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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Godly sorrow.

     Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matt. 5:4 (NIV).

     The Bible speaks of two kinds of sorrow (2 Cor. 7:9-11). There is the sorrow of the world that leads to death. This is the sorrow that results from being caught. It flows from selfish intent. It's main desire is to escape the consequences of the wrong action. Any repentance that flows from this kind of sorrow is insincere. God desires truth (Psalm 51:6). It is like when a man offends his wife and she gives him the silent treatment. After a while he buys her some flowers, not because he is sorry he hurt her, but because he wants her to start talking to him again. His wife can see through this and it only makes it worse.
     Often fear of punishment, whether from God or man will play on the emotions, and cause one to make a profession of faith. It is only superficial however and does not last (Matt. 13:5-6).
     There is a Godly sorrow that does lead to repentance, and this repentance is thorough. One like David in Psalm 51 must come to the point of understanding that his sin is against God, grieves, hurts, and offends God, and then confess and forsake that sin for God's sake. We no longer want to offend Him., we no longer want to hurt Him, instead of rebellion we want to submit to His authority. This must be done for Him, not for what we can get out of it. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us ( 1John 1:9). What pleases God more than ritual, is the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:17).
     To be forgiven is to be brought into God's family, there is peace and safety, assurance and comfort. God has adopted us as His children, and His Spirit witnesess to us that we belong to Him. We are filled with love for Him
     We can here see why Christ begins His Sermon on the Mount with these two statements.  Jesus is our doorway into the kingdom, but without the knowledge of our utter sinfulness, and helplesness, and without a Godly sorrow that leads to repentance, we never truly enter in.

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