Steps to Christ, p. 23 
SC 23
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Chapter 3—Repentance {SC 23}

How shall a man be just with God? How shall the sinner be made 
righteous? It is only through Christ that we can be brought into 
harmony with God, with holiness; but how are we to come to 
Christ? Many are asking the same question as did the multitude 
on the Day of Pentecost, when, convicted of sin, they cried out, 
“What shall we do?” The first word of Peter's answer was, 
“Repent.” Acts 2:37, 38. At another time, shortly after, he 
said, “Repent, ... and be converted, that your sins may be 
blotted out.” Acts 3:19. {SC 23.1}

Repentance includes sorrow for sin and a turning away from it. 
We shall not renounce sin unless we see its sinfulness; until we 
turn away from it in heart, there will be no real change in the 
life. {SC 23.2}

There are many who fail to understand the true nature of 
repentance. Multitudes sorrow that they have sinned and even 
make an outward reformation because they fear that their 
wrongdoing will bring suffering upon themselves. But this is not 
repentance in the Bible sense. They lament the suffering rather 
than the sin. Such was the grief of Esau when he saw that the 
birthright was lost to him forever. Balaam, terrified by the 
angel standing in his pathway with drawn sword, acknowledged his 
guilt lest he should lose his life; but there was no genuine 
repentance for sin, no conversion of purpose, no abhorrence of 
evil. Judas Iscariot, after betraying his Lord, exclaimed, “I 
have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.” 
Matthew 27:4. {SC 23.3}

The confession was forced from his guilty soul by an awful sense 
of condemnation and a fearful looking for of judgment. The 
consequences that were to result to him filled him with terror, 
but there was no deep, heartbreaking grief in his soul, that he 
had betrayed the spotless Son of God and denied the Holy One of 
Israel. Pharaoh, when suffering under the judgments of God, 
acknowledged his sin in order to escape further punishment, but 
returned to his defiance of Heaven as soon as the plagues were 
stayed. These all lamented the results of sin, but did not 
sorrow for the sin itself. {SC 24.1}

But when the heart yields to the influence of the Spirit of God, 
the conscience will be quickened, and the sinner will discern 
something of the depth and sacredness of God's holy law, the 
foundation of His government in heaven and on earth. The 
“Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the 
world,” illumines the secret chambers of the soul, and the 
hidden things of darkness are made manifest. John 1:9. 
Conviction takes hold upon the mind and heart. The sinner has a 
sense of the righteousness of Jehovah and feels the terror of 
appearing, in his own guilt and uncleanness, before the Searcher 
of hearts. He sees the love of God, the beauty of holiness, the 
joy of purity; he longs to be cleansed and to be restored to 
communion with Heaven. {SC 24.2}

The prayer of David after his fall, illustrates the nature of 
true sorrow for sin. His repentance was sincere and deep. There 
was no effort to palliate his guilt; no desire to escape the 
judgment threatened, inspired his prayer. David saw the enormity 
of his transgression; he saw the defilement of his soul; he 
loathed his sin. It was not for pardon only that he prayed, but 
for purity of heart. He longed for the joy of holiness—to be 
restored to harmony and communion with God. This was the 
language of his soul: {SC 24.3}

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
 whose sin is covered.
 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord
 imputeth not iniquity,
 And in whose spirit there is no guile.” {SC 25.1}

Psalm 32:1, 2. {SC 25}

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy loving-kindness: 
According unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my 
transgressions.... For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my 
sin is ever before me.... Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be 
clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.... Create in me 
a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me. Cast 
me not away from Thy presence; And take not Thy Holy Spirit from 
me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; And uphold me with 
Thy free spirit.... Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou 
God of my salvation: And my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy 
righteousness.” {SC 25.2}

Psalm 51:1-14. {SC 25}

A repentance such as this, is beyond the reach of our own power 
to accomplish; it is obtained only from Christ, who ascended up 
on high and has given gifts unto men. {SC 25.3}

Just here is a point on which many may err, and hence they fail 
of receiving the help that Christ desires to give them. They 
think that they cannot come to Christ unless they first repent, 
and that repentance prepares for the forgiveness of their sins. 
It is true that repentance does precede the forgiveness of sins; 
for it is only the broken and contrite heart that will feel the 
need of a Saviour. But must the sinner wait till he has repented 
before he can come to Jesus? Is repentance to be made an 
obstacle between the sinner and the Saviour? {SC 26.1}

The Bible does not teach that the sinner must repent before he 
can heed the invitation of Christ, “Come unto Me, all ye that 
labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 
11:28. It is the virtue that goes forth from Christ, that leads 
to genuine repentance. Peter made the matter clear in his 
statement to the Israelites when he said, “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. We can no more repent without the Spirit of Christ to 
awaken the conscience than we can be pardoned without Christ. 
{SC 26.2}

