READING TIME: 1-2 MINUTES
David, what’s the difference between sorrow and repentance in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10?
November 4, 2019
2 Corinthians 7:9-10: 9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. 10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.
Paul did not regret what he said, because, as he explains in verse nine, it made them repent. On the other hand, he regretted writing it when he perceived that it made them sorry. Love regrets causing pain even when the pain is necessary as when a parent has to punish a child.
The statement that their “sorrow led to repentance” clearly demonstrates that there is a difference between sorrow and repentance. Their sorrow was that they had disappointed Paul. It led them to repent, that is, change their minds about dealing with adultery in their midst.
Having said they were sorry in a godly manner, Paul now explains two kinds of sorrow. Godly sorrow takes God’s will into account. It produces a change of mind that leads “to salvation.” In this case, it refers to deliverance from God’s discipline (Wilkin, dissertation, p. 129, as quoted in Cocoris). On the other hand, a sorrow for doing something wrong that leaves God out of the account is merely remorse, “that melancholy compound of self-pity and self-disgust.”
Source Used
Cocoris, Michael G. Repentance: The Most Misunderstood Word in the Bible. Grace Gospel Press.
