2 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 7:2-15,
“Godly Sorrow Leads To Repentance”
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study, we looked at the apostle Paul finishing his
current defense of himself and his apostleship by being so direct with the
Corinthians that he told them how much that he truly loved them and then
encouraged them to open up their hearts to him in return
1.1.1. After telling the
Corinthians to open wide their hearts to him as their apostle and brother in
the faith, we saw that he gave them some exhortations that had been uppermost
on his heart, exhortations which we as Christ’s church of all eras need to take
to heart:
1.1.1.1.Paul told them to not be
bound together with unbelievers, and then he gave five arguments why they
should do this
1.1.1.2.Paul told them to come out
from the world in its rebellion and sin and to be separate
1.1.1.3.Paul told them that we Christians
need to continually cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit
and be perfecting righteousness in our lives
1.1.1.3.1.We talked about how that all
Christians occasionally sin, however that it is “unconfessed” and “unrepented
of” sin that is at issue. We Christians
need to confess to God and repent of sin as soon as we are aware that we have
missed the mark and sinned against the Lord.
This is a regular house cleaning that all of us as Christians need to
daily be involved in. As was mentioned,
one spring cleaning will not keep a house clean for long, we need to daily work
at cleaning our own house spiritually from anything that is unpleasing to the
Lord
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to see Paul now that he has finished
his argument in defense of himself and his apostleship, and also admonished the
Corinthians to be perfecting holiness, that he will begin to discuss how that
he had at first regretted writing to the Corinthians the ‘severe letter’ since
he knew the pain that it would bring to them, however after Titus informed him
that the Corinthians had expressed genuine repentance after reading his letter,
Paul was now no longer sorrowful that he had written the letter
1.2.1. We will take a close look at
“what should accompany genuine repentance” in a believer’s life as we see how
Paul describes the Corinthian’s response of godly sorrow which produced a
repentance without regret on their part
1.2.2. Prior to about 100 years
ago, the preaching of the gospel by the church was much different than it has
been since then amongst most of the conservative evangelical churches in the
world. The preaching used to include the
use of the law of Moses as an agent to produce conviction of sin. The law preached as part of the message
brought a great conviction of sin amongst those who then heard and heeded the
rest of the message which was the call to believe upon Christ for salvation and
yield your life in repentance. People
would call out to God to forgive them of their sins since they were first
convicted of being sinners before a holy God.
However, about a hundred years ago the emphasis of the preaching of the
gospel was to remove the use of the law of Moses and a transformation of the
motive for salvation was made to be ‘life enhancement.’ Most preachers since that time have mentioned
sin and that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, however
the appeal of the gospel has been to come to Christ and He will help you with
your drug problem, your marriage problem, your financial problems, your employment
problem, your emotional problems, etc.
As a result of this shift of emphasis in the preaching of the gospel
there have been many people who have made a profession of faith at a crusade or
church meeting, however they have not really been convicted of their sins, and,
they also have not stayed long with their faith. In the gospel messages that I have preached
here during our short history in this church I have tried to always use the law
of Moses as part of the message because people cannot appreciate the need for a
Savior if they have not first come to realize that they have sinned, and how
they have sinned, and that they need to be saved from their sins. Then, I will preach Christ’s remedy for sin. Today, most people are ignorant of what the
Bible teaches about sin and the 10 Commandments of the law of Moses. We can’t expect people to be convicted of and
repent of sin when frankly most people today are either not aware that they
have sinned or they do not even know what sin is. In our study today, we are going to see the
results that will accompany the person’s life who has truly been convicted of
his sins and has genuinely seen how sinful that they appear before the Lord,
and then genuinely repented of his sins
1.2.3. In this study we will
examine those things that should be apparent in a person’s life who has truly
repented and come to salvation through Christ
2.
VS 7:2 - “2 Make room
for us in your hearts; we wronged no
one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one.” - Paul asks the Corinthians to make room for
him in their hearts since he had not wronged, corrupted, or taken advantage of
anyone
2.1.
As we have seen in our study, there were some in the Corinthian church
who were questioning Paul’s integrity, authority as an apostle, and the decisions
that he had made as being fleshly.
