0434. Seven Men Who Said, "I Have Sinned" or, the Sorrow Unto Death

Seven Men Who Said, "I Have Sinned"

or,

the Sorrow Unto Death

The passage in 2Co_7:10 says, "For Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death."

There is such a thing as being sorry for sin, and being sorry with a sorrow toward men, with a sorrow of the world. That is, all sorrow for sin is not a sorrow toward God: it is not a sorrow that recognizes God’s holiness; it is not a sorrow that includes a hatred of sin.

Some men are sorry when they are caught, when their sin is found out, but "sinning against God," is not in all their thought–such a sorrow is unto death.

Some men are sorry because of a terrible catastrophe; they are sick unto death, or some awful calamity has fallen upon them. They are exceedingly sorrowful for their sinful career, but their sorrow is transient. Their sorrow is the result of fear. When the cause of their alarm is passed, they will go on in their sinning. Such a sorrow is unto death.

There are, in the Bible, seven men who said: "I have sinned." Of these, five had a sorrow of the world, a sorrow brought about by circumstances, and not due to any honest conviction of their sin against God–their sorrow was unto death.

Of the seven, there were two, David and the Prodigal, who had a Godly sorrow, that led to a repentance that needed not to be repented of. The five men were not forgiven, their sin was not put away; the two were both forgiven and justified.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR