True Repentance
2 Cor 7: 1 - 16
When
Paul wrote this letter, he did not write it in chapters. In fact, there were no
chapter divisions whatsoever in the Bible until the late 1300’s.
A)At that time, someone added chapter divisions in
order to help people locate passages more easily.
B)Then in the 1500’s,
someone divided the chapters into verses. And for the most part, the job
these scholars did is excellent.
1) But every once in awhile, one wonders what the reasoning was behind their choices. II Corinthians
7:1 is one such example . . .
C)Verse 1 of Chapter 7 should really be the last verse of chapter 6 because it’s a continuation of the promises to which Paul referred in verses 16-18,
1) where God promised He would dwell with us and be a Father to us.
D)So ‘Having these promises,
Paul gives us Two things to do in light of God’s promises.
1) 1st A negative thing to do: Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the Flesh & Spirit
There
is a main aspect of cleansing which comes to us as we trust in Jesus and His
work on our behalf;
A)this work of cleansing is really God’s work in us, and not our work. This is the sense of 1 John 1:9: If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
B) But there is another aspect of cleansing which God looks for us to do with the participation of our own will and effort;
1)not that it is our work apart from God, but it is a work that involves our will and effort: Why Paul says - let us cleanse ourselves. What We do
C) All Filthiness Immorality & Defilement { Mud on a wedding garment
1) Cleanses yourself from those things that are having an defiling affect
D)This
aspect of cleansing is mostly connected with intimacy with God, and usefulness
for service.
1) Love cannot constrain you to love back. It can only plead, beg and entreat.
You have to make that decision; you must break that yoke.
E) If you are tied with some friendship or relationship or
habit that is dragging you down, then you have to
break that;
1)you must decide to give it up. God will not take it away from you.
Now
this is an interesting distinction that Paul makes here – Cleansing ourselves
from Filthiness of the Flesh & Spirit –
A)The Flesh represents our
actions – Habits – actions practices that we know to be sinful or
against God’s Law
B) But what does Paul mean when he says – Filthiness of
the Spirit – this speaks of our attitudes
C) Sometimes it is easier to deal with the filthiness of the flesh than the filthiness . . . of the spirit.
1) During Jesus’ earthly ministry, those who were stained
by the filthiness
of the flesh (such as harlots & tax collectors) found it easy to
come to Jesus
D)As
believers, we are very AWARE of the sins of the flesh — those sins which are
done outwardly that are so prevalent in our Culture.
1)Yet how often we fail to even notice the much more dangerous sins of the spirit/ Like: gossip, fault-finding, having Critical spirit, laziness, cynicism.
Pride, legalism, selfishness, self-righteousness, bitterness
E) Those things can be easier to overlook or to rationalize!!!
1) Jesus indicted the Pharisees for being more concerned about their rituals and ceremonial cleansing than the condition of their hearts{ White washed…
Too
often Christians deal with symptoms and not causes/ Deal w/ the actions &
ignore the issues of the Heart that are moving those actions
A)We keep confessing the same sins because we have not gotten to the root of the trouble and “cleansed ourselves of the sins of the spirit
B) Those actions that we are manifesting are the Outflow
of what is really going on in the Heart
1) That is why it is imperative that we take to heart what Paul is saying.
Deal with it all.’ – Filthiness of the Flesh & Spirit
But
cleansing ourselves is only half of the responsibility; the 2nd
thing that Paul asked us to do is a Positive thing: “perfecting holiness in the fear of God”
A) Paul isn’t writing about some state of sinless perfection. Perfecting has the idea of “complete” and “whole.”
B) Instead of a state of sinless perfection, Paul is writing about becoming more complete, as a believer
1) This is a constant process as we grow in grace and knowledge
. We are to seek complete
holiness.
C) We are not to be easily satisfied with ourselves. ‘Tis not enough to do a little and then rest.
1) The statue must be finished; it is begun that it may be completed.
Now
Isn’t it amazing that Paul could write cleanse
ourselves, including himself among the
Corinthian Christians in the category of those who need to be cleansed?
A)If Paul could include himself among those who needed to be cleansed, what about us?
