Second Corinthians Chapter 2
Outline: I.
Painful visit and a tearful letter: 2:1-4
II.
The offender, the punishment, and the forgiveness: 2:5-11
III.
Waiting for news: 2:12-13
IV.
Triumph in Christ: 2:14-17
“This is a continuation of his reasons for not coming to them direct from Ephesus (14). Their treatment of the incestuous offender (5-11), and his thankfulness at the news which Titus had brought from Corinth (12-17)” (P.P. Comm. p. 35). 2 Corinthians 2:1 “But I determined this for myself, that I would not come again to you with sorrow” “But I determined this”: “For I made up my mind” (Gspd). “So Paul, after thoroughly probing the situation, arrived at this verdict. He had decided what was best in the interest of the Corinthians, namely by delaying his visit to spare them (1 :23)” (Lenski p. 865). “For myself”: “For my own sake” (NASV). “He found also, as far as he personally was concerned that such a delay was by far best” (Lenski p. 865). “I would not come again to you with sorrow”: “I would not come to you in 1
sorrow again” (NASV). “I determined that my next visit should not be painful, as my last was” (Gr. Ex. N.T. p. 46). “With sorrow”: Sadness, grief, heaviness. The sorrow under consideration in this verse, refers to the sorrow that such a visit would have caused Paul, not to mention the Corinthians. “In such passages as this the very heart of the apostle is revealed. Here is the ideal for every minister of Christ. No perfunctory performance of duty, no mere intellectual presentation of truth, can affect the lives and touch the consciences of men. Only one who feels sorrow and joy, who sheds tears and is torn by passion, who trusts others and suffers in sympathy, can expect to be of abiding influence in the service of Christ and his church” (Erdman p. 37). “He was neither womanish nor an emotionalist. So many regard him as an intellectualist and a dialectician. The real Paul had his whole heart and soul in his work” (Lenski p. 866). Have we tended to adopt a "stoic" form of Christianity? Paul taught and lived differently (Romans 12:10-15; 1 Corinthians 12:25-26) “Come again”: “Come again to you with sorrow implies a previous visit had been sorrowful for Paul, yet the only recorded visit of Paul to the Corinthians, is the very first time that Paul came to Corinth (Acts 18). Second Corinthians 12:14 and 13:1 also imply a second visit had taken place. When this second painful visit actually took place is a matter of debate. It could have happened prior to the writing of First Corinthians, yet someone could add, why does not that letter mention it? In addition, the First Letter is not written in response to what Paul had personally witnessed in Corinth, but rather, to their letter (7:1) and information he has been given (1:11; 11:18). Yet if we place this second visit in the interval between the writing of First and Second Corinthians someone might point out, would not such a visit contradict the travel plans mentioned in 1 Corinthians 16:5-9 and 2 Corinthians 1:15-17? In response someone could argue, not really, because this second painful visit could have been very short. Others offer the following view of this verse: “The sense of the verse could be that Paul was determined that his second visit, which had not yet taken place, should not be a sorrowful one”. Yet I have a hard time harmonizing such a view with the word "again" in 2:1 and especially the wording found in 12:14 and 13:1 “This is the third time I am coming to you”. 2 Corinthians 2:2 “For if I make you sorry, who then is he that maketh me glad but he that is made sorry by me?”
