In what sense are we to repent?
First, in what sense are we to repent?
Repentance often means an inward change, a change of mind from sin to holiness. We are not speaking of it in that sense now. We speak of it as one kind of self-knowledge. It is knowing ourselves to be sinners, guilty, helpless sinners, even though we know we are children of God.
After justification, repentance here means a conviction of sin still remaining in our hearts, cleaving to our words and actions, sins of omission, inward defects, guiltiness in a careful sense, and utter helplessness.
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I. And first, In what sense are we to repent?
1. Repentance frequently means, an inward change, a change of mind from sin to holiness. But we now speak of it in a quite different sense, as it is one kind of self-knowledge, the knowing ourselves sinners, yea guilty, helpless sinners, even tho’ we know we are children of God.