The Doctrine of Repentance

Written by Thomas Watson

Narrated by Mark Christensen

Repentance is not optional. It is not left to our choice whether or not we will repent, but it is an indispensable command. God has enacted a law in the High Court of heaven that no sinner will be saved except the repenting sinner, and he will not break his own law. No one can willfully continue in sin and expect to be covered by the blood of Christ. Even if all the angels stood before God and begged for the life of an unrepenting person, God would not grant it. The Lord God, compassionate and merciful, . . . who keeps faithfulness for thousands, . . . will by no means leave the guilty unpunished (Exodus 34:6-7). Though God is more full of mercy than the sun is of light, still He will not forgive a sinner who willfully continues to sin.
Dying to sin is the life of repentance. The very day a Christian turns from sin, he must require of himself a perpetual fast. The eye must fast from impure glances. The ear must fast from listening to slander. The tongue must fast from cursing. The hands must fast from bribes. The feet must fast from unclean paths. And the soul must fast from the love of wickedness. This turning away from sin implies a noticeable change in the lives of those who truly follow Christ.
Therefore let us, while we are on this side of the grave, make our peace with God!
About the Author
Thomas Watson, a 17th-century English Puritan pastor, served at St. Stephen Walbrook Church in London for 16 years. He married Abigail Beadle and had seven children, four of whom died young. Imprisoned briefly in 1651 for plotting to restore Charles II, he returned to his pastoral duties until 1662 when laws against Nonconformists forced him to preach privately. In 1672, he obtained a license to preach at Crosby Hall, London, where he continued until his health declined. He died in 1686 in Barnston, Essex. Known for works like The Godly Man’s Picture and The Ten Commandments, Watson was a devout Christian who faced hardships with unwavering faith.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Aneko Press
• Release date: Nov 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9798823495585

Thomas Watson

I am a writer, amateur astronomer, and long-time fan of science fiction living in Tucson, AZ. I'm a transplanted desert rat, having come to the Sonoran Desert of the American Southwest many years ago from my childhood home in Illinois. I have a B.S. in plant biology from the University of Arizona, and have in the past worked as a laboratory technician for that institution. Among many other things, I am also a student of history, natural history, and backyard horticulture.  I also cook a pretty good green chili pork stew. But most of all, I'm a writer. The art of writing is one of those matters that I find difficult to trace to a single source of inspiration in my life. Instead of an "Aha! This is it!" moment, I would say my desire to write is the cumulative effect of my life-long print addiction. My parents once teased me by claiming I learned to read before I could tie my own shoelaces. Whether or not that's true, I learned to read very early in life, and have as a reader always cast a very wide net. My bookshelves are crowded and eclectic, with fiction by C.J. Cherryh, Isaac Asimov, and Tony Hillerman, and nonfiction by Annie Dillard, Stephen Jay Gould, and Ron Chernow, among many others. It's no doubt due to my eclectic reading habits that I have an equal interest in writing both fiction and nonfiction. The experience of reading, of feeling what a writer could do to my head and my heart with their words, eventually moved me to see if I could do the same thing for others. I'm still trying to answer that question.