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“For if I make you sorry”: “If I cause you grief” (Con). ‘For what point is there in my depressing the very people who can give me such joy” (Phi). “Paul has already stated that his dominant wish is to work with the Corinthians to promote their joy. He longs to share the joy of the Corinthians, to be happy in their happiness; and how can he expect people whom he has saddened to make him cheerful!” (Tasker p. 50). “Who then is he that maketh me glad”: “Who is there to cause me joy” (Con). “Who then makes me glad” (NASV). Paul's joy is bound up with the joy of the Corinthians. Paul just cannot adopt the attitude that says, “Who cares what happens to the church, I am going to pursue my own happiness”. Maybe if more Christians had their lives (sorrows and happiness) bound up in God's people and God's work, problems between brethren either would be avoided or worked out very quickly. 2 Corinthians 2:3 “And I wrote this very thing, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all” “And I wrote this very thing”: “And this is the very thing I wrote you” (NASV). In the First Corinthian letter Paul had given his change of plan (1 Corinthians 16:5), but more than that. The whole First letter was devoted to correcting the problems that existed in Corinth, which in turn would give the Corinthians an opportunity to repent before Paul arrived (1 Corinthians 4:19-21). “Whom I ought to rejoice”: “Who ought to make me rejoice” (NASV). “Those who should have made me rejoice” (RSV). “By the very people who ought to make me glad” (Wms). As Christians, we are under obligation to treat our children, spouses, and brethren in such a way that causes other Christians to be glad. “Having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all”: “For I felt sure that it was true of you all that my joy was in every case yours also”(TCNT). “I relied on you all, I felt sure that my joy would be a joy for everyone of you” (Mof). “Having”: “I have been holding fast to this confidence” (Lenski p. 871). It is true that Paul had enemies in Corinth, but he is convinced that most of the Corinthians do not desire his personal unhappiness. It appears that Paul is saying, that he is persuaded that mutual sympathy exists between most of the Corinthian Christians and himself. That his happiness, is their happiness, and that they desire to see him rejoicing. He had delayed his visit, and in this verse Paul is confident that most in Corinth would agree with his decision. They would not want him to come into a situation that would cause him sorrow, for his sorrow is their sorrow. 2 Corinthians 2:4 “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you 3
with many tears; not that ye should be made sorry, but that ye might know the love that I have more abundantly unto you” “For”: Paul now describes under what conditions he wrote First Corinthians. “Out of”: This letter flowed from the following. “Much affliction”: “In deep affliction” (Wey). “To write that letter had been no easy way out for the apostle. On the contrary, he had not been able to bring himself to the task without much mental anguish and distress; and he was constantly in tears when he wrote it. He knew that his words would hurt; but he denies that his primary object in writing was to wound his readers. He was not trying vindictively to pay off old scores!” (Tasker p. 51). “Anguish of heart”: “Lit., a holding together, constraining, or compressing, means affliction, mental torture: anxious” (Vincent p. 295). “Mingled with it was his ‘anxiety’ about the Corinthians, namely as to the effect his letter would have on them, whether they would heed him, or whether they would just get angry at his sharp admonitions and perhaps turn completely against him” (Lenski p. 872). “I wrote unto you with many tears”: See Acts 20:19,31 and Philippians 3:18 Many commentators feel that this verse cannot be referring to the First Corinthian letter, but rather that it refers to a very harsh letter which was written between First and Second Corinthians. Those who hold this view argue that 2:4 contains language too strong for the contents of First Corinthians. I strongly disagree, and will allow the following writer to sum up the matter: “For our part, the view that it would have been inappropriate for Paul to describe 1 Corinthians as a letter written ‘out of much affliction and anguish of heart’ and ‘with many tears’ is quite unacceptable. Sorrow and anguish are precisely the emotions we would have expected him to experience when it became necessary for him to write to those whose father he was in the faith, and for whom he had so overwhelming a love, in terms of reproof and condemnation because of the manner in which they had lapsed into serious error, disorder, and immorality: their church, so far from being a center of unity in Christ, had become an arena of warring factions and rivalries; they had shown themselves to be yet carnal, immature and stunted in spiritual growth, and all too easily deceived by the wisdom of this world; not only were they defiling the temple of God by succumbing to the lusts of the flesh, but they had condoned the sin of incest in their midst, an enormity which even the Gentiles abhorred; they were puffed up with self-esteem and arrogance; 4
