God-Centered Repentance

“There are two different ways to go about repentance – religious repentance and gospel repentance.  In ‘religion,’ the purpose of repentance is basically to keep God happy so he will continue to bless us and answer our prayers.  So, in religion we are sorry for sin only because of its consequences.  Sin will bring us punishment – and we want to avoid that, so we repent.

The gospel, however, tells us that as Christians sin can’t ultimately bring us into condemnation (Rom 8:1). Its heinousness is therefore what it does to God; it displeases and dishonors him.  Thus in religion, repentance is self-centered; the gospel makes it God centered.  In religion we are mainly sorry for the consequences of sin, but in the gospel we are sorry for the sin itself.”

  - Tim Keller, Gospel in Life: Grace Changes Everything, page 28