Paul’s Consolation and Joy because of the Corinthians.

A frank and urgent appeal to sanctification:

v. 1. Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

v. 2. receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.

v. 3. I speak not this to condemn you; for I have said before that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.

v. 4. Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you; I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.

The first verse completes the appeal of chapter 6, to receive not the grace of God in vain. And in order to make his entreaty very impressive and winning, the apostle includes himself in the admonition: Since now these promises we have, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Great, exalted promises were those of which the apostle had reminded them, especially of the fact that they were the temple of the living God. Such a great privilege, however, naturally imposed obligations upon them, as it does upon all Christians, namely, those of putting away all pollution, all defilement, as it springs out of all evil associations, with unbelievers and heathen of every description. Such fellowship pollutes the absolute purity of the believer’s personal communion with God; it defiles not only the spirit, but the body as well; it is incompatible with the proper reception of the grace of God as offered in the Gospel. Every Christian must rather feel the necessity of growing in the proper fear and reverence toward God day by day, and thus becoming more perfect in holiness. That should be the state of mind, the disposition, of all believers, that they aim to walk before God and be perfect, Gen 17:1. The consecration to God which was begun by faith in Baptism must be actualized, developed, and perfected during the whole life, and always with the sense of the nearness, of the presence, of God, before whom nothing is concealed.

With this thought to challenge their emulation, Paul now repeats his appeal of chap. 6:13: receive us, that is, make room for us in your hearts; let the former unpleasant narrowness of sympathy he a thing of the past. He is anxious to possess their love, he is concerned about the fact that they were grieved by his letter, he is delighted on being reassured of their affection He assures them, therefore: No man have me done wrong, no man have we corrupted, no man have we taken advantage of. Here is the reason for his appeal to be accepted by them, into their hearts. All charges against his moral conduct were without foundation. For he had done injustice to no one, in his dealings with them he had violated no one’s rights by a needless severity of discipline; he had seduced no one by false doctrine, he was no deceiver; in all his dealings with them he had not attempted to take any advantage of them, neither by reminding them of their duty to provide for their teachers, nor by recommending to them a method of systematic collecting for the poor in Jerusalem.

But lest the Corinthian Christians in this very defense of the apostle feel their wrong in not having defended him against the attacks of his detractors, he hastens to add: By way of condemnation I do not say this; for I have stated before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together. As a sentence of condemnation they were not to construe his words; he was not accusing them of mistrusting him. Rather it remained true what he had assured them of before, chap. 1:6; 6:11, that his heart was enlarged in loving sympathy for them, just as he felt sure of their affection toward him. Their image was in his heart, they were so inseparably connected with him in love that they would be absent from his heart neither in death nor in life. And the Greek word which he uses implies that this feeling was mutual, that his devotion to their welfare was equaled by their love for him. This fact makes him continue, with all joyfulness: Great is my frankness toward you, great is my glorying on your behalf. The assurance of their loving sympathy gives him the confidence to unburden himself so frankly to them, to boast so trustingly on their account, not only in this letter, but on the occasion of his visits to other congregations. Such was the exultation of his heart over their spiritual progress that he cried out: I am filled with comfort, I am more than filled, I overflow with joy in all our affliction. Misery, distress, sorrow there is indeed always for the faithful minister, both on account of the persecution of the world and by reason of apostasy and enmity within the congregations. But all this is overshadowed by the consolation derived from the success of the Gospel, as a result of which the apostle’s heart is filled with joy to overflowing; it could not contain his feeling in silence, but must needs break forth in happy exclamation. It is the experience of all pastors that are unswervingly faithful in the discharge of their duties, consolation and joy overshadowing the affliction of sorrow.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Conclusion of his appeal (2Co 7:1). The apostle’s feelings towards them (2Co 7:2-4). Explanation of the objects of his last letter, and expression of his joy at the good results it had brought about (2Co 7:2-16).

2Co 7:1

Having then these promises. The promises of God’s indwelling and fatherly love (2Co 6:16-18). Dearly beloved. Perhaps the word is added to soften the sternness of the preceding admonition. Let us cleanse ourselves. Every Christian, even the best, has need of daily cleansing from his daily assoilment (Joh 13:10), and this cleansing depends on the purifying activity of moral effort maintained by the help of God’s grace. Similarly St. John (1Jn 3:1-3), after speaking of God’s fatherhood and the hopes which it inspires, adds, “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure” (comp. Jas 4:8). From all filthiness; rather, from all defilement. Sin leaves on the soul the moral stain of guilt, which was typified by the ceremonial defilements of the Levitical Law (comp. Eze 36:25, Eze 36:26). The word used for “filth” in 1Pe 3:21 is different. Of the flesh and spirit. From everything which outwardly pollutes the body and inwardly the soul; the two being closely connected together, so that what defiles the flesh inevitably also defiles the soul, and what defiles the spirit degrades also the body. Uncleanness, for instance, a sin of the flesh, is almost invariably connected with pride and hate and cruelty, which degrade the soul. Perfecting holiness. This is the goal and aim of the Christian, though in this life it cannot be finally attained (Php 3:12). In the fear of God. There is, indeed, one kind of fear, a base and servile fear, which is cast out by perfect love; but the fear of reverential awe always remains in the true and wisely instructed Christian, who will never be guilty of the profane familiarity adopted by some ignorant sectarians, or speak of God “as though he were some one in the next street” (Heb 12:28; 1Pe 3:15).

2Co 7:2

Receive us; rather, open your hearts to us; make room for us. It is an appeal to them to get rid of the narrowness of heart, the constricted affections, of which he has complained in 2Co 6:12. We have wronged corrupted defrauded no man. The “no man” in the original is placed first, and this emphatic position, together with its triple repetition, marks St. Paul’s insistence on the fact that, 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. Clearly he is again thinking of definite slanders against himself. His sternness to the offender may have been denounced as a wrong; his generous sanction of broad views about clean and unclean meats, idol-offerings, etc., may have been represented as corrupting others by false teaching (2Co 2:17) or bad example (2Co 4:2; 1Th 4:6); his urgency about the collection for the saints (2Co 12:16; Act 20:33), or his assertion of legitimate authority, may have been specified as greed for power. The verb pleonektein is often used in connection with other verbs, implying sensuality. It is difficult for us even to imagine that St. Paul had ever been charged with gross immorality; but it may have been so, for in a corrupt atmosphere everything is corrupt. Men like Nero and Heliogabalus, being themselves the vilest of men, openly declared their belief that no man was pure, and many in the heathen world may have been inclined to similar suspicions. Of Whitefield, the poet says

“His sins were such as Sodom never knew,
And calumny stood up to swear all true.”

We know too that the Christians were universally charged with Thyestean banquets and promiscuous licentiousness. It is, however, more natural to take pleonektein in its general sense, in which it means “to overreach,” “to claim or seize more than one’s just rights” (see 2Co 2:11) In 1Co 9:1-6 he is defending himself against similar charges, as also in this Epistle (1Co 5:12; 1Co 6:3; 1Co 10:7-11; 1Co 11:1-34.; 12., passim). For similar strains of defence, see those of Moses and of Samuel.

2Co 7:3

I speak not this to condemn you. “Not by way of condemnation am I speaking.” My object is to maintain the old love between us; what I say, therefore, is merely to defend myself, not to complain of you. I have said before. He has not said it in so many words, but has implied it in 2Co 3:2, 2Co 3:3; 2Co 6:11-14. Ye are in our hearts. So he says to his beloved Philippians, “I have you in my heart” (Php 1:7). To die and live with you. Similarly he tells the Thessalonians that he was ready to give them even his own life (1Th 2:8). This is no mere conventional expression of deep affection, like Horace’s, “Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens;” nor is it the description of some compact for life and death like that of the Theban Band. It has the deeper meaning which was involved by the words “life” and “death” on the lips of a Christian (2Co 4:11.; 2Co 6:9). And one whose life was, for Christ’s sake, a daily death, naturally mentions death first.

2Co 7:4

Boldness of speech. St. Paul feels that he may address them with perfect frankness and openness (2Co 3:12). My glorying of you. “My boasting on your account”. I am filled with comfort. “I have been filled with the consolation.” “Consolation” is the word which occurs so frequently in 2Co 1:3, 2Co 1:4. I am exceeding joyful. “I superabound in my joy” (2Co 2:2-14). In all our tribulation. The clause belongs to both the preceding clauses. Joy in the very midst of affliction was an essentially Christian blessing (Php 2:17).

“Thou shalt have joy in sadness soon;
The pure calm hope be thine
Which brightens the Eastern moon,
When day’s wild lights decline.”

(See 2Co 6:10; Gal 5:22; Rom 14:17; Joh 15:11.)

2Co 7:5

For, when we were come into Macedonia. “For even when we came.” The word “affliction” reminds St. Paul to resume the thread of the narrative which makes this letter almost like an itinerary. He has spoken of his trials in Ephesus (2Co 1:8) and in the Troad (2Co 2:12, 2Co 2:13), and now he tells them that even in Macedonia he was no less troubled and agitated. Our flesh had no rest. External troubles assailed him as well as inward anxiety. “Had” seems here to be the best reading (B, F, G, K); not “has had,” which may be borrowed from 2Co 2:13. Rest; rather, remission, respite. But we were troubled on every side; literally, but in everything being afflicted. The style, in its picturesque irregularity, almost seems as though it were broken by sobs. Without were fightings, within were fears. “From without battles, from within fears.” No light is thrown on these “battles.” The Acts of the Apostles has no details to give us of this brief stay in Macedonia. The “fears” were doubtless still connected with anxiety as to the reception of Titus, and of his First Epistle (1Co 12:20).

2Co 7:6

Who comforteth those that are cast down. “The Comforter of the humble comforted us, even God.” The word “humble” has in classical Greek the sense of “mean,” “abject.” Pride, not humility, was the virtue even of Stoic morality. Christ was the first to reveal the beatitude of lowliness (Mat 11:29; Luk 1:52). Doubtless the word still retained some of its old associations, and had been used of St. Paul in a disparaging sense (2Co 10:1). But he whom his opponents accused of so much egotism, ambition, and arrogance, meekly accepts the term and applies it to himself. God (2Co 1:4). “The God of consolation” (Rom 15:5). By the coming of Titus. This was the cause of that outburst of joy in 2Co 2:13, 2Co 2:14, which passage here finds its explanation. The absence of Titus from the Acts is another proof of the fragmentariness of that book. It is evident that he was an ardent, able, active fellow worker, and most beloved friend of the apostle (Gal 2:1, Gal 2:3; 2Ti 4:10; Tit 1:4; Tit 3:12). We learn most about him from this Epistle.

2Co 7:7

And not by his coming only. The mere fact of Titus’s arrival cheered St. Paul, because Titus seems to have been of a strong and cheery temperament. St. Paul, partly because of his infirmities, was peculiarly dependent on the support of human sympathy (1Th 3:1-8; Php 2:20; 2Ti 4:4; Act 17:15; Act 28:15). It was not, however, the mere arrival of Titus which cheered him, but still more the good news which he brought, and which partially lightened his anxieties. In all probability this letter was written almost immediately after the arrival of Titus, and while the joy caused by his presence was still glowing in the apostle’s heart. It is characteristic of the seclusion of an austere life that St. Jerome supposes the cause of the apostle’s distress to have been that Titus was his interpreter, and that in his absence he could not preach! Your earnest desire. Your yearning to see me once more. Mourning; rather, lamentation (see 2Co 2:12). They were aroused to lament their past “inflation” (1Co 5:2) and remissness. Your fervent mind toward me. This rendering well expresses the kindling affection implied by the word zelos. So that I rejoiced the more. More than he had even anticipated could be possible; or, as the next verse may imply, all the more because of his past anguish (2Co 2:4).

2Co 7:8

With a letter; rather, with my Epistle. Probably the First Epistle, though some suppose that the allusion is to a lost intermediate letter. I do not repent, though I did repent; better, I do not regret it. Every one has experienced the anxiety which has followed the despatch of some painful letter. If it does good, well; but perhaps it may do harm. The severity was called for; it seemed a duty to write severely. But how will the rebuke be received? Might we not have done better if we had used language less uncompromisingly stern? As St. Paul thought with intense anxiety that perhaps in his zeal for truth he may have irrevocably alienated the feelings of the Corinthians, whom, with all their grave faults, he loved, a moment came when he actually regretted what he had written. He himself assures us that he had this feeling. Those who try all kinds of fantastic hypotheses and tortuous exegesis to explain away this phrase as though it were inconsistent with St. Paul’s inspiration, go to Scripture to find there their own a priori dogmas, not to seek what Scripture really says. The doctrine of inspiration is not the fetish into which it has been degraded by formal systems of scholastic theology. Inspiration was not a mechanical dictation of words, but the influence of the Holy Ghost in the hearts of men who retained all their own natural emotions. For I perceive, etc. There are various ways of taking this clause. Nothing, however, is simpler than to regard it as a parenthetic remark (for I see that that Epistle, though it were but for a time, saddened you). Though it were but for a season. (For the phrase, see Phm 1:15; Gal 2:5.) He means to say that their grief will at any rate cease when they receive this letter, and he can bear the thought of having pained them when he remembers the brevity of their grief and the good effects which resulted from it.

2Co 7:9

Not that ye were made sorry. They might have drawn this mistaken conclusion from his remark that he “rejoiced” when he heard of their “lamentation” (2Co 7:7). After a godly sort; literally, according to God; i.e. in a way which he would approve (Rom 8:27). In nothing. Not even when we rebuked you, and caused you pain.

2Co 7:10

For godly sorrow, etc. “For the sorrow Which is according to God worketh out a repentance unto salvation which bringeth no regret.” Sin causes regret, remorse, that sort of repentance (metomeleia) which is merely an unavailing rebellion against the inevitable consequences of misdoing; but the sorrow of self-reproach which follows true repentance (metanoia, change of mind) is never followed by regret. Some take “not to be regretted” with “salvation,” but it is a very unsuitable adjective to that substantive. The sorrow of the world. Here sorrow for the loss, or disappointment, or shame, or ruin, or sickness caused by sin; such as the false repentance of Cain, Saul, Ahithophel, Judas, etc. Death. Moral and spiritual death always, and sometimes physical death, and alwaysunless it is followed by true repentanceeternal death, which is the opposite of salvation (Rom 5:21).

2Co 7:11

For behold, etc. The effects produced by their repentance showed that it was “according to God;” for it brought forth in them “the fruits of good living to the honour and glory of God.” Carefulness; rather, earnestness, active endeavour. Yea what. There is an untranslatable energy about the original Greek. The same use of (Latin, immo vero) in a climax is found in 1Co 6:11. Clearing of yourselves; literally, apology, self-defence, addressed to me through Titus. Indignation. Against themselves for their neglect. Fear. Of the measures which I might take, if I came to you “with a rod” (1Co 4:21). Vehement desire. Longing that I should return to you (see verse 7). Zeal. To make up for past remissness. Revenge. Judicial punishment of the incestuous offender. The “apology” and “indignation” referred to themselves; the “fear” and “yearning” to the apostle; the “zeal” and “judicial retribution” to the offender. In all things. His summing up is, “In every respect ye approved yourselves to be pure in the matter.” Whatever may have been your previous carelessness and connivance, the steps you took on receiving my letter vindicated your character. In this matter; rather, in the matter. It is quite in accordance with St. Paul’s usual manner that “he speaks indefinitely of what was odious” (1Th 4:6).

2Co 7:12

Wherefore, though I wrote unto you. “So then, even if I did write you,” namely, about that matter. For his cause that had done the wrong, etc. My object in writing was not to mix myself up with the personal quarrel. I had in view neither the wronger nor the wronged, directly and primarily, but wrote for the sake of the whole Church (1Co 5:1, 1Co 5:2; 1Co 6:7). Nor for his cause that suffered wrong. Apparently the father of the offender (1Co 5:1). Our care for you, etc. Among the diversity of readings in this clause, which seem to be still further confused by mere mistakes of copyists, the best supported reading is “your care for us” (B, C, E, K, L, and various versions, etc.). The Sinaitic manuscript has “your care for yourselves.” The variations have partly risen from the apparent strangeness of the remark that his letter had been written in order that their care for him might be manifested to themselves; in other words, that they might learn from their own conduct the reality of their earnest feelings for him. He has already spoken of this “earnest care” of theirs (2Co 7:11), but not in quite the same sense. Certainly, however, the reading followed by our Authorized Version, even if it be a correction, furnishes a more natural meaning, and the other may have arisen from a clerical error.

2Co 7:13

Therefore we were comforted, etc. Since my Epistle secured the result of manifesting your true feelings towards me, “we have been comforted.” The Revised Version and many editions put the stop here, and continue (reading after ), and in addition to our consolation, abundantly the more did we rejoice at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. Exceedingly the more. In the Greek this is expressed by double comparatives. Was refreshed; rather, has been (and is) refreshed. The same verb is used in 1Co 16:18; Phm 1:7, Phm 1:20.

2Co 7:14

I am not ashamed. The due rendering of the tenses brings out the sense much more accurately. “Because if I have boasted anything to him on your behalf, I was not put to the blush;” in other words, “One reason of my exceeding gladness was that you fully justified that very favorable picture of you which I had drawn for Titus when I was urging him to be the bearer of my letter.” Is found a truth; literally, proved itself to be a truth. Here again there is a most delicate reference to the charge of levity and unveracity which had been brought against him (2Co 1:17). I always spoke the truth to you; but I might well have feared that, in speaking of you to Titus, my affection for you had led me to overstep the limits of perfect accuracy. But you yourselves, by proving yourselves worthy of all I said of you, have established my perfect truthfulness, even in the only point where I might have thought it doubtful. Nothing could exceed the tact and refinement, the subtle delicacy and beauty, of this gentle remark.

2Co 7:15

His inward affection. The same word which is so needlessly rendered “bowels” in 2Co 6:12. More abundant. His love for you has been increased by his recent visit. With fear and trembling. On this Pauline phrase, see 1Co 2:3.

2Co 7:16

I rejoice therefore. The “therefore” concludes the whole paragraph, but is omitted in many manuscripts. I have confidence in you; literally, I am bold in you; i.e. I feel courage about you. The phrase in 2Th 3:4 expresses a calmer and less hazardous trust.

HOMILETICS

2Co 7:1-4 – A minister’s address to his people.

“Having therefore these promises,” etc. In these verses the apostle exhorts the Corinthians to two things.

I. TO THE PURSUIT OF SPIRITUAL PURITY. “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” He seems to regard the attainment of spiritual purity as consisting in two things.

1. Getting rid of the wrong. “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.” Perhaps the reference to “filthiness” here referred especially to the idolatry and unchastity which was so prevalent in the Corinthian Church. All sin is “filthiness,” and cleansable; it is not nature, it is a stain on nature; it is not something inwrought into the very texture of our being, otherwise it could not be cleansed away. It is no more ourselves than the soil on the white robe is the robe. It can, it should, it must, be washed out, that we may appear “without spot or wrinkle.”

2. Attaining the right. “Perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Holiness implies the consecration of our entire nature, flesh and spirit, body and soul, to the Divine will, and this requires habitual, solemn effort in “the fear of God.” Now, the grand end of Christ’s mission to the world is to produce this purity in man. “Having therefore these promises” (viz. the promises in the last verse of the preceding chapter, which are in substance the promises of the gospel), this spiritual purity should be struggled for. “The grace of God hath appeared to all men, teaching them that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts,” etc. The supreme desire of every true minister of the gospel is that his people shall become pure.

II. TO REGARD HIM WITH AFFECTION. “Receive us [open your hearts to us],” etc. He grounds his claim on their affection:

1. On the fact that he had done harm to none. “We have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.” This is said, no doubt, in answer to some of the charges which his enemies had brought against himsaid in self-vindication. He had “wronged no man,” done injustice to none; he had “corrupted no man” in doctrines or morals; he had “defrauded no man,” he had availed himself of no circumstance in order to extort from them money or power. A grand thing this for a minister to be able to say to his people without any fear of contradiction, and in the sight of God.

2. On the fact that he loved them. “I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to live and to die with you.” Although I might “condemn“ you, I still love you; you are so strong in my affections that I will not only visit you, but would live and die with you, if my mission would allow.

3. On the fact that he rejoiced in the good that was in them. “Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort,” etc. Thus he commends himself to their affection. It is self-commendation, it is true; but who else could commend him? There were none greater than he living. There is no egotism in his self-commendation.

2Co 7:5-7 – The good tried and comforted.

“For when we were come into Macedonia,” etc. Here we have

I. A GOOD MAN GREATLY TRIED. “For when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.” In 2Co 2:13 he refers to one circumstance that troubled him on his way to Macedonia. “I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother.” He had come from Troas full of excitement and agitation, fully expecting to meet with Titus, who would convey to him some information concerning the Church at Corinth, which would allay his intense anxieties. But he was disappointed. What the other particular troubles were that he refers to here, the “fightings without” and “fears within,” we know not; but well we know that everywhere in the prosecution of his apostolic mission he met with trialsgreat, varied, and most distressing. The best of men in this life are frequently “cast down.” There are many things that “cast down” the spirits of good men.

