IV. We shall now consider the instrument or means whereby the Spirit works this grace.[[77]] Thus it is said to be wrought in the heart of a sinner, by the word of God, as all other graces are, except regeneration, as has been before observed: we must first suppose the principle of grace implanted, and the word presenting motives, and arguments leading to repentance; and then the understanding is enlightened and disposed to receive what is therein imparted. The word calls sinners to repentance, Matt. ix. 13. and therefore, when this grace is wrought, we are not only turned by the power of God, but instructed, Jer. xxxi. 19. by the Spirit’s setting home what is contained therein whereby we are led into the knowledge of those things which are necessary to repentance. As,
1. We have in the word a display of the holiness of the divine nature and law, and our obligation in conformity thereunto, to the exercise of holiness in heart and life, as God says, Be ye holy, for I am holy, Lev. xi. 44. And to this we may add, that it contains a display of the holiness of God in his threatenings, which he has denounced against every transgression and disobedience, which shall receive a just recompence of reward; and in all the instances of his punishing sin in those who have exposed themselves thereunto, that hereby he might deter men from it, and lead them to repentance: thus the apostle speaks of the law of God as holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good, Rom. vii. 12, 13. and of its leading him into the knowledge of sin, by which means it appeared to be sin, that is, opposite to an holy God, and, as he expresses it, became exceeding sinful.
2. Hereby persons are led into themselves; and by comparing their hearts and lives with the word of God, are enabled to see their own vileness and want of conformity to the rule which he has given them, the deceitfulness and desperate wickedness thereof, and what occasion there is to abhor themselves, and repent in dust and ashes; thus the apostle, in the place but now mentioned, speaks of himself as once alive without the law; but when the commandment came, sin revived and he died, and concludes himself to be carnal, sold under sin, Rom. vii. 9, 14. This is a necessary means leading to repentance.
And we may farther add, that God not only makes use of the word, but of his providences to answer this end; therefore he speaks of a sinning people, when carried away captive into the land of the enemy, as bethinking themselves, and afterwards repenting and making supplication to him therein, 1 Kings viii. 46, 47. And we read of sickness and bodily diseases as ordained by God, to bring persons to repentance; thus Elihu speaks of a person’s being chastened with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain; his soul drawing nigh to the grave, and his life to the destroyers, Job xxxiii. 19, 27. and then represents the person thus chastened, and afterwards recovered from his sickness, as acknowledging himself to have sinned, and perverted that which is right, and that it profited him not. And the apostle speaks of the goodness of God in the various dispensations of his providence, as leading to repentance, Rom. ii. 4. But these dispensations are always to be considered in conjunction with the word, and as impressed on the conscience of men by the Spirit, in order to their attaining this desirable end.
But that we may insist on this matter more particularly, we must take an estimate of repentance, either as it is a common or special grace; in both these respects it is from the Spirit, and wrought by the instrumentality of the word, applied to the consciences of men; but there is a vast difference between the one and the other in the application of the word, as well as in the effects and consequences thereof.
(1.) In them who are brought under convictions, but not made partakers of the saving grace of repentance; the Holy Spirit awakens, and fills them with the terrors of God, and the dread of his vengeance, by the law, by which is the knowledge of sin, and all the world becomes guilty before God, Rom. iii. 20. compared with 19. These are what we call legal convictions; whereby the wound is opened, but no healing medicine applied: the sinner apprehends himself under a sentence of condemnation, but at the same time cannot apply any promise which may afford hope and relief to him; groans under his burden, and knows not where to find ease or comfort, and dreads the consequence thereof, as that which would sink him into hell; God appears to him as a consuming fire, his arrows stick fast in his soul, the poison whereof drinketh up his spirits; if he endeavours to shake off his fears, and to relieve himself against his despairing thoughts, he is notwithstanding, described, as being like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, which casts forth mire and dirt, Isa. lvii. 20. This is a most afflictive case; concerning which it is said, that though the spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; yet a wounded spirit who can bear? Prov. xviii. 14.
