Giving Forgiveness
Study Scripture: 2 Corinthians 2:5-11, 7:2-15
Lesson 10

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Key Verse

For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

2 Corinthians 7:10.

 

INTRODUCTION

Our lesson today comes from a letter written to a church that had difficulty with many of the things of God.  Forgiveness was one such matter, a subject in which they had very little interest.  

It must be understood that forgiveness was not a pagan virtue.  In pagan society, from which the Corinthians came, the powerful or highly regarded and spiritually mighty would consider it beneath his dignity to pay attention to some slights and attacks. But if such a person thought attacks on himself was important, there would be no acting in forgiveness.  Forgiveness was associated with the weak-spirited.  

Even Israel was substantially affected by an unforgiving spirit.  They misinterpreted or  mistook Deuteronomy 23: 6 to mean that they should not forgive their enemies.  And of course Jesus had to correct this in Matthew 5:43.   

Actually, in the Old Testament we rarely hear mention of men forgiving their fellow citizens.  The only cases of forgiveness requested seems to be that of someone (for example Pharaoh in Exodus 10:10, and Saul in 1 Samuel 15:24-25) asking for forgiveness in a state of subservience from someone considered to be more powerful than they. They seemed to be asking for something to which they had no real right.  

As we look at this lesson we remember, as the Apostles all did, that

-forgiveness was a duty for Christians.

- That there was no limit to the extent of forgiveness,

-that nothing could be so wrong or repeated many times that it could not be forgiven, and

-that forgiveness was a feature of God’s constant activity.  

Jesus taught that forgiveness would only take place in a mutual relationship.  The heart of the wronged party should be such that it was always ready to forgive, but it was also required that the offender repent, so that the relationship broken by the offender could be restored to its former state.  

God does not forgive those who do not repent, and he does not require this of man.  But Jesus commanded that when the sinner turned and repented forgiveness must be granted.  

We note in addition that the person sinned against is obliged to be ready to extend forgiveness even if the offender shows no desire to repent.  The past tense in the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6:12 states that we pray that we have also “forgiven” (past tense) our debtors.  

There must be this kind of forgiving spirit so that God will forgive us of our sins.  See Matthew 6:14-15, Mark 11:25, Matthew 18:23-35.  

The spirit must be such that the person sinned against must seek to bring the sinner to repentance, according to Luke 17:3 and Matthew 18:15-17.  The person wronged must make every effort to bring the wrongdoer to the place of repentance with the object of gaining his brother.  It is only when every effort has been made and there is failure, the person sinned against should cease from his efforts.  

The Scriptures seem to teach that the only real difference between men and God in this respect is that God's pardon is more complete, for God's pardon reverses all separation and alienation between God and man, restoring the relationship before sin existed.  

Sometimes God releases the sinner from specific punishment, but even when punishment is not removed, the punishment becomes primarily disciplinary, not penal, and the end result is that the guilt and consciousness of sin is removed from the mind of the sinner.  The sinner becomes conscious of God's love and mercy, and the love of God increases steadily in the former sinner.  Alienation and separation from God is gone, God is no longer mistrusted, real trust in God now appears, and the amazing peace of mind comes to the person.  See Psalm 32:5-7 and Romans 5:1.  

The only limitation to God's forgiveness is found in Jesus' teaching on the unpardonable sin which he discussed in Matthew 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-30; Luke 12:10, and in the apostolic teaching in 1 John 5:16 and Hebrews 6:4-6.  

In these cases note however that no one can commit the sin unless as one writer puts it:

“his moral nature was completely warped.  To such a person the fundamental distinctions between good and evil were obliterated.  No ordinary appeal could reach him, for to him good seemed evil and evil seemed good.  The possibility of winning him back is practically gone; hence, he is beyond the hope of forgiveness, not because God has set an arbitrary line of sinfulness, beyond which His grace of forgiveness will not reach, but because the man has put himself beyond the possibility of obtaining to that state of mind which is the essential condition of divine forgiveness.”  

The Pharisees who harassed Jesus and led him to speak about this unpardonable sin in Matthew 12 were such people.  

For the Apostle Paul this matter of forgiveness was a fundamental issue, a foundational issue and he frequently writes about his gratitude that God had forgiven him through Jesus' death on the cross.  

