The sorrow of the world may produce
remorse, that continual biting which tortures the soul of the lost; but
remorse is not repentance, and the sorrow of the world worketh not life
but death. True repentance involves a change of mind, a change of
purpose, a change of will, and implies not only a godly sorrow for sin
--sorrow not only because the sin has resulted in physical or mental or
financial or reputational disaster--but because it has grieved the
Spirit of our God; and it implies not only sorrow for our sin but the
determination to forsake it as well. It is the afterthought, and
involves both regret for what we have done and the purpose to do so no
more.
The next, and specially indispensable, condition for receiving the
benefits of the atonement is faith. This means nothing more nor less
than taking God at His word. We are assured that without faith it is
impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God must believe "that
He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
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