Second Corinthians Chapter 7
Outline: I.
The conclusion of his appeal for purity: 7:1
II.
An appeal for affection: 7:2-4
III.
The good news brought by Titus: 7:5-7
IV.
The results of godly sorrow: 7:8-12
V.
Titus' affection for the Corinthians: 7:13-16
2 Corinthians 7:1 “Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” “Having therefore”: Continuing or rather concluding the argument of 6:14-18. “Having”: “As these great promises are ours” (Mof). “These”: “In the original, these is very emphatic. The character of the promises, and the remembrance of who it is that made them must stimulate the Christian to play his part in satisfying the conditions of their fulfillment” (Tasker p. 100). The promises under consideration are those mentioned in 6:16-18. God has actually promised "sonship" to mere mortals. Believe it or not, God is serious about adopting former sinners to be His children 1
(Revelation 21:7) Can you believe it? Can you think of any "better" promises? “Beloved”: “A form of address which is all the more significant of the warmth of his love towards them because he employs it with comparative infrequency: it occurs only on six other occasions in his letters (12:19; 1 Corinthians 10:14; 15:58; Romans 12:19; Philippians 2:12; 4:1)” (Hughes p. 257). “Let”: A word with free will written all over it. “The great promises, all of which are pure gospel, are the motivation to which Paul appeals” (Lenski p. 1090). In seeking to persuade men (5:11), Paul does not use trickery, hype, false promises or grand emotional appeals which overstate the case. Paul offers truth, plain and simple truth. The word "let" informs us that we must cooperate in this cleansing process. God is not going to override our free will. “Believers cooperate with God, and one of the activities in which they do this is in keeping themselves clean, ‘keeping themselves unspotted from the world’ (James 1:27). They refuse to touch anything unclean (6:17). They resist temptation” (Lenski p. 1091). Many words connected with temptation, also point out the need for a free willed decision from the person being tempted. "Flee" (1 Corinthians 10:14); "resist" (9); "abstain" (1 Thessalonians 5:22); "abhor" (Romans 12:9); "do not let" (Ephesians 5:3). “Us”: “Some also express surprise that Paul includes himself; but this is unwarranted. Paul writes plainly about himself in Philippians 3:12-14” (Lenski p. 1091). Both Paul and John (1 John 1:8-10) were involved in this process. Hence, every Christian must continue this process throughout their life. “Cleanse”: I like the definition of "purge". Certain and specific attitudes and actions need to be eradicated for our lives (Ephesians 4:25 “laying aside falsehood”; Colossians 3:9). “Ourselves”: Priority number one is to clean up my own life. “From all defilement of flesh and spirit”: “Everything that contaminates either flesh or spirit” (Mof). “From everything that pollutes either body or spirit” (TCNT). “Ðefilement”: We will continually fail to successfully resist sin, as long as we refuse to see our sins as evidence that we lack the moral character we all think we have. Each sin we commit has "character flaw" written all over it. We must learn to take our sins personally. The word spirit reveals that the moral purity that God expects must go further than just a superficial cleansing. Stopping sinful practices is in vain unless one stops the sinful thoughts that produce those actions (Mark 7:20-23). The Christian must be prepared to bring all their thoughts and desires into submission with the will of God (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). Unfortunately, some Christians are under the impression, 2
that there's no harm in having wrong attitudes, just as long that they keep such feelings private. Jesus disagrees (Matthew 5:22, 28). The Pharisees had cleansed the outward actions, but remained filled with defiling thoughts and attitudes. (Matthew 23:23-28) Paul realized that he could fall into the same type of trap (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). “The logical consequence (therefore) of possessing such promises is that Christ's followers should make a complete break with every form of unhealthy compromise--the necessity for a thorough cleansing is emphasized both by declaring that it should be from ‘all’ defilement and also by the addition of the words ‘flesh and spirit’, that is, all