they were animated by a spirit of litigiousness which caused them to take their squabbles before the courts of unbelievers, thereby bringing the Church of Christ into disrepute. Any one of these things would have been sufficient to cause Paul real distress; taken together, they could not have failed to occasion one who felt as deeply as the Apostle did the severest grief” (Hughes p. 57). “Not that ye should be made sorry”: “The ‘not’, by a common Hebrew idiom means ‘not only’, ‘not exclusively’. His object in inflicting pain was not the pain itself, but the results of godly repentance which it produced (7:11)” (P.P. Comm. p. 37). “But that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you”: “But to let you see how intense a love I have for you” (TCNT). “The more than ordinary love, that I have for you” (NEB). True love must rebuke when sin manifests itself in a friend. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Proverbs 27:6). True love with deal with the controversial issues. One problem after another Paul will address in the Corinthian letter, and on many of these issues, Paul was taking an opposing view from the one held by many in Corinth. If you really love someone, then you tell it to them straight. If you really love someone then you are willing to risk the friendship with that person, in order to tell them what they really need to hear. True love is willing to endure emotional pain in the attempt to help another person. True love is willing to suffer, to be misunderstood, to be neglected or forsaken, if that is the price to be paid for trying to save a soul. The Repentant Offender 2 Corinthians 2:5 “But if any hath caused sorrow, he hath caused sorrow, not to me, but in part (that I press not too heavily) to you all” “But”: Paul now cites one situation in Corinth that had caused him so much pain, which needed to be closed. “If any hath caused sorrow”: “If the behavior of a certain person had caused distress” (Phi). Clearly Paul is referring to a single individual in these verses (2:5-8), and the most logical candidate for the individual under consideration is the incestuous man (now repentant) mentioned in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. “Hath caused sorrow”: So much for the excuse of, “I am only hurting myself”. “Not to me”: “Not that Paul did not grieve over the offender (2 Corinthians 11:29); but he desires to emphasize the fact that the injury caused by 5
the sin was not to him personally, but the Church” (Vincent pp. 295-296). “But in part”: “But in some degree” (NASV). “But to some extent to you all” (Robertson p. 216). “That I press not too heavily”: “In order not to say too much” (NASV). “For I am not going to overstate the case” (Mof). “Not to be too severe--pained every one of you” (TCNT). “To some extent, not to labor the point, it has been done to you all” (NEB). “Paul says: ‘This man grieved you in varying degrees, and I say in varying degrees only in order not to put upon him more blame than is necessary, his guilt is serious enough as it is and as you all know’” (Lenski pp. 880-881). One cannot limit nor can one pick and choose who one’s sin will affect. Once this man went into sin, he had no control over how people would react. Often those hurt the most by sin are the very ones we claim to love the most, i.e. our family and especially our children. In varying degrees, virtually every member is affected when another member is not living right. 2 Corinthians 2:6 “Sufficient to such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the many” “Sufficient”: “Is punishment enough” (Knox). “It is easy to play the Pharisee, to be critical and censorious, cruel and unforgiving. Even Christians are apt to thank God that they are ‘not as the rest of men’. Of course, one should not countenance evil and encourage sin. However, when the sinner has repented and turned from his evil way, then obedience to the law of Christ demands that such a one should be restored (Galatians 6:1-2; Matthew 18:15-17) in a spirit of meekness” (Erdman pp. 37-38). “This punishment”: Paul calls withdrawal “punishment”. It is not designed to feel good, or ‘hurt as little as possible. Something is wrong with a congregation's method of church discipline, if it is no longer perceived as a punishment for a person's folly, stubbornness and hard-hearted attitude. We need to keep this in mind when a close friend or family member is withdrawn from. God says that such action is a "punishment" for their extreme selfishness. We dare not step in and attempt to shelter or soften the blow of such action. “By the many”: “As the apostle had learned from Titus, the Corinthians, influenced by the painful letter, had taken the essential step of punishing the offender, convinced that the welfare both of the community and of the guilty party necessitated such action” (Tasker p. 53). The question is, does the above phrase, "the many" infer that a "minority" had defended this fornicator? 6
