II Corinthians 7:8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.
9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
12 Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you.
13 Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all.
14 For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth.
15 And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him.
16 I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.
The Truth will hit us hard. The saints in Corinth knew better than what they had been doing and tolerating. The Holy Spirit was working in them, but they were ignoring Him. They needed a Godly human being to remind them of who they were and what they needed to be doing.
Sometimes people will take their frustrations out on the person that is there to help them. The apostle Paul was not the author of the Scriptures. He was simply the messenger chosen to give this particular message. The saints had been made sorry for what they were doing. That was a good thing, even if it hurt for a time.
The apostle Paul had no reason to repent for what he had said. Again, he did not make the message up. The message was given to him by God. Had he withheld the Truth from them, he would have something to repent of.
As a human being he felt sorry for the saints. He did not want to have to rebuke them. No Godly leader wants to have to confront sin. However, he knows that confronting sin is the loving thing to do.
Paul also understood that their sorrow was only for a season. There needs to be mourning over sin. It is a shameful thing for any child of God to defy God. Anytime a true saint sins, it is in defiance of God. Every true saint will sin, but as we see in the Scripture such action cannot continue and when a person does not submit to the Word of God and to the Holy Spirit working in them, then there is a need for a Godly human voice to take the Word of God under the direction of the Holy Spirit and address the matter. If it is a public sin, it must be addressed publicly. If it is a private sin, it must be addressed privately.
In verse 9 Paul continued by telling them that his joy was in that they heeded God’s Word and they did repent. They turned to God and thus away from their sinful habits. The fornicator stopped his sin. The schisms were dismantled and replaced with a genuine love for the brethren.
We see here that this sorrow was of a godly sort, and thus there was no damage done to the recipients. Godly rebuke is always beneficial to the recipient. He does not knock the person down and whip them and hurt them that way. His hurt may be to the ego, but that needs to go anyway. The saints here heard the rebuke, they repented, and now they could build purity into their lives.
In verse 10 we are reminded that Godly sorrow will work repentance to salvation. It is not that the saints had lost their salvation and needed to be saved again. What they needed was to give evidence that they were truly saved people. That they did. There was no need for Paul or anyone to repent of the message they gave these people. Paul and more importantly, God had not done anything wrong. The sin needed to be exposed and the sinners needed to be confronted.
Christians do not have the liberty to live in sin. They gave that up when they got saved. They wanted a holy life. They wanted to be forgiven and they wanted to go in the God-honouring direction.
There might be some that would say, ‘I never signed up for that when I got saved’. A better answer would be, ‘I designed my own brand of salvation and it works for me now, but it leaves me lacking’. The reason it is lacking is because it is not real.
As Paul wrote here, the sorrow of the world worketh death. There are many ungodly people who are sorry for what they did. The husband and wife will be sorry for the fight they had. We know that king Ahasuerus was sorry that he had divorced Vashti. His counsellors did not want him to try to mend that relationship. They counselled him to find someone else that was “better” than Vashti. For him, there was no better woman than Vashti. She was his wife. Had they both sought Godly counsel they could have had a wonderful relationship and been a blessing to Persia.
You do not fix a problem by running away from it. Too often we try that. It does not work. Sin needs to be acknowledged and dealt with Scripturally and when that is done, there are great blessings to be had.
In verse 11 we see further that the Corinthians’ sorrow had been after a godly sorrow. It was a good sorrow. They were careful to follow the Biblical manner of resolving the problem. The sin needed to stop. Forgiveness needed to be sought. Confession of sin needed to be there. Healing needed to take place after the sin was acknowledged and forgiven.
The saints were careful to resolve this matter Biblically so that they could move on in victory, not defeat.
The Corinthians proved themselves to be free from condemnation. They had done all that was needed to be forgiven. There was no need for bitterness to set in. There was no need for them to be concerned that others would perceive them as hypocrites. They were clear of the guilt of sin.
In verse 12 Paul was directed to remind them that the real issue here was the name of God. Yes there was a man involved in fornication. That was bad. However, that man was trying to bring shame upon the name of God. The apostle Paul stated that his response to their sin was such that they and all others would see that he was acting in accordance with God’s will. They needed to see that and because they were genuinely saved, they did see that.
In verse 13 Paul reminded them that their proper response brought joy to the apostle’s heart. Titus had been the messenger who relayed the message. True saints do not want to bring shame upon God nor themselves, nor other saints. They want to shine as lights before a dark world.
In verse 14 Paul spoke of his high regard for the Corinthian saints. He had spoken very highly of them to Titus. Due to their proper response to the whole matter, he did not need to apologize to Titus for things he had said of them. He had not made them out to be good when they were not. He had spoken the truth in love. He had not been a gossip or a slanderer. He had told Titus of what Godly people they were. They proved that to be true.
Their actions had been a blessing to Titus as well. He could remember their obedience to God. That is an important testimony to have. God does not raise rebels. He raises servants who love Him and who want to be known as His children. They want to be holy as He is holy.
The saints in Corinth had received Titus with great respect. They knew he was not their enemy. They wanted to be a blessing to him. They had done all they could to be just that.
In verse 16 Paul concluded this section with the reminder that they had given him great occasion to rejoice in them. They had not let him down. He trusted there would be better things coming from them and because they were true saints, that was the case.
Again we see that Godly leaders know what God does when He saves someone. Godly leaders know what they should expect to see from those who are saved. Godly leaders do not whitewash sin and they do not twist the Scriptures to make sin look acceptable.
God’s holiness had not changed. His gift of salvation has not changed. It is still powerful and it still produces Godly fruit. Galatians 5:
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Pastor Bartel