The entrance into the kingdom of God is through the sharp, sudden pains of repentance colliding with man’s respectable "goodness." Then the Holy Spirit, who produces these struggles, begins the formation of the Son of God in the person’s life (Galatians 4:19). This new life will reveal itself in conscious repentance followed by unconscious holiness, never the other way around. The foundation of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a person cannot repent when he chooses— repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for "the gift of tears." If you ever cease to understand the value of repentance, you allow yourself to remain in sin. Examine yourself to see if you have forgotten how to be truly repentant. ~Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, December 7

Christ came to save His people 'fron' their sins- not 'in' them.  And it is essential to salvation that sin should be repented of, and, being repented of, should be renounced, and that, by the help of God, we should lead a new life, under a new Master, serving from a new motive, because the grace of God has renewed our spirit.  ~Charles H. Spurgeon

Chambers on Repentance

Repentance Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation. 
—2 Corinthians 7:10 Conviction of sin is best described in the words: My sins, my sins, my Savior,
How sad on Thee they fall. Conviction of sin is one of the most uncommon things that ever happens to a person. It is the beginning of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict people of sin (John 16:8 ). And when the Holy Spirit stirs a person’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not that person’s relationship with others that bothers him but his relationship with God— "Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight . . ." (Psalm 51:4 ). The wonders of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven person who is truly holy. He proves he is forgiven by being the opposite of what he was previously, by the grace of God. Repentance always brings a person to the point of saying, "I have sinned." The surest sign that God is at work in his life is when he says that and means it. Anything less is simply sorrow for having made foolish mistakes— a reflex action caused by self-disgust. ~Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, December 7

Repentance

The entrance into the kingdom of God is through the sharp, sudden pains of repentance colliding with man’s respectable "goodness." Then the Holy Spirit, who produces these struggles, begins the formation of the Son of God in the person’s life (Galatians 4:19). This new life will reveal itself in conscious repentance followed by unconscious holiness, never the other way around. The foundation of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a person cannot repent when he chooses— repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for "the gift of tears." If you ever cease to understand the value of repentance, you allow yourself to remain in sin. Examine yourself to see if you have forgotten how to be truly repentant. ~Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, December 7

Repentance by Adrian Rogers

The Forgotten Word
taken from a message preached by Adrian Rogers, Love Worth Finding Ministries



The word repentance has been neglected in many of today’s churches. But while it may have dropped out of some pulpits, it has not dropped out of the Word of God. In fact, the Bible has a lot to say about repentance.

The Mandate for Repentance
The first sermon Jesus preached was one of repentance: “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17). And in the last message He gave to the church in Revelation 3:19, Jesus also preached repentance. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”

And in Luke 13:1-5 Jesus again preached a message of repentance. Twice in this passage Jesus stated emphatically: “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

People were talking about some who were put to death by Pilate and others who were killed when a tower fell on them. They were wondering what sins these had committed that were so terrible that they deserved death. But Jesus said, “No, they didn’t die because they were more sinful than anybody else; and just because you are not experiencing trouble, doesn’t mean you don’t need to repent.” So we’re all mandated to repent, but what is repentance?

The Meaning of Repentance
1. Repentance is more than conviction of sin.
You can be convicted of sin and still not repent. Paul preached to Felix until he literally trembled under conviction (see Acts 24:25), but he didn't get saved. He was convicted, but he did not repent.

2. Repentance is more than confession of sin. You can confess your sin and still not repent. There are a number of episodes in the Bible where men literally said, “I have sinned.” They confessed their sin, but none of them repented. Consider these examples:
▪ A Horrified Confession — When God brought hail and fire on Egypt, Pharaoh said, “I have sinned...” But in Exodus 9:34, “… when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart...”
▪ A Hypocritical Confession — Balaam wanted to serve God but also wanted to rake some profit off the side. His talking donkey saved him from the wrath of God, and in Numbers 22:34, “… Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned...” But he never changed.
▪ A Half-hearted Confession — King Saul decided to keep some of the spoils of war against God’s commands. When confronted by the prophet Samuel, he replied in 1 Samuel 15:24, “… I have sinned … because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.” Saul said, “I have sinned,” but he had an excuse — an alibi.
▪ A Hemmed-Up Confession — There was also Achan in the battle of Jericho. He too brought home some of the spoils of war. When found in his sin, Achan answered, “indeed I have sinned” (Joshua 7:20). But his was a hemmed-up confession. He was not sorry for the sin but sorry he got caught.
▪ A Hopeless Confession — And Judas confessed after betraying Jesus. In Matthew 27:4 Judas said, “…I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood…” But it was only a confession of remorse.
Repentance is more than conviction or confession of sin. Every one of these men used the words “I have sinned,” but not one of them repented.

