I ran across this helpful quote today. It is on the topic of repentance.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe difference between an unconverted and a converted man is not that the one has sins and the other has none; but that the one takes part with his cherished sins against a dreaded God and the other takes part with a reconciled God against his hated sins.\u201d (William Arnot, Laws from Heaven for Life on Earth<\/span><\/em>, 1884, p.311)<\/p>\n I like Arnot\u2019s pointing to repentance as the key between one born again and one not. I can hear him asking, \u201cWhose side are you on?\u201d<\/p>\n It reminds me of the close association of repentance and belief. Jesus commands us to do both in Mark 1:15 \u2013 \u201crepent and believe in the gospel\u201d \u2013 and yet often, as the well-known John 3:16, belief in the Son of God encompasses repentance: \u201cwhoever believes in him shall not perish\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n It seems that to believe in the gospel is to believe in your own horrible state and the depth of your offense to God\u2026 and to trust Him both for forgiveness and righteousness\u2026 as Arnot says, to \u201ctake part with a reconciled God against his hated sins.\u201d<\/p>\n I also appreciate that this removes repentance as a work and puts it as a unity with faith. I\u2019ve often heard it said that repentance is more than a \u201cchange of mind\u201d but an \u201cactual turning,\u201d and as such, must be actually seen externally. A \u201cturn\u201d from old behavior, if you will.<\/p>\n Yet you and I still sin.<\/p>\n As Greg Gilbert explains in his little book What is the Gospel?<\/span><\/em>, \u201cBecause we will continue to struggle with sin until we are glorified, we have to remember that genuine repentance is more fundamentally a matter of the heart\u2019s attitude toward sin than it is a mere change of behavior\u201d (p.81).<\/p>\n This is repentance that is a critical component of faith. A change of my heart to agree with God\u2019s view of me; how wretched I am! How wondrous that I am cleansed, forgiven, declared righteous, and grown in faith and godliness!<\/p>\n May we never think that we can change our own ways before coming to God; nor that we can simply assent to the fact of Christ’s death and resurrection and consider that ‘belief.’<\/p>\n Grace really is amazing — even more so as I see the depths of my offense against God. Thank you, Lord, for opening my eyes, even a little bit, to it. And as I see it more, thank you for the depth of love which bore the price of such offence on the cross.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I ran across this helpful quote today. It is on the topic of repentance. \u201cThe difference between an unconverted and a converted man is not that the one has sins and the other has none; but that the one takes part with his cherished sins against a dreaded God and the other takes part with … Continue reading Repentance revealing grace<\/span>