2 Corinthians 2:7 “so that contrariwise ye should rather forgive him and comfort him, lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up with his overmuch sorrow” “So that contrariwise”: “In what sense ‘sufficient’ is to be understood is now apparent. The desired result of the expulsion has been attained, namely the sinner's repentance” (Lenski p. 882). Congregational discipline can only be ended when the unfaithful Christian repents. If 20 years go by and the person still hasn't repented, they still cannot be fellowshipped. Time does not change a person's relationship with God and neither does time forgive sins. Neither does a change in preachers or elders mean that all the people withdrawn from during their service can now come back without being repentant. “Rather forgive and comfort him”: This is the very hope that such punishment was designed for, to bring the sinner to repentance. Even the sin of incest can be forgiven. Of course it is assumed that the man in this chapter no longer has his father's wife. That he has ceased that relationship. When a Christian repents we are obligated to forgive them (Matthew 6:12; 18:35; Luke 17:3-4; Ephesians 4:32). When someone repents is it obvious in their speech, attitude and life. This man felt the gravity of his sins. (2:7) I think most Christians are willing and ready to forgive someone who clearly is repentant. The problem arises when someone repents and we are left wondering if they really have. The classic example is the Christian who comes forward on Sunday morning, and yet is absent that evening, with no explanation. When godly sorrow for sin is in the life of an individual, the repentance that follows does everything it can to let others know that a real change has happened. Real repentance is thorough, it is out in the open, honest, above-board as possible, and gives itself no excuse for the sins of the past. Read 2 Corinthians 7:9-11. “Comfort”: The reason for such forgiveness and comfort is now given: “Lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up with his overmuch sorrow”: “Overwhelmed by excessive sorrow” (NASV). “Driven to despair by his excess of grief” (Wey).. “Sorrow”: “Nor should we miss this final mention of ‘grief’ in the present section. At one time this sinner was grieving so many with his sin, now he was grieving himself in deep contrition for that sin--a blessed change” (Lenski p. 883). This verse 7
gives us some insight into what constitutes true repentance. This man felt so bad that he needed comfort and reassurance from other Christians. He did not need to be rebuked, and nobody had to push him to confess his sin. Something is wrong when people want to repent, but they balk at either coming forward, confessing their sin, making things right with those they have wronged, giving excuses for their unfaithfulness or insinuating that it was not their fault. When someone really repents you do not hear excuses or polite statements about their unfaithfulness, rather you hear their grief, their remorse, and their regrets. 2 Corinthians 2:8 “Wherefore I beseech you to confirm your love toward him” “Confirm your love toward him”: “Assure him of your love” (TCNT). “Fully reinstate him in your love” (Wey). The word rendered "confirm" is a legal term, which has led some to believe, “Hence the likelihood that the use of this term here implies an official or formal ratification of the Corinthian's love” (Hughes p. 67). “The expressions of love to him ought to be as public and as unmistakable as the expressions of disapproval and condemnation. Confirm here means public testimony of kind feeling to him by the reversal of his excommunication” (Lipscomb pp. 38-39). We should note that their love for him had been manifested in withdrawing from him, for love cannot rejoice in unrighteousness. Now, seeing that this man had truly repented, love demands that this man be embraced back into fellowship, for love rejoices with the truth. 2 Corinthians 2:9 “For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye are obedient in all things” “For to this end also did I write”: “This advice does not contradict Paul's previous letter. He wrote urging discipline to test the obedience of the church” (Erdman p. 38). “Also”: In addition to the purpose of writing so as to avoid a personal visit which would be ugly (2:3), Paul adds another reason for the First Corinthian letter. “That I might know”: “Get to know, realize, experience” (Lenski p. 885). “The proof of you”: “Put you to the test” (NASV). “This word is derived from the testing of metals, coins, etc., in order to prove their genuineness” (Lenski p. 885). “Whether ye are obedient in all things”: “To see if you were absolutely obedient” (Mof). “There is, however, no inconsistency in this, for the letter had not been prompted by a desire for personal vindication, it had been written solely that the apostle might test the Corinthians, and discover whether they recognized his authority in all things, and 8
not just when it pleased them to do so” (Tasker p. 54). This was not the last congregation "tested". Every time the church is faced with a member who is acting out of line (2 Thessalonians 3:6), it is being tested. Do we love the Lord or do we love the sinner or our own personal comfort more? The First Corinthian letter was not a list of suggestions, rather, the Corinthians were under obligation to obey it's commands. Failure to conform to the letters of the New Testament is not a sign of spiritual freedom, rather it is proof that we have failed the test (1 Corinthians 14:37). 