2 Corinthians 7:10-11

Butler's Commentary

SECTION 2

Action (2 Corinthians 7:10-11)

10For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves guiltless in the matter.

2 Corinthians 7:10 Repentance: It sounds pedantic to say the problem with repentance is to get people to repent. But that is precisely the problem. Too many people have either been misled about or do not want to know what Biblical repentance is. William Chamberlain writes that the popular concept of repentance has been tragically shallow: it has been perverted into emotionalism or sacramentarianism. repentance has been almost exclusively associated with an emotional crisis of sorrow for sin and fear of punishment. Chamberlain goes on to say that a proper definition of the Greek word metanoeo calls for a renovation of mind. a complete change in mental outlook and of life design.. But mere reformation of behavior is not the crucial matter in repentance. To lay stress on change of conduct or reformation of behavior is to lead the minds of people away from the fact that metanoeo (repentance) deals primarily with the springs of action, rather than with the actions themselves. Metanoeo deals with the source of our motives, not with conduct, or even with the motives themselves. The real meaning of the Greek word metanoeo began to be misunderstood when the New Testament was first translated into Latin (about 1500 A.D.) when the Greek word was translated into the Latin words, Poenitentiam agite, Do penance. The Church began to think of so many acts of penitence to cancel a given amount of sin. The emphasis was put on feelings (remorse) and deeds (penance). The emphasis should have been, as the Greek word clearly shows, on having the mind of Christ. i.e., a transformation of the mind (see Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 5:14-17). People may be sorry for their past and they may even reform certain outward ways of living, and still refuse to allow every thought (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) to be brought into captivity unto obedience to Christ. Metanoeo means to allow Christ, through his expressed will in the New Testament, to take over our thinking. It means we think everything through the divine perspective. Our minds are no longer ours to think with as we please. Our thinking must please Christ. Tertullian said, ... the principle of voluntary obedience consists in similarity of minds. This is the crucial issue in the Christian way of life: similarity of mind between God and his people. Before man can enter God's kingdom (the church) the thoughts of man must be aimed at becoming the thoughts of God. The principle of voluntary obedience in the Kingdom rests on similarity of mind between God and his people. True metanoeo (repentance) has little to do with the emotions. It is a mental metamorphosis. It is conforming one's thinking to God's revealed mind (the Bible) in spite of how one feels about it.

The Greek words ergazetai and katergazetai in 2 Corinthians 7:10 are both translated produces. The words literally mean, works out thus indicating that the grief Paul caused by his severe words to the Corinthians worked repentance instead of having worked death. The difference is simply that the Corinthians were grieved according to the way of God (godly grief). Here it is plain that repentance involves more than merely being sorry for sin. Being sorry produces metanoian (repentance). Grief according to God's way works repentance which brings no regret (Gr. ametameleton, remorse). That is because repentance (conformity to the revealed mind of God) brings the experience of reconciliation, forgiveness, sonship, spiritual growth and freedom. Repentance starts with grief (within the limits of God's will) but blossoms into joyful salvation.

Worldly (Gr. kosmou cosmic) grief works out of death because it becomes a substitute for true repentance or metanoeo (change of thinking). Worldly grief is being sorry for sin but unwilling to think about things as God thinks about them. Worldly grief wants to make reconciliation happen on the basis of emotion and not a changed mentality. Worldly grief regrets being caught in sin and having to suffer the consequences, vowing not to change the mind about sin, but vowing to be smarter, more self-sufficient, and not to be caught again. Worldly grief is the grief of the criminal mind. Worldly grief starts with hurt, but it is a mixture of anger and self-pity. It causes a person to either retreat into morbid self-judgment and eventually into suicide (both physical and spiritual) or to rise up in self-justification, fight and strike back to get revenge.

Repentance is clearly an action. It is not something that happens to you. You make it happen. It is an exercise of the human will that brings the human thinking processes into conformity to the will of Christ. Once that is accomplished, human actions are altered to conform to the revealed will of Christ. God offers his help through his Holy Spirit (the Comforter) to every human being willing to make such a change. But Christ will not overpower any human's will and force him to think God's thoughts (see Revelation 3:19-22; John 7:17; Psalms 25:14). Repentance is not an irresistible work of the Spirit. All through the Bible God's messengers lay the responsibility for repentance squarely upon man himself (see Acts 17:30-31).

2 Corinthians 7:11 Righteousness: How does one make his grief over sin produce repentance unto salvation instead of death? In this verse Paul gives clear-cut indications of whether one's hurt is a godly or worldly grief. The indicator is one's reaction to being hurt. When these Corinthians received the severe rebuke of the apostle Paul they reacted with earnestness (Gr. spoude, diligence, carefulness). This earnestness is a manifestation of metanoeo (change of mentality). They did not react emotionally, superficially, but with deliberation. This is the righteous (right) way to reactGod's way. Next, they reacted with eagerness to clear themselves (Gr. apologian, from which we get the English words apology, apologetic, meaning to make defense). In this context it is clear Paul does not mean the Corinthians were arrogantly defending themselves against any need to changethey were not self-righteously justifying themselves. Godly grief had worked in them an eagerness to get all differences between themselves and God, between themselves and Paul, out in the open (apologia) and sincerely work toward the repentance that brings reconciliation. Next, their godly grief produced in them indignation (Gr. aganaktesin, vexation, anger, much grief). They were not indignant toward Paulbut toward themselves. They manifested shame for their past which moved them beyond self-pity to self-abnegation. And, even beyond self-abnegation, indignation usually produces a corrective attitude and action. Along with indignation, their hurt worked in them alarm (Gr. phobon, fear). This was, of course, godly fear. Godly fear is the very beginning of wisdom. It is a state of mind synonymous with repentance. It is the beginning of thinking God's way. Paul's hurting words, which caused them to rearrange their thinking to God's way of thinking, produced in them longing (Gr. epipothesin, great yearning) for the one who had hurt them! That is evidence of redirected thinking! He mentions again the impression their zeal for him had made on him.

Finally, the righteous reaction of the Corinthians termed punishment is listed by Paul as proof of their metanoeo (change of mind). The Greek word ekdikesin is translated revenge in the KJV and avenging of wrong in the NASV. For other N.T. usages see Luke 18:7-8; Acts 7:24; Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Luke 21:22; 1 Peter 2:14, etc. The punishment the Corinthians had finally administered to the immoral man (see 1 Corinthians 5:1 ff) and to the one who was causing division and slandering Paul (see 2 Corinthians 2:5-11) was visible evidence of their change of mind. Earlier they had been arrogantly indifferent to the need for such punishment. But they have changed their mind and disciplined the wrong doers. They have conformed their thinking (and, consequently, their actions) to the will of God as revealed by the apostle. Christ told the church at Thyatira that it must change its mind about tolerating the woman Jezebel (Revelation 3:19-22) or he would give to each of them as their works deserved. The apostle Paul instructed several churches they needed to change their minds about disciplining the factious, lazy and immoral members. Repentance within the church remains a crucial problem that continues to plague preachers and elders and church members, There is only one divine solution; know the Bible and practice the Bible. Paul the preacher, and one of his congregations, Corinth, did so and solved the problem of repentance! They proved themselves mentally changed (penitent) in every point of the matter (Gr. pragmati, practice) being discussed by the apostle. This blessed Paul's ministry with joy overflowing!