What are marks of false repentance?

Joel Beeke explains in this video that a person who falsely repents is ultimately concerned about themselves. They want to avoid the consequences of sin. False repentance will always lead you away from Christ.

But, a person who truly repents is concerned about sin itself instead of its consequences. They want to please God and are concerned about what sin does to the glory of God. True repentance leads a person closer to God.

2 Corinthians 7:10 (NKJV) – “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”



Now when it comes to false repentance, or let me call it this, repentance does not issue in saving fruit, There are several things to notice. First is that it can be difficult to distinguish between a legalistic false repentance and a true evangelical repentance. False repentance won't get to the core issue of life to live for the glory of God. With false repentance, I'm still ultimately concerned about myself. Maybe avoiding hell, maybe avoiding the consequences of sin, but in true repentance, in true repentance, I'm more concerned about sin for its own sake than I am about the consequences of sin.

And I want to please God. I want to live to the glory of God. I'm more concerned about what my sin does to the glory of God than what it does to my own inconvenience. So in True repentance, there's a God-centeredness. Also, false repentance will always lead me away from Jesus.

I'll try to make ends meet myself. I'll try to reform my life and so on. You