Word of Salvation – Vol. 22 No. 21 – February 1976
Sorrow For Sin… True And False
Sermon by Rev. K. J. Campbell, B.A., B.D. on 2Corinthians 7:10
Scripture Readings: 1Samuel 26:12-25; 2Samuel 12:1-14; 2Corinthians 7:1-11
Psalter Hymnal: 114; 228:1-3,5; 302; 454; 487
INTRODUCTION
Today we want to consider a very important question. It is one of those life or death questions, and the question is this: What is your reaction to sin in your life? In what way are you sorry for sin in your life?
The Bible tells us that there are TWO WAYS OF BEING SORRY for sin in our lives. One way of being sorry, the Bible says, leads to ‘REPENTANCE UNTO SALVATION’. But the other way of being sorry, the Bible says, ‘LEADS TO DEATH’. One way of being sorry for sin leads to eternal life. The other way of being sorry for sin leads to eternal death.
Well then, you can see the importance of our question. What is your reaction to sin in your life, in what way are you sorry for that sin? Is your sorrow for sin what the Bible calls godly sorrow which leads to repentance unto salvation? Or is your sorrow merely the sorrow of this world which leads to death?
EXEGESIS AND APPLICATION
Now the apostle Paul brings up this matter of the two types of sorrow for sin in his second letter to the Corinthian Christians. Let’s look first of all at the context of Paul’s discussion on these two types of sorrow. Look at verse 8 of chapter 7 to begin with. Here Paul says: “Though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent; though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle (letter) hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.” What Paul is saying is this: He is saying that he had to send a letter to the Corinthians which made them very sorry. That letter, of course, is what we call 1Corinthians. And if you read through it you will see that Paul has some very hard things to say to the Corinthian Church. For instance, he accuses them of a party spirit, of breaking up into little cliques which squabbled with each other and accused each other, and sought the pre-eminence above each other. Paul warned them of the grave dangers they faced in the judgement if they did not repent and change their ways. Just imagine the shock the Corinthian Christians would have received in receiving this hard charge and warning from none other than the Apostle Paul himself.
But Paul had other hard things to say to the Corinthians in that first letter. He spoke with great hardness against them for their failure to exercise discipline in their midst. Here was a son living in an immoral relationship with his father’s wife and the Corinthians had ignored this immorality and had not used the keys of the Kingdom of heaven in this situation. The Corinthians had failed to exercise discipline and Paul says to them, “ye are puffed up and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.” (5:2). Imagine the shame of the Corinthians when Paul pointed out to them their sin of omission.
But again this was not all that Paul had to say to the Corinthians. He charged them with ungodly behaviour in their taking each other to the secular law courts on false charges. He challenged them about their lack of love and so shows them what real love is in that famous 13th chapter. And he accuses them of being babes and childish in their use of and attitude towards the gift of tongues.
Paul spoke with great firmness and hardness in that first letter, and he now says in the 8th verse that on the one hand it repented him that he had to do so That is, Paul on the one hand regretted that he had to write so harshly and hardly to the Corinthians as he knew it would cause them much sorrow, and yet on the other hand Paul also says that he did not regret writing such a hard letter to them and he gives the reason why he did not regret sending such a hard letter in verses 9-10. He says, “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 (or suffer loss) by us in nothing for godly sorrow worketh or leadeth to repentance unto salvation, not to be regretted (repented) of: but the sorrow of the world worketh or leadeth to death.”
Paul regretted that it was necessary for him to write such a hard letter and to say such hard things. Yet, he rejoiced that his hard letters and his harsh sayings had the desired effect. Paul rejoiced in the response of the Corinthians. He rejoiced not just in the fact that they were sorry for their sin, but Paul rejoiced in the fact that they were sorry unto repentance, that they were sorry after a godly manner and not just with the sorrow of the world.
Paul was rejoicing that the Corinthians had responded in the way which evidenced the truth that they really belonged to Jesus and really possessed salvation. Paul was rejoicing that the Corinthians had responded to his rebuke and his exposure of their sin WITH GODLY SORROW, because as he tells them: “godly sorrow produces or leads to REPENTANCE UNTO SALVATION.” Godly sorrow, says Paul, is evidence of the presence of God’s saving grace in your life. Godly sorrow, says Paul, is evidence of a true turning to God, to Jesus for forgiveness of sin and for salvation.
