Join Alan J. Huth as he takes us on an insightful journey through the promises outlined in 2 Corinthians 7. Reflecting on personal experiences and theological insights, this episode reveals the beauty of turning worldly grief into godly grief. Discover how embracing godly sorrow can lead to repentance and salvation, and learn the importance of separating ourselves from worldly influences to fully embrace our identity as God’s people. This episode also highlights the valuable resources available through the Ezra Project to enhance your spiritual journey.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
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Today we cross the halfway point in 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians has 13 chapters. We are now in chapter 7. So we’ll listen in to our guest reader, Dr. Michael Elliott, my pastor in Denver for over 15 years, and the first chairman of the board of the Ezra Project, as he reads 2 Corinthians chapter 7, the 16 verses.
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2 Corinthians chapter 7. Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. Make room in your hearts for us. We’ve wronged no one. We have corrupted no one. We have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together. I’m acting with great boldness toward you. I have great pride in you, and I am filled with comfort in all our affliction. I’m overflowing with joy. For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn, fighting without and fear within. But God who comforts the downcast comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.” For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it. For I see that the letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment. At every point you have proved yourself innocent in the matter.” So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. Therefore, we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoice still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. For whatever boast I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true. And his affection for you is even greater as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. I rejoice because I have complete confidence in you.
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As we look at the first verse of chapter 7, it says, since we have these promises. Well, we have to go back to chapter 6 to see what those promises were. So we want to do that. You might remember that chapter 6 ended with the whole concept of being unequally yoked. Chapter 6, 14 said, do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Chapter 7, verse 1 basically concludes that discussion, so we got to look at what’s in between. Paul was basically arguing there’s no reason to be yoked with unbelievers because we have so many promises, so many blessings in the Lord. He is quoting the Old Testament when he shares these promises that we have as believers. He writes, for we are the temple of the living God. As God said, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore, go out from their midst and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing. Then I will welcome you and I will be a father to you and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty. Those are the promises that Paul opens chapter 7 with. He says, since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. So chapter 7 verse 1 really concludes the argument at the end of chapter 6. Now let’s go to my journals on chapter seven. In 1994, I wrote perfect holiness. That was referring to verse one, which we just discussed. And then I wrote great is my confidence in you, referring to verse four. Then I put comfort and I put down the numbers of all the times I saw the word comfort in this chapter. And I came up with at least six times. And then I wrote sorrow should lead to repentance. and I quoted verse 16, I rejoice that in everything I have confidence in you. In 2004, I was reading chronologically, and I read chapters 5 through 9 in one day, so I referred to some of the chapters, but not anything in this chapter in my journal that year. And in 2015, I was still in Australia, but I was still reading the Word, reading two chapters a day, when I read chapters 6 and 7 together, and I wrote about chapter 7 Try as best as we can to be holy. And then I wrote, be sorry for any wrongdoing. Godly grief produces repentance that leads to salvation. And then comfort one another. You might remember in our introduction that Paul had sent a letter to the Corinthians and that it caused them some problems. Then he sent Titus there to get some information and to try to smooth things over. In verse 8 he said, For even if I had made you grieve with my letter, I don’t regret it, though I did regret it. So he understands that his letter caused some problems with the Corinthians. But after he sent Titus there and Titus came back, Titus gave him a pretty good report about things that were going on with the Corinthian church. So Paul is comforted. Verse 10 says, For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. What do you think the difference is between godly grief and worldly grief? This is a good time to look at my footnotes in my English Standard Version Study Bible. So let me quote from my footnotes about grief. Grief that comes from God is characterized by repentance, remorse caused by having lost God’s approval and the consequent resolve to reverse one’s conduct and live for God. Worldly grief, grief that comes from the world, a remorse brought about by losing the world’s approval, leads to a resolve to regain that approval and produces death or divine judgment. Are you sorry for something you’ve done? Do you have godly grief or worldly grief? Is your sorrow leading you to repent and therefore leading you to salvation? Or is your sorrow or your grief causing guilt feelings that you can’t seem to get out from under? Those guilty feelings. I’m not good enough. I shouldn’t have done it. I’ll never be forgiven. That might be worldly grief and it will lead to death. If this AdBible podcast has brought something to your mind, hopefully you will change your worldly grief into godly grief, leading to repentance, leading to forgiveness, leading to cleansing, and maybe even leading to salvation. Paul thought that’s what was happening with the Corinthian church. I hope that’s what’s happening to you. Paul closes this chapter with a thought for the Corinthian church, the same thought that I have for you. I rejoice because I have perfect confidence in you. That confidence is, again, that you will turn your worldly grief into godly grief. Father, we pray for anyone that is hurting today listening to this AdBible podcast. If you have brought something to their mind that they’re sorrowful over, can you turn that worldly grief into godly grief? May we have the courage to repent without regret, accept your forgiveness, and turn our hearts toward you. Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion. in the fear of God. In your name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to AdBible. If AdBible is touching your life, helping you grow spiritually, please contact the Ezra Project at ezraproject.net to see how you can become more involved in Club 365. club 365 you can receive some additional benefits other than just these podcasts you can actually get the transcripts of all these podcasts downloaded for free we’ll also send you a couple of other special gifts like the first booklet i ever wrote So I encourage you to check out EzraProject.net and look at Club 365 and see how you can add to your blessings because of AdBible. God bless you. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. Across our listening audience, more and more of you are supporting AdBible by visiting our website at EzraProject.net and purchasing resources like Club 365 subscriptions, Bible reading journals, and and one or more of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. We thank you so much and encourage more of you to do the same. You will find helpful and inspirational tools to enhance your personal time in God’s Word. Today I want to review the three tools we see most listeners getting. first club 365 this is a monthly subscription opening our vault of all add bible audio recordings and all printed pages of the entire day by day through the bible devotional series by joining club 365 for only seven dollars a month you have access to both audio and written information on all 66 books of the bible Club 365 is a goldmine, and it is completely flexible to your personal Bible reading plan. So if you’re reading Matthew or Isaiah or Psalms or Revelation, you have access to audio or written comments, applications, and prayers on any of them at your fingertips. Get Club 365 at EzraProject.net today, like so many others have. Secondly, another hot seller, are our Bible reading journals. We offer two. One is a chronological Bible reading journal that contains a daily Bible reading plan chronologically. You don’t have to buy a chronological Bible, just get our chronological Bible reading journal. It has over 200 pages, so you can journal your way through the entire Bible. This book is our number one bestseller over the last two decades. The other journal is called the Trio Bible Reading Journal because it has three annual Bible reading plans in it. A New Testament schedule, an Old Testament schedule. But if you do them both on the same day, a complete Bible reading plan, you’ll finish the Bible in 365 days. We have a limited supply of the Trio Bible Reading Journal. The cool thing about our journals… is they start when you start. Day one of the schedule is the day you start, not January 1. Again, completely flexible to your Bible reading habits. Order your journal for just $9 at EzraProject.net and we ship it free. And the third product people are ordering is one of our Day by Day through the Bible devotional books. There are only 11, but they cover all 66 books of the Bible, filled with comments about passages, applications from the passages, and prayers related to the passages. Listeners are understanding Bible passages in a whole new way, thanks to digging deeper with a day-by-day supplement to their daily devotions. You can find all 11 books on our website at EzraProject.net. They are available in print and digitally. Get one today and start understanding your Bible in a whole new way. So that’s all for today. Join me tomorrow for another chapter of AdBible. I know you’re going to enjoy it.
