the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Repentance
Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary
or This, in idea, is supposed to be perfectly understood by every one; but in reality very few have a true scriptural apprehension of it. Re pentance, like faith, is the sole gift of God. The act itself is so impossible to be assumed or taken up by any, that it is equally easy to alter the colour of the hair, or the features of the countenance, as to change the heart. Jesus, it is said, (Acts 5:31) "Is exalted a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins." What therefore Christ gives cannot be the work or the merit of man. There may be, and there often is, a false repentance, which men of no religion may possess, but which is as distinguishable from true repentance as darkness from light, when the principles of both are analyzed. False repentance is that which springs from a sorrow for the consequences, not the causes of sin. True repentance is that which flows from the consciousness of the sin itself. The man of godly sorrow sorrows for having offended God. The man of worldly sorrow sorrows that his sin hath brought punishment. The one is the effect of fear; the other of love. The repentance for the consequence of sin goes no further than as it dreads the punishment: the repentance for the cause of sin becomes the continued gracious sorrow of the heart. These observations may be sufficient to mark the very different features of both, and under grace enable any one to understand the vast distinction.
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Hawker, Robert D.D. Entry for 'Repentance'. Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance and Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/pmd/r/repentance.html. London. 1828.
