Chapter Vii: Legal Motives To Repentance
depended on it. We should behave like a cripple or a leper on the road, sitting down, uncovering our wounds of sin, and constantly crying out to God, saying, "Look upon us with your eyes and have compassion in your heart," just as they seek alms from passersby.
This is what the prophet Hosea teaches the people, saying, "O Israel, return to the Lord your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take with you words and return to the Lord, saying, 'Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips.'" Daniel also prays, "We do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, pay attention and act.
Delay not, for your own sake, O my God." David, in his prayer, implores, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions."
The final duty is to pray to God for grace and strength so that we may walk in newness of life. Like David, we should express our desire for God's commandments and ask to be revived in His righteousness.
We should request His guidance in doing His will, for He is our God, and ask for His good Spirit to lead us on the path of righteousness.
CHAPTER VII:
LEGAL MOTIVES TO REPENTANCE
Motives to repentance can be categorized as either legal or evangelical. Legal motives are derived from the law, and there are three primary ones.
The first motive is the wretched and cursed state of every unrepentant sinner in this life due to their sins.
This misery can be understood in seven ways, so as to be grasped by even the simplest mind:
1. It resides within the sinner, affecting their inner being.
2. It looms ahead of them, casting a shadow on their future.
3. It follows behind them, leaving a trail of guilt and shame.
4. It surrounds them on their right hand, leaving no escape.
5. It envelops them on their left hand, restricting their options.
6. It hovers over their head, a constant reminder of their transgressions.
7. It lies beneath their feet, as a foundation of despair and spiritual emptiness.
His inner misery is twofold. The first is a guilty conscience, which is a true hell for the ungodly person. They are like a helpless prisoner, and the conscience acts as their jailer, constantly following and tracking their every move, observing their words and actions. It is like a recording clerk, always ready with a pen in hand, documenting and recording all their wickedness for eternal remembrance. It serves as a judge within, residing in the depths of their heart, bringing accusations in this life for their sins, just as they will be accused in the final judgment. Therefore, the anguish, terror, and fears experienced by impenitent individuals are like flashes of hellfire. A guilty conscience makes a person restless, like someone lying on a narrow bed with a short covering, desperately wanting to sleep but unable to find rest. When Belshazzar was reveling in his merriment and saw the handwriting on the wall, he was overcome with great fear, his face turned pale, and his knees trembled.
The second evil within a person is the dreadful slavery and bondage under the power of Satan, the Prince of darkness. Their mind, will, and affections are so tightly bound and attached to the will of the devil that they can do nothing but obey him and rebel against God.
This is why Satan is referred to as the ruler of this world, as he maintains a stronghold in the heart, like an armed captain guarding a fortress or castle with constant vigilance.
The misery before a person is a dangerous snare that the devil sets to destroy their soul. It is indeed dangerous because he sets it up twenty
or forty years before striking, when people least expect it. It consists of three elements. Firstly, the devil lures individuals into his snare by concealing the misery and poison of sin, while presenting its deceitful profits and pleasures to the mind's eye. Secondly, he ensnares them by sweetening the sin they are drawn into with enticing delights, causing them to live and remain entangled in it.
Lastly, he tightens the snare and exerts all his might to break the neck of the soul. When a suitable opportunity arises, especially in times of great calamity or during the hour of death, he removes the mask of sin and reveals its true and ugly form, terrifying and accusing the soul, aiming to engulf it in the depths of final despair.
The misery behind a person is the weight of past sins. The Lord said to Cain, "If you do not do well, sin lies at the door," comparing sin to a wild beast that follows a person wherever they go, lurking at their heels. Though it may appear harmless for a time while it lies dormant, unless people repent, it will eventually rise up, seize them, and tear at the very core of their souls. Job, in his affliction, said,
"You write bitter things against me and make me possess the sins of my youth." David prayed, "Forgive me the sins of my youth." If the memory of past sins is a burden to the righteous person, imagine the torment it will be for the heart of someone devoid of grace.
The misery on the right hand is prosperity and ease, which, due to man's sin, becomes an occasion for many judgments. In such times, people engage in the abominable sins of Sodom. It inflates the heart with devilish pride, leading individuals to think of themselves as equal to God, as Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus,
Alexander, Herod, and Domitian did. It draws people's hearts away from God and extinguishes the sparks of grace, as the Lord laments about the Israelites who refused to listen when they were in prosperity. It is like ivy that embraces a tree, but drains its sap and life. Consequently, many turn prosperity into a pathway to their own destruction. Solomon says, "Prosperity of fools destroys them."
When the spleen swells, the rest of the body wastes away, and when the heart is swollen with pride, the whole person is in danger of
destruction. The sheep that grazes in the best pasture quickly heads to the slaughterhouse, and the ungodly person fattens themselves with continuous prosperity, hastening their own damnation.