Every Christian should ask themselves as to whether or not they are by nature a forgiving person. Every one of us must consider if we are forgiving or whether this is a difficult area for us.  If we find ourselves coming up short we must have the Holy Spirit change us.  We must never be like this Corinthian church.  

As we study let us look for the important principles that Paul presents.

First, the gospel speaks about forgiveness while at the same time it takes sin very seriously.

Second, the gospel of forgiveness includes two elements, discipline and restoration.

Third, the gospel teaching about forgiveness is always based on behaving appropriately for the Lord's sake, for he is very concerned about this entire matter.

Fourth, this gospel about forgiveness states flatly that there is satanic influence in an unforgiving spirit.  

Basically however and fundamental to this lesson, is the reality that there are many Christians wearing masks, who live with unresolved guilt and other issues. These things are hidden but they lead to serious behaviour problems in the church.  

When these hidden things are exposed, the exposure is always painful. The apostle Paul was faced many times with the problem of exposing the difficult realities of life in the Corinthian church, acting as a true friend.  

The Corinthians however certainly did not appreciate the wounds that Paul had to inflict on them as he confronted them, examined them, and showed them that they had to restrict themselves to the life God required. They certainly did not appreciate the words of Proverbs 27:6

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful”. 

One Bible version makes it easier to understand by stating it this way

“Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.”  

The lesson is clear.  An enemy will only tell us what we want to hear, for he wants to eventually destroy us and so, he will “multiply kisses”.  

A friend however will be faithful, and will help us by first ‘wounding’ us, telling us the painful truth  

So Paul was in this difficult situation of confrontation.  We often find ourselves in it too, for when people do sin, they do not want to hear any correction.  But it is necessary.  Paul gives us now tremendous guidance on how confrontation should take place, and how the church should respond when someone responds properly to discipline.

THE TEXT

2:1-4.

Paul had confronted the church in Corinth and he indicates that the visit had been a painful and unpleasant one. His attempts to deal with the problems of sexual immorality and other serious issues had apparently been met with great resistance from the brethren, with the leaders doing nothing to support Paul.  

Paul indicates that another visit would not be good for him, and he knew that the continuing conflict would make them sorrowful and would damage his relationship with them.  

So Paul did not go immediately, but let matters cool down first, then under inspiration wrote a letter knowing that this was a hard letter formally charging the church, reprimanding them, challenging them to obey apostolic authority, and giving them time to consider the right course of action. This was not an enjoyable experience, for Paul knew that the Corinthians would not welcome what he had to say.  

We note that it is significant and wise that Paul changed his travel plans and sent Titus to address this situation and calm the waters before he came. Though he was an Apostle, with Apostolic authority, he did whatever he did in such a way as to do good to the Corinthian believers.  He did not enjoy lambasting them but wanted to do what he could to avoid unnecessary grief to them. He loved them and wanted them to know that. So he wrote them with tears in his eyes and anguish in his heart challenging their false ideas of reality.  

In 2 Corinthians 1:24 he made them know that he did not want to ‘boss them around’, disciplining them every time he visited, but wanted desperately to make them joyful, not sorrowful.  So we note Paul's attitude.  He loved them, did not want them to suffer or be hurt unnecessarily.  He simply wanted the church to do exactly what God wanted them to do.  He wanted health and restoration.

Verse 5.   Paul now specifically refers to some case of discipline going on in the church in Corinth , and it is evident by his strong language and use of the strong word for “sorrow” that this individual had committed a serious sin, which of course had resulted in much pain.  

Paul’s reference to the individual concerned is quite vague, for he does not name names; so other brethren apart from the Corinthians would not know who he was. Neither do we.  But it seems that the problem with this person was the topic of his previous “painful” letter, a letter which has apparently not survived.  

Some think that this individual was the one that Paul had criticized and for whom he had rebuked the church for sitting idly by and being proud of themselves while this man was living in an incestuous relationship with his father's wife.  

Others however feel that this reference was to another man who was involved in a kind of rebellion, attacking the Apostle’s authority, insulting Paul on his “painful visit”, and creating trouble in the church.  This is based on references to troublemakers in 13:1-3 and other passages.  

But Paul seems to indicate that the matter had not grieved him personally or directly, and that his sin would more harm the church brethren than anyone else.