Christ is the source of every right impulse. He is the only one 
that can implant in the heart enmity against sin. Every desire 
for truth and purity, every conviction of our own sinfulness, is 
an evidence that His Spirit is moving upon our hearts. {SC 26.3}

Jesus has said, “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will 
draw all men unto Me.” John 12:32. Christ must be revealed to 
the sinner as the Saviour dying for the sins of the world; and 
as we behold the Lamb of God upon the cross of Calvary, the 
mystery of redemption begins to unfold to our minds and the 
goodness of God leads us to repentance. In dying for sinners, 
Christ manifested a love that is incomprehensible; and as the 
sinner beholds this love, it softens the heart, impresses the 
mind, and inspires contrition in the soul. {SC 26.4}

It is true that men sometimes become ashamed of their sinful 
ways, and give up some of their evil habits, before they are 
conscious that they are being drawn to Christ. But whenever they 
make an effort to reform, from a sincere desire to do right, it 
is the power of Christ that is drawing them. An influence of 
which they are unconscious works upon the soul, and the 
conscience is quickened, and the outward life is amended. And as 
Christ draws them to look upon His cross, to behold Him whom 
their sins have pierced, the commandment comes home to the 
conscience. The wickedness of their life, the deep-seated sin of 
the soul, is revealed to them. They begin to comprehend 
something of the righteousness of Christ, and exclaim, “What 
is sin, that it should require such a sacrifice for the 
redemption of its victim? Was all this love, all this suffering, 
all this humiliation, demanded, that we might not perish, but 
have everlasting life?” {SC 27.1}

The sinner may resist this love, may refuse to be drawn to 
Christ; but if he does not resist he will be drawn to Jesus; a 
knowledge of the plan of salvation will lead him to the foot of 
the cross in repentance for his sins, which have caused the 
sufferings of God's dear Son. {SC 27.2}

The same divine mind that is working upon the things of nature 
is speaking to the hearts of men and creating an inexpressible 
craving for something they have not. The things of the world 
cannot satisfy their longing. The Spirit of God is pleading with 
them to seek for those things that alone can give peace and 
rest—the grace of Christ, the joy of holiness. Through 
influences seen and unseen, our Saviour is constantly at work to 
attract the minds of men from the unsatisfying pleasures of sin 
to the infinite blessings that may be theirs in Him. To all 
these souls, who are vainly seeking to drink from the broken 
cisterns of this world, the divine message is addressed, “Let 
him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the 
water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17. {SC 28.1}

You who in heart long for something better than this world can 
give, recognize this longing as the voice of God to your soul. 
Ask Him to give you repentance, to reveal Christ to you in His 
infinite love, in His perfect purity. In the Saviour's life the 
principles of God's law—love to God and man—were perfectly 
exemplified. Benevolence, unselfish love, was the life of His 
soul. It is as we behold Him, as the light from our Saviour 
falls upon us, that we see the sinfulness of our own hearts. {SC 
28.2}

We may have flattered ourselves, as did Nicodemus, that our life 
has been upright, that our moral character is correct, and think 
that we need not humble the heart before God, like the common 
sinner: but when the light from Christ shines into our souls, we 
shall see how impure we are; we shall discern the selfishness of 
motive, the enmity against God, that has defiled every act of 
life. Then we shall know that our own righteousness is indeed as 
filthy rags, and that the blood of Christ alone can cleanse us 
from the defilement of sin, and renew our hearts in His own 
likeness. {SC 28.3}

One ray of the glory of God, one gleam of the purity of Christ, 
penetrating the soul, makes every spot of defilement painfully 
distinct, and lays bare the deformity and defects of the human 
character. It makes apparent the unhallowed desires, the 
infidelity of the heart, the impurity of the lips. The sinner's 
acts of disloyalty in making void the law of God, are exposed to 
his sight, and his spirit is stricken and afflicted under the 
searching influence of the Spirit of God. He loathes himself as 
he views the pure, spotless character of Christ. {SC 29.1}

When the prophet Daniel beheld the glory surrounding the 
heavenly messenger that was sent unto him, he was overwhelmed 
with a sense of his own weakness and imperfection. Describing 
the effect of the wonderful scene, he says, “There remained no 
strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into 
corruption, and I retained no strength.” Daniel 10:8. The soul 
thus touched will hate its selfishness, abhor its self-love, and 
will seek, through Christ's righteousness, for the purity of 
heart that is in harmony with the law of God and the character 
of Christ. {SC 29.2}

