The Impact of Repentance

Introduction

Everyone here today began a journey of life the day they were born. We all understand the concept of travel. Some like travel more than others. When I and Liz were serving in Washington State we traveled down to Portland, Oregon to see a Broadway show we did not think was going to be back in the general area anytime soon. When we people in our church heard we were going to drive down to Portland they could not believe we would drive all the way to Portland to see a show and then drive back in the same day. We kindly chuckled when it was said, Portland was only a little over three hours away. Many in our church had never done much traveling, even less out of the state of Washington. What seems long to some is short for others. Regardless of the length of the journey, we all understand that life is that—a journey! When you are traveling anywhere on the side of the highway are road signs. When we moved out to Washington and away from Washington we drove through multiple mountain passes. There were a variety of warning signs about rock-slides, steep incline or decline, use of chains, among others. Every highway has exit and entrance signs. Whether highway, rural, or city—our roads have signs to give directions and warnings.

In some similarity, Paul in writing to the Corinthian believers a second time gives testimony to how the Corinthians responded to the warnings and the imperative directions given to them in his first letter. In 2 Corinthians 7:2-7

2 Corinthians 7:2–7 (NASB95)

2 Make room for us in your hearts; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one. 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. 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. 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 expresses the comfort that he received upon hearing of their spiritual growth. Paul had become depressed over the Corinthians sinful choices. He was torn up over the sin that had been taking place in the Corinthian church. Paul then uses two words that he also uses in his letter to the Ephesians to make a strong point regarding God— “But God!” When Paul had hit a low point spiritually God in his providential timing had Titus come to Paul with the comforting news of the Corinthian believers’ spiritual growth. Paul shares the comfort that he and his ministry partners received from Titus coming to them and sharing how the Corinthians comforted and encouraged Titus. Titus shared with Paul the strong knitting of the Corinthians heart to Paul and the spiritual change that had taken place.

Our passage this morning combined with the surrounding text is a wonderful picture of what the relationship ought to be between each Christian. The Christian relationship should be one that is tightly knit together where we truly rejoice and mourn with one another over the spiritual struggles and victories in one another’s lives. This leads us to our text this morning. 2 Corinthians 7:8-13.

2 Corinthians 7:8–13 (NASB95)

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, so 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. 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. 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 in this paragraph is speaking more like giving a report than giving commands. Paul in this passage shares with the Corinthians a wonderful theological truth about their relationship to God. He shares the truth of what keeps a believer, a Christian having a right and growing relationship with God then by extension the church. It is from this theological truth of repentance we get our main point this morning.

Big Idea: Repentance is the key to restoring your relationship with God after falling in sin.

I. Sorrow and regret lead to the point repentance, 8-9.

This is a second letter Paul has written to the Corinthian church. To help set the scene of this second letter we need to look back at the first. We can see clearly that Paul is referring to sin he had to confront in a previous letter that he sent to the Corinthians. The exact sin or sins Paul is speaking of in his second letter is not precisely known. Different commentators land on a couple different ideas, one of which is the immoral situation that occured in 1 Corinthians 5 between a son and mother. Some commentators based on the Greek language believe it was a step-mother. All the same it does not change the sin it is still horrible and gross. Whatever the sin is that Paul is referring to in 2 Corinthians 7, Paul did not regret writing the letter and condemning the sin that was taking place by both the parties involved in the sin and those who were sinning by condoning it and not calling it out as sin.

Let’s take a moment here to pause and look at the language Paul uses here. Paul uses three words that impact the repentance in a persons life—sorrow, regret, and repentance. The first word to look at is sorrow. It is used 5 times in verses 8-9 and 3 more times in verses 10-11. Paul is making a point. Sin often is accompanied by sorrow or grief.

Grief over sin is is true of both saved and unsaved people. It is in these verses and ff that we see the difference in the results of that grief.

Regret is a word that means to have remorse or to feel sad or bad about, to have second thoughts. Paul is telling the Corinthians that part of him was sad and remorseful over having to send this letter.

