WEBVTT 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:13.679 We invite you now to open your Bibles to Second Corinthians again, this time to chapter seven. 00:00:21.760 --> 00:00:27.519 Tonight we'll be looking at verses ten through twelve. 00:00:41.840 --> 00:00:59.039 Martin Luther, when he wrote his ninety-five theses and nailed them to the door in Wittenberg, something we talked about a few weeks ago as we celebrated Reformation Day, began the 95 Theses with these three declarations. 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:02.799 This is the introduction to them, the first of the ninety-five. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:06.079 He did number them, and these are numbers one, two, and three. 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:08.079 And we could go on and on. 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:19.359 I stopped at three because the fourth one I'm not sure is entirely corresponds to how we would understand and articulate the gospel. 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:20.959 And so I left that one out. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:28.480 But numbers one through three certainly overcome, certainly reflect the tone of the whole here. 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:38.400 Number one, when our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said repent, he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance. 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:49.680 So Jesus' first words in the Gospel of Mark, for example, Mark 1, but his first words of his ministry in Matthew 4 are the same words, the word repent. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:02:00.879 And what Luther is deducing from this is that when Jesus begins his ministry with the word repent, it's not a one-time action that he's after. 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:09.680 It's not the statement from Jesus' lips shouldn't be interpreted that you repent once and then never again. 00:02:09.919 --> 00:02:14.960 But rather, he's describing the lifestyle of his disciples, one of continual repentance. 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:21.439 This is understood in contrast with the Catholic doctrine of penance, which he goes to in his second. 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:31.680 This word cannot be understood, this word repentance, repent, as referring to the sacraments of penance, that is confession and satisfaction as administered by the clergy. 00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:36.560 That's a pretty basic contrast there in the Catholic Church. 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:47.199 Repentance looks like going to a priest, telling your sin to the priest, the priest then gives you some kind of penance to do, some kind of action. 00:02:47.280 --> 00:03:02.800 Maybe that's in the form of a uh money given, an indulgence of some kind, maybe it's in the form of a prayer or a work, and that that exchange there, the completion of that work or action, is what removes the penalty of sin from you. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:05.280 Luther says that's not biblical repentance. 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:10.719 It cannot refer to that, because again, if you take the first point, your lifestyle should be that of repentance. 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:14.000 So it's not something contingent upon an interaction with a priest. 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:20.000 And he further narrows this down in his third thesis here. 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:22.800 It does not mean solely inner repentance. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.080 Now, what he means by inner repentance is what we're going to talk about tonight. 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:36.400 Solely by inner repentance, such inner repentance is worthless unless it produces various outward mortification of the flesh. 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:39.199 So that's the key one I wanted to get to. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:50.560 Luther has this contrast in his mind, and Luther is not coming to this with centuries of best-selling books on this topic. 00:03:50.800 --> 00:04:00.879 Luther is coming to this realization being a Catholic monk and understanding what Catholicism teaches about penance, and he realizes that's not it. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:16.959 Now he has discovered the scriptures, and he's working through what the Bible teaches about repentance, and he realizes there's a very reality in the world that there are those who have inner repentance and yet who don't have saving faith. 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:19.040 That so-called inner repentance is worthless. 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:23.120 And he's talking about people that are moved by something inside of them to go to the priest. 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:25.839 Luther is talking from firsthand experience here. 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:28.560 He very much had that inner repentance. 00:04:28.720 --> 00:04:38.160 He had a hatred of his own sin before he knew the gospel, and that self-hatred was powerless to absolve him of his sin. 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:44.000 And so what he's saying here is that inner repentance is not sufficient. 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:46.959 Now we would choose a different word than inner repentance, probably. 00:04:47.120 --> 00:04:53.600 Normally today, when you hear the word inner repentance, it's contrasted with worldly or external repentance. 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:58.240 So when we hear the phrase inner repentance, we're more inclined to think, oh, that's true repentance. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:01.040 When we hear inner repentance, we think, no, that's the right repentance. 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:06.480 Where we get confused at number three here, where Luther seems to be implying that that inner repentance is worthless. 00:05:06.639 --> 00:05:08.879 Well, not implying, I mean, he says it's worthless. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.240 Unless it produces mortification of the flesh. 