D. Paul
Puritan Board Sophomore
I ask this first of all in light of knowing myself well enough to know I do not always truly repent when I have "repented".
In my reading through the 1599 Geneva bible, I have come across certain notes that seem to indicate God moving a person through a passage of time and events in order to produce true repentance when the person had already done so. Knowing that we stumble and fall and the reality of "besetting sin", how can one say he has been granted true repentance when the sin that he has practiced still has hold?
I also recall a story of two Puritan brothers and Preachers (for the life of me, I cannot recall their names) where the elder fell under conviction from the preaching of the younger and spent a full year wrestling under the weight of his sin before he was "released".
So, given the superficial notions of repentance in evangelicalism today where it seems all a person must do is say to God "I'm sorry...and I really mean it" what is the reality? Does God truly withhold repentance for a time in order to try one who is His own?
In my reading through the 1599 Geneva bible, I have come across certain notes that seem to indicate God moving a person through a passage of time and events in order to produce true repentance when the person had already done so. Knowing that we stumble and fall and the reality of "besetting sin", how can one say he has been granted true repentance when the sin that he has practiced still has hold?
I also recall a story of two Puritan brothers and Preachers (for the life of me, I cannot recall their names) where the elder fell under conviction from the preaching of the younger and spent a full year wrestling under the weight of his sin before he was "released".
So, given the superficial notions of repentance in evangelicalism today where it seems all a person must do is say to God "I'm sorry...and I really mean it" what is the reality? Does God truly withhold repentance for a time in order to try one who is His own?