The necessity of repentance is abundantly taught in the sacred volume. Nor will it suffice to have been at some time alarmed about our sin. A false repentance, which needs to be repented of, satisfies many a deluded soul. Genuine repentance is a deep-felt and abiding sense of sin, a condemnation of ourselves before God on account of it, a turning away from it with abhorrence and loathing, and a fixed purpose of soul never again to commit it, or be at peace with it. This sense of sin drives the soul to Christ, and unites with the exercise of faith in Christ, to distinguish genuine religion from the counterfeits with which the world abounds.
Reason teaches that it is the duty of men, as sinners, to repent of their sins.
When one man has given just occasion of offence to another, by the common consent of mankind it is his duty to be sorry for his offence . If we have no sorrow for having offended God, we treat him with less respect than is due to a fellow-worm. Not to be sorry is to justify the offence , and virtually to repeat it. Our impenitence insults the majesty of heaven, and defies his wrath. But the duty of repentance is not left to be inferred from the common sense of mankind.