defilement of every possible kind, both external and internal, both seen an unseen, both public and private” (Hughes p. 258). “Perfecting”: To accomplish or finish. “Aim at” (TCNT). “There is a continual struggle, signified by the use of the present participle in perfecting, to bring to completeness that state of holiness, without which no man shall see God (Hebrews 12:14)” (Tasker p. 100). “Holiness”: Sacredness. “Not merely negative goodness but aggressive and progressive (present tense) holiness, a continuous process” (Robertson p. 238). “Negatively, the Christian is to put away not only every wrong action, but all thoughts and desires which may sully the whiteness of the soul. Then, positively, he must seek daily and continually for more perfect holiness” (Erdman p. 77). Often Christians make the mistake of removing wrong attitudes and actions from their lives without replacing them with the right attitudes and actions. Holiness includes not merely abstaining from evil, but embracing goodness as well (Romans 12:9 “cling to what is good”; Ephesians 4:29-32; 2 Timothy 2:22). “In the fear of God”: “Although it is called a low motive, one that is no longer used by Christians today, it is not only found throughout Scripture but belongs to the highest Christian motivation even as Paul uses it here. It goes hand in hand with love. Neither can dispense with the other; neither functions alone” (Lenski pp. 1092-1093). “This is a life-long task to be achieved only if the fear of God, not the fear of men or the desire to please men, is the controlling emotion of the believers life” (Tasker p. 101). “In deepest reverence for God, aim at perfect holiness” (TCNT). “Let us prove our reverence for God by consecrating ourselves to Him completely” (Phi).
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An appeal for affection from them “Suddenly Paul resumes his appeal for sympathy. He interrupted it by a solemn warning that intimacy and spiritual fellowship must be regarded as impossible between Christians and idolaters. However, between Christian friends affection is absolutely necessary if one is to be of real service to another” (Erdman p. 77). 2 Corinthians 7:2 “Open your hearts to us: we wronged no man, we corrupted no man, we took advantage of no man” “Open your hearts to us”: “Make room for us in your hearts” (NASV). “Open”: “To leave a space, make room for. It is equivalent to saying enlarge your hearts to take us in, as our heart is enlarged (4:11)” (Vincent p. 326). “He now renews the appeal, made to them in 6:13, to open their hearts sufficiently wide for him to be an everpresent object to their love. There is no reason for restraint on their part, for there had not been a single instance where the apostle's teaching or conduct had had a deleterious effect. It was only his enemies who maintained that he was doing his converts positive harm” (Tasker p. 101). “We wronged no man”: “Whatever his enemies might insinuate, there was no single member of their Church who could complain of injury, moral harm, or unfair treatment from him” (P.P. Comm. p. 169). “Not one of you has ever been wronged or ruined or cheated by us” (Phi). “We ruined no one. It may refer to money, or morals, or doctrine” (Robertson p. 238). “We corrupted no man, we took advantage of no man”: “Was it being said (by the false apostles) that some had suffered injury or injustice at his hands because of an alleged overbearing and dictatorial abuse of the authority he claimed?” (Hughes p. 260). A familiar strategy of the opponents of Christianity is to claim that the religion of Jesus Christ has harmed people, yet the very same people absolutely refuse to admit the harm done by views that they embrace. 2 Corinthians 7:3 “I say it not to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die together and live together” “I say it not to condemn you”: “I am not saying this to blame you” (Mon). “It is not Paul's purpose to indulge in recriminations, though the assumption is that he might with justification have spoken to their condemnation had that been his wish” 4
