The book titled, Doctrine of Repentance, identifies six ingredients necessary for true repentance. The first ingredient for true repentance is…sight of sin. This is where we see ourselves as sinners and we see our sin. The second is sorrow for sin. This is both sorrow IN the sin and OF the sin, and not just a sorrow for getting caught in the sin. The third ingredient is confession of sin. This is where we announce our sin to God and ask for forgiveness. The fourth ingredient is shame for sin. As someone recently said, “There isn’t enough shame in the world anymore!” That is so true. Shame should keep us from repeating our sin. The fifth ingredient for true repentance is hatred of sin. When we hate our sin, we seek the last ingredient, which is turning from sin. This is where we turn from our sin and turn to God. We seek His forgiveness and His help. We turn from going down a wrong path to going in the right path with God. True repentance is rooted in a hatred of sin that leads to a turning away from it. True repentance is an awareness of God’s loving-kindness, that He wants to forgive and He wants to restore. Thank God that He is in the restoration business! Thank God that He forgives our sin!
Bro. David