THE NATURE AND KINDS OF REPENTANCE

Jeremiah 31:19: “Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh.”

THE nature and kinds of repentance. 1. There is a natural repentance, or what is directed to by the light of nature, and the dictates of a natural conscience; for as there was in the heathens, and so in every natural man, a knowledge of good and evil, of the difference in some respects between moral good and evil, and a conscience which, when it does its office, approves of what is well done, and accuses for that which is ill; so when conscience charges a man with doing an ill thing, and he is convinced of it, the light of nature and conscience direct him to wish he had not done it, and to repent of it, and to endeavor for the future to avoid it; as may be seen in the case of the Ninevites, who being threatened with the destruction of their city for their sins, proclaimed a fast, and issued out an order that every one should turn from his evil ways, in hopes that the wrath of God would be averted from them, though they could not be fully assured of it. The Gentiles laid great stress upon their repentance to conciliate the favor of God unto them; for they thought this made complete satisfaction for their sins, and wiped them clean, so that they imagined they were almost, if not altogether pure and innocent. There is a repentance which the goodness of God in Providence might or should lead men unto, which yet it does not, but after their hardness and impenitent heart treasure up wrath against the day of wrath, and righteous judgment of God.

2. There is a national repentance, such as the Jews in Babylon were called unto, to which temporal blessings were promised, and a deliverance from temporal calamities; as on the one hand, a living in their own land, and a comfortable enjoyment of good things in it; and on the other hand, captivity, and all the distresses of it threatened, “Repent, and turn yourselves from your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin,” Ezek. 8:30–32; and which has no connection with the special grace of God, and with spiritual and everlasting things. The same people were called to repent of their Pharisaism, of their disbelief of the Messiah, and other evil works; and were told that the men of Nineveh would rise up in judgment and condemn them, who repented at the preaching of Jonah, and yet a greater than Jonah, even Christ Himself, call them to repentance, Matt. 12:41. The same people were called upon by the apostles of Christ, to repent of their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah, and to turn unto Him, and to save themselves from temporal ruin, which for their impenitence and unbelief came upon their nation, city and temple, Acts 3:19.

3. There is an external repentance, or an outward humiliation for sin, such as was in Ahab, which, though nothing more, it was taken notice of by the Lord, “Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before Me?” and though it lay only in rending his clothes, and putting on sackcloth, and in fasting, and in a mournful way, yet the Lord was pleased to promise that the evil threatened should not come in his days, 1 Kings 21:29. And such is the repentance Tyre and Sidon would have exercised, had they had the advantages and privileges that some cities had, where Christ taught His doctrines, and wrought miracles; and of this kind was the repentance of the Ninevites, which was also regarded of God, Matt. 11:21.

5. There is a hypocritical repentance, such as was in the people of Israel in the wilderness, who when the wrath of God broke out against them for their sins, returned unto Him, or repented, but their heart was not right with Him, Psalm 78:34–37; so it is said of Judah, she hath not turned unto Me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord; and of Ephraim, or the ten tribes, they return, but not to the Most High, they are like a deceitful bow, Hos. 7:16, who turned aside and dealt unfaithfully.

5. There is a legal and there is an evangelical repentance.

A legal one, which is a mere work of the law, and the effect of convictions of sin by it, which in time wear off and come to nothing; for:

1. There may be a sense of sin and an acknowledgment of it, and yet no true repentance for it, as in the cases of Pharoah and of Judas, who both said, I have sinned; yet they had no true sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, nor godly sorrow for it.

2. There may be a kind of sorrow for it, not for the evil of fault that is in sin, but on account of the evil of punishment for it, as appears in some cases, and in Cain’s.

3. There may be a great deal of terror of mind because of sin, a great outcry about it, a fearful looking for of judgment for it, abundance of tears shed on the account of it, as by Esau for the blessing, without success; the devils believe and tremble, but do not repent; there are weeping and wailing in hell, but no repentance.

4. Such a repentance, if no more than a mere legal one, issues in despair, as in Cain, whose words may be rendered, My sin is greater than that it may be forgiven; it is a repentance that may be repented of, and is not unto life, but ends in death, as it did in Judas; it is the sorrow of the world which worketh death, 2 Cor. 7:10.

