The Testing of Our Repentance
If any will say they have repented,
let me encourage them to test themselves seriously by considering these seven
products of repentance, laid down by Paul in 2 Corinthians 7:11:
1. Earnestness
The Greek word signifies an attentive and
careful shunning of all temptations to sin. The true penitent runs away from
sin the way Moses ran from the serpent.
2. Vindication of ourselves
The Greek word is apology. The
meaning is this: Even though we try so hard, through strength of temptation we
may slip into sin. But when this happens, the repenting soul does not let sin
lie festering in his conscience, but instead he judges himself for his sin. He pours
out tears before the Lord. He begs for mercy in the name of Christ and does not
leave until he has gotten his pardon. Here, he is cleared of guilt in his
conscience and is able to make a defense for himself against Satan.
3. Indignation
He who repents of sin feels his spirit
rise against it, as one’s pulse rises at the sight of someone he mortally
hates. Indignation is to be troubled in the heart at sin. The penitent is
frustrated with himself. David calls himself a stupid and ignorant animal (Psalm
73;22). God is never more pleased with us than when we are angry with ourselves
over sin.
4. Fear
A tender heart is a trembling heart.
The penitent has felt sin’s bitterness. This hornet has stung him, and now,
finding himself reconciled to God, he is afraid to ever go near sin again. The
repenting soul is full of fear. He is afraid to lose God’s favor, which is
better than life. He is afraid he may, for lack of diligence, come short of salvation.
He is afraid that, though his heart is now softened, the waters of repentance
might freeze, and he might harden in sin again. How blessed is the person
who fears always (Proverbs 28:14). A sinner is like the leviathan who is
made without fear (Job 41:33). A repenting person fears and does not sin; a
graceless person sins and does not fear.
5. Longing
As a sour sauce sharpens the appetite,
so the bitter herbs of repentance sharpens our longing. But what does the
penitent long for? He longs for more power against sin and to be released from
it. It is true, he has gotten away from Satan, but he moves along like a
prisoner who has broken out of prison, with a chain on his leg. He cannot walk
with that freedom and swiftness in the ways of God. So he longs to have the chains
of sin taken off. He longs to be freed from corruption. He cries out with Paul,
Who will set me free from the body of this death? (Romans 7;24). In
short, he longs to be with Christ, as everything longs to be.
6. Zeal
Longing and zeal are put together to
show that true longing puts itself to work in zealous striving. The penitent
stirs himself up for the business of salvation. He takes the kingdom of heaven
by force (Matthew 11:12)! Zeal enlivens the pursuit of glory. Zeal, when it
runs into difficulty, is emboldened by opposition and tramples on danger. Zeal
makes a repenting soul stay in godly sorrow, even when discouraged or opposed.
Zeal takes a man out of himself for God’s glory. Paul before conversion, was
insane in his opposition to the saints (Acts 26:11), and after conversion, he
was judged insane for Christ’s sake: “Paul, you are out of your mind!”
(Acts 26:24). But it was zeal, not madness. Zeal energizes spirit and duty. It
causes fervency of spirit, which is like fire to the sacrifice (Romans 12:11).
As fear is a bridle to sin, so zeal is a spur to duty.
7. Punishment of wrong
A true penitent pursues his sins with a sense
of holy revenge. He seeks their death as Samson took revenge on the Philistines
for his two eyes. He treats his sins as the Jews treated Christ. He gives them
gall and vinegar to drink. He crucifies his sinful passions and desires (Galatians
5:24). A true child of God seeks the greatest revenge on those sins that have
dishonored God most. Cranmer, who had with his right hand consented to the Roman
Catholic articles, was revenged on himself; he put his right hand first into the
fire. (This happened as he was burned at the stake in Oxford in 1536) David
defiled his bed with sin; afterward by repentance, he watered his bed with
tears. Israel had sinned by idolatry, and afterward, they disgraced their
idols: You will desecrate your carved images plated with silver (Isaiah
30:22). Mary Magdalene had sinned with her eyes by adulterous glances, and then
she took revenge on her eyes: she washed Christ’s feet with her tears. She had
sinned with her hair. It had entangled her lovers. And then she was revenged on
her hair: she wiped the Lord’s feet with it. The Israelite woman who had been
changing their clothes every hour and had abused their mirrors with their
vanity, then in revenge and zeal offered their mirrors for the use and service
of God’s tabernacle (Exodus 38:8). In the same way, those conjurers who
practiced magic, once they repented, brought their books and, by way of
revenge, burned them (Acts 19:19).
These are the blessed fruits and
products of repentance, and if we can find these in our souls, we have arrived
at a repentance we will never regret (2 Corinthians 7:10). (Thomas Watson, The
Doctrine of Repentance: A Closer Look at This Essential Element of True
Christianity [1668; repr., Abbotsford, Wis.: Aneko Press, 2023], 93-96)
