Do you ever read a scripture in the Bible and just sort of skim over it because either A) it doesn’t make sense to you; or B) or you can’t wrap your mind around why the writer wrote it the manner he did? I know I have and still do.
Something I have learned over the years is that when I read something I don’t understand, the explanation of it is always found in the Bible. I just need to seek and search out the matter and I will find it. I sometimes wonder if it is God’s sense of humor to lead us on a verse scavenger hunt because He knows we will have to read more of His word and then watch us with great joy as we rejoice when we get the revelation. My personal thoughts are, “Hey, if it brings a smile to Him, it works for me!”
In my morning devotion time on December 13, 2025, I was reading in the book of 2 Corinthians 6 and 7 and I had to stop for a few minutes and meditate on the part where Paul, in chapter 7, addresses repentance as it relates to mourning and sorrow. If you can open your Bible and follow, it will be helpful as the chapters are too long to include here. The letter Paul is writing is in response to his first letter and what had transpired since then among the new believers in Corinth. In Chapter 5:17, he reminds the church that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things have passed away (meaning old worldly ways, fleshly thoughts, behaviors, and/or works); and all things have become new (walking in and led by the Spirit of God in truth). In Chapter 6, Paul pleads with them to not receive the grace of God in vain and to get right with God and cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit (their spiritual state Not the Holy Spirit), and perfect themselves in holiness in the fear of God.
It’s curious that Paul acknowledges that his letter made the Corinthian believers feel sorry or sorrowful. He says in 2 Cor 7:8, “For even if I made you feel sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it.”
You may have read this verse at some point and wondered what that even means, “I do not regret it; though I did regret it.” Here, it means he had a change of heart from his initial thought of regret in the boldness of his letter. Paul had come to realize that God’s Spirit was moving in the hearts of the Corinthian believers through his letter; hence he did not regret that it brought sorrow. He explains why in the next verse:
“For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” NKJV
So now we can see something fruitful, i.e. repentance! And repentance leads to salvation. Paul continues:
“For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” 2Cor 7:8-12
Wow! The fruit of repentance led to more fruit.
The primary reason Paul wrote 1 Corinthians was to address sin in the church, divisions, sexual immorality, listening to false teachers, etc. This letter was written because there was an urgent compelling to defend His ministry of Jesus Christ. There were false apostles, teachers, and prophets that were speaking lies and trying to discredit him to the church body in Corinth; and, it was by the leading of the Holy Spirit that he wrote in such boldness and truth and to remind the church about trials and tribulations. He encouraged them to remain steadfast in the truth of what he had taught them about Jesus.
It was through Paul’s letter that many came to repentance as a result of being convicted of how they had strayed from the truth, and worse yet, realized they had been deceived.
I’d like to connect the application of Paul’s letter and your heart to the here and now for the benefit of believers today.
This is no ordinary, “I’m sorry and I repent, Lord, for my sins” prayer and then move on without a change of mindset and transformation. Repentance requires action and discipline. This is a cry of the heart “Oh my Lord Jesus, God Almighty, the who was and is and is to come. Please forgive me for falling into the trap of those who spoke lies, who caused me to doubt, to gossip, to think untrue thoughts and even speak horrible things about ???(you fill in the blank) without seeking You first.” This is a Matthew 16:23 moment when one says, “Get behind me Satan, you are a stumbling block to me because you are not thinking of the things of God, but of the things of men.” And you turn and make a decision, right then, to get back on track and diligently pursue things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and of good report, so that the peace of God will be with you. (Phil 4:8)
Where am I going with this? John, in Matthew 3:8 said to the Pharisees and Sadducees, after calling them a brood of vipers, to “To bear fruits (or produce fruit) worthy of repentance.” This is one of the verses you might skim over because it appears to be a contradiction. Aren’t we suppose to produce good fruit? How do we produce good fruit worthy, or in keeping with repentance?
Beloved, Paul gives us the understanding in Chapter 7. But there is more. We see a couple beautitudes being played out.
One of the Beatitudes Yeshua spoke in His sermon on the Mount is “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matt 5:4)
The Hebrew word ‘Mourn’ means to lament or express deep grief. When we sin, it separates us from God, gets us out of His timing and we are held in spiritual captivity. We wonder why we can’t hear from God, why we find ourselves operating in the flesh of gossip, rumors, backbiting, etc., or why we don’t have the internal/eternal peace. Doubt and disbelief can creep in about Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit, and even those who share the gospel of Jesus Christ—all part of Satan’s crafty plan. When we recognize our sins for what they are and repent, there is a true mourning process that occurs. We lament because we were wrong and we cry out to Yeshua for forgiveness because He has revealed our nakedness and exposed the darkness that had temporarily blinded us. This is part of Him chastening those He loves. It is through the mourning and repentance that the Holy Spirit comes as our comforter. He restores our peace and we come back stronger and more steadfast in our faith. This is godly sorrow that produces fruit.
Paul realized the fruit that godly sorrow produced in the Corinthians keeping with repentance, or bearing fruit worthy of repentance. The repentance believers became diligent to correct their wrongs; they desired to be free from guilt and to be reconciled back to God; they became indignant with a righteous anger to sin and its consequences; they had a renewed fear of the Lord; they developed a zeal-a passionate commitment to stay focused God’s agenda and His purpose, which is a mark of true repentance; and they were vindicated of all wrong doing both personally and within their community because they had turned their hearts back to God.
The other Beatitude is “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”(Matt 5:10) Jesus goes on to expand this in verse 11, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Paul understood this, lived it and still gave all praise and glory unto Yeshua in the midst of persecution from others. Beloved friends, when we walk in the ministry of Jesus Christ, we must expect opposition. We must expect backbiters, gossipers, and those who will try to discredit us. Our job is to stand firm and be steadfast with our eyes fixed on Jesus, His word, and His will for us. If you find you have partaken or come in agreement with someone like this, and you realize how it has taken your focus off the One True God, even for a minute, I encourage you to do as those in Cornith did and repent. Put vindictivness where it belongs – under the feet of Jesus and become vindicated through His forgiveness.
Even Paul, prior to His conversion from Judaisam to becoming a Christ follower persecuted Christians. When he had His encounter with Jesus, Jesus asked him, “Why are you persecuting Me?”. (Acts 9:3-5) When we persecute, knowingly or in ignorance, we must realize that it is the living Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach, that we are persecuting.
Some teachings that are referenced in this blog post can be viewed on the links below.
3) Elementary Principle of Repentance-Part 1, Part 2 Here
Explore Other Teachings here. Let us know if you like this content by pressing the “like” button and sharing with others.
Blessings to you and until next time, know that you are loved.
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