, or Judas had; it is a dread of God’s judgments, and his wrath breaking in upon conscience, when he reproves for sin, and sets it in order before their eyes, that excites it. If they are touched with a sense of guilt, and hereby, for the present, stopped, or obliged to make a retreat, and desist from pursuing their former methods, it is God, in the course of his providence, that gives a check to them. But this comes short of that repentance which is said to be unto life; or which is styled a saving grace, which is wrought by the Spirit of God, as the beginning of that saving work, which is a branch of sanctification, and shall end in compleat salvation.
This is expressly styled in scripture, repentance unto life, Acts xi. 18. inasmuch as every one, who is favoured with it, shall obtain eternal life; and it is connected with conversion and remission of sins, which will certainly end in eternal salvation. Thus it is said, Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, chap. iii. 9. and for this reason it is called a saving grace, or a grace that accompanies salvation, whereby it is distinguished from that repentance which some have, who yet remain in a state of unregeneracy. And it is called, Repentance to salvation, not to be repented of, 2 Cor. vii. 10. that is, it shall issue well; and he shall, in the end, have reason to bless God, and rejoice in his grace, that has made him partaker of it, who thus repents.
IV. We shall now consider the instrument or means whereby the Spirit works this grace.[77] Thus it is said to be wrought in the heart of a sinner, by the word of God, as all other graces are, except regeneration, as has been before observed: we must first suppose the principle of grace implanted, and the word presenting motives, and arguments leading to repentance; and then the understanding is enlightened and disposed to receive what is therein imparted. The word calls sinners to repentance, Matt. ix. 13. and therefore, when this grace is wrought, we are not only turned by the power of God, but instructed, Jer. xxxi. 19. by the Spirit’s setting home what is contained therein whereby we are led into the knowledge of those things which are necessary to repentance. As,
1. We have in the word a display of the holiness of the divine nature and law, and our obligation in conformity thereunto, to the exercise of holiness in heart and life, as God says, Be ye holy, for I am holy, Lev. xi. 44. And to this we may add, that it contains a display of the holiness of God in his threatenings, which he has denounced against every transgression and disobedience, which shall receive a just recompence of reward; and in all the instances of his punishing sin in those who have exposed themselves thereunto, that hereby he might deter men from it, and lead them to repentance: thus the apostle speaks of the law of God as holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good, Rom. vii. 12, 13. and of its leading him into the knowledge of sin, by which means it appeared to be sin, that is, opposite to an holy God, and, as he expresses it, became exceeding sinful.
2. Hereby persons are led into themselves; and by comparing their hearts and lives with the word of God, are enabled to see their own vileness and want of conformity to the rule which he has given them, the deceitfulness and desperate wickedness thereof, and what occasion there is to abhor themselves, and repent in dust and ashes; thus the apostle, in the place but now mentioned, speaks of himself as once alive without the law; but when the commandment came, sin revived and he died, and concludes himself to be carnal, sold under sin, Rom. vii. 9, 14. This is a necessary means leading to repentance.
And we may farther add, that God not only makes use of the word, but of his providences to answer this end; therefore he speaks of a sinning people, when carried away captive into the land of the enemy, as bethinking themselves, and afterwards repenting and making supplication to him therein, 1 Kings viii. 46, 47. And we read of sickness and bodily diseases as ordained by God, to bring persons to repentance; thus Elihu speaks of a person’s being chastened with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain; his soul drawing nigh to the grave, and his life to the destroyers, Job xxxiii. 19, 27. and then represents the person thus chastened, and afterwards recovered from his sickness, as acknowledging himself to have sinned, and perverted that which is right, and that it profited him not. And the apostle speaks of the goodness of God in the various dispensations of his providence, as leading to repentance, Rom. ii. 4. But these dispensations are always to be considered in conjunction with the word, and as impressed on the conscience of men by the Spirit, in order to their attaining this desirable end.
