Repentance Quotes

“There are many things which are not needful. Riches are not needful. Health is not needful. Fine clothes are not needful. Noble friends are not needful. The favour of the world is not needful. Gifts and learning are not needful. Millions have reached heaven without these things. Thousands are reaching heaven every year without them. But no one ever reached heaven without "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
― J.C. Ryle, Repentance

“The inhabitants of heaven are not such a mixed multitude as many try to believe. They are all of one heart and one mind.”
― J.C. Ryle, Repentance: What it Means to Repent and Why We Must Do So

“Take heed, above all things, that your repentance is closely bound up with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Make sure that your convictions are convictions that never rest except at the foot of the cross on which Jesus Christ died. Judas Iscariot could say, I have sinned (Matthew 27:4), but he never turned to Jesus. Judas never looked by faith to Jesus, and therefore Judas died in his sins.”
― J.C. Ryle, Repentance: What it Means to Repent and Why We Must Do So

“Wherever faith is, there is repentance. Wherever repentance is, there is always faith.”
― J.C. Ryle, Repentance: What it Means to Repent and Why We Must Do So

“There never was a child who required schooling or education in order to learn deceitfulness, selfishness, anger, self-will, gluttony, pride, and foolishness.”
― J.C. Ryle, Repentance: What it Means to Repent and Why We Must Do So

“No one was ever sorry that he served the Lord. No one ever said at the end of his days, “I have read my Bible too much. I have thought of God too much. I have prayed too much. I have been too concerned about my soul.” Oh, no! The people of God would always say, “If I had my life to live over again, I would walk far more closely with God than I have done. I am sorry that I have not served God better, but I am not sorry that I have served Him. The way of Christ might have its cross, but it is a way of pleasantness and a path of peace.”
― J.C. Ryle, Repentance: What it Means to Repent and Why We Must Do So

“an unconverted, unrepentant person would not be happy if he got to heaven without a heart changed by the Holy Spirit. He would be a creature out of his proper element. He would have no ability to enjoy his holy abode. Without a repentant heart, he is not suitable for the inheritance of the saints in light (Colossians 1:12). We must repent if we want to go to heaven.”
― J.C. Ryle, Repentance: What it Means to Repent and Why We Must Do So

“Heaven is a prepared place, and those who go to heaven must be a prepared people. Our hearts must be in tune for the business of heaven, or else we would find heaven itself a miserable place to live. Our minds must be in harmony with those of the inhabitants of heaven, or else the society of heaven would soon be unbearable to us.”
― J.C. Ryle, Repentance: What it Means to Repent and Why We Must Do So

“The tears of repentance do not wash away any sins. It is bad theology to say that they do. That is the work of the blood of Christ alone. Repentance does not make any atonement for sin. It is terrible theology to say that it does. It can do nothing of the kind. Our best repentance is a poor, imperfect thing, and needs repenting over again. Our best repentance has enough defects about it to sink us into hell. “We are counted righteous before God only for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works or deservings,”1 not for our repentance, holiness, charity, receiving of sacraments, or anything of the kind. All this is perfectly true. However, it is no less true that justified people are always repentant people, and that a forgiven sinner will always be someone who mourns over and hates his sins.”
― J.C. Ryle, Repentance: What it Means to Repent and Why We Must Do So

“religious feelings are worse than worthless if they are not accompanied by practice. Mere emotional excitement, without completely breaking off from sin, is not the repentance that God approves.”
― J.C. Ryle, Repentance: What it Means to Repent and Why We Must Do So

“It is indifference that leaves people alone and allows them to go their own way. It is love, tender love, that warns them and raises the cry of alarm. The cry of “Fire! Fire!” at midnight might sometimes rudely, harshly, and unpleasantly startle a person out of his sleep, but who would complain if that cry was the means of saving his life? The words Except you repent, you will all likewise perish might at first seem stern and severe, but they are words of love, and they could be the means of delivering precious souls from hell.”
― J.C. Ryle, Repentance: What it Means to Repent and Why We Must Do So

“The door of mercy is set wide open. The door is not yet locked. The door can be opened. God’s heart is full of love. God’s heart is full of compassion. Whoever and whatever a person might have been, at midnight or at any time, whenever he returns to God, he will find God willing to receive him, ready to pardon him, and glad to have him at home. All things are ready. Whoever desires to enter can come in.”
― J.C. Ryle, Repentance: What it Means to Repent and Why We Must Do So

“The great debt with God must be settled. The King must be upon His throne. Then, and not until then, will there be peace within. Without repentance, there cannot be true happiness. We must repent if we want to be happy.”
― J.C. Ryle, Repentance: What it Means to Repent and Why We Must Do So