2 Corinthians 7

Evidently those who needed to repent in 1 Corinthians have repented and Paul is stating how thankful he feels and how much he loves them. Every one of us sins, falls short, we all do things we regret. But if we can understand repentance, we will realize that it is one of the most wonderful, if not THE most wonderful, principles of the gospel. Repentance makes it possible for every person to have their transgressions, their weaknesses, their sins, expunged. I like that word. It means to be completely erased or totally removed. When a sin is expunged, the burden is gone, lifted completely, and the relief, the happiness is unparalleled. This kind of repentance comes from having Godly sorrow. With Godly sorrow, we acknowledges the wrong, not because we have been found out and suddenly realize the trouble we're in, but because in our hearts, we truly sorrow and freely acknowledge that what we have done is wrong. When we have this kind of sorrow for what we've done, and we change our lives so that we do it no more, the Lord not only removes the sin and all of its scars, he also promises he will never mention them to us again. "I, the Lord, remember them no more." It is true that we will always remember them, but not with the kind of regret that depresses us and continually causes us to condemn ourselves. As Alma says, we will remember them with the kind of memory "that brings us down to repentance," meaning a desire to stay clean, on the right road, never returning to our former actions. And after this life when we meet the Savior, he promises us that if we repent and change our lives by turning away from our sins, "and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right... All [our] transgressions that [we] have committed, they shall not be mentioned unto [us]," no matter how small or large the sin.