However, to this point in Paul’s letter he has defended himself on all
of those accounts. Now, Paul wants to
challenge the Corinthians to realize that there is really no reason for them
not to trust him completely and in love respond to his fatherly love for them
(as we saw in our last study). They
should open up their hearts widely to him and those with him.
2.2.
Evidently, there were some in the church who had accused Paul of having
‘wronged’ them. We must speculate as to what
this supposed wronging of them might be since Paul isn’t specific about
it. However, possibly Paul is
referring to those who were hurt by Paul’s not coming to visit them on a couple
of occasions as he had told them that he would do, however Paul has
countered that criticism by explaining that he had written to them the ‘severe
letter’ instead of coming to them because if he came to them then he it would
be another highly confrontational trip which would be very difficult for he and
them to endure.
2.2.1. There seems a sense here
that Paul is suggesting that the group of what Paul calls ‘super-apostles’ who
had recently come to Corinth, and whom the Jewish brethren in the church had
entertained and even paid salaries to, had in fact ‘wronged’ them. However, it was not so in Paul’s case.
2.3.
Evidently, some of the criticism of Paul was pointed at his possibly
having ‘corrupted’ them in some way. Perhaps
though this was just Paul’s way of saying that if he truly was guilty of the
things that some had accused him of doing that he would have ‘corrupted’ the
Corinthians. Paul however, had always
led the church both in precept and example to have pure hearts and hands before
the Lord.
2.3.1. Again, we can see that by
speaking in this way that these newly arrived ‘super-apostles’ had in fact
‘corrupted’ people. We know this is the
case since they were leading them astray from the pure doctrine that leads to
salvation by teaching them that in addition to faith in Christ that they had to
keep the law of Moses to be saved, plus they were leading the Corinthians away
from Paul, their true apostle.
2.4.
Some of the criticisms of Paul seem to point to the belief that perhaps
Paul had ‘taken advantage’ of the Corinthians. This may be a reference to the fact that some
were accusing Paul of not taking money from the church for his support yet that
somehow the money from the church was getting back to Paul possibly through
Titus or Timothy. Thus, they believed
that Paul was underhandedly defrauding the church while deceiving them about his
supporting of himself.
2.4.1. The ‘super-apostles’ had
come to the Corinthians demanding a salary, and the foolish Corinthians had
given it to them. These ones truly were
taking advantage of the Corinthians as they were false apostles who had a profit
motive for their religious enterprises.
3.
VS 7:3 - “3 I do not
speak to condemn you; for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die
together and to live together.” - Paul tells
the Corinthians that he has not been defending himself throughout this letter
in order to point the finger at them and condemn them, for they were in his
heart even to die together
3.1.
It would be right to say that Paul would give his life for the
Corinthians,
and truly he has done nothing but to pour out his life for them. However, again we have to speculate as to
exactly what Paul means here when he says that they were in his heart to die
and to live together? The fact of his
partnership together with the Corinthians in life and death seems to be in view
as opposed to Paul’s self-sacrifice.
3.1.1. Perhaps Paul is saying that
we Christians are as one body living together for the same cause and purposes,
with a common enemy, and that what one experiences all experience, whether good
or bad.
3.1.2. Perhaps Paul is saying that
as Christians we are all going through the same struggles in dying to self and
living the exchanged life of the resurrected Christ in us.
3.2.
These ‘Johnny come lately’ super-apostles surely did not have the same
bond in Christ that the apostle Paul shared with the Corinthians, for truly Paul and the
Corinthians had gone through the trenches together as fellow soldiers of
Christ, plus Paul as their spiritual father had birthed them into this
relationship with Christ wherein they stood.
4.
VS 7:4 - “4 Great is
my confidence in you, great is my boasting on your behalf; I am filled with
comfort. I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction.” - Paul tells the Corinthians that he has ‘great
confidence’ in them doing the right things, and that he has boasted greatly of
them
4.1.
