Christian Living

Topic; How does forgiveness aid in repentance?

Date; Monday 28th Oct. 2013

Repentance is a bigger word than regret or remorse. Regret is a mild and remorse a deep and biting sense of sorrow for sin or folly, but repentance is ‘sorrow for sin’ combined with a sincere desire to forsake it. It Involves not only sorrow and shame for one’s wrong doing, but giving it up and trying to live a better life.

Christ’s well-known parable of the prodigal son well illustrates repentance in action. It is a story of a willful and wrong-headed young man, who got money out of his loving father, ran away from home to a far country, and there wasted his substance in riotous living. And when he had spent all, he began to be in want. The only job he could find was feeding swine and he was so hungry that he would have liked to eat the husks given to the swine. And when he came to himself, he said, “how many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I will perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, ‘father I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son, make me as one of thy hired servants”; and he arose and came to his father.

There you have all the elements of true repentance. First, he came to himself; that is, he saw his folly and wrong doing in the clear light of truth. This is what christians call ‘conviction of sin’. Next, though it is not said in so many words that he was sorry for his sin, sorrow and shame are clearly implied in his words, “I have sinned”. Then comes confession of sin; “I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son”, Luke 15;11-32. Also, there is the willingness to accept and bear punishment for his sin; “make me as one of thy hired servants”. Finally, and most important of all, there is the giving up, the turning of one’s back on sin; “ and he arose and came to his...