Featured Man's Ability to Repent

Fairly harsh position for you to take.

Context:
7:1 "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh..."
--Dearly beloved refers only to believers.
--"Let us" Paul includes himself.

2Co 7:2 "Receive us;..."
--He is writing to the church at Corinth which he himself defined as "saints." He wants them to receive Paul and his company when they come. Hardly the hospitality becoming of unbelievers.

7:3 "...ye are in our hearts to die and live with you."
--Paul stood against the doctrine of the ungodly. He was willing to die and live with the believers.

2Co 7:4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.
--A statement like this could only be written to believers.
He was bold toward them because his previous letter contained rebuke.
They had repented, which filled Paul with both comfort and joy.
In the conditions of that day they were both going through tribulation, and in context the trial of the problem was as a tribulation as well.

2Co 7:5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.
--Paul shares more of his tribulations with the saints at Corinth.

2Co 7:6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;
--The church at Corinth had sent Titus with a message. When Titus finally arrived, he was comforted by the coming of Titus.

2Co 7:7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your
--Titus had informed him of the situation in Corinth--their desire to be right with God; the comfort that Titus himself was able to give to the Corinthians, and their consequent mourning of the sin that they had committed and now had repented of.

2Co 7:8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.
Paul had written them about a specific sin. Titus had come to deal with that specific sin. They had repented over a specific sin. Paul was not sorry for writing a fairly harsh letter to them that they needed to repent over this specific sin. It had nothing to do with salvation. If they did not repent their fellowship with God would remain broken. They would not lose their salvation however.
His epistle made the sorry, but it was for a short time.

2Co 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
--They were sorry for that one sin that they had committed. It was true and genuine sorrow. As a church they repented. They were united in this. This was a Godly thing or step that they made in order to move forward.

2Co 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
--Because they sorrowed or grieved over the sin committed, it led to a "change of mind and life" that they would not regret again. The word "salvation" is an unfortunate translation. It simply means "a change of mind." That is what they had concerning this sin--a change of mind.
--It is the sorrow of the world that ends in death.

Does that make things clear?
An unsaved man cannot have "godly sorrow" for there is no godliness in him for which he is able to have "godly sorrow."

 

A godly sorrow from a unsaved person is when God convicts that person by the word through the Holy Spirit and he realizes he is a sinner and has offended a Holy God.

 

Never is "godly sorrow" is used in that context. The person needs to repent, not be sorry for his sins. "To be sorry for one's sins" is a misconception which needs to be corrected. Often it leads to easy believism. People are often sorry for their sins but never repent from them. Furthermore "repentance from sins" is not a requirement for salvation. If it were then salvation would be by works.

 

What do sinners repent from then?

 

Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

 

Repentance is a change of mind with respect to one's attitude toward God.
At one time a sinner was rebellious in his attitude toward God.
At the time of conversion his attitude is changed and he becomes submissive toward God. Now he is willing to obey God rather than fight against him.
Repentance is a change of mind; a change of mind in respect to one's attitude toward God.

 

And one can't turn to God w/o turning away from their sins, correct?

 

Willis, what dog do you have in this repentance part? According to your views God just makes them repent from everything. Nobody has to DO anything. That would be freewill.

 

I believe turning from sins (for an unsaved person) is an unbiblical concept not taught in the Bible. John the Baptist preached it, but he preached it to the Jews who did have specific sins to repent from. He told them to bring fruits or evidence of their repentance. If we want the same thing then we have a works-based religion.

"Repent from your sins."
I can't remember my sins much less repent from then.
How many of them? All of them? How many of your sins can you list?

The Bible says to "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."
Salvation is by faith alone. (sola fide).
Repentance is a change of mind towards God.
When one puts their faith in Christ, they also have a change of mind towards Christ. Christ now becomes the object of their faith, the Savior of their lives. Their lives will change because the Holy Spirit now dwells within will cause that change. Their entire attitude toward God has already changed.
True faith and repentance go hand in hand. They are two sides of the same coin.

 

Go crawl in a hole somewhere....


I mean that in the nicest, sincerest way possible...

 

What made the Jews' sins different than ours? Why did they have to repent from their sins, but not us?


This doesn't pass the smell test...

 

Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.

 

You weren't being addressed...speak when spoken to...

 

John the Baptist was the last of the OT prophets. The Jews were still the elect of God. They hadn't been rejected of God. God, through John, was pleading for them to repent and get right with Him, as He did all throughout the OT. The message was the same.
The message is always the same.
A man is justified by faith. Abraham was justified by faith.

 

DHK

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I thought Jew and Gentile were the same in Jesus Christ. There is one way to salvation for all, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we confess and repent and becoming more like Jesus each day. It is exactly the same for both groups.

 

That is true in Paul's time (after Pentecost) and thereafter. But Willis was speaking of OT times, pre-cross, the time of John the Baptist.

 

No the message ain't the same the way you're presenting it. In your view John the Baptist preached repentance of sins. Then what message did Christ, Peter, James, John the Revelator, et al preach?

 

No man anywhere in scripture is saved by repenting of all their sins.
Repenting from sins is something that God's people must do. It is a command always given to God's people.

Men, both OT and NT are justified by faith.
Abraham was justified by faith and so are we.

 

And we're not God's people, the church which Christ died for?