In his book "Doctrine of Repentance", Thomas Watson writes to the reader: CHRISTIAN READER,
The two great graces essential to a saint in this life are faith and repentance. These are the two wings by which he flies to heaven. Faith and repentance preserve the spiritual life as heat and radical moisture does the natural...Repentance is a pure Gospel grace. The covenant of works admitted no repentance; there it was, sin and die. Repentance came in by the Gospel. Christ has purchased in His blood that repenting sinners shall be saved. The Law required personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience. It cursed all who could not come up to this: “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” (Gal 3:10). It does not say, he that obeys not all things, let him repent, but, let him be cursed. Thus repentance is a doctrine that has been brought to light only by the Gospel.
Listen to this puritan classic here, get the free pdf here, below are my notes from chapters 1-4
Jesus preached repentance as did early church (Matt 4:17;Acts 3:19;8:22;Mark 6:12; Luke 24:47)
Repentance is a foundation grace (Heb 6:1)
Repentance is a grace required under and coming by the Gospel.
Repentance comes by the Word (Acts 2:37; Jer 23:29) and the Spirit (Acts 10:44; Zec 12:10; 1 John 2:20; Acts 8:29)
Infusion of grace breeds repentance
Repentance depends upon a change of heart.
Repentance is a grace of God’s Spirit whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled and visibly reformed
Six ingredients of the spiritual medicine of that make true repentance
1. Sight of Sin: prodigal “came to himself” Luke 15:17, we need illumination – the light of life
2. Sorrow for Sin: Look upon whom they have pierced and shall mourn, as for an only son (Zec 12:10). Martyrs shed blood for Christ; penitents shed tears for sin (Luke 7:38). Sorrow is shown with a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:17), beating the breast (Luke 18:13), sackcloth, pulling hair (Isaiah 22:12; Ezr 9:3) outward signs of inward sorrow. Sadness for the offense, not for the punishment. Lament not for scandalous sins – but the heart sins, the root, even though it doesn’t blossom. If there is not some dawning of faith in the soul, it is not the sorrow of humiliation but despair.
a. Penitential work consists of fasting, penance, pilgrimages, in which there is nothing of spiritual pain. They torture their bodies, but their hearts are not rent. (to rend your heart is to trust God's precision scalpel)
3. Confession of Sin: voluntary (Luke 15:18), feeling of uneasiness or anxiety of the conscience caused by regret for doing wrong or causing pain; contrition; remorse. Confession must be sincere; hypocrite confesses sin but loves it. True confession particularizes sin (not like Nebuchadnezzar –“ had a dream but it’s gone from me” (Dan 2:3,5) – like Israel “we have served Baalim (Judges 10:10). We must confess our sins with a resolution not to act them over again (Isa 1:16), so we don’t fall into a hardened heart like Pharaoh (Exo 9:27,34).
a. Confession must be qualified:
i. It reproves those that hide their sins – many would rather have sins covered than cured.
ii. It reproves those who confess sin but only by halves, not all. If we do not confess all, how should we expect that God will pardon all?
iii. It reproves confessions that mince and extenuate sins. Grace makes the worst of evils, but hypocrites make the best of them (i.e. "born that way," "just the way I process")
iv. It reproves those who are far from confessing sin, they boldly plead for it. Instead of tears of lament, they use arguments to defend sin.
b. Let us show ourselves penitents by sincere confession of sin.
i. Holy Confession gives glory to God.
ii. Confession is a means to humble the soul. A true penitent confesses that he mingles sin with all he does. Therefore anything good seen in him is a reflection of God's work, not his own.
iii. Confession gives vent to a troubled heart.
iv. Confession purges out sin.
v. Confession of sin endears Christ to the soul (Romans 7:25) – that God should appoint His own Son to lay down.
vi. His blood for the payment of our debt, how is free grace magnified, and Jesus Christ eternally loved and admired.
vii. Confession makes way for pardon (Luke 15:20, 1 John 1:9)
c. It is reasonable (if one has wrong another) and easy (compare to first covenant)
4. Shame for Sin, blush a holy bashfulness (Eze 43:10; Ezr9:6) “blood of Christ in the face.”
a. Every sin makes us guilty, much un-thankfulness, naked, put Christ to Shame, instigated of the devil, turns us into beasts, folly.
b. Our sins are worse than that of a heathen because we sin against more light.