But that we may insist on this matter more particularly, we must take an estimate of repentance, either as it is a common or special grace; in both these respects it is from the Spirit, and wrought by the instrumentality of the word, applied to the consciences of men; but there is a vast difference between the one and the other in the application of the word, as well as in the effects and consequences thereof.
(1.) In them who are brought under convictions, but not made partakers of the saving grace of repentance; the Holy Spirit awakens, and fills them with the terrors of God, and the dread of his vengeance, by the law, by which is the knowledge of sin, and all the world becomes guilty before God, Rom. iii. 20. compared with 19. These are what we call legal convictions; whereby the wound is opened, but no healing medicine applied: the sinner apprehends himself under a sentence of condemnation, but at the same time cannot apply any promise which may afford hope and relief to him; groans under his burden, and knows not where to find ease or comfort, and dreads the consequence thereof, as that which would sink him into hell; God appears to him as a consuming fire, his arrows stick fast in his soul, the poison whereof drinketh up his spirits; if he endeavours to shake off his fears, and to relieve himself against his despairing thoughts, he is notwithstanding, described, as being like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, which casts forth mire and dirt, Isa. lvii. 20. This is a most afflictive case; concerning which it is said, that though the spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; yet a wounded spirit who can bear? Prov. xviii. 14.
Thus it is with some when convinced of sin by the law: but there are others who endeavour to quiet their consciences by using indirect methods, thinking to make atonement for it, and by some instances of external reformation, to make God amends, and thereby procure his favour, but to no purpose; for sin taking occasion, by the commandment, works in them all manner of concupiscence, Rom. vii. 8. And if they grow stupid, which is oftentimes the consequence hereof, their sense of sin is entirely lost, and their repentance ends in presumption, and a great degree of boldness in the commission of all manner of wickedness.
(2.) We shall now consider how the Spirit works repentance unto life, which is principally insisted on in this answer. This is said to be done by the word of God; not by the law without the gospel, but by them both, in which one is made subservient to the other. The law shews the soul its sin, and the gospel directs him where he may find a remedy; one wounds and the other heals; the law enters, as the apostle expresses it, that the offence might abound, Rom. v. 20. but the gospel shews him how grace does much more abound, and where he may obtain forgiveness, by which means he is kept from sinking under that weight of guilt that lies on his conscience. And it leads him to hate and abstain from sin, from those motives that are truly excellent; for which reason it is called evangelical repentance.
Now that we may better understand the nature thereof, we shall consider; how it differs from that which we before described, which arises only from that conviction of sin, which is by the law, which a person may have, who is destitute of this grace of repentance, which we are speaking of. Repentance, of what kind soever it be, contains in it a sense of sin: but if it be such a sense of sin, that the unregenerate person may have, this includes little more in it than a sense of the danger and misery which he has exposed himself to by sins committed. The principal motives leading hereunto, are the threatenings which the law of God denounces against those that violate it. Destruction from God is a terror to him; if this were not the consequence of sin, he would be so far from repenting of it, that it would be the object of his chief delight. And that guilt, which he charges himself with, is principally such, as arises from the commission of the most notorious crimes, which expose him to the greatest degree of punishment: whereas, repentance unto life brings a soul under a sense of the guilt of sin, as it is contrary to the holy nature and law of God, which the least, as well as the greatest sins, are opposed to, and contain a violation of. And therefore he charges himself, not only with open sins, which are detestable in the eyes of men; but secret sins, which others have little or no sense of; sins of omission, as well as sins of commission; and he is particularly affected with the sin of unbelief, inasmuch as it contains a contempt of Christ, and the grace of the gospel. And he is not only sensible of those sins which break forth in his life; but that propensity of nature, whereby he is inclined to rebel against God; so that this sense of guilt, in some respects, differs from that which they are brought under, who are destitute of saving repentance.
