Is your life characterized by repentance? In order to answer that question, we must first examine what repentance is. The ingredients of repentance are 1) an acknowledgment of sin, 2) a hatred of sin, 3) a turning from sin.
The first ingredient of repentance is a recognition and acknowledgment of sin. How foolish would it be for a doctor to tell a patient he has a severe cancer, one which needs to be removed immediately, and then for that patient to say, "No, I don't have cancer. I refuse to acknowledge it." That patient might choose to live the rest of his life pretending he does not have cancer, but it will not be long before the cancer kills him. Thomas Watson once said that your eyes were created both to see sin, and then to weep over that sin. But your eyes can't weep over the sin until they first see it.
It is possible that some people reading this book are living in outright sin against God. Deep down you know that the life which you are living is wrong, but you are doing everything you can to keep from having to acknowledge it. Jesus once said that He had not come to call the righteous, but sinners! No one can have the good news of the gospel until they first accept the bad news that they need the gospel.
I wonder, have you acknowledged your sin before God? David once said "My sin is always before me." Is that true of you? Are you aware of the abundance of sin in your life? What would it look like if all your sins were laid out before you on a table? What would you see? Recently, my wife and I had a large number of pictures developed. We enjoyed sitting together on our couch and going through the pictures. What would it be like if you opened up a set of pictures and each was of a different sin you had committed? Or worse, what if all those secret sins were exposed to the world?
The reality of the situation is that when you stand before God, every sin of your life will be exposed in just that way. Your only hope of salvation is to acknowledge that you are a sinner now, and to seek God's mercy, because on the day you stand before God it will be too late.
The second ingredient of repentance is hatred for sin. To truly repent, you have to feel sorrow for the sin that you've committed, and you have to hate the sin with such a passion that you vow to fight it for the rest of your life. There are many reasons why you should hate your sin. Consider these two:
1. You should hate sin because it is deceptive. Sin is like a Fishing worm dangling in front of a hungry fish - it looks so tempting and inviting, yet what is not seen is the hook embedded in the bait. Sin presents itself as a golden cup, but there is poison inside!
Sin never tells you the true cost of giving in to its enticements. The serpent told Eve, "eat the fruit, you shall certainly not die", but didn't tell her that she would be evicted from the garden of Eden. She traded paradise for a bite of an apple! So many people find themselves addicted to sins like alcohol, gambling, pornography, gossip, complaining, and lying because they tried it once and found themselves helplessly hooked. Now try as they might, they cannot seem to stop doing these things.
2. You should also hate sin because it keeps you from God. For those who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, there is no comparison between the happiness that is found in sin and the Happiness found in Jesus. The Apostle Paul spoke of the "surpassing worth of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord." Is there any greater treasure in the entire world than God Himself? Yet every time we sin, we place a wall between ourselves and God. It is impossible to walk with God and live in sin. You cannot hold hands with God and the Devil at the same time. You cannot serve two masters. If you choose to follow after your sins, you will have to turn off the path of following Jesus.
It is foolishness to expect to have joy in Christ if you're also seeking joy in immoral sex, wealth, or other
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