(Application moment) Confronting sin in other people’s lives is not easy. Unfortunately, we struggle to do this as Christians. We all too often fail and find ways to justify why we are exhorting one another to righteousness. This said, most people do not get excited over confrontation. Outliers always exist where you have someone that is always fault-finding but most Christians are not seeking and getting pleasure out of pointing out sin in peoples lives. This is not what Paul is explaining about himself. He is stating that sin when it is seen needs to be confronted and that the confrontation brings him grief and sadness but he in this case could rejoice because the sorrow that took place in the Corinthians led them to the point of repentance!

Paul was not rejoicing over the opportunity to confront but rejoicing over the result of the confrontation. Repentance brings about joy and restoration as we will see in a few moments. Paul saw that the Corinthians’ grief was of a godly manner. Chrysostom said this “Like a father who watches his son being operated on, Paul rejoices not for the pain being inflicted but for the cure which is the ultimate result.” (Dane Ortlund, “2 Corinthians,” in Romans–Galatians, ed. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, vol. X, ESV Expository Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 495.)

Let’s look at this sorrow and what kind of sorrow is Paul talking about here that brings one to repentance. Look at the text, the sorrow was according to the will of God. In the original Greek this phrase reads literally “according to God.” It is used in verse 9 and verse 10. The sorrow and grief over sin Paul is talking about here is a godly sorrow. This sorrow is not a sorrow that one got caught in sin but that one is in sin. Godly sorrow does begin with the framework of what others see but what God sees. This brings to mind what is God says to Samuel about David— “God sees not as man sees but looks on the heart.”

Turn with me to Psalm 51:3-4; David’s sorrow lead him to see his sin against God, not just a bad thing he did.

Psalm 51:3–4 (NASB95)

3 For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. 4 Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.

The phrase “so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us” speaks to how their sorrow prodded them back to God rather than away from God. The strong letter that God had Paul write helped to restore and produce “fruitful living rather than futile living. (Ortlund, ESV Ex. Comment.)”

Application:

How are you viewing your sin? Are you simply sorrowful because you were caught or God’s Word shined a light on it?

How are you doing at doing one another ministry and helping others see sin in their own lives? We have a responsibility to help restore those who have fallen in sin. We have grown accustomed to this thought that our spiritual life is private and others do not need to know that I am struggling. Think for a moment with me of passages all throughout the NT. Paul confronts sin multiple times. Are we willing to challenge others as Paul did when sin is evident in a person’s life? Look what the results were, a renewed relationship with God.

Is your sorrow a godly sorrow? Are you viewing your sin as God views your sin?

Transition: It is this godly sorrow and view of our sin that leads to a changed life.

II. A godly sorrow of sin produces repentance, 9-10.

Flowing from verse 9 into 10 Paul arrives at the climax of this discussion. Godly sorrow not only leads to repentance but produces repentance without regret. What is Paul talking about a repentance without regret? No one who has truly repented of sin goes back and says I regret that decision. Repentance is burden-freeing! Repentance is a change of one’s mind to no longer selfishly look at your sin and looking at your sin as God sees your sin.

The level of sorrow that the Corinthians experienced was painful. It was not a surface level sorrow. Their sorrow was deep and painful. Repentance will not take place in a persons life without the painful sorrow that is according to God. It is a deep realization of how much your sin grieves God. Have you ever done something that has hurt or even broken an earthly relationship with someone? The pain that flows from that broken relationship is a spattering of the godly pain we need to have over our sin before God. Our sin nailed Christ to the cross! Our sin slapped him in the face! Our sin caused God the Father to turn his back on his only son for 3 long hours. We need to sorrow over our sin and see it as serious as God sees it. One term used for this concept is “brokenness.” Does your sorrow break you before God?

Let’s dive a little deeper here. Paul gives a comparison of godly sorrow vs worldly sorrow. Godly sorrow leads to a change of mind about sin to where the person sees sin as enmity with God. They allow the Holy Spirit to change their mind and view about the sin to see sin as God sees sin. It is a reconstitution of one’s spiritual priorities. It is having the same heart that David had when confronted with the sin in his life...

Blot out my sin…Wash me thoroughly/cleanse me…Against you only have I sinned…I have done evil…Purge me…wash me…let me hear rejoicing...blot out my sin…Create in me a clean heart…renew my spirit…do not forsake me…restore me to joy of your salvation…uphold me...