1. The prosperity of the wicked. Asaph felt this. “My feet had almost gone, my steps were well nigh slipped,” etc.

2. The triumphs of wrong. Fraud in trade, corruption in politics, errors in science, moral filth in popular literature, blasphemies, sectarianism and cant in religion. What noble souls are depressed here in England with these things!

3. The non-success of Christly labour. How many preachers of spiritual thought, disinterested love, inflexible loyalty to truth, are subject to depressing moods on account of the little success apparently resulting from their arduous and self-denying toils! Often, like Elijah, they feel inclined to retire into the caves of solitude; like Jeremiah, who resolved “to speak no more” in his Name, and like One greater than either or all, who wailed out the words, “I have laboured in vain, and spent my strength for nought.”

II. A GOOD MAN DIVINELY COMFORTED. “Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” God is a Comforter. No one requires higher qualifications than a true comforter. He must have a thorough knowledge of the sufferer, know his constitution, and the causes of the complaint; his diagnosis must be perfect. He must possess the necessary remedial elements; he must have the antidote at command. He must also have the tenderest sympathy; an unsympathetic nature can never administer comfort, whatever the extent of his knowledge or the suitableness of his means. God has all these qualifications in an infinite degree. Hence he is the Comforter. God comforted Paul by sending him Titus.

1. The appearance of Titus was comforting. The advent of his young friend was as the rising of the morning sun in the dark heavens of his spirit. God comforts man by man. Moses was comforted in the wilderness by the unexpected visit of his father-in-law Jethro (Exo 18:7). Hannah was cheered in spirit by the talk of old Eli (1Sa 1:18). David, dejected in the wood, had his heart strengthened by Jonathan (1Sa 23:16).

2. The communication of Titus was comforting. “And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.”

CONCLUSION Learn:

1. That Christianity in its highest form does not exempt from the trials of life. A more Christly man than Paul perhaps never lived. Yet how great his trials!

2. That the vicarious sufferings of love are amongst the most depressing. The more love a man has in him in this world of affliction and sorrow, the more, by the law of sympathy, will he endure. Paul now suffered for the Corinthians.

3. A genuine disciple of Christ carries comfort into the house of his distressed friend. Young Titus carried comfort into the saddened home of the Apostle Paul.

“He who hath most of heart
Knows most of sorrow; nor a thing he said
Nor did but was to him at times a woe,
At times indifferent, at times a joy.
Folly and sin and memory make a curse
Wherewith the future fires may vie in vain,
The sorrows of the soul are graver still.”

(Festus.)

2Co 7:8-11 – Godly sorrow.

“For though I made you sorry,” etc. Three remarks here concerning the godly sorrow that was wrought on the minds of the members of the Corinthian Church.

I. IT WAS PRODUCED BY A FAITHFUL REPROOF OF WRONG. There were, as we have seen, certain evils more or less prevalent in the Church at Corinth, such as schism, idolatry, unchastity, and abuse of the Lord’s Supper. These so affected the mind of the apostle that his letter abounded with strong reproof. Concerning the reproofs he administered to them, two facts are noteworthy.

1. They caused him much pain. “For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent.” Men, more or less malign in their nature, take pleasure in dealing out reproaches and reproofs, but to those whose natures are of the genial and the generous type, few things are more painful than the administration of reproofs. Paul no doubt felt it so; still it had to be done. Loyalty to his conscience and his mission demanded it. A loving nature recoils at the idea of giving pain to any one.

2. They were administered with the tenderest affection. In almost every reproving sentence contained in his letter there beats the pulse of affection, and it is evermore this love that invests reproof with a heart penetrating and melting power. With the tenderest love ministers should always reprove, admonish, and exhort.

II. IT WAS ESSENTIALLY DIFFERENT TO THE SORROW OF THE WORLD, “Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance,” etc. Great is the difference between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow.

1. The one is selfish, the other is generous. In the former the man regrets having done the wrong thing simply on account of inconvenience to himself; in the latter the anguish is in the wrong itself.

2. The one results in future regret, the other in future joy. All the sorrow that an ungodly man has felt will lead to some deeper, darker, more terrible distress.

3. The one leads to ruin, the other to salvation. See the results of worldly sorrow in Cain (Gen 4:12); in Saul (1Sa 31:3-6); in Ahithophel (2Sa 17:23); in Judas (Mat 28:3 -25). See godly sorrow in the prodigal son (Luk 15:1-32.); in Peter (Mat 26:1-75.); in the converts on the day of Pentecost (Act 2:44-47).

III. IT WROUGHT GREAT RESULTS IN THE SOUL. It wrought:

1. Solicitude. “What carefulness it wrought in you!” Careful to resist the wrong and pursue the right.

2. Deprecation. “What clearing of yourselves!” How anxious to show your disapproval of the evil of which you have been guilty!

3. Anger. “What indignation!” Indignation, not against the sinner, but against the sin. This is a holy anger.

4. Dread. “What fear!” Dread, not of suffering, but of sin; not of God, but of the devil. This fear is, indeed, the highest courage. He who shrinks from the morally wrong is the truest hero.

5. Longing. “What vehement desire!” What longing after a better life! All these expressions mean intense earnestness, and earnestness, not about temporal matters, which is common and worthless, but about spiritual matters, which is rare and praiseworthy. Genuine repentance is antagonistic to indifference; it generates earnestness in the soul, it leads to the most strenuous efforts, to the most vehement cries to Heaven. “Sorrow in itself,” says F.W. Robertson, “is a thing neither good nor bad; its value depends on the spirit of the person on whom it falls. Fire will inflame straw, soften iron, or harden clay; its effects are determined by the object with which it comes in contact. Warmth develops the energies of life or helps the progress of decay. It is a great power in the hothouse, a great power also in the coffin: it expands the leaf, matures the fruit, adds precocious vigour to vegetable life; and warmth, too, develops with tenfold rapidity the weltering process of dissolution. So, too, with sorrow. There are spirits in which it develops the seminal principle of life; there are others in which it prematurely hastens the consummation of irreparable decay.”

2Co 7:12-16 – Church discipline.

“Wherefore, though I wrote unto you,” etc. The subject of these words may be regarded as that of Church discipline, and two general remarks are suggested.

I. CHURCH DISCIPLINE SHOULD BE EXERCISED FOR THE GOOD OF THE WHOLE CHURCH. “Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you.” The particular individual referred to here, on whom Paul calls discipline to be exercised, was the incestuous person (1Co 5:1). The apostle here states that this was done, not merely for the offender’s sake, nor indeed for the sake of the person whom the offender had injured (viz. his father, whose wife he had taken as his own). His object in writing was, not merely to chastise the one and to obtain justice and redress for the other, but that “our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you,” He had a larger aim; it was to prove to them how much he cared for their spiritual purity and reputation. Punishment should not only be for the reformation of the wrong doer, but as an example to others. The unhealthy branch should be cut off for the sake of the tree’s health and growth. All true chastisement for wrong aims, not only at the good of the offender, but at the good of the community at large.

II. WHEN THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH IS MANIFESTED THEREBY IT IS A JUST MATTER FOR REJOICING. “Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all.” The Church was improved by Paul’s disciplinary letter. Of this Titus had assured him, for they had “refreshed” his “spirit” during his visit among them. Their improvement, too, justified the high testimony which he had given Titus concerning them. “For if I have boasted anything to him of you, I am not ashamed,” etc. The love of Titus for them was increased by the discovery of it. “His inward affection is more abundant toward you.” Thus the godly sorrow which they manifested on account of that which was wrong amongst them, was in every way satisfactory to him; it gave him comfort, it greatly refreshed the spirit of Titus, increased his affection for them, and inspired the apostle himself with confidence and with joy.

HOMILIES BY C. LIPSCOMB

2Co 7:1 – An exhortation to perfection.

“Having therefore these promises,” which the apostle had just mentioned (2Co 6:16-18), what were the Corinthians expected to be? “Sons and daughters” of the Father, God in Christ. But the condition was, “Be ye separate, touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.” There was a character involved (“sons and daughters”); there was something to be done; then “I will receive you.” St. Paul is specific in his appeal: “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness [defilement] of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” The enlarged heart, of which he had been speaking and would soon speak again, has a tender voice, addressing them as “dearly beloved.” Nothing magisterial appears; he is one of them”Let us cleanse ourselves;” nor has he any doubt of their ability to do this thing. Separation from old associations, changes in customs and habits, call for firm resolution and self-denial; but he is well assured that God makes no promise without giving ample strength for the accepting party to comply with the terms offered. If the promises embraced every good connected with their relation to God as a Father, then they must be like God in Christ; they were to entertain no views of God, except as God in Christ, but were to reverence, love, serve him in this one single and complete relationship. The ground, motive, impulse of action, were to spring from this considerationGod in Christ as a Father. If so, the righteousness of Christ was not only to be the reason of their justification before the law of rectitude, but they were also to have that righteousness as a property of personal character. By nature they were far gone from righteousness; they were defiled, born in sin; grace had already been communicated to renew their evil character; he had written to them as “washed, sanctified, justified,” in the “name” of Christ, and by “the Spirit of our God.” As yet the work was only begun. Much was to be done. Sinful tendencies were in them which had never come under the eye of consciousness. Enemies lurked within and without, of whom they were unaware. Imperfect as they and he were, they must go on to perfection. Strength consisted in putting forth strength, to be stronger. First of all, this perfection was to be sought by purifying themselves from evil. What an amount of corruption still remained was seen in the fact of the filthiness in the flesh and spirit. Each part of our complex nature was vitiated, and each combined with the other in opposing the progress necessary to attain holiness. There were vices of the animal man. There were vices of the moral man. And there were vices resulting from the union of the two, so that a thorough and complete cleansing was required. “All filthiness;” no matter of what class or kind, hereditary or acquired, local as respected the wickedness of Corinth, or general as belonging to the human family, the wrong doing among you from the Judaizers, from the free thinkers, from all your ambitious partisanships,”cleanse” yourselves from “all filthiness,” whether of the “flesh” or the “spirit.” This was the negative side of a great and imperative duty, not all, but much, and very much, since, until this were done, they could take no direct steps towards perfection. Observe now that gross bodily sins were not the only lusts. Tempers and dispositions were just as urgent as passions and appetites in seeking unlawful enjoyments. Reflect on this point. “The spirit in us lusteth to envy.” Inordinate affections led to transgression. Nay, they often excited the body to wicked indulgences. Physical organs are frequently torpid; they are aroused by images in the intellect, and stimulated by an impure imagination; and, furthermore, after these organs, because of age or over gratification, have little or no originating force, and are well nigh worn out, the recollections of past pleasures kindle the expiring embers into a flame. Thus, indeed, depravity assumes its most licentious forms. For it is not the animal man that is the chief or the most dangerous factor in this sort of iniquity. The intellectual and moral man descends into corporeal abuses, and then it is these temptations are strongest. In many of these sins there is an element of sentiment supplied by an unholy imagination, which makes them far more tyrannical and debauching than they would be otherwise. And hence it is not the beastly possibility in man that is the greatest danger, but the Satanic agency brought to bear on the body by means of the spirit. It is the devil of the spirit that is the devil of the body. A terrible conjunction this, and yet it is not a common spectacle. Ordinarily the incipient stage of vice is a bodily evil merely. It is a matter of blood and nerves. Not such does it remain long. Satan knows his citadel, and hastens to its occupancy. While it does continue, a man may be reasoned with; he is open to shame, conscience may be reached, and concurrent motives made operative on his feelings, but when physical vice allies itself with spirit, men “glory in their shame,” and are “taken captive by Satan at his will.” In the final outcome there is but one will, and it is Satan’s will. Much more than this cleansing from the “filthiness of the flesh and spirit” is necessary, if “these promises” are to be fully realized. Therefore he adds, “perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Here we have the positive side of that experience which is demanded of those who are the “sons and daughters” of God in Christ. It is inward holiness. Under the Law, beasts were clean and unclean; things, vessels, places, were externally holy; emblems and symbols of purity abounded; manners, customs, domestic and national usages, were so ordered as to impress on the senses the difference between good and evil. Under the gospel, spiritual holiness is demanded. The circumcision is of the heart, not of the flesh; the sanitary idea of the human body, so frequently set forth in the Old Testament, is changed into that of the body as the temple of the Holy Ghost; and hence, no sooner does the Lord Jesus begin to unfold the constitution of the new kingdom in the sermon on the mount, than he speaks directly to the heart. Righteousness must exceed the righteousness of scribes and Pharisees. Impure thoughts are forbidden. Passions that have no outward voice utter their sinfulness in the ear of God; and feelings that escape not into visible acts are realities in the light of eternity. Inasmuch as the cleansing was a purification of body and spirit, St. Paul argues that the sanctification, begun in regeneration, was to continue, body and spirit sharing together the Spirit’s influence. Neither the one nor the other was to be lost sight of; neither part of the work was to be carried on in a way detrimental to perfect unity; neither was to be exaggerated at the expense of the other. But as body and spirit had been redeemed by Christ’s blood, so were both to be hallowed by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. Throughout St. Paul’s Epistles there run these two leading ideasthe sanctification of body and of spirit and if, at times, the idea of the former is prominent, and then, at other times, the idea of the latter, we must recollect that this variation was necessary to the full presentation of his subject. Great truths are not to be vividly seen except in great moods, and great moods are not habitual, but occasional. Now, this mode of displaying his subject by a rotation of. its aspects exposes the apostle to misconception. The ascetic takes him in one mood of thought, dominant at the moment, because of the nature of his argument. The mystic takes him in another. And they both do him injustice, the ascetic by laying an undue stress on bodily mortifications, the mystic by extravagance in spiritual abstractions. St. Paul is always true to his theology. He never loses his balance, never exalts spirit at the expense of body, never forgets that body is mated with spirit under an economy of permanent neutrality. Hence the argument for inward holiness, that cleansing of spirit and flesh which proceeds from the Holy Ghost in the conscience and heart, and works from the centre and seat of vitality through all the organs of life. It is growing holiness. Growth is the law of existence. The body grows until it attains its physical development, say from twenty-one to twenty-five years of age in men, and then another and much higher growth sets in, that of intellectual and moral adaptiveness to the mind, whereby the nerves, the ganglia, the brains, are brought into closer union with thought, volition, sensibility, But it is in religious life that growth is most perceptiblea growth in the fear of God, a filial and tender fear, that is jealous of its sense of sonship, and ever watchful lest it grieve the witnessing Spirit. There is an increasing delight in the discharge of duty, in taking up the daily cross, in practising self-denial, and especially in a clearer view of the ground and reason of self-denial. How the Scriptures grow upon us, the exercises of the closet, the Holy Communion, the fellowship of Christians! And, as we advance, we feel more and more the evil of sin as it is in itself. “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight.” This psalm, the roost profoundly heart searching and personal of the psalms, is nevertheless most representative of that sense of sin which forgets all else in the thought of an offended God. In that bitterest hour of David’s life, his home, other homes, a nation’s homes, involved in his terrible transgression, there is the one overwhelming reflection, “Against thee!” The growing Christian sees the innate quality of sin, its deep-seated hold, its presence in the life blood of his old nature, and learns from thence to perfect holiness, by realizing, as far as may be, the holiness of God. “By studying the character of Christ and imitating his example, this Divine holiness defines itself to his mind and engages his affections. “Looking unto Jesus” is the secret of his growth. He looks to him as the “Author” of his faith; how long ago it was! How feeble then! What gracious forbearance! The bruised reed not broken, the smoking flax not quenched! And the “Author” is the “Finisher;” for he is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Law changes into love, and love advances from one degree of strength and beauty to another, from one relation of life to another, from one victory to a victory still greater, the holy ideal rising before him and assuming new glory, and yet, as it retreats to a loftier height, drawing him towards itself with a stronger charm. “Blessed are the pure in heart.” It is far on in the Beatitudes; but it is there, thanks to God, it is there as an attainment. The pathway to it is very clearly marked out, the successive steps, the preparatory agencies, the gradual advances, the blessedness of poverty of spirit, of mourning, of meekness, of hungering and thirsting after righteousness, of mercifulness. One may know what progress he is making towards it, and this is the great thing to be known. Milestones along the road record the onward tread and assure the pilgrim of the certain goal. “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”L.

2Co 7:2-7 – Appeal for affectionate relations between himself and the Corinthians; sorrow and consolation.

The rendering of 2Co 7:2, Revised Version, is full of vigour, “Open your hearts to us: we wronged no man, we corrupted no man, we took advantage of no man.” Room in their hearts for whom? Room for him who had violated no rights, led no one astray, acted fraudulently in nothing towards any person, so that, he challenges their confidence to the full. But had he not done this before, and that very earnestly? Had he not done it again and again? Yes; but his enemies had their headquarters at Corinth; they were untiring, ever inventing new scandals, ever increasing in zealotry, for his overthrow. Now, it is a matter of interest to understand St. Paul’s motive in this frequent and vehement defence of himself. From the outset his position had been singular. Not one of the original twelve who had “companied” with the Lord Jesus, a converted persecutor and blasphemer, an apostle called to an exceptional apostleship, and placed in the forefront of that battle which was to liberate Christianity from Jewish thraldom, and preserve it from Gentile corruptions. It was inevitable that the man and the apostle should be subjected to a most critical and severe inquisition. Yet how wonderfully was this overruled! Only think of the spiritual biography that has grown out of this painful necessity of his attitude before the Church. Somewhat of this kind of writing we have in the Old Testament, particularly in the Book of Job, in the Psalms, and in Ecclesiastes, but nothing as to depth, variety, profundity, compass of experience, such as we have in St. Paul’s Epistles. In the latter we see the Christian consciousness in its early realizations, and that too in all its important aspects. For what is there in the struggles of the “new creature” with the “old Adam”? What is there in outward conflict we have not here in exactness of detail? No finer illustration of this could be given than the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. Was he simply giving his spiritual history? Nay, indeed, but writing a typical biography of the human heart under the training of the Holy Ghost. This is its distinctive meritthe portraiture of the human soul forming and shaping in the image of Christ for eternal glory. Such a mirror was needed. Of what avail a standard of doctrine without a standard of experience? Of what utility a knowledge of duties, and yet entire ignorance of the legitimate results of precepts carried into practice? From his pen we have Christianity as a system of truths; from the same pen, Christianity in personal consciousness; and the two are so wrought together and interblended, that we are no more at a loss to understand what Christianity is as an inspiration of life than a revelation of Divine wisdom. Follow the man in this chapter. Do you admire manly boldness? There it is in that second verse. Are you, touched by delicacy and tenderness? You have them in the third verse: “I say it not to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die together and live together.” Is this commonplace sentiment? Is this the language, the air, the spirit of a persecuted hero of the world? Match it if you can. “To die together and live together”this would be poetry, if it were not that rarer thing, the most impassioned and exalted prose. “In our hearts;” there they abide to die and live together. If he had written to them, it was not to condemn, but to save them, Inclined to find fault and harshly criminate? Far from him a censorious temper, “Great is my boldness of speech towards you;” and why bold? “Great is my glorying on your behalf;” and why glory? The glad spirit, free once more from its oppressive burden, cannot repress its exultation. “My boldness,” “my glorying;” just before “we” and “us” and “our,” the personal intensity bursting forth. “I am filled with comfort, I overflow with joy in all our affliction.” Such a heart authenticates itself instantly to our confidence and love. To doubt its truthfulness would be treachery to our own instincts. We all love a fervent lover. However cold and constrained our temperament, there is something divinely contagious in a spirit like St. Paul’s; and, for the sake of humanity, “great” is our “glorying” on his “behalf.” If, there, we find him in the next verses (5-7) referring to his individual solicitudes, we may be sure that this has its place in the development of Christian doctrine, going on in the history of the Church. Instead of being an insight into the private heart of the apostle only, it is likewise a most trustworthy record of religious experience, to which we may come for instruction and help when burdened by cares and anxieties. Unable to remain in Troas, because of his deep concern to hear from Corinth, he passed into Macedonia; but there was no relief from the pressure. “We were troubled on every side,” His whole nature shared the suffering of the mind, his “flesh had no rest,” and the sorrow reached such an extent that he sums it up in the condensed expressions, “without were fightings, within were fears.” Things had put on their darkest look. Yet in that very hour consolation was near by. Titus came with good tidings from Corinth, and, in his opportune arrival, St. Paul sees the good hand of God. The statement is given in an emphatic form. At first it is he “who comforteth the lowly;” and then even God “comforteth us by the coming of Titus;” and how happy Titus himself was! The visit to the Corinthians had been a blessing to his young friend, and this added much to his joy, for he participated in “the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you.” Grace to others is often grace, and the richest grace, to our own souls. And in this instance we can easily understand how a man with St. Paul’s quick sympathies entered into the experience of Titus. A delicate task had been assigned to his youthful companion, and it had been managed with success. Added to his intense pleasure growing out of the favourable change at Corinth was the gratification from the skill and efficiency of Titus’s mission. One pictures the scene of the meeting, the narration, the questions asked and answered, the frequent interruptions of the story by the sudden outbreaks of the listener’s emotion, the happy exclamations, and the surprise increasing as the detail of incidents progressed to the completion of the history. Had not St. Paul a valuable helper now? Was not God giving him a coworker precious to his heart? Could he not see the future Titus, the same who was afterwards to be associated so closely with him, and to whom he would write a pastoral letter? Those were gracious hours, and he might well say, “I rejoiced the more,” since he was not only greatly cheered by the “earnest desire,” the “mourning,” the “fervent mind” of the Corinthian brethren towards him, but was confirmed in the impression that Titus was to be a valuable auxiliary in the work now enlarging on his hands, and daily getting to be more complicated.L.