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:24.319 What Luther is going for here, and I think he's right in this statement, is that unless your repentance produces fruit or change, it's not real repentance. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:28.879 And the classic Protestant illustration of this is that of the fruit tree. 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:35.519 You know, the orange tree doesn't become an orange tree because it grows oranges, it is an orange tree because it grows oranges. 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:41.680 It was an orange tree before it grew oranges, but the realization that it is authentically an orange tree comes when it grows oranges. 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:42.480 That's the point here. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:47.839 Luther is saying that your inner repentance is worthless if it doesn't grow on to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:51.839 This is a critical distinction, that of repentance. 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:56.079 And it is often lost in gospel presentations and gospel preaching. 00:05:56.160 --> 00:06:06.240 It's often lost in American theology, which gets so wrapped up around health, wealth, prosperity, how to lead a good life and have a good marriage that repentance often gets sidelined. 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:10.560 But repentance is not incidental to the Bible. 00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:14.240 The Bible continually calls people to repentance. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:21.439 And I think beginning in 1 Kings chapter 8, I have a lot of verses, so I wouldn't even bother trying to take notes here. 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:23.519 There's going to be a lot of them coming your way. 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:25.600 But if you're up for the challenge, go for it. 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:26.639 1 Kings 8. 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:36.160 This is Solomon's prayer and the dedication of the temple, his first, in this sense, public act of leadership, the first worship service that takes place at the temple. 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:47.839 And Solomon prays, speaking of the Israelites in exile and even the foreigners and other nations, if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart in the land of their enemies and pray to you, here in heaven, forgive your people who've sinned against you. 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:55.279 Solomon in his dedication of the temple makes salvation in this sense contingent upon repentance. 00:06:55.439 --> 00:06:58.240 If they repent, then you will hear and you will forgive. 00:06:58.399 --> 00:07:00.399 There's a chain that he has in mind here. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:02.560 Repentance leads to forgiveness. 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:12.800 And I'm going to clarify how that actually works in salvation in a minute, but I'm just using this verse to make the point that when the temple ministry began in the Old Testament, it began with a call to repentance. 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:16.639 I could choose a hundred other verses to go to next, but I'm choosing Joel 2. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:22.800 This is a very well-known messianic prophecy in the context of Joel 2. 00:07:23.279 --> 00:07:35.040 Joel is pointing people forward to the Messiah, but he says, in light of, this is, you know, hundreds of years before Jesus, Joel is pointing people forward to the Messiah, and he says, Even now, declares Yahweh, return to me with all your heart. 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:36.959 This is kind of the living out of Solomon's prayer. 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:50.560 The Jews are in exile, the Jews are wandering from God, and yet even now, if they return to me with their hearts, with fasting, with weeping, with mourning, and they rend their hearts and not their garments, return to Yahweh your God. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:52.720 He's gracious and merciful, Joel says. 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:56.959 Slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and he relents over disaster. 00:07:57.120 --> 00:07:59.120 The word return there is the word for repent. 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:07.279 It's used three times, twice of people, once of God, and we know that God doesn't really repent, but this is the image here that even now you can repent of your sin. 00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:13.680 When you repent of your sin and you turn towards Yahweh, God in that sense repents of the disaster he has. 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:19.439 He's going to remove the consequence of your sin from you in light of your repentance. 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:26.319 This is not merely an Old Testament phenomena, but you see it in the New Testament, you see it in the church. 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:28.879 This is after the resurrection, Luke 24 is. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:14.000 That was the conversation until this point. 00:09:14.159 --> 00:09:17.360 You should have known that the Savior would die and be resurrected on the third day. 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:18.720 That's what the Old Testament says. 00:09:18.879 --> 00:09:22.559 So go in the world and preach that is not what he says. 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:27.679 Rather, he says, You should have known that the Savior would be crucified and resurrected on the third day. 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:30.799 So go into the world and preach repentance. 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:35.360 Now repentance for forgiveness of sins. 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:37.120 That's what should be proclaimed. 00:09:39.759 --> 00:09:46.320 There's a tendency to think that preaching repentance is preaching work salvation, but certainly that's not the case. