Repentance is a deep, heartfelt sorrow for sin with a renunciation of sin. When one comes to the Lord to be saved, he is desperately in need of forgiveness for the sins he has committed. If these sins are not forgiven, they will take that person into a lost eternity. Knowing this moves a person to a feeling of dread and a desire to be completely forgiven, at any cost.

The radical change which true salvation brings means that one cannot mix the old life with the new. If one is hanging on to the past, he is not ready for entrance into the Kingdom of God. Repentance is the sinner’s key to Heaven—the only way he can approach God and receive divine favor. But when one turns to God with all of his heart, true repentance brings the abundant joy and peace of salvation into the life.

2 Chronicles 7:14; Isaiah 55:7; Matthew 4:17; Luke 13:2,3; Acts 3:19; 2 Corinthians 7:10