2Co 7:8-16 – True repentance and its effects; ministry of Titus.

There are reactions from our highest moods. There are reactions from our wisest deeds. Nor can it be otherwise under the present constitution of our nature. That St. Paul should have had these reactions was perfectly natural, the more so as his temperament made him liable, in an unusual degree, to their occurrence. If they did not appear in his writings we should be surprised, nor could their absence be explained but on the supposition that he was an exception in this respect to the ordinary laws of mind, and particularly to those laws as seen in men of his class. Some persons think it very strange that he should say, “Though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent.” What was his inspiration, they ask, if he could “repent” of writing his former Epistle to the Corinthians? Whatever he meant by “repent,“ he did not mean moral self-reproach, nor indeed any permanent state of mind, but simply a transient emotional condition, due probably to excess of nervous sensibility. His inspiration from the Holy Ghost was the inspiration of a man. It did not set aside his temperament. It was in perfect harmony with the characteristics of his intellect, and quite likely intensified those characteristics as related to his physical peculiarities. Who has not had these seasons of experience in which things that were very clear a few days before have been suddenly darkened? Judgments were then formed, committals made, promises given, that now seem unwise or even rash; and bow gladly would we undo what was done!and that too in matters which were entered on after long and earnest deliberation, and which proved in the sequel to be eminently fortunate. Are the arguments that led us to certain conclusions less valid now than then? No; the arguments are the same, but nerves and brain are not in the same state, not in the same vigorous tension, and, consequently, we do not see the truth and the grounds of the truth as we did when we were in fuller possession of ourselves. The logic of nerves and brain is a very wayward and fitful thing, and a very different thing from the logic of the intellect. Pascal says, in the ‘Pensees,’ “To have a series of proofs incessantly before the mind is beyond our power.” Now, in the instance under review, St. Paul would have been more or less than man not to have undergone precisely this temporary reaction. Ill health, an unusual combination of exciting circumstances, dangers of an extraordinary sort threatening the Church, a new and most promising sphere of labour and by far the greatest that had opened in his ministry overcast with sudden gloom, Titus still absent, suspense wearing upon a fortitude taxed already to the uttermost; what a lack of the human and of the genuine manliness of the human, if he had felt no uneasiness, no misgivings, no rebound! It was not weakness, but weakness struggling into strength, that led him to say, “I did repent.” Let us take comfort from the apostle’s human nature and the grace manifested in its infirmities. Companionship in weakness aspiring to get the victory is very precious to honest souls. Men are never wanting to teach us the ideals of life. What is needed far more is to have traced in a distinct manner the progress of the soul towards perfection. Who in this respect can compare with the Apostle Paul? Who has delineated the Christian consciousness in all its various moods, in all its alternations, in its baffled endeavours, in its victorious strength, and done it in such a natural way that the lowliest heart feels at home in his fellowship and finds no language of its own so much its own as the words in which he tells how he sorrowed and how he rejoiced? Lest they should misunderstand his joy by supposing that he had any pleasure in their pain, he explains (verse 9) why he was happy. They had “sorrowed to repentance.” Instructed by the doctrinal truths he had unfolded in the First Epistle, moved by his entreaties, made conscious of their delinquencies, made ashamed of their gross inattention to discipline, they had repented of their backslidings and reformed their evil doings. A “godly sorrow” had they shown, and could anything “godly” be deplored? Least of all, could a “godly sorrow” over envy and jealousy, over strife and schismatic partisanships, over vices tolerated in the bosom of the Churchcould such a sorrow be regretted? It was “godly,” indeed, for it had wrought out its true nature and was known by its fruits. Of course he gave it a doctrinal form, and, for all time, thus reads one of the most vital and solemn of all Christian verities: “Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of.” Well might he claim that they had received “damage in nothing.” It was all gain, infinite gain. Notice the development of the thought. A true repentance is from God. Christ said that the Holy Spirit should come to rebuke “the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” It is not our idea of sin, but God’s idea, that enables us to realize what sin is, and this proceeds from the Spirit. Think of it as we may, study its consequences, feel its enormity as far as we can, look at the paradise it blighted, read its records on the earth, picture the hell it has created; this is not that sense of the guilt of sin which leads to repentance. Not what sin is in our sight, but what it is in God’s sight, determines the estimate of the penitent. And just in the degree that this initial process is from the illumination and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in that same degree is the work genuine and profound. Large allowance must be made for individuality of character. Modes of thinking, habits of feeling, education and circumstances, must be taken into consideration, since men are very thoroughly personal when God comes to dear with their souls. Nevertheless, the truth cannot be stated too strongly, that repentance is a “godly sorrow” only so far as the Holy Ghost is concerned in the work. And, further, it is salutary. It works no “damage.” Now, at this point, the apostle confesses that he had been anxious, and certainly there was ground for anxiety. To rebuke men for their sins is the most difficult and the most hazardous of all the functions devolved on a minister of the gospel. Happy the minister who can say that he has not done “damage,” some time in his career, in this particular. But in the present case all had turned out well. The censure, the exhortation, the personal lovingness, he had put into his letter, had blended in one gracious influence, so that conscience had witnessed to conscience, heart to heart, energy on their part to decision and resoluteness on his part, and a result most blessed to him, to Titus, to the Church, had been effected. It was not the sorrow of the world that “worketh death.” Instead of that, it had wrought life, a renewed and most hopeful life, a change so glorious that it would never be repented of. But he would particularize. If the repentance had been “godly,” and therefore without “damage,” he would show them the full meaning of these worsts. “Behold this selfsame thing.” He would arouse their attention and concentrate thought on this manifestation of God’s mercy. To see it they must look within. What a transformation! Lately so careless, so insensible, so puffed up, even the Holy Communion shockingly abused; what save a “godly sorrow” could bring about a radical change? It was a sorrow to humble them, not to “damage” them. It was not the sorrow of the world, mortifying to pride and vanity, intensifying to selfishness, driving to desperation, and arming the soul in deadlier hostility to goodness. The proof of all this was at hand. Carefulness; activity and diligence in ferreting out evils and extirpating them. Clearing of themselves; anxiety to get rid of the stain on their Church character, and stand fair with the apostle. Indignation; not only against the incestuous man, but that feeling of self-vexation which arises when we see the folly and evil of our conduct. Fear; lest a heavier punishment should come from God than that already experienced. Longing; fervent desire to do better. Zeal; industrious effort in discharging their duties, and especially such duties as concerned Church discipline. Avenging the wrong done by punishment so as to evince their sincerity of amendment. Yea; repeated in every item, specified that each element of the sentence might maintain its proper degree of force. Finally, his hearty commendation; in every respect, approving themselves to be right minded in this matter. A word of justification for himself follows. Not for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor for his sake who had suffered the wrong, had he written, but that their earnest care in his behalf might be manifested And his apostleship honoured. In the name of God he had called them to repentance, and they had promptly hearkened to the Divine message. Once more the power of the gospel had been vindicated, and “therefore we have been comforted.” Throughout the affair he had been intensely personal, but had he been actuated by selfishness, or had any element of selfishness mixed with his motives, this personal intensity could not have assumed the form presented in his conduct. Yet in that hour of gladness there was an uppermost joy. A beautiful touch of nature it is when he says that he “joyed the more exceedingly” on account of his young associate Titus, “because his spirit was refreshed by you all.” The long-continued trouble seems over now. The unrest, the fightings without and the fears within, Ephesus and Troas and Macedonia, pass out of presence, and the only spectacle left in the horizon of vision is Paul the apostle standing firmly on the historic soil he has won for Christ, with Titus at his side, in whose blooming spring time his eye reads the harvest not far off. “O ye Corinthians, our heart is enlarged.” Can he express his gratification too often, too freely? Once again, “I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.”L.

HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON

2Co 7:1 – Holiness.

It is too customary for religions of human origin and authority to lay stress upon merely external and ceremonial purity. Many such religions pay not the slightest attention to the higher claims of morality. Now, Judaism used all its ceremonial cleansings as means for developing the idea of true morality. And Christianity is emphatically a religion of holiness. This appears from considering the unique and sinless character of Christ, the spirituality of his teaching; and further, from the atonement he has made for sin, and the provision for true purity made in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit.

I. THE NEGATIVE VIEW OF HOLINESS. The text assumes that man’s state is naturally impure, that his heart is defiled and polluted by sin, that his life is stained and dyed with its moral blackness. Hence the admonition to cleanse:

1. From all filthiness of the flesh. There was a special reason why this should be made prominent in addressing the Corinthians, inasmuch as not only was their city celebrated for its licentiousness, but the Church itself had tolerated a flagrant case of immorality. The sins of the flesh are indeed the especial fault of those who have lately been rescued from the corruptions of paganism; yet we shall mislead ourselves if we suppose that, in any state of civilization or Christian privilege, men are free from temptations to offences of this kind.

2. From all filthiness of the spirit. Our Lord himself has been careful and faithful to warn against these; the heart may sin as well as the body. In fact, it is the heart that needs to be the first and chief seat of purification.

II. THE POSITIVE VIEW OF HOLINESS. The expression is noticeable, “perfecting holiness.” Such language implies:

1. That there are degrees of moral purity, and that it is expected of the Christian that he should go forward, from one stage to another, conquering sin, achieving new degrees of virtue, and leaving infirmities behind.

2. It is implied also that this is to be the result of effort. No sanction can be found here for that quietism which represents holiness as acquired without effort, struggle, and conquest.

3. Yet it is to be understood that in this process we stand in need of the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit, whose distinctive work is a work of sanctification.

III. THE CHRISTIAN MOTIVES TO HOLINESS. They are represented here as two.

1. The fear of God, by which we understand a reverence for his holy character, respect for his holy Law, and a proper dread lest we should by disobedience incur his displeasure and indignation.

2. The promises of God. The promises here adduced are indeed sufficient to animate us to the most ardent efforts. The favour and indwelling of the Eternal, his most tender representations of his fatherhood, and his assured consideration and treatment of us as his beloved children,these surely are promises which should and will exercise a mighty influence over the heart and urge to a cheerful and consecrated obedience.T.

2Co 7:3. – In our hearts.

The strong personal feeling which breathes throughout this Epistle is at its strongest here. Paul claims to occupy a very close and tender relation to these Corinthians; however they may feel towards himand he acknowledges that they have shown respect to his authority and have caused him joyhe holds them very dear. “Not merely are you,” he seems to say, “on our lips, not merely are your names upon our pen, not merely do we keep you in memory; ‘ye are in our hearts to die together and live together.'”

I. HOW TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS AFFECTIONATE INTEREST. The feeling here described is appropriate in the case of all Christian ministers in relation to those placed in their spiritual charge.

1. The general reason: Christ’s friendship towards his people is the model and the motive of the friendship which obtains among them mutually. There is something distinctively Christian in sentiments and relations of this kind. Not kindred, not interest, but fellowship in Christ, constitutes the bond of union.

2. The special reason: labour and suffering deepen interest and strengthen and hallow love. The apostle had toiled for these Corinthians, had exposed himself to danger on their behalf, had suffered anguish of spirit through their unspirituality and folly. Hence the tender interest, resembling maternal affection, which he cherished towards them.

3. The personal reason. Many of the members of this congregation had come to love their evangelist, to regard him as the minister of God to their souls; and he had found in their devotion a rich reward for all he had done for their good. Those who would benefit their fellow men spiritually and lastingly must have them “in their hearts.” This will give a zest, a vigour, to all efforts for their good.

II. IN WHAT RESPECT TO TRACE THE RESULTS OF THIS AFFECTIONATE INTEREST. If the heart be the very spring of action, the true explanation of conduct, it may be expected that the minister who has his people in his heart will be by that fact powerfully affected in his ministerial life.

1. Such a minister will leave no labour unaccomplished which may tend to the good of his people. Much occurs to deject the zealous servant of God; and, as a mere matter of duty, it will often be hard for him to persevere in his endeavours. But, prompted by love, he will not grow weary or hopeless, but will persevere in his faithful efforts and sacrifices.

2. Such a spiritual labourer will be either distressed or cheered by the treatment with which he may meet from those to whom he ministers. We may be indifferent as to the conduct of some of our acquaintances; but those who are in our hearts must needs give us either satisfaction and comfort or anxiety and grief. Let all hearers of the gospel, all members of the Church, consider how deeply their action must affect the hearts of God’s servants.

3. The true minister hopes to enjoy the society of his people in the heavenly state. So closely are pastor and flock united, that in heart, in feeling, they may be said to “die together” as well as to “live together.” The saved are to those who have been helpful in their salvation their joy and crown of rejoicing in the world of glory.T.

2Co 7:5 – Fighting and fears.

The course of the apostle was one remarkably varied sometimes prosperous, sometimes adverse. At the time when he wrote this Epistle he looked back upon a period of trouble, contention, and opposition, and upon experiences of suffering and disappointment. His nature was not one to pass through life unmoved; he was sensitive to all influences. And at Ephesus, at Troas, and in that Macedonia from which he was now writing, Paul had endured much which was fitted to harass and depress his mind. Never was affliction more comprehensively summed up than in the language he here employs”without, fightings; within, fears.”

I. THE TROUBLES WHICH ASSAIL THE CHRISTIAN WORKER FROM WITHOUT.

1. Opposition to his doctrine. This Paul experienced, and this every servant of Christ must expect, both from open enemies of Christianity and from false brethren who corrupt the truth.

2. Persecution. That the apostle was exposed to this, the record of his life abundantly proves; and, in the first age, as at many subsequent periods, such experience was common. Thus the Master suffered, and thus his servants must expect to suffer like him.

II. THE TROUBLES WHICH ASSAIL THE CHRISTIAN WORKER FROM WITHIN. What were the “fears” to which St. Paul refers? We can but conjecture.

1. Fear lest there had been a want of wisdom, or devotion, in the services undertaken.

2. Fear lest the work of the Lord should have suffered through any insufficiency on the part of the worker.

3. Fear lest at last the labourer should fail of acceptance and approval.

III. THE SUPPORT AND CONSOLATION PROVIDED FOR THE CHRISTIAN WORKER TO SUSTAIN HIM UNDER THESE TROUBLES.

1. The testimony of a good conscience, that, however imperfectly and inadequately the service has been rendered, it has yet been rendered in sincerity.

2. The assurance that an overruling Providence has remarked and has permitted all that has taken place, even to the temporary discouragement of the toiler for Christ.

3. The conviction that in such trouble the servant has had fellowship with his Lord.

4. The hope and expectation that light affliction will work out an exceeding and eternal weight of glory.T.

2Co 7:6 – The Comforter of the lowly.

We are accustomed to think of the apostle as the soldier of the cross, the hero of the spiritual war. And this is just. Nevertheless, we should not forget that he had a human heart, with human susceptibilities and cravings; that he knew what it was to be weary, disappointed, and sorrowful, and what it was to be consoled, encouraged and elated. This Epistle represents him as bitterly distressed by the conduct of the Corinthian Christians, and yet as truly comforted by the tidings brought by Titus and by the brotherly fellowship and sympathy of his youthful colleague.

I. THE NEED OF COMFORT. This is owing to the fact that Christian people and Christian workers are sometimes among the downcast, the lowly, the depressed. It is a permitted experience of human life, and there are reasons, some of them obvious enough, why the faithful and zealous servant of Christ should not be exempt from such feelings. It may be necessary, in order to keep him humble, to preserve him from self-confidence, to cherish within him a spirit of dependence upon Divine assistance.

II. THE AUTHOR OF COMPORT. This view which the apostle here takes of God may to some seem derogatory to his dignity. But it should rather be regarded as setting God’s character in an admirable and attractive light. If God has made the human heart such as it is, if he has appointed its varied experiences, it cannot be beneath him to minister to that nature which is his own handiwork, to overrule to highest ends those circumstances which his wisdom has created. He has delighted to reveal himself to his people as a God of consolation, especially when their hearts have been most sore and their cry most piercing.

III. THE MEANS OF DIVINE COMFORT. These means accord with the nature with which the Creator has endowed us, and are none the less honouring to his wisdom because they are often of the simplest kind. The case of Paul illustrates this.

1. The presence and brotherly kindness of a friend is consolatory to the afflicted; e.g. the coming of Titus.

2. The good tidings that reach the downcast cheer the soul; e.g. good news concerning the Corinthian Church.

3. The assurance of affection and sympathy on the part of those whose welfare is sought (vide verses 7-9).T.

2Co 7:10 – Sorrow and repentance.

here is only one way to avoid sorrow, and that is to avoid sin. Even then sympathy will awaken sorrow on account of the sin of others. But so long as there is evil in this world, so long will it be a world of anguish and of tears It is not the sorrow which is to be regretted, but the sin which is its cause. “They that lack time to mourn lack time to mend.”

I. THE SORROW OF THE WORLD. The ungodly may sorrow because they have sinned. But observe:

1. What are the characteristics of this sorrow. When the irreligious are rebuked and chastened for their wrong doing, their vanity is wounded, their anger is excited, their resentment is aroused, they are vexed because they lose the favour of their neighbours or suffer in reputation.

2. The issue of this sorrow is death; instead of being profitable, it is deleterious, drawing the thoughts away from the moral heinousness of sin, and confirming the sinner in courses whose only end is spiritual death.

II. THE SORROW WHICH IS GODLY.

1. This is occasioned by the recognition of the sin as an offence against the Divine Law. “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned.”

2. And by the feeling that sin is a grief to the Divine heart. As a tender child grieves to hurt his father’s spirit, so a truly sensitive nature is pained in the very pain of Christ.

3. And by the knowledge that human sin brought the holy Saviour to the cross.

4. And is heightened by the knowledge that privileges have been abused and grace defied.

III. THE REPENTANCE TO WHICH GODLY SORROW LEADS. It is a change of mind and purpose; a turning away from the error, the folly, the unbelief of the past, a turning away from temptation and from the society of the sinful, a turning to God as he has revealed in Christ his infinite mercy and loving-kindness. Especially is this repentance that “which bringeth no regret.” He who comes out of bondage into liberty can never rue his choice.

IV. THE ULTIMATE ISSUE OF TRUE REPENTANCE. This is salvation, which contrasts with that death to which worldly sorrow leads. Such is the appointment of Infinite Wisdom. And be who studies this process must acknowledge that, to a true and eternal salvation, there can be no other path than the path of repentance and of faith.T.

2Co 7:13 – Refreshment of spirit.

The very decidedly personal character of this Epistle is the occasion of its bringing before the reader some topics to which otherwise his attention might not be directed. The writer, his friends and colleagues, Timothy and Titus, the several persons in the Corinthian Church alluded to, the community which was called upon to take action,all seem to live before us. Human feelings appear in the light of Christian truth, privilege, and duty. The experiences of the heart are represented as hallowed and elevated by the principles of spiritual religion. Titus is depicted as visiting Corinth, as received with respect, and as obeyed with alacrity, and consequently as cherishing a deepened affection for the Corinthian Christians, as rejoicing because of their attitude of spirit and their united action, and, in fact, as refreshed in spirit by his visit to them.

I. THE SPIRIT‘S NEED OF REFRESHMENT. This may arise from:

1. Weariness in labour. One may become weary in the work when not weary of it.

2. Disappointment in efforts made for the good of others. When energy and self-denial have done their best, and no results have followed, or at all events none have become apparent, the spirit is sometimes saddened and dejected.

3. Opposition, whether from the world without or from professed brethren, produces a most disheartening effect upon the sensitive nature.

III. THE POWER OF TRUE CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP TO REFRESH THE SPIRIT. It does this in many ways.

1. It brings home the conviction that the Christian labourer is not alone. He may be disposed to lament, as Elijah did, that he is left alone in the world; but it is not so, and there are occasions upon which he realizes this.

2. It sometimes takes the form of appreciation of services rendered on behalf of the brotherhood. The pastor finds that his visits have been valued; the preacher that his word has been a living seed in hearts of which he had thought there was but little that was good; the admonition awakens confessions, acknowledgments, resolutions, which were but little expected.

3. United exercises of praise and prayer react upon the weary soul; listlessness, discouragement, disappear; the whole nature is braced by Heaven-born energy for new and happier service.T.

HOMILIES BY E. HURNDALL

2Co 7:1 – The promises of God an incentive to holy living

I. CONSIDER THE DIVINE PROMISES.

1. How numerous they are. Some are specified in preceding verses. Divine promise is, however, found in all parts of the Scripture. The crown of revelation is thickly studded with the pearls of promise. God encourages his people by multiplying promises to them.