3. Repentance is a heart change. To repent is to turn from sin to Jesus. There is a negative and a positive action involved. In Acts 20:21 Paul said we are to testify “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” You cannot repent to God unless you turn to Jesus. You must tell God you are sorry for your sin and turn to Jesus for forgiveness.

4. Repentance is a continuing change of heart. And it is not something you do once in order to get saved and then forget it. Repentance is a crisis followed by a process. We live repenting day-by-day.

The Motive for Repentance
Because we are all sinners, Acts 17:30 says, “… [God] commandeth all men every where to repent.” Repentance is the only way to remove the curse of guilt. Your heart will never find rest apart from repentance. Isaiah 57:20 says, “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest...” Repentance allows God’s grace to work in your heart. God will save you, but you cannot cling to your sin and to Jesus at the same time. It’s time to repent!

Keep a Jealous Watch Over Your Repentance

‎"Keep a jealous watch over your repentance. Keep it up—keep it up, and let not the fire burn low. Whenever you find a slackness coming over your soul—whenever you feel slow, dull, heavy, cold, and careless about little sins—look to your own heart then, and take heed lest you fall. Say to your soul, “Oh, my soul, what are you doing? Have you forgotten David’s fall? Have you forgotten Peter’s backsliding? Have you forgotten David’s subsequent misery? Have you forgotten Peter’s tears? Awake, O my soul, awake once more. Heap on fuel, make the fire burn bright. Return again to your God, let your repentance once more be lively. Let your repentance be repented over again.” Alas, how few are the hours in a Christian’s best days when he does not make work for repentance!" ~ J.C. Ryle

Jonathan Edwards on Sin

Sin is naturally exceeding dear to us; to part with it is compared to plucking out our right eyes. Men may refrain from wonted ways of sin for a little while, and may deny their lusts in a partial degree, with less difficulty; but it is heart-rending work, finally to part with all sin, and to give our dearest lusts a bill of divorce, utterly to send them away. But this we must do, if we would follow those that are truly turning to God: yea, we must not only forsake sin, but must, in a sense, forsake all the world, Luke xiv.33 'Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. ~Jonathan Edwards

Repentance

I think there is little doubt that the teaching of salvation without repentance has lowered the moral standards of the Church and produced a multitude of deceived religious professors who erroneously believe themselves to be saved when in fact they are still in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity. ~A. W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous, 45

Hudson Taylor

Perhaps if there were more of that intense distress for souls that leads to tears, we should more frequently see the results we desire. Sometimes it may be that while we are complaining of the hardness of the hearts of those we are seeking to benefit, the hardness of our own hearts and our own feeble apprehension of the solemn reality of eternal things, may be the true cause of our want of success. ~J. Hudson Taylor, A Retrospect

Matthew Henry

Some people do not like to hear much of repentance; but I think it is so necessary that if I should die in the pulpit, I would desire to die preaching repentance, and out of the pulpit I would desire to die preaching it. ~Matthew Henry

Vance Havner

When the young prophet (Elisha) asked where the axe head fell he knew the place to get back in God’s will is the place where you got out. Have you ever shown God the place? He knows where it is, but have you ever dealt specifically with where you lost the power? “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Prov 28:13) ~Vance Havner, sermon: Alas, On This Rock I Stand, p 93

Adrian Rogers on Repentance

"Tomorrow you will have more sin to repent of. Tomorrow you will have less time to repent in. Tomorrow you will have a harder heart to repent with." ~Adrian Rogers