Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
Ver. 9. That ye sorrowed to repentance] Gr. εις μετανοιαν, to a transmentation, to a thorough change both of the mind and manners. Optima et aptissima poenitentia est nova vita, The best and most appropiate repentance is a new life, saith Luther. Which saying (though condemned by Pope Leo X) is certainly an excellent saying. Repentance for sin is nothing worth without repentance from sin. If thou repent with a contradiction (saith Tertullian) God will pardon thee with a contradiction. Thou repentest, and yet continuest in thy sin. God will pardon thee, and yet send thee to hell. There is a pardon with a contradiction.
Sorry after a godly manner] Gr. η κατα θεον λυπη, according to God. This is a sorrowing for sin, as it is offensivum Dei, aversivum a Deo. offensive to God and a turning away from God. This both comes from God and drives a man to God, as it did the Church in the Canticles, and the prodigal.