(Hughes p. 261) “For I have said before”: See 6:11-13. “That ye are in our hearts”: “I hold you in my heart” (Mon). “We hold you so close in our hearts” (Knox). Compare with Philippians 1:7. “To die together and live together”: “Nothing in life or in death can part us from you” (Knox). “Was that he would never exclude them from his affections even if he was dying, much less when he was alive and well and their interests were his daily concern” (Tasker p. 101). “This is not the language of romanticism but of Christian reality. That genuine love which is the expression of communion and fellowship in Christ is the great of those things which abide (1 Corinthians 13:13) and can neither be destroyed by death nor impaired by the changing circumstances of life” (Hughes p. 261). “One marvels at Paul when one notes how he thus brings the strongest appeals to bear upon his readers” (Lenski p. 1098). 2 Corinthians 7:4 “Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying on your behalf: I am filled with comfort, I overflow with joy in all our affliction” “Great is my boldness of speech toward you”: “I am perfectly frank with you” (NEB). “Great is my confidence in you” (NASV). The following section will reveal why Paul can have such boldness in the Corinthians, that is, he had learned of their repentance. “Great is my glorying on your behalf”: “I have great pride in you” (NEB). Paul can boast about the Corinthians to others. Yet Paul can only boast about them because they had changed. If we want to make someone "proud", then we need to do the right thing. “I am filled with comfort”: Because they had repented (7:7). “I overflow with joy in all our affliction”: “I cannot contain myself for happiness, in the midst of all these trials of mine” (Knox). Unity among Christians, good news about the faithfulness of others, can go a long way in motivating the Christian to overcome trials. Even in the midst of hardship, good news about the faithfulness of the Corinthians produced a tremendous amount of rejoicing in Paul. What really takes a toll on elders, deacons, preachers, teachers and members, are not the various physical hardships that a congregation faces, but rather it is unfaithfulness in the lives of other Christians. We can lighten the load of another brother or sister by living a life of sincere dedication to God (Galatians 6:2). Paul meets Titus “The joyful sequel to the tearful letter” 1 1
F.F. Bruce p. 217 5
2 Corinthians 7:5 “For even when we were come into Macedonia our flesh had no relief, but we were afflicted on every side; without were fightings, within were fears” “For even when we were come into Macedonia”: “The account of Paul's experiences at Troas and in Macedonia was abruptly interrupted (Chapter 2:12-13). It is now as abruptly resumed” (Erdman pp. 78-79). “Our flesh had no relief”: “There was still no relief for this poor body of ours” (NEB). “Flesh”: “It is part of the frailty of human nature that it is subject to tensions and strains which have both mental and physical repercussions” (Tasker p. 103). “But we were afflicted on every side”: “At every turn there was something to distress” (Erdman p. 79). “Paul is thinking of his conflicts with unbelievers” (Tasker p. 103). “It was trouble at every turn” (Mof). See 1 Corinthians 15:32. “Within were fears”: Fears for the Corinthians (Galatians 4:11; 2 Corinthians 11:3). “He was always afraid that Satan might be trying to seduce them and he anxiously waited in Macedonia he was apprehensive that all might not be well at Corinth” (Tasker p. 103). 2 Corinthians 7:6 “Nevertheless he that comforteth the lowly, even God, comforted us by the coming of Titus” “Nevertheless”: For the Christian involved in trials, there is always a "nevertheless". “He that comforteth”: “The coming of Titus had proved to be yet another occasion on which God showed that He did indeed comfort His people and have mercy upon the afflicted” (Tasker p. 103). “Lowly”: “The downcast” (TCNT). “The dejected” (Mof). “The force here is psychological, ‘downcast’, ‘depressed’” (Hughes p. 266). Paul was dejected, he was depressed, and he was filled with anxiety over this situation. But what happened? Did Paul give up, did he slide into self-pity? Did he turn against Christians? No. Rather those who remain faithful, in the midst of trials, find that God does come through (2 Corinthians 1:3; Isaiah 49:13). “Comforted us by the coming of Titus”: This reveals that God does not comfort people mysteriously or against their own free will. God often comforts His people through favorable circumstances. Hence, the person who argues that God failed them probably has ignored the comfort God has provided. Christians who withdraw themselves from the congregation while in the midst of trials and hardship are deliberately neglecting real sources of comfort and help. Paul can speak from experience, he had found by actual experience that God does comfort His people, 6
