The second point was our statement that repentance proceeds from an earnest fear of God. I beg you to turn your steps back sometimes from troubled and anxious remembering of your ways, and to go forth to the tableland of serene remembrance of Gods benefits. a John, a messenger sent before the face of Christ to prepare his ways [ Matthew 11:10], proclaimed: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near [ Matthew 3:2; 4:17, Vg.]. And if any man will wisely weigh this matter, he will agree with me, I trust, that they have in two respects gone beyond measure. 20. REPENTANCE AS GODS FREE GIFT e Further, that repentance is a singular gift of God I believe to be so clear from the above teaching that there is no need of a long discourse to explain it. What then? Inasmuch as conversion begins with dread and hatred of sin, the apostle makes "the sorrow according to God" the cause of repentance [2 Cor. Whither had I plunged if Gods mercy had not succored me? For when they recall man from evil, they demand the destruction of the whole flesh, which is full of evil and of perversity. Now, while it is not always necessary to make men open and conscious witnesses of our repentance, yet to confess to God privately is a part of true repentance that cannot be omitted. "Vivification" they understand as the consolation that arises out of faith. Who will deny that hindrance to righteousness is sin?

Likewise, "Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do good; seek judgment; help the oppressed."

By inviting them to repentance, he admonished them to recognize that they were sinners, and their all was condemned before the Lord, that they might with all their hearts desire the mortification of their flesh, and a new rebirth in the Spirit. "Putting on the new man who is being renewed into the knowledge and the image of him who created him." 4:23, Vg.]. And after his resurrection the apostles preached this: God raised Jesusto give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins [ Acts 5:30-31]. Now this is not to deny a place for growth; rather I say, the closer any man comes to the likeness of God, the more the image of God shines in him. This fact indeed stands firm: wherever the fear of God flourishes, the Spirit has worked toward the salvation of man. Yet in other passages the Spirit has first condemned uncleanness in the very wellspring of the heart, and then proceeded to the external evidences that mark sincere repentance. Whomsoever God wills to snatch from death, he quickens by the Spirit of regeneration. There follows indignation, when the sinner moans inwardly with himself, finds fault with himself, and is angry with himself, while recognizing his own perversity and his own ungratefulness toward God. Such persons have never known the power of repentance, band are moved to feel this way by an unduly slight argument. Indeed, I am aware of the fact that the whole of conversion to God is understood under the term "repentance," and faith is not the least part of conversion; but in what sense this is so will very readily appear when its force and nature are explained. First, it is necessary for the apostle to agree with his Master, who declares that every sin and blasphemy shall be forgivenbut the sin against the Holy Spirit, which is forgiven neither in this age nor in the age to come [ Matthew 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-29; Luke 12:10]. But no one is truly persuaded that he belongs to God unless he has first recognized God's grace. See how he declares that they will achieve nothing in taking up the pursuit of righteousness unless wickedness be first of all cast out from their inmost heart. But since all emotions of the flesh are hostility against God [cf. For they were striving for this b(a)one thing: that, confused by their sins and pierced by the fear of divine judgment, they should fall down and humble themselves before him whom they had offended, and with true repentance return into the right path. Just as children who are not froward, while they recognize and confess their errors, plead for pardon, and to obtain it, testify in whatever way they can that they have not at all abandoned that reverence which they owe their parents. And to move them thoroughly he warns them that it is with God that they have to deal,16 with whom shifts avail nothing, for He hates a double heart [cf. Comments on the Oregon Comprehensive Education Sexuality Plan K-12 Guidelines, 7 Tips for Researching and Studying Theology. The meaning is that, departing from ourselves, we turn to God, and having taken off our former mind, we put on a new. And truly, it could not happen otherwise than that the soul itself, stricken by dread of divine judgment, should act the part of an avenger in carrying out its own punishment. God is said to purge his church of all sin, in that through baptism he promises that grace of deliverance, and fulfills it in his elect [Eph. 19. The Spirit does not stir up man to dissolute and unbridled license; but, according as it distinguishes between lawful and unlawful, it teaches man to keep measure and temperance. Another passage: "Sin is dead in that guilt with which it held us; and until it be cured by the perfection of burial, though dead, it still rebels." 24:7]. For Christians the Spirit of the Lord is not a disturbing apparition, which they have either brought forth in a dream or have received as fashioned by others. For it would be easier for us to create men than for us of our own power to put on a more excellent nature. But ascertain men well versed in penance, even long before these times, meaning to speak simply and sincerely according to the rule of Scripture, said that it consists of two parts: mortification and vivification. For he who is touched with a lively feeling of dissatisfaction with self because he has sinned against his God is at the same time aroused to diligence and attention, that he may escape from the devils snares, that he may better take precaution against his wiles, and that he may not afterward fall away from the governance of the Holy Spirit, nor be lulled into a sense of security. THE OUTWARD PRACTICE OF PENANCE MUST NOT BECOME THE CHIEF THING b Some persons, when they hear weeping, fasting, and ashes spoken of in various passages, and especially in Joel [ Joel 2:12], consider that repentance consists chiefly of fasting and weeping. For their inclusion of faith under repentance disagrees with what Paul says in Acts: "Testifying both to Jews and Gentiles of repentance to God, and of faith in Jesus Christ" [Acts 20:21]. So, also, Christ entered upon his preaching: The Kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the gospel [ Mark 1:15 p.]. Such was the command the apostles received to preach; such was the order Paul followed, as Luke reports [Acts 20:21]. In the same way, inordinate desire of the flesh, against which the good spirit yearns, is at once sin, the punishment of sin, and the cause of sin: it is sin because there inheres in it disobedience against the mind's dominion; the punishment of sin because it is in payment for the deserts of him who is disobedient; the cause of sin in him who consents by rebellion, or in him born by contagion." And he does not do this to extenuate his guilt, as many hide themselves in a crowd and seek to go unpunished by involving others with them. Calvin, J. Such, also, was Peter's own repentance; he wept bitterly indeed [Matt. (Believers experience sanctification, but not sinless perfection in this life, 1015). (Sins for which there is no repentance or pardon, 21-25).

