REPENTANCE.
Synonyms:
| compunction, | contriteness, | regret, | self-condemnation, |
| contrition, | penitence, | remorse, | sorrow. |
Regret is sorrow for any painful or annoying matter. One is moved with penitence for wrong-doing. To speak of regret for a fault of our own marks it as slighter than one regarding which we should express penitence. Repentance is sorrow for sin with self-condemnation, and complete turning from the sin. Penitence is transient, and may involve no change of character or conduct. There may be sorrow without repentance, as for consequences[311] only, but not repentance without sorrow. Compunction is a momentary sting of conscience, in view either of a past or of a contemplated act. Contrition is a subduing sorrow for sin, as against the divine holiness and love. Remorse is, as its derivation indicates, a biting or gnawing back of guilt upon the heart, with no turning of heart from the sin, and no suggestion of divine forgiveness.
Antonyms:
| approval, | content, | obduracy, | self-complacency, |
| comfort, | hardness, | obstinacy, | self-congratulation, |
| complacency, | impenitence, | self-approval, | stubbornness. |
Prepositions:
Repentance of or in heart, or from the heart; repentance for sins; before or toward God; unto life.