The tradition is quite clear, however, that recognition of sin, remorse, restitution, and confession, if they are done without desisting from sin, do not constitute teshuva. Actual desisting from sin is what counts. Thus, if one desists from sinful action because one has been frightened into it, that is still teshuva and the person is considered a penitent. For example, if a person ceases to gamble compulsively because someone threatens to beat him severely the next time he does it, such a person is considered a penitent. Or, if a person ceases to steal because he has been told he will be sent to jail the next time it happens, such a person is considered a penitent.
Rabbinic tradition teaches that all the steps to teshuva are necessary.
Their interrelationship is best described as a spiral which touches each of the five points, yet advances with each turn. As one cycles through the five phases of teshuva again and again, one's teshuva becomes more earnest, more serious. Because sin alienates us from humanity and from God, there is more than one kind of forgiveness. In a civil contract, one party incurs a debt to, or obligation toward, or claim against another. In such a situation, the creditor can forgo the debt, waive the obligation, or relinquish the claim.