This is godly sorrow! This is repentance...

Paul does not mean that a certain emotional experience of grief and subsequent repentance is the secret key to salvation. Rather he means that postconversion experiences of godly sorrow over one’s sins, resulting in fresh penitence, are in beautiful and natural accord with final salvation. Penitence, not perfection, nurtures the soul into final deliverance. - (Dane Ortlund, “2 Corinthians,” in Romans–Galatians, ed. Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, vol. X, ESV Expository Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 496.)

Is this how you are responding to sin in your life?! The only alternative is responding with a worldly sorrow. Paul tells us here that worldly sorrow leads to death. So what does worldly sorrow look like?

Worldly sorrow is self-centered. It bemoans the lack of recognition for achievement. It laments not having the resources or finances one desires or thinks they deserve.

Worldly sorrow leads to despair. It brings about bitterness and in some cases a stillness or even paralysis in life. Have you ever seen someone so caught up in grief they could no longer function properly in life?

When I was pastoring in Illinois, I attended a funeral of someone related to a church member. I am not sure if the person who died was saved. I do however remember the response of a man in his 60’s in the front row rocking back and forth and almost waling in despair and sorrow uncontrollably. Worldly grief responds as such because God is not in the picture. A person can become encompassed in their own self-pity.

True repentance implies remorse for sins that wound and anger God and the desire to make amends and to desist from sinning again (David E. Garland, 2 Corinthians, vol. 29, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 356.)

Application:

Christian, how often are you truly repenting of your sin? Are you living with a true godly sorrow for the sin in your life? Or is it tainted with a worldly sorrow and a type of regret that you got caught or God pointed it out to you through a sermon or another believer? Do you get upset when you are confronted with sin? Christian, you and I need to be surrendering our heart and mind to God and truly seeing our sin as God sees it. We truly need to see how heinous our sin is before God and not try and justify any of our sin. Some in this room today have read or studied a book called Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges. The main thrust of the entire book is that we commit sins too often that we look on as just a character flaw rather than a sin. We treat them with respect rather than calling it sin as God calls it sin.

Our relationship with God, our relationship as a church will not grow as God desires if we are not allowing ourselves to be broken over our sin! We must lives with a godly sorrow that leads to repentance!

Maybe this morning you are here and have never placed your faith and trust in Christ. You have never given that initial call on God in faith and repentance to cleanse your heart from sin and to make you his child. Please come and see me after the service and I would love to share with you more fully how God demonstrated his love to you.

Transition: So how do we know that we have truly repented? What does it look like? Paul in verse 11 gives a description of the repent heart.

III. True repentance earnestly desires a right relationship with God, 11-12.

Every Christian desires a relationship with God. Due to our sin nature that we will battle and war with until our day of glorification, understanding and living a repentant life is key to a growing and thriving relationship with God. Repentance brings life. What then does repentance look like? God uses the Corinthians’ response and divinely gives it to Paul to record for us here. Godly sorrow that produces repentance has seven evidences of it being in a persons life. Let’s look at this list:

earnestness - this word speaks of diligence and eagerness; it is diligently seeking

vindication(apologia/defense) of yourself - Repentance and godly sorrow take place so that God is justified (proven right) and seen as blameless in the sight of others. It is affirming that God is righteous and holy. Earnestness to show that God was right and I was wrong. The problem and sin is not God but I am the guilty one.

indignation - intensely displeased with himself; righteous displeasure

fear - fearful anxiety to patch up the relationship with God that has been broken; can carry an element of fear of God’s discipline; thoughts are full of oppression for rupturing relationship with God

longing/desire - longing restoration where they miss greatly what they have lost

zeal - actively doing what it takes to restore the relationship

avenging/punishment - seeing that justice is done… i.e. Zaccheus (Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” Lk 19:8.)

Application:

Confessing a Bank Robbery

In May of 1948 three men robbed a bank in Hoyt, Kansas, getting away with $1,000. Shortly thereafter two men were killed in a car wreck, and police thought they were the robbers and the case was closed. Four years later, however, something unusual happened. On a Sunday morning at the Seward Avenue Baptist Church a young man named Al Johnson stepped to the pulpit and revealed to the congregation that the day before he had gone to the district attorney and confessed his role in the crime.

