II Corinthians 7:9

II Corinthians 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. If I were to ask a crowd, “Who wants to go to heaven?” I would probably get a 100% response of “Yes!” But if I were to tell people what to do in order to get to heaven, they might not all want to do it. You see, we must repent of our sins and aske Jesus into our hearts. That repenting part is hard for most people because they like their sins. We can’t just use Jesus as a fire escape from hell, we must obey Him and repent – we must be sorry for our sins. And that is the hard part. It’s like you must hear the bad news first – the part that you are a sinner – and then hear the good news – there is a way to get your sins forgiven. Paul told the church in Corinth that he was glad that he made them sorry for their sins. Paul knew that to be sorry for your sins is the first step towards salvation. For if you don’t repent, you can’t be saved. But repentance isn’t something that you do for salvation. Salvation is by grace alone – nothing to do with works. But it’s like this: as you turn from your sins, you are turning towards Jesus Christ in faith. The other way to put it is that as you turn to Jesus you are turning your back on your sins in repentance. It’s really the same thing: repentance and faith. So Paul knew that you need to know that you are a sinner first so that you can do something about it. And that’s salvation. Got it? Great!