True repentance is not a mere feeling of regret but a process that includes recognising sin, abandoning it, hating it, confessing it to those who are entitled to it, asking for forgiveness, and changing behaviour.

Many were surprised when I said yesterday that no one goes to hell because they sinned. But that’s the blunt truth, just as no one goes to heaven because they’re good. Only those who have genuinely repented and abandoned their sins will enter heaven, which is very different from remorse.

When we talk about remorse, one of the first people in the Bible who comes to mind is Judas. Who condemned Judas? Jesus did not condemn him; on the contrary, His last contact with Judas was a kiss. Even knowing he was betraying Him, Jesus agreed to kiss him and called him a friend.

Who condemned Judas was himself, his sins, his conscience. You can read about it in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 27:

Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. Matthew 27:3-5

The devil does exactly that: He seduces people, leads them to sin, and when they do, he throws it in their faces. This is an evil strategy: It tempts people, and after they have fallen, it puts all the blame on them.

Judas, burdened with guilt, killed himself, which makes us understand here that the word “remorseful”, in fact, means not sincere repentance. Otherwise, he would never have hanged himself.

He felt terrible, and, wanting to solve it, he committed suicide on impulse. And we also understand here that the price of betraying Jesus is so high that repentance can hardly be achieved by the person who betrays Him. Then, Judas was condemned, not by Jesus, not by the devil, not by the priest, but by his own conscience.

That’s why God persistently speaks in His word that all sinners do not need to be sinners at the level of Judas. Any sin is sin before God; He insists that we solve the problem of sin with repentance.

Repentance involves recognition, abandonment, hatred of error, confession to those entitled, request for forgiveness, and change in behaviour. It is a complete process, and many people do not complete it. They feel bad not because they sinned but because they were caught sinning. It’s different.

I repeat: No one goes to hell because they sinned but because they didn’t repent. No one goes to heaven because they were holy, but in the face of all their mistakes and sins, they sincerely repented, humbled themselves before God, believed in the Lord Jesus as the forgiver of their sins and began to live a righteous life before Him. This one will enter heaven.

https://www.universal.org/renato-cardoso/post/ninguem-vai-para-o-ceu-porque-e-bom-mas/