2 Corinthians 2:10 “But to whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also: for what I also have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, for your sakes have I forgiven it in the presence of Christ” “But to whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also”: As Paul had been present in spirit with them to expel the sinner, so he is present with them to forgive this man. See 1 Corinthians 5:3-5. “But anyone who has your forgiveness has mine also” (NEB). “For what I also have forgiven”: In the past. “For your sakes have I forgiven it”: “He forgives the offender, however, not merely as a personal act, but because such forgiveness is necessary for the welfare of the Corinthian church” (Tasker p. 55). What a great example we have before us. To Paul the most important thing was not himself, or his own personal feelings, but what would edify and build up the church. “In the presence of Christ”: “Or face, as if Christ were looking on” (Vincent p. 297). It's awfully hard to stand in the presence of Christ, to remember all that Christ had done for you, and the great sins He has forgiven us of, and yet refuse to forgive a humble and repentant brother or sister (Colossians 3:13; Ephesians 4:32). “As though he were looking on at what I did” (P.P. Comm. p. 38). “It is his constant endeavor to live the whole of his life, both private and in public, ‘in the sight of God’ (2:17; 4:2), as already standing before the ultimate tribunal of Him to whom the secrets of all hearts are open (5:10f.). The admonition of his example to them is that given, in a later age, by Richard Baxter to his congregation at Kidderminster: ‘Live now as you would wish you had done at death and judgment’” (Hughes p. 71). 2 Corinthians 2:11 “that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan: for we are not ignorant of his devices” “That”: Another reason that demands such forgiveness. “No advantage”: “To have 9
or to grasp more than one's due” (Hughes p. 72). “To keep Satan from getting the better of us” (Gspd). “We will not be outsmarted by Satan” (Tay). “Us”: And not merely the repentant sinner. If the Corinthians had refused to withdraw from the sinner or if they now would refuse to forgive him, Satan would be the winner. The word "us" suggests that Satan was seeking bigger game than just one sinner. Satan hopes that when church discipline takes place it will cause division in a local congregation. Satan has his sights set on bigger fish to fry than just one sinner. “For we are not ignorant of his devices”: “For well I know his manoeuvres” (Mof). “How resourceful he is” (Knox). “But, as Paul implies, we have been warned about this arch-deceiver, and cannot plead that we are ignorant of his devices” (Tasker p. 55). See Ephesians 6:11 “the wiles of the devil”. This section reveals that even when Christians and congregations do the right thing (like exercise discipline) the potential for wrong attitudes is always present. Congregations have divided over the appointment of elders (qualified or not) and the resignation or removal of them (whether justified or not). God's people have divided over the hiring or firing of preachers (again, whether justified or not). Christians should realize that such significant decisions as the above demand proper and right attitudes on the part of every member, for Satan is especially active during such times and is looking for someone who can help him bring the congregation to a standstill. In addition, let me make the following observation. How their condition had affected his travel plans This section does not necessarily introduce an entire new topic, rather this further illustrates that the situation in Corinth worried Paul so much that he changed other plans for them. “Paul begins by telling how his anxiety to know what was happening in Corinth made him so restless that he could not wait in Troas, although a fruitful field was there” (Barclay p. 204). “At the very time when it was being whispered that his attitude was one of irresponsibility and unconcern they occupied the main horizon of his thought and his heart was tormented with anxiety for news of them” (Hughes p. 73). 2 Corinthians 2:12 “Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ, and when a door was opened unto me in the Lord” “Now when I came to Troas”: From Ephesus. “Troas was situated about 10 miles 10
southwest of Hissarlik, the ruins of ancient Troy” (Nelsons p. 1074). “It was, for many centuries, the key of the traffic between Europe and Asia, having an artificial port consisting of two basins” (Vincent p. 297). “For the gospel of Christ”: To preach the gospel, a missionary journey. “A door was opened unto me in the Lord”: (1 Corinthians 16:9). “Though I had a wide opportunity in the Lord” (Mof). “Although there was an obvious God-given opportunity” (Phi). 2 Corinthians 2:13 “I had no relief for my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went forth into Macedonia” “I had no relief for my spirit”: “I could get no peace of mind” (TCNT). He will say this again (7:5). “As the weeks passed, without any news of Titus, the apostle could still find no peace of mind. Eventually he found the suspense intolerable” (Tasker p. 56). Too often some members think that elders, deacons, teachers, preachers and members should be able to just get over a congregational problem. Even though Paul was not even in Corinth, the situation there bothered him, to such an extent that he could not take advantage of the terrific circumstances in Troas. How much did Paul love them? So much that he passed up great opportunities to convert others, so that he could first make sure that they were alright! “Because I found not Titus my brother”: On his way back from Corinth with news of the situation, evidently it had been planned that Titus and Paul would meet in Troas. “Taking my leave of them”: Saying farewell to the Christians in Troas (Acts 20:7). “Went forth into Macedonia”: Where he will meet Titus and hear the good news that the church in Corinth has embraced his teaching. (7:5-6) “Are we disappointed in not meeting a cool, calm, self-assured apostle, a spirit that nothing could perturb? Do we think that this would be the ideal Christian spirit? We shall have to revise our ideal. Stoics are thus insensible. Paul shed tears, felt grief, was in anxious tension, confesses it in 2:4 and here; let that comfort us. But all of this emotion concerned not his own person or his earthly welfare, it concerned the church. Ah, there is the point! Sad and dangerous conditions and situations in the church--do they draw tears, prayers, anxiety from our hearts” (Lenski p. 896). This section reveals how important reconciliation is (Matthew 5:23-24), because if church problems effected the work of an apostle, then certainly they will affect our performance! How embarrassed some in Corinth should have felt. Their problems had caused this apostle to abandon a rich field of labor. Christians do not seem to realize the fact, that when problems among members are brewing and unresolved, a 11
