Regrettable Salvation?

Regrettable Salvation

2 Corinthians 7:8–10 in the New King James reads, “For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (NKJV)

In verse 9, Paul is saying that he is glad that the Corinthians took his first letter to heart and changed their thinking (repented) and thus their ways. In so doing they were displaying that they were sorry about their former behavior. They were no longer protecting the man divisively promoting his freedom to live an immoral lifestyle (see 1 Corinthians 5:1 and following). They presumably cleaned up their behavior surrounding the Lord's Supper, (see 1 Corinthians 11:17-30) etc.

Verse 10 is more of a general statement helping the Corinthians to see that sorrow motivated by the Spirit is a good thing, unlike worldly sorrow which simply ends where all worldliness ends--in death. Godly sorrow leads to repentance—the changing of one's mind about sin and about God to believe what He says rather than what the world says—which results in salvation. Repentance, changing one's mind and deciding to believe God, results in salvation.

This verse is particularly interesting. In the NKJV, which I've quoted above, verse 10 reads, "For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death." 2 Corinthians 7:10 (NKJV)

NASB 2020 has it, "For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death." 2 Corinthians 7:10 (NASB 2020)

Note the change of word order here: NKJV has "repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted" whereas NASB has "repentance without regret, leading to salvation."

This is interesting because the word translated "regret" is ἀμεταμέλητος ametamélētos. This word is used only twice in the New Testament. The other use is in Romans 11:29 "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable." NKJV God will never revoke His His gifts and calling. They are given a (without) metamelomai (repentance, changing His mind) – irrevocably – He does not regret giving them.

This is key to understanding its use here. As you can see from the way the translators of the NASB have rendered verse 10, it is their view (which I share) that "regret" is attached to "repentance" and not to "salvation" as it might first appear to read in some translations.

Here's a snippet of what Spiros Zodhiates has to say in The complete word study dictionary: New Testament, 2000
"Here ametamélēton is used as a verbal adj., but in its translated form, it is not clear as to whether it is related to the repentance or to the salvation spoken about. We must exclude its relation to salvation, for how can a person who is saved ever look at the results of his salvation and regret it? This adj. must therefore be connected with repentance; thus we have the adj. ametamélēton and the noun metánoia (3341), repentance. Metánoia is true repentance, changing of one’s mind and asking God to change his heart that he may sin no more. Metaméleia, the noun derived from metaméllomai (3338), means to regret the results of one’s decision and action."

He goes on to say, "What Paul is therefore speaking about here is unregrettable repentance. No one would regret his repentance because of the consequence of that repentance which is salvation. The adj. ametamélēton is placed after sōtēría (4991), salvation, because the whole phrase, “repentance unto salvation” must be taken together. “Unto salvation” qualifies the kind of repentance, and ametamélēton, unregrettable, qualifies the repentance unto salvation. It is not to be regretted because it has led unto salvation."

So, what Paul is saying here is that no one having godly sorrow over sin would regret their repentance. How could they? It led to salvation. No one would ever regret having eternal Life.

It’s not regrettable salvation, it’s regrettable sin. The good news is that sorrow over that led to true repentance and that yielded salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.