Verse 6.   Though we do not really know who this man was the Corinthians knew.  They had obeyed the instructions in Paul's letter, and the church had taken disciplinary action eventually, and had exercised some strict and painful form of discipline. 

Verse 7.   Here we see Paul's emphasis on reconciliation and his being a reconciling agent at Corinth , exercising a ministry of reconciliation because of Christ's work on the cross and God's love.  

Despite their predilection for the sins of pride and sexual immorality, Paul had been kind to them and extended mercy to them, and so he expected that they should do the same to this man who had repented.  The man had been punished enough says Paul.  The church should now forgive him and receive him back into fellowship.  

They had properly taken sin seriously, and executed discipline, and now should bring about restoration.  They would be obeying Jesus’ instructions in Matthew 18:15 which would hopefully result in good. As Jesus said:

“If he listens to you, you have gained your brother”.

The whole idea was not to lose sight of the fact that the goal of the disciplinary process was to bring about restoration.  

Forgiveness involves balance. It involves discipline and restoration.  The church needed spiritual sensitivity in forgiveness and restoration.  The church's discipline had been effective and the man had repented of his sin.  

The word that Paul uses for forgive is not the word that means to forgive when someone requests forgiveness.  This word means to forgive even before we are asked for forgiveness, and thus it carries the connotation of giving freely, being gracious toward a person.   

This of course reflects the personality of God, who even though we were sinners and continued in rebellion, Christ died for us.  

If the church refused to restore the man to fellowship this would adversely affect the man.  An extreme sorrow would literally swallow him up.

Verse 8. They should not only act because they wanted to stop him sorrowing, they should go even further and affirm their love for him, assuring him that they loved him.  They should counter the overwhelming sorrow that the man was experiencing, something that was no longer necessary since he had repented.  

Note here that if we want to know if we are truly repentant when we have sinned, we should look for the strong and even overwhelming feeling inside us, that what we did was wrong and that when we see the pain we have caused others, this should create a sense of sorrow and remorse.  Our recognition that we have damaged others must lead to remorse.  The sign of repentance is sorrow.  

Some like to think that when they do something wrong all they have to do is admit their guilt and demand instant forgiveness.   

Though people should forgive instantly on repentance, those that are truly repentant will with the admission of guilt show a great sense of sorrow at the hurt they have caused.  Those who genuinely repent know that they do not deserve forgiveness; it is not really a right, but hope that forgiveness would be freely extended to them.  They feel so much grief and sorrow for what they have done that they will never “demand their right to forgiveness”.  

When those who do wrong do not experience this grief and sorrow, it is clear that there is very little to hold them back from repeating their mistakes.  They have not really repented.  

We learn also that though it might seem spiritual to powerfully or even excessively discipline someone, that might in reality be counterproductive.  We have to be careful not to think we are protecting the purity of the church and blindly end up going too far. For in refusing to receive the truly repentant back into fellowship, the church might actually be endangering both the church and the man or woman who sinned.  

We also learn that correction cannot sensibly come from anger alone but must also come from love, along with forgiveness and comfort to the repentant.

Verse 9.    At this stage Paul expresses his hope and confidence that they would be obedient in all things.  They would obey him when it was necessary to be tough, just as they would obey him when it was necessary to be loving.  He had written them so that they would demonstrate by their actions that they understood him and understood what God wanted of them.

Verse 10.  The issue was really obedience to Christ. They should take the lead in showing forgiveness and restoring the repentant one.  They were all family, so when the family forgave and reaffirmed their relationship of love, the Apostle was ready to go along with them.

Everything was based on their standing in Christ.  If the brother had sinned and had been forgiven, he had been reconciled to Christ, he was now in Christ and should be treated as a brother.  If they treated the man as a brother, he was a brother to Paul.  All of this was possible because they were all in Christ, and lived in the presence of Christ.  Christ cared deeply about relationships in the family and was actively involved in straightening all difficulties in the family.  

The Corinthians had responded well to the test, and had shown proof of their commitment to the family of God.  Now that the man had responded to tough love, they should complete the process and show love in a gentle way.  

Verse 11.  It was most important that the church follow the instruction of Jesus, for Satan was always seeking to take advantage of the mistakes of the church. 

To ‘take advantage’ means to cheat someone out of something that belongs to them. 