But that in which they more especially differ is, in that saving repentance contains in it a sense of the filth, and odious nature of sin, and so considers it as defiling, or contrary to the holiness of God, and rendering the soul worthy to be abhorred by him; so that as the sense of guilt excites fear, and a dread of the wrath of God, this fills him with shame, confusion of face, and self-abhorrence, which is inseparably connected with the grace of repentance; accordingly these are joined together, as Job says, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes, Job xlii. 6. or, as when God promises that he would bestow this grace on his people, he says, Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings, that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities, and for your abominations, Ezek. xxxvi. 31. As before this they set too high a value upon themselves, and were ready to palliate and excuse their crimes, or insist on their innocence, though their iniquity was written in legible characters, as with a pen of iron, and the point of a diamond, and to say with Ephraim, In all my labour they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin, Hos. xii. 8. or, as the prophet Jeremiah says, concerning a rebellious people, that though in their skirts were found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents; yet they had the front to say, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me, Jer. ii. 34, 35. Notwithstanding, when God brings them to repentance, and heals their backslidings; they express themselves in a very different way; We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covers us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, chap. iii. 25. Now this is such an ingredient in true repentance, which is not to be found in that which falls short of it: the sinner is afraid of punishment indeed, or, it may be, he may be filled with shame, because of the reproach which attends his vile and notorious crimes in the eyes of the world; yet he is not ashamed, or confounded, as considering how vile he has rendered himself hereby, in the eye of an holy God.
There is another thing which is farther observed in this answer, which is an ingredient in repentance unto life, in which respect it is connected with faith, inasmuch as he apprehends the mercy of God in Christ to such as are penitent; and this effectually secures him from that despair which sometimes attends a legal repentance, as was before observed, as well as affords him relief against the sense of guilt with which this grace is attended. The difference between legal and evangelical repentance, does not so much consist in that one represents sin, as more aggravated; nor does it induce him that thus repents, to think himself a greater sinner than the other; for the true penitent is ready to confess himself the chief of sinners. He is far from extenuating his sin, being ready, on all occasions, to charge himself with more guilt than others are generally sensible of: but that which he depends upon as his only comfort and support is the mercy of God in Christ, or the consideration that there is forgiveness with him, that he may be feared; this is that which affords the principal motive and encouragement to repentance, and has a tendency to excite the various acts thereof; which leads us to consider,
V. What are the various acts of this repentance unto life; or what are the fruits and effects produced thereby.
1. The soul is filled with hatred of sin. When he looks back on his past life, he bewails what cannot now be avoided; charges himself with folly and madness, and wishes (though this be to no purpose) that he had done many things which he has omitted, and avoided those sins, together with the occasions thereof, which he has committed, the guilt whereof lies with great weight upon him. How glad would he be if lost seasons and opportunities of grace might be recalled, and the talents, that were once put into his hand, though misimproved, regained! But all these wishes are in vain. However, these are the after-thoughts which will arise in the minds of those who are brought under a sense of sin. Sin wounds the soul; the Spirit of God, when convincing thereof, opens the wound, and causes a person to feel the smart of it, and gives him to know, that it is an evil thing, and bitter, that he has forsaken the Lord his God, Jer. ii. 19. This sometimes depresses the spirits, and causes him to walk softly, to set alone and keep silence, Lam. iii. 28. being filled with that uneasiness which is very afflictive to him. At other times it gives vent to itself in tears, as the Psalmist expresses it, I am weary with my groaning, all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears, Psal. vi. 6. In this case the only thing that gives him relief or comfort is, that the guilt of sin is removed by the blood of Christ, which tends to quiet his spirit, which would otherwise be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
