Wow, great post #4!
First of all let me say I'm glad to see Elopez mention "metanoia." I encourage you to do a word search on CF and find a thread(s) on the subject! We have not even scratched the surface of the concept here!!
Next, I will point out feelings are not nearly as important as you seem to think: "we walk by Faith, not by sight." (2 Cor 5:7)
Saying "I'm sorry" is not a spelled out necessary step, but making amends is! (See Matthew 5:24) Rarely will amends be made merely by an apology; metanoia is a TOUGH concept, and God's Love is "tough love." Let me interject a wonderful picture of metanoia from the OT, of someone sitting in God's Presence completely shaved, which was very weird in those days. What this implies is that God wants a TOTAL change! "Old things are passed away, behold all things are made new." Repentance is about being dead with Christ, that we may be raised with Him - and this can be experienced (to some extent) in the here and now!
So you see that repentance is a VERY exciting topic, and might almost be thought of as the life-blood of Christianity. Truthfully, Jesus' shed blood is the lifeblood, and metanoia is like the negative connection of a car battery; no matter how good the Power source is, it still takes both a positive and a negative connection before you get any power ...
One more verse that has always spoken greatly to me on the subject:
"As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. (2 Cr 7:10) For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment!"
I quoted this in the ESV because KJV makes this passage hard to read, but I encourage you to read it in the KJV because of the use of the words under discussion here:
"Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
2Cr 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, [what] clearing of yourselves, yea, [what] indignation, yea, [what] fear, yea, [what] vehement desire, yea, [what] zeal, yea, [what] revenge!"
I would say "godly sorrow" is not a normal act of 'feeling sorry,' but a gift of the Holy Spirit. So you ask about CONVICTION, and indeed the function of the Holy Spirit is primarily to convict us of sin, of righteousness, and of Judgment. Also to testify to us of Jesus Christ and to Glorify Him, which I say is just a different way of saying the same thing.
Guilt is NOT conviction! Feeling guilty I strongly believe is satan's counterfeit of conviction and the gift of the Spirit of godly sorrow that works repentance. And it is indeed a great and terrible thing to come face to face with the reality of how awful sin truly is. I think that's a necessary step, but God doesn't confront us with that right away. If He did, we would all fall away, melting before his Presence rather than growing in it. He doesn't place upon us more than we can bear ...