“For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (v.10)
Two kinds of repentance are possible in human experience. One is ‘the sorrow of the world,” a feeling induced by the fear of getting caught. This results in a superficial sorrow that may lead to a temporary change of heart, but not to a genuine turning to Christ for forgiveness. Which our text tells us, leads to spiritual death. The other is "Godly sorrow" which is accompanied by conviction of sin through the work of the Holy Spirit. This stems from the realization of offending a holy God and leads to genuine repentance by piercing the heart (Acts 2:37).
Here in chapter 7, Paul references his former “letter” (v. 8), which many believe to be 1 Corinthians, an epistle where Paul pulled no punches. Divisions, immorality—even turning the Lord’s Supper into a drunken feast. From our reading today we see that Paul did not relish his prophetic role. He genuinely cared about this church, and Paul makes clear that he did not rebuke them merely because he was angry or disappointed in them, Paul made them “sorry” in the hopes that it might produce godly repentance (vv.8-9)
God’s heart towards sin is that none should perish but all should come to repentance (2 Peter 2:9). His desire is to show mercy, for us to have renewed fellowship with Him, to restore relationships, mend fences, receive worship, and bestow blessings, if we would only lay down our pride and repent. So often people can carry unresolved feelings and attitudes around with them for years. They think they can ignore the elephant in the room, but yet, there it is - hidden behind the eyes, in the mind, and deep within heart.
O what freedom comes from repentance, from giving your burden over to Jesus. For us as believers comes restoration, for the unbeliever salvation. If you have some unresolved issues to reconcile, go to God in prayer first, repent, then go to whom the Spirit has placed on your heart and resolve those issues. Speaking from experience, you will be eternally thankful you did. And like our text says, "not to be regretted."
The Truth: “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us for all unrighteousness.”
(1 John 1:9)
