“The Difference Between Sorrow and Repentance”
Matthew 27:1-10
“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” – 2 Corinthians 7:10
There is a fundamental difference between Godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. Paul highlighted this in his letter to the Corinthian church. He wrote that Godly sorrow “brings repentance that leads to salvation.”
It is not enough to be sorry for sin. It is not even enough to confess your sin. Sorrow and confession are a beginning but only a beginning. You must go on to repentance.
The word repent is metanoiain the Greek, and it means to change one’s mind. Wuest writes, “metanoia means a change of mind and thus of action consequent upon the realization that one has sinned and that sin is wrong.” Therefore, confession and sorrow are only the seeds of repentance.
Jesus did notpreach, “Confess for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He preached, “Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” There is a vast difference between the two. Confession precedes repentance, but it is not repentance. It is only an outward profession of your sin. You can confess hundreds of times, but the real question is, “have you repented?”
Wetherefore cannot stop with confession; we must go on to repentance for salvation. And that meansa change of course, which meansgoing God’s way. That is whatmetanoia[repentance] means.
Paul said it rightly, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation, but worldly sorrow brings death.”
And we see this dichotomy in the lives of Peter and Judas. Peter denied his Lord, but in his sorrow he repented and was forgiven and brought back into fellowship.
The scriptures record that Judas felt remorse for his sin [ref. Mt. 27:3]. It even says that he confessed his sin [ref. Mt. 27:4]. However, he did not go on to repentance. And the sad commentary is that rather than turn and follow the Lord, he “went out and hanged himself.”
Now lastly, it is important to note that forgiveness for Judas was not outside the realm of God’s grace. But Judaschose to stay on the road to destruction. He choseunrepentance. He felt remorse but he did not repent, that is, he did not want to change direction and follow Jesus;and therefore his eternal destiny of damnation was fulfilled just as the scriptures foretold.