Thus it is with some when convinced of sin by the law: but there are others who endeavour to quiet their consciences by using indirect methods, thinking to make atonement for it, and by some instances of external reformation, to make God amends, and thereby procure his favour, but to no purpose; for sin taking occasion, by the commandment, works in them all manner of concupiscence, Rom. vii. 8. And if they grow stupid, which is oftentimes the consequence hereof, their sense of sin is entirely lost, and their repentance ends in presumption, and a great degree of boldness in the commission of all manner of wickedness.
(2.) We shall now consider how the Spirit works repentance unto life, which is principally insisted on in this answer. This is said to be done by the word of God; not by the law without the gospel, but by them both, in which one is made subservient to the other. The law shews the soul its sin, and the gospel directs him where he may find a remedy; one wounds and the other heals; the law enters, as the apostle expresses it, that the offence might abound, Rom. v. 20. but the gospel shews him how grace does much more abound, and where he may obtain forgiveness, by which means he is kept from sinking under that weight of guilt that lies on his conscience. And it leads him to hate and abstain from sin, from those motives that are truly excellent; for which reason it is called evangelical repentance.
Now that we may better understand the nature thereof, we shall consider; how it differs from that which we before described, which arises only from that conviction of sin, which is by the law, which a person may have, who is destitute of this grace of repentance, which we are speaking of. Repentance, of what kind soever it be, contains in it a sense of sin: but if it be such a sense of sin, that the unregenerate person may have, this includes little more in it than a sense of the danger and misery which he has exposed himself to by sins committed. The principal motives leading hereunto, are the threatenings which the law of God denounces against those that violate it. Destruction from God is a terror to him; if this were not the consequence of sin, he would be so far from repenting of it, that it would be the object of his chief delight. And that guilt, which he charges himself with, is principally such, as arises from the commission of the most notorious crimes, which expose him to the greatest degree of punishment: whereas, repentance unto life brings a soul under a sense of the guilt of sin, as it is contrary to the holy nature and law of God, which the least, as well as the greatest sins, are opposed to, and contain a violation of. And therefore he charges himself, not only with open sins, which are detestable in the eyes of men; but secret sins, which others have little or no sense of; sins of omission, as well as sins of commission; and he is particularly affected with the sin of unbelief, inasmuch as it contains a contempt of Christ, and the grace of the gospel. And he is not only sensible of those sins which break forth in his life; but that propensity of nature, whereby he is inclined to rebel against God; so that this sense of guilt, in some respects, differs from that which they are brought under, who are destitute of saving repentance.
But that in which they more especially differ is, in that saving repentance contains in it a sense of the filth, and odious nature of sin, and so considers it as defiling, or contrary to the holiness of God, and rendering the soul worthy to be abhorred by him; so that as the sense of guilt excites fear, and a dread of the wrath of God, this fills him with shame, confusion of face, and self-abhorrence, which is inseparably connected with the grace of repentance; accordingly these are joined together, as Job says, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes, Job xlii. 6. or, as when God promises that he would bestow this grace on his people, he says, Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings, that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities, and for your abominations, Ezek. xxxvi. 31. As before this they set too high a value upon themselves, and were ready to palliate and excuse their crimes, or insist on their innocence, though their iniquity was written in legible characters, as with a pen of iron, and the point of a diamond, and to say with Ephraim, In all my labour they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin, Hos. xii. 8. or, as the prophet Jeremiah says, concerning a rebellious people, that though in their skirts were found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents; yet they had the front to say, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me, Jer. ii. 34, 35. Notwithstanding, when God brings them to repentance, and heals their backslidings; they express themselves in a very different way; We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covers us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, chap. iii. 25. Now this is such an ingredient in true repentance, which is not to be found in that which falls short of it: the sinner is afraid of punishment indeed, or, it may be, he may be filled with shame, because of the reproach which attends his vile and notorious crimes in the eyes of the world; yet he is not ashamed, or confounded, as considering how vile he has rendered himself hereby, in the eye of an holy God.