The misery on the left hand is adversity, encompassing all sorts of losses and calamities such as loss of goods, friends, good reputation, and so on. Read more about this in Deuteronomy 28.
The misery over his head is the wrath of God, which is manifested in various heavenly judgments. Every impenitent sinner is under constant threat from this wrath. The danger is immense. The Scripture says, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God." God has storehouses full of all kinds of judgments, and they await secure sinners who cannot escape. God's wrath is like a devastating fire that destroys everything it touches. In fact, its terribleness is heightened by God's slowness to anger. It is as if a man restrains his hand for a while, only to strike with greater force.
When dumb creatures melt like wax and vanish in His presence, frail humans should never expect to stand. If the roar of a lion instills fear and the voice of thunder is terrifying, then all should be greatly astonished at the threats of God.
The misery under his feet is Hellfire. Until a person repents, they are in as much danger of damnation as a captured traitor is of hanging, drawing, and quartering. Imagine a man walking along a path who suddenly falls into a deep dungeon filled with hideous serpents and noxious beasts. As he falls, he manages to grab onto a twig of a tree growing at the dungeon's entrance and hangs onto it. However, a lean and famished beast approaches and starts nibbling at the twig he's holding onto. What is the danger for this man? Surely he is at risk of falling into the pit beneath him. Well, this man represents every impenitent sinner. The pit is hell, prepared for the devil and his angels. The twig is the fragile and brittle life of a person. The hungry beast is death, ready to snap our lives apart at any moment. The danger is terrifying because if a person is hanging over the mouth of
hell when their life ends and they haven't taken proper measures before dying, they will fall straight into its depths.
If this is the misery surrounding the careless person on all sides due to their sins, why do people remain in the dead sleep of complacency? Oh, they should strongly lament and howl like dragons for their offenses. Even if they could weep tears of blood for their sins or die a thousand deaths in one day due to sheer grief, it would never be enough to express their remorse for their sins.
The second motive to prompt people to repentance is the consideration of the wretched state of an impenitent sinner in death.
Death is nothing but the wages and recompense one receives for their sin, and it serves as the very outskirts, or rather the gates, of hell. Saint Paul compares death to a scorpion, carrying a sting in its tail, which is sin. So when impenitent and profane individuals die, this scorpion comes and grasps them with its legs and stabs them at the heart with its sting. Therefore, the best course of action is to remove the sting of death before it arrives. And nothing can do it except the blood of Christ. Thus, people must abandon their sins through repentance, approach the throne of grace, and cry out for mercy. They should fill heaven and earth with their pleas for forgiveness. Oh, pray, pray, pray for the pardon of your sins. If you obtain even a drop of God's special mercy in Christ, all danger is past. Death has lost its sting, and then a person can embrace an ugly serpent in their bosom without any danger.
The third motive is the consideration of one's state after death. When the day of the last judgment arrives, the person must be brought and placed before the judgment seat of Christ. They will be unable to escape or hide themselves. At that time, the books will be brought out, and all their sins will be revealed before God's saints and angels.
The devil and their own conscience will accuse them, and there will be no advocate to plead their case. They themselves will be speechless. Finally, they will hear the dreadful sentence of damnation: "Go, you cursed, into hell prepared for the devil and his
angels." This realization should compel even the vilest atheist in the world to abandon their wicked ways and seek to amend their life. We observe that even the strongest thief, when being led from prison to the courtroom, ceases their thieving and behaves orderly. And indeed, if they were to pick a pocket at that moment, it would be high time for them to be hanged. By nature, all human beings are traitors and wrongdoers against God. As long as we live in this world, we are on a journey toward the judgment seat of God. The wheel of the heavens turns every day, slowly winding up the thread of our lives.
Whether we sleep or wake, we are continually drawing closer to our end. Therefore, let all people humble themselves daily for their sins and pray to God for reconciliation in Christ. Let them strive to obey all of God's commandments in their lives and vocations.
After the last judgment, there awaits him the eternal death, which consists of three things. First, a separation from all joy and comfort in the presence of God. Second, an eternal companionship with the devil and his angels. Third, the dreadful wrath of God, which will seize the body, soul, and conscience, consuming them like fire does to pitch and brimstone. It will torment them like a worm crawling in the body and gnawing at the heart. They will be in a constant state of dying, without ever experiencing death, in perpetual suffering without respite. And this death is all the more grievous because it is everlasting.
Imagine the entire world as a mountain of sand, and a bird must carry away a mouthful of sand from it every thousand years.
Countless thousands of years would pass before the bird could remove the entire mountain. Now, if a person were to endure torment for so long and then have an end to their misery, it would offer some comfort. But when the bird has carried away the mountain a thousand times, alas, a person will be just as far from the end of their anguish and torment as they were before. This contemplation should serve as a stern whip to drive people away from their wicked lives. Chrysostom suggested that during