All of Grace/How Repentance Is Given

From Gospel Translations

“Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.”—Acts 5:31

To return to the grand text: “Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour; for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” Our Lord Jesus Christ has gone up that grace may come down. His glory is employed to give greater currency to his grace. The Lord has not taken a step upward except with the design of bearing believing sinners upward with him. He is exalted to give repentance; and this we shall see if we remember a few great truths.

Possible, available, and acceptable

The work which our Lord Jesus has done has made repentance possible, available, and acceptable. The law makes no mention of repentance, but says plainly, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Eze 18:20). If the Lord Jesus had not died and risen again and gone unto the Father, what would your repenting or mine be worth? We might feel remorse with its horrors, but never repentance with its hopes. Repentance, as a natural feeling, is a common duty deserving no great praise: indeed, it is so generally mingled with a selfish fear of punishment, that the kindliest estimate makes but little of it. Had not Jesus interposed and wrought out a wealth of merit, our tears of repentance would have been so much water spilt upon the ground. Jesus is exalted on high, that through the virtue of his intercession repentance may have a place before God. In this respect he gives us repentance, because he puts repentance into a position of acceptance, which otherwise it could never have occupied.