Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1876-12-07
[original.]
REPENTANCE.

Before any OF the human race can enter
heaven, two changes must take place. A
change of heart, by which they shall become
new creatures and change of action, by
which they shall cease to serve Satan and
serve God. No man can enter heaven unless
he is born again, and no man will be permit
ted to enjoy the blessing of forgiveness, until
he repents of his sin. Regeneration, repent
ance and sancti6cation, must take place before
a lost sinner can see Gods fate in peace.
These three things have the same origin and
maybe regarded as only a different aspect of
the same thing. Regeneration is an act Of
the Holy Spirit by which sinner, dead in
trespasses and sins, is quickened into life. 1t
is called in the Scriptures "being born
again." or being "begotten from above"
These quotations give US clear idea of what
is meant by regeneration. We are, by nature,
spiritually dead. The Holy Spirit impsrts
to US the principle of spiritual life. -
Repentance, as it is now used, simply de-
notes turning from sin. Many of the seven
teenth century divines made regeneration and
repentance the same thing. Atpresent, theo-
logians generally regard regeneration as de-
noting that act of the Holy Spirit, by which
a new life is implanted in the soul; and re-.
pentance that gracious work Of the Holy
Spirit by which sinner is enabled to turn
from his SINS Sancti6cation is also work Of
Gods spirit, and is that peculiar work by
which the regenerated and repenting sinner is
made holy. Regeneration, repentance and
sanctifcation cannot be separated. The soul
that is quickened into life, loathes and abhors
sin and turns from it. So soon as an individ-
nal experiences a godly sorrow for sin, he
commences to serve God and this act Of be-
coming holy is sancti6cation. -s
Practically, it is question of the greatest
Importance to every one of US, to know wheth-
er we have been born from above or not.
Are we dead in trespasses and sins, or have
we been quickened into lifef Have We any
means by which we can arrive at some satis-
factory conclusion on this important subject
We are unable to discover, by the aid of any
or all of our FIVE senses, the vital principle
that animates our natural bodies; yet we are
certain we live. We come to this conclusion
because we see and feel the motions Of life
within US. Our bodies are, in some way, un-
der the control of principle that we call life.
In the same way, we may judge with regard
to our spiritual condition. By nature, all
mankind are in the same condition-all are
dead in trespasses and sins. There was a
time in the history of US all when we were
spiritually dead. If any are spiritually alive
it is because they have been quickened into
life by Gods Holy Spirit. Now, if we have
been born again, we have repented Of our sins
and commenced to serve the Lord. The
functions of living creature is motion of
some kind. The functions of spiritual life is
ceasing to sin and serving the Lord.
IF We will each ask ourselves the question,
"Do act as I always have acted, and do l
feel as 1 always have felt, we will be able to
discover the true state of the case. If we
hate sin because God hates it; and if we
struggle against it as against a strong man,
who would deprive US Of our existence; and
if, at the same time, we try to serve God with
our bodies and our spirits, we have good evil
dence that we have been born again. If, on
the other hand, we are just living as we have
always lived, loving sin and practicing sin
hating holiness and refusing to serve the Lord,
we have no comforting evidence that we have
passed from death unto life.
Many of US are apt to conclude that joining
the Church and repentance are thesame thing.
They are not. 1t is possible to join the
Church without having repented; but under
ordinary circumstances the true penitent will
ioin the Church. The highest authority says,
"by their fruits ye shall know them" If we
are not serving God, we are barren fig trees.
We must bring forth fruits meet for repen'
tance. That We may be sure we have actu-
ally repented, it is not enough that We find
that we have ceased to sin as we once did,
We may be physically unable to sin as We
did at one period of our life. The surest test
of repentance is life devoted to the service
of God. An unregenerated man may, for
various causes, cease to sin but still not serve
God.