even in the toughest trials (2 Corinthians 1:4). God does keep His promises (1 Corinthians 10:13). 2 Corinthians 7:7 “and not by his coming only, but also by the comfort wherewith he was comforted in you, while he told us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced yet more” “Not by his coming only”: “It was a real comfort to Paul to see Titus once again. But equally consoling was the knowledge that Titus himself had been comforted when he saw how the attitude of the Corinthians to their apostle had changed” (Tasker p. 103). “The comfort wherewith he was comforted in you”: “Over you” (Robertson p. 239). “By the encouragement which he received from you” (TCNT). This indicates that Titus had been very concerned about the situation in Corinth as well. “While he told us”: “Like cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a distant land” (Proverbs 25:25). “Your longing”: “How you longed for me” (Mof). “The Corinthians were now showing an earnest desire to see Paul again, and to be restored once more to happy fellowship with him” (Tasker p. 103). “Your mourning”: “The sorrow and regret they had evinced for the wrong and ignoble things they had themselves done or condoned in others and for the unworthy manner in which they had caused him so much grief” (Hughes p. 267). “Your zeal for me”: A zeal and earnestness that was manifesting itself in defending Paul against His enemies in Corinth. Note the emphasis on the word "your". Prior to this all the longing, mourning and zeal had been one-sided, that is, on Paul's part. “So that I rejoiced yet more”: “Even more” (NASV). This persecuted and hounded preacher seems to have found many things in which to rejoice (Philippians 4:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:16). This tells me that if Christians find themselves cynical, bitter, resentful and pessimistic, it must mean that they have allowed themselves to be focused on their own lives and very little else. The faithful Christian realizes, that there will always be "victories" in which to rejoice (2 Corinthians 2:14). 2 Corinthians 7:8 “For though I made you sorry with my epistle, I do not regret it: though I did regret it (for I see that that epistle made you sorry, though but for a season)” “For though I made you sorry with my epistle”: The First Corinthian letter had cut to the heart. Unfortunately, many people are under the impression that truth is supposed to always feel good. “I do not regret it: though I did regret it”: “Perhaps I 7
was tempted to feel sorry, when I saw how my letter had caused you even momentary pain” (Knox). Many of us exactly know what Paul is talking about, when he says, ”Though I did regret it”. Even when elders and preachers say the right thing and the loving thing to a person in sin, these men are still anxious about how the person rebuked will react. “Genuine love cannot remain silent when it sees those that are loved in danger” (Hughes p. 268). “Perhaps I was tempted to feel sorry, when I saw how my letter had caused you even momentary pain, but now I am glad; not glad of the pain, but glad of the repentance the pain brought with it” (Tasker p. 105). Barclay has some good observations in this area: “It tells us certain things about Paul's whole method and outlook on rebuke. Paul was quite clear that there came a time when rebuke was necessary (2 Timothy 4:2). It often happens that the man who seeks an easy peace finds in the end nothing but trouble. The man who allows a perilous situation to develop because he shrinks from dealing with it, the parent who exercises no discipline and no control because he fears unpleasantness simply piles up greater trouble for himself. It is the simple fact that the rebuke which is given with a certain relish will never prove as effective as the rebuke which is obviously unwillingly dragged out of a man and which he only gives because he can do no other” (p. 251). 