Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Responding to Repentance | New Testament | 2 Corinthians 7

Episode Date: July 7, 2023

Are you quick to forgive? How do you respond to other people's sin? In 2 Corinthians 7, Paul shows how Christians should respond to sin and repentance. Find out how to forgive and love well in today's episode with Patrick. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in one year. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Corinthians 7

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. Episode 716, 2 Corinthians 7. As I talked with her, she seemed overjoyed. For years, she worked with someone who had been a constant bully. He always had to have his way, and so he would do whatever it took to get it. He'd shame people for their shortcomings.

He'd demand things with short turnarounds, and if people didn't get it done on time, he'd call them lazy. When people debated ideas, he'd use his ability with words to tie them in circles and force them to agree. He took credit for other people's work. And when anybody resisted, he'd resort to shouting and even name-calling. After years of this, her boss finally confronted him for his behavior. It was far too late, but he didn't take it very well. At first, he responded as though he was a victim, as though everyone had betrayed him by withholding how his behavior was affected. the people around him. And then he became angry, accusing the boss of misrepresenting the facts. It soon became clear that he might even lose his job. And so she was full of joy. He was caught in his

sin. Justice was finally being served. It's an understandable reaction. And there is a proper joy in justice. But if we can be honest, that proper joy is often overshadowed by a twisted kind of joy. The kind of joy that comes when we see someone else getting caught. The kind of joy that comes, the kind of that comes when we feel better than someone else because they're so bad. The kind of joy that comes when we see someone else hurting who hurt us. Several months later, I asked her how it was going at work, and she seemed kind of frustrated, and she explained that the work bully finally broke. He went around to every person he had harmed and said sorry for what he did and promised to do better. He gave them all permission to tell him when he was bullying. I asked how it had been since then,

and she said with some despair that he'd actually really turned around. He wasn't deploying the old tactics. And when people confronted him rather than being defensive, he would apologize and tried to do better. I was a little bit confused. I told her, well, this sounds really great. So why are you so disappointed? She paused.

She reflected and said, I don't know. It's easy to receive forgiveness. It's hard to give it. It's easy to find joy when sin is unearthed and confronted. It's hard to find joy when. someone sincerely repents. That's our default mode. But it's not where God wants us to stay. He wants to turn this upside down. What of my favorite examples of this comes from Paul's letters to the Corinthian church? He wrote multiple letters to Corinth, severely critiquing their sin and

calling them to repentance. Now, we only have one of those critical letters, 1 Corinthians 15. We don't have a second letter, which sounds like it was even harsher. But then, remarkably, after these letters and even after a visit from Paul, the Corinthians repented. They turned around. Titus, when one of Paul's co-workers, came to find Paul and tell him what had happened. Was he disappointed that they'd repented, frustrated that God didn't finally get them for all the things they were doing wrong? Well, let's read, verse 6. But God, who comforts the downcast comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort you had given him, he told us about your longing for me, Your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever.

Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I don't regret it. Though I did regret it, I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while. Yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended, and so we're not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings about repentance. that leads to salvation and leaves no regret. But worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you.

What earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proven yourselves to be innocent in this matter. So even though I wrote to you, it was neither on account of the one who did the wrong, nor on account of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves,

how devoted to us you are. By all of this we are encouraged. In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. There's two things I want you to notice about Paul. The first is this. When he confronted their sin, he wasn't joyful. The justice that they faced, that didn't fill him with glee. Instead, Paul says that he was downcast and sorrowful and even regretful to have to do it. Is that your default when your friends are sinning? Are you angry about them? Or are you sorrowful for them?

Does your heart break for them? The second thing I want you to see is Paul's response after their repentance. He's overjoyed. He's encouraged. He sees their repentance as a sign of God's power and work. And that fills him up. Is that your default when people repent? To rejoice, to be encouraged, to glorify God for working?

or do you find yourself being cynical, assuming that they must be being fake? Followers of Jesus should be saddened by sin and overjoyed by repentance, not the other way around. Why? Because this is exactly what God has done for us. He's grieved and sorrowful over our sin, and he has overjoyed when we turn back to him. We don't deserve that response, but he graciously gives it to us anyway. Who are you struggling to forget? give. Whose repentance are you struggling to have joy in? Remember what God has done for you and let that gift propel you to do likewise. Before you forget, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that's going to help

you beat that midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.