Repentance in the Epistles

 

This will be a little different. Even though repent and repentance occur nine times in the epistles, I will only be considering one passage, 2 Corinthians 7:8-11, because here Paul offers a good explanation of repentance. I will simply go through it verse by verse.

8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. 

Obviously, there is a backstory. I believe the letter he is referring to is 1 Corinthians 5:1-13. There was a man, a believer, who was living in sin with his mother-in-law. And the Corinthians were proud of their “Christian love” toward him. Paul chastised them and told them to discipline him.

First, we see repent twice in this verse. In Repentance: A Definition, I said there was another word used sometimes, a synonym of sorts for the usual word for repent (metanoeō), that word is metamellomai. It also means a change of mind, but it is not as robust as repent (metanoeō). Metamellomai means to regret, be sorry about something you did or said. And it is this word that occurs both times in this verse. Throughout this section Paul is speaking of sorrow, regret, and true repentance.

He says, I wrote a letter that made you sorry. Right after I wrote it, I regretted sending it; but no longer, for I see that it worked.

9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 

“I rejoice, not that I made you sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance.” Right away we see: regret is not repentance, being sorry is not repentance. Repentance is something more, something stronger.

sorry after a godly manner – after a godly manner is an interesting expression; literally it is according to God. I don’t really know how to express this in English except to say, this kind of sorrow leads to genuine repentance.

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

Paul is juggling sorry, regret, and repentance. This according to God sorrow is the kind that leads me to repent, change my mind and thinking, which obviously means I admit I did wrong, I turn away from it, I stop it, I replace it with the right behavior. This repentance leads to salvation / forgiveness / restoration, which we will never regret.

On the other hand, the sorrow of the world, the sorrow according to the world, works death. Oh you’re sorry, you’re sad you did it or got caught, you may even become depressed, but you are left wallowing in your sorrow and grief, instead of repenting to salvation.

11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

Wow, look how thorough this change was, this turning away from it!

We learn from Paul that sorrow, regret, and repentance are not the same. You can be sorry without regret or repentance. You can regret, yet not repent. Both regret and repent involve a change of mind, but there appears to be one more step that regret often fails to produce, namely replacing the wrong behavior with different, righteous behavior. 

We have biblical examples of people who sinned, regretted it, but did not repent: Cain, Esau, King Saul, Judas.

These are extreme cases that nevertheless show the difference between sorrow, regret, and repentance, which I think can be expressed this way: I am convicted that something I am doing or have done is sin. I am sorry about it and the conviction and sorrow lead me to change my mind about it and change my behavior. If I’m convicted of sin and I’m sorry about it (depressed, distressed), even regret it with all my heart, but do not turn from it to Christ (confessing my sin and forsaking it, calling upon him for mercy to forgive and the grace to change), that is not repentance, nor will it bring forgiveness, salvation, deliverance, and life.

 

Throughout this week I have shared that the most basic definition of repent is, change your mind. But, repentance is more than simply changing your mind, it is changing your mind for the better: a new way of thinking which results in a new way of living. This is a kingdom principle: it is how you begin the Christian life, it is how you continue living for Christ.