Our passage today regards the obedience of the Corinthian church in repenting after they received Paul's first letter. We will take a look at what he means by godly sorrow versus worldly sorrow.
"Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you. I have spoken to you with great frankness; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds." (2 Corinthians 7:2-4) There were false teachers in Corinth who were doing these very things: wronging, corrupting, and exploiting people. Some of these false teachers even criticized the ministry of Paul and the other apostles because they weren't impressive in looks and didn't put on a big show or charge admission to their teaching sessions. These false teachers didn't dare point out any wrongdoing among believers, as Paul did. But that's because the false teachers don't love them.
Paul says to the church, "We are not like those who are trying to seduce you away from sound doctrine. You can easily compare our ministry with theirs. Can any of you say we have wronged you in any way? Have we ever told you anything false? Have we ever gained anything financially from you? On the contrary, we have worked to provide for ourselves so that you could have free access to the gospel. We have done this because we love you with all our hearts. We would be willing to die with you if persecution comes against the church at Corinth. We wouldn't dream of running away and leaving you, but that's exactly what those false teachers would do."
Why is Paul greatly encouraged by the church in Corinth? Because he knows they have repented of the things he mentioned in his first letter. Now he speaks of how much his mind was on the Corinthian church while he ministered to the Macedonians. He had hoped to hear news from Titus and the Corinthian church before he went to Macedonia, but Titus was not at the prearranged meeting spot in Troas, and Paul was so distressed in his mind that he cut his visit to Troas short in order to travel on to Macedonia in hopes that Titus had gone on ahead of him. But when Paul and his companions arrived in Macedonia, Titus still hadn't appeared with a reply to Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. Despite all the troubles that assailed him in Macedonia, the Corinthian church was foremost in Paul's mind the whole time he was there. "For when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn---conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever." (2 Corinthians 7:5-7)
It was good news that Titus brought to Macedonia. The Corinthian church had repented! They had accepted Paul's words in the right spirit. Because of this he says, "Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it---I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while---yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us." (2 Corinthians 7:8-9) Have you ever had to tell someone you love that they are going down the wrong path? It made you feel very sad, didn't it? But when they saw the truth of your words and repented, you were glad you spoke to them, weren't you? Paul went through a period of time where he felt regret---not for writing the letter but for the sorrow it must have caused its readers. He hated to cause them any pain, but at the same time he knew it was necessary. We can just imagine his relief when he found out they read his letter and said among themselves, "He's right! The way we've been behaving is unseemly for Christians. We need to get this matter straightened out right away. We need to express our sorrow to the Lord and to our friend Paul."
There is godly sorrow and there is worldly sorrow, and there is a great deal of difference between them. "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." (2 Corinthians 7:10) The best Biblical example of worldly sorrow I can think of is Judas Iscariot. You may remember when we studied the books of Mark and Luke that when Judas hanged himself it was because he was overwhelmed with guilt when he realized his actions had condemned Jesus to death. We talked about how in the original Greek the word that was translated into "repented" in English actually meant he experienced "sorrow or regret". This is not the Greek word which is used in the Bible for the type of repentance that means "to convert, to change course". Judas was feeling worldly sorrow, the sorrow that Paul says leads to death. Judas still didn't believe Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God, but he did regret selling Him out to the chief priests, and he was sorry that a man who had only shown him love was going to be crucified. Unable to deal with this much guilt, Judas committed suicide.
If he had experienced godly repentance instead, he could have fallen on his knees and confessed his sins to God and received mercy. That's what King David did when he felt godly repentance after causing the death of Bathsheba's husband. Judas wasn't the first man to have blood on his hands and he wouldn't be the last; Paul himself was responsible for voting in the council to put Christians to death. But the difference between Judas and men like David or Paul is that Judas' sorrow was only the natural human guilt that came with knowing he had wronged an innocent person. Judas was still unwilling to submit to the Lord. He had to have known that option was available to him, for he knew the Scriptures and had been taught from them by the greatest preacher who ever lived. He knew other men had committed detestable deeds and had found mercy in repentance. Things would have gone very differently for him if he had allowed himself to feel godly repentance. I think that instead of hanging himself he would have survived to meet with the risen Christ just as the other disciples did. I think he would have received forgiveness straight from Jesus' mouth just as Peter received forgiveness for denying Him.
This is the test of any sorrow we feel: does it cause us to just want to beat ourselves up and sink into despair, or does it drive us to our knees before the only One who can grant us absolution? Does the sorrow make us wish we were dead or does it cause us to change course and get back on the right path? There's only one correct place to take our sorrow and guilt: to Christ who bore our sorrow and guilt for us. (Isaiah 53:3-5) Christ carried the cross so we wouldn't have to carry guilt. Christ died for our sins so we wouldn't have to die for them. Let's not be like Judas and allow ourselves to become so broken by our sins that we don't want to live. Let's be like David and Paul who, though they were sinners, found redemption and newness of life in the Lord.
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