God’s repentance, and ours

Wesley Wright

Lighthouse Bible Church

Sunday, May 17, 2026

 

Title: God’s repentance, and ours

 

Text: 2CO 7:8-10

 

As a reminder, Biblical repentance for believers is a change of course:

MAT 3:1-4; MAT 4:12-20

 

Sin grieves God, and His Holy nature demands a response.

 

People had become so evil that God was sorry that He even put man on the earth:

GEN 6:3-8

 

Saul’s disobedience and sin grieved God:

1SA 15:7-11

 

The word repent in the KJV might be better understood as relent. God in His sovereignty can make a threat — which is short of a decree — and those threats are conditional in nature.

 

The Lord sought to do harm to the people of Israel and later relented after a plea from Moses: EXO 32:7-14

 

The Lord also relented after the people of Nineveh responded like they should have to Jonah: JON 3:3-10

 

God explained the circumstances where he might relent to the wayward people of Israel: JER 18:5-12

 

God’s ability to relent comes up again in Joel, and notice how it’s tied to a response from the people: JOE 2:11-17

 

One psalmist ties God’s ability to relent with His lovingkindness:

PSA 106:40-45

 

All that said, there are God has sworn decrees from which He will never deviate, and they are clear and un-conditional in scripture.

 

That includes the Abrahamic covenant, and no doubt all nations are blessed in (via) Abraham’s seed:

GEN 22:16-18

 

They also include His Son being a Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

GEN 14:17-20; PSA 110:1-7

 

They also include His Son being a Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

HEB 6:13-20;

HEB 7:11-17

 

When you and I repent, it’s an acknowledgment of our sin and a change of course wedded with our salvation.

 

Sin grieves God infinitely more than us, and the word repent does not have the same connotation as it does for us.

 

Time and time again, He declined to punish His own people. He chose to relent after seeing their response to Him.

 

Further into 2 Corinthians, we’ll see next week the benefits that Godly sorrow wrought in the lives of Paul’s readers.