A year earlier when Paul sent the ‘severe letter’ to the Corinthians
via Titus, we will see that Paul told Titus that he had ‘great confidence’ in
the Corinthians and that he knew that they would receive the letter as they should, as
from the Lord, and that they would consequently repent. Paul’s confidence in the Corinthians was
not let down, for when Paul finally met up with Titus we have seen that
Titus told him that the Corinthians did in fact follow through with the things
that Paul admonished them to do. Plus, they
wanted to reconcile with Paul.
4.2.
The main issue that Paul admonished the Corinthians to do in the
‘severe letter’ was that they had to deal with a certain man in church
discipline. During the difficult visit that preceded
Paul’s writing the ‘severe letter,’ Paul had gone to the Corinthians right away
after writing the letter of 1 Corinthians when he heard that there were several
in the church who were committing fornication (any sex that is outside of
marriage), and doing so as part of the fertility cults in Corinth, and
worshipping the goddess of fertility.
However, during that ‘difficult visit’ a certain man had openly stood
up and defied Paul publicly when he attempted to rebuke those who had sinned,
and as a result Paul had even been hindered from accomplishing all that he had
intended to do. When the man defied
Paul, the church did not come to Paul’s defense or try to make the man back
down. So, this ‘severe letter’ dealt
primarily with the fact that the Corinthians now had to discipline this man appropriately
(see Matt. 18), and that if they did not deal in discipline with this man then
the apostle Paul was not going to be coming to them again. This letter was an ultimatum to repent and
follow Paul’s admonishment as their apostle to discipline this man, or they
were going to be cut off from being considered a New Testament church.
4.3.
Paul again brings out in this verse how the Lord, the God of all
comfort, had given to him great comfort and joy in spite of the tremendous and
taxing afflictions which he had been experiencing.
Paul goes on to say that when he finally found Titus and learned from
him that the church had responded appropriately to his ‘severe letter’ and that
they wanted to be reconciled to Paul, that this was the source of his comfort
and joy. It was learning this news
and this great comfort that Paul received that was the impetus that he had for
writing 2 Corinthians to the church.
5.
VS 7:5-7 - “5 For even
when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on
every side: conflicts without, fears within.6 But God, who comforts the
depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus;7 and not only by his coming,
but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to
us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more.” - Paul tells the Corinthians about the external
and inward turmoil and struggles that he and those with him experienced while
in Macedonia, yet how that God who comforts ‘the depressed’ comforted them by
the coming of Titus
5.1.
We are not sure exactly about the nature of the trouble that Paul
experienced in Macedonia, nor whether it was in
5.2.
However the afflictions and difficulties occurred in
5.3.
Paul mentions that there were ‘conflicts without’ which refers to
external circumstances that affected their lives, however that there were also
‘fears within.’ Here we see the
mighty apostle Paul again unmasking himself and being transparent with the
Corinthians in describing the things that he went through. He tells them that he was having difficulties
because of his ‘fears.’
5.3.1. Paul means to say here that
he was filled with real fears, he would not have us misconstrue this and think
that somehow he was above this reaction.
5.3.2. As was mentioned a few times
already in this study, the apostle Paul knew that the real ministry that he
could have in others lives was to share both his difficulties but also how that
through them and his trusting in the Lord in the midst of them, the comfort
that the Lord had given him while in the midst of them.
5.4.
Paul not only mentions that he was suffering from ‘fears,’ perhaps of
the ‘panic attack’ type, but he also says here that he was suffering from
‘depression.’
5.4.1. Strong’s Greek Dictionary has the following entry for
this Greek word ‘tapeinos’ which is translated ‘depressed:’
5.4.1.1.The King James translates
the word
depending upon the context as, “of low
degree, humble, base, cast down, of low estate, lowly”
5.4.1.2.not rising far from the ground
5.4.1.3.metaph.
