A Holy Grief

“For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10, NKJV). 

As I read this passage, I found myself examining my own ministry and asking, "Have I cut short the gospel Jesus preached, the gospel of repentance? Have I essentially taken scissors to my Bible and removed the higher cost of following Christ? Have I lowered his standard by telling people to just believe and be saved as if it would cost them nothing?"

Have we cut short genuine conviction for sins? Have we jumped in and offered salvation to those who have not actually repented, who haven’t sorrowed over their trespasses? Are we giving assurances to those who have sought faith so they could merely hide their lusts behind it?

I believe the church has even taken the feeling out of conviction. Think about it. How often have you seen tears on the cheeks of those who are being saved? Of course, I know tears don’t save anyone, but God made us all human with very real feelings. Any hell-bound sinner who has been moved upon by the Holy Spirit naturally feels a profound sorrow over the ways he has grieved the Lord.

The apostle Peter felt this kind of godly sorrow when he denied knowing Jesus. Suddenly, he was flooded with the memory of what Jesus had told him: “A second time the rooster crowed. Then Peter called to mind the word that Jesus had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.' And when he thought about it, he wept” (Mark 14:72).

We constantly hear exaggerations about the numbers of people who come to Jesus through various ministries. Christians report that scores of people were saved as they preached in prisons, schools, and other venues. They say, “Everybody in the place gave his heart to Jesus. When I finished preaching, they all came forward for salvation.”

I suspect that, all too often, what actually happens is that everyone simply repeats a prayer. They merely pray what they’re told to pray, and many do not grasp what they’re saying. Then most go back to their heathen ways. Such people have not experienced a deep work of the Holy Spirit. As a result, they never repent, never sorrow over their sins, and never truly believe. 

As we labor to share the gospel, we must not offer the lost something Jesus himself never offered: salvation without repentance!