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:49.120 Jesus himself said, Go in the world and preach repentance. 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:50.639 And this is what you see in the book of Acts. 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:55.919 Again, there's dozens of verses to choose from, but I will choose only a dozen. 00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:59.679 This is the first gospel sermon, Acts chapter 2. 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:07.039 Peter preaching the day of Pentecost, and the crowd is torn, their hearts are rent, they're somber. 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:10.240 They respond to Peter's preaching by asking what must be due to be saved. 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:13.600 And Peter's response is repent and be baptized. 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:15.440 And that's his response to the question. 00:10:15.600 --> 00:10:17.279 What do we have to do to be saved? 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:20.960 We confess that Jesus is the Savior. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:25.200 We confess that He was God in human flesh, that He did die on the cross. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:27.120 Now what? 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:30.879 Peter says, Repent. 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:34.159 Repent for the forgiveness of your sins. 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:36.639 Repent and be baptized. 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:38.559 That was not a one-time event. 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:41.840 Acts chapter 3, another gospel presentation. 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:45.279 He preaches again, repent. 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:50.000 This is a sermon to the Jewish rulers when they were arresting him, by the way. 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:54.559 Acts 3, verse 19, repent and turn again that your sins may be blotted out. 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:56.000 It's kind of a reiterated phrase there. 00:10:56.159 --> 00:10:57.600 Repent and turn again. 00:10:57.759 --> 00:10:58.799 Come back to the Lord. 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:03.759 It's really a reference that that way he says it right there is a reference back to Joel 2, which we looked at earlier. 00:11:03.919 --> 00:11:07.279 Repent and return so that your sins can be blotted out. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:10.799 Peter is driving home to even the Jewish leaders that they must repent. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:17.279 Later on to Simon the Sorcerer, when Simon tried to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit, Peter rebukes him. 00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:20.000 Says, May your your silver perish with you. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:30.240 And then he says, Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours and pray to the Lord, that if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:35.919 For I see that you're in the gall of bitterness, the bondage of iniquity, all kinds of incredible phrases in here. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:43.279 We could pull the car over in any one of these verses, but this one is worth noting here that Peter understands that true repentance is a work of the Lord. 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:45.840 He gets that, but he's still commanding sinners to repent. 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:54.159 He doesn't say repent if, you know, people criticize God's sovereignty over salvation by saying, if you really believe God is sovereign over salvation, you should tell someone, repent if the Lord lets you. 00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:57.120 But no, the call for repentance is global. 00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:00.480 And Peter tells Simon here, you better repent. 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:01.200 Repent. 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:04.480 And then let's see if God saves you. 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:06.559 That's his attitude toward Simon. 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:07.679 Repent. 00:12:07.919 --> 00:12:11.279 And maybe if it's possible, God will forgive you. 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:13.360 Acts chapter 11. 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:20.320 The apostles are arguing, struggling, trying to make sense of how God could save the Gentiles in the same way he saves the Jews. 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:27.360 I mean, shouldn't the Jews there's you know, they have the law and they have the centuries of faithfulness to the law? 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:31.919 And now here comes Gentiles from Corinth or wherever, Galatia, they just strolling in. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:34.879 They don't even know what a commandment is, much less ten of them. 00:12:35.440 --> 00:12:40.320 And now they're gonna get saved through nothing more than faith in the Savior and the Messiah? 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:41.840 That doesn't seem fair. 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:46.320 And in their discussion, Acts 11, verse 18, they decide, you know what? 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:50.240 God has granted the Gentiles the repentance that leads to eternal life. 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:52.240 That's how they land the plane in that discussion. 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:55.200 If the Gentiles repent, that means they can be saved. 00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:58.320 And God has granted them repentance. 00:12:59.919 --> 00:13:00.720 It is true. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:05.679 And then in that point in the book of Acts, the preaching shifts from Peter and the apostles over to Paul. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:19.919 And his perhaps his most famous sermon, Acts 17, on Mars Hill, he's preaching to the philosophers and Athens, and he declares to them, Acts 17, verse 30, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:21.759 This is the global command of repentance. 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:29.120 He's preaching to the crowd who has unknown gods and unnamed gods, and he says the main the bottom line from this, there is a real God that I know. 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:31.519 And he's telling you to repent. 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:36.799 And this becomes Paul's pattern throughout his ministry. 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:46.159 In fact, when Luke describes Paul's preaching in Acts chapter 20, he says Paul was solemnly testifying to both Jews and Gentiles of repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:49.440 It's amazing how many of these verses, by the way, pair repentance and faith. 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:51.039 That's the main motif. 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:57.039 You repent from your sins, you have faith in God, or repent and be baptized in Acts chapter 2. 00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:04.639 There's this tag team that's happening repeatedly in these verses we've looked at, even in Joel, repent from your sins, turn towards Yahweh. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:07.759 In Solomon at the temple, repent from your sins, turn towards God. 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:12.639 Here it's just clearly articulated by Luke as he describes Paul's preaching. 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:15.759 There is repentance towards God and faith. 00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:20.000 And that is what brings salvation. 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:24.639 Paul closes out his ministry. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:29.200 Acts chapter 26, summarizing what he's been preaching. 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:30.559 This is Paul's own words. 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:36.639 That people should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance. 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:39.840 And of course, that's what Jesus preached as well. 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:40.879 We saw that earlier. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:44.320 It's what is repeated throughout the New Testament, the call for repentance. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:50.080 This is why Luther was correct when he described the Christian life as the life of repentance. 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:57.759 You can't have a real saving encounter with Christ unless that encounter comes with repentance. 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:02.559 This is why we are repentant people. 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:07.440 And yet it's worth being very careful in how we think about this theologically. 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:11.039 Your repentance is not a work that produces salvation. 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:16.320 You understand how salvation comes through faith alone, by grace alone. 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:20.879 Salvation is not a work, and yet the Holy Spirit regenerates the human heart. 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:27.120 So the human heart is lost in sin, the human heart hears gospel preaching, the human heart is closed, and the ears are closed. 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:31.279 The human heart refuses to believe, refuses to surrender, refuses to repent. 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:42.080 But the human heart may have outward signs of grief over sin or worldly sorrow, but not saving faith and not what I'd call saving sorrow, genuine godly sorrow. 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:54.320 And then at some point the Holy Spirit comes into the person's life, opens their eyes to the truth of what the scripture says, gives their heart a heart to hear the gospel, and a heart to see and believe. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:16:01.279 And when the heart opens, now the person is able to see their own sin and God's glory. 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:04.879 And they look at their own sin compared to God's glory, they grieve over their own sin. 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:06.639 This is genuine repentance. 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:10.799 As part of that genuine repentance, they place their faith in the Lord. 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:14.000 Salvation comes through a ministry of the Holy Spirit. 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:16.480 The Holy Spirit produces faith. 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:20.639 Genuine faith is always accompanied with genuine repentance. 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:27.120 But in different people's lives, the exact sequence of that, as you experience it, may be different. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:29.360 This is all compressed in God's economy. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:43.679 Some people wrestle with their sin and the conviction of sin for weeks, months, perhaps, with a full awareness of their sin and grief over their sin before they turn to God in faith. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:52.080 Some people have an immediate encounter with the Lord where they hear the gospel for the first time and they're broken over their sin and they put their faith in the Lord. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:57.120 But we understand conceptually this is all a work of the Lord. 00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:00.799 It's the Lord who brings to repentance, it's the Lord that brings saving faith. 00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:06.079 You're not saved through repentance, you're not saved through the work of repentance. 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:10.160 It's not as if repentance is the means by which you acquire your salvation. 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:18.000 No, the Holy Spirit regenerates you and gives you saving faith, and that saving faith, if it is genuine, will produce repentance. 