2 Corinthians 7:9 “I now rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry unto repentance; for ye were made sorry after a godly sort, that ye might suffer loss by us in nothing” “I now rejoice”: Seeing the good effects produced by the letter and their sorrow. “Not that ye were made sorry”: (2:4). “But Paul, careful to remove any possibility of misunderstanding or misrepresentation (so eager were his opponents in Corinth to distort his words) immediately and gently explains that it was not their sorrow that had occasioned him joy (on the contrary, he has just shown that their sorrow was the cause of his regret), but the fruit of their sorrow, namely, repentance” (Hughes p. 269). The final aim of rebuke is never to merely cause someone pain, that's vindictiveness, not love. Rebuke always aims at the restoration of the sinner and not the destruction of the person being rebuked. “Sorry after a godly sort”: “As God would have men suffer, namely, so as to be led by suffering to a place of penitence” (Erdman p. 80). “All sorrow that leads to repentance can truly be said to be after a godly sort” (Tasker p. 105). This implies that there is also a sorrow after an "ungodly" 8
sort. This will be addressed under "the sorrow of the world". “That ye might suffer loss by us in nothing”: “That you might not suffer loss in anything through us” (NASV). Sincere repentance prevents a tremendous amount of "loss" (Romans 2:4; James 5:20). This statement infers that if the Corinthians had not repented, they would have suffered loss, that is, Christians can lose their salvation. 2 Corinthians 7:10 “For godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, a repentance which bringeth no regret: but the sorrow of the world worketh death” “For godly sorrow”: “For the pain that God approves” (Gspd). “For the sorrow that relates the sorrower to God” (Ber). “Worketh”: “Results in” (Gspd). “Brings to pass” (Vincent p. 328). “Works out, actually produces what is always true” (Lenski pp. 1109-1110). “In itself sorrow has no healing power” (Tasker p. 106). God does not directly move people to repent, rather repentance happens when a man or woman is convicted of their sins (Acts 2:37-38). “A repentance which bringeth no regret”: “And leaves no regrets” (Gspd). “Such as is never regretted” (Ber). “Brings change of heart too salutary to regret” (NEB). No regret to the person who repented, and certainly the repentance of the Corinthians would never be regretted by Paul and his companions. “But the sorrow of the world”: “The world's remorse” (Knox). “Grief for the consequences rather than for the sin as sin” (Vincent p. 328). “The former sorrow is that which feels pain because of the guilt of sin, the latter (sorrow of the world) feels pain because of the consequences of sin. The sorrow of the world is not sorrow for sin but chagrin at being found out and self-pity for the suffering which has been endured. Such worldly sorrow results only in death, or moral ruin” (Erdman p. 80). “A worldly sorrow has two characteristics. (a) It is not really sorrow at all, in one sense; it is only resentment. It is resentment at punishment and resentment at the fact that it did not get away with its sin. (b) It is not really sorrow for its sin or for the hurt and sorrow it may have caused others; it is in the end really sorrow that it has been found out. If it got the chance to do the same thing again, and if it thought that it could escape the consequences, it certainly would do it. It does not at all hate the sin; it only regrets the fact that its sin got it into trouble. A true repentance, a godly sorrow, is repentance and a sorrow which has come to see the wrongness of the thing it did. It is not just the consequences of the thing which it regrets; it hates the thing itself” (Barclay p. 253). “It is not sorrow because of the heinousness of sin as rebellion against God, but sorrow because of the painful and unwelcome 9
consequences of sin. Self is its central point; and self is also the central point of sin. Thus the sorrow of the world manifests itself in self-pity rather than in contrition and turning to God for mercy. The sorrow of the world may be very bitter and intense” (Hughes p. 273). The following are classic examples of the sorrow of the world: Cain (Genesis 4); Esau (Hebrews 12:16-17); Judas (Matthew 27:1-3); Felix (Acts 24:24-25). The following are examples of godly sorrow: David (Psalm 51); Peter (Matthew 26:75). “Worketh death’: This is the sorrow that results in weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:42,50). This sorrow results in death, because this type of sorrow: (1) Makes excuses for its sin. (2) Blames others and wallows in self-pity. (3) Gets mad at God instead of self. (4) Looks for sympathy and pity instead of salvation. (5) Tries to get others to agree with its self-justification, instead of confessing and agreeing with God's assessment of the situation. Hence this sorrow never moves a person to change. 