Sorry!

Now it's time to learn that "sorry" before God has only one kind that's acceptable.

21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Matthew 18:21,22

Jesus was giving a parable here which continues through verse 35. The parable gives the context of the above 2 verses. We'll look more at this issue shortly. Suffice it here that Jesus' point wasn't that all sorrys are equal, (Luke 17:3,4 will expound on this) but that a true repentance must always be accepted. The law counts, but grace is boundless. A sin that's repeated this often, and apologized for, can be real, but usually isn't. The true sorrow, even though it be frequent, will come in a genuinly humble spirit. It'll never be nonchalant. The truly repentant person is humbled. It won't only be uttered as an obligation. When you encounter this frequent apologizer who's sincere, you shouldn't have trouble recognizing the spirit in which it comes.
Another type of CLASS C, is the keeping of accounts. A person says something like, "I'm sorry I got angry at you. If you hadn't wronged me, I wouldn't have lost my temper, but it happened, so I'm sorry." This isn't repentance, it's saying, "I did this because of something you did to me. You acknowledge what you did was wrong, and I'll acknowledge what I did, and then forget about it." True sorrow doesn't require the other person acknowledge, or even be reminded of some offense they committed. This is a worthless apology. Sorry in and of itself is nothing, only true repentance is the sorry of real value.
I've seen CLASS Cs that are acts of wickedness. On more that one occasion, I've actually witnessed an apology that goes something like, "I forgive you and I'm sorry for what I did. I'm clear now. You have to forgive me or the guilt lays in your hands. I'm right before God now, so if any evil remains, it's yours." For those of you who've actually used this, you may wonder, "What on earth is wrong with that?" My answer is, "Plenty!" It starts with the keeping of accounts previously mentioned. Proceeding further, it smells of self-righteous arrogance. This sorry starts by pointing the finger of blame at the person addressed and speaking it in a holier than thou attitude, starting off with "I forgive". "This day I review the crimes you committed against me and I pardon your acts." Then the speaker proceeds to use this magnanimous sounding action as a basis for forcing the other person to forgive his wrong. He tries a sort of blackmail, using God as his pawn. This isn't the "sorry" of repentance at all, it's actually an attempt to humiliate the other person and appear justified in the process. This "I forgive you" that prefaced this apology, is wrong all the way around. 3 Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. 4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. Luke 17:3,4

Jesus said that if a brother repents, then we're to forgive him. Jesus also said we're to forgive as we're forgiven. How are we forgiven? We're forgiven when we repent. If we were to forgive without repentance, that would be the same as saying God forgives everybody on earth, whether or not they repent. This just isn't the case. Consider these verses:

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Matthew 6:12

14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:14,15

17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Matthew 18:17

(Consider also Leviticus 19:17,18; Romans 16:17; 1 Corinthians ch. 5; Galatians 6:1,2; 2 Thessalonians 3:6,14,15; 2 Timothy 4:14,15; Titus 3:10 - these further expound on the area of forgiveness.)

From Matthew 18:17, we see there are some we're not to forgive. Withholding forgiveness doesn't mean being filled with hate and bitterness. Forgiving's a legal matter, not how we feel about something or someone.
Tying what we've seen to the "apology" under view, we see this "I forgive you" can't possibly come, unless the persons repented. This "apology", which carries in it a condemnation of the person apologized to, doesn't always condemn any real sin. It doesn't address the brother fairly or morally. Saying you're 'forgiving' in that manner, you're condemning the other person without so much as the fairness the Roman Empire bestowed upon its citizens.

In the Roman Empire, if a person was accused of a crime, he had the right to hear the accusation brought against him, he had the right to face his accusers and to defend himself. The offered, "I forgive" doesn't allow the accused the right of hearing the details of the crime he's accused of, nor does it give him the right to defend himself. It says, without trial, YOU ARE GUILTY AS JUDGED! but I pardon you. The utterer of such a wicked "apology" has the audacity to finish up with "I'm right before God now, so if any evil remains, it's yours." This kind of apology is definitely a CLASS C.
With a CLASS C, you have a person who says "sorry" because it's obvious they did wrong. By saying this, they hope to get either your approval and/or get you off their back. They continue to behave the same way as before, and say "sorry" when exposed. Also, look for the excuse! If you look closely at the excuse, you'll probably find some lies hidden there.

The CLASS C is wicked and worthless. Such a "sorry" is better left unsaid altogether. It's a lie.

There's a Biblical example of a CLASS C'er found in Jeremiah. A lot of people fell in with this group. Take a look at the passage: Jeremiah 34:8- 22.
These people saw their evil, made a public show of their sorrow and vowed to reform. As soon as they were out of the lime light, they followed up with a "who cares" behavior. This was followed with a "God cares" decree of final judgment. His condemnation was great and final! God doesn't cotton too well to CLASS C'ers!

8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. 9 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. 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 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! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. 2 Corinthians 7:8-11

This passage gives a detailed account of sorrow. The CLASS B SORROW is specifically shown as the sorrow of the world.
From these two passages, we can see CLASS B is the worldly sorrow. Yes, there is real sorrow found here. This sorrows to despair and not to hope. It brings no fruit to life or repentance. It may result in quitting a bad behavior, but the guilt for the original crime remains. The conscience can only be cleansed by the application of the blood of Christ:

14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Hebrews 9:14

22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:22 (Eph. 5:26) With worldly sorrow, the conscience isn't purified. The blood of Christ isn't applied and it results in destruction.
We're aware of the Judas example, but there's also another slightly different type. This other kind afflicts a great percentage of humanity. Man senses his guilt before God, and tries to appease Him. Man starts working to outweigh the good over the bad. Buddhism and Hinduism illustrate this. They try and do good to hopefully make up for the bad. As I said, the guilt remains without cleansing by Christ's atoning blood. The end results in hell.

A big difference between this sorrow and a CLASS C'er, is that this isn't a lie. The individual is sorry, it's not uttered in deceit. The failure in it's attaining to the only acceptable CLASS A SORROW is in looking at self, instead of abandoning all on God. This leads us up to the good and acceptable sorrow.

8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Matthew 3:8-10

We see the fruit must follow. The "sorry" isn't "repentance" unless you see the change in conduct. Repentance is the CLASS A SORROW. If the change in conduct doesn't come, you can know the sorry is only CLASS C or at best CLASS B. A CLASS A will bear fruit, and that's how you can identify it, according to John the Baptist.
Jesus expounded more on this in His illustration:

15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Matthew 7:15-20

He said, "by their fruits ye shall know them." If they're really "sorry", they will bear fruit. There'll be the change in accord with their confession. If the fruit continues as before, you know the repentance to change never really happened. You know the verbal confession of "sorry" was a lower class level.
An important point, is that a CLASS A SORROW can degenerate into a lower class sorrow. In 2 Corinthian 2:4-11 we see this warning in the statement, "for we are not ignorant of his (Satan's) devices." In this passage, we see a warning of slipping from an A into a B. We also find this same possibility outlined in Galatians:

3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Galatians 3:3