content/05/29.md
---
pagetitle: What is repentance unto life?
date: February 19, 2020
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short_date: "0529"
this_date: May 29
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next_date: May 30
---
#### Shorter Catechism
<span class="q">Q 87.</span> What is repentance unto life?
<span class="q">A.</span> Repentance unto life is a saving grace,[^fnref:wsc1] whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ,[^fnref:wsc2] doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God,[^fnref:wsc3] with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.[^fnref:wsc4]
[^fnref:wsc1]: <div class="esv"><h5>Acts 11:18</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p44011018.01-1">When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”</p> </div><h5>2 Timothy 2:25</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p55002025.01-2">correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wsc2]: <div class="esv"><h5>Psalm 51:1-4</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p19051001.30-1"><span class="chapter-num" id="v19051001-1">51:1 </span>Have mercy on me, O God,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>according to your steadfast love;<br /> according to your abundant mercy<br /> <span class="indent"></span>blot out my transgressions.<br /> Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and cleanse me from my sin!</p> <p class="line-group" id="p19051003.01-1">For I know my transgressions,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and my sin is ever before me.<br /> Against you, you only, have I sinned<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and done what is evil in your sight,<br /> so that you may be justified in your words<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and blameless in your judgment.</p> </div> </div><h5>Joel 2:13</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p29002013.01-2"><span class="indent"></span>and rend your hearts and not your garments.”<br /> Return to the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> your God,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>for he is gracious and merciful,<br /> slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and he relents over disaster.</p> </div> </div><h5>Luke 15:7</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p42015007.01-3"><span class="woc">Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.</span></p> </div><h5>Luke 15:10</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p42015010.01-4"><span class="woc">Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”</span></p> </div><h5>Acts 2:37</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p44002037.01-5">Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wsc3]: <div class="esv"><h5>Jeremiah 31:18-19</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p24031018.01-1">I have heard Ephraim grieving,<br /> ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>like an untrained calf;<br /> bring me back that I may be restored,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>for you are the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> my God.<br /> For after I had turned away, I relented,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh;<br /> I was ashamed, and I was confounded,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’</p> </div> </div><h5>Luke 1:16-17</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p42001016.01-2">And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”</p> </div><h5>1 Thessalonians 1:9</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p52001009.01-3">For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wsc4]: <div class="esv"><h5>2 Chronicles 7:14</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p14007014.01-1">if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.</p> </div><h5>Psalm 119:57-64</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p19119057.02-2">The <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> is my portion;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>I promise to keep your words.<br /> I entreat your favor with all my heart;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>be gracious to me according to your promise.<br /> When I think on my ways,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>I turn my feet to your testimonies;<br /> I hasten and do not delay<br /> <span class="indent"></span>to keep your commandments.<br /> Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>I do not forget your law.<br /> At midnight I rise to praise you,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>because of your righteous rules.<br /> I am a companion of all who fear you,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>of those who keep your precepts.<br /> The earth, O <span class="small-caps">Lord</span>, is full of your steadfast love;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>teach me your statutes!</p> </div> </div><h5>Matthew 3:8</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p40003008.01-3">Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.</p> </div><h5>2 Corinthians 7:10</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p47007010.01-4">For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
#### Larger Catechism
<span class="q">Q 76.</span> What is repentance unto life?