Satan's strategy is well known, and we are not ignorant of them.  We know that he always tries to take away things like peace, joy, fellowship, comfort, a sense of forgiveness and the victory that belong to us, since we are in Jesus. It is important for us to know how Satan operates, his purposes, how he proceeds, and his methods.  Satan has specific strategies that he uses against us.  

In this case we see that the first device against the man was using lust and or rebellion against God and his apostles.  Then he used hopelessness and despair.  

Against the church Satan used first their tolerating of evil, their tendency to casual reaction to sin among themselves, pride in their ability to judge according to human wisdom, rather than trusting on the Commandments of God and then their bent to forget the teachings of Jesus and be unduly severe in punishment, forgetting that God wanted repentance and restoration.  

Satan attacked Paul by trying to stress him out, making him so upset over the behavior of the disobedient Corinthians and their neglect of Jesus’ instructions, that he would march in again with apostolic authority, and slam the brethren over the head.  He would lose his peace and be less effective that way. So Satan crafted his strategy to attack the Apostle Paul, the sinning brother, and the church.  Note he had a series of specific devices for each.  

No wonder Jesus has to preserve us.  This disobedient angel, destined for eternal punishment, is most crafty and plans well.  He knows all of our individual personalities and he is well prepared to pull us down.  

So we keep on reminding ourselves that we are in a ‘deadly war’.  We must be vigilant and submit to the guidance of the Holy Spirit at all times.  We have been warned and we are not ignorant of Satan's devices, say the Scriptures.  We have been freed from the bondage of sin and we must apply these lessons to ourselves personally. The Holy Spirit is constantly speaking to us, warning us, guiding and teaching us.  

Satan is always starting ‘fires’ all over the place. He is always reminding us of our past mistakes and hurts and always trying to wreak havoc in the church. He will never stop, and we must expect that we may have casualties.

So we must work to minimize the casualties, remembering that our enemy is always there, always fighting, determined to get an advantage over us.  

He is always trying to get the church to compromise and to dilute their testimony.  He's always planting tares among the wheat. More than ever he is trying to get the church to forget that we must forgive and show love and care to restore those that are repentant to fellowship.

PAUL’S SITUATION WHEN WRITING THIS

The rest of this chapter records Paul’s elation at once again meeting his beloved fellow worker Titus, who assured him that the Corinthian brethren had finally turned around and were listening to his previous instructions.  

Paul's life was really very difficult.  Everywhere he traveled he had tremendous opposition.  But he faithfully served God.  He had difficulties in Corinth and in other places. He was sometimes agitated, sometimes depressed, sometimes joyful, sometimes hurt, but he was instantly excited and happy when he heard the good news that people had repented and were obeying Christ.   

He loved the brethren.  We too should love the brethren and with wisdom do whatever is necessary to turn others to Christ.  We should not be phoney, hypocritical and arrogant, telling the brethren or suggesting that we are better or more spiritual.  

We pray that we will have the kind of deep friendship that existed between Paul and Titus.  They fought the wars for Christ in many places, went through hard times and good times together, loved and cared for each other, were connected to each other, served each other, worked to bring good news to each other, and soldiered together under Christ.  

They always presented themselves as servants of Christ, ‘under rowers’, the worst kind of slaves and who never elevated themselves about their brethren.  They never sought to display spectacular gifts of the Spirit, but always sought to love, since love was the better way, the more excellent way.  

What great personalities!  We should model our lives on them.

Chapter 7:2-15

Paul had demonstrated in the previous chapters that he was dedicated, diligent and zealous in serving his Master and that he was prepared to do everything necessary to advance the gospel of Christ.  He insisted that he had experienced a lot of difficulty in his ministry and had been opposed by demonic activity and by the servants of Satan, but he was confident that God had called him and that God would preserve and reward him.  

He encouraged the Corinthians to follow the timeless truths of Scriptures and to set their priorities with them.  They should be committed to God and never change.   

They should be perfect servants of God at all times and separate themselves from evil associations or bonding with unbelievers.  They were the Temple of the living God and should be such persons that God would dwell in them.  They should come out from among the defiled ones so that God would be a Father to them and they would be sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty.  Purity should be their aim.   

Paul reminded them that they had these great promises, and therefore they should cleanse themselves from everything that goes against God so that they could have intimacy with God.  