2. How varied. There are promises suited to every conditionfor joy, sorrow, sickness, health, penury, prosperity, weakness, strength. We change greatly in experience, but in every new condition we find a promise appropriate to it. The manna of promise covers the path of pilgrimage.

3. How needful to us. For our support, guidance, comfort, encouragement, happiness, advance. God’s promises are our rods and staffs. Were it not for such upholdings, we should soon sink in the mire.

4. How precious. What promises are like unto these? How can we compute the value of that which is invaluable? Divine promises are things by themselves. Nothing could compensate for their loss. Of such value are they that only a God is rich enough to bestow them.

5. How faithful. What reliance may be placed upon them! They are all “yea” and “amen” in Christ (2Co 1:20). Promises, indeed, are easily obtained from men, but what men fail in is fulfilment. But the word of Jehovah cannot be broken. His promises are precious, but they are not more precious than sure.

6. Divine promise culminates in such special promises as those given in preceding verses (2Co 6:16-18): God’s engagement to dwell within us; God’s continuous adoption of us, whereby we are ever his sons and daughters. If these things be ours, then all things are ours.

II. CONSIDER THE LIFE TO WHICH THESE PROMISES SHOULD LEAD.

1. Sins of the flesh should be discarded. If we are God’s, our body is the temple of God (2Co 6:16). Such a temple must be kept pure. Such sins as intemperance, gluttony, lust, etc., must be renounced by the child of God. We are to glorify God in our bodies (1Co 6:20). Many forget how truly they may do so. Sins of the flesh are defilements of the flesh. If we defile the temple of God, God will not bless us, but curse us (1Co 3:17). It is not enough to be pure within, we must be pure without also. Our whole being must be consecrated to God and ruled by his laws.

2. Sins of the spirit must be renounced. Such sins as pride, malice, wrath, envying, falsehood, idolatry, impure conceptions, etc. Many cleanse the exterior only; they whiten the sepulchre, but trouble not about the dead bones within. Many are quite satisfied with external piety; God is not. Note: Sins of the spirit lead to sins of the flesh, and vice versa.

3. We are to seek complete holiness. We are to cleanse ourselves from “all” defilement. We are to “perfect holiness.” We are not to be easily satisfied with ourselves. ‘Tis not enough to do a little and then rest. The statue must be finished; it is begun that it may be completed. The ideal set before us is a high one. Like the painter, the poet, the orator, we must strive to realize this ideal. We are not to rest until all things have become new.

4. All should be done in the fear of God. Our duty to God must influence us more than our own happiness or the welfare of others. True life is a life which is full of God. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” and the fear of the Lord runs throughout the truly wise life. Much righteousness is society-satisfying righteousness; social sanction takes the place of Divine; our fellows become our god. In our righteousness we must seek to please and satisfy God. Fear of God’s disapprobation will spur us to sterner efforts.

5. Earnest effort on our part is necessary, The apostle says, “Let us cleanse ourselves.” Many wait for God when God is waiting for them. Our salvation is ascribed to God; nevertheless, we are enjoined to work it out; and our efforts to work out our salvation are the evidence that God is working in us. All cleansing of our life is voluntary on our side; and there is no high spiritual life without striving.

III. CONSIDER WHY GOD‘S PROMISES SHOULD LEAD TO SUCH A LIFE.

1. Gratitude. This is a life well pleasing to God. He in his promises has done how much for us I What is our” reasonable service”?

2. The fulfilment of the Divine promises is conditional upon our seeking to live the new life. Newness of living is the evidence of newness of condition. God’s promises are made to God’s people, or to those who sincerely desire to be his people; but if we do not walk in righteousness we have evidently believed in vain. We are then only of the nominal, not the real, Israel; and the promises are for the latter, not the former. The nominal Jews lost their privileges because they possessed only nominal piety. All God’s promises are conditional. If we are not fruit-bearing trees, we must expect not to be cared for, but to be cut down. The promises of God are not for any save those who walk in his fear and love.H.

2Co 7:2-4 – Christian affection.

I. HINDERS WRONG DOING. Paul had many reasons for not in any way injuring the Corinthians, but his love for them was certainly one. He loved them too well to wilfully do them any evil. As true love to God leads to obedience to Divine commands and abstention from injuring the Divine kingdom, so love to men leads us to consult their interests. We should love men too well to harm them. This check of love is very beautiful as well as very powerful. It is love, after all, that rules the world; only, alas! it is largely love of self and love of sin.

II. LEADS TO FAITHFUL UTTERANCE. The apostle was very outspoken to the Corinthians because of his great love for them. His love rendered silence impossible. If we love our brother much we shall not suffer sin upon him. Blindness and dumbness towards the sins of our brethren are cruelty, not kindness. If we find it practically impossible to admonish the erring, it is not because we love them so much, but because we love them so little. Ministers and teachers should have great boldness of speech. A house dog is no good unless he barks. A surgeon who never uses the knife deserves few patients. Faithful speech is a true child of the chief of the graces.

III. SHOULD BE VERY INTENSE TOWARDS BELIEVERS, ESPECIALLY TOWARDS OUR SPIRITUAL CHILDREN. The only manacles of the children of God are golden ones. Believers can be truly knit together by love alone. The cement joining together the living stones of God’s house is love. Churches without love are scandalous spectacles to the world, dens of misery in themselves, and hateful in the sight of God. But love can make a happy family out of otherwise incongruous elements, and a holy family out of elements still marked by imperfections. A particular affection should be cherished towards those whom we have led to Christ. Paul’s affection for his spiritual children was remarkable; yet not greater than ours ought to be. If we love such greatly, we can do much for them; our love to them and special relation will give us power over them. They will need guidance, counsel, possibly admonition. A great love for them will prompt to great efforts on their behalf. Paul’s love made him cleave to his converts; they were in his heart “to die together and live together” (2Co 7:3).

IV. SHOULD BE STRONG ENOUGH TO BEAR A GREAT STRAIN. It is very likely to be subjected to this. So easy is it to love when we are loved, deferred to, obeyed, courteously treated; so difficult otherwise. But apostolic love could bear this test (see 2Co 12:15). We are apt to love ideal persons, or to suppose that the real persons of our affection have ideal excellences. Love is tested when we discover the many imperfections in the objects of our affection; but love ought to bear the test. Profitably may we remember that, if we see faults in others, they probably see not a few in us.

V. WILL OFTEN TRIUMPH OVER OPPOSITION. If you want to conquer men, love them. Persist in loving the unlovely. Some hearts may not yield even to love, but nothing is likely to bring them so near to yielding. There is mighty power in love. But it must be real, solid, test-bearing, abiding. Paul’s great power was love power.

VI. BRINGS MUCH JOY TO THOSE EXERCISING IT. It has its pains, but these are chastened. It is the unloving heart which is the unrejoicing heart. Especially is the joy great when this love is reciprocated or begins to triumph. Paul’s cup ran over when the Corinthians yielded to his love. He could say, “I overflow with joy in all our affliction” (2Co 7:4). God is love, and God lives in unsullied bliss. If we were more like God in love we should be more like God in joy. The atmosphere of heaven is love; if we breathe this atmosphere on earth we experience heavenly delight.

VII. FITS US FOR USEFULNESS. A less loving apostle than Paul could never have done Paul’s work. The greatest teacher the world has ever seen was the One who had most love. Love drives us to usefulness and qualifies us for it at the same time. If we would be more educated for Christian service, let us labour to take a higher degree in the university of love. The world wants Christian workers whose hearts are full of apostolic, yea, of Christ-like, love.H.

2Co 7:5-7 – Ministerial sorrows and their alleviation.

I. MUCH SORROW IS OFTEN THE PORTION OF MINISTERS OF CHRIST. Arising from various causes, such as:

1. Bodily weakness. Some seem to forget that ministers have bodies at all. Certainly many expect them at all times to be ready for their duties. Ministerial work is very trying to bodily strength. And ministerial work is exceedingly painful in bodily sickness and infirmity. Here many ministers bring ranch sorrow upon themselves by carelessness as to the body. In some Churches it might be a good thing to appoint a deacon whose special function should be to see that the pastor took sufficient open air exercise.

2. Mental weariness. The mind soon tires. The Lord’s servant has often to do his wink with a flagging brain. Great sorrow is felt when the need of work is seen and the capacity not possessed through exhaustion.

3. Mental depression. “Fears within.” Sometimes experienced in the very midst of success, When under adverse circumstances, it becomes indeed a Marah of bitterness.

4. Church troubles. A Church, carefully planted with prayers and tears and toil, threatened with ruin or with severe injury. Factious opposition”fightings without.” Misrepresentation; ingratitude; division.

5. The inconsistencies of believers. The true pastor deeply loves his spiritual children, and can say, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3Jn 1:4). But when they go astray, when they dishonour the cause to which they belong, his anxiety becomes intense and his grief profound; when they grow careless, idle, worldly; when the prayer meetings and more spiritual gatherings are neglected; when no spirit of zeal burns in their hearts or is manifested in their lives.

6. The callousness of the impenitent. When the wave of his own earnestness beats upon the rock of carnality, and is dashed back, leaving the rock as hard and cold as ever. When the very heart of a man is nearly preached out of him, and yet no sigh follows.

7. The opposition of men of the world. The sneer of the sceptic, and his insidious efforts, The open or covert endeavour of ungodly men to hinder the progress of the truth.

8. Personal difficulties, doubts, and temptations. The minister has his own spiritual life to care for, and whilst it might easily be concluded that his special work is pre-eminently favourable to that life, the fact is that ministerial labours involve very special temptations, and that much grace is needed to preserve a spiritual tone. The minister, too, is the favourite target of Satan and of the followers of Satan. These troubles are cumulative. Many, and sometimes all, press at the same time; and yet the all-responsible work of the ministry has to be carried on under such conditions. Well may one cry, “Who is sufficient for these things?”

II. NOTE SOME ALLEVIATIONS OF MINISTERIAL SORROW.

1. Conviction of the Divine approval. The faithful minister often has this Joy, and may always have it if he will. This is enough to make any man brave in peril, and to cheer any man in heaviest sorrow. This was one of Paul’s sheet anchors.

2. A good conscience. If conscience does not condemn, we may pluck up our courage. Still, a man must not conclude too easily that he is faultless. There are some over-contented, non-successful ministers who are a bane to the Church.

3. Realization of the grandeur of the work. The soul sinks when this is lost sight of or obscured. The soul rises when the service of Christ is seen in a clear, true light.

4. Evidences that labour is not in vain. God sends some Titus with good news. Conversions, causing joy in the presence of the angels of God, cause joy also in the pastor’s heart of hearts. Here is infinite compensation for all toil, anxiety, and suffering.

5. Suitable response of those under charge when appealed to. Paul’s joy was largely caused by the Corinthian response to the First Epistle. When the inconsistent give up much of their inconsistency under pastoral admonition; when the worldly become more spiritual; when the indifferent become earnest;then the under shepherd is made glad indeed.

6. The anticipation of the Master‘s commendation at last. Paul ever had regard to “the crown of righteousness.” If we can but please our Master, everything else must be a matter of comparative indifference.

Applies to some extent to all Christian workers. All such are “ministers,” and in their degree share in ministerial joys and sorrows.H.

2Co 7:8-15 – Marks of true penitence.

I. TRUE REPENTANCE IS IN CONTRAST WITH THE SORROW or THE WORLD. It is the fruit of “godly sorrow” (2Co 7:10). It is sorrow “after a godly sort” (2Co 7:9), or “according to God.” It makes us see sin as against God. It is coming to the mind of God as to sin. It leads to salvationto eternal life. It is never the subject of regret, but of thankfulness. The sorrow of the world is not because of sin, but because of its penal consequences. It issues in death because it still holds to the sin. It is a regret that sin in any stage should be so painful. It would reform hell by banishing its pains, not its wickedness.

II. IT INVOLVES DEEP SOLICITUDE. (2Co 7:11.) Opposed to prior indifference. The Corinthians had regarded their sin as of little importance, but now they feel far otherwise towards it. So unrepentant men boast that they have sinned so little. Job said, “I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” When true penitence is begotten in the heart, the time for carelessness in respect of sin has gone, and the time of carefulness has come. Sin is no longer a light matter, but one most momentous and urgent.

III. RENUNCIATION OF THE EVIL. Thus the Corinthians sought to clear themselves (verse 11). Before, they had connived; now, they repudiated. True repentance involves a desire to be separate from the sin. The evil thing is renounced. To hold to the evil, whilst we profess to repent of it, is to demonstrate that we do not repent at all.

IV. DETESTATION OF THE EVIL. (Verse 11) We may renounce what we still love, but in true penitence the mind is enlightened, the true nature of sin is perceived, and the soul ceases to love and begins to loathe it. Sin is detested, and self is detested because self has sinned. The soul is roused against sin; there is “indignation.”

V. FEAR. (Verse 11.)

1. Of the Divine wrath.

2. Of again sinning.

VI. DESIRE FOR RESTORATION. (Verse 11.)

1. To the approval of righteous men.

2. To peace with conscience.

3. Above all, to the favour of God.

VII. ZEAL. (Verse 11.)

1. In immediately taking a right course.

2. In seeking to remedy the effects of sin.

3. For God’s honour.

VIII. CONVICTION THAT SIN DESERVES PUNISHMENT. (Verse 11.) A sense of justice is aroused. It does not seem wrong for the sinner to be punished then, but right. Hearts unstirred by true penitence carp at and question sin-penalties. But “godly sorrow” gives to sin a tongue crying loudly for wrath. When sin is rightly apprehended it becomes an evil for sin not to be punished. This applies to ourselves; we condemn ourselves. This applies to others; we feel that they ought to be condemned. “Yea, what avenging!”

IX. A HUMBLE, TEACHABLE SPIRIT. (Verse 15.) Godly sorrow breaks down pride. The Corinthians before had found fault with the teaching of Paul himself. Now they are willing to be taught by one of his disciples.H.

2Co 7:9-11 – Two kinds of sorrow.

Reproof works well when it induces sorrow toward God and issues in repentance. But of sorrow there are two kinds.

I. THE SORROW OF THE WORLD.

1. Its nature. It is regret for worldly loss, or, if for faults and sins, it is for them as bringing worldly discredit. It is vexation, not for wrong done, so much as for damage incurred, credit spoilt, advantage missed, pride wounded.

2. Its issues. It works death. It wears the mind, sours the temper, fills the breast with discontent, takes away all zest of exertion, chokes the heart with resentment and chagrin. It actually kills; a rankling annoyance or shame tends both to embitter and to shorten life. There are more than is commonly believed dying of vexation; as Spenser has it

“Dying each day with inward wounds of Dolour’s dart.”

II. SORROW ACCORDING TO GOD.

1. Its nature. It springs from a sense of sin in the light of God, and in relation to his Name, Law, and glory. It is the grief of a mind that has learnt to honour, observe, and follow the Lord, and therefore mourns for sin as committed against heaven and in his sight. See the sorrow of the world in King Saul, who, when he was reproved by the prophet, admitted, “I have sinned;” but immediately added this request to Samuel, “Yet honour me now.” See the sorrow according to God in King David, who, when he was reproved by a prophet, said. “I have sinned against Jehovah,” and then prayed the fifty-first psalm, saying, “Hide thy face from my sins.”

2. Its result. It works “repentance to salvation,” otherwise described as “repentance toward God” and “repentance unto life.” The sorrow does not exhaust itself in emotion, but induces a change of mind, a turning from sin to God, and so from death to life. And such repentance will never be regretted. St. Paul had regretted his first letter, but now did not regret it, since he learned the good effect it had produced. A minister of Christ may have to speak sharply to men about their sins. He may have to regret that he evaded such duty or spoke smooth things, but not that he brought trouble to the consciences of sinners or godly sorrow to their hearts. And many a hearer of the Word may have to grieve that he was deaf to reproof, but none that he listened to it and mourned for his sin. No one will ever regret that he repented toward God.

3. Its further issues and evidences. The moral earnestness which was connected with sorrow according to and repentance toward God showed itself thus at Corinth. “What carefulness it wrought in you!” What diligence! Blessed is the reproof, healthy is the sorrow, which puts a stop to trifling, and makes us face the reality and feel the seriousness of living in God’s sight. We must not then excuse our faults or count them unavoidable, but set about the correction of them with all diligence. “Yea, what a clearing of yourselves!” What solicitude to be right with God! “Yea, what indignation!” What lively abhorrence of evil! “Yea, what fear! yea, what longing desire!” What anxiety to satisfy the apostle, or any servant of God who has brought our sins home to our conscience, that we are and mean to be what he would approve! Thus the effect of godly sorrow is to make the heart tender and affectionate as well as pure. “Yea, what zeal” in reformation! “Yea, what revenge!” What holy severity against sin! When a sinner, charged with his offences against God, stands on his defence, he is fertile in excuses. The sin was a little one; or the motive was not bad; or the provocation or temptation was great; or the circumstances almost compelled him; or he did it without thought; or he did as others do. But when he is convinced of the Holy Ghost and moved with godly sorrow, he has no plea, and does not wish to have any excuse pleaded for him. He wants rather to have revenge upon his sin, and abhors himself on account of it, repenting in dust and ashes. There is no peace for his conscience but in the sin-purging blood of Jesus Christ. When the believer (and this rather than the other is the case which this text suggests) is reproved for grave inconsistency, moral earnestness is roused within him. Not that he is bound to accept the strictures and rebukes of ill-natured and censorious persons who call it Faithfulness to find fault freely with their neighbours. But let a righteous man smite him, and he takes it as an excellent oil. As his fault is shown to his conscience, he scorns to excuse it. He breaks off the sin by righteousness, and that with a sort of sacred indignation, not against the reprover, but against the thing reproved. Indeed, a sorrow God-ward for one fault works a repentance for all sin. As Gurnal says, One spot occasions the whole garment to be washed. A careful man, when he findeth it rain in at one place, sends forth the workmen to look over all the roof. So should the discovery of one fault lead to a general renewal of self-examination and repentance; and sorrow for one sin should rend the heart for all sins.”F.

HOMILIES BY R. TUCK

2Co 7:1 – The practical power of the promises.

The Apostle John gives a very similar counsel. In 1Jn 3:3 he says, “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” Our hope is based upon the promises; and the promises which the apostle has been recalling to mind are

(1) the indwelling of God;

(2) his free reception of us; and

(3) his fatherhood and our sonship, with all the love and care and keeping which these involve (2Co 6:16-18).

St. Paul argues in this wayBecause you are saved, because you have entered into such a state of privilege, because you are covered by such “exceeding great and precious promises,” therefore be in earnest to cleanse yourselves from all evil, watch over all the various forms of conduct, and seek to tone and purify every expression of the life. The expression, “filthiness of the flesh and spirit,” needs explanation. St. Paul evidently had in mind the immoralities which are associated with idolatry, and which the Corinthian Church had treated too lightly when brought into their midst by the incestuous member. Writing of the apostle’s association with Corinth, Archdeacon Farrar says, “There was one characteristic of heathen life which would come home to him with overwhelming force, and fill his pure soul with infinite pain. It was the gross immorality of a city conspicuous for its depravity even amid the depraved cities of a dying heathenism. Its very name had become a synonym for reckless debauchery … So far from acting as a check upon this headlong immorality, religion had there taken under its immediate protection the very pollutions which it was its highest function to suppress. It was to the converts of this city that he addressed most frequently, and with most solemn warning and burning indignation, his stern prohibition of sensual crime. It was to converts drawn frown the reeking haunts of its slaves and artisans that he writes that they too had once been sunk in the lowest depths of sin and shame. It is of this city that we hear the sorrowful admission that in the world of heathendom a pure life and an honest life was a thing well nigh unknown.” Distinguishing between the flesh and the spirit, though these are so subtly related, we may say, “The outward defilement is caused by sins of the flesh, or bodily part of man; the inward by those of the spirit, such as pride, unbelief, or the like.” Dealing comprehensively with the topic suggested by the passage, we may show

I. THE VARIETY OF THE PROMISES. They are found scattered throughout the sacred Word, and taking every variety of form. They are sometimes:

1. Involved in the Divine dealings with individuals.

2. At other times they are embodied in doctrinal truths, and found as soon as we try to give those truths practicable applications.

3. And at other times they are words which come to us with the seal of the experience of good men through all the ages. In all God’s gracious dealings, as well as in all God’s gracious words, lie hid precious and inspiring promises for all who can read aright.

II. THE ADAPTATION OF THE PROMISES. As life advances it comes to us with a great and blessed surprise, that we never pass into circumstances and conditions for which precise promises have not been provided. They are manifestly suited just for us, and for just the conditions in which we, at any given time, are placed. It seems as if they were fashioned and sent for us and to us.