“I thought about the bank robbery many times,” Johnson, who was a teenager when the crime occurred, said, “I prayed about it and asked the Lord to give me an answer. It seemed that He would give me only one answer and that was to give myself up.” Johnson also revealed that he had borrowed the money to repay the bank his share of the stolen funds. The statute of limitations had expired, but Johnson said that even if it meant going to prison, he could not keep the secret any longer. Johnson agreed to help the authorities locate the other two men, who had not been, as was previously believed, the men involved in the car accident.

Sometimes we think the best approach is to hide our sin, either to avoid embarrassment and exposure, or to avoid the potential consequences. That approach never works in the long run. There is a God who sees everything—nothing is ever hidden from His view. His hatred of sin is so intense that He will never allow us to prosper by covering our sin. The toll of hidden sin on the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of the sinner is vast. It is far better for us to confess and seek the mercy and forgiveness of God. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”—Proverbs 28:13

How serious are you about making your sin right? How often do you sit and ask God for forgiveness and in the back of your mind you are trying to hold on to it a little and hoping to just get rid of the guilt and prodding of conviction. So, you go a short amount of time and find yourself choosing to do the same sin again. You go through the same motions over and over when in all reality you never truly repented of the sin. You never diligently sought to vindicate yourself for the purpose of justifying God’s stance on your sin. You never had a righteous displeasure of your sin but only a selfish displeasure that came from the Holy Spirit’s conviction and so you did what you could to please yourself and subside the wordly sorrow rather than letting godly sorrow lead you to true repentance. You were not anxious over the damaged relationship with God your sin had caused hence not leading toward a zeal to make things right and seek justice in the situation even if that meant a negative consequence in your life as Al Johnson did—being willing to go to jail for his sin.

True repentance desires a right relationship with God! IT agonizes when that relationship is broken and hindered.

Conclusion:

Big Idea: Repentance is the key to restoring your relationship with God after falling in sin.

Sorrow and regret point to repentance! Godly sorrow produces to repentance! Repentance restores your relationship with God. It brings joy to the believer’s life. Paul rejoices over the sin that was repented of and made right in Corinth! We must be viewing and admitting sin is as God calls it. God is holy and cannot tolerate our sin! He is just and cannot overlook our sin! In God’s love he provided a way for us to have a relationship with him. It is by God’s grace and through his mercy he provided salvation. Until a person truly sees sin as enmity with God, that relationship is damaged…or in the case of some they have never surrendered their sin to God and repented to the point of salvation where the relationship begins.

Sin is a serious thing and we need to treat it as serious as God treats sin. We look at the world around us and we call out how sin has been almost eliminated it seems from peoples’ thought and vocab. I ask us, how are we doing the same thing only maybe disguising it a bit? How are we softening sin in our own lives?

We need to live lives that are broken over the sin we commit! We need to sorrow according to God that leads us to have a genuine change of mind and heart. If we treated sin more often in this way we would have less repeating sins in our life because we would be viewing sin as God views it. How again does God view sin—He cannot tolerate or overlook it!

Are you tolerating sin in your life to linger in the shadows and whenever it rears its ugly head you confess it, you may even genuinely ask for forgiveness, but never reach the point of brokenness and godly sorrow that leads then to repentance—a change of mind and heart to have the same mind and heart that God has toward sin!

Paul in Galatians 5 and Romans 7 details the battle we have with sin but at the same time have the Spirit of God to enable us to live righteously! God’s power enables us to deny sin and worldly desires. Why then do we choose to not take sin as serious as God takes it?

Repentance in a persons life brings life. The alternative is death and agony. A Christian who refuses to repent runs the danger of searing their conscience to the point that they hinder their ability to see God’s perspective of their sin.

Do not fall prey to justifying sin or rationalizing sin. Do not overlook and tolerate it in your life or in the life of others. Ask God to help you have a godly sorrow over sin as it is what produces repentance, a change of mind and heart to serve God righteously. God is big and we are small! God is righteous and we are sinners saved by grace!

May godly sorrow and repentance characterize your life this morning! They are the key to restoring your relationship with God when you fall into sin!