For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. 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. 2 Corinthians 7:8-10

One of the hard things about evangelizing to people is giving them the “bad news” before you give them the “good news”. Without the bad news there is no need for the good news, right? So you might be asking “What is the bad news”? Well the Bible tells us “We are all sinners, fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

So next question is, what’s wrong with being a sinner? Right, that’s the mentality our culture and world has today, in fact people are proud of their sin today. Well more bad news “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) Well this sort of “rains on our parade” pun intended..right? Nobody probably finds it comfortable or enjoyable to tell them they are headed to an eternity in Hell because of their lifestyle, right? Therefor most Christians neglect to tell the bad news to people when telling them about Jesus. However does the “good news” even make sense to them, when they don’t even know there is bad news?

Think of it this way ,  a medical doctor comes to you and says “I have good news, your going to live”, Even though this is good news, it brings total confusion to the patient as they didn’t even know they were dying! If a medical doctor fails to give a patient the honest status of their medical condition, are they really doing their job? Is that even ethical? Do they really love their patients? If your medical doctor only wanted to give you good news and neglect any bad news, would you trust them?

The same is entrusted with us as “Ministers of God” (2 Cor. 3:6) that includes You by the way! If we know someone’s soul is headed to Hell, we need to warn them! This is not pleasant or desiring, but it is our obligation as servants of Christ. There is no good news without the bad news! 

Notice what the Apostle Paul says here “Even though I made you sorry with my letter, I don’t regret it, for I perceive my letter made you sorry or sorrowful only for a little while” Paul knew giving the Church of Corinth the “bad news” was going to upset them temporarily, however once they realized he was warning them of the state of their soul, eventually they would understand why he was doing it!

Paul goes on to say “I rejoice , because your sorrow led to repentance” So once the Church of Corinth understood there sinful state and condition of their souls, it led many of them to true repentance! Yes, we need to repent of our sins, as Jesus said “Repent or Perish” (Luke 13:3) The gospel without the message of repentance is not the full gospel

Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation! What a beautiful equation, we can receive the good news because we now know the bad news. The wages of sin is death BUT the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen!