Brent Top has shown, in his book Forgiveness: Christ’s Priceless Gift, that even repentance—that principle which most frightens and discourages so many of us who err—is part of the good news we call the gospel. Repentance is neither punishment nor is it hell. In fact, the ability and opportunity to repent of our sins and mistakes is in itself a gift of love and grace from our Savior, and is in itself a cause for joy and rejoicing. Our proper response to learning the principle of repentance should be as the response of one dying of pneumonia who discovers modern antibiotics. Surely there is grief involved in repentance (who, after all, can be forgiven but the broken and the contrite?), but repentance is the remedy for and deliverance from our pain rather than the source of it. Brother Top shows how repentance is part of the process both in coming to Christ initially and in enduring in Christ once we are converted. Repentance is neither a one-time prerequisite for baptism nor an occasional punishment inflicted upon the wicked and hypocrites among us, but is rather an ongoing part of becoming like Christ and a necessary element in the everyday lives of all true Saints.
Of course, any principle can be distorted, and there are unfortunately those who would claim that the principle of repentance allows them to sin while avoiding the punishment for sin. Brother Top carefully shows how this thinking is delusional and the practice impossible where the gospel principle of repentance is fully and correctly understood.
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