III. THE ESSENCE OF ALL THE PROMISES. This is given in the promises which St. Paul has been impressing on the Corinthians. It is God’s fatherliness. All promises are the assurance of our acceptance with God, our sonship with God, and the expression of the love and the faithfulness with which he fulfils his fatherhood. At the heart of every promise lies this declaration, “I will be a Father unto you.”

IV. THE MORAL INFLUENCE OF THE PROMISES. They set us upon seeking to be what God would have us be. Assuring strength they set us upon endeavour. Or, to put the matter in relation to the previous division of the subject, realizing the fatherliness of our God, we are set upon seeking to be true and faithful “sons and daughters”pure sons of the holy Father, obedient sons of the King-Father, loving sons of the loving Father, very sensitive to the things that are unworthy of him, and very earnest in the endeavour to put them wholly away from us.

V. THE COMFORTING POWER OF THE PROMISES. This may be added to complete the treatment of the subject, though it is not the point set forth prominently by the apostle, and is a familiar topic. The true comforting, however, of God’s promises only can come to those who carry out the Christian duties, walk worthily of the Lord, and need grace and upholding and cheer in their Christian conflict.R.T.

2Co 7:1 – Our great life work.

“Perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” The former clause of the verse indicates one side of Christian dutythe putting away of sin; this presents the other sidethe putting on of holiness. We must “put off the old man, which is corrupt, according to the deceitful lusts.” We must “put on the new man, which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Melvill says, “At present the believer is like the marble in the hands of the sculptor; but though day by day he may give fresh touches and work the marble into greater emulation of the original, the resemblance will be far from complete until death. Each fresh degree of likeness is a fresh advance toward perfection. It must then be that when every feature is moulded into similitude, when all traces of feebleness and depravity are swept away forever, the statue breathes, and the picture burns with Deity,it must be that then we ‘shall be filled.’ We shall look on the descending Mediator, and as though the ardent gaze drew down celestial fire, we shall seem instantly to pass through the refiner’s furnace, and, leaving behind all the dishonour of the grave, and all the dross of corruptible humanity, spring upwards an ethereal, rapid, glowing thingChrist’s image, extracted by Christ’s lustre? The apostle had been speaking of the temple, and of Christians as Divine temples, and so his idea of” holiness” was chiefly “consecration,” “separation unto God,” “entire devotement to God.” Treating the perfecting of holiness as a continuous work, to which the whole of the Christian life and effort must be given, we consider

I. THE INITIAL STAGE. The winning of holiness. There is some danger of confusing justification with sanctification. The distinction between the two may be simply expressed if we say that a man must be set right before he can go right. Regeneration is the setting of our will right with God. Justification is the setting us in the right standing with God. These stand at the very threshold of the holy life, and there is no entrance to it by any other way. Regarded from another point of view, the act of solemn personal decision for God and consecration to his service is the winning of holiness, the beginning of the godly life.

II. THE CONTINUOUS STAGE. The beginning is a frail and feeble thing. Good so far as it goes, and full of hopefulness; but needing growth, culture, perfecting. In New Testament Scriptures the word “perfect” stands for “whole,” “entire,” in opposition to “one-sided,” to imperfect developments of parts, to monstrosities; and. so it is suggestive of the many-sided forms in which the perfecting of holiness must be carried on. The Christian has to win holiness in thought, expression of thought in word, in conduct, in relations. He is even to keep before him this unattainable ideal, “Be ye holy, even as I am holy,” saith the Lord. And the perfect holiness is no merely cleaned surface, whitened free of all old stains of sin and self; it is that whitened surface painted all over with the infinite grace and purity and goodness of the Lord Christ. It is being free of the old image, but it is also being changed into his image. Whether the “perfect holiness” has ever been attained by any man while he dwelt among the shadows of the earthly can never be known, for the best of men will say to their dying days as did David, “My goodness extendeth not to thee, only to the saints that are in the earth.” Enough for us to know that it is a lifelong pursuit, the cry of the soul as long as the soul can cry, the endeavour of the life so long as the life endures. Only when passed through shall We know that we are holy; and then “he that is holy may be holy still.”

III. THE INSPIRATION OF THE ENDEAVOUR AFTER HOLINESS. “In the fear of God.” With the ever-present thought of him who is revealed as the “consuming fire.” The fear of offending God, and the desire to please God, are necessary elements in the process of sanctification. F.W. Robertson says, “We cannot do without awe; there is no depth of character without it. Tender motives are not enough to restrain from sin.”R.T.

2Co 7:4 – A minister’s joy in tribulation.

The intensity of the apostle’s language is explained by the intensity of his feelings in relation to the Corinthians. He loved them greatly, and was ready to make any sacrifices for them. And he was proportionately grieved when the news came, through Titus, of the way in which evil men were trying to destroy his character and his influence. The tribulation he here refers to is chiefly this mental distress and the bodily suffering which it involved. His great relief in circumstances of so much distress was that the Corinthian Church, as a whole, had received his first letter in a right spirit. He could be joyful in this, even amidst his tribulation. Two points may receive illustration.

I. THE TRIBULATION COMES FROM ANXIETY CONCERNING SPIRITUAL WELL BEING. Precisely this is the minister’s sphere. His interest is in the moral and spiritual condition of those who are set in his charge. But this is the most serious and overwhelming of all burdens that can be laid upon a man’s heart and effort. If we estimate what the due maintenance and culture of our own spiritual life involves, we may understand how great is the anxiety of Christian ministers who watch over souls as well as watch for souls. Illustrate by Samuel Rutherford’s intense expression of feeling, “God is my witness that your salvation would be two salvations to me, and your heaven two heavens to me.” Show what a strain upon nervous constitutions the pressure of the ministry becomes in these our days.

II. THE JOY COMES FROM DUE RESPONSE MADE TO EFFORTS FOR SPIRITUAL WELL BEING. Compare other expressions by apostles: e.g. “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth;” “What is our joy or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus at his coming? For ye are our glory and our joy.” The minister has, in the culture of spiritual life, to use truth, warnings, threatenings, as well as comfortings and inspirings; and his joy is ever thishis people are open-hearted to receive, are humble enough to regard what he may say, and. earnest enough to obey. No earthly joy is like that which they know who help their brethren to truth and purity and God.R.T.

2Co 7:9, 2Co 7:10 – Godly sorrow; or, the sorrow that is after the will of God.

Reference is to the distress which the more spiritual members of the Corinthian Church felt on the receipt of St. Paul’s first letter. He had written severely, and, after sending his letter, almost regretted that he had expressed himself so strongly; but he now felt thankful to hoar that they had so well responded to his appeals, and sorrowed unto repentance and putting away of the evil in a manner that would be so certainly approved by God. “The series of emotional words in 2Co 7:11 represent the apostle’s estimate of what he had heard from Titus. There was

(1) earnestness where there had been indifference to evil, and even approval of it (1Co 5:2); and this was shown

(2) in the vindication of their conduct which they had sent through Titus; and

(3) in their stern ‘indignation’ against the offender;

(4) in their fear, partly of the supernatural chastisement which St. Paul had threatened, partly of the judgment of God which was against such things;

(5) in the longing to have him once more among them, which mingled with their fear;

(6) in their new zeal for the law of purity;

(7) in their actual vengeance, i.e. their sentence of condemnation passed upon the offender.” “The apostle rejoiced, not that the Corinthians sorrowed, but that they sorrowed unto repentance. Sorrow has two resultsit may end in spiritual life or in spiritual death; and in themselves one of these is as natural as the other. Sorrow may produce two kinds of reformation: a transient or a permanent one; an alteration in habits, which, originating in emotion, will last so long as that emotion continues, and then, after a few fruitless efforts, be given up; a repentance which will be repented of; or again, a permanent change which will be reversed by no after thoughta repentance not to be repented of.” Beza says, “The ‘sorrow of the world’ is the certain way to desperation, unless God prevent it, as appears from the horrid examples of Cain, Saul, Ahithophel, and Judas; but the written tears of David give the clearest example of the other kind of sorrow.”

I. THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN REMORSE AND REPENTANCE. The word “remorse” has in it the figure of “biting back,” and it means going over our sins in thought, with a keen gnawing regret at having done them, but without any softened feelings such as belong to the penitent. Remorse is exactly that “sorrow of the world” which worketh death. Repentance is that humble, regretful spirit which sets a man ready to receive and to value the Divine forgiveness.

II. THE TESTS OF GENUINE REPENTANCE IN THE INDIVIDUAL. They are:

1. Mental distress.

2. Humility and self-abasement.

3. Confession without attempt at excuses.

4. Earnest seeking of Divine forgiveness.

5. Resolute putting away of the evil.

6. Keen watchfulness over the circumstances that involve temptation to the sin.

7. And an attitude of simple and unquestioning obedience to the will of God, and submission to whatever judgments on the sin it may please him to appoint. “Sorrow has done its work when it deters from evil. In the sorrow of the world the obliquity of the heart towards evil is not cured; it seems as if nothing cured it; heartache and trials come in vain; the history of life at last is what it was at first. Sorrow avails only when the past is converted into experience, and from failure lessons are learned which never are to be forgotten.”

III. THE TESTS OF GENUINE REPENTANCE IN A CHURCH. These more especially are dealt with in the passage before us. Bengel says that the six results mentioned by the apostle fall into pairs. The first two relate to their feelings towards themselves, the next to their feelings towards the apostle, the last to their feelings towards the offender and his offence. The tests we notice are

(1) clearings, earnest efforts to put away the wrong, and to show that they had no complicity in it, and would make no excuses for it;

(2) anxiety for each other, that the membership may be quite purified, and no brother cherish even a secret sympathy with the wrong;

(3) discipline on the wrong doer, by at least a temporary removal of him from the Church fellowship. The penitence of a Church will also find expression in united acts of confession and humiliation, and in prayer for Divine forgiveness and restoration. Perhaps much too little is made in these days of the united acts of the corporate Church life. There is a befitting Church penitence, a proper godly sorrow of a community, when, by any evil of its members, such a community has become defiled.R.T.

2Co 7:12 – Apostolic cares.

“Our care of you in the sight of God might appear unto you.” The apostle always used the persuasion of his affection, whenever it was possible, rather than the force of his apostolic authority. Elsewhere he pleads thus: “Not that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy.” And he speaks of “that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the Churches.” We may compare the care of a wise and faithful mother for the well being of her children, and the burden of thought and interest which they are to her every day. The apostle’s care concerned three things.

I. PURITY. Of this he was supremely zealous. Christians must be seen to differ essentially from pagan idolaters. Immorality and uncleanness were directly associated with heathenism, and were even consecrated by idolatrous religions; but there must be no possibility of questioning that the Christian Church was “called unto holiness.” “Every member must know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor.” There must be no “touching of the unclean thing.”

II. EDIFICATION. Security for the Christian lies in continuous growth. This, indeed, is the law of all life. When a thing ceases to grow it begins to die. The growth or upbuilding of the plant is St. Paul’s supreme anxiety; and he evidently feared that the Corinthians must have been neglecting their spiritual culture, seeing they could suffer such evils to come in amongst them. Fungus growths only attack trees in which the vitality is lowered.

III. WITNESS. St. Paul expects the Churches to make positive and active testimony to all around them. That witness can only be a fitting one and a powerful one as the Church is kept pure. So St. Paul is moved with so much anxiety for the clearing of the Corinthians. He wants the light that shines from them on all the heathen world around to be a pure light, clear, white, in no way dimmed, and therefore he can rejoice that they have so fully responded to his supreme care on their behalf.R.T.

2Co 7:16 – Apostolic confidence;

or the fulness of the restoration man may make to follow on his forgiveness of his fellow men. “I rejoice, therefore, that I have confidence in you in all things.” F.W. Robertson says, “We learn from this the value of explanations. Had St. Paul left the matter unsettled, or only half settled, there never could have been a hearty understanding between him and the Corinthians. Whenever there is a misunderstanding between man and man, the true remedy is a direct and open request for explanation.” This sentence closes the apostle’s reference to a very painful subject; he wishes it now to be put quite away, out of thought, and so he assures the Corinthians that no relic of suspicion or fear is left in his mind; he restores them fully to his affection and esteem; he has “confidence in them in all things.” Now, in this complete restoration of the Corinthians to favour we see that man may be the shadow of God, and his forgiveness and full reconciliation may help his fellow men to realize the fulness of the restoration which God gives to the penitent. He puts our sins behind his back. He casts them into the depths of the sea. He separates them from us as far as the east is from the west. He remembers them no more against us forever. He blots out our transgressions as a cloud, and our iniquities as a thick cloud. The figure of our God is the father in the parable of the prodigal son, who brings the penitent and forgiven son into the old place at the family table, dresses him in the son’s robes, and gives him such a welcome as will show the sad past to be all forgiven and forgotten. It should be a serious thought to us that men may take their ideas of God’s dealing with them from the manner of our dealing with them. If they find that we cannot forgive and forget, and wholly restore confidence, it will be very hard for them to believe that God can. Three points of man’s dealing with man, especially of the Christian man’s dealing with his fellow Christian, may be taken as representing God’s dealings with us. In these we may be ourselves examples of God.

I. MAN WITHDRAWING CONFIDENCE BECAUSE OF CHERISHED SIN. God never passes by sin, and we must not. Every Church member should be quickly sensitive to the inconsistencies and sins of his fellow members. If the sin is kept and cherished there ought to be withdrawal of confidence, for whenever his people cherish sin there is a cloud passes before God and hides his face from them.

II. MAN ENDEAVOURING TO INFLUENCE FOR THE PUTTING AWAY OF SIN. Falling into transgression ought to set our brothers upon our Christian love and effort. Erring brothers must not be left to go in their evil ways. Illustrate from St. Paul’s efforts to bring the incestuous man to repentance. Too often Churches are more eager to exercise discipline than to attempt recovery, and labour to secure repentance. “Ye that are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness.”

III. MAN RESTORING TO CONFIDENCE WHEN THE SIN IS PUT AWAY. This we have illustrated in the hearty words of the apostle. Speaking of Newman’s sentence, “A true penitent never forgives himself,” F.W. Robertson says, “A false estimate of the gospel of Christ and of the heart of man! A proud remorse does not forgive itself the forfeiture of its own dignity; but it is the very beauty of the penitence which is according to God that at last the sinner, realizing God’s forgiveness, does learn to forgive himself.” And help to this “self-forgiving” we can render if we show to the sincere penitent the heartiness of our forgiveness and restoration.R.T.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

2Co 7:1. Having therefore these promises, This verse should certainly have been connected with what goes before, and not have begun a new chapter. Some would read the latter part of it thus: From all filthiness of the flesh, and perfecting the holiness of the Spirit in the fear of God. If we understand it according to our version, the meaning is, “Let us endeavour, through divine grace, to purify ourselves from every actual and outward defilement, and from every inward sensual affection which can pollute our hearts, and render them displeasing to God.”

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

2Co 7:1 closes the previous section.

Since we accordingly (according to 2Co 6:16-18 ) have these promises (namely, that God will dwell among us, receive us, be our Father, etc.), we wish not to make them null in our case by an immoral lif.

] placed at the head, bears the emphasis of the importance of the promise.

] denotes the morally purifying activity, which the Christian has to exert on himself , not simply the keeping himself pure (Olshausen). He who has become a Christian has by his faith doubtless attained forgiveness of his previous sins (Rom 3:23-25 ), is reconciled with God and sanctified (comp. 2Co 5:19 ff., and see on Act 15:9 ); but Paul refers here to the moral stains incurred in the Christian condition , which the state of grace of the regenerate (1Pe 1:22 f.) as much obliges him to do away with again in reference to himself (Rom 6:1 ff; Rom 8:12 ff.), as by the power of God (Phi 2:12-13 ) it makes him capable of doing so (Rom 6:14 ; Rom 8:9 ). And no one forms an exception in this respect; hence Paul includes himself, with true moral feeling of this need placing himself on an equality with his reader.

] The Christian is in the flesh, i.e. in the material-psychical part of his nature, stained by fornication, intemperance, and such transgressions and vices as directly pollute the body (which ought to be holy, 1Co 6:13 ff; 1Co 7:34 ); and his spirit, i.e. the substratum of his rational and moral consciousness, the seat of the operation of the Divine Spirit in him and therewith the bearer of his higher and eternal life ( 1Co 2:11 ; 1Co 5:3 ; Rom 8:16 ), is stained by immoral thoughts, desires, etc., which are suggested to him by means of the power of sin in the flesh, and through which the spirit along with the is sinfully affected, becomes weak and bound, and enslaved to sin (comp. on Rom 12:2 ; Eph 4:23 ). The two do not ex clude, but in clude each other. Observe, further, that Paul might have used instead of ; but he puts , because the flesh, in which the principle of sin has its seat and hence the fomes peccati lies, serves as the element to which every bodily defilement ethically attaches itself. This is based on the natural relation of the to the power of sin, for which reason it is never demanded that the shall be or become holy, but that the body (1Co 7:34 ) shall be holy through the crucifixion of the flesh, through putting off the old man, etc. (Col 2:11 ). By these means the Christian no longer lives (Rom 8:8 f.) and , and is purified from everything wherewith the flesh is soiled ; comp. 1Th 5:23 ; Rom 8:13 ; Rom 12:1 . The surprising character of the expression, to which Holsten especially takes objection (see z. Evang. d. Paul. u. Petr. p. 387), is disposed of by the very consideration that Paul is speaking of the regenerate ; in their case the lusts of the in fact remain, and the is defiled , if their lusts are actually gratified. Calovius, we may add, rightly observes: “ex illatione etiam apostolica a promissionibus gratiae ad studium novae obedientiae manifestum est, doctrinam apostolicam de gratuita nostri justificatione et in filios adoptione non labefactare pietatis et sanctitatis studium, sed ad illud excitare atque ad obedientiam Deo praestandam calcar addere.”

On , comp. Jer 23:15 ; Jer 3 Esdr. 8:83; 2Ma 5:27 ; Plut. Mor. p. 779 C.

] This is the positive activity of the : while we bring holiness to perfection (2Co 8:6 ) in the fear of God . To establish complete holiness in himself is the continual moral endeavour [254] and work of the Christian purifying himself. Comp. Rom 6:22 .

] is the ethical, holy sphere (Eph 5:21 ) in which the . must move and proceed. Comp. Rom 11:19-22 , and already Gen 17:1 . Thus the apostle closes the whole section with the same ethical fundamental idea, with which he had begun it at 2Co 5:11 , where, however, it was specifically limited to the executor of the divine judgment.

[254] Although with this the moral perfection itself, which the ideal injunction of it requires, is never fully reached. It is “non viae , sed metae et patriae ” (Calovius); but the Christian labours constantly at it, striving towards the goal at which “ finis coronat opus .” Comp. BengeL The success is of God (Phi 1:6 ), the fear of whom guides the Christian.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

2Co 6:11 to 2Co 7:1 . After the episode in 2Co 6:3-10 , [248] Paul turns with a conciliatory transition (2Co 6:11-13 ) to a special, and for the Corinthians necessary, form of the exhortation expressed in 2Co 6:1 (2Co 6:14-18 ). This is followed up in 2Co 7:1 by a general appeal, which embraces the whole moral duty of the Christian.

[248] The supposition that there is an abnormal, and in this respect certainly unexampled construction, under which ver. 11 should be taken as concluding the main clause along with “the preceding long-winded participial clause” (Hofmann), ought to have been precluded by the very consideration that that “long-winded” accumulation of participles, in which, however, Paul paints his whole life active and passive with so much enthusiasm, and, as it were, triumphant heroism, would stand utterly disproportioned to that which he says in ver. 11, and which is only a brief, gentle, kindly remark. What a magnificent preparation for such a little quiet sentence without substantial contents! The examples cited by Hofmann from Greek writers and the N. T. (Act 20:3 ; Mar 9:20 ) are too weak analogies. See regarding similar real anacolutha, Winer, p. 527 f. [E. T. 709 f.]. Comp. on Mar 9:20 .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

12.AN EARNEST APPEAL TO THE CORINTHIANS; APPLICATION OF THE EXHORTATION IN VER. 1

2Co 6:11-17, 2Co 7:1

11O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our5 heart is [has become] enlarged. 12Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels. 13Now for a recompense in the same [by way of recompense in the same kind, ] (I speak as unto my children), be ye also enlarged. 14Be ye not unequally yoked together [become not united as in a strange yoke, ] with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? 15and [or]6 what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ7with Belial [Beliar]?8 or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel 16[unbeliever]? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye [we]9 are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [among] them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my10 people.17Wherefore come out11 from among them, and be ye separate [separated] saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing [anything unclean]; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my [to me for, ] sons and daughters saith the Lord Almighty.

