Some feel the need to pay the price for their sins somehow. I don't think it's the regret that makes them feel good again, but some satisfaction afterward that they "paid" their debt.
Of course when the wages of sin are death, they'll never truly get there unless they accept Christ's atonement for their sin.
“I don’t think it’s the regret that makes them feel good again, but some satisfaction afterward that they “paid” their debt.”
I guess restitution and penance could make a person feel better to some degree, but it’s still not like they never committed the sin in the first place. Then, too, there arfe some sins for which restitution is not possible.
“Of course when the wages of sin are death, they’ll never truly get there unless they accept Christ’s atonement for their sin.”
Yes, and even so, there are consequences of the sin to work out.