2 Corinthians 7:11 “For behold, this selfsame thing, that ye were made sorry after a godly sort, what earnest care it wrought in you, yea what clearing of yourselves, yea what indignation, yea what fear, yea what longing, yea what zeal, yea what avenging! In everything ye approved yourselves to be pure in the matter” “For behold”: “For see” (TCNT). “See how” (Gspd). “This selfsame thing”: “This very thing” (NASV). That is, this godly sorrow. The following is a gold mine of truth concerning what real repentance "looks like". Here are the qualities that make up sincere repentance. “What earnest care it wrought in you”: “See how earnest this God-given pain has made you” (Gspd). “For notice how serious this God-related grief has made you” (Ber). “Look how serious it made you think” (Phi). “It made them concerned about the offence that had been committed in their midst. Instead of indifference there was an eagerness on their part” (Tasker p. 106). “The notable degree of eager application they have evinced, in contrast to their former carelessness and indifference. And Paul goes on to mention half-a-dozen forms in which this eager application of theirs has manifested itself” (Hughes p. 274). Concerning the incestuous man mentioned in 1 Corinthians Chapter five, Lenski points out: “The Corinthians treated it with careless indifference, just let it pass and did nothing, considered neither the sin nor the sinner involved, disregarded what this sin did to his soul” (p. 1112). A truly repentant person is earnest! You do not have to "bug" the truly repentant with phone calls. Anytime a person acts like they 10
"don't care", that's proof that godly sorrow is absent. “What clearing of yourselves”: “Eagerness on their part to clear themselves of the guilt in which they were involved” (Tasker p. 106). “The Corinthians had been roused to give an account of themselves, whereas previously in their apathy and inactivity it had mattered little to them whether or not they seemed to be guilty of complicity in the wrong that had been committed” (Hughes p. 274). “Yea what indignation”: “What wrath against sin” (Bas). “How disgusted with wrong” (Beck). “How angered you were” (NEB). “What strong feeling” (TCNT). “At the disgrace brought upon the church” (Erdman p. 80). Godly sorrow, gets mad, but it gets mad at the sin. True repentance does no blame God, others or express indignation towards the Church. “Yea what fear”: “How apprehensive!” (NEB). “What alarm” (TCNT). “The fear that overcame you” (Knox). This would include fear of God (2 Corinthians 5:11), and fear of facing the Apostle Paul's authority (1 Corinthians 4:21). “Yea what longing”: “How eager to see me” (Gspd). “Look how it made you long for my presence” (Phi). True repentance longs to be reunited with brethren. There are no grudges or hard feelings in godly sorrow. “Yea what zeal”: For God and His righteousness. “To make up for past remissness” (P.P. Comm. p. 171). “A zeal to promote his honor” (Tasker p. 106). Godly sorrow cannot rest until it has straightened out everything it can. “Yea what avenging”: “Or, better requital, that is, seeing that justice is done by bringing the guilty person to book” (Hughes p. 275). “It is meting out of justice; doing justice to all parties” (Vincent p. 329). “How determined to punish the offender” (Wms). “What readiness to punish” (TCNT). How you righted the wrong done” (Knox). “Your eagerness to see justice done” (NEB). “In everything ye approved yourselves to be pure in the matter”: “You demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter” (NASV). “Not that they were quite free from gross sins of the flesh (see 12:21), but that by their ready compliance with the Apostle's directions they had cleared themselves from the guilt of connivance at incest” (Gr. Ex. N.T. p. 83). “Whatever may have been your previous carelessness and connivance, the steps you took on receiving my letter vindicated your character” (P.P. Comm. p. 171). “Pure”: Purity is demonstrated by conduct. “In the matter”: Especifically in the matter of the incestuous man.