2Co 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness [every defilement] of the [om. the] flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

2Co 6:11-13. Our mouth is open toward you, O Corinthians, our hearts are enlarged.Before particularly applying to the Corinthians in their various relations (2Co 6:14 ff) the admonition he had given them in ver. I f., the Apostle pauses to pour forth to them the feelings which had been rising in his heart. We have first a continued expression of the emotions called forth by the preceding representation, and then the earnest exhortation which commences with 2Co 6:14. The words to open the mouth, signify properly, to begin to speak, but they are here especially emphatic (in consequence of their connection with what had been said in 2Co 6:3 ff. and what follows regarding the enlargement of his heart). The idea thus becomes, to speak openly and without reserve (comp. Eph 6:19 and Sir 22:22). [Chrysostom: we cannot be silent; we long to be continually speaking and conversing with you]. By such language, he shows how confiding was his love towards them. A similar thought is expressed when he adds, our heart is enlarged. [Chrysostom: As that which warms is wont to dilate, so also to enlarge the heart is the work of love. It opens the mouth and enlarges the heart, for he loved not with the heart only, but with the heart in unison. He says with great emphasis, we have not only room for you all, but with such largeness of room, as he that is beloved walketh with great unrestraint within the heart of him that loveth]. As Paul had been opening his inmost soul to his brethren in the free and confiding manner of the last few sentences he had himself become conscious of the extent of his affection for them (Meyer, comp. Osiander). This is the reason that, no was needed in the second sentence. The words should not be understood to mean simply (comp. 2Co 6:12 f.) that he felt happy and comfortable, or that he had now disclosed his whole heart and unbosomed himself to them.The special address to them (), without either article or adjective, is a mode of speaking which occurs only in one passage beside (Php 4:15), and indicates the profound sincerity of the speaker.The same idea is presented in a negative form in 2Co 6:12, and so makes the contrast on the part of the Corinthians more strikingye are not straitened in us but ye are straitened in your own bowels (2Co 6:12).The shows that the verb cannot be taken as an imperative even in the first clause. [Webster (p. 138): conveys a direct and absolute, a subjective and conditional, denial. Winer, 59, 1]. It is not of anxiety or sadness, the reason of which is in themselves, that he is speaking. The meaning of straitened is determined by its connection with the subsequent idea of enlargement: ye are not straitened, i. e. ye have no contracted space in our hearts; but in your hearts it is not so with respect to us; i. e. ye have no small room in us, but ye have very small room for us in yourselves. While our hearts are enlarged in love for you, it is very different with you, in respect to us. [Chrysostom: This reproof is administered with forbearance, as is the manner of very great love. He does not say, ye do not love us, but not in the same measure, for he does not wish to touch them too sensibly. He implies that they have some affection for him, that he may win them to more. Ye are straitened while I am enlarged. Ye barely receive one and even him with small space, but I a whole city, and with abundance of freedom.] (bowels) is here used, as in 2Co 7:15; Php 1:8; Php 2:1, and even in classical writers, in the sense of (heart), for the seat of the emotions, such as love, sympathy, etc. [The Apostle in this passage uses both words, and for the affections. In modern languages the latter word has been entirely superseded by the former. Among ancient nations, however, it expressed the whole interior structure of man, including especially the heart and liver as opposed to what are now technically called the bowels (, Stanley). In classical Greek the word is used for the feelings generally, and in Hebrew the corresponding was used to designate the seat of the gentler emotions and affections. The name itself in Hebrew was derived from a root which signifies to love. Comp. Stanley].Now by way of recompense in the same (I speak as unto my children), be ye also enlarged (2Co 6:13).In close connection with what he had just said, he now proceeds to demand of them that their hearts should also be enlarged, that they should open widely their hearts in love and confidence for him as he had opened his for them. The motive for this he derives from the nature of children, when he adds, I speak as unto children (comp. 1Co 4:14); inasmuch as children are bound to make a return of love for a fathers love (comp. 1Ti 5:4). This idea is more distinctly brought out when he directly calls upon them for their love as an appropriate recompense (, comp. Rom 1:27; but in our passage the word is strengthened by the use of ). The construction is here abrupt (Meyer calls it a rhetorical anacoluthon [Khner 347, 5, Winer 64, II. note]). In order to fill out the expression, however, we must supply neither , nor ; nor must we connect the words together by (q. d. I am speaking for an adequate recompense), but we must regard it as an Accus. absol., an anacoluthon, occasioned by the parenthesis in which he had paused to say he was speaking as to children. Others regard it as the Accusative of the remote effect: that by which ye should make recompense. In the two ideas of the same thing ( ) and of remuneration () are blended together by way of attraction. They may be separated thus: (), [Fritzsche: With his accustomed celerity of thought Paul says, instead of , , , enlarge your minds to the same remuneration, instead of, to the same thing (love) in which a remuneration might be found. Comp. Jelf, Gram. 581, 1, 700, Obs. 1 and 2].

2Co 6:14-18. [An admonition to separate themselves from unbelievers. Stanley calls this passage a remarkable dislocation of the train of argument. On the one hand, the passionate appeal begun in 2Co 6:11-13 is continued without even the appearance of an interruption in 2Co 7:2, where the words (make room for us) are evidently the prolongation of the metaphor expressed in 2Co 6:12-13, by . and . On the other hand, the intervening passage (2Co 6:14 to 2Co 7:1), while it coheres perfectly with itself, has no connection with the immediate context either before or after. Such an introduction of an earnest warning in the midst of an affectionate entreaty, need not, however, suggest the idea of an interpolation of some passage from one of Pauls lost Epistles, or by some other hand; for it is the very nature of a love so ardent, so aroused at the moment, and now touched with some jealousy, to make sudden transitions, and to draw towards itself by warnings of danger as well as by expressions of endearment,]. Probably not without reference to his demand that they should be enlarged toward him (2Co 6:13), the Apostle now proceeds earnestly to warn them against a kind of false enlargement of heart which had been shown in an improper fellowship with Gentiles, and in consenting to heathenish customs.Become not united heterogeneously with unbelievers.It is possible that he had reference especially to sacrificial festivals and to mixed marriages. implies unquestionably a communion (it is joined therefore with the dative); but it involves also the idea of an unequal union. It is taken from the figure, not of a balance, where there is an inclination toward one side, representing a disposition favorable to unbelievers (Theophylact, et al.), nor of oars which are not paired or properly mated, but of a yoke in which animals are intended to draw together. Comp. in the Sept. of Lev 19:19; Deu 22:10. Two animals of a different nature, harnessed together in the same yoke, are a type of Christians having fellowship with heathen. W. F. Besser says that Paul here derives a spiritual lesson from the legal precept which prohibits the putting of clean and unclean animals in the same team, to the effect that Christians should not be joined with others. The however, should not be made to refer to the yoke itself, as if it meant put not on a foreign yoke, one which unbelievers have put on, and therefore one which does not belong to Christians (Meyer). The admonition evidently points to something habitual, and probably was intended to imply that their conduct had tendencies in that direction. Neander says that Paul evidently would not have spoken in this way of that unavoidable intercourse with the heathen which only served to make Christianity better known to them; but he referred merely to a participation with them in social usages and excesses. Nothing in this text confines the application of it to marriages with the heathen.The Apostle now proceeds to justify his admonition by a series of five questions, in which he endeavors to convince his brethren of the incompatibility of the Christian and heathenish systems. Such an accumulation of questions is very emphatic and impressive. In the first place, he inquiresFor what participation hath righteousness with unrighteousness?He thus characterizes these systems by the opposite words, righteousness and unrighteousness ( and ). The former signifies, not the righteousness of faith in the theological sense of the expression, but the active disposition to a Divine life which springs from a vital union by faith with Christ; and the latter signifies that complete want of such a righteousness which is seen in the heathen world, where the living God is unknown, and where there is no Divine life. The same idea is expressed figuratively in the second questionWhat communication hath light with darkness?in which and are contrasted. Comp. Eph 5:8. W. F. Besser: These five casuistic questions are so arranged that the two first relate to the separation between salvation and destruction, the third to the separation between the Saviour and the destroyer, and the two last to the separation between the saved and the destroyed. Light is the figurative expression for truth and purity (the intellectual and the moral element united); and darkness, is the common metaphor for error and wrong conduct (Greg. Naz. makes = , = ). has the same meaning as (Luther translates it Geniess=Genossenschaft, i. e., enjoyment in the sense of fellowship. [Stanley: Of the five words used to express the idea of union, , , , , ,only the third and fifth have any special appropriateness, and those chiefly by their etymology; , harmony of voice, is appropriate to persons, and , unity of composition, to buildings. The multiplication of synonyms implies a greater copiousness of Greek than we should expect from the Apostles usual language. Webster and Wilkinson: Believers are here spoken of, first in the abstract (light, righteousness, Eph 5:8), then in their Head, then individually, then as a community (). The use of represents the act of communication as mutual, of as offering a connection, of as accepting it]. For the meaning of by classical writers and by Philo, consult Meyer.And what concord hath Christ with Beliar? (2Co 6:15). This question, which follows the first pair, is introduced by a , which shows that it is an emphatic continuance of what had gone before it. [Alford: After a question beginning with , , and the like, a second question is regularly introduced by a ]. We here rise to the two great chiefs of the opposing departments (comp. 1Co 10:20; Eph 2:2). is the same as Satan, by which word the Peschito translates it; the same also as Heb. , worthlesness, wickedness. Even in the Sibylline books and in the Apocryphal writings of the Old Testament it was used as one of Satans names. In the common Hellenistic dialect, in the Test. of the Twelve Patriarchs, and in the writings of the Eccles. Fathers the letters and were frequently interchanged. [Jerome derives the word from =non, and =jugum, i. e., absque jugo, quod de collo suo Dei abjecerit servitutem. It is, however, more generally derived from the former word, and = usefulness, i. e., without usefulness, and hence, wickedness. Jeromes derivation of the word may account for Pauls use of it in connection with . But with the other derivation we have a still better connection. On the stand-point of the Jews and the N. T., idolatry was a worship of demons (1Co 10:20), and the name Beliar, both on its negative and positive side, fits this view, inasmuch as an idol was a dead and useless thing, and the system of idolatry was the concentrated effect of the devils art and power. Bengel thinks that Paul here calls Satan Beliar, but that Satan, as opposed to Christ, denotes all kinds of antichristian uncleanness (omnem colluviem antichristianam)]. occurs only here in the N. T., and never in the Septuagint. In the classical authors it has the form of . It has the meaning here of, agreement together, accordance of sentiment and feeling, harmony in opinions and efforts.Or what part hath he that believeth with an unbeliever, and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?In this last pair of questions the Apostle comes down from the heads of these two great departments to those connected respectively with them, and assumes that one who has faith in Christ can have no part () with such as have no such faith. here, as in Act 8:21, has the sense of share, portion or property. The two parties have no common advantages; one has nothing in common with the other, and their possessions are entirely different, the one from the other. In 2Co 6:16, however, a question is asked which sets in the clearest possible light the holiness of Christianity in contrast with the impurities of heathenism. The Christian community is there represented as a temple of God, and surely there could be no agreement between it and idols! Such a contradiction was there between them, that all fellowship would seem impossible and all contact a desecration. has generally the meaning of assent, acquiescence, but here it has the more particular signification of agreement. Comp. in Exo 23:1; Luk 23:51. With respect to the temple of God, comp. 1Co 3:16. It is certainly most natural to make this passage refer to such participations in idolatrous customs as are censured in 1Co 8:10. Christians should as soon think of allowing idols to be set up in the sanctuary of God, as to permit such things among those who had been consecrated to the Lord. These should be looked upon as profanations like some which took place during the most corrupt periods of the Old Testament.For we are the temple of the living God.From the figures he had employed, and from the language used in the Scriptures, it was evident that believers were a temple of God. Neander remarks that The particular, external relations of the Old Testament are here applied in a spiritual manner to each Christian. The implies that the admonition involved in this question ( etc.) is applicable to us; for we are indeed the temples, etc. is a designation of the true God who will in contrast with dead and powerless idols be always truly active to vindicate the honor of His sanctuary and to communicate living power to all His people (comp. 1Th 1:9.) The same expression occurs also in 2Co 3:3; Heb 3:12; Heb 9:14; Heb 10:31, et al.As God said, I will dwell in them, and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be to me a people.The Apostle here shows that his representation of the Church as a temple of God was justified by a passage in Levit. 36:11 f. (comp. Eze 37:27), which is here cited freely from memory. He uses the word very naturally in the most enlarged sense, and we find nothing strange in the fact that he should address them in the parenthetic clause before he communicates the instruction). The Apostle considers the idea of a temple involved in the expression, I will dwell (have a habitation, ) in them. In the Sept. the passage reads: Although has primarily the sense of: among, in the midst of, as it afterwards has in , the Apostle probably had reference to the presence of God in the individual believer (comp. Joh 14:23), inasmuch as the idea of was in his mind, and the word most naturally implies this. The word which was at first used to describe the movements of Gods residence (the sacred tabernacle) among the Israelites, is here probably applied to the presence of God Himself in His Church in all parts of the world (comp. Rev 2:1). The promise contained in this quotation contains the sum of Gods covenant with His people, comp. Exo 6:7; Jer 24:7; Jer 30:22; Jer 31:1; Jer 31:33; Heb 8:10; Rev 21:3; Rev 21:7. On Gods part there is the communication of Himself and the benefits of His salvation; and on the part of the people there is fellowship with God and the enjoyment of His blessing. W. F. Besser remarks that God dwells in His Church when He fills it with His Spirit, through the instrumentality of His word and Sacraments; and as He thus finds an acceptable rest among them (Psa 132:14), their spiritual influence proves that He is present in their midst and acknowledges as His own all who are reconciled to Him by Christs blood. God walks in His Church when He acts there as its God through the gifts, offices and powers which He bestows upon it; and when he receives His people into living fellowship and applies to them all the benefits of His gracious covenant. In Leviticus 26 this promise is conditional and even here the admonition is itself a hint that their safety depended upon their fidelity, and especially upon their separation from ungodly persons and all impure practices; 2Co 6:17, comp. 2Co 6:14. This admonition He expresses in a free quotation of a passage in Isa 52:11, in which the people were commanded to leave Babylon.Wherefore come out from among them, and be separated, saith the Lord, and touch not any thing unclean.W. F. Besser says that The departure of the Israelites from Babylon was a redemption, a type (like that of the departure out of Egypt) of the great redemption of which the Apostle speaks (Gal 1:4), when he says that Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world. The admonition here is that they should come out in the most decided manner from the whole sphere of heathenish worldly life, should separate themselves in spirit from their heathen neighbors, should avoid all heathenish practices which might defile men consecrated to God, and especially should abstain from all idolatrous festivals.And I will receive you.This is an obvious reminiscence of Eze 20:34; Zec 10:8 (not a free quotation of Isa 52:12), and has reference to the adoption, of which he is about to speak further in 2Co 6:18. Bengel makes it a correlative to those who should come out would be received as if into a new family or home.And I will be for a Father unto you, and ye shall be sons and daughters unto me saith the Lord Almighty (2Co 6:18).This is probably a free and amplified quotation of 2Sa 7:14 (hardly of Jer 31:9, and still less of Isa 43:6). The words sons and daughters are a hint at the religious equality of the sexes under the reign of Christianity. Grotius thinks that these words (2Co 6:16-18) are taken from some hymn. The whole citation is solemnly closed with the affirmation, saith the Lord Almighty ( ), taken from the Sept of 2Sa 7:8. The expression occurs frequently in the Apocalypse, but only here in the writings of Paul; and it corresponds in the Septuagint to the Heb. , the Lord of Hosts.

[The concluding verses of this chapter are an instructive illustration of the way in which the New Testament writers quote the Old. 1. They often quote a translation which does not strictly adhere to the original. 2. They often quote according to the sense, and not according to the letter. 3. They often blend together different passages of Scripture, so as to give the sense, not of any one passage, but the combined sense of several. 4. They sometimes give the sense, not of any particular passage or passages, but, so to speak, the general sense of Scripture. There is no such passage in the Old Testament, for example, as that contained in this last verse, but the sentiment is often and clearly expressed. 5. They never quote as of authority any but the canonical books of the Old Testament Hodge].

2Co 7:1.Having therefore these promises, let us purify ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit.In this passage the Apostle, in a more conciliatory tone (and with the Corinthians associated with himself as brethren in the first person plural) connects with the promises he had quoted in 2Co 6:16-18, an earnest exhortation that they would aim at a course of conduct worthy of such exalted promises. [The inference he thus makes is applicable not merely to some part of Gods people which had become involved in unhallowed associations, but to all; and hence he includes even himself in the exhortation. He introduces also a word of endearment (), which perceptibly indicates that he was subsiding into his usual calmness of spirit]. The promises to which he had been speaking had been given to the whole body of the Church; and as members of that Church they already possessed them (present ) by faith, inasmuch as even those which referred to the future were really as certain as those which were already realized. The main substance of them related to a personal communion with a God of absolute purity. A full realization of them would require on mans part a complete renunciation of every thing inconsistent with the Divine nature, and an earnest pursuit after perfect holiness. signifies, not, to remain free from contamination after having once been purified (Olshausen), but, as the uniform usage of the N. T. shows, to purify. [For the original idea involved in comp. Trench. Synn. p. 175]. The object of this purification, which could never be accomplished without the aid of an indwelling Divine Spirit (comp. Rom 8:13; comp. 2Co 7:9; Gal 5:16; Php 2:13), was, every defilement of the outer and inner man. The former includes every kind of voluptuousness, intemperance, etc., by means of which the body would be corrupted; and the latter includes thoughts, desires, affections (anger, pride, etc.) by means of which the human spirit () is defiled. In actual life these, two classes of defilements are never separated, for as the mental very easily become the fleshly, the seeds of the fleshly are found originally in the mental. He uses the word , and not , because it is only as that the body is the sedes et fomes, the seat and the igniter of sin, and hence the flesh () is that to which every bodily defilement ethically adheres (Meyer). The spirit () as we have often seen in 1Cor., denotes that spiritual nature which is kindred with God, and which in Christians is under the influence of, and is more or less directed by, the Holy Ghost. But as the action of this spirit may be much impeded or arrested by the defilements here spoken of, the work of purification was rendered continually necessary by the perpetual presence of the flesh, and any want of earnestness in the work of purification was an urgent reason for admonition (Osiander). Ancient as well as modern commentators (even Osiander) assume that the Apostle had a particular reference to crimes of which the Corinthians had been actually guilty (comp. 2Co 6:14 f.; 2Co 12:20 f.; 1Co 5:6). In this case the pollutions of the flesh would refer to unchastity, and those of the spirit to connections with idolatry. Both of these were intimately related (comp. Act 15:29), and in fact may be referred to idolatry, which is so often named in the Old Testament spiritual harlotry. But not only the addition of but the positive contrast implied, induces us to adopt the more general application; though we do not deny that the Apostle may have had some reference to the particular sins to which this interpretation alludes. The positive part of the exhortation isperfecting holiness in the fear of God. (holiness) is here, as in Rom 1:4; 1Th 3:13, and in the Sept. of Psa 96:6; Psa 97:12, the same as (comp. on 1Co 1:30); with the sense of the quality, and not merely the action, of holiness. [Webster: differs but little from (2Co 1:12; Heb 12:10), except perhaps it represents more the condition than the abstract quality; while (1Th 4:3-4; 1Pe 1:2) points primarily to the process and thence, with the gradual approach of the termination in to that which is so characteristic of the N. T., the state, frame of mind, or holy disposition, in which the action of the verb is evinced or exemplified]. The great moral business of the Christian (comp. Rom 6:22) is to complete ( 2Co 8:6) the work of holiness or consecration to God which was begun in faith as its principle, and must be actualized, developed and perfected during the whole life. The correlative of this is the Divine perfection which is referred to in Php 1:6. This perfecting of holiness is the attainment of complete holiness, and is a work of the whole life which we live in the flesh (Gal 2:20); and can never reach an absolute completion until the close of life. It must, however, be accomplished in the fear of God. The spiritual ground of all this moral activity, this earnest pursuit of holiness on which depends all fellowship with God, is a profound veneration or reverence for that Holy One who is continually present with us, and from whom nothing is concealed. This, as Meyer says, is the ethical and holy sphere within which righteousness is perfected.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

The absolute purity of that God who enters into such intimate relationships with his people that he completely belongs to them, walks among them, is a Father to each one of them, and will regard them all as his sons and daughters, requires that they should be unreservedly consecrated to Him. By their very connection with Him they must continually receive a stream of influences by which the grossest or the slightest impurities whether of the flesh or Spirit must be washed away. Those who have entered into the great scheme of Gods mercy, should therefore have no part with those who entirely reject or practically abjure it. They have covenanted to walk with a God who is nothing but light, and they should have no fellowship with darkness, i. e. with the corrupt practices of men estranged from the life of God. They belong to Christ, and they should abhor and renounce every thing which looks like partnership with the Belial who is the very ideal of all worthlessness and vileness. They in whom God condescends to dwell should have no semblance of harmony with the worlds idolatry. Every attempt to unite together what is so unlike is an abomination to God and hurtful to souls. Under no circumstances can it really promote the cause of God, for it tends always to obliterate the distinction which God has taken pains to make prominent, and to make the requirement of a renovation of heart seem needless. How could those who are in the broad road be alarmed, if they were to see that believers had the same spirit with themselves. The work of God would thus be hindered by a false liberality. Let any one on the other hand consider what God is doing for the welfare of His people, and what an exalted thing it is to have fellowship with God, and he will have such a sense of Gods holy presence and of the gracious privileges of adoption, that he will carefully abstain from everything inconsistent with this sacred relationship. If he should at any time contract external or internal defilement, he will strive by every means to purify himself from it, and to bring his entire heart and life into conformity with his true dignity as a follower of Christ. Never will such a one remit his efforts to attain perfect holiness until he shall become a complete man after the likeness of Him who could say, I do always those things which please the Father (Joh 8:29).