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:25.119 That may seem like, you know, just wordplay to get out of a theological problem, but I think it's very significant. 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:31.759 You take the full teaching of the Bible that calls people to repent, but you recognize they can't repent unless the Lord works in their heart. 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:36.000 But that's the way the preaching happens in the in the scriptures. 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:38.640 All men everywhere, Paul says, should repent. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:42.799 Knowing that genuine repentance is a work of God in the human heart. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:48.480 Now this is what we encounter here in 2 Corinthians 7, verse 10. 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:58.799 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:04.000 See what earnestness this godly grief is produced in you. 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:09.920 What eagerness to clear yourself, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment. 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:13.039 At every point you've proved yourselves innocent in the manner. 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:21.759 For although I wrote to you, I was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:25.359 So this is somewhat complex, these three verses here. 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:35.839 It can be confusing because godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation, that can sound at first glance like you're repenting in order to one day obtain salvation. 00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:45.839 Certainly, Paul has in mind here the salvation of eternal life that you encounter when you die and go to God in glory. 00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:48.720 A godly repentance is going to lead to that kind of life. 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:58.559 A godly repentance marks your life, the life of eternal life, the life of the contrite, repentant person that culminates in saving faith they experienced at the end of their life. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:06.640 But you recognize that true repentance is paired with saving faith at the moment of conversion. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:11.680 That's an important distinction because that helps make sense of what Paul's dealing with here. 00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:14.240 Paul is dealing with Corinthian believers. 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:19.839 They claim the name of Christ, and yet they're not repentant. 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:22.880 They claim the name of Christ, and yet they're walking in sin. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:30.640 We know some of the sin they're walking in, sexual immorality, such as that wouldn't even be named among the Gentiles, suing one another, division in the church, divisiveness in the church. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:32.720 There's all it's just chaos there. 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:35.440 And you would think, how could believers act like that? 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:36.960 And that's exactly what Paul is thinking. 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:39.039 How can believers act like that? 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:41.119 They should repent. 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:43.920 And some of them do repent. 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:47.279 With the sarcastic quote, Marks are unrepent there. 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:49.519 It's not saving faith. 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:53.119 It's not true repentance. 00:19:53.440 --> 00:20:02.720 So it's interesting here that Paul makes sorrow over sin really even more than repentance is sorrow over sin that leads to worldly grief. 00:20:02.880 --> 00:20:04.880 That grief leads to repentance. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:13.440 That worldly grief there is what I'm sorry, that that godly grief, that godly sorrow there is what produces repentance and that leads to salvation. 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:16.640 So notice that here, the efficient cause in Paul's mind here is the sorrow. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:20.400 That sorrow produces this real, genuine repentance, which leads to eternal life. 00:20:20.480 --> 00:20:22.559 Now, as I mentioned, truth is a razor's edge here. 00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:23.920 This whole thing is compressed. 00:20:24.079 --> 00:20:28.079 You understand it's the Holy Spirit that brings somebody from darkness to light. 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:34.240 And that when they're brought to darkness and light to light, their eyes are open to the truth of their sin, the truth of saving faith. 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:41.279 A broken spirit and a contrite heart are the marks of repentance, and these are not despised by God, but God does despise sin. 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:45.599 The result of a broken spirit and a contrite heart is repentance. 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:50.079 God despises the roots of sin in the heart as well as the fruit. 00:20:50.160 --> 00:20:54.000 And when a person has genuine repentance, God is at work in their heart. 00:20:54.240 --> 00:21:02.319 God is opening their eyes to his glory, making them aware of their sinfulness, and the person encounters the substitution of Christ and the cross in their place. 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:06.160 They place their faith in Christ and the cross, which frees them from the power of their sin. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:07.519 They confess their own sins. 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:10.160 As I mentioned, this is all together. 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:11.039 It's like parting. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:15.519 The Puritans used to use the example of trying to put the order of repentance and faith and salvation in order. 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:18.559 It's like trying to parse the light and the heat from the sun. 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:25.279 You know, you get conceptually the rock of the sun is first, followed by the light, followed by the heat. 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:27.359 Like you understand that conceptually. 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:30.799 But chronologically, it's chronologically that's different. 00:21:30.880 --> 00:21:36.000 Chronologically, you might feel the heat before you see the light, before you see the sun. 00:21:36.799 --> 00:21:42.000 Chronologically, it might play out different, but that doesn't mean in God's economy, chronologically, they're they're different. 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:46.000 Like logically, rock light heat, but experientially, who knows? 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:48.319 And the same thing is true with this. 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:58.240 It's important to understand because you encounter in the world people that say they're repentant over their sins. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:02.799 But don't seem to have a love for the Lord in their heart. 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:05.759 That's just the reality of the Christian life. 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:08.960 Jesus himself talks about these people in Matthew 7. 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:16.960 They're going to die and they're going to stand before the Lord for judgment, and they're going to say, knock, knock, open up, let me in. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:19.359 Lord, didn't I know you? 00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:20.960 So they can have a list of things they did. 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:24.079 Lord, I did this, I did that, and I did the other thing in your name. 00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:30.559 And Jesus is going to say to them, Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you. 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:34.160 But just think about how those people in Matthew 7 addressed Jesus. 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:36.079 They address him as Lord, Lord. 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:38.720 They talk to him as if he is their Lord. 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:40.559 They call him Lord. 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:47.279 They're expecting to go to heaven when they die through their faith in Jesus, but Jesus says, You may know me, I did not know you. 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:58.880 They did not have genuine repentance, and it is very much worth asking, what is the difference between their repentance in Matthew 7 and the genuine believer's repentance? 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:04.559 Or another very obvious example from the New Testament about this. 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:08.240 What is the difference between Judas and Peter? 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:12.640 Judas and Peter both heard gospel preaching. 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:16.160 They both knew the truth of Jesus Christ. 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:21.039 They both had grief over their sin. 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:27.039 And yet Peter's grief led him to the feet of Christ. 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:31.519 And Judas's grief led him to hang himself on a tree. 00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:36.559 Tears don't even help. 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:38.400 I'm sure they both cried. 00:23:38.720 --> 00:23:41.599 But that's not a good way to distinguish true and false repentance. 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:42.960 This is exactly the problem. 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:49.039 The Peter-Judas problem is the problem Paul is having with the Corinthians because he's confronted them on their sin. 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:50.880 He's confronted them for the way they're living. 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:51.920 They have not repented. 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:56.720 There's one particular ringleader of this that was put out of the church, disciplined out of the church. 00:23:56.799 --> 00:24:01.119 There's other people that are now repenting from their sin in light of what happened to that ringleader. 00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:04.720 Now it appears that that ringleader is repentant and wants back into the church. 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:06.079 They're trying to figure out what to do. 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:17.519 We, of course, don't know all the details because Paul is, first of all, trying to make 2 Corinthians applicable to the church universal to us, where more details wouldn't necessarily be helpful in our own circumstances. 00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:31.359 But here in verse 10 through 12, the three verses we'll look at tonight, Paul wades into this by trying to discern, decipher between true and false forgiveness, true and false repentance. 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:34.400 He begins with this category of godly grief. 00:24:34.559 --> 00:24:37.200 It's going to be contrasted with worldly grief. 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:44.160 Godly sorrow, worldly sorrow, or with homage to Charlie Brown, good grief. 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:48.480 Versus worldly grief that produces nothing. 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:54.400 I want to go through the list of descriptions that are given with good grief to help you discern the difference between true and false salvation. 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:59.279 Before we get to the first one on the list, I mean I beg you to listen to this message tonight. 00:24:59.359 --> 00:25:01.279 I beg you to listen in your own heart. 