As an act it means confessing and forsaking sin. Repentance is our appropriate response to the grace of God in conviction. As a fruit of repentance, in so far as possible where sin has been committed, restitution should be made. Faith, which must accompany repentance, is Gods gift where, by an act of the will, we embrace the promises of God and appropriate personally the provisions of God's grace. The believer, by faith, rests in the completeness and adequacy of the atoning merit of Christ's sacrifice as the sole ground and hope of salvation.
Scripture also teaches that good works characterize a regenerated life.
They spring from a true and living faith and are pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ. Justification and Regeneration. God justifies and regenerates sinners when they personally believe and repent Justification is a judicial act which absolves us of the guilt and punishment for sin and restores us to divine favour. Justification has to do with the changing of the sinners standing before God. Regeneration has to do with the changing of the sinner's nature through the impartation of divine life.