<span class="q">A.</span> Repentance unto life is a saving grace,[^fnref:wlc1] wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit[^fnref:wlc2] and Word of God,[^fnref:wlc3] whereby, out of the sight and sense, not only of the danger,[^fnref:wlc4] but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins,[^fnref:wlc5] and upon the apprehension of God's mercy in Christ to such as are penitent,[^fnref:wlc6] he so grieves for[^fnref:wlc7] and hates his sins,[^fnref:wlc8] as that he turns from them all to God,[^fnref:wlc9] purposing and endeavoring constantly to walk with him in all the ways of new obedience.[^fnref:wlc10]
[^fnref:wlc1]: <div class="esv"><h5>2 Timothy 2:25</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p55002025.01-1">correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,</p> </div><h5>Acts 11:18</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p44011018.01-2">When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc2]: <div class="esv"><h5>Zechariah 12:10</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <p id="p38012010.06-1">“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem 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, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc3]: <div class="esv"><h5>Acts 11:18</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p44011018.01-1">When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”</p> </div><h5>Acts 11:20-21</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p44011020.01-2">But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc4]: <div class="esv"><h5>Ezekiel 18:28</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p26018028.01-1">Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.</p> </div><h5>Ezekiel 18:30</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p26018030.01-2">“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord <span class="small-caps">God</span>. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.</p> </div><h5>Ezekiel 18:32</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p26018032.01-3">For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord <span class="small-caps">God</span>; so turn, and live.”</p> </div><h5>Luke 15:17-18</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p42015017.01-4"><span class="woc">“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!</span> <span class="woc">I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.</span></p> </div><h5>Hosea 2:6-7</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p28002006.01-5">Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and I will build a wall against her,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>so that she cannot find her paths.<br /> She shall pursue her lovers<br /> <span class="indent"></span>but not overtake them,<br /> and she shall seek them<br /> <span class="indent"></span>but shall not find them.<br /> Then she shall say,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>‘I will go and return to my first husband,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>for it was better for me then than now.’ (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc5]: <div class="esv"><h5>Ezekiel 36:31</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p26036031.01-1">Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations.</p> </div><h5>Isaiah 30:22</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p23030022.01-2">Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!”</p> </div><h5>Philippians 3:7-8</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p50003007.01-3">But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc6]: <div class="esv"><h5>Joel 2:12-13</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p29002012.05-1">“Yet even now,” declares the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span>,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>“return to me with all your heart,<br /> with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and rend your hearts and not your garments.”<br /> Return to the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> your God,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>for he is gracious and merciful,<br /> slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and he relents over disaster.</p> </div> </div><h5>Psalm 51:1-4</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p19051001.30-2"><span class="chapter-num" id="v19051001-2">51:1 </span>Have mercy on me, O God,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>according to your steadfast love;<br /> according to your abundant mercy<br /> <span class="indent"></span>blot out my transgressions.<br /> Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and cleanse me from my sin!</p> <p class="line-group" id="p19051003.01-2">For I know my transgressions,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and my sin is ever before me.<br /> Against you, you only, have I sinned<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and done what is evil in your sight,<br /> so that you may be justified in your words<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and blameless in your judgment.</p> </div> </div><h5>Luke 15:7</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p42015007.01-3"><span class="woc">Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.</span></p> </div><h5>Luke 15:10</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p42015010.01-4"><span class="woc">Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”</span></p> </div><h5>Acts 2:37</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p44002037.01-5">Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc7]: <div class="esv"><h5>Jeremiah 31:18-19</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p24031018.01-1">I have heard Ephraim grieving,<br /> ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>like an untrained calf;<br /> bring me back that I may be restored,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>for you are the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> my God.<br /> For after I had turned away, I relented,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh;<br /> I was ashamed, and I was confounded,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’</p> </div> </div><h5>Psalm 32:5</h5> <div class="esv-text"><div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p19032005.01-2">I acknowledged my sin to you,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and I did not cover my iniquity;<br /> I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the <span class="small-caps">Lord</span>,”<br /> <span class="indent"></span>and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. <span class="selah">Selah</span> (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc8]: <div class="esv"><h5>2 Corinthians 7:11</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p47007011.01-1">For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc9]: <div class="esv"><h5>Luke 1:16-17</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p42001016.01-1">And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”</p> </div><h5>1 Thessalonians 1:9</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p52001009.01-2">For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,</p> </div><h5>Acts 26:18</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p44026018.01-3"><span class="woc">to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’</span></p> </div><h5>Ezekiel 14:6</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p26014006.01-4">“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord <span class="small-caps">God</span>: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.</p> </div><h5>1 Kings 8:47-48</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p11008047.01-5">yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name, (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>
[^fnref:wlc10]: <div class="esv"><h5>2 Chronicles 7:14</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p14007014.01-1">if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.</p> </div><h5>Psalm 119:57-64</h5> <div class="esv-text"> <div class="block-indent"> <p class="line-group" id="p19119057.02-2">The <span class="small-caps">Lord</span> is my portion;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>I promise to keep your words.<br /> I entreat your favor with all my heart;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>be gracious to me according to your promise.<br /> When I think on my ways,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>I turn my feet to your testimonies;<br /> I hasten and do not delay<br /> <span class="indent"></span>to keep your commandments.<br /> Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>I do not forget your law.<br /> At midnight I rise to praise you,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>because of your righteous rules.<br /> I am a companion of all who fear you,<br /> <span class="indent"></span>of those who keep your precepts.<br /> The earth, O <span class="small-caps">Lord</span>, is full of your steadfast love;<br /> <span class="indent"></span>teach me your statutes!</p> </div> </div><h5>Matthew 3:8</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p40003008.01-3">Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.</p> </div><h5>2 Corinthians 7:10</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p47007010.01-4">For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.</p> </div><h5>Luke 1:6</h5> <div class="esv-text"><p id="p42001006.01-5">And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. (<a href="http://www.esv.org" class="copyright">ESV</a>)</p> </div> </div>