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:10.079 And as we're going through this list, I want you to ask yourself, is my repentance over sin the good kind or the worldly kind? 00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:14.240 Notice on this list is not how long you've been to church. 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:17.599 One of the things in this list is not have you been to church more than five times? 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:19.440 Have you been to church for ten years? 00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:21.279 Do you have a MacArthur study Bible? 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:22.640 That's not on this list. 00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:27.279 It's a different kind of list. 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:37.440 And so I know that there would be those in church for five years, ten years, twenty years that have MacArthur study bibles that don't have godly sorrow. 00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:40.799 And that makes me sad. 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:48.799 I know the only thing at my disposal to help a person in that scenario is this kind of text, is this kind of list. 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:59.440 And so I would beg you as I go through this list not to get lost in the minutia of which word goes with which word, but to just listen or write it down if you want to. 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:05.279 But ask yourself, what category is your grief over your sin in? 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:09.519 And this is, by the way, is presupposing that you've had grief over your sin. 00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:12.079 I mean, this is one of those things. 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:15.839 If you haven't grieved over your sin, you're not even, this flow chart doesn't apply. 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:22.799 If you've never realized that you're a sinner, if you've never said, I'm a sinner and I deserve judgment, you're not, we're not here. 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:31.759 This is a helpful exercise to go through these verses for the person who recognizes that they're a sinner, who recognizes that their sin separates them from God. 00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:36.000 But if you don't get, if you're not there, this doesn't matter. 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:41.759 So step one is recognize that your sin separates you from God, that you're a sinner based upon who you are. 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:48.559 You have sin in your heart, your body produces sin, your heart produces sin, your affections, your mind, all of that produces sin. 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:51.599 God judges sin, and your sin separates you from God. 00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:56.480 And so now let's, if you get that, and you're like, ah man, I wish I didn't sin. 00:26:56.559 --> 00:26:57.599 I have sorrow over my sin. 00:26:57.680 --> 00:26:58.960 What kind of sorrow is that? 00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:01.039 Is it godly sorrow or worldly sorrow? 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:03.680 Is it good grief or poor grief? 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:05.359 We get a description here. 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:07.599 Good grief begins with conviction. 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:13.839 Verse 11, see what earnestness, that word earnestness there, it could be rendered conviction. 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:23.279 It's this desire, a conviction to act, a conviction to pursue what is righteous. 00:27:25.039 --> 00:27:28.640 It's rendered earnestness here, and that word works fine as well. 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:31.680 Earnestness is a desire to act with pure motives. 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:34.400 Where you're eager to do something, maybe. 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:38.960 The earnestness here that we're talking about, I think, is convictional. 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:41.279 That comes from knowing your sin. 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:44.400 This is where Paul starts with. 00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:50.319 Good grief, godly sorrow, begins with an actual knowledge of your sin. 00:27:50.400 --> 00:27:51.759 And it does not deny. 00:27:53.119 --> 00:27:54.240 It does not deny sin. 00:27:54.319 --> 00:27:58.720 This is the whole plea bargain system in the American jurisprudence. 00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:03.920 When you take a plea bargain, you have to stand before the judge, and you can't say, Yeah, I'm just taking the plea bargain to get out of this. 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:10.640 You have to actually tell the judge, no, I really am pleading guilty for this crime because I really did do this crime. 00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:14.319 This is where worldly sorrow is different than godly sorrow. 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:19.680 Godly sorrow begins with the actual confession of you saying, No, I am actually guilty of this sin. 00:28:20.720 --> 00:28:24.400 I am convicted in my own heart that I am guilty of this sin. 00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:25.599 This requires humility. 00:28:25.680 --> 00:28:27.119 It requires making yourself low. 00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:32.000 Godly sorrow is not an excuse factory, godly sorrow is bringing yourself down low. 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:43.519 Jesus himself said that he's gonna leave us, John 16, 17, and says he's gonna leave us and send the Holy Spirit to be a comforter for us and a helper for us. 00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:48.640 So the Holy Spirit's gonna come be a comforter for us, and Jesus expands on that. 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:51.920 He doesn't say the Holy Spirit's gonna come and make you feel good about yourself. 