Chapter VII
CHAPTER VII: ON THE PARTS OF REPENTANCE IN GENERAL
§ 40. From this it is easily seen that there are two proper and essential parts of repentance, namely, contrition and faith. This is confirmed in general with these arguments.
(1) Repentance is a conversion, and for this reason it is called ּתְׁשּובָה [“return”] in Hebrew. But now, every conversion takes place between two limits, one of which is called the “starting point” [terminus a quo], and the other, the “ending point” [terminus ad quem]. Therefore repentance also has these two limits. The starting point is sins and a badly conducted life; from the consideration of them come grief and contrition. The ending point is God; confidence in His mercy promised for Christ the Mediator’s sake lifts a man’s heart. It is obvious from this that there are two parts of repentance, namely, contrition and faith. “We preach to you to be converted from these vain things to the living God, who made heaven and earth” (Acts 14:15). “I have kept back nothing that was profitable to you, but have preached it to you and taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and Gentiles repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:20–21). “I send you to open the eyes of the Gentiles, that they may be converted from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a lot among those who have been sanctified through the faith that is in Me” (Acts 26:[17–]18). The apostle says, “I preached to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God and do works worthy of repentance” ([Acts 26:]20). Assign here all the statements of Scripture in which those who are truly and seriously repentant are said to turn away from their sins to God; and see also the descriptions of the fathers which were cited earlier in § 8.
** It is shown that there are two parts of repentance also by the justice and mercy of God. Contrition is born from a consideration of the former; confidence comes from meditation on the latter. Dan. 9:5, 9, 18: “We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we were wicked.” (This is the first part of repentance.) “But Yours, O Lord, is mercy and forgiveness. It is not in our righteousnesses that we throw ourselves down,” etc. (This is the second part of repentance.) In Luke 24:47 Christ gives the command “to preach repentance” (that is, the knowledge of sin from the Law) “and the forgiveness of sins” (that is, faith from the Gospel). “I testified to them repentance and faith in Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). **
(2) However many chief kinds of heavenly doctrine there are, by whose ministry the Holy Spirit preaches true and salutary repentance and works the same in the hearts of men, there are that many parts of repentance. But now, there are two chief kinds of heavenly doctrine through which the Holy Spirit preaches and works repentance, namely, the Law and the Gospel, as is very evident and as can easily be proven from a sufficient listing of the other points of doctrine. Therefore there are two essential parts of repentance. The logical sequence of the major premise is obvious because each of these doctrines has its own unique and proper effect in converting a person. Although these two effects are different from each other, nevertheless they come together jointly to establish one common effect of repentance. The Law produces grief as it reveals the hatefulness of sin and God’s wrath against sin and accuses a person because of his transgression. The Gospel proclaims that Christ, who died on the altar of the cross for our sins, is the Mediator for a terrified and contrite person.
Here should be placed the following statements of Scripture. “The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to hell and brings back again” (1 Sam. 2:6). “The Lord chastising has chastised me, but He has not delivered me over to death” (Ps. 118:18). “My soul has fainted from distress; strengthen me.” (Ps. 119:28). “He does His strange work [opus alienum] that He may do His own [proprium]” (Isa. 28:21). “He dwells in the holy place and with a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isa. 57:15). The Lord lashes and cures. “In their tribulation, says the Lord, they will seek Me early in the morning, saying, Come, let us return to the Lord because He has struck us and will cure us” (Hosea 6:1[–2]). “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you” (Matt. 11:28). In these statements, “killing,” “striking,” “chastising,” etc., mean contrition; and “making alive,” “curing,” and “refreshing” express faith, which finds life, healing, and rest in Christ.
(3) However many essential parts there are in the actual practice of the truly repentant, that many essential parts of true and salutary repentance must be established. The logic of the consequence depends on the perpetual and exact relation of theory and practice. Yet two essential parts are witnessed in the practice of the truly repentant. Therefore the same number of parts, neither more nor less, must be established for true and salutary repentance. The minor premise is proved from a number of examples. The first parents who slipped so badly at the beginning were terrified by the threat of the Law and its declaration of punishments but were soon lifted up by the promise of the Gospel about the woman’s Seed (Gen. 3:15). At the first, David stood before the harsh tribunal of God, but then he heard the Gospel message (2 Sam. 12:13): “The Lord has put away your sin.” The sum of Christ’s preaching is contained in these words (Mark 1:15): “Repent and believe the Gospel.” With his finger John points to “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The sinful woman shows quite obvious signs of inner contrition and straightway hears from Christ (Luke 7:48, 50): “Your sins have been forgiven you. Your faith has saved you. Depart in peace.” The judgment must be the same regarding those who have true and salutary repentance.
(4) According to Christ’s teaching, repentance is salutary medicine for the soul placed against our spiritual maladies (Matt. 9:12–13): “Those who are well have no need for a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” Therefore just as recognition and healing of a disease are required in the care of the body, so also in the care of the soul the serious recognition and hatred of sin as a spiritual malady and its healing through faith in Christ are required. Ambrose (on Romans 3): “Through the Law comes the knowledge of sin; the annulling of it comes through faith.” That is why Christ Jesus, that faithful Samaritan, is said to use wine and oil in the healing of our wounds (Luke 10:34). The wine is sharp, but the oil is gentle. Ambrose (De poenit., 1, ch. 10): “Pour on wine and oil, not wine without oil, but that which fosters and that which bites back.”