2 Cornthians 7

Focus: Verse 10

King James Bible
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

New International Version
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

New Living Translation
For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

STUDY NOTES

In Chapter 7, Paul is struggling with knowing who he is and where his mission takes him. He does not doubt his purpose, but those around him, who seek instant gratification, doubt him continuously. 

It seems to me that Paul is tired. He is wondering what the point of it all is, even knowing that the ends justify the means, and that he is fulfilling a mission assigned to him by Jesus Himself.  Part of his grand scheme. Sadly, while he has, at this point, come to terms with the coming end of his mission, and the way it will end, he struggles on, trying to convince those who, like the Jews in Israel, refuse to change without a constant display of tangible evidence, that what Paul is teaching is true. 

Paul was much stronger than any man can be expected to be. Certainly stronger than I was the first time I actually entered a period of extended recovery. After leaving rehab, I moved to the Nashville area to live with my brother and his family, by invitation. I was very appreciative, and for the first time, I believed I had a chance at success. By the end of the second month of my stay, I was working two part-time factory jobs, working 50 hours a week. I would come home, clean their house, go to bed, wake up, go to work, repeat. I was clean. By the end of the third month, my brother and his wife informed me that I was not working hard enough to convince them that my intentions were real, and that they were worried about my presence considering their two high school-aged children. I was floored. What more could I have done to prove my intentions than I was doing? 

I was encouraged to find a new place to live through texts sent by my sister-in-law with apartment listings. I had received two paychecks, one from each employer, and it was time for me to get the hell out. So I did. My brother told me I didn’t have to, but he was playing good cop. He had no say in the rules of that house, and his wife made that obvious. 

The truth is I dreaded the idea of moving in with them, because I anticipated the outcome that came to be. I had no other choice but to return to the streets. I entered a sober-living community and was kicked out for working late too often. Amazon didn’t really offer a choice either. I moved into my own apartment in a small town that I assumed would be safe. I ran into my neighbor a few weeks after moving in. He asked if I wanted to get high. I said yes. 

--BSB

Triumph in Christ

2 So I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you.

² For if I grieve you, who is left to cheer me but those whom I have grieved?

³ I wrote as I did so that on my arrival I would not be grieved by those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would share my joy.

⁴ For through many tears I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart, not to grieve you but to let you know how much I love you.

⁵ Now if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me but all of you—to some degree, not to overstate it.

⁶ The punishment imposed on him by the majority is sufficient for him.

⁷ So instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

⁸ Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.

⁹ My purpose in writing you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.

¹⁰ If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven it in the presence of Christ for your sake,

¹¹ in order that Satan should not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

¹² Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and a door stood open for me in the Lord,

¹³ I had no peace in my spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.

¹⁵ For we are to God the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.

¹⁶ To the one we are an odor that brings death, to the other a fragrance that brings life. And who is qualified for such a task?

¹⁷ For we are not like so many others, who peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as men sent from God.