But what sort of Christ, I beseech you, do they devise for us? If we share in his resurrection, through it we are raised up into newness of life to correspond with the righteousness of God. 8. The children of God, they assert, restored to the state of innocence, now need not take care to bridle the lust of the flesh, but should rather follow the Spirit as their guide, under whose impulsion they can never go astray. 6:5; 10:12; 30:2, 6, 10]. 6:1, cf. Therefore their repentance was nothing but a sort of entryway of hell, which they had already entered in this life, and had begun to undergo punishment before the wrath of God's majesty. Yet the efficacy of this depends upon the Spirit of regeneration. Now, all man's faculties are, on account of the depravity of nature, so vitiated and corrupted that in all his actions persistent disorder and intemperance threaten because these inclinations cannot be separated from such lack of restraint. And John and Paul use the expression "Producing fruits worthy of repentance" [Luke 3:8; Acts 26:20; cf. Such was the repentance of those who felt remorse of heart at Peter's preaching; but, trusting in God's goodness, they added: "Brethren, what shall we do?" For there is nothing less reasonable than that God should forgive those sins in which we flatter ourselves, and which we hypocritically disguise lest he bring them to light. He calls it "sorrow according to God" when we not only abhor punishment but hate and abominate sin itself, because we know that it displeases God. To this also pertains the zeal that he joins directly to it, for it signifies an ardor by which we are aroused when those spurs are applied to us. 1:1617, cf. David confessed that he sinned greatly in taking a census of the people, but he added, "O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant" [2 Sam.

The passage in Book V is even clearer: "Blindness of heart is at once sin, punishment of sin, and the cause of sinsin because by it a man does not believe in God; punishment of sin because by it a proud heart is punished with due punishment; the cause of sin when something is committed through the error of the blind heart. For it is iniquitous that 'the flesh inordinately desires against the Spirit'" [Gal. In order that believers may reach this goal, God assigns to them a race of repentance, which they are to run throughout their lives. Therefore, believers, according to Isaiah, while they complain and grieve that they have been forsaken by God, set this as a sort of sign of reprobation, that their hearts have been hardened by him [ Isaiah 63:17]. Indeed, the very word "mortification" warns us how difficult it is to forget our previous nature. Accordingly, we must strive toward repentance itself, devote ourselves to it throughout life, and pursue it to the very end if we would abide in Christ. It would not be enough duly to discharge such duties unless the mind itself and the heart first put on the inclination to righteousness, judgment, and mercy. Let us mingle honey with wormwood that its wholesome bitterness may bring health when it is drunk tempered with sweetness. Yet we must note that this condition is not so laid down as if our repentance were the basis of our deserving pardon, but rather, because the Lord has determined to have pity on men to the end that they may repent, he indicates in what direction men should proceed if they wish to obtain grace. Accordingly, in the whole course of regeneration, we are with good reason called Gods handiwork, created for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them [ Ephesians 2:10, cf. For the Spirit dispenses a power whereby they may gain the upper hand and become victors in the struggle. Nor does this teaching disagree as much with that of Augustine as appears on the surface. That is, when a man is laid low by the consciousness of sin and stricken by the fear of God, and afterward looks to the goodness of Godto his mercy, grace, salvation, which is through Christhe raises himself up, he takes heart, he recovers courage, and as it were, returns from death to life. 592607). Only when it puts off its old nature does it bring forth the fruits of works in harmony with its renewal. 58:6]. Now it ought to be a fact beyond controversy that repentance not only constantly follows faith, but is also born of faith.3 For since pardon and forgiveness are offered through the preaching of the gospel e(b)in order that the sinner, freed from the tyranny of Satan, the yoke of sin, and the miserable bondage of vices, may cross over into the Kingdom of God, surely no one can embrace the grace of the gospel without betaking himself from the errors of his past life into the right way, and applying his whole effort to the practice of repentance. But it is fitting that those who have persuaded their minds to turn God's truth into falsehood should suffer such punishments for their sacrilegious boldness. And in many other passages. It is for a very good reason that the apostle enumerates seven causes, effects, or parts in his description of repentance. Rom. For when anyone has been brought into a true knowledge of sin, he then begins truly to hate and abhor sin; then he is heartily displeased with himself, he confesses himself miserable and lost and wishes to be another man. There he also beautifully shows in what duties unfeigned repentance properly consists. But between Augustine and us we can see that there is this difference of opinion: while he concedes that believers, as long as they dwell in mortal bodies, are so bound by inordinate desires that they are unable not to desire inordinately, yet he dare not call this disease "sin."