They should not only cleanse their flesh but their spirit also from filthiness.  They should not pollute their bodies and they should not pollute their spirits. They should avoid everything that contaminate the body and spirit, and because they loved God, move on to perfect holiness and spiritual maturity.  

They should keep on growing and see more and more of the imperfections in them and so submit themselves more and more to the cleansing of the Holy Spirit.  

So having said these things, Paul now turns to discuss his personal relations with the Corinthian brethren.

Verse 2.  Now remember that these were difficult people, and though called by God and given many spiritual gifts, they were prone to the sins of pride and sexual immorality.  

Paul appeals to them, and does not attack or condemn them.  He calls on them to open their hearts to him and his fellow workers. 

Clearly Paul was optimistic, encouraging, and confident.  He was long-suffering, would bear all things, think the best of people, put behind him the sleepless nights and the disappointments that they had brought to him and forget they had been pulling back from fellowship with him.  This was love.  We should be like Paul.  

He didn't just ask them to open their hearts to him, but immediately went on to show them why they could safely do so.  He showed them evidence of the love he had for them, and for his integrity when dealing with them. He pointed out his complete honest. His conscience was clear.  Though some might have accused him of many things he could state with a clear conscience that he had never injured anyone, corrupted anyone, or taken advantage of anyone.  They could therefore open their hearts to him instead of opening their hearts to the world.   

Remember that at this time Paul was organizing a collection of money for the poor Christians in the Judea , and so he challenged anyone to prove that he had done anything for his own benefit.  Instead it could be easily seen that he had dedicated his life to the service of Christ and his people, and had undergone great suffering on their behalf.

Verse 3.  He was not saying these things to condemn them for their behavior toward him, but he wanted them to understand that he deeply loved them.  He was so committed to them that he would live with them and die with them, in other words, sticking with them through thick and thin, through life or death.  This was the height of his friendship.  

Note that Paul is advising us that sometimes the best way to get someone to admit that they were wrong, is to avoid giving them a piece of our mind, to avoid harsh condemnation. We must tell the truth but with love.  It is essential that people understand that we love and care for them and desire bring them to repentance and strengthen the fellowship of believers.  

Paul did not seem to be in despair but was overflowing with joy at the great news that Titus had brought.

Verse 4.  The Corinthians had repented, and so Paul encouraged them, reassuring them that he was proud of them and was confident about them.  He could boast about them.  He abounded with joy.  He was suffering greatly but now his joy exceeded the pain of his tribulation.

Verse 5.  He now told them a little bit of the distress that he had experienced while he waited for word of what was happening in Corinth .  He had previously told us that he was restless and dejected and did not wait for Titus at Troas, but instead went on into Macedonia .  He had , according to chapter 2 been given opportunities to preach the gospel in Troas, but his spirit had no rest because Titus had not come to give him a report about what was happening in Corinth.  That was how concerned he was about the Corinthians.  In Macedonia everything seemed to have gone wrong and he was distressed.  We are not sure of what happened to him there, but it might have been that his enemy had made life difficult for him, and so there were “fightings without and fears within”.  There were all kinds of difficulties.

Verse 6.  God who always acts to comfort his people that are under immense difficulties, acted to comfort him by the arrival of Titus, with the great report that the Corinthian brethren had heeded Paul's strong letter of rebuke and correction.  

We must never forget that the burdens and pressures that we bear are not accidents.  One writer tells us that God carefully adjusts the temperature of the water so that though we may be in hot water, it will never get too hot.  See Paul's comment on this in 2 Corinthians 10:13.  

God places us where he wants, and he knows better than us how much we can bear.  We must be patient for He will always act at the right time.

Verse 7.  Not only did the arrival of Titus bring comfort, but Titus’s report that he was personally comforted by the Corinthians was a great comfort for Paul.  

Titus told Paul that the Corinthians longed to restore their fellowship with him, they mourned over what had happened, they realized that they had not acted correctly in not punishing the sin in their midst, they had an intense desire to please Paul and they had great zeal for Paul's sake.  

This of course made Paul rejoice even more, for he now knew definitely that God was working in the Corinthian church.  

They had shown signs of genuine repentance, for they were mourning, and sorry for their behavior.

Verse 8.  Paul was now feeling tender to the Corinthian brethren, he now stated that even though they had experienced sorrow because of his letter, he had not regretted his letter, even though at the time he did regret it. The Greek word for ‘regret’ and ‘repent’ are different.  

