When someone says they are repenting, our initial response should always be one of joy. However, what if their “repentance” is false, rooted in faux humility as when the child says “I’m sorry” only to avoid punishment? Is there a way to detect genuine repentance from false repentance? (We really need to know this since we may be falsely repenting!)
False repentance usually can be detected by its caveats! False repentance says, “IF I have sinned or done anything wrong . . .” or “I MAY have said the wrong thing . . .” False repentance is always hazy, indirect, and unclear. True repentance, on the other hand, is easily detected by its biblical traits. First, true repentance comes from God. God is the author and source of a truly repentance heart. Repentance is an “out of character” act for all of us! When it is present, God has granted it!
Second, true repentance acknowledges one’s need for grace and mercy. When one truly repents, the focus is on his sin, not his neighbor’s.
Third, true repentance is an eye-opening experience! One clearly sees and confesses his own sin instead of denying, rationalizing, and excusing it!
Fourth, true repentance manifests itself in visible, identifiable ways. True repentance is more than just “talk.” It has hands and feet! It seeks forgiveness, is broken over sin, and makes things right with man and God!
Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour out . . . a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on Me, on Him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for Him . . . and weep bitterly over Him”
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