tremendous amount of effort must be diverted from efforts to save non-Christians! Grateful to share in Christ’s Triumphs In Macedonia Paul meets up with Titus and hears the favorable news from Corinth. He will give us the details later of that meeting (7:1ff), yet right now, such good news brought such relief to the heart of Paul that he breaks forth in gratitude towards God. 2 Corinthians 2:14 “But thanks be unto God, who always leadeth us in triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest through us the savor of His knowledge in every place” “But thanks be unto God”: What Paul thanked God for was their attitude towards his letter and how they had responded in obedience. When our congregation makes it through trying times, when Christian's overcome personal problems and are delivered from self-destructive habits and attitudes, do we pause and thank God? Do such victories thrill our souls? “Who always”: “Even in times of anxiety and distress” (Gr. Ex. N.T. p. 50). Even though Paul had been anxious, it was not a state of spiritual defeat. “Paul breaks off from his account in order to praise God for His unfailing goodness which remains constant through all the changing circumstances and tensions of human experience” (Hughes pp. 76-77). The word always suggests that the faithful Christian will always experience "victories" while dealing with those who reject God and fall away, there we be a steady stream of victories--marriages that succeed, new converts, obedient children, new preachers, deacons, teachers, elders and congregations established in new areas. “Leadeth us in triumph in Christ”: “Through our union with Christ, leads us in one continual triumph” (TCNT). “The whole paragraph is phrased in figures borrowed from the scene of triumph in which a victorious general swept through the streets of imperial Rome. In pomp and glory, crowned with laurel, mounted on his chariot, preceded by the senate, magistrates, musicians, the spoils, the proud conqueror ascended the Capitoline Hill, leading his exultant hosts. God is the Victor. He is making the victorious progress (possible). Paul is like one who is given a part in this triumphal pageant. Paul's joyful experience in being delivered from his anxiety for the Corinthians is only an example of a ministry which is ever glorious in its triumph” (Erdman p. 41). This is much like the language of 1 Corinthians 3:6, that Paul gets to water and share in the increase given by God. 12
How often we fail to appreciate the triumph's that we get to share in Christ. Baptisms, restorations, saved marriages, members children that grow up and obey the gospel--all are triumphs that God had allowed us to share in. A personal observation is that in the church we do not tend to celebrate enough. Sadly, after many baptism's everybody just goes home. Hey, this is a good time to celebrate! We make a big deal out of graduation, engagements, weddings, promotions, and anniversaries. It's time that we put a little more celebrating into a baptism. “And maketh manifest through us the savor of his knowledge in every place”: “And manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place” (NASV). “And makes our knowledge of Him spread throughout the world like a lovely perfume” (Phi). Paul likens the gospel message to a wonderful scent that God has allowed him to spread. Paul says, “The word of God smells good, it is attractive, and I love it”. David had the same type of attitude (Psalm 19:7-10; 119:97-105). “The idea of the Roman triumph is still preserved in this figure. On these occasions the temples were all thrown open, garlands of flowers decorated every shrine and image, and incense smoked on every altar, so that the victor was greeted with a cloud of perfume” (Vincent p. 299). “The knowledge of God is here the aroma which Paul had scattered like an incense bearer” (Robertson p. 218). Is the gospel message a cherished scent to us? Can we say with honesty, “O how I love my law”? 2 Corinthians 2:15 “For we are a sweet savor of Christ unto God, in them that are saved, and in them that perish” “We”: Those who share the gospel with others. “Sweet savor of Christ unto God”: “A fragrance of Christ to God” (NASV). “In spreading the fragrance of Christ the preacher himself becomes fragrant” (Robertson p. 218). What a concept, that God regards faithful Christians as a sweet aroma, because those who please God, are viewed as a fragrant aroma (Ephesians 5:2; Philippians 4:18). When I preach the gospel and live according to it, I have become a heavenly fragrance to a lost and dying world. “In them that are saved, and in them that perish”: “There are, however, two classes of men among whom this perfume circulates, those on the way to salvation and those on the way to perdition” (Erdman p. 41).