He did not enjoy being so tough and confrontational, even though they did deserve that kind of tough letter, but now that he had heard of their sorrow he was happy for the effect the letter had on them. He wished he had not written the letter, since he knew it would cause pain and hurt but he was glad that he did write.

Verse 9.  His rejoicing came not because they suffered some pain, but because they had been made sorry to repentance.  The Corinthians had the right kind of sorrow, the godly sorrow, and this was evident by their fruits of genuine repentance on which Titus reported and which Paul listed in verse 11.  

Let us note that when we love someone we tell them the truth.  We cannot let people continue doing what is wrong saying that we love them too much to hurt them, for that is satanic deception.  Actually, what is closer to the truth is that we do not want people to get angry at us, and to avoid us,  refusing to give us things and the little goodies that they normally give us to bribe us, and so we avoid telling them the truth because we really don't want to hurt ourselves.   

Those that love will risk their friendship to tell them the truth, for that is really love.  If we lie to others who are our friends, we are really acting only in our own personal interest, and we should not misrepresent that selfishness as something good.  Just remember that love is a most excellent way, and we must insist on the truth among the brethren.  

It is interesting that Paul distinguishes two kinds of sorrow, but he insists that there is only one kind of repentance.  

Feeling sorry about something wrong is not repentance.  There is a clear distinction between sorrow and repentance, and they are not the same thing.  Sorrow is a feeling.  Repentance however is a change of mind and a change in life and so it is not only sorrow, even though sorrow for the past will be there.   

A person can be sorry for their sin and not repent from their sin.  Judas was sorry but he did not repent.  

So let us look at ourselves.  Somebody might tell us the truth about ourselves that we are not really doing right and it will hurt, or produce grief.  

But we can react by being defensive, fight back, get angry and resentful when we face this moment of truth. Feeling sorry hurts and this is painful.  But ultimately this might simply lead to one regretting that they have to pay for having done wrong.  This kind of sorrow carried in this worldly way produces resentment or bitterness. 

Judas was sorry that he betrayed Jesus.  Esau was sorry, and regretted having sold his birthright (Hebrews 12:16-17).  But there was no repentance.  This was only “worldly sorrow”.

Verse 10.  The other reaction is what Paul calls “godly sorrow”.  This is where there is hurt and pained when one suddenly is told something that is painful, and even though we want to retaliate, we know deep down that it is true.  This awareness at the moment of truth leads to repentance, which is that turnaround action that one now takes.  

Repentance is described as being without regret and leads to salvation.  This repentance without any regrets leads to life, for when one realizes that what one has done has offended the holy and righteous God, that person with “godly sorrow” turns to him for forgiveness.  This sorrow is according to the will of God.  Since it leads to salvation and life that true follower of God turns to faith in Jesus Christ and his completed work of redemption and will not turn away.

Repentance means to turn around and as Isaiah 55:7 puts it:

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”  

Unfortunately, for many, repentance is a harsh word, but it is an essential part of the gospel.  Nowadays it is a dirty word and most pulpits refrain from mentioning that word and from telling people about repentance.  They instead preached self-esteem and they insist that there is much good in us.  

They neglect to tell their listeners that the sorrow of the world, the regret that they have been hurt by the truth, which does not make men realize their own sin and foolishness and change, brings death.  

Note however that repentance does not save us, or, is not the ground of our salvation.  But it is a part and necessary condition of it, for those who repent are saved, and those who do not repent perish.  So we say repentance is unto salvation.  

Repentance describes what coming to God is, and is not something we must do before we can come back to God.  This is so because we can't come to God without turning away from the things that God is against.  So the act of turning to God is tied in extremely closely to repentance, and so repentance represents a change in both our thinking and in our action.  

We can say whether or not sorrow is godly by seeing if it produces repentance.  We do not only look at feelings and at tears, but at what this godly sorrow produces.  

Remember that it is the atoning work of Jesus, his blood that cleanses we from sin.  It is the goodness of God that leads a man to repent.  If a person is sorry and is not led to place all their burdens at the feet of the risen Savior, they are only experiencing the sorrow that leads to death.

An ancient writer states:

“If thou repent with a contradiction, God will pardon thee with a contradiction (saith Tertullian).  Thou repentest, and yet continuest in thy sin.  God will pardon thee, and yet send thee to hell.  There is pardon with a contradiction.”

