📖 Biblical Definition
Godly repentance is sorrow over sin according to God — sorrow that hates sin as offense against Him, turns from it to Christ, and bears the fruit of changed life. "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death" (2 Corinthians 7:10). The diagnostic Paul lists in the next verse is striking: godly sorrow produces carefulness, clearing of yourselves, indignation, fear, vehement desire, zeal, revenge — a whole cluster of repenting energies (v. 11). Worldly sorrow regrets consequences; godly sorrow grieves the offense against God Himself, just as David did in Psalm 51:4: "Against thee, thee only, have I sinned." The first leads to despair, the second to life.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
REPENTANCE, n. Sorrow for any thing done or said; the pain or grief which a person experiences in consequence of injury done.
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1. Sorrow for any thing done or said; the pain or grief which a person experiences in consequence of the injury or inconvenience produced by his own conduct. 2. In theology, the pain, regret, or affliction which a person feels on account of his sin, with sincere desire and purpose to forsake it; godly sorrow that worketh 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."
Acts 3:19 — "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out…"
Luke 13:3 — "…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."
Joel 2:13 — "And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God…"
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Confused with feeling bad about consequences, or treated as a one-time event.
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Worldly sorrow regrets the fallout: caught, exposed, embarrassed, ashamed before others. The sorrow is real, but it is for self—and Paul says it works death. Other traditions treat repentance as a single transaction filed at conversion, never revisited.
Godly repentance is grief over offending God Himself, not merely losing face. It hates the sin as much as the consequence, runs to Christ for cleansing, and bears the slow fruit of a changed life. Luther rightly opened the Theses with it: “the whole life of the believer is to be one of repentance.”
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Greek metanoia and metamelomai — change of mind, regret.
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G3341 — metanoia — change of mind, repentance
G3340 — metanoeō — to change one's mind, repent
H7725 — shûb — to turn, return
Usage
"Godly sorrow weeps over sin; worldly sorrow weeps over consequences."
"Repentance is not a transaction filed; it is a posture kept."
"Rend your heart, not your garments—the audience is God."