“Oh, sir, I cannot repent sufficiently!”

I hear another man cry, “Oh, sir, my want of strength lies mainly in that I cannot repent sufficiently!” What a curious idea men have of what repentance is! Many believe that so many tears are to be shed and so many groans are to be heaved and so much despair is to be endured. Where do they get this unreasonable notion? Unbelief and despair are sins, and therefore I do not see how they can be constituent elements of acceptable repentance. Yet, there are many who regard them as necessary parts of true Christian experience. They are in great error.

...Remember that the man who truly repents is never satisfied with his own repentance. We can no more repent perfectly than we can live perfectly. However pure our tears, there will always be some dirt in them; there will be something to be repented of even in our best repentance. But listen! To repent is to change your mind about sin and Christ and all the great things of God. There is sorrow implied in this, but the main point is the turning of the heart from sin to Christ. If there is this turning, you have the essence of true repentance, even though no alarm and no despair should ever have cast their shadow upon your mind.

...Blot out every other reflection from your soul, and sit down by the hour together and meditate deeply on this one resplendent display of unmerited, unexpected, unexampled love, “Christ died for the ungodly.” Read over carefully the narrative of the Lord’s death as you find it in the four gospels. If anything can melt your stubborn heart, it will be the sight of the sufferings of Jesus, and the knowledge that He suffered all this for His enemies.

...It is written, “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10). Repentance will not make you see Christ, but to see Christ will give you repentance. You may not make a Christ out of your repentance, but you must look for repentance to Christ. The Holy Spirit, by turning us to Christ, turns us from sin. Look away, then, from the effect to the cause, from your own repenting to the Lord Jesus, who is exalted on high to give repentance.

• Spurgeon, C .H.. All Of Grace (Moody Classics) (pp. 89-92). Moody Publishers.