5.4.1.3.1.as a condition, lowly, of low degree
5.4.1.3.2.brought low with grief, depressed
5.4.1.3.3.lowly in spirit, humble
5.4.1.3.4.in a bad sense, deporting one’s self abjectly,
deferring servilely to others
5.4.2. As we have discussed in this
study before, many of God’s servants throughout the centuries, including even
some mentioned in the scriptures such as Elijah, Saul, Paul, etc., have gone
through periods of real depression where they have been profoundly discouraged in
their spiritual walk. There are many
things that can enter externally into our lives that we can allow to get our
eyes off of the Lord and thus result in our becoming ‘depressed.’ For those who have a tendency towards ‘depression’
there is great comfort to know that even one of God’s most successful servants,
the apostle Paul, often struggled with periods of ‘depression.’
5.5.
Paul mentions here several things that brought him comfort and joy as a
result of the coming of Titus:
5.5.1. The ‘comfort’ with which
Titus was comforted in the Corinthians.
5.5.1.1.Titus had been well received
by the Corinthians. They had refreshed
and comforted him greatly.
5.5.2. The ‘longing’ that the
Corinthians had to see Paul.
5.5.3. The ‘mourning’ that the
Corinthians experienced as a result of their sin in not standing up to this man
who openly defied Paul when he attempted to correct those who were openly in
sin.
5.5.4. The ‘zeal’ that the
Corinthians had for Paul.
6.
VS 7:8-10 - “8 For
though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did
regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a
while—9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made
sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to
the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through
us.10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance
without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces
death.”
- Paul tells the Corinthians that he had
regretted writing the ‘severe letter’ to them, however he no longer regretted
writing it because the letter produce in them godly sorrow that led to
repentance
6.1.
Sorrow in this world, and sorrow in and of itself, is not a good thing,
not something that we should desire anyone to experience. Paul had regretted writing the ‘severe
letter’ initially because he knew that it would cause them great pain and
sorrow, and thus he grieved for them because of what he knew they would experience
as a result of receiving the letter.
However, Paul was no longer sorry that he wrote the letter because the
letter had produce a ‘godly sorrow’ that had led them to repentance, and that
was a good thing. Repentance is a
sweet fruit that is precious in the sight of God!
6.2.
What is repentance? I want to point out that
repentance is “not sorrow for sin.”
Here we see that sorrow for sin produced repentance, but they are not
the same thing. The Greek word
‘repentance’ used here is ‘metanoia,’
and this word is the combination of two words with the combined meaning,
“a change of mind.” To repent
means that you make a complete change in the course that you are
traveling. You were headed in one
direction, and you make a u-turn and go back in the opposite direction.
6.2.1. To repent of sin means to
give it up, to commit to a life that is free from sin.
6.2.2. But, salvation also must
bring a repentance that is ‘towards God.’
It is not only to turn and go the other way concerning the ways of sin,
but it is also to turn to the Lord, to seek Him, to look to learn from and
follow Him, to place our eyes and our hope on the Lord. These elements also exist in genuine
repentance.
6.3.
Paul says that their ‘godly sorrow’ had led to a repentance that was
‘without regret.’ In other words, the
repentance of the Corinthians was from the heart and genuine, and it produced
appropriate fruit.
6.3.1. In repenting, the
Corinthians were not like many people we see today who get caught committing
some crime and they say that they are sorry perhaps to the judge or their
victim or his family, however in reality they were only sorry that they got
caught. They aren’t actually sorry
for what they have done.
6.3.1.1.Today, through the media we learn
of many court cases, and it is really interesting to me how that so many
people in our world can be so heartless about the crimes that they commit. People’s hearts are so hard and unfeeling
that so many are as bad as the boy who killed his parents and then at trial
threw himself on the mercy of the judge and jury because he’s an orphan.
6.3.1.2.Spurgeon once preached about how
there is a great deal of sorrow on account of sin that is not genuine
repentance, “There is, in
the world, a great deal of sorrow on account of sin which is certainly not
repentance, and never leads to it. Some transgressors are sorry for sin for a
time; they are convicted of guilt, with a transitory conviction, which soon
passes away. Many are sorry for sin because of its temporal consequences; and
many more because of its eternal consequences. They are afraid of hell. If
there were no hell, they would like to continue to live in sin. They would be
delighted if it could be proved that there is no God. Nothing would please them
better than to have the law of the Lord and all its penal consequences
abolished. They are as fond of sin as ever they were, but they sorrow because
they see that it is bringing them down to the gulf of perdition. Now, that kind
of sorrow is not repentance.”