Paul says that as “touching the righteousness which is in the 
law”—as far as outward acts were concerned—he was 
“blameless” (Philippians 3:6); but when the spiritual 
character of the law was discerned, he saw himself a sinner. 
Judged by the letter of the law as men apply it to the outward 
life, he had abstained from sin; but when he looked into the 
depths of its holy precepts, and saw himself as God saw him, he 
bowed in humiliation and confessed his guilt. He says, “I was 
alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin 
revived, and I died.” Romans 7:9. When he saw the spiritual 
nature of the law, sin appeared in its true hideousness, and his 
self-esteem was gone. {SC 29.3}

God does not regard all sins as of equal magnitude; there are 
degrees of guilt in His estimation, as well as in that of man; 
but however trifling this or that wrong act may seem in the eyes 
of men, no sin is small in the sight of God. Man's judgment is 
partial, imperfect; but God estimates all things as they really 
are. The drunkard is despised and is told that his sin will 
exclude him from heaven; while pride, selfishness, and 
covetousness too often go unrebuked. But these are sins that are 
especially offensive to God; for they are contrary to the 
benevolence of His character, to that unselfish love which is 
the very atmosphere of the unfallen universe. He who falls into 
some of the grosser sins may feel a sense of his shame and 
poverty and his need of the grace of Christ; but pride feels no 
need, and so it closes the heart against Christ and the infinite 
blessings He came to give. {SC 30.1}

The poor publican who prayed, “God be merciful to me a 
sinner” (Luke 18:13), regarded himself as a very wicked man, 
and others looked upon him in the same light; but he felt his 
need, and with his burden of guilt and shame he came before God, 
asking for His mercy. His heart was open for the Spirit of God 
to do its gracious work and set him free from the power of sin. 
The Pharisee's boastful, self-righteous prayer showed that his 
heart was closed against the influence of the Holy Spirit. 
Because of his distance from God, he had no sense of his own 
defilement, in contrast with the perfection of the divine 
holiness. He felt no need, and he received nothing. {SC 30.2}

If you see your sinfulness, do not wait to make yourself better. 
How many there are who think they are not good enough to come to 
Christ. Do you expect to become better through your own efforts? 
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? 
then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” 
Jeremiah 13:23. There is help for us only in God. We must not 
wait for stronger persuasions, for better opportunities, or for 
holier tempers. We can do nothing of ourselves. We must come to 
Christ just as we are. {SC 31.1}

But let none deceive themselves with the thought that God, in 
His great love and mercy, will yet save even the rejecters of 
His grace. The exceeding sinfulness of sin can be estimated only 
in the light of the cross. When men urge that God is too good to 
cast off the sinner, let them look to Calvary. It was because 
there was no other way in which man could be saved, because 
without this sacrifice it was impossible for the human race to 
escape from the defiling power of sin, and be restored to 
communion with holy beings,—impossible for them again to 
become partakers of spiritual life,—it was because of this 
that Christ took upon Himself the guilt of the disobedient and 
suffered in the sinner's stead. The love and suffering and death 
of the Son of God all testify to the terrible enormity of sin 
and declare that there is no escape from its power, no hope of 
the higher life, but through the submission of the soul to 
Christ. {SC 31.2}

The impenitent sometimes excuse themselves by saying of 
professed Christians, “I am as good as they are. They are no 
more self-denying, sober, or circumspect in their conduct than I 
am. They love pleasure and self-indulgence as well as I do.” 
Thus they make the faults of others an excuse for their own 
neglect of duty. But the sins and defects of others do not 
excuse anyone, for the Lord has not given us an erring human 
pattern. The spotless Son of God has been given as our example, 
and those who complain of the wrong course of professed 
Christians are the ones who should show better lives and nobler 
examples. If they have so high a conception of what a Christian 
should be, is not their own sin so much the greater? They know 
what is right, and yet refuse to do it. {SC 32.1}

Beware of procrastination. Do not put off the work of forsaking 
your sins and seeking purity of heart through Jesus. Here is 
where thousands upon thousands have erred to their eternal loss. 
I will not here dwell upon the shortness and uncertainty of 
life; but there is a terrible danger—a danger not sufficiently 
understood—in delaying to yield to the pleading voice of God's 
Holy Spirit, in choosing to live in sin; for such this delay 
really is. Sin, however small it may be esteemed, can be 
indulged in only at the peril of infinite loss. What we do not 
overcome, will overcome us and work out our destruction. {SC 
32.2}

Adam and Eve persuaded themselves that in so small a matter as 
eating of the forbidden fruit there could not result such 
terrible consequences as God had declared. But this small matter 
was the transgression of God's immutable and holy law, and it 
separated man from God and opened the floodgates of death and 
untold woe upon our world. Age after age there has gone up from 
our earth a continual cry of mourning, and the whole creation 
groaneth and travaileth together in pain as a consequence of 
man's disobedience. Heaven itself has felt the effects of his 
rebellion against God. Calvary stands as a memorial of the 
amazing sacrifice required to atone for the transgression of the 
divine law. Let us not regard sin as a trivial thing. {SC 33.1}