[Nothing in this section should be used, as it often is, to justify or require a separation from those portions of the visible church in which some degree of corruption is found to prevail. The Apostle had reference only to communities which were essentially unchristian, yea, as opposite to Christianity as light is to darkness, idolatry to the true religion. He would never have sanctioned any separation from the visible church (1Co 1:10; 1Co 3:3; 1Co 12:25), but that which was involuntary as e. g. when one had no access to her pale, or when she exacted as a term of membership something in faith or practice which a Christian could not yield with a good and enlightened conscience. In this latter case, whatever guilt there is belongs to the portion of the church which made such a term of communion (3Jn 1:10). In such a way Rome is responsible for much of the present division in the ecclesiastical world. But we find nothing in our section or in other portions of the Scriptures to justify any increase of this division by a state of voluntary isolation or withdrawal from any established branch of the church on account of minor imperfections. It only justifieth our withdrawing our communion from idolaters, and from notorious scandalous sinners in such duties and actions, or in such degrees, as we are under no obligation to have fellowship and communion with them in. Pooles Annotations].

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Starke:

2Co 7:11. We here see the source and nature of a true and ready eloquence: a living faith and a friendly confidence in those whom we address.

2Co 7:12. Comp. 2Co 12:15. Alas! we have many ministers with hearts open and enlarged enough to embrace all their hearers, but their hearers have hearts which are too generally closed and too narrow to admit them and their messages (Isa 51:1; Psa 109:4).

2Co 7:14. Hedinger:Who can love a society which costs him the love of God?Let us have God, our God, God in us and with us, and all else may go! Little then, O world, do we care for your company or your friendship (Jam 4:4)!

2Co 7:15. In Christianity we have the mind and the likeness of Christ; can we think of having these along with our carnal lusts? There can be no agreement between Christ and Belial, for the great, object of this unclean spirit is to ruin men, but Christs object is to destroy the works of the devil and to raise men to heaven.

2Co 7:16. Gods holy and good spirit, and the spirit of uncleanness and wickedness, can never dwell at once in the same heart (Mat 6:24). No one can be a temple of the living God, until the living God gives him spiritual life.

2 Co 7:17. Sins and vices of all kinds are impurities in Gods sight, and all Christians, as Gods spiritual priests, should be without blemish.

2 Co 7:18. What can be more comforting than to have God for a Father, and to be in Christ His beloved sons and daughters? Not only will such be filled with joy and peace, but they will endeavor to walk worthy of their high vocation and to be truly devout in all their intercourse with God (Gen 17:1).

2Co 7:1. We become pure only as we exercise true repentance and are renewed day by day; and this can be only as we allow the Holy Spirit to accomplish in our hearts without obstruction his proper work of purification (Joh 15:2), and as we use every possible means for putting off old corruptions (Eph 4:22; Gal 5:24), and to exercise ourselves unto godliness (1Ti 4:7; Col 3:10-12).From the garment of the old man, one piece after another has to be gradually taken or rather torn off (Spener). The renewed man must therefore: 1. Examine himself in every way to find what sins most easily beset him, and when they are most dangerous; 2. Guard against them us much as possible; 3. Observe carefully what states of mind usually precede his besetting sins, that he may in due time suppress the evil desire before it has acquired ascendancy; 4. Resist every evil passion and overcome it with the weapons of faith, prayer, and clear representations of his duty and of his baptismal vows; 5. Continue to smite the enemy even when he seems slain, etc.The fear of God should make us diligent in the pursuit of holiness, for we should remember that only thus can we please Him whose eye is never off from us.Hedinger:The Gospel should make us never inactive but always vigorous and lively to advance in godliness. The pure and thriving are the only ones who persevere. And why should anyone stand still?Are these our thanks for such precious promises?

Berlenb. Bible:

2Co 7:11. The love of God and of our neighbor, mercy, hope and joy, wonderfully enlarge our hearts; and since the Lord, who makes a man His habitation, fills immensity, and knows no limits, He must of course expand the contracted heart and give it some degree of susceptibility.

2Co 7:14. Animals of a different nature were not allowed to draw in the same yoke; and Christians should abstain from all companions who will not work in Christs yoke. No heart can be at the same time darkened, ensnared and polluted by sin, and enlightened, emancipated and purified by Christ. Darkness hates the light and flees before it.

2Co 7:16. Whoever is not a temple of God must be a temple of idols and of Satan. Surely no one can be a temple of God who makes an idol of the world, and seeks his profit, honor and pleasure in the world. To be the Lords and to be His sanctuary involves the possession of a divine life and a direct fellowship with God. God is willing to rest, rule and walk in the heart. Turn to Him with all thine heart and thou shalt know what this is by experience.

2 Co 7:17, 18. No self-denial can be acceptable to God, if it is merely external and not in the heart. And yet by these external acts we give practical evidence to the world that its own works are evil, and that we have no communion with the works of darkness but rather reprove them. The separations which have always taken place under the preaching of the Gospel have been produced, not from a factious spirit on the part of Gods people, not because they despised their fellow-men, not because they fancied they were better than others, but simply because they were anxious to avoid what is wrong. God is willing to dwell in His people, and if they would dwell in Him, they must continue steadfast and touch no unclean thing. If we desire to be children of God, we must completely separate ourselves from everything opposed Him. And yet, unless we intend that the world shall have equal power over us, we must cast ourselves wholly upon the help of the Almighty.

2Co 7:1. The power by which our hearts are renewed is principally derived from Gods own precious promises. These are an essential part of Gods covenant with us, but He demands that we also should heartily observe the conditions of the covenant (Jer 7:3-10). We are continually assailed by evil, and yet we are required at all times to be pure. This we ought to be and have power to be, but not by any strength of our own, but by the aid of our risen Saviour. It is important to bo freed not merely from gross vices, but from those spiritual wickednesses with which the foul spirit sometimes besmears the soul (covetousness, arrogance, envy, anger, etc.); and the more spiritual these are the more abominable are they in Gods sight. Indeed, unless the work of purification extends to the most secret thought (Heb 4:12), we shall cherish something which will be false, selfish and impure in His eyes. It is the great business of the new life to be continually becoming pearls of the purest lustre. If we follow as God leads us, and as he gives us power to walk; if we submit cheerfully to His discipline, we shall doubtless reach at least the complete maturity of Christ (Eph 4:13).

Rieger:

2Co 7:11 ff. No minister should hope to win the hearts of men by the esteem and the respect which he commands in society, if he does not also freely open his heart to them in love.

2Co 7:14 ff. Whatever may be the consequences to ourselves, we should never think lightly of the separation from a world lying in wickedness and the superiority to it which faith in Christ and the possession of Gods Spirit gives us. Unless we receive in vain the grace of our high calling, we shall find connected with it the largest promises. Compared with these, what has the world to offer?2Co 7:1. Why is it that some times it takes a long time to fix and tranquilize our hearts, or to become calm after the excitement which some arrogant treatment or some offence has awakened in our bosom? How much prayer has thus been hindered? How many hours, which might have been spent in a Divine peace, have been spoiled by the torment of our own thoughts? All this comes from that filthiness of the flesh and spirit which we still allow to remain in us. Sanctification begins by forsaking the promiscuous multitude, by drawing near to God and by giving ourselves to His service. But it must be continued and completed. The fear of God is our strong fortress and security; let us see to it that we do not presumptuously venture away from it!

Heubner:

2Co 7:11. It is not like a Christian to maintain a perpetual reserve toward those around him, for by his renewed nature he must long to open his heart to those he loves. Between friends there must necessarily be a freedom of expression, and one of the benefits of those associations into which only a few are admitted is, that the heart may be more freely exposed there.

2Co 7:12. The enlarged and full heart of a Christian must not unfrequently experience much sorrow when it is misunderstood and not appreciated by those in whom it confides.

2Co 7:13. The love which never gives by halves demands the whole heart in return.

2Co 7:14-15. Christianity claims that our hearts should be shared by nothing else, and that not only the desires but the whole mind and heart should be pure. It calls for the expulsion of all foreign elements from our natures, and insists upon an absolute intolerance of everything inconsistent with its principles and the word of God. Distinguish here between that disposition to live peaceably with others, which springs from benevolence, and that which accommodates itself to them, approves of their course and imitates their conduct from fear. Whoever joins with others in what is sinful, from a love of their society, accepts the yoke which they received from a love of sin. See the diametrical opposition between truth and error, goodness and wickedness. Impure and weak men would gladly unite these together, but Christianity says to them: Either receive the good as a whole, or decline it altogether: there must be no mingling of them together. Christ is determined to be our only Master; He calls for the whole heart or none of it. To receive the maxims and customs of the unbelieving world is the same thing as to pay court to Satan. The Christian is always at open war with everything not of God, and there must be no temporizing, no yielding. Keep thyself pure!

2Co 7:16. When a man yields up his heart to sin, he sets up an idol there. But God can have possession only where nothing else is tolerated.If God dwells in us, it is by the continual influence of His Spirit producing an inward life which is entirely Divine. If God walks among us there will be a common form of life in which the mind of the Spirit will be clearly expressed, and an impression will be made upon others that God is in the midst of us. Whoever enters such a community will feel the animation of a Divine breath, and will be moved to spiritual activity.

2 Co 7:17. Though we were born and grew up in the world, and though we have caught much of its spirit, the moment we forsake it we forsake it entirely, and henceforth feel a contempt for everything in it, in which God has no part. This is a separation of which all must approve. In such a world we may be looked upon as exiled from God, but in leaving it we find in Him our Father.

2 Co 7:18. The whole Christian world ought to be one holy, divine family. Oh, how far is it from being so now!2Co 7:1. The sanctifying power of Gods promises (1Jn 3:3). Great promises, great demands; great expectations, great warnings! Every sin is a vile spot upon a Christian, whose whole body and soul ought to be a pure temple of God. Sanctification begins with conversion, but it continues through the whole life. God is determined to make something of us, but not all at once. To the accomplishment of His purpose it is indispensable that we should cherish for Him a holy reverence (1Pe 1:17).

W. F. Besser:

2Co 7:13. Christians have the warmest love and regard for us when they admonish us not to receive the grace of God in vain by a careless association with those who despise religion.

2Co 7:14. The yoke in which unbelievers toil is that of carnal will, carnal reason, carnal inclinations; in a word, everything dear to the natural heart. But to the believer this is a foreign yoke (Mat 11:29). Righteousness is the Christians royal badge (Mat 6:33), the richest of all his possessions (Mat 6:21); but unrighteousness is the greatest reproach, the greatest injury and the greatest guilt of the ungodly man, however splendid may be his worldly virtues. To be truly righteous is to be truly saved, for life and bliss must be where forgiveness of sin is. On the other hand, to be truly unrighteous is to be really lost, for he is condemned already on whom lies the imputation of sin. Righteousness must therefore be forever separate from unrighteousness, in doctrine as well as in practice!

2Co 7:15. It would keep us from intermingling our thoughts and efforts with those of unbelievers if we would think much of the mighty chasm which there is between heaven and hell. Labor not in the same yoke with men, unless you would be willing to remain with them forever. The very heart of all idola try is a disposition to glorify man, and the prime article of the unbelievers creed is to make a god of the creature, and to exalt the flesh to honor.

2Co 7:16. The temple of the living God is a Church of living saints, a spiritual house pervaded by the life of the Triune God, and composed of living stones (1Pe 2:5). This inscription: The Temple of the living God, should call us away from the disorders of an idolatry which conceals a real death under the appearance of life, and from the discord of a heathenism which is cut up into a thousand forms of worship, to a Christian unity whose best representation is that of a spiritual temple (Eph 2:21).

2 Co 7:17, 18. Christians are no longer the mere bearers of the Lords vessels, as were the priests and Levites of an earlier day, but they are themselves the Lords vessels; their bodies and souls belong to Him, and they are sanctified by the Holy Spirit as members of the body of Christ. Of course, then, it would be unbecoming for such vessels to remain in a world lying in wickedness. The union of pure and impure doctrine is the very worst kind of desecration. Our Father, the Lord Almighty, has assured us that we shall always possess abundant satisfaction all along the way of self-denial and suffering; but he has also wisely provided that we should be pervaded by a holy fear of offending Him (1Pe 1:17; comp. 1Co 10:22).2Co 7:1. Even though we have been partially cleansed from sin, the grace will not continue with us unless we remain united with Christ by a true faith, and separate ourselves from sin. The Christian, is called continually to aim at perfect sanctification, though he daily finds that he comes short of it (Php 3:12). He must, therefore, persevere in this effort until he shall reach the rest which God has prepared for them that love Him. That fear of God which urges him forward is not one which is cast out by love and has torment (1Jn 4:18), but one which love itself inspires, because it dreads the torment of a defiled conscience.

[F. W. Robertson, on the whole section:We have here1. The exuberance of the Apostles affection (2Co 7:11). He had received a multitude of provocations from the Corinthians, and yet his love was deep; our heart is enlarged. It was partly compassion for them as his children, for whom he had suffered; and it was partly from a regard to them as immortal beings, who should be, and who might become, exceedingly eminent. Then he was eloquent, his mouth was open to them. He might have shut his lips and in dignified pride have refused to plead his cause. But he speaks freely, not even cautiously, but like a man who has nothing to conceal or to fear. 2. The recompense he desired. This was, first, unworldliness, or separation from the world. Independent of the impossibility of agreeing in the deepest sympathies, and of there being no identity of tastes or antipathies, the first ground was immorality, unrighteousness, profligacy, and the second was irreligion, unbelief. This separateness, however is not merely outward, but in spirit. It was, secondly, Personal purification (2Co 7:1). The ground on which this request was made was these promises (the indwelling of God, his free reception of us, and His Fatherhood and our sonship, 2Co 6:16-18); the request itself was for personal purity; and the means were, the fear of God, realizing the promises and perfecting holiness.Lectt. XLIX. and L., abridged].

Footnotes:

[5][1 2Co 6:11.For the second B. has . Tisch. in his Cod. sin. gives in the text, but as a var. lect.].

[6]2Co 6:14Rec. has , but has stronger support [B. C. D. E. F. G. L. Sin. with the majority of versions and Fathers]. The being more usual was probably a correction.

[7]2Co 6:15.Rec. has , but it was probably a correction to conform to and the other datives in the connection. B. C. et al [Sinait. D. L. the Vulg., and Copt. the Latin fathers] have . [Lachm., Tisch., Meyer, and Alford also adopt it; but Bloomfield inclines to under an impression that the other was suggested by the Latin copies or to facilitate construction].

[8]2Co 6:15.The best authenticated form of this word is ; but some copies have and . The of the Rec. is feebly sustained. [It has no MSS. and little more than the Vulgate, which adopted it from the original Hebrew form. All Greek MSS. of importance have . Sept. treated the word as a common noun and translated it. The Vulgate and our English version sometimes give it as a proper noun, but they often translate it by the word wicked, or some equivalent term. The Hellenistic Jews often changed into as in the Doric for The fromoften occurs in the Test. of the 12 Patriarchs, in the interpolated Ignatius, in the Apost. Canons, and in the Greek Fathers generally. As the Greeks never ended their proper names in , they were not likely to change l into , while the Latins were quite likely to conform the to their Vulgate].

[9]2Co 6:16.The Rec. has instead of . It was probably a reminiscence of 1Co 3:16, and an attempt to conform to 2Co 6:14; 2Co 6:17. The authorities, however, are about equally balanced. [B. D. L. Sin. and some versions and Fathers have the Rec. but C. D. (3d Cor.) E. F. G. K. the Vulg. Syr. Goth, verss. and most of the Greek Fathers have the other. No reason can be imagined for changing the into equally strong with that which has above been suggested for the opposite course].

[10]2Co 6:16.Rec. has , Lachm. has . The testimony for the latter is not strong, and it is probably an attempt to conform the text to the preceding . [And yet B. C. and Sin. have , while D. F. K. L. with the verss. and most Fathers have ].

[11]2Co 6:17Rec. has but is better suited to the sense and is more strongly sustained. [The former is better conformed to linguistic usage, but the latter was for this very reason less likely to be altered to it. it is better sustained by the best MSS. of the Sept., has B. C. F. G. Sin. and Damasc. in its favor, and has the sanction of Lachm., Tisch. and Alford].

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 2029
SANCTIFICATION WROUGHT BY THE PROMISES

2Co 7:1. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

CHRISTIANITY, if viewed aright, is a remedy suited to the necessities of fallen man. Man has lost both the favour and the image of God: and the Gospel restores him to both: to his favour first, and afterwards to his image. The promise made to Adam in Paradise, that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpents head, was given without any preparation of heart on Adams part, yea, altogether unsolicited and unsought. It was, in fact, not given to Adam personally; but was rather a part of the judgment denounced against the serpent that had beguiled him [Note: Gen 3:14-15.]. Thus, in the passage before us, the promises in the close of the preceding chapter are given freely to the sons of men: and the sanctification that follows it, is to be the fruit and effect of the promises apprehended by them, and applied to their souls.

To put this matter in a clear light, we shall shew,

I.

The nature and extent of the sanctification required of us

Sanctification is not a mere removal of evil from the soul, but a positive renovation of the whole man. It is set forth in our text as,

1.

The mortification of all sin

[As man consists of two parts, flesh and spirit, so sin resides in both, and defiles both: and is therefore distinguished into fleshly and spiritual filthiness; the former assimilating us to the beasts, and the latter to that great enemy of God and man, the devil: as our Lord has said, Ye are of your father the devil; and the lusts of your father ye will do [Note: Joh 8:44.]. By the filthiness of the flesh, we understand, all those sins which take their rise from, and are acted by, the body; as uncleanness, intemperance, sloth. By the filthiness of the spirit, we understand, those sins which are more independent of the body, and have their proper residence in the mind; as pride, envy, malice, wrath, revenge; discontent, covetousness, deceit; impenitence, unbelief, and numberless other evils. But from all of these we are to be cleansed. If one be retained willingly, deliberately, habitually, it will so defile, as utterly to destroy, the soul: as God has said, If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy [Note: 1Co 3:17.]. It is to no purpose for any to plead, that God has given them passions, and that they are not able to restrain them; for God will enable us to restrain them, if we cry to him for help: He has declared, that his grace shall be sufficient for us. Neither, on the other hand, must any one think well of himself, merely because he does not indulge any gross corporeal lusts: for he may be fulfilling the desires of the mind to a vast extent, even whilst he restrains those of the flesh [Note: Eph 2:3.]; and the indulgence of spiritual lusts is no less hateful in the sight of God, than the gratifications which are more disgraceful in our eyes. A proud Christian, a passionate Christian, a discontented Christian, or an unbelieving Christian, is as palpable a contradiction in terms, as a drunken or a lewd Christian. Evil tempers and dispositions of whatever kind must be subdued and mortified; if but one reign in the soul, we are Christians in name only, and not in deed and in truth: for they that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts [Note: Gal 5:24.]. Would to God that professing Christians would more attentively consider this! It is a grievous mistake to imagine, that any notions however scriptural, or any virtues however specious, will be of any avail, as long as one evil temper remains in us unmortified and unsubdued. If we regard iniquity in our hearts (of whatever kind it be), the Lord will not hear us.]

2.

The cultivation of universal holiness

[Not contented with putting off the old man, we are to be continually putting on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness: we are to be renewed in the spirit of our mind [Note: Eph 4:23-24.]. This is an expression that deserves to be deeply considered: for it contains the very essence of real sanctification. We must put on the Lord Jesus Christ [Note: Rom 13:14. Gal 3:27.], and have in ourselves the very mind that was in him [Note: Php 2:5.]. Mark his every disposition; his delight in Gods presence, dependence on his care, and zeal for his glory; his self-denying habits of every kind, and, at the same time, his patience and meekness, his compassion and love towards the children of men, even towards his most inveterate enemies: these are to be the dispositions which we are to cultivate, and in which we are to grow up even to perfection [Note: 1Th 5:23.]. Whatever we have attained, we are to forget it all, and press forward for more [Note: Php 3:13-14.], and to grow up into him in all things as our living Head [Note: Eph 4:15.]. All this we are to do in the fear of God. This expression must be particularly marked: for in the fear of God the perfection of holiness consists. By the fear of God, I understand that tenderness of conscience, and watchfulness of mind, that guards against even a thought which would be displeasing to God. There is a susceptibility of impression (such as exists in the apple of the eye when touched by the smallest mote in the air), which we should keep alive in our hearts in reference to sin, and have in uninterrupted exercise. In this the Lord Jesus Christ himself pre-eminently excelled, being of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord [Note: Isa 11:2-3.]: and it is by this that God has engaged to perfect his work within us, causing us to fear him for ever, and putting his fear into our hearts that we may not depart from him [Note: Jer 32:38-40 and Isa 11:2-3. These passages should be carefully noticed and compared in this view.].

