📖 Biblical Definition
Godly sorrow is the Spirit-wrought grief for sin as sin against God—a grief whose substance is the offense given to a holy Father, not chiefly the consequences felt by the offender. Paul sets the doctrine at its sharpest in 2 Corinthians 7:10: for godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. Two sorrows, one outcome each. Godly sorrow produces repentance unto salvation; worldly sorrow produces death. The Corinthians’ example, recalled by Paul with relief and joy, illustrates the seven marks: 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! Godly sorrow is therefore not a vague emotional sadness, not the merely regretful sense of having been caught, not the depressive self-pity of seeing one’s failure—but a substantive, carefully discriminating, repentance-producing grief at the offense given to God in particular, with its proper fruits in carefulness, clearing of oneself, indignation against the sin, fear, vehement desire after holiness, zeal for God’s honor, and just self-judgment. The grief is real, even severe; but its end is life, not death. David’s Psalm 51 is the great Old Testament case: against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight; the offense to God is the central grief, and the repentance that flows is genuine, structural, life-restoring. Peter’s tears after his denial belong to the same family; Judas’s remorse, by contrast, belongs to the worldly sorrow that worketh death. The pastor and self-examining saint are therefore to discriminate: a sorrow whose substance is offense against God will move toward repentance and life; a sorrow whose substance is mere chagrin at consequences will lead the soul, however many tears it sheds, toward the despair Judas walked into. The pastoral cure is the gospel: the same God against whom the sin was committed has provided in Christ the propitiation through which the godly-sorrowful soul finds, not death, but salvation.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Webster 1828 defines GODLY SORROW (after Paul’s usage) as sorrow for sin as offense against God, producing repentance unto salvation, in contrast to the sorrow of the world which worketh death.
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GODLY, a. — Pious; reverencing God, and his character and laws; obedient to the commands of God from love and reverence of his character; conformed to God’s law. As applied to sorrow, godly denotes sorrow felt before God for sin as offense against Him.
SORROW, n. — The uneasiness or pain of mind which is produced by the loss of any good, or of frustrated hopes of good, or expected loss of happiness; to be distinguished, in the apostle’s usage, from the godly sorrow which works repentance unto salvation.
📖 Key Scripture
2 Corinthians 7:10 — "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death."
2 Corinthians 7:11 — "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!"
Psalm 51:3-4 — "For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight."
Matthew 26:75 — "And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Godly sorrow is corrupted by the worldly-sorrow counterfeit—regret for consequences rather than grief at offense against God—and by the therapeutic register that has trained the believer to suspect all heavy sorrow over sin as unhealthy and to seek immediate consolation before the sorrow has done its repentance-producing work.
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Worldly sorrow is the most pervasive counterfeit. The soul regrets having been caught, regrets the consequences fallen out, regrets the social or relational damage—but the regret has not actually been directed at the offense given to God in particular. The result is the appearance of repentance without the substance: tears flow, apologies are made, but the structural change that godly sorrow produces does not occur, and the same sin returns. Paul’s diagnostic is exact: godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. The cure is the recovery of the godward focus: confess the sin in its actual character as offense against God; let the grief settle on what the sin is rather than on what it cost; trust the propitiation; receive the forgiveness; and let the seven marks of 2 Corinthians 7:11 begin to work themselves out as the proper fruits.
The therapeutic register has trained the contemporary believer to suspect all heavy sorrow over sin as unhealthy and to seek immediate consolation before the sorrow has done its work. Conviction is brought to the conscience; the soul feels the weight; the response is reflexive: turn away from the heavy feeling, find comforting media, distract, self-soothe, find the friend who will reassure. The sorrow is closed off before it has had time to produce the repentance it was sent to produce. The biblical pattern is patient. The Spirit’s conviction is welcomed and sat with; the grief is felt as long as it needs to be felt; the seven marks are allowed to develop; and the consolation, when it comes, is the consolation of forgiveness applied to a soul that has actually repented rather than merely been distracted. Recover the patience under godly sorrow, and the soul recovers also the deep cleansing it works.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Paul’s phrase hē kata theon lupē (sorrow according to God—2 Cor 7:10) and the seven marks of 7:11 (carefulness, clearing, indignation, fear, vehement desire, zeal, revenge)—Spirit-wrought grief at sin as offense against God, producing repentance unto salvation.
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Greek lupē (G3077) — grief, sorrow (2 Cor 7:10 of both godly and worldly sorrow).
Greek phrase kata theon — “according to God” (the qualifier that makes the sorrow godly).
Greek metanoia (G3341) — repentance (the fruit godly sorrow produces).
Hebrew nicham (H5162) — to be sorry, repent (the OT cousin verb).
Usage
"Two sorrows, two outcomes: godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation; the sorrow of the world worketh death."
"The seven marks of 2 Cor 7:11 distinguish godly sorrow from its counterfeits: carefulness, clearing of oneself, indignation, fear, vehement desire, zeal, just self-judgment."
"Against thee, thee only, have I sinned—David’s godward focus in Psalm 51 is the great OT case of godly sorrow."
📖 In the Text
Chapters of the reading Bible where this entry is linked.