“Continual Repentance” is a phrase that I first heard in college. It was new to me then and also interesting. Repentance is when you turn from your sins. If you sin, then you repent. So, I didn’t quite understand how you can repent continually.
But then I really began to read and learn and grow. I began to understand the human heart. I began to understand how sinful we are. We need to repent of specific sins, and we also need to repent of our sinful hearts. We are selfish and our selfishness taints all what we do. We need to be continually turning from our selfishness to Christ. We need to be continually repenting.
Our Mens Bible Study this week (Wednesday morning 10am) and our Ladies Bible Study this week (Thursday Morning 10am) will be on this subject.
Here is a quote from John Calvin on the subject:
“Therefore, I think he has profited greatly who has learned to be very much displeased with himself, not so as to stick fast in this mire and progress no farther, but rather to hasten to God and yearn for him in order that, having been engrafted into the life and death of Christ, he may give attention to continual repentance.”