Repentance is fundamental to Christianity, yet it often provokes controversy, including among God’s people, when a person suggests that repentance requires more than saying, “Oops!” When Paul addressed the Corinthians in his second epistle, he commended them for their positive response to his first epistle, especially in regard to the matter of church discipline, using it as a motivation for positive response to this second letter. Moreover, Paul’s word choices in this section of scripture augment his overall argument.
Repentance is an intellectual response to God’s Word. Paul wrote, “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”(2 Cor. 7:8).While the emphasis in verse eight is on the feelings of both the Corinthians and Paul, what produced these feelings is significant-Paul’s epistle. The word translated “repent” in the KJV would better be rendered regret.” Paul did not regret sending the letter; he regretted the necessity of having to do so. Paul’s inspired letter forced the Corinthians to think about their actions intellectually. This thought, in turn, provoked an emotional response-sorrow. Emotion therefore has a proper role in Christianity. Emotion, however, should not be the guiding force or decision maker, but our emotions should be affected once we consider intellectually what God’s Word says. Therefore, to respond emotionally is not wrong; it is simply incomplete. The Corinthians’ sorrow was an appropriate response to the message of Paul’s letter, but it would have been insufficient if it were the only response.
Repentance follows the recognition of sin and its consequences. He continued, “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” (2 Cor. 7:9). Paul’s joy was not centered on the expression of Corinthian sorrow but on the intellectual change to which it led-repentance. The Corinthians’ sorrow had value because they were sorry for the right reason. They were not sorry they got caught. They were not sorry Paul “felt that way.” They felt sorrow over their sin. They were brought to their knees as a result of being confronted by Paul with God’s will (after a godly manner). Therefore, they understood that their souls stood in jeopardy if they did not make the proper corrections. If a person truly repents, it is only after he has been willing to admit his participation in sin and recognized his lost condition. “Confessions” that fail to acknowledge sinfulness and the loss of fellowship with God indicate that a person feels bad but is not yet ready to repent.
Repentance requires an entire change in mindset. Paul then concluded, “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death” (2 Cor. 7:10). An honest, intellectual consideration of God’s Word will produce an emotional response–guilt (Acts 2:37), but we must then respond intellectually once more to make the corrections required by God’s Word. In this verse, Paul uses the normal word for repentance (metanoia) as well as another form of the word he used in verse eight meaning regret (ametameleton). The difference between these words is important. They both contain the preposition meta which denotes a difference or change. The first word indicates a change in thinking or mindset, while the second implies a change in how one feels. Godly sorrow does not produce just a change in how you feel (guilt) but also produces a change in thinking-repentance. To make the appropriate corrections required by God’s Word, one must correct the disparity between what God says and the current situation in your life.
God’s Word is the foundation of repentance. People cannot repent until they know that God says they are in sin. But a person must be willing to acknowledge his situation as an abomination to God that will cost him his soul. Repentance is the intellectual determination to make our lives right with God according to His Word. Repentance does not make something that was wrong right. Repentance does not erase the consequences of past sins. Repentance is the mindset that determines to correct those matters regardless of the consequences.
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