5. Hatred of Sin, Sound repentance begins in the love of God and ends in the hatred of sin.
a. Set your heart against sin, universally, in all forms. Not just strong aversion but personal enmity.
b. Real hatred in ourselves and others too (Rev 2:2; John 2:15; Psalm 101:7)
c. Godly: sin is a thorn in the eye, wicked: it is a crown (Jer 11:15) loving sin is worse than committing it (Heb 10:26)
d. Sin is the cursed thing (Rom 7:13) as seen by its origin (1 John 3:8), nature (Rom 2:23; 1 Sa 2:30; Eze 16:43; Isa 7:13; Eze 6:9; Heb 6:6) and affliction (sickness, poverty, death). Affliction causes repentance and prevents damnation (Psalm 119:71; 2 ch 33:12; 1 Co 11:32). Affliction reaches the body, but sin poisons the fancy and disorders the affections. Affliction is corrective; sin is destructive.
i. Sin is worse than affliction is evident because the greatest judgment God lays upon a man in this life is to let him sin without control. Diagnostics of a depraved psychology and consequences (Romans 1:18-32)
ii. Compare sin with hell, and you shall see that sin is worse. Torment has its emphasis in hell, yet nothing there is as bad as sin. Hell is of God’s making, but sin is the devil’s creature.
e. Sin is the Trojan horse out of which comes a whole army of troubles
6. Turning from Sin, weeping and turning together (Joel 2:12, Eze 14:6; Isa 55:7, Job 11:14).
a. Dying to sin is the life of repentance, perpetual fast – turn and never go back
b. Notable change, wrought in the heart – Satan would have Christ prove deity by turning stones into bread, Christ accomplishes a far greater miracle in making stones become flesh, Christ turns a heart of stone into flesh.
c. Notable change, wrought in the life. Discernable to others, dark to light (Eph 5:8; Acts 9:21), from jailor to nurse and physician (Acts 16:33)
d. Turn from sin with the heart; It is odious to make a show of turning from sin while the heart is still in league with it.
e. Turning from all sin (Isa 55:7), destruction of every lust; he who indulges one sin is a traitorous hypocrite
f. Turning from sin upon a spiritual ground (right manner from the love of God). When men and their sins are congealed together, the best way to separate them is by the fire of love. (You Can Say No to Sin (Titus 2:11-14)
g. Turning from sin to God. In True repentance, the heart points directly to God, as the needle to the North Pole. The repenting prodigal not only left the harlots but arose and went to his father. God complained “they return, but not to the most High (Hos 7:16)
h. Real turning from sin is such a turn as has no return. Forsaking sin is moving off one’s native soil, never more to come back to it. Returning to folly is a fearful sin because it’s against clear light – against the illumination of the Spirit (Psalm 85:8). Returning to sin gives more power to the devil over a man’s life than before (Matt 12:45). Actual turning from sin is divorcing it (Acts 3:26). Turning reproves those who are but “half-turned/almost Christian (Acts 26:28). Cake on one side, dough on the other (Hos 7:8)
The two great graces essential to a saint in this life are faith and repentance. These are the two wings by which he flies to heaven. Faith and repentance preserve the spiritual life as heat and radical moisture does the natural...Repentance is a pure Gospel grace. The covenant of works admitted no repentance; there it was, sin and die. Repentance came in by the Gospel. Christ has purchased in His blood that repenting sinners shall be saved. The Law required personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience. It cursed all who could not come up to this: “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” (Gal 3:10). It does not say, he that obeys not all things, let him repent, but, let him be cursed. Thus repentance is a doctrine that has been brought to light only by the Gospel.
Listen to this puritan classic here, get the free pdf here, below are my notes from chapters 1-4
Jesus preached repentance as did early church (Matt 4:17;Acts 3:19;8:22;Mark 6:12; Luke 24:47)
Repentance is a foundation grace (Heb 6:1)
Repentance is a grace required under and coming by the Gospel.
Repentance comes by the Word (Acts 2:37; Jer 23:29) and the Spirit (Acts 10:44; Zec 12:10; 1 John 2:20; Acts 8:29)
Infusion of grace breeds repentance
Repentance depends upon a change of heart.
Repentance is a grace of God’s Spirit whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled and visibly reformed
Six ingredients of the spiritual medicine of that make true repentance
1. Sight of Sin: prodigal “came to himself” Luke 15:17, we need illumination – the light of life
2. Sorrow for Sin: Look upon whom they have pierced and shall mourn, as for an only son (Zec 12:10). Martyrs shed blood for Christ; penitents shed tears for sin (Luke 7:38). Sorrow is shown with a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:17), beating the breast (Luke 18:13), sackcloth, pulling hair (Isaiah 22:12; Ezr 9:3) outward signs of inward sorrow. Sadness for the offense, not for the punishment. Lament not for scandalous sins – but the heart sins, the root, even though it doesn’t blossom. If there is not some dawning of faith in the soul, it is not the sorrow of humiliation but despair.
a. Penitential work consists of fasting, penance, pilgrimages, in which there is nothing of spiritual pain. They torture their bodies, but their hearts are not rent. (to rend your heart is to trust God's precision scalpel)
3. Confession of Sin: voluntary (Luke 15:18), feeling of uneasiness or anxiety of the conscience caused by regret for doing wrong or causing pain; contrition; remorse. Confession must be sincere; hypocrite confesses sin but loves it. True confession particularizes sin (not like Nebuchadnezzar –“ had a dream but it’s gone from me” (Dan 2:3,5) – like Israel “we have served Baalim (Judges 10:10). We must confess our sins with a resolution not to act them over again (Isa 1:16), so we don’t fall into a hardened heart like Pharaoh (Exo 9:27,34).
