Godly Sorrow and Worldly Sorrow; 2 Cor 7:10

There are few things I find more annoying than automated apology messages. "We apologise for the late running of this train" jibbers the computer. Ensuring that no actual, real person actually, really has to be sorry or apologise. Automated apologies are no apologies at all. One of the few even more annoying things is the oft-heard blanket phrase from public figures who have either been caught doing something they shouldn't, (or something they should but that was - horror! - unpopular): "I apologise if people think I have done anything wrong." Which, similarly, admits to nothing and is certainly not an apology. In fact its an insult disguised as an apology. That is what 2 Cor 7:10 describes as worldly sorrow that leads to death.
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How to Receive Grace in Vain; 2 Cor 6

People who identify as Christians but who have no wish to be changed by God, who have no desire to be any different to all the unbelievers around about them - who don't want to live their whole lives for Jesus, who simply don't care much about living in the light and spreading the light of the good news - probably aren't believers. They are maybe God-fearers or people who enjoy the environment and care created by Christians, or people who want a "spiritual bit" in their lives or some kind of divine insurance policy for when they die. But probably they are not believers. And there are loads of them in churches.
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It's Worth Getting Killed For; 2 Cor 5

How important is the good news about Jesus? Paul has been completely upfront in 2 Cor 4 that it is so overwhelmingly important that it is worth risking our lives, if need be, to spread it. Some - even some who identify as Christians - will hear this and think that is just insane. The implication in 5:13 is that some people said "you are just out of your mind. There is no way we are going to take the gospel seriously to that extent." So why did he? And why should we? And why isn't it insane to do so?
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The New Covenant Wins; 2 Cor. 4

Do you ever feel like losing heart when you try to tell people about Jesus and it just doesn't seem to penetrate at all? Paul felt the same as you. His answer in 2 Cor 4 is that the New Covenant is mighty and does win. God will out. Even if we aren't seeing the results we would like at the moment, it shouldn't shake our confidence, because our confidence is in the Lord not in our visible results.
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