6.4.
I want to emphasize also that genuine repentance must include a ‘sorrow
for sin.’ If a person is not truly sorrowful for the
sin in their life when they have supposedly repented or come to salvation, then
from the scriptures I have to say that I would question their salvation
experience.
6.4.1. Some people have supposedly
come to Christ and yet I see that they have a flippant attitude about their new
relationship with God, what He has saved them from, and very little hunger for
God or His word. This I can’t believe could
be the results of a genuine conversion.
6.4.2. If a person has supposedly
come to God and yet they are not sorry for transgressing God’s holy laws and
commandments and for rebelling against the Lord, then I cannot see how they
could truly have come to personally know the Lord and be saved. This response cannot be the fruit of genuine
repentance.
6.5.
The ‘godly sorrow’ that each of us ought to have, the kind that brings
repentance, ought to be sorrow that exists because of what I, and no one
else but me, has done, and because what I have done is truly sin, and because
it is sin against my loving Heavenly Father. Every sin is a sin against God and His law,
thus David wrote the following in the Psalms as he confessed and repented of
his sins, “Against thee,
thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight.”
6.6.
I think that there is a caution that I need to make in this as
well. Every person’s experience of
coming to salvation is going to be a bit different, and you cannot look at what
someone else experienced in their life as an exact gauge of what everyone
who comes to Christ will experience.
6.6.1. For instance, I know one
woman who cried and cried for hours after coming to Christ, which was a great
testimony to her having genuine repentance.
However, not everyone is so emotional.
Some have cried and cried also and yet never been able to come to true
repentance before God.
6.6.1.1.Yet, there still must be a
good element of godly sorrow in the person’s life who has genuinely repented of
their sin.
6.6.2. In another case, I knew a
guy who when he came to Christ he saw a light coming all of the way from heaven
that surrounded him and penetrated his heart.
His life showed the fruit of genuine conversion and repentance however
not everyone is going to see a light coming down from heaven. Feelings are somewhat unique as are
circumstances when a person comes to salvation.
6.6.3. Don’t make the mistake of
waiting until you feel a certain remorse for your sin before you repent of it! Repent while you know that you have sinned,
and in time you shall feel sorrow for having committed the sin, if now you do
not feel remorse. It is a very grave
mistake to be led as a Christian by our feelings. We need to respond in faith and obedience to
God’s word whether or not we feel like it or not! There is no excuse for not doing so.
6.7.
When a person truly repents and comes to salvation, if he or she can
later turn around and no longer desire to repent of sin, follow Christ,
fellowship with the saints, seek to know Christ through His word, then this is
another indication that there was no genuine repentance. In 1 John 3:9, the apostle John wrote
about how that a person cannot continue to live in sin if he as truly come to
salvation, “9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed
remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. ”
6.8.
Paul writes here that the ‘sorrow of the world produces death.’
6.8.1. When people of this world in
rebellion against God experience ‘sorrow’ concerning things that happen in their lives
or bad things that they have done, their ‘sorrow’ does not produce a good
result.
6.8.1.1.It doesn’t lead them to make
a determination that they are going to be better people.
6.8.1.2.It doesn’t lead them to get
to the root of their problems and weed out the thing that is causing them to do
such destructive, and self-destructive behavior.
6.8.1.3.Instead, the ‘sorrow’ that
the people of this world in its rebellion against the Lord experience usually
causes them to begin drinking heavily, taking drugs, hate others and try to
extract vengeance on others, or hate themselves and try to harm themselves in
some way or even try to kill themselves, etc.
6.9.
I do want to mention here that when we Christians repent of sin that we
must realize also that we do not have the will power in and of ourselves to not
sin and that as a result we need to continually rely or reckon upon the
Lord’s power to empower us to have victory as we are reckoning our old sin
nature dead to sin and ourselves raised up to walk in the newness of the
resurrection life of Christ.