a. Confession must be qualified:
i. It reproves those that hide their sins – many would rather have sins covered than cured.
ii. It reproves those who confess sin but only by halves, not all. If we do not confess all, how should we expect that God will pardon all?
iii. It reproves confessions that mince and extenuate sins. Grace makes the worst of evils, but hypocrites make the best of them (i.e. "born that way," "just the way I process")
iv. It reproves those who are far from confessing sin, they boldly plead for it. Instead of tears of lament, they use arguments to defend sin.
b. Let us show ourselves penitents by sincere confession of sin.
i. Holy Confession gives glory to God.
ii. Confession is a means to humble the soul. A true penitent confesses that he mingles sin with all he does. Therefore anything good seen in him is a reflection of God's work, not his own.
iii. Confession gives vent to a troubled heart.
iv. Confession purges out sin.
v. Confession of sin endears Christ to the soul (Romans 7:25) – that God should appoint His own Son to lay down.
vi. His blood for the payment of our debt, how is free grace magnified, and Jesus Christ eternally loved and admired.
vii. Confession makes way for pardon (Luke 15:20, 1 John 1:9)
c. It is reasonable (if one has wrong another) and easy (compare to first covenant)
4. Shame for Sin, blush a holy bashfulness (Eze 43:10; Ezr9:6) “blood of Christ in the face.”
a. Every sin makes us guilty, much un-thankfulness, naked, put Christ to Shame, instigated of the devil, turns us into beasts, folly.
b. Our sins are worse than that of a heathen because we sin against more light.
5. Hatred of Sin, Sound repentance begins in the love of God and ends in the hatred of sin.
a. Set your heart against sin, universally, in all forms. Not just strong aversion but personal enmity.
b. Real hatred in ourselves and others too (Rev 2:2; John 2:15; Psalm 101:7)
c. Godly: sin is a thorn in the eye, wicked: it is a crown (Jer 11:15) loving sin is worse than committing it (Heb 10:26)
d. Sin is the cursed thing (Rom 7:13) as seen by its origin (1 John 3:8), nature (Rom 2:23; 1 Sa 2:30; Eze 16:43; Isa 7:13; Eze 6:9; Heb 6:6) and affliction (sickness, poverty, death). Affliction causes repentance and prevents damnation (Psalm 119:71; 2 ch 33:12; 1 Co 11:32). Affliction reaches the body, but sin poisons the fancy and disorders the affections. Affliction is corrective; sin is destructive.
i. Sin is worse than affliction is evident because the greatest judgment God lays upon a man in this life is to let him sin without control. Diagnostics of a depraved psychology and consequences (Romans 1:18-32)
ii. Compare sin with hell, and you shall see that sin is worse. Torment has its emphasis in hell, yet nothing there is as bad as sin. Hell is of God’s making, but sin is the devil’s creature.
e. Sin is the Trojan horse out of which comes a whole army of troubles
6. Turning from Sin, weeping and turning together (Joel 2:12, Eze 14:6; Isa 55:7, Job 11:14).
a. Dying to sin is the life of repentance, perpetual fast – turn and never go back
b. Notable change, wrought in the heart – Satan would have Christ prove deity by turning stones into bread, Christ accomplishes a far greater miracle in making stones become flesh, Christ turns a heart of stone into flesh.
c. Notable change, wrought in the life. Discernable to others, dark to light (Eph 5:8; Acts 9:21), from jailor to nurse and physician (Acts 16:33)
d. Turn from sin with the heart; It is odious to make a show of turning from sin while the heart is still in league with it.
e. Turning from all sin (Isa 55:7), destruction of every lust; he who indulges one sin is a traitorous hypocrite
f. Turning from sin upon a spiritual ground (right manner from the love of God). When men and their sins are congealed together, the best way to separate them is by the fire of love. (You Can Say No to Sin (Titus 2:11-14)
g. Turning from sin to God. In True repentance, the heart points directly to God, as the needle to the North Pole. The repenting prodigal not only left the harlots but arose and went to his father. God complained “they return, but not to the most High (Hos 7:16)
h. Real turning from sin is such a turn as has no return. Forsaking sin is moving off one’s native soil, never more to come back to it. Returning to folly is a fearful sin because it’s against clear light – against the illumination of the Spirit (Psalm 85:8). Returning to sin gives more power to the devil over a man’s life than before (Matt 12:45). Actual turning from sin is divorcing it (Acts 3:26). Turning reproves those who are but “half-turned/almost Christian (Acts 26:28). Cake on one side, dough on the other (Hos 7:8)
