Before sin is forgiven, it must be repented of. “Therefore repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name” (Luke 24:47). Not that repentance in a popish sense merits forgiveness. Christ’s blood must wash our tears away, but repentance is a qualification, though not a cause.
Thomas Watson, The Godly Man’s Picture, (1666; Banner of Truth, 1992), 10.