Verse 11.  This verse describes in practice what happens at genuine repentance.  The Corinthians showed this, and if people say they repent they must show it too.  If they do not they are only showing the sorrow of the world.  

The Corinthians reacted, no longer in a casual fashion.  They were earnest, or diligent, and just wanted to show that they disapproved of sin and were eager to clear up all the wrongdoing that was happening around them. They desired to put everything that was wrong on the table, not wanting to drop any matter, or sweep it under the rug, but wanting to put the entire problem areas out in public and deal with it.

There were indignant at their foolishness in allowing sin, upset that they had fallen into the devices of Satan.  They remembered Psalm 73:21-23: “Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.

So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.”  

The Revised Standard Version puts it this way:

“When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,

I was stupid and ignorant, I was like a beast toward thee”.  

Godly grief brings a person to understand how foolish they had been.

It alarms them, and it so hit them that they would not do it again.  

This repentance produces fear that they would ever be so weak that they would fall into the same sin again. Repentance produced vehement desire in the Corinthians, the kind of heart that really wants godliness, not wanting to sin again.  They desired purity and so knew that they now had to totally depend on God.  

What zeal, or literally ‘heat’, hot toward God and his righteousness and against Satan and sin.  There was no laziness here.  Self-discipline too was involved, for they were determined to do right to honor God.  

Their behavior listed above impressed Titus that they had truly repented and they had proved themselves to be in the clear.  They were approved of God, clear of guilt and sin.  Their actions spoke for them.  

Verse 12-13.  Paul says here that he wrote his letter because he wanted them to know that they were forgetting that they were children of God and should be behaving accordingly.  They should be committed to God and now that they were doing that he was happy and joyful.  He was happy that Titus was impressed and happy, for their behavior had refreshed his spirit, and motivated him to do even more for the service of Christ.  

It was not that he wrote primarily because he did not want them to leave sin in their midst.  There certainly was someone that had done wrong. But he wanted them to know that despite everything wrong that they were doing, he and Titus cared deeply for them and would do whatever was necessary to help them turn around.

Verse 14-15.  Paul obviously had been full of hope and boasted to Titus that the Corinthians would heed his tough letter.  His boasting was a good boast, and it turned out that he was right.  Their actions had not made him ashamed.  Their actions had done the opposite.  

Paul had a great deal of affection for them and was impressed that they had changed so drastically.  He loved them even more now.  His inward affections had increased.  He had boasted about them to Titus and he had been vindicated.  

He remembered their obedience and how with fear and trembling they had welcomed Titus, fully repentant.  

They were genuine people of God and they were loved.

CONCLUSION

It is amazing how Paul was confident in his Corinthian saints.  It is also amazing how when Paul was being afflicted and having great difficulty, Titus came at precisely the right time with good news and brought him joy, comfort and encouragement.  

Note that Paul's joy came from the spiritual growth of the saints.  That is where our joy should come from.  

Note also that many times it is not success but sorrow that God uses to produce spiritual growth and maturity, drawing people to him, and correcting and growing his erring saints.

Remember Jesus said : “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Paul’s letter was certainly painful but it brought the Saints to repentance and so the painful letter was a blessing.

 The Lesson for leaders is that Paul did not delight in causing people pain, but he was willing to endure his personal pain that came by rebuking believers that were allowing themselves to be led away by sin.  He did it because it was the right thing to do.

It cost him dearly but he did it anyway.

But not only was he willing to rebuke those who were sliding, but when they repented of their sin he was ready and willing to take them back into fellowship.

He was a disciplinarian, but he loved, and he consistently taught that the ministry of reconciliation was most important.

So brethren when we look at Paul we see what true love is like.  We see what friendship is.  We see that we should encourage holiness and purity, and encourage people not to be wilfully rebellious against the word of God.

 We must never harbor those in the church who need to be put out. 1 Corinthians 5 tells us that.

But we should also never refuse to take back into fellowship those who have really repented and who desire to now live to please God.  

We have been given the tests to see what repentance is like, so we have been given all the necessary tools not to fall into the devices of Satan. True Repentance is a great blessing.  False repentance is not.  Let us be guided by the Spirit of God and maintain true fellowship in the body of Christ.