And to this we may add, that sin is always the object of his detestation, even when there is an abatement of that grief, which, by the divine supports and comforts he is fenced against: he hates sin, not barely because of the sad consequences thereof, but as it is in itself the object of abhorrence; and therefore his heart is set against all sin, as the Psalmist says, I hate every false way, Psal. cxix. 104. This hatred discovers itself by putting him upon flying from it, together with all the occasions thereof, or incentives to it. He not only abstains from those sins which they who have little more than the remains of moral virtue are ashamed of, and afraid to commit, but hates every thing that has in it the appearance of sin, and this hatred is irreconcileable. As forgiveness does not make sin less odious in its own nature, so the experience that he has of the grace of God herein, or whatever measures of peace he enjoys, whereby his grief and sorrow is assuaged, yet still his hatred of it not only remains, but increases: and, as the consequence hereof,
2. He turns from sin unto God; he first hates sin, and then flies from it, as seeing it to be the spring of all his grief and fears, that which separates between him and his God. Thus Ephraim, when brought to repentance, is represented as saying, What have I to do any more with idols, Hos. xiv. 8. reflecting on his past conduct, when addicted to them, with a kind of indignation; so the true penitent, who has hitherto been walking in those paths that lead to death and destruction, now enquires after the way of holiness, and the paths of peace; as he has hitherto walked contrary to God, now he desires to walk with him; and having wearied himself in the greatness of his way, and seeing no fruit in those things whereof he is now ashamed; and being brought into the utmost straits, he determines to return to his God and Father. And in doing this he purposes and endeavours to walk with him in all the ways of new obedience, as the apostle exhorts those who had received good by his ministry, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord, Acts xi. 23. This purpose is not like those hasty resolutions which unconverted sinners make when God is hedging up their way with thorns, and they are under the most distressing apprehensions of his wrath. Then they say as the people did to Joshua, We will serve the Lord, Josh. xxiv. 22. though they are not sensible how difficult it is to fulfil the engagements which they lay themselves under, nor of the deceitfulness of their own hearts, and the need they stand in of grace from God, to enable them so to do. This purpose to walk with God, does not so much respect what a person will do hereafter; but it contains a resolution which is immediately put in execution, and so is opposed to his former obstinacy, when determining to go on in the way of his own heart. Thus the prodigal son, in the parable, no sooner resolved that he would arise and go to his Father, Luke xv. 18, compared with 20. but he arose and went. True repentance is always attended with endeavours after new obedience, so that a person lays aside that sloth and indolence which was inconsistent with his setting a due value on, or improving the means of grace; and, as the result hereof, he now exerts himself, with all his might, in pursuing after those things, whereby he may approve himself God’s faithful servant; and hereby he discovers the sincerity of his repentance; which he does, or rather is enabled to do, by that grace, which at first began, and then carries on this work in the soul, whereby he has his fruit unto holiness, and the end thereof everlasting life, Rom. vi. 22.
From what has been said concerning repentance, we may infer,
(1.) That since it is a grace that accompanies salvation, and consequently is absolutely necessary thereunto, it is an instance of unwarrantable and bold presumption, for impenitent sinners to expect, that they shall be made partakers of the benefits which Christ has purchased, while they continue in a state of enmity, opposition, and rebellion against him; or that they shall be saved by him in their sins, without being saved from them; for he that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them, shall have mercy, Prov. xxviii. 13.
(2.) Since repentance is the work of the Spirit, and his gift, we infer, that whatever endeavours we are obliged to use, or whatever motives or inducements are given to lead us hereunto, we must not conclude, that it is in our own power to repent when we please; and therefore it should be the matter of our earnest and constant prayer to God, that he would turn our hearts, give us a true sight and sense of sin, accompanied with faith in Christ, as Ephraim is represented, saying, Turn thou me, and I shall be turned, Jer. xxxi. 18.
(3.) Let not those that have a distressing sense of their former sins, how great soever they have been, give way to despairing thoughts; but lay hold on the mercy of God in Christ, extended to the chief of sinners, and improve it to encourage them to hate sin, and forsake it from evangelical motives, which will have a tendency to remove their fears while they look on God, not as a sin-revenging Judge, but a reconciled Father, ready and willing to receive those who return to him with unfeigned repentance.
(4.) Since we daily commit sin, it follows from hence, that we stand in need of daily repentance: and this being a branch of sanctification, as sanctification is a progressive work, so is repentance. We are not to expect that sin should be wholly extirpated, while we are in this imperfect state; and therefore it is constantly to be bewailed, and, by the grace of God working effectually in us, avoided; that, as the result hereof, we may have a comfortable hope that that promise shall be fulfilled, They that sow in tears shall reap in joy, Psal. cxxvi. 5.