Wrong and Real Repentance

God does not define a Christian by sin, but rather by how he responds to sin. St. Francis de Sales tells us, “Sin is shameful only when we commit it, but being converted into confession and penance, it becomes honorable and wholesome—contrition and confession, being so beautiful . . . as to efface its deformity and purify its stench.”1

Repentance of one’s sins becomes the means that leads one to receive the grace of purification of one’s sins.
“What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid?” (Rom 6:15).

Though repentance from sin makes available the reception of God’s grace, forgiveness, and mercy, this does not give us license to sin; rather, we are to fight to the death in our efforts to avoid sin and demonstrate that we are faithful friends of Jesus.
As Dominic Savio said, “Death, but not sin!”2

Considering this, the truth is that you will sin.
But how you respond after that shameful moment has the potential to determine your life’s trajectory and, indeed, your eternal destiny.

How you repent matters.
St. Paul tells us, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.” (2 Cor 7:10).

Two of the most notable examples of man’s response to sin is Judas Iscariot and Peter, the Prince of the Apostles.
Both Judas and Peter sinned gravely against Jesus and their intimate confidence with Him.

Upon realizing that Jesus’ kingdom would not be founded upon and established by worldly power, Judas Iscariot appealed to the priestly class and Pharisees in hopes of obtaining some type of lucrative benefit for knowing Jesus: “What will you give me, and I deliver [Jesus] unto you?” (Mt 26:15).

Though we may envision ourselves as different than Judas, often our intentions are marked by his motivations.
Often, man’s relationship with Jesus is founded upon quid pro quo: “What will you give me?”

The misguided Christian looks at his faith as a means to extract the most from God’s divine benevolence while exercising the least amount of personal investment and self-giving.
His subconscious motto is: “What can God give me?”
It is a common practice among worldly Christians to use faith, religion, and our relationship with God as a means to obtain a hoped-for temporal end.

To determine whether we are guilty of this dynamic, we may ask ourselves:
What does my prayer consist of—petitions or praise, grumbling or thanksgiving, Lord give me this or that, or Lord give me you?

When man fails to obtain a hoped-for temporal benefit from God, he falls prey to discouragement and, if left unchecked, he could deem God to be insufficient and, therefore, fall headlong into pursuing worldly aspirations outright.

Shortly after Judas’ tragic act of betrayal, the Gospel indicates that “Judas, who betrayed him, seeing that [Jesus] was condemned, repenting himself, brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priest and ancients” (Mt 27:3).

Overwhelmed by guilt, Judas’ remorse caused him to repent. Yet, instead of turning to God, he sought forgiveness from the wrong source—the people who cared nothing for him or for Christ.3

Consequently, Judas, “casting down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed: and went and hanged himself with an halter” (Mt 27:5).

The halter, a rope harness used to lead a beast of burden such as an ass, symbolizes the Lord’s will, that, if a man should accept, he will be led by God and to God.
Judas, cast off the halter of God’s will, refusing to return to Jesus, and, therefore, this rejection of God’s will became the cause of his self-imposed death.

The will of God, if accepted, will lead a man to true repentance, to Jesus, while rejecting it leads to guilt and the despair associated with it.

During the Last Supper, after Jesus prophetically foretold, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me” (Mt 26:31, NIV),
Peter responded, “Although all shall be scandalized in thee, yet not I.
And Jesus saith to him: Amen I say to thee, today, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shall deny me thrice” (Mk 14:29–30).

Later, in the Garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus is being apprehended by the Temple guards, Peter demonstrated his zealous love for Christ and attempted to behead Malchus, the high priest’s servant, but, instead, he severed the servant’s ear from his head.

Peter relentlessly and courageously followed Jesus, even to the high priest’s courtyard, in hopes of being close to Jesus during His trial.
It was love for Christ that compelled Peter to risk his life in his effort to remain close to Jesus.

However, while warming himself, amidst a charcoal fire, Peter was identified and accused as being one of Jesus’ disciples, and, as Christ predicted, Peter renounced his affiliation to Jesus three times.
“And Peter going out, wept bitterly” (Lk 22:62).

Peter and Judas both committed grievous sins against our Lord, both repented of their sin, and both fled to isolation, yet Judas placed his hope in men and despaired of God, while Peter clung in faith to Christ and His words: “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren” (Lk 22:32).

After Christ’s Crucifixion, Peter, utterly humiliated, eventually returned to and was received by his brother Apostles.

“Things could not have been easy for [Peter]. The story of his denial would soon get about, for people love a malicious tale. It may well be, as legend has it, that people imitated the crow of the cock when he passed. But Peter had the courage and the tenacity of purpose to redeem himself, to start from failure and attain to greatness.”5

It is important to note that the Gospel of Mark recounts in detail Peter’s denial of Christ. Mark was Peter’s spiritual son, which indicates that Peter recounted not only Christ’s victories to Mark, but also his own personal failings.

It appears that Peter, through Mark, wanted to ensure that the worst of sinners can be transformed by God’s mercy into the greatest of saints.

Francis de Sales, Introduction to A Devout Life (New York: Frederick Pustet & Co., 1900.
Dominic Savio, Jill Haak Adels, Wisdom of the Saints, 149.
See His Tongue Shall Speak Judgment, Clovis Minor; Dr. Louis Joseph Hebert, https://speakjudgment.
com/2021/06/04/unmasking-the-man-of-sin.
44 William Barclay, Gospel of John, 269.