NJHD 159-161, 164-165, 167 - repentance and the remission of sins

NJHD 159-161, 164-165, 167
He who would be saved must confess his sins,
and do the work of repentance.

To confess sins,
is to know evils,
to see them in one's self,
to acknowledge them,
to make himself guilty,
and to condemn himself on account of them.
When this is done before God,
it is the confession of sins.

To do the work of repentance,
is to desist from sins after he has thus confessed them,
and from a humble heart
has made supplication for remission,
and to live a new life
according to the precepts of charity and faith.

He who lives the life of charity and faith
does the work of repentance daily;
he reflects upon the evils which are with him,
he acknowledges them,
he guards against them,
he supplicates the Lord for help.
For a person of himself continually lapses,
but he is continually raised by the Lord,
and led to good. 
Such is the state of those who are in good. 
 
The person who explores himself
that he may do the work of repentance,
must explore his thoughts and the intentions of his will,
and must there explore what he would do
if it were permitted him, that is,
if he were not afraid of the laws,
and of the loss of reputation, honor, and gain.
There the evils of man reside,
and the evils which he does in the body
are all from there.
They who do not explore the evils of their thought and will,
cannot do the work of repentance,
for they think and will afterwards as they did before,
and yet to will evils 
is to do them.
This is to explore one's self.

Repentance of the mouth
and not of the life
is not repentance.
Sins are not remitted by repentance of the mouth,
but by repentance of the life.
Sins are continually remitted to a person by the Lord,
for He is mercy itself, 
but sins adhere to a person,
however he may suppose that they are remitted;
nor are they removed from him
but by a life according to the precepts of true faith.
So far as he lives according to them,
so far sins are removed;
and so far as they are removed,
so far they are remitted.

The signs that sins are remitted, that is, removed,
are these which follow.
Those whose sins are remitted,
perceive a delight in worshiping God for the sake of God,
and in serving their neighbor for the sake of their neighbor,
thus in doing good for the sake of good,
and in speaking truth for the sake of truth;
they are unwilling to claim merit
by anything of charity and faith;
they shun and are averse to evils,
as enmities, hatreds, revenges, adulteries,
and the very thoughts of such things 
with intention.
But the signs that sins are not remitted,
that is, removed, are these which follow.
Those whose sins are not remitted,
worship God not for the sake of God,
and serve the neighbor not for the sake of the neighbor,
thus they do not do good and speak truth
for the sake of good and truth,
but for the sake of themselves and the world;
they wish to claim merit by their deeds;
they perceive nothing undelightful in evils,
as in enmity, in hatred, in revenge, in adulteries;
and they think of them and concerning them 
in all license.