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2 Corinthians 2:16 “to the one a savor from death unto death; to the other a savor from life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?” “A savor from death unto death”: “Ordinarily when the victor reached the capitol it was the signal for the slaying of many of the captives” (McGarvey p. 180). “As in a triumphal procession there were the conqueror and his troops, and the conquered captives, all breathing the perfume of the same incense. To the victors the fragrance was a symbol of present gladness and of future safety; to the captives it was a token of defeat and condemnation and a premonition of approaching death. Such are the different effects of the gospel, the rejected blessing only deepens the condemnation and makes more sure the doom” (Erdman pp. 41-42). Mark 16:16 is a good verse which points out how the gospel can mean salvation to one group and condemnation to another. The difference lies in the freewill of the individual. “Death unto death”: “A deadly perfume that kills” (NEB). A rejection that only results in further condemnation (Romans 2:4-5; Luke 12:47-48; 2 Peter 2:20-22). The preaching of the gospel is never in vain. It either results in condemnation or salvation, but a result is always present (Isaiah 55:11). “And who is sufficient for these things?”: “And who is adequate for these things?” (NASV). “Who is equal to such a task” (TCNT). “Who could think himself adequate for a responsibility like this” (Phi). “The mind is to dwell on ‘these things’, so mighty, saving many from death for life, sending many to death by death, making this tremendous division among men. The question calls on the Corinthians most closely to examine all who come to them as preachers and to weigh them as to their sufficiency. Paul demands that he and his helpers be thus weighed” (Lenski p. 902). 2 Corinthians 2:17 “For we are not as the many, corrupting the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ” “We”: Paul and his co-workers. “Are not as the many”: The many false teachers which had invaded the church in Corinth as well as in other areas. False teachers will always be “many” (2 Peter 2:1ff; 2 Timothy 4:3). “Corrupting the word of God”: “Like a hawker, who adulterates his goods and gives bad measure for the sake of his own personal gain. Anyone can preach a whittled-down gospel” (Tasker p. 58). “He certainly chose a telling word when he describes the many as a huckster. He peddles cheap wares, he haggles about the price, he is known to cheat because he does not expect to return, he is out for his own personal gain” (Lenski p. 903). No sympathy is 14
given to false teachers (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). “So many religious people are still impressed by numbers. ‘All these other preachers say so, teach so, do so, etc!’ That convinces the superficial, they look no farther. The true preachers are so often rejected simply because they are few in number” (Lenski p. 903). “Who has heard this huckster line of talk? They sell a Bible that has only the human Christ, a great ‘personality’ but minus deity. It is a far better Bible, for it is emptied of hell and the devil and damnation and it is embellished with the universal Fatherhood of God and universal sonship, and that is all that one needs to believe. And certainly the price is so very cheap!” (Lenski p. 904). “But as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ”: “As men of sincerity” (RSV). It's pretty black and white with Paul when it comes to the difference between the opposing teachers in Corinth and his fellow-workers. Basically Paul is saying, “We are honest, and they are not, we speak the truth, they lie, we are honest men, they are liars”. “But as of God”: “As commissioned by God” (RSV). “As men who come from God” (Beck). “In the sight of God”: “With his eye resting upon us, he hearing our every utterance” (Matthew 12:36) (Lenski p. 906). “Speak we in Christ”: We speak as men in fellowship with Christ, hence we speak Christ's message and not our own (1 Peter 4:11).
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