6.9.1. As an example, I think of my
wedding vows. On the day I married my wife Jill I vowed
that I would be faithful and honor her in marriage until death would cause us
to part. However, I knew that I did not
have the will power in me to guarantee that pledge. But, I was willing to make that vow as I was
trusting in the power of Jesus to give me the power to keep it before the
Lord. This is the same way we must look
at repenting of any sin. We are vowing
to never commit that sin again through the Lord’s grace and enabling in our
life.
6.9.2. By the way, have you ever
heard the saying, “God’s commandments are His enablings”? God will never command any of us to do what
He is not able to give us the power to do, for that would be unjust and unfair! However, whenever we in genuine repentance
trust that by His power we will not commit such and such a sin again, He will
honor that commitment of faith on our part and give us that victory.
7.
VS 7:11 - “11 For
behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in
you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing,
what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to
be innocent in the matter.” - Paul describes for the
Corinthians what the ‘godly sorrow’ they experienced as a result of his ‘severe
letter’ produced in them
7.1.
Paul writes that the Corinthians’ ‘godly sorrow,’ that had led them to
repentance, had produced in them several good results. This is what godly sorrow produces in our
lives:
7.1.1. It caused them to try to
make a ‘vindication’ of themselves.
7.1.1.1.That is, they determined
that they were going to make things right.
In other words, they saw the error of their way, where they had fallen
short and rebelled in their hearts against the Lord, and they determined that
they would not let the sun set before they would make proper amends for their
actions.
7.1.2. It caused them to have
‘indignation’ towards themselves for having sinned.
7.1.2.1.They were incensed towards
themselves for having fallen short of the Lord’s holiness, and thus they
determined that they had to honor the Lord and do in their life what brought
glory to God.
7.1.2.2.They also developed great
‘indignation’ for the man who had openly defied Paul when he had tried to
discipline those who had sinned. Now,
the Corinthians had come to the place where they hated every evil way, and felt
‘indignation’ towards any and all who would rebel against the Lord.
7.1.3. It caused them to have
‘fear’ (or reverence) for the Lord.
7.1.3.1.The Corinthians determined that
they wanted to properly revere the Lord in their hearts and in the church. Allowing rebellion to take up their hearts
had brought about the desire to want to please the Lord in all things.
7.1.4. It caused them to have great
‘zeal’ for the Lord.
7.1.4.1.The Corinthians had not
sided with the man, nor with Paul, when the man had openly defied Paul when he
had tried to discipline those who had sinned.
However, now the Corinthians were filled with zeal to serve the Lord
with all of their hearts, and they were determined to never allow apathy to
enter into their hearts again.
7.1.5. It caused them to get busy
and avenge the wrong that Paul had written about in his ‘severe letter.’
7.1.5.1.The Corinthians became bold
in their dealing with sin in their midst.
They determined that they would call sin what it is and deal with the
rebellious man in a loving but firm Biblical confrontation.
7.1.6. In everything they
demonstrated themselves to be innocent in the matter.
7.1.6.1.By responding appropriately
and genuinely repenting of their sins, the Corinthians proved that though they
had sinned that their hearts were not given over to sin. Their hearts were truly pure. They had only momentarily stumbled, but being
true children of God they had gotten up off of the ground with the Lord’s help
and now they were determined not to let themselves get in the same position
again.
7.2.
Notice here that the Corinthians were only sorrowful for awhile. They had confessed and repented of their sins
revealed to their hearts through Paul’s letter, and the Lord had cleansed them
of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9), and now they had no more sorrow for their
wrong. Their sorrow for their sin was
not a ball and chain that they were dragging along constantly. Rather, they were forgiven, cleansed by God
of all unrighteousness (as 1 John 1:9 promises), and now they were filled with
the joy of the Lord.
7.3.
Genuine repentance always produces a good result in our lives as
Christians. We Christians must realize
that we need to constantly be repenting of sin as often as the Lord makes
us aware of it in our life. As a pastor,
my job in teaching always involves the attempt to bring us as Christians to the
point where we confess and repent of any sins which we may have allowed into
our lives. This is because we always
need to be repenting of sin, just as often as we may sin.
