Repentance

We are called to repentance to receive the forgiveness in Jesus Christ (Luke 24:47; cf. Acts2:38) as a mark of a true Christian. Because of deceit (Jeremiah 17:9), people consider themselves as christians without any repentance which comes from the heart convicted of offending a holy God. Repentance is an inward change of mind, affections, convictions, and commitment rooted in the fear of God and sorrow to God for offenses committed against Him. This is accompanied by faith in Jesus Christ, given by God (Acts 11:18) and is never regretted (2 Corinthians 7:10). A truly repentant person would not relent but persist as we find in the repentant brother in 1 Corinthians 5 though the Corinthian church went to extreme in dealing the sinning brother (2 Corinthians 2:1-11) they were wrong in receiving the repentant brother but the motive was correct (2 Corinthians 7:5-11). A truly repentant person would try to repair any damage incurred as we find in the life of Zaccheus in Luke 19:1-10. A truly repentant person will not search for honour for himself when seeking to be restored as we find in the example of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) who saw that he was no longer worthy.
Sorrow for sin committed is necessary but does not mean repentance, but repentance comes from a godly sorrow (2Corinthians 7:9) which will focus more on moral failure than just on consequences of sin (Psalm 51). True repentance does not fight or resist natural consequences as Saul did in his life as Samuel made it clear to Saul (1 Samuel 15:28). Despite of the declarations Saul continually fought David’s rise (1Samuel 24:20); he was so concerned about the consequences of his sin than his own sinfulness.