Every act of transgression, every neglect or rejection of the 
grace of Christ, is reacting upon yourself; it is hardening the 
heart, depraving the will, benumbing the understanding, and not 
only making you less inclined to yield, but less capable of 
yielding, to the tender pleading of God's Holy Spirit. {SC 33.2}

Many are quieting a troubled conscience with the thought that 
they can change a course of evil when they choose; that they can 
trifle with the invitations of mercy, and yet be again and again 
impressed. They think that after doing despite to the Spirit of 
grace, after casting their influence on the side of Satan, in a 
moment of terrible extremity they can change their course. But 
this is not so easily done. The experience, the education, of a 
lifetime, has so thoroughly molded the character that few then 
desire to receive the image of Jesus. {SC 33.3}

Even one wrong trait of character, one sinful desire, 
persistently cherished, will eventually neutralize all the power 
of the gospel. Every sinful indulgence strengthens the soul's 
aversion to God. The man who manifests an infidel hardihood, or 
a stolid indifference to divine truth, is but reaping the 
harvest of that which he has himself sown. In all the Bible 
there is not a more fearful warning against trifling with evil 
than the words of the wise man that the sinner “shall be 
holden with the cords of his sins.” Proverbs 5:22. {SC 34.1}

Christ is ready to set us free from sin, but He does not force 
the will; and if by persistent transgression the will itself is 
wholly bent on evil, and we do not desire to be set free, if we 
will not accept His grace, what more can He do? We have 
destroyed ourselves by our determined rejection of His love. 
“Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of 
salvation.” “Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not 
your hearts.” 2 Corinthians 6:2; Hebrews 3:7, 8. {SC 34.2}

“Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh 
on the heart”—the human heart, with its conflicting emotions 
of joy and sorrow; the wandering, wayward heart, which is the 
abode of so much impurity and deceit. 1 Samuel 16:7. He knows 
its motives, its very intents and purposes. Go to Him with your 
soul all stained as it is. Like the psalmist, throw its chambers 
open to the all-seeing eye, exclaiming, “Search me, O God, and 
know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be 
any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” 
Psalm 139:23, 24. {SC 34.3}

Many accept an intellectual religion, a form of godliness, when 
the heart is not cleansed. Let it be your prayer, “Create in 
me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” 
Psalm 51:10. Deal truly with your own soul. Be as earnest, as 
persistent, as you would be if your mortal life were at stake. 
This is a matter to be settled between God and your own soul, 
settled for eternity. A supposed hope, and nothing more, will 
prove your ruin. {SC 35.1}

Study God's word prayerfully. That word presents before you, in 
the law of God and the life of Christ, the great principles of 
holiness, without which “no man shall see the Lord.” Hebrews 
12:14. It convinces of sin; it plainly reveals the way of 
salvation. Give heed to it as the voice of God speaking to your 
soul. {SC 35.2}

As you see the enormity of sin, as you see yourself as you 
really are, do not give up to despair. It was sinners that 
Christ came to save. We have not to reconcile God to us, but—O 
wondrous love!—God in Christ is “reconciling the world unto 
Himself.” 2 Corinthians 5:19. He is wooing by His tender love 
the hearts of His erring children. No earthly parent could be as 
patient with the faults and mistakes of his children, as is God 
with those He seeks to save. No one could plead more tenderly 
with the transgressor. No human lips ever poured out more tender 
entreaties to the wanderer than does He. All His promises, His 
warnings, are but the breathing of unutterable love. {SC 35.3}

When Satan comes to tell you that you are a great sinner, look 
up to your Redeemer and talk of His merits. That which will help 
you is to look to His light. Acknowledge your sin, but tell the 
enemy that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save 
sinners” and that you may be saved by His matchless love. 1 
Timothy 1:15. Jesus asked Simon a question in regard to two 
debtors. One owed his Lord a small sum, and the other owed him a 
very large sum; but he forgave them both, and Christ asked Simon 
which debtor would love his Lord most. Simon answered, “He to 
whom he forgave most.” Luke 7:43. We have been great sinners, 
but Christ died that we might be forgiven. The merits of His 
sacrifice are sufficient to present to the Father in our behalf. 
Those to whom He has forgiven most will love Him most, and will 
stand nearest to His throne to praise Him for His great love and 
infinite sacrifice. It is when we most fully comprehend the love 
of God that we best realize the sinfulness of sin. When we see 
the length of the chain that was let down for us, when we 
understand something of the infinite sacrifice that Christ has 
made in our behalf, the heart is melted with tenderness and 
contrition. {SC 35.4}