I’ve had several conversations with people on the topic of repentance. My opinions on the subject are rarely the same as anyone else’s. Most of the people I talk to have a definition for repentance that differs from mine, and, because they “repent” according to their definition, they think they have repented, when I don’t believe they have.
I’ve shared my beliefs about repentance in other posts, so I won’t go into a ton of detail about it here, but, in a nutshell, repentance consists of forsaking ALL sin with an honest and sincere commitment to be completely obedient to God all the remaining days of your life. It is only in doing this that God can forgive you of your sin. This commitment on your part and forgiveness on God’s part is what constitutes justification, and the resulting state of sinlessness is meant to continue as long as you live.
A sinless state causes you to become a clean vessel capable of experiencing a greater part and portion of God’s spirit. That spirit will constantly teach you more about God, to whose image you must immediately conform in order to continue experiencing even greater levels of light and truth. That process constitutes sanctification. Ignoring, resisting, or rejecting what is taught will cause you to immediately become unrepentant, and you will lose a part and portion of his Spirit—even what you had before.
True repentance always yields a state of sinlessness, and if you would overcome the world and be saved, you are required to maintain that state of sinlessness, even and especially as God teaches you more and more about himself. You conform everything about yourself to everything he teaches you about himself.
This is a very hard truth for people who love sin to accept. Most conversations I have with people never get past the point where we agree on the idea of repentance—even if I point out numerous scriptures that support the principle as laid out above or share
a book that does the same and then goes further to detail its practical application.
Every once in a great while, I will have a conversation with someone who seems to be genuinely frustrated by the fact that they still struggle with sin. They are correct in their realization that they are not living the way they believe God would live in their place, but, because their definition of repentance is off, they don’t see themselves becoming the “new creature in Christ” that the scriptures testify is a fruit of living the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they are generally pretty frustrated by that. They will say things like “I keep giving into this temptation” or “I know it’s wrong to (fill in the blank), but it’s just so hard to do what I know is right in a weak moment.” It’s always something like that, anyway, and then they wonder why they can’t claim experiences like those of King Lamoni or Alma the Younger as their own.
What they don’t realize is that what they are feeling is not what the Lord requires of us when we repent. Guilt is not enough. Guilt is just a recognition that we have broken a law:
Guilt: Criminality; that state of a moral agent which results from his actual commission of a crime or offense, knowing it to be a crime, or violation of law. To constitute guilt there must be a moral agent enjoying freedom of will, and capable of distinguishing between right and wrong, and a wilful or intentional violation of a known law, or rule of duty. The guilt of a person exists, as soon as the crime is committed; but to evince it to others, it must be proved by confession, or conviction in due course of law. Guilt renders a person a debtor to the law, as it binds him to pay a penalty in money or suffering. Guilt therefore implies both criminality and liableness to punishment. Guilt may proceed either from a positive act or breach of law, or from voluntary neglect of known duty.
Even remorse is not enough. To have remorse is just to feel badly about your criminality:
Remorse: The keen pain or sense of anguish excited by a sense of guilt; compunction of conscience for a crime committed.
“Compunction” is a good word to look up, too, by the way, if you don’t already know the definition. :)
But what the Lord requires is “a broken heart and a contrite spirit.”
Before we get to the definition for “contrite,” let’s take a little scripture trivia quiz:
Q: How many times does the word “contrite” appear in the Bible?
Q: How many times does the word “contrite” appear in the Book of Mormon?
Q: How many times does the word “contrite” appear in the Doctrine and Covenants?
Q: What is the definition of “contrite”?
The word “contrite” appears only five times in the entire Bible—twice in the Psalms and three times in Isaiah. It appears nine times in the Book of Mormon and 13 times in the Doctrine and Covenants.
Now, twenty-two occurrences of the word in the LDS canon may not sound like a lot, but it is more than four times what you will find in the entire Bible. Talk about a plain and precious truth being lost! People who revere the teachings of Joseph Smith should be the last people on the planet who wonder why they are not experiencing the fruits of repentance.
It need not be so.
Definitions are always helpful, so let’s move on. :)
Contrite, a. [L., to break or bruise; to rub or wear. See Trite.] Literally, worn or bruised. Hence, broken-hearted for sin; deeply affected with grief and sorrow for having offended God; humble; penitent; as a contrite sinner.
Kinda sounds like remorse, right? Oh, but it is so much more! Let’s dive just a little deeper and look at the definition of “contrition”:
CONTRITION, n. [L.]1. The act of grinding or rubbing to powder.
2. Penitence; deep sorrow for sin; grief of heart for having offended an infinitely holy and benevolent God. The word is usually understood to mean genuine penitence, accompanied with a deep sense of ingratitude in the sinner, and sincere resolution to live in obedience to the divine law.
I. Love. This.
It is SO accurate!!
The ONLY way you can offer up a “contrite heart” is to first have God’s love manifested to you. Repentance is ALL about changing your relationship and standing before God, because all of us start out as fallen sinners. Because he is love, it is through the manifestation of his love to you that you get an initial sense of his holiness and benevolence. You become immediately aware of your ingratitude towards him and your sinful state. You taste his justice, and the “good” things you thought you were doing in your life become not only completely insignificant, but also absolutely ineffectual in bridging the distance between you and him. Worst of all, you feel the sorrow he feels in your separation from him that is a direct result of your unwillingness to be obedient to the light and truth that emanates from him to you. You feel the broken heart of a perfect and holy being, who has done nothing to deserve that broken heart, and it breaks yours to pieces.
Everything about his character CRUSHES you. You feel as if your spirit is, in reality, being ground to powder.
With this broken heart and contrite spirit, the ONLY thing you can think to do is to offer your heart, might, mind, and strength in total submission and obedience to him for the rest of your life. You have “no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.” (Mosiah 5:2)
Do you see the differences between guilt, remorse, and contrition? Is it any wonder why people who only feel guilt and remorse never experience that “mighty change of heart?” Guilt and remorse are not “meet for repentance.” They never have been, and they never will be. They are meant to introduce us to the idea that there are laws which, when broken, result in misery, but only contrition is experienced when you interact directly with the lawgiver.
I am going to put up a YouTube video to go along with this blogpost. When I do, I will provide a link here. I hope that this post and the video are of help those who truly desire to repent.