Paul, in our text, is saying to the Corinthian Christians, ‘I am rejoicing in your sorrow over my first letter to you, because your sorrow is the sorrow God desires and wills to be present in your heart.’ ‘I am rejoicing in your sorrow for your sin because it is godly sorrow and godly sorrow is evidence of true repentance, evidence of salvation, godly sorrow brings that assurance of salvation.’ ‘I am rejoicing,’ says Paul, ‘for your sorrow is not of this world, it is not worldly sorrow, for worldly sorrow leads to death.’ Worldly sorrow is evidence of no true repentance. Worldly sorrow is evidence of the lack of salvation. “The sorrow of this world,” says Paul, “worketh death” and I am rejoicing that this is not the sorrow that you Corinthians have shown, but your sorrow has been after a godly manner.
Now Paul has shown us quite clearly then that there are two types of sorrow for sin. There is godly sorrow, and there is the sorrow of this world. The godly sorrow (brings or) evidences the blessings of salvation. The sorrow of this world brings the curse of eternal death.
What is our sorrow towards our sin? Is it godly sorrow or is it just worldly sorrow? To answer this most important question we must know the difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. What then is the difference? We can perhaps best see the difference between godly sorrow and the sorrow of this world by way of several illustrations from the Old Testament.
First of all, let’s look at the sorrow of this world which leads to death. Do you remember King Saul, the first King of Israel? How he was filled with envy and jealousy against David? When King Saul and David returned from triumph in battle over the Philistines 1Samuel 18:7 records how the people of Israel danced and shouted: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” Verse 8 says, “Saul was very wrath and the saying displeased him”. Verse 9 says that “Saul eyed David from that day forward.” Verse 10 says that Saul “was filled with an evil spirit against David.” And verse 11 records how Saul cast a spear at David in an attempt to murder him. Saul then, out of envy and jealousy hated David and from this point on hunted David in an attempt to murder him. Saul feared that he would lose his kingship to David. Saul lived in sin against David
Now David had no evil intent against Saul. In fact, David, out of fear toward God, respected Saul and the sanctity of Saul’s life. On a number of occasions David had opportunity to kill Saul, but refused to. On one such occasion David crept into Saul’s camp and took Saul’s spear from beside him while Saul slept. The next morning David, from a distance called out to Saul, showed Saul his spear and told Saul that he could have killed him, but he didn’t because he had no evil intent against him and therefore why was Saul so intent on killing him.
You see, Saul was caught out in his sin. What was Saul’s reaction?
Well, it wasn’t godly sorrow. Saul’s reaction to being found out in his sin was only the sorrow of this world. Remember what Saul said in 1Samuel 26:21 we read: “Then said Saul, I have sinned; return my son David, for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day, behold I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.”
Saul had been found out in his sin. Saul had to admit to his sin. But notice that there was no godly sorrow in Saul’s heart for his sin. Saul made no reference to God at all. Saul had a knowledge of his wrongdoing. He admitted he had sinned and had erred exceedingly, but the problem was that even though he knew he had sinned he had no real conviction in his heart about it. At the moment of being found out in his sin he was sorry, but he wasn’t sorry toward God. There was no real repentance toward God. Saul didn’t turn from his dead works and turn toward the living God. Saul still hated and envied David.
Saul did feel miserable and sad and sorry about being found out in his sin. He did say “I have played the fool.” He was embarrassed by his sin Saul felt sorry for himself. Saul was even filled with pity for himself, but this was as far as his sorrow went. It was a worldly sorrow! There was self-sorrow and self-pity, but no real deep down sorrow before God.
This is what the sorrow of this world which leads to death is. A sorrow for self, self-pity, for being found out in sin. A sorrow, not for offending God or sinning against God, but a sorrow and misery for the difficulty and embarrassment your sin has caused you.
Now this sorrow of the world can have real weeping and carrying on attached to it. Remember Esau when he lost his birthright and inheritance to Jacob? While Jacob had been deceitful, Esau’s own sin had contributed to his loss. Esau was filled with self-pity and sorrow and weeping, but it wasn’t godly sorrow, it was just worldly sorrow. Hebrews 12:16-17 tells us that Esau for one morsel of meat sold his birthright, and then it says, “For ye know how that afterward when he (Esau) would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: FOR HE FOUND NO PLACE OF REPENTANCE, though he sought it carefully with tears. Esau wept in sorrow when his sin was discovered, but it wasn’t godly sorrow, there was no repentance in his heart toward God.
