Am I Truly Repentant?

John 16:8

Have you ever wondered am I truly repentant? Or am I sorry enough?

We know what God’s word says, that it demands you repent and believe the gospel. But have we repented enough? God tells us something extremely comforting when it comes to repentance in his word. In John chapter 16 verse 8 he says this.

When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin. –John 16:8

Jesus is talking about the coming of the Holy Spirit. We often think about the Holy Spirit as the one who creates faith in our hearts or the one who sustains faith or the one who helps us to do good works out of thankfulness for what God has done. And the scriptures tell us also that the Holy Spirit has a foreign or alien work. And that work is convicting us of our sin.

It is the Holy Spirit, who is at work when we hear God’s command and we recognize that we have not followed them but have disobeyed them in so many ways. It is the Holy Spirit who leads us to feel guilt over our sin.

But he doesn’t leave us there. The Holy Spirit tears us down with God’s Word, with his law, that he might build us up with the gospel, to point us to Christ. To reassure us that Jesus has forgiven those sins that we’ve done wrong.

So when it comes to repentance and the question, am I sorry enough? Have I repented enough?

Don’t be worried about that.

You have.

Because the work is done not by you, but has been done in you by God the Holy Spirit. Who has also led you to Christ and faith in him. Amen.

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