Conviction and Repentance

Text: 2 Corinthians 7:2-16

Focus: Repentance

Function: To help people distinguish between shame and conviction.

Form:

Intro:

I have to admit that last week's sermon and this weeks sort of go hand in hand.

Paul defended himself to the Corinthian Church. He had made some enemies there because he caused them some pain when he dealt with a man who was openly parading an incestuous relationship within the church.

In this chapter, he acknowledges how Titus, one of his deputies, reports that they had indeed taken him back as their pastor.

At the beginning of today's passage, even though they have forgiven him, he reminds them again to accept him back. Sometimes, forgiveness is a process.

Last week we looked at how to defend ourselves.

This week, we will study the bigger picture, the work of the Holy Spirit that brought about this reconciliation.

In the book of Acts, on the day of Pentecost, when the tongues of fire fell, the loud noise drew a crowd, people heard the good news in their own languages and the 120 began to speak in tongues, a few people scoffed and claimed that they were drunk. Peter preaches a rather a bold sermon.

He tells them: “repent and believe.” (Acts 2:38)

Repentance is a call to a change of heart which leads to a change in the way we live.

This week, we will work at understanding conviction and repentance.

In verse 10, the passage spells it out with contrasting ideas: Godly grief versus Worldly grief.

One grief leads to life, the other grief leads to death.

The world has a sorrow, a grief, that leads us to death.

Paul is careful to point out that the Corinthians were motivated by Godly, not Worldly sorrow.

What is worldly grief?

I was interested to find out that there were many great theologians, especially in the Dark Ages, who preached on the subject. And, they spoke to their congregations with language similar to what is now considered to be the medical condition of depression.

They described it as the debilitating effect of either the neurological/medical problem of depression, or the neurotic problem of depression.

I believe Paul is speaking of the latter.

It is the kind of sorrow, or grief, that is produced because of shame -or misplaced guilt or unresolved anger.

Let me re-read verses 9-10: ⁹Now I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance; for you felt a godly grief, so that you were not harmed in any way by us. ¹⁰For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death.

His letter caused them a lot of grief. And the grief caused by it lead them to repentance. Repentance means a change of direction. It means that because of the grief, and the fact that their solution wasn't working, they decided to change direction.

Paul is speaking of “good grief.”

But before we go there, let us focus on what good grief is not. It is not depression.

Throughout my first counseling psychology course in college, the professor kept reminding us through the course that 99% of neurotic depression, that is, depression whose root cause is from circumstances and not, for example, a result of medical condition, he told us the root cause is anger that we feel powerless to address.

Those who have experienced depression know that it is a life-sucking illness. It can tear down the mightiest or most prominent of men and women.

Let me clear, some depression starts with a medical condition that leads to this grief. That grief can also develop a psychological component, but first and foremost, it needs medical treatment.

But for others, it starts with a psychological issue. It can be the result of failure, or an unwillingness to face a bad situation. It leaves the person trapped in a circumstance in which they believe there is no remedy.

Good counseling, then, according to my professor, was to empower people to do something about the root cause of their anger and that will ease the depression.

Now, most of those people have altered brain responses and oftentimes will also need medical treatment. I am not a doctor, but my training has drilled that important truth into my own counseling ministries.

Depression is a killer. And as I mentioned, a lot of it comes from shame.

Paul acted to heal them. He did not shame them.

Shame is guilt for which we feel that we can not achieve forgiveness. It is never from God. REPEAT: IT IS NEVER FROM GOD.

God is the God of grace. God is the God of unconditional love. He has already forgiven us and He does not need to hold our past over us anymore.

Shame is from the devil. You have probably heard the phrase, “The next time the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future.”

Godly grief is much different. In the case of this scripture, it lead the Corinthians to repentance, to change.

Sometimes, in some theological circles, we call this Godly grief the conviction of the Holy Spirit. It is important that we are careful to distinguish the subtle difference between worldly grief, depression, undue guilt or shame and Godly grief, good grief, or conviction.

Good grief always leads to positive action. It leads to repentance. It leads a person out of one situation that is keeping them prisoner into the freedom of Christ. It can be small or huge.

In the case of the Corinthians, they finally accepted and supported his judgment in the way he dealt with the man who was carrying on the incestuous relationship.

And they had a change of heart, both about the man and about Brother Paul.

The good news was that the man himself experienced this godly sorrow, and it also lead the man to repent and change his behavior. The man apparently came before the church, apologized and asked for their forgiveness.

In Matthew 13:33, Jesus said that the good news of the kingdom would be contagious and it would spread.

It appears that it started with the man, and it spread to the entire church.

And the church had the joy of restoring the man to their fellowship.

Godly grief, Holy Spirit conviction can lead to sleeping better at night from clearing a conscience, forgiving an enemy, (it should lead to) freedom from addictions or giving up the sin of greed and selfishness.

It changes hearts and the courses of lives.

2 Corinthians 3:17 says, God is Spirit and where the Spirit of God is, there is Freedom!

God's Spirit is with us to free us. He moves in our hearts.

My dad also worked at a small Christian college. One morning, he found the radio stolen out of his vehicle. 15 years later a man came into his office, asked him if he owned such and such a vehicle 15 years before, dad admitted that he did and the man gave him $50 to replace the radio that was stolen.

The man told dad that he had just found Jesus and he wanted to repent for stealing the radio.

In Luke 16: Zaccheus was stunned that Jesus would come to his house. Zaccheus was a greedy sinner and he knew it. He got rich off of his greed. But Jesus singled him out to love him. He was so overwhelmed that he repented, gave half of his wealth to the poor and paid back everyone he cheated. (Luke 16:8)

The good grief that got a hold of him changed him. Romans 2:4 tells us “The kindness of God leads us to repentance.”

It is a call to change. But it is not a call to shame. We may, most likely we will, admit that we have fallen short of God's will. We will confess our need for redemption. But it never comes with the sort of shame that leads us to depression and death.

Shame is always Satanic. Shame takes away our hope. Shame makes us feel worth less.

But Godly Sorrow, Holy Spirit conviction, Good grief always affects us with the power to change.

We know that in God's help and strength, we do not have to slaves to the things that only destroy our own lives and the lives of those around us.

I have heard a lot of preachers preach both shame and fear.

Neither of those come from God.

So how do we discern the difference?

When I feel like I am in the wrong, I always test the source to see if it is shame or good grief.

If I feel like a complete and utter failure, then I know it is just that old nasty spirit of depression, that spirit of death talking.

On the other hand, if it comes from God it comes with hope. Sometimes it leads us to radical change, but it always comes with the hope that with God's help, we will make positive changes for the good.

Godly sorrow leads to hope.

Do you need hope today?