Free Bible Commentary
“2 Corinthians 7:5-13”
Categories: 2 Corinthians“For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within. But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus; 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. 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—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, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. 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. 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. 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. For this reason we have been comforted.”
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Sometimes sorrow is good. We live in a permissive society that encourages leniency and “safe spaces” and very little personal accountability for actions and appreciation of the consequences for poor choices. But, we do no one any favors, including ourselves, when we choose to be unremorseful for doing foolish, harmful, sinful things. We need to be sorry when we do wrong. The Corinthian church had permitted a very sinful situation to persist without trying to intervene by chastising and punishing the erring brother (1 Corinthians 5:1-13). When Paul reprimanded them for that, they had true remorse.
But sorrow should only be a small, initial turn in the direction of a complete about-face. If sorrow does not lead to repentance, then it is just wasted emotion (verse 9). When guilt, shame and sorrow motivate us to make positive, righteous changes in our lives, those are godly strides in the direction of salvation (verse 10). But when we are just sorry that we got caught, and have no real desire to redirect our steps toward the “will of God”, that is only “the sorrow of the world” that “produces death”. For all of their flaws and foibles, the church at Corinth is a good example for us to follow in this matter. They had a great “longing” and “zeal” to repent and do the right thing (verse 11).
Sorrow is only healthy when it lasts “for a while” (verse 8). Once God has pricked our heart with the sad truth, and we repent and turn from our sinful ways, we are forgiven. Obviously, if we’ve never been baptized for the forgiveness or our sins, we need to do that as well. But once God has forgiven us, we need to forgive ourselves and “go on our way rejoicing” (Acts 8:39). A true, blood-bought, born-again Christian should understand that he has been given heaven’s greatest blessing when he is rescued by God’s forgiveness through the gift of “the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:13). Godly sorrow leads to repentance that produces salvation and joy!!!
Please read 2 Corinthians 7:13-16 for tomorrow.
Have a great day!
- Louie Taylor
