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REP E N
ТАКСЕ.
Repentance occupies it prominent
plnco in the teachings of Inspiration.
In the Old Testament era it was fre¬
quently and earnestly urged. John,
the Harbinger, came preaching “the
baptism of repentance for the remission
of sins." Jesus said to his hearers,
“ Except ye repent ye shall all likewise
perish.” Peter told the convicted
Jews, on the day of Pentecost, “Re¬
pent and be baptized, every one of you,
in the name of Jesus Christ, for the
remission of sins.” It is a duty urged
alike upon nil, Pharisees and Publi¬
cans, Jews and Gentiles. “God now
commnndeth all men, everywhere, to
repent,” said Paul to the Athenians.
Without repentance there is no salva¬
tion. What is repentance?
There is a class of religious teachers
who tell us it is reformation. This an¬
swer is sadly defective. The word
reform is construed chiefly of the con¬
duct. He who, from any cause, changes
from a vicious to
я
virtuous conduct, is
said to be reformed. The motives which
induce the change are little, if at all,
taken into the account. The man was
once a drunkard, ho is now a sober
man ; he once was profane, he now is
pure in speech ; he once was a liar,
ho now speaks truthfully; ho is a re¬
formed man. A man’s wholo course
regarding religion may bo changed —
ho may bo baptized, he may attend to
all the external duties of a religious
profession, he may be, religiously, a re¬
formed man, and yet his heart remain
unchanged.
Among cvengclical teachers, in re¬
ply to the question, What is repent¬
ance? wo arc generally told that it
includes conviction of sin, sorrow for
it, and a determination to forsake it.
This reply is substantially correct. But
it is thought to be xvanting in simpli¬
city and perspicuity. It blends the
causes and tho consequences of repent¬
ance with the thing itself. Conviction
of sin, or faith in the declarations of
God’s Word regarding our guilt and
condemnation as sinners, leads -to sor¬
row, and these combined lead to re¬
pentance. But they are not repentance.
They are discriminated in the teaching
of Paul. “ Godly sorrow worketh re¬
pentance unto salvation not to be re¬
pented of, but the sorrow of the world
worketh death.” Repentance produces
a change of conduct, or reformation,
but even whore reformation is thus pro¬
duced, there is the difference between
the two of cause and effect. In answer
to the inquiry wo reply, repentance is a
change of mind, or heart. Turning
away in heart from sin, and turning to
God and holiness. Just what Jesus in¬
tended when he said, “Ye must be
born again," is repentance. It is to
have the wholo nature revolutionized,
the old man slain, and the new man
created.
There nre two Greek ’terms trans¬
lated, in the English Scriptures, by the
word repent. In one of these the idea
