Godly sorrow and repentance which leads to salvation, 2 Corinthians 7:8-10

In Corinth, Godly sorrow over a letter Paul regretted writing led the members of the church to a zeal to put away their sins which is the definition of repentance. After that repentance, they were told to accept back among themselves even those who had lapsed into the "worst" sins, but had repented.

In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul dealt with a report of incest within the Corinthian church–incest of which the church as a whole was “proud,” as an example of the freedom they enjoyed in Christ. But Paul was outraged. he described what was happening as “sexual immorality… of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father’s wife.” 1 Corinthians 5:1. Paul then told the Corinthians that, instead of being proud, they should “have gone into mourning and have put out of [their] fellowship the man who has been doing this.” 1 Corinthians 5:2. He then passed a harsh judgment on the man who had been doing this, and commanded the local congregation to join him, in “hand[ing] this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 5:3-5.

The discussion which follows this sets the stage for Paul’s words about repentance in his second letter. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church generally that, while they must associate with evil people in the world–otherwise they would have to leave the world (verses 9-10)–

but now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. Expel the wicked person from among you.

1 Corinthians 5:11-13.

And there Paul left the matter in his first letter.

However, Paul returned to the subject in his second letter to the Corinthians.

First, Paul addressed the situation of the man who had been expelled as immoral, but had since repented. He advised the church to receive the man, and show him the love and forgiveness of Christ, not only for his own sake but for the good of the church:

But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow, not to me, but in part (that I not press too heavily) to you all. This punishment which was inflicted by the many is sufficient for such a one; so that on the contrary you should rather forgive him and comfort him, lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up with his excessive sorrow. Therefore I beg you to confirm your love toward him. For to this end I also wrote, that I might know the proof of you, whether you are obedient in all things. Now I also forgive whomever you forgive anything. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

2 Corinthians 2:5-11.

Those who God disciplines, he also forgives freely when they return to him. A church should do no less than this, lest its members fall into self-righteousness, esteeming themselves properly the judges of others, holier than God himself. This is one of Satan’s schemes. “Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath. For it is written, “Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord”…  Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12: 19 & 21. “For the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God.” James 1:20.

A few chapters later, Paul deals with the effect his previous letter, specifically including its prescription of discipline against the immoral member of whom the Corinthians had once been so proud, had produced on the Corinthian church as a whole. The letter had grieved them–and had grieved Paul as well, so much that at one time he had regretted writing it. But when Titus came back to him with the news that both the offender and the church had repented as a result of his letter, though initially hurt by it, Paul no longer regretted writing his first letter. His explanation of this includes metanoia (here translated “repentance”) twice and forms of metamelomai (here translated “to regret”) three times, and nicely demonstrates that, of the two, metanoia is the stronger concept:

For though I grieved you with my letter, I do not regret (metamelomai) it, though I did regret (metemelomēn) it. For I see that my letter made you grieve, though just for a while. I now rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved to repentance (metanoian). For you were grieved in a godly way, that you might suffer loss by us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance (metanoian) to salvation, which brings no regret (ametamelēton) . But the sorrow of the world produces death.  For behold, this same thing, that you were grieved in a godly way (kata Theon lypēthēnai), what earnest care it worked in you. Yes, what defense, indignation, fear, longing, zeal, and vengeance! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be pure in the matter. So although I wrote to you, I wrote not for his cause that did the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered the wrong, but that your earnest care for us might be revealed in you in the sight of God. Therefore we have been comforted.

2 Corinthians 7:8-13a (WEB)

Paul had initially regretted writing his first letter, because of the distress he knew it would cause the church in Corinth. It is exactly this connotation of “regret”–feeling sorry about doing something, or about the results it produces, without necessarily having any intention to do differently in the future–that is the most natural meaning of metamelomai . Paul had temporarily changed his mind about, or, in this case, his feelings about, sending the letter because of the pain it would cause. But he had sent it, and not retracted it. In the letter, he had addressed a list of problems in the church quite forcefully. These had included division into partisan factions, continued participation of some members in idolatry, selfishness, fraud and other offenses by some church members against others resulting in lawsuits between believers, disorder and shaming of poorer believers during love feasts, failure to recognize the Body of Christ, abuse of spiritual gifts, and, of course, the sexual immorality of which the man who had his father’s wife was just the gravest example. Paul had regretted the pain he caused, but ceased regretting the letter when he heard from Titus about the repentance it had caused among the church in Corinth–including even the man who had previously had his father’s wife. So, in the end, Paul had once again changed his feelings about the letter, now realizing that the letter–and the pain that accompanied it, were necessary.

As for the repentance (metanoian) of which Paul writes, Paul explains it in the context of the effect of sorrow which happens in response to the work of God. Paul’s painful letter had caused the church to grieve. But, unlike the world, which only grieves the consequences of its sins, usually holding God to be unfair, the Corinthian church did dot grieve Paul (and God) picking on them. That kind of self-centered grief leads to death, not change. No, instead the Corinthians grieved having allowed themselves to be snared in the sins Paul’s first letter identified. This grief caused them to be zealous in putting those sins away. It was this zeal to put the sins away that constituted their repentance (metanoian). Thus, this grief–brought on by their response to God–led to un-regrettable (ametamelēton) deliverance (sōtērian) from the power of those sins–that is, to a deliverance they would never regret. And Paul did not regret it, either; he was comforted by it.

Next: Paul’s Mourning over those who have Not Repented, 2 Corinthians 12:21