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2 Corinthians 7:12 “So although I wrote unto you, I wrote not for his cause that did the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered the wrong, but that your earnest care for us might be made manifest unto you in the sight of God” “So although I wrote unto you’: The First Corinthian letter. “I wrote not for his cause that did the wrong”: “It was not for the sake of the offender” (NASV). “But not really so much on account of the man who was doing wrong” (Nor). “It was not the offender or his victim that most concerned me” (NEB). “Nor for his cause that suffered the wrong”: The incestuous man's father? Paul did write and address the issue of the man who had his father's wife (1 Corinthians 5:1). Yet Paul here says that such was not the main objective of his previous letter. “But that your earnest care for us might be made manifest unto you”: “But in order to let you realize before God how seriously you do care for me” (Mof). “But to let you see for yourselves, in the sight of God, how deeply you really do care for us” (Phi). “In other words, he hoped by this letter to bring home to them a clear realization of their true relationship to him, as being in reality bound to him by the deepest bonds of affection and loyalty. To a greater or lesser degree the trouble-makers in Corinth had succeeded in casting a cloud over this relationship” (Hughes p. 276). The Joy of Titus 2 Corinthians 7:13 “Therefore we have been comforted: And in our comfort we joyed the more exceedingly for the joy of Titus, because his spirit hath been refreshed by you all” “Therefore we have been comforted”: Because of the Corinthians sincere repentance. Uncertain and unclear repentance, repentance that sounds more like a self-justification, than godly sorrow for sin, does not comfort anyone. It only leaves us in confusion. “For the joy of Titus”: Joy is contagious. Paul rejoiced when he saw joy in the lives of other Christians (Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice”). “Because his spirit hath been refreshed by you all”: 1 Corinthians 16:18; Philemon 7,20. “Because his mind has been set at rest by you all” (RSV). Titus' mission to Corinth was very sensitive. We can imagine that Titus felt a good amount of tension, stress and anxiety as he came to Corinth. Yet the Corinthian's response had not only put him at ease, but it turned an anxious situation into a spiritually uplifting one. “And every one of us knows the flood of relief and the sheer happiness and the lifted burden when the barriers are gone and we are at one again with those we 12
2 Corinthians 7:14 “For if in anything I have gloried to him on your behalf, I was not put to shame; but as we spake all things to you in truth, so our glorying also which I made before Titus was found to be truth” “I have gloried to him on your behalf”: “You see, I had told him of my pride in you, and you have not let me down” (Phi). Paul had not lied or exaggerated about the Corinthians to Titus. Rather Paul did what I have heard many others say about Christians who were experiencing problems. Paul probably said something like, “You know Titus, these Christians in Corinth have such great potential, if we could just convince them of a couple of things, we would have some great workers for God on our hands”. Paul probably let Titus know what was at stake. Great talent could be wasted if this mission failed. And hence Titus needed to do his utmost to help the Corinthians see the light. “I was not put to shame”: “I have not been disappointed” (Mof). “There is a joy of seeing someone in whom you believe justifying that belief. There is nothing which brings so deep a satisfaction as to know that our children, in the flesh or in the faith, do well. The deepest joy that a son or a daughter or a scholar or a student can bring to a parent or a teacher is to demonstrate by their lives that they are as good as the parent or the teacher believes them to be. Life's sorest tragedy is disappointed hopes, and life's greatest joy is hopes come true” (Barclay p. 252). 2 Corinthians 7:15 “And his affection is more abundantly toward you, while he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him” “And his affection is more abundantly toward you”: “He bears a most affectionate memory of you” (Knox). “while he remembered the obedience of you all”: “What Titus has treasured most is the obedience shown by every one of the Corinthians to the demands he had to make” (Tasker p. 108). “How with fear and trembling ye received him”: “That is, with respect for him who was their Apostle's representative, in contrast to the contempt for Paul which the trouble-makers in their midst had been seeking to plant in their minds, and with anxiety lest they should fall short of their duty” (Hughes p. 281). “There is a good deal back of this ‘fear and trembling’, namely the fact that the Corinthians had returned to their allegiance to Paul, that they felt deeply that they had deserved the severest rebuke” (Lenski p. 1120).
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2 Corinthians 7:16 “I rejoice that in everything I am of good courage concerning you” “Good courage”: “The outcome has brought, joy, courage, and hope to Paul” (Robertson p. 242). “'I rejoice that in all things you give me ground for courage” (Con). “I feel courage about you” (P.P. Comm. p. 172). Their sincere repentance was proof that the Corinthians were intent upon serving God. Other problems lay ahead (the collection Chapters 8-9; and false teachers (10-12). Yet this repentance gives Paul a ground of confidence, that if the Corinthians can overcome the problems of the past, they can certainly overcome the things that he will now discuss with them, and at times, things he will discuss with sternness. “In the light of the confidence that the apostle now has in the Corinthians, he ventures to bring before them in the next two chapters the somewhat delicate question of the collection for the poor saints” (Tasker pp. 108-109).
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