The difference between salutary and destructive contrition.
The difference between salutary and destructive contrition.
§ 68. Yet there must be a distinction between the true and salutary contrition of the genuinely devout and the false, destructive contrition of hypocrites, the wicked, and the despairing. (1) In the serious terrors of conscience, the devout regard God Himself as the principal object of their sin, and they grieve only because of offending Him (as the supreme good). But the hypocrites fear the judgments of their own and others’ minds and are disturbed by their consideration of punishment rather than of fault.
(2) The devout acknowledge not only their very serious actual sins but also the source of all actual sins, namely, the original fall; they acknowledge not only their outward sins but also the inner corruption of their nature; and they grieve over all these seriously. “Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and in sin was my mother warmed concerning me” (Ps. 51:5). Tertullian (De poenit., p. 553): “Sins not only of deed but also of will must be avoided and cleansed by repentance; for if human meanness judges by deeds alone, because the will is incapable of hiding [the sins], then we must not neglect its crimes under God. God is sufficient in all things; nothing is far from His sight. For this reason wrong is certainly being done,” etc. But hypocrites, whenever it may be that they acknowledge them, acknowledge only their external failings.
(3) The devout admit that they have earned punishments not only for this life but also for the life to come. Thus they are seriously grieved, but in turn they lift themselves up by faith in Christ. The hypocrites very often fear only the punishments of this life. If they rise up to a consideration of eternal punishments, they are carried off into the pit of despair.
(4) The devout acknowledge and confess that God and His judgments are just while it is characteristic of hypocrites to excuse their sins and to rail at God’s righteousness.
Therefore there is a distinction between the contrition of the devout and of hypocrites on the basis of these points, and almost the same distinction exists in the repentance of the devout and that of hypocrites. The devout grieve earnestly and cease their sinning; the wicked feign penitence but continue on, secure in their sins. The devout grieve earnestly but by faith overcome those griefs; the despairing also grieve seriously, but because they lack true faith in Christ, they are overcome by terrors. Thus we wish the true and salutary contrition of the devout to be understood in the same way in which we said that contrition is a work of the Holy Spirit. The contrition of hypocrites, of the wicked, and of the despairing very often begins from the old man and from the natural powers of free choice.