|
|
Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
November 23
Click on verses for Full Scripture
|
previous - - - - - - - - - -
next
|
Today's Pathway:
|
In today's passage Paul is dealing with a letter that he had previously written to the Corinthians in which he had emphatically pointed out the sinful behavior that was going on in the church there. Some commentators believe that this letter is one that God did not include in the canon of Scripture, but I disagree. The letter which made them sorry was I Corinthians. There are numerous indictments of the church that Paul spells out in the first epistle. They included divisions, carnality, pride, lawsuits, fornication, misuse of their liberty, misuse of the Lord's table, improper use of spiritual gifts, denial of the resurrection, and lack of love for the brethren. They also included the church allowing a man who was having an affair with his father's wife to remain in good standing in the church, and being quite proud of themselves for doing so. Back in II Corinthians 2:4-10 Paul acknowledges that the church had resolved this specific issue, and since in chapter 2 he addresses an issue from I Corinthians I believe he is addressing issues from I Corinthians in this passage as well.
He writes in verse 8 that his letter had made the Corinthians sorry, but that doesn't bother him. However, he did "repent" when he first wrote it. Perhaps this was because Paul knew that it would be painful for them to receive such a rebuke from him. However, he no longer feels that way because he sees that the letter accomplished what he intended it to. It made them realize their sinfulness and it brought them to the point of repentance. We do need to look at the vocabulary in verses 8-10. The words "repent" and "repentance" occur five times in these verses. However, they are not all translations of the same Greek word. Two different words are used. One, "metanoeo", means "to change one's mind". Joseph Thayer defined it as,
“The change of mind of those who have begun to abhor their errors and have determined upon a better course of life, so that it embraces a recognition of sin, and sorrow for it, and heart amendment, the tokens and effects of which are good deeds.”
Augustus Strong added this,
"The idea of 'metanoeo' is abandonment of sin rather than sorrow for sin; it is an act of the will."
Basically it is a change of mind which results in a change of action. This is the word that Jesus used when He stated,
"I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matthew 9:13).
The second Greek word is "metamelomai". It is simply defined as "regret" or "sorrow". This is the type of repentance that Judas had after his betrayal of Christ (Matthew 27:3). He was simply sorry about how things had turned out, and rather than "repent" and change, he killed himself. With this in mind, let me write the Scripture passage again, but include which term for repentance Paul is using:
“For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent
(regret it), though I did repent (regret it): for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance (a change of mind that leads to a change of action): for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance (a change of mind that leads to a change of action) to salvation not to be repented (regretted) of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”
Paul concludes verse 8 by writing that the sorrow of the Corinthians only lasted for a brief time. This is because once they repented they no longer had anything to be sorrowful about. John MacArthur had an interesting observation on this subject:
"The pleasure of sin is brief while the sorrow it produces lasts; the sorrow of repentance is brief, while the joy it produces lasts."
We will discuss this further tomorrow.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
|
|
You Are Here: 
