Godly Grief that Brings Repentance (2 Corinthians 13:1-6)
Gary McManus, 03/20/2022Part of the Mercy series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
March 20, 2022 2 Corinthians 13:1-6
Theology basics: God, holiness, sin, believers
DCC has been talking about forgiveness and
reconciliation (two different things).
Oh, and Hell. Your Pastor will talk about it
(not all will).
(After all, remember, Jesus talked about Hell
more than anyone in the entire New Testament!
And yet, we have no record of anyone asking
Jesus how to avoid Hell. THAT would be a
good class discussion.)
Topic: the “death bed confession”.
The most famous “death bed confession”?
The thief on the cross.
The experience of confession and repentance
includes the idea of sorrow (“godly sorrow”
2 Corinthians 7:8-10). The Bible uses other
words: regret, sorry, sorrow, remorse, grief,
grieved.
Recall the sermon on 2 Corinthians 7:
--Paul’s strong letter
--offender and offended in the congregation
--situation was “made right” (2 Corinthians 7:11)
Today’s reading: “I warned those who sinned. . .”
The Apostle wants to see
“godly grief that produces repentance”
Sin can only occur when a person believes in the
the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as a Holy God.
Sin= anything that is not in keeping with the Holiness of God
The Gods of other nations were not Holy.
Therefore, their people could not be holy.
Their actions were offensive to the Holy God of Israel.
The prophets of Israel will eventually say that there
really are no other Gods. ( Isaiah 43:10, Isaiah 44:6,
Isaiah 45:5, Jesus: John 17:3; also Paul: Romans 1:19-23, 1 Corinthians 8:6)
To have a (good/positive) relationship with this Holy God, the people of Israel must be cleansed of their unholiness through sacrifice and worship at the (tabernacle) temple.
Sin, what we too often call wrong-doing, even though our thoughts can be evil and our hearts can have evil come from them (Zechariah 8:17, Matthew 9:4, Matthew 15:18, Hebrews 10:22). Sin, by definition, is (wrong) relationship with a holy God.
No relationship with the Holy God of Israel?
Then our actions are not sin, they are an abomination—
an action or thought that causes disgust or provokes hatred from the living and holy God of Israel.
To have a positive relationship with the Holy God,
sin must be dealt with. We proclaim that Jesus has dealt with our sins. We are forgiven. We have a good relationship with the living and Holy God. (We still sin, but Jesus provided for that AND the Holy Spirit works miracles in us to do good things that please God.
Therefore, only the believers may have godly sorrow or shame or . . .
(Ezra 9:6, Proverbs 6:33, Jeremiah 2:26, Jeremiah 31:19) Shame/sin can be painful: Psalm 119, Psalm 90:8.
See Adam, Genesis 3:8-11.
Also Joseph, Genesis 31:7-9
The death bed believer can see (for the first time
in their lives) all of their wrongs in the past as sin.
But in dying, there is no time to right any wrong.
How can there not be godly grief, sorrow, remorse?
And at the great life review?
(John 3:21, 1 Peter 1:17, Revelation 20:12)
Similarly, there will be sorrow and remorse for those
not saved. Pastor imagines THAT is where the weeping and gnashing of teeth occurs for those filled with remorse. Ronnie Reagan doesn’t need Christian reminders. He doesn’t care.
Pastor doesn’t believe that he has thought about
religion very much. Remember in THIS life:
2 Corinthians 7:10. Amen.
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