This sorrow of the world is seen a lot by the counsellors in Christian counselling services (eg. Life Line, Crisis) – you ask them. Many calls are received where people are terribly sorry for their pitiful state. There is often much weeping. But what sort of sorrow is it? Well, the type of sorrow is usually discovered when the Gospel of Jesus Christ is applied to that person and the problem. When the Gospel is rejected, when there is no desire to hear Christ, then the sorrow is discovered to be of this world and not godly sorrow after all. You see, usually the sin that has been found out or has brought the worldly sorrow is still loved, and the sorrow is only self-pity for the mess that the sin against God has brought upon the individual. And, you know, usually associated with this worldly sorrow is the feeling that God is to blame for the mess and the misery the person has got himself/herself into. Worldly sorrow blames God. Worldly sorrow thinks that God is unfair and unjust and that He is the cause of all the problems. Much of what is called depression today is really nothing more than the sorrow of this world, self-pity, misery for the mess sin has given rise to.
Here then we have a picture of the sorrow of this world which leads to death It led Saul to death. He actually committed suicide. But it is more than just physical death, it is eternal death. So again we can ask ourselves the question: What is our reaction to sin in our lives? Is our reaction similar to Saul’s or to Esau’s, or to so many people in this world? Only a worldly sorrow? Or is it sorrow after a godly manner? What is godly sorrow?
Well, as Saul’s life showed us what worldly sorrow is, David’s life shows us what godly sorrow is. David was found out in his sin. Remember he had caused the death of Uriah because he wanted Uriah’s wife. David had committed murder, and he had committed adultery with Bathsheba, Uriah’s wife. David tried to ignore this sin. But Nathan the prophet came to David and confronted him directly with it. What was David’s response? We find it in 2Samuel 12:13 where we read, “And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.”
David had knowledge of his sin, just like Saul, but more than that, David was convicted in his heart toward God. Saul said “I have sinned.” David said “I have sinned against the Lord.” Saul was sorry for himself. David was sorry toward the Lord. You see, both Saul and David were filled with sorrow for their sin, but the difference was that David’s extreme sorrow was directed to God in deep penitence and contrition of heart. David acknowledged his guilt and his unworthiness before God (Saul didn’t do that). David saw that ultimately his sin was against God and he cried out to God for forgiveness. (Saul didn’t feel any real need for forgiveness, because he didn’t feel that he had offended God.) Listen to David’s sorrow when he was found out in his sin; “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. AGAINST THEE, THEE ONLY, HAVE I SINNED, AND DONE THIS EVIL IN THY SIGHT. Purge me….. wash me….. create in me a clean heart ,O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51).
David’s sorrow was truly godly sorrow. David’s sorrow was centred in God and in the holiness of God. Saul didn’t acknowledge God at all. David’s sorrow evidenced a turning from dead works and a turning to the Living God. David’s sorrow evidenced true repentance – a repentance unto salvation.
Saul’s worldly sorrow lead to death – to what Jesus calls the weeping and gnashing of teeth of judgement, the wages of sin itself, but David’s godly sorrow turned into a godly joy. Into the joy of God’s salvation and the praise of God’s goodness. Out of godly sorrow David was able to sing to the God of his salvation; “my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness, O Lord, open thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.”
The Corinthian Christians also had responded to their being found out in sin with godly sorrow. And their godly sorrow turned to great joy in the salvation of their God and Saviour and into a great zeal for godliness and holiness. Paul says to them in verse 11 “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 avenging of wrong. In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in the matter. Godly sorrow had evidenced true repentance toward God, a seeking and a receiving of his forgiveness, and the blessing of a sure salvation. Their godly sorrow was proof that truly they were temples of the Holy Spirit and true members of Christ Jesus!
What is the sorrow that we express in reaction to our sin? Has it been merely the sorrow of the world, that sorrow that leads to death? Oh, if it has been nothing more than that, receive the rebuke that the word (law) of God would bring, and respond in godly sorrow to that invitation that Christ Jesus extends when he says, “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
But if by God’s grace you have and continue to respond in sorrow after a godly manner, then rejoice with David and the Corinthian Christians in your salvation. Bring praises to your Saviour Jesus and be zealous for godliness in your life. Let godly sorrow bring that evidence of salvation to your heart, filling you with that assurance that truly you belong to none other than Jesus the Saviour.