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:54.640 He's gonna comfort you by making you feel good about yourself. 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:56.000 You know, it's gonna be worth asking. 00:28:56.079 --> 00:28:57.599 Why do you need comfort? 00:28:58.079 --> 00:29:05.039 You need comfort because Jesus is going away, and you need comfort because the Holy Spirit is gonna come and bring you conviction concerning your sin. 00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:09.680 That's what Jesus says. 00:29:09.839 --> 00:29:11.759 The Spirit will come and convict you concerning sin. 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:14.000 This is the first mark of the Spirit's work in your heart. 00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:20.319 You know that you have godly sorrow, which can only come through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. 00:29:20.559 --> 00:29:23.680 If you are convicted about your sin, because that's what the Holy Spirit does. 00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:25.200 So, do you know that you're a sinner? 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:27.359 Are you aware that you are a sinner? 00:29:28.240 --> 00:29:33.519 It's the first mark of godly sorrow, and not just a general awareness, but concrete awareness. 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:34.880 I am a sinner. 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:37.519 That's who I am. 00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:43.119 Secondly, an eagerness to clear your name. 00:29:43.599 --> 00:29:51.039 An eagerness, verse 11, this godly sorrow is produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves. 00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:55.200 This is again hinges on the idea that God is the one at work. 00:29:55.359 --> 00:29:57.759 You think clearing yourself sounds kind of man-centered here. 00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:03.680 Well, remember the context that Paul has rebuked them and Paul has caused them to discipline people out of the church. 00:30:03.839 --> 00:30:07.359 If their sorrow is genuine, they want to make things right. 00:30:07.519 --> 00:30:08.559 They want to clear their name. 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:11.359 They want to be back in good standing with the church. 00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:15.279 Rurepentance doesn't just drift away somewhere else. 00:30:15.519 --> 00:30:19.039 Rural repentance wants their name cleared to be back in Christian fellowship. 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:22.400 It's not about your own reputation, it's about the reputation of Christ. 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:27.519 It's a desire to be made right. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:34.079 To confess your sin and let others know, I did that, I was wrong, I repent. 00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:35.440 That's how you clear your name. 00:30:35.519 --> 00:30:37.759 You don't clear your name by worming yourself out of it. 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:41.680 That's a that's the worldly kind of sorrow we'll look at in a few minutes. 00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:47.839 You clear your name in the true, godly kind of sorrow by confessing your sin, recognizing that Jesus atones for your sin. 00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:50.960 That's how you clear your name in a Christian context. 00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:55.119 Not by explaining how they got the wrong guy and you didn't really do it. 00:30:55.200 --> 00:30:57.920 That doesn't clear your name in a Christian context. 00:30:58.079 --> 00:31:06.480 In the Christian context, your name is cleared when you confess your sin to others and tell them you're turning to the Lord. 00:31:08.480 --> 00:31:13.440 Thomas Brooks in his book, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices. 00:31:13.519 --> 00:31:14.720 What a cool title. 00:31:38.079 --> 00:31:42.400 You want people to help you deal with your sin because you recognize it is mischievous. 00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:46.720 I don't fully understand it, but I want to be right with those that I've sinned against. 00:31:46.880 --> 00:31:47.920 That's what Paul's saying. 00:31:48.000 --> 00:31:52.640 Hey, you can tell, Corinthians, you can tell if somebody's gen repentance is genuine because they want to be back with you. 00:31:52.880 --> 00:31:55.359 You put them out of the church, they want to be back. 00:31:58.079 --> 00:32:03.599 Thirdly, indignation, he says in verse 11, what indignation? 00:32:04.400 --> 00:32:05.839 It's an internal anger. 00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:08.079 It's an anger, of course, over their sin. 00:32:09.200 --> 00:32:12.960 It goes with the shame for what they did to the reputation of Christ. 00:32:15.839 --> 00:32:21.759 It's a conviction, not just this indignation, listen, this indignation is not just a conviction that you did sin. 00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:25.680 It's it's a conviction that you're that you're sinful. 00:32:26.640 --> 00:32:27.680 Do you see the difference? 00:32:28.559 --> 00:32:31.920 You know, you doing sin, that's gonna make you sorry or sad. 00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:38.079 But when you understand that your heart is the factory that's producing sin, that brings indignation. 00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:42.400 It brings despair. 00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:48.640 It brings you low when you realize that it's who you are that produces these kind of sins that are loathsome to God. 00:32:48.960 --> 00:32:50.799 You hate the totality of your sin. 00:32:50.960 --> 00:32:53.920 You don't just hate the poison, but you hate the dish the poison is served on. 00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:54.640 That's this idea. 00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:56.559 You recognize that you are low. 00:32:56.640 --> 00:32:58.480 And you it it cuts you. 00:32:58.559 --> 00:33:01.279 It hurts, it hurts you to realize the extent of your sin. 00:33:01.359 --> 00:33:05.200 And you re to realize even that you never fully understand the extent of your sin. 00:33:05.680 --> 00:33:07.200