B) The reason that Paul could say that – the reason he could call himself the chief of sinners is
1)the closer we get to the Lord the more conscious we shall be of our imperfections. ISA 6 I saw the Lord – Woe is me
C) See The
more light we get, the more we discover our own darkness.
1)It is not that we are greater sinners But the more we grow in the Lord – we have a finer sensitivity toward sin .
D) Sins that before we would ignore or think little of / we see entirely different the closer we get to Jesus
1) So the closer that we get to the Lord – the more we are
going to see that needs to be cleansed – all part of the Sanctification Process
– committed to
Now
one of the things we have seen throughout this letter is that Paul has been
very real w/ the Corinthian Church
A)In Ch.6:11 O
Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open.
B)But here in this Chapter he expressed his desires
that they in turn would be real w/ Him v.2
Open your hearts to us. WHY? We have
wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have cheated no one
Now there had been some accusations made about Paul in these regards. A)He is simply stating that, as far as his conscience is concerned, it is clear before the Lord that he has not done these things.
B) You and I, at times, cannot say that. Sometimes we have been wrong ourselves in a broken relationship which we are trying to heal,
1) So we cannot start out on that note. We have to start out admitting that we were wrong.
C)This is where Jesus' words, "First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye come in.
D) See unless we start with a clear conscience, there is no use trying to go on. Whatever is wrong has to be cleared up.
1)But in this case Paul could say, "I did not hurt anybody while I was there." It is a wonderful claim on his part. RD V.3-7
When
Paul was going through the wringer internally, externally, emotionally, &
physically, how did God comfort him? Thru Titus.
A)Titus had come to Paul when he was in Macedonia &
brought a good report of how the Corinthian Christians were turning back to
Jesus & Paul.
“No circumstances of personal affliction can dim the
gladness of seeing souls grow in the grace of the Lord Jesus.” (Morgan)
B) But This is interesting to me / You see, Titus was one of Paul’s students, one of his disciples.
1) After sending him to Corinth with his first letter, Paul says it was when Titus returned that he was built back up.
C) I’m afraid my reaction would have been, ‘Oh, it’s just Titus. Lord, why didn’t You send me someone
famous or deep? Billy Graham perhaps.
1) But Titus? He’s just one of my boys. How can he help me?’
D)I think of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. As He sweat great drops of blood while He prayed with intensity,
1) an angel came and strengthened Him (Luke 22:43).
E) Jesus could have said, ‘I’m way above the angels.’ Instead, He received the ministry of the angel.
1) So too, Paul received encouragement from Titus because he recognized an important principle:
Often
the Lord comes to us in the unexpected person at an unexpected time in an
unexpected way . . .
A)‘We know Him,’ they said. ‘He’s the carpenter’s son,’ (Mark 6:3).
But they were wrong. He was the Son of God.
B) Mary wept at the tomb, mistaking the Lord for a gardener (John 20:15
1) On the road to Emmaus, they thought He was a stranger (Luke 24:18).
On the Sea of Galilee, they thought He was a ghost (Matthew 14:26).
C)My point is
this - Don’t miss your Titus, It might
be your son or daughter.
1) Blown away by my kids
D) It might be a neighbor or co-worker. It might be someone you would never think had much to offer,
1) but they’ll come to you with words of encouragement — if you’re wise enough to listen.
E) Many people miss out, waiting for a pastor or a prophet, an author or a musician because they fail to recognize the Lord in the person sitting right next to them. { Paul rejoiced in the coming of Titus v.8-10
At first, I regretted sending my first
letter,’ Paul says. ‘But, due to your growth from it, I no longer regret it.’
A)When Paul first wrote the “sorrowful letter” carried by Titus, he didn’t enjoy the idea of being so confrontational to the Corinthian Christians,
B) Most of us don’t enjoy confrontation & Paul was no exception even though they deserved it. That’s why he wrote “though I did regret it.”
1) But when he saw their response that it led to repentance – he would say – I don’t regret it now!!
C) Many of us regret things we’ve said, written, or done. But Like Paul’s, our heart may have been right, although we second-guess our actions.
