Quotes About Repentance

Man is a tempted being, living with what he does and suffers in time, the medium in which he realizes his potential character. The indeterminacy of time means that events never happen once and for all. The good may fall, the bad may repent, and suffering can be, not a simple retribution, but a triumph.

True repentance says, "I cannot," and true faith adds, "But God, You can!

Therefore with idle hands and head I sit In late December before the fire's daze Punished by crimes of which I would be quit.

If you have the courage to imitate Mary Magdalene in her sins, have the courage to imitate her penance!

There is one death bed repentance recorded in the Bible (the thief on the cross), so that no one despair, but there is ONLY one, so that no one will presume.

If you will not have death unto sin, you shall have sin unto death. There is no alternative. If you do not die to sin, you shall die for sin. If you do not slay sin, sin will slay you.

There's no repentance in the grave.

Jesus never met a disease he could not cure, a birth defect he could not reverse, a demon he could not exorcise. But he did meet skeptics he could not convince and sinners he could not convert. Forgiveness of sins requires an act of will on the receiver's part, and some who heard Jesus' strongest words about grace and forgiveness turned away unrepentant.

What we have to go through to commit sin distances us from God—we change in the very act of rebellion—and there is no guarantee we will ever come back. You ask me about forgiveness now, but will you even want it later, especially if it involves repentance?

Dependence, sorrow, repentance, a longing to change—these are the gates to God's kingdom.

if I care to listen, I hear a loud whisper from the gospel that I did not get what I deserved. I deserved punishment and got forgiveness. I deserved wrath and got love. I deserved debtor's prison and got instead a clean credit history. I deserved stern lectures and crawl-on-your-knees repentance; I got a banquet—Babette's feast—spread for me.

God's arms are always extended; we are the ones who turn away.

forgiveness, and only forgiveness, can begin the thaw in the guilty party.

Despite a hundred sermons on forgiveness, we do not forgive easily, nor find ourselves easily forgiven.

Our only option, then, is honesty that leads to repentance. As the Bible shows, God's grace can cover any sin, including murder, infidelity, or betrayal. Yet by definition grace must be received, and hypocrisy disguises our need to receive grace. When the masks fall, hypocrisy is exposed as an elaborate ruse to avoid grace.

Repentance, not proper behavior or even holiness, is the doorway to grace. And the opposite of sin is grace, not virtue.

as thou hast given me a repentance, not to be repented of, so give me, O Lord, a fear, of which I may not be afraid.

a man who admits no guilt can accept no forgiveness.

Dr. Paul Tournier expresses this pattern in the language of psychiatry: "God blots out conscious guilt, but He brings to consciousness repressed guilt.

That stance of openness to receive is what I call the "catch" to grace. It must be received, and the Christian term for that act is repentance, the doorway to grace.

The Bible's many fierce passages on sin appear in a new light once I understand God's desire to press me toward repentance, the doorway to grace.

That's the unforgivable sin, you know. What is? Refusing to forgive someone. Refusing to forgive someone is the unforgivable sin? I asked incredulously.

Praise: Thank Him for reigning in power and supplying you with the weapons of victory. Repentance: Admit where you've been angry and distracted, fighting all the wrong people. Asking: Ask for courage, for discernment, for patience, for diligence, for laser-like focus. Yes: Because the Lord is with you, and He will fight the real enemy through you.

it is never too late to make things right.