Godly Sorrow is Not Condemnation

2Cor 7:8-11: 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. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

In 1&2 Corinthians we have a clear example of christians being led to repentance. There are many who say now a days that there is no real need for a christian to repent, because everything was finished in the body of Jesus on the cross. All your sins are forgiven, past, present, and future. The grace of God has you covered forever as soon as you believe on Jesus Christ. They seem to completely ignore many passages of scripture that speak to this matter. In 1John the Apostle John speaks of walking in the light. The light is the truth, and it makes manifest the lie. Truth producess freedom when you receive it and walk in it, and lies bring you into bondage when you receive them. The reason you receive them is because of the condition of your heart. 1John 1:8 says, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. That is present tense to christians. Verse 9, however, says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Many perceive confrontation over sin as condemnation, trying to put someone under the law, and make them guilty.
However, if you study 2Cor 7:8-11 you plainly see that Paul confronted the Corinthians concerning their sin and they were made sorry after a Godly sort, and they repented, and the results were very good, as enumerated in verse 11. Godly sorrow works repentance unto salvation and is not condemnation. If you say you have no sin when you actually do, you deceive yourself, and you effectually condemn yourself, because your sin remains and you are not forgiven. The result of the lie is a false security, a false justification of your fleshly life style, and you are depriving yourself of true holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.