1)The solution? Pray do what the Lord is telling you from a right heart & trust Him /commit it to God and forget about it because God sees your heart.
Now
v.10 is a very Powerful & important scripture concerning the subject of
Repentance
A)Paul makes a
Distinction between Worldly sorrow/ Godly Sorrow
Godly sorrow results in a Change –
B) Too often all we see is worldly sorrow – Sorry I got
caught / sorry I am in trouble / sorry I hurt them / sorry about Consequences
C)
Everything but a sorrow that leads to a Change of direction / change of
attitude / change of heart
1) Paul says that godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation,
D) But weren’t the Corinthian believers already saved?’ you ask.
Absolutely. Then what does this
mean? Salvation
1)‘Sozo’, the Greek word translated ‘salvation’ means more than simply being born again.
E) See When the Scriptures talk about salvation, they speak of the full orb of God’s blessing — not only of being born again eternally,
1) but of being saved from bondage and pain presently – Experiencing the Fullness of God in your Life
F) What brings about this kind of salvation? Paul says the answer is godly Sorrow that Produces repentance . . .
1) And then in v.11 Paul points out what that act of repentence Produces in the life of the Christian { Read v.11
Paul
mentions 7 things that are the result of that godly sorrow that produces
repentence
A)What diligence: Godly sorrow produces, & repentance shows, diligence.
B)Repentance means to turn around, and it takes diligence to stay turned around.
1) True repentance doesn’t say, ‘Maybe I’ll get to it next
year.’ No, true repentance says, ‘This is wrong,
and I’m going to deal with it now — with finality, with certainty, no matter
the cost.’
C) If one gives up easily, they can never walk in repentance, though they may
perform acts of repentance.{ Produces
diligence
2nd
What clearing of yourselves: Godly sorrow produces, & repentance shows, a clearing.
A)It is a clearing of guilt and shame, from knowing that
we have brought our sin to God, and we are now walking in the right way.
B)3rd What indignation: Godly sorrow produces, and repentance shows, indignation. We are indignant at our selves for our foolishness in sin.
1) This is the kind of attitude that makes repentance last.
“I am glad that the Bible
allows me to get mad, mad with the devil!
To think that he had the audacity to pull me down and make me do
that! What indignation, what fury at
sin and all the agencies of Satan!” (Redpath)
C) 4th What fear: Godly sorrow produces, and repentance shows, a fear that we would ever fall into the same sin again.
1) Paul isn’t writing about a fear of God here as much as
a fear of sin, and a fear of our own weakness toward it.
5th What vehement
desire: Godly sorrow produces, and
repentance shows, vehement desire.
A)This is a heart that really desires purity and godliness, and doesn’t want to sin any more.
B) This vehement desire is expressed through heartfelt
prayer and total dependence on God.
C) 6th What zeal: Godly sorrow produces, and repentance shows, zeal. The Greek word speaks of heat;
1) we are hot towards God and His righteousness, and hot
against sin and impurity. Instead of
laziness, we have zeal in our walk with the Lord.
7th What vindication:
Godly sorrow produces, and repentance shows, vindication.
A)You are vindicated as a Christian, even though you have sinned.
C)
No one can doubt it, because the measure of a Christian is not whether or not
they sin, but whether or not they repent.
D)In all things you proved yourselves to be clear: Their actions of repentance proved them to be clear.
1) It wasn’t words or feelings that proved them to be clear, but actions.
“Godly sorrow that leads to repentance, therefore, is a sorrow that leads to a change of purpose, of intention, and of action. It is not the sorrow of idle tears; it is not crying by your bedside because once again you have failed; nor is it vain regret, wishing things had never happened, wishing you could live the moments again. No, it is not that. It is a change of purpose and intentions, a change of direction and action.” (Redpath)
So
Paul was rejoicing in the fact that the Corinthians had experienced a true
repentance that was marked by a Change in their actions /attitudes
A)Which is how – he wraps up this Chapter – v.12-16
B)The end of all God's dealings with us is that it increases our joy, it increases everybody's joy.
1) That is the purpose for which the Spirit of God is at work in these kinds of matters.