In this the Lord tells us that he calls the sinner but [he calls him] to repentance. It follows, therefore, that no one can come to the Lord without true repentance and conversion from sins and without true faith.
Repentance is nothing other than to die through true regret and sorrow for sins and to receive forgiveness of sins through faith, and to live righteously in Christ. True, divine regret must precede repentance. By it, the heart is broken and the flesh is crucified. The Epistle to the Hebrews (6:1) calls this repentance of dead works, that is, the leaving of works that bring about death.
If these are not left, Christ with all his merits is of no use to a man. Christ our Lord placed himself before us as a physician and his holy blood as the precious, sanctifying medicine for sins.
Johann Arndt
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