7.4.
In the Calvarys, for many years we had a Baptist preacher from
7.4.1. Our brother Stanley has
since go on to be with the Lord.
8.
VS 7:12-13 - “12 So
although I wrote to you it was not for the sake of the offender, nor for the
sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made
known to you in the sight of God.13 For this reason we have been
comforted. And besides our comfort, we
rejoiced even much more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been
refreshed by you all.” - Paul tells the Corinthians
that the real reason that he wrote the ‘severe letter’ was so that their
‘earnestness’ before the Lord to do what is right would be manifested
8.1.
Paul explains his real motives for writing the ‘severe letter.’ It was not that Paul was inconvenienced
as a result of the Corinthians, nor that his feelings had been hurt by
them, nor that he wanted justice to be served on them in a matter of
speaking because of their sin in not standing up to the man that had openly
defied Paul. Rather, he wanted their
true ‘earnestness’ as obedient children of God to be made known in the sight of
God.
8.1.1. The Corinthian’s needed
Paul’s admonition in order to test and prove their character!
8.2.
Paul writes that their earnestness in doing what was right in
the sight of God had been a great comfort to him and those with him.
8.3.
Besides the comfort that Paul received because of the ‘godly sorrow’ of
the Corinthians, he greatly rejoiced because of the ‘joy of Titus.’ Titus had been greatly refreshed by the
Corinthians, and this greatly encouraged and blessed Paul.
8.3.1. We Christians can bless,
encourage, and comfort people simply by walking closely with the Lord which
produces an overflow of joy that exudes through our life as a result.
9.
VS 7:14 - “14 For if
in anything I have boasted to him about you, I was not put to shame; but as we
spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting before Titus proved to
be the truth.”
- Paul tells the Corinthians that he had
boasted to Titus about the Corinthians
9.1.
Again, as was mentioned already in this study, before Paul sent Titus
to take the ‘severe letter’ to the Corinthians he told him that he was
confident that they would receive it in the right way and repent. Paul was not proved wrong!
10.
VS 7:15 - “15 And his
affection abounds all the more toward you, as he remembers the obedience of you
all, how you received him with fear and trembling.” - Paul tells the Corinthians that Titus’
affection abounded towards them as he remembered their obedience and how they
received him
10.1.
Titus was simply blessed because of the obedient response of the
Corinthians.
10.1.1. We Christians can bless and
encourage others simply by the fact of our being obedient to the Lord.
10.2.
Titus had told Paul that they had received him ‘with fear and
trembling.’ The Corinthians were afraid
that Titus was going to lower the boom on them and they were scared to death of
something that he might see in their lives or say to them.
10.2.1. It is interesting. Sometimes people can think that a pastor has
X-ray vision or something and that because he has a direct line to God that he
can see right through them. They can be
very anxious about visits with the pastor.
11.
VS 7:16 - “16 I rejoice that in everything I
have confidence in you.” - Paul tells the Corinthians
that he has confidence in them in everything
11.1.
Having vindicated themselves by submitting to the apostle Paul and being
obedient to his admonishments in his ‘severe letter,’ Paul now knew that the
Corinthians would just continue to grow and blossom in the Lord, and that God
would continue to do a great work in their lives in and through the church.
12.
CONCLUSION:
12.1.
We have see what the true expression in a person’s life that ‘godly
sorrow’ produces as it leads to genuine repentance before God: vindication of yourselves, indignation, fear,
zeal, avenging of wrong, etc. My
question to you today is, “Does your life express genuine repentance as did the
Corinthians at this point in time?”
12.1.1. Do you have godly sorrow
when you have realized that you have allowed any sin to reside in your life?
12.1.2. Do you feel genuinely sorry
to the Lord when sin is pointed out to you?
12.1.3. Have you truly made a u-turn
for Christ in repentance, now to go the Lord’s way, avoid sin, and do His will?
12.2.
Let’s let godly sorrow have the result that the Lord wants it to have
in our life: genuine repentance of sin
and repentance towards God