Absence of Repentance Brings
Spiritual Uncertainty

By A. W. Tozier

In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves;
if God peradventure will give them repentance to the
acknowledging of the truth.             -  -  2 Timothy 2:25

The man who is seriously convinced that he deserves to
go to hell is not likely to go there, while the man who
believes that he is worthy of heaven will certainly never
enter that blessed place.

I use the word "seriously" to accent true conviction and
to distinguish it from mere nominal belief.

It is possible to go through life believing that we believe,
while actually having no conviction more vital than a
conventional creed inherited from our ancestors or
picked up from the general religious notions current in
our social circle. If this creed requires that we admit our
own depravity, we do so and feel proud of our fidelity to
the Christian faith. But from the way we love, praise and
pamper ourselves it is plain enough that we do not
consider ourselves worthy of damnation!

The poor quality of Christian faith and the uncertain­ties
that mark the lives of a host of church members grow
out of our modern evangelistic scene's absence of real
repentance. So, too, the absence of repentance is the
result of an inadequate view of sin and sinfulness held
by those who present themselves in the inquiry room.

"No fears, no grace," said Bunyan. "Though there is
not always grace where there is fear of hell, yet, to be
sure, there is no grace where there is no fear of God.
For the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and
they that lack the beginning have neither middle nor
end."

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Yours in Christ,
Paul N. F.