There is an evangelical repentance which lies:

1. In a true sight and sense of sin; in a sight of it, as in itself considered as exceeding sinful in its own nature, and not merely as in its effects and consequences ruinous and destructive; not only in a sight of it in the glass of the divine law, but as that is held in the hand, and seen in the light of the blessed Spirit: and in a sight of it as contrary in the pure nature of God, as well as repugnant to His will, and a breach of His law; and in a view of it as it appears in the glass of pardoning love and grace.

2. In a hearty and unfeigned sorrow for it; this sorrow for it is the rather because it is against God, and that not only as a holy and righteous Being, but as good, and gracious, and merciful, of whose goodness, both in Providence and grace, the sinner is sensible; the consideration of which increases his sorrow, and makes it the more intense and hearty.

3. It is attended with shame and confusion of face, as in Ezra, 9:6–10; this shame increases the more, the more a sinner is sensible that God is pacified towards Him for all that he has done, Ezek. 16:63.

4. Such a repentance is accompanied with a loathing, detestation, and abhorrence of sin as the worst of evils; to truly penitent sinners, sin appears most odious and loathsome; nay, they not only loath their sins, but themselves for them, and the rather when most sensible of the goodness of God in bestowing both temporal and spiritual blessings on them, and especially the latter; yea, they abhor it as of all things the most detestable, when they are in the exercise of this grace; so it was with Job, when favoured with a special sight of the greatness and goodness of God, Job 6.

5. Where this repentance is, there is an ingenuous acknowledgment of sin, as may be seen in David, Psalm 51:3, in Daniel 9:4, 5, and in the apostle Paul, 1 Tim. 1:13–15. So the prodigal, as soon as he came to himself, and was made sensible of his sin, and repented of it, went to his father, and said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight,” and to encourage such a sincere repentence and ingenuous confession, the apostle John says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, 1 John 1:9.

6. It is followed with the resolution, through the grace of God, to forsake sin; this the sinner is encouraged unto, as before observed, by the abundance of pardon through the mercy of God in Christ, Isa. 55:7; and, indeed, it is only such who can expect to share it, “Whoso confesseth (sins) and forsaketh them, shall have mercy,” Prov. 28:13. Now such a repentance appears to be evangelical; inasmuch as:

1. It is from the Spirit of God, Who reproves for sin and convinces of it, enlightens the eyes of the understanding to see the exceeding sinfulness of sin; and as a Spirit of grace and supplication works this grace in the heart, and draws it forth into exercise, to mourn over sin in a gospel manner at the throne of grace, Zech. 12:10.

2. Such repentance, in the exercise of it, follows upon real conversion and divine instruction, “Surely after that I was turned, I repented, and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh, Jer. 31:19. Upon such a turn as is made by powerful and efficacious grace, and upon such instruction as leads into the true nature of sin, the effect of which is blushing shame, and confusion.

3. Is what is encouraged and influenced by gospel promises, such as these in Isa. 55:7, Jer. 3, 12:13. Now when repentance proceeds not upon the terrors of the law, but upon such gracious promises as these, it may be called evangelical.

4. It is that which is attended with faith and hope: repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, go together as doctrines, and so they do as graces; which is first in exercise is not easy to say. Our Lord says of the Pharisees, that they repented not, that they might believe, which looks as if repentance was before and in order to believing, Matt. 20:32. However, that is truly evangelical repentance which has with it faith in the blood of Christ for the remission of sins; for repentance and remission of sins, as they go together as doctrines, so also as blessings of grace, Luke 24:47, Acts 5:31; for where true repentance for sin is, there must be faith in Christ for the remission of it, at least hope of pardon by His blood, or else such repentance would issue in despair, and appear to be no other than the sorrow of the world which worketh death.

5. It is such a repentance which flows not from dread of punishment, and from fear of the wrath of God, but from love to God, and of righteousness and holiness, and of a hatred of sin; they that love the Lord hate evil, and they love righteousness and hate evil because He does; and when tempted to sin reason after this manner at times, “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God, so holy, Just, and good, and who has shown such love and kindness to me? Gen. 39:9. It was love to Christ, flowing from a sense of pardoning grace and mercy, that fetched such a flood of tears from the eyes of the penitent woman at Christ’s feet, with which she washed them, and wiped them with the hairs of her head; and which caused Peter under a sense of sin to go out and weep bitterly.

For the next issue: The object and subjects of repentance: The object is sin, the subjects are sinners.

(To be continued)

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