Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
This man was extremely sorrowful for his sins. So sorrowful, in fact, that he beat upon his chest and wouldn't even lift his eyes to look into heaven.
It was more of an admission of guilt. He knew that he was a sinner, as he said. He was guilty before God.
We can't read more into the passage then there is.
Also we must take into consideration the culture. Both of these men were raised as Jews. If this man wanted to show true grief and sorrow he would have wailed and put on sackcloth and then ashes on his head.
Listen to the sorrow and grief expressed by Mordecai:
Esther 4:1 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;
--That is sorrow, when expressed by the Jews.
[quote[He knew his sinful condition and was sorry for it.[/quote]
He knew his sinful condition. He knew he was guilty. He approached God in great humility. The humility of the publican is contrasted to the pride of the Pharisee.
The Pharisee, however was not sorry for his pride.
It is clear who God accepted.
Yes, one was arrogant and self-righteous; the other was humble, coming to God as a sinner.
I have given definitions from two different Bible Dictionaries that state that sorrow is a part of repentance. I'll continue to believe the Word of God on this one, godly sorrow worketh repentance TO salvation.
It is
for believers only
The unsaved cannot show Godly sorrow. It is impossible. They are ungodly.
Now, one could say that godly sorrow that works repentance is added to Salvation, but that makes no sense, especially in light of the fact that Jesus said in Luke 13:3,5 Except ye repent, ye shall also likewise perish.
Repentance has nothing to do with being sorry for sins.
Repentance is a change of mind with respect to one's attitude to God.
It is clear that one must repent in order to obtain Salvation. The question is, do they have to be sorry for their sins to repent? I believe they do.
No Biblical evidence for it. Sorrow is just an emotion. Some have it and others don't. We don't run our lives by our feelings. That would be disastrous.
In the New Testament, we learn that "God heareth not sinners." This could literally be translated as "God will not hear the prayers of those who take delight in their sin."
OK, who is arguing with that?
One must be sorry for their sin or their prayers will be just as ineffective as that prayer of the Pharisee in Luke 18.
NO! One must be repentant of their sin, not sorry for their sin.
Often in my life I witnessed my children as they grew up, being sorry for their sin. They were sorry for their sin because they thought it would get them out of trouble, and often it did. But not until they repented did was a change effected in their lives. Simply being sorry was just a temporary band aid to get out of trouble--a get out of jail card. It wasn't really a change of heart.