This is the crown of all Christian graces and attainments: without which nothing is of any value. It is the lowered tint which marks the ripeness and maturity of our choicest fruit: it is that by which the man of God is perfected, and the image of God is completed in the soul.]
The mention of the promises in connexion with this, leads me to shew,

II.

The use of the promises in the production of it

St. Peter tells us, that by the promises we are made partakers of the Divine nature [Note: 2Pe 1:4.]: and to the same effect does St. Paul speak in the words before us. It is by the promises that we are to accomplish the task assigned us in the text. For this blessed work they are well fitted: for they operate,

1.

In a way of motive

[Who can contemplate the promises in the preceding context, and not feel his obligations to Almighty God so great as to outweigh every other consideration under heaven? Does God promise to dwell and walk in us as in his temple? Does he engage to be our God, as much as if there were no other creature in the universe besides ourselves that had any interest in him? Does he declare that he will both receive us, and act towards us, as the most indulgent Father towards his own beloved sons and daughters? Is all this promised to us freely, even to all who will separate themselves from an ungodly world, and seek his face? Who can contemplate this, and not instantly inquire, What shall I render to the Lord for all these benefits? Who can have such a hope in him, and not endeavour to purify himself, even as God is pure [Note: 1Jn 3:3.]? It is thus that Paul felt his obligations to the Lord; and it is from the consideration of them that he urges us to an unreserved devotedness of ourselves to God, assuring us that the mercies conferred upon us render an entire consecration of ourselves to him a reasonable service [Note: Rom 12:1.].]

2.

In a way of encouragement

[Any one who should merely contemplate the greatness of the work assigned him, would sit down in despair: How shall I hope so to cleanse myself from all sin, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God? But in the promises, he finds ample ground of confidence and joy. What! has God freely given to me his only dear Son, and will he not with him also freely give me all things? Would an earthly father not refuse bread to his famished child, and will my Heavenly Father not give his Holy Spirit to me in the measure that I need his influences? To what purpose are all these promises which he has given me, if he will not work in me that measure of sanctification which is necessary to the complete enjoyment of them? But I find holiness amongst the most distinguished of his promises. He has said, I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you [Note: Eze 36:25-27.]: &c. I will not fear then to engage in the work of cleansing myself, since God has promised to perform it in me [Note: Php 2:12-13.]: for if he work, who shall let it? My weakness, so far from being an obstacle to him, shall rather be an occasion for him to glorify himself the more [Note: 2Co 12:9.]: and, through him strengthening me, I can do all things [Note: Php 4:13.].]

3.

In a way of actual efficiency

[The promises, as contained in the word, effect nothing: it is only as dwelling in the heart, and relied upon in the soul, that they produce any saving operation. Then they are of necessity accompanied by the Holy Spirit, who works in and by them; and who, on that very account, is called The Holy Spirit of promise [Note: Eph 1:13.]. When applied to the soul by him, they have, if I may so speak, a buoyancy, bearing up the soul to high and heavenly things. We know that we, by filling a capacious vessel with air of a lighter species, can cause it to rise by its own buoyancy, and to soar above the clouds: how much more then shall we, when filled with the Spirit, and borne up upon the wings of promise, rise in our hearts and minds to the highest heavens! We are aware that this illustration is not to be pressed too far; but neither is it to be discarded altogether as fanciful, since our blessed Lord himself has said, that his Holy Spirit in us shall be within us a well of water springing up unto everlasting life [Note: Joh 4:14.]. Here the heavenly tendency of the principle within us is plainly asserted: and, whatever be the word which first begets us to the heavenly life, it is the word of promise which brings the soul to its full maturity of Christian perfection [Note: Jam 1:18. 1Pe 1:23. Eph 5:26-27.]. It was the abundant indwelling of the promises in the Apostles soul that filled him with the love of Christ, and constrained him to live unto his God and Saviour in a way that no other man ever did, and caused his conversation to be continually in heaven [Note: 2Co 5:14. Php 3:20.]. And in proportion as they are realized in our souls, will be the sanctifying effects produced by them.]

Address
1.

Those who are seeking holiness as their end, without using the promises as the means

[This is common both in those who are altogether ignorant of the Gospel, and in those whose views of it are yet dim and clouded: in the one, it springs from self-righteous pride; in the others, from mistaken and misplaced humility: but in both it is a fatal evil.
As for the self-righteous formalist, he would reverse the Apostles exhortation, and, instead of saying, Having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves, they would say, Having cleansed ourselves, let us expect a fulfilment of all the promises. But no man shall ever attain salvation in such a way as that. No man can ever attain such holiness as God requires, but by the promises: nor, if he could, would such attainments ever purchase him an interest in the promises. They must be received as freely as they are given: they are given to us as sinners, as ungodly, as having no works whatever to bring to God [Note: Rom 4:4-6.]: and, if we will not embrace them under this character, renouncing all dependence on our own righteousness, and seeking to be saved by grace alone, we shall never have so much as one of them fulfilled to us [Note: Php 3:9. Rom 3:24. Eph 2:8-9.].

Nor is the legal Christian in reality building on any better foundation than the self-righteous formalist: for, though he does not profess to found his hopes on his own righteousness, yet he looks to his own attainments as his warrant for relying on the promises of his God. He thinks it would be pre-sumptuous in him to rely on the promises, because he cannot find in himself that measure of holiness which he considers as necessary to qualify him for an interest in them. But this is the very same error which the self-righteous formalist runs into: and the same answer, in a measure, must be given to it: only, whilst to the formalist I say, You must rely upon the promises; to the legal character I say, You may. They are all given as freely as the air you breathe: and precisely as the converts on the day of Pentecost apprehended them, so may you apprehend them freely, without money and without price: and as the jailor was justified by his faith the very instant he believed, so shall you be.

Nor need we be afraid of this doctrine as having a licentious tendency; for what was the effect of it in the apostolic age? the same shall it be in this and every age; the promises of God will always, when duly received, operate to the production of holiness; and every one who embraces them aright, will proceed to cleanse himself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God.]

2.

Those who rest in the promises without regarding the end to be produced by them

[Such persons there are, and ever have been, in the Church of God; persons, who think it legal to exhort men to holiness, and who make no other use of the promises, than to cherish in themselves an assurance of their own acceptance with God. These persons would correct the Apostle as an ignorant and ill-instructed teacher. They would say, Having these promises, let us be full of confidence and joy: but they would never deign to say, Having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves: this, forsooth, is legal. But whether they be right, or the Apostle, judge ye. Let such self-deceiving and conceited professors imagine as they will, God does not make so light of holiness: on the contrary, he tells us, that by our works we shall be judged in the last day, and by our works we are to be judged even now. Yes, by their fruits shall the followers of Christ be known: and if we slight them, we shall find all our pretended faith to be of no effect. In vain shall we say, Lord, Lord, if we do not the things which he says. I must entreat all then to shun this deadly heresy; and to search and try themselves, and see what effect the promises have produced upon them; for, as God is true, without holiness shall no man see the Lord.]

3.

Those who are seeking the end by the appointed means

[Shall you fail of success? Assuredly you shall not: for the word of promise will bring forth fruit in you, as it doth in all the world. Treasure up in your minds all the exceeding great and precious promises, which in Christ Jesus are yea and Amen; dwell upon them: plead them before God in prayer: declare to him your affiance in them: expect their accomplishment: limit not the Holy One of Israel in any thing: bear in mind that with him all things are possible. Verily, if you will thus believe, you shall see the glory of God. Sin shall be weakened in you: Satan shall flee before you: all the principalities and powers of hell shall be bruised under your feet: in a word, Christ shall be formed in you, and you shall be changed into his image from glory to glory by the Spirit of your God. Strengthened by these, your consolations shall be rich, your progress rapid, your victories secure: and in due time you shall possess the full substance of all the promises in the complete attainment of Gods perfect image, and the everlasting fruition of his glory.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

CONTENTS

This Chapter contains many earnest Exhortations, arising out of the foregoing. Paul adds several affectionate Observations, as expressive of his Good-will to the Church.

2Co 7:1

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

This verse seems to be unconnected with what follows, but rather as the inference, from what was said before, in the preceding Chapter. And, as a right apprehension of the doctrine contained in it, appears to me to be of great moment, I would beg to consider it separately.

The Apostle having laid down the certain truth, that God hath condescended to such a wonderful act of grace, as to dwell in his people, and walk in them; and to call himself their God, and they his people; Paul makes this conclusion, as the result of such unspeakable mercy: that the Church should cleanse herself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. But what cleansing doth the Apostle mean? Not human cleansing surely. For cleansing-work, as much as creating-work, is the Lord’s. And God’s promise is to this amount: I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and, ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, Eze 36:25 . And the cries of God’s children, for the Lord to cleanse them, is a plain proof, they are conscious, they cannot cleanse themselves. But the cleansing themselves, both here, and in various other parts of Scripture, where the child of God is called upon to cleansing work, is, to act faith upon God’s promises, on this ground, that in a daily, hourly, communion, with God in Christ, they may, by heart-felt experience, know that the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin. 1Jn 1:7 .

In like manner, they are said to be perfecting holiness in the fear of God. What holiness? They have no holiness, but what is in Christ, and from Christ. He is made of God unto them, both wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption. 1Co 1:30 . And the Church is expressly, said to be perfect in Christ Jesus, Col 1:28 . But the perfecting holiness in the fear of God, consists in the lively actings of faith, upon all God’s promises in Christ, and which is instanced in this Scripture, in one feature of them, namely, God’s fear; when he said: I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me, Jer 32:40 . So That the Apostle is not calling upon the Church, to cleanse themselves from their filth, which is God’s work; neither to perfect holiness in their own attainments, which is God’s glory: for he had told the Church of the Corinthians in a former Epistle, that they were washed, and were sanctified, and were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God, 1Co 6:11 . But he is calling upon them to live by faith on God’s promises; and by faith to enjoy their blessings, in seeing themselves in a justified state before God, and cleansed from everything of evil, in the Adam-fall of corruption, by the perfection of holiness which is in Christ Jesus.

And I take occasion from this sweet Scripture to observe, how much the comfort and happiness of the Church of God, depends upon a right apprehension, under divine teaching, of this grand truth. A regenerated child of God is regenerated only in spirit. It is the Spirit which quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing, Joh 6:63 . The flesh of a child of God is neither quickened nor renewed. Its whole nature is carnal, sensual, and earthly-minded. And hence, the renewed souls of God’s children from the opposition their sinful bodies are continually making, to their spiritual desires; groan from day to day. To look therefore for holiness, from an unholy body, is as absurd, as to expect an act of life from the dead. But to perfect holiness in the fear of God, by the soul’s daily, hourly, act of faith, upon God’s promises, that he will cleanse us, and we shall be clean; and that the Lord will, by his blessed Spirit, mortify the deeds of the body that we may live: Rom 8:13 , this is scriptural, and the true life of faith. And the promises are to this amount: that the Lord will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him. For all that are kept, are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, Isa 26:3 ; 1Pe 1:5 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Sorrow for Sin

2Co 7:10

All sorrow for sin is not godly sorrow, and does not always work repentance. Sorrow for sin may issue either in spiritual life or in spiritual death.

I. Now there may be many reasons why men sorrow for sin. (1) Some men sorrow for sin because they look upon sin not so much as a crime as a ruin. They think of what they have lost through their sin, and as they look upon their ruin they hate the sin. (52) In the second place, some men grieve over sin because of the loss of character. (3) Other men grieve over sin because of the loss of self-esteem; they are the hot tears which flow from pride. There is a great difference, for instance, between Saul’s ‘I have played the fool,’ and the poor publican’s ‘God be merciful to me a sinner’. Now it is quite true that even these sorrows for sin may produce a certain reformation, but the reformation is only temporary; it will only last so long as the emotion lasts; when the emotion evaporates the reformation will be at an end. No, as St. Paul tells you, the true sorrow is a godly sorrow; or, as the Greek word literally means, a sorrow according to God, a sorrow according to God’s measure, a sorrow which He is working out.

II. Well then, how are we to get this godly sorrow? (1) It is produced by God the Holy Ghost; it is only the spirit of grace and supplication that can produce it, it is only the omnipotent power of the Holy Ghost that can bring water out of this flinty rock. (2) It is accompanied with prayer. (3) It is caused by looking at the Crucified. (4) This sorrow for sin is very individualising. Each has to go apart. We ought to sorrow for sin, we ought to sorrow for sin far more than we do, but, after all, it is not the sorrow which is going to atone it is the blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son.

E. A. Stuart, The One Mediator and other Sermons, vol. xi. p. 145.

References. VII. 10. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlvi. No. 2691. D. L. Moody, The Fulness of the Gospel, p. 31. W. H. Evans, Short Sermons for the Seasons, p. 72. R. Allen, The Words of Christ, p. 28. Expositor (4th Series), vol. vi. p. 309; ibid. (5th Series), vol. vii. p. 276; ibid. vol. ix. p. 437. VII. 10, 11. J. J. Blunt, Plain Sermons, p. 142. VII. 11. J. S. Maver, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lix. p. 46. VII. 12. Expositor (6th Series), vol. i. p. 108. VIII. Ibid. (4th Series), vol. v. p. 343. VIII. 4. Ibid. (6th Series), vol. viii. p. 390. VIII. 6. Lyman Abbott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. p. 119. W. Brock, Midsummer Morning Sermons, p. 12. A. Tucker, Preacher’s Magazine, vol. x. p. 275. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvii. No. 2234. VIII. 8. W. H. Harwood, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlv. p. 294. Expositor (6th Series), vol. iii. p. 277.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

XXIX

THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION

2Co 5:17-7:16 .

This discussion commences at 2Co 5:17 , and extends to the end of 2Co 7 . Before going forward with this discussion, I want to call attention to some critical questions involved in the preceding chapter. In 2Co 5:11 , what is the meaning of the “fear of the Lord” “Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we persuade men”? Does it mean that the dreadfulness of God, or the fear that men may have of God? My answer is that it means God’s fearfulness or dreadfulness, his awful character in holding each sinner to strict account for all of his sins “Knowing the fear of the Lord.”

In 2Co 5:14 , “The love of Christ constraineth us” does the love of Christ here mean Christ’s love for us, or our love for Christ that does the constraining? My answer is, it means our love for Christ, that is superinduced by our conception of Christ’s love for us. When we relied upon Christ’s love for us, that awakened our love for Christ, and that constrains us to do what we do for Christ. What is the meaning of “constrain”? That is, does it simply mean to impel, or does it manifest its etymological meaning of narrowing down or shutting up to, so that we cannot do anything but that? Virtually it means the latter that my love for Christ shuts me up to doing what I do. In other words, Luther said when they demanded that he recant, “Here I stand; I can do no other.” That is, his love of Christ put it out of his power to abjure his conception of justification by faith.

2Co 5:17 says, “Wherefore ‘if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature.” “Therefore” always refers back, and there are two things to which it refers back: (1) 2Co 5:15 , that Christ died for us, and so we are under obligation not to live unto ourselves, but unto Christ. (2) 2Co 5:16 , “As Christ died for us, we henceforth know no man, after the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” These are the two reasons why a man is a new creature. The old things have passed away, meaning that old things are covered by new things. After conversion, a man is a new creature. Before conversion a man is his own guide, and the knowledge he has is after worldly understanding. I once heard a sermon preached on this text, and one of the members said, “I have found out by that text that I am not a Christian.” I said, “Why?” He said, “Old things have not passed away, and all things have not become new. My wife is not new. The sun shines as it did before, and I get hungry as I did before. According to that sermon I am not converted.” That preacher did not understand the force of the “therefore.” He did not see in what respects a man was new that he is new in that he no longer lives unto himself but unto Christ, and no longer forms his judgment by worldly knowledge, but by spiritual knowledge. All of the old things that touch these points have passed away.

I heard a very prominent Baptist preacher, without knowledge of Greek, or a critical study of the text, preach on that text to set forth the evidences of conversion. He enumerated a dozen evidences by which one might know he was a Christian, without noticing either one of the two that the text expresses. When he got through I said, “Whenever you take a text there is always a better sermon in it, according to its true meaning, than any sermon you can preach away from it. Everything you said was true, but you ought to have gotten it from other scriptures.”

In preaching on the evidences of conversion from this text one must confine himself to this line of thought that an unconverted man lives unto himself and decides all questions according to the way it pleases him, but the converted man is a new creature in that respect, and decides things as Christ would have him decide, though contrary to his inclinations.

When the Baptist General Convention met at Belton I preached a sermon on “The Ministerial Office,” and commenced the sermon with stating that every preacher was under obligation when he selected a text to give its primary meaning and then its contextual meaning. Then he may deduce from the principles involved a new line of thought. But his new theme must be a logical development from the primary and contextual meaning. He should never take a text and preach a sermon without telling what it means primarily, and in its context. The most suitable description of a sermon that violates this rule is credited to a Negro: First, he took his text; second, he left it; third, he never got back to it.

The new creation may mean a great deal more than Paul says here, but all the meaning here is that a man who is in Christ no longer lives unto himself, but unto Christ, and no longer judges according to the spirit of the flesh, but after the Spirit of God.

We now come to the most important part of this second letter. We may make mistakes about some things in this letter, and the mistakes will not be fatal, but if we make a mistake on the reconciliation part of this letter we have made a radical mistake. 2Co 5:18-21 contain a brief discussion of reconciliation. If one understands these verses, he is a pretty sound theologian. The word “reconciliation,” first of all, implies that there has been a previous enmity. Second, the ground of the enmity is that man is a sinner. Third, it implies that, being a sinner, he is lost. All of that can be brought out in this passage clearly.

What does reconciliation mean? That the two at enmity have been brought to perfect peace. Who is the author of this reconciliation? “All things are of God, who reconciled us to himself.” There never was a case where a man at enmity with God was himself the cause or the occasion of the reconciliation. Then what is the meritorious ground of the reconciliation? “Who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ.” The ground of the reconciliation is what Jesus has done. What the method of the reconciliation? “God was in Christ recon” oiling the world unto himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses.” They must be reckoned somewhere. Look at the last verse: “He hath made him to be sin for us.”

The method of reconciliation is to impute the man’s sins to Christ, and not to the man, and impute Christ’s righteousness to the man. Christ is to be accounted a sinner in the place of the man, and the man righteous in the place of Christ. God made the just one to take the place of the unjust one. The strongest passage in the word of God on the doctrine of substitution and imputation 2Co 5:21 . No man who denies what is called the doctrine of imputation has ever been able properly to interpret this passage.

This method is perfectly in harmony with what the prophet declared in Isa 53:5 : “Our iniquities were laid on him. By his stripes we are healed. The chastisement of our peace was on him, and because it was on him it pleased the Lord to bruise him.” God bruised him. He poured out his soul unto death and made an offering of himself for the sinner.

What is the blessing that hereby comes to the sinner? The forgiveness of sin. If the sinner’s sins are charged to somebody else, and that sinner is acquitted, then he is free. If a brother owes $100 and the surety pays it, the creditor cannot collect that $100 from the original debtor, for the debt has been paid by the surety. So far we have considered reconciliation Godward. God cannot, by his nature and attributes, be reconciled to the sinner until satisfaction be made to his infracted law. He must be propitiated before he can become propitious. His justice claims must be met and satisfied.

But what is the ministry of the reconciliation? The text says, “And hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” The ministry of reconciliation is God’s appointing men to go and preach the terms of reconciliation. What authority then is conferred upon the preacher that goes to preach this? “We are ambassadors of Christ.” What is an ambassador? The United States sends an ambassador to England, and gives him credentials. At the court of St. James in England he is the representative of the United States. Whatever he does under that authority binds the United States. But an ambassador is not allowed to go beyond his instructions, and any ambassador that goes beyond them must be held responsible to the government that sent him.

A preacher then goes with divine instructions not to say, “peace, peace when there is no peace,” but to set plainly before the unconverted the only terms of reconciliation that the sinner shall repent of his sins and accept the Lord, and the evidence that he has accepted Christ is that he no longer lives unto himself but unto Christ, no longer as the world judges, but according to the Spirit of God. That is the whole subject of the gospel in a nutshell. It is of the highest importance that a preacher should understand it. “We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God.” I consider that the most important thought in the second letter. The work of Christ reconciles God to man. The work of the Holy Spirit reconciles man to God.

Taking up 2Co 6 , let us advance in the thought. What is the time to be reconciled? At an acceptable time I hearkened unto thee, And in a day of salvation did I succor thee; Behold, now is the acceptable time; Behold, now is the day of salvation. That is, no minister has a right to treat with a sinner on the morrow, next week, or next year. He has to hold the sinner down in every sermon to immediate reconciliation with Christ.

Mr. Spurgeon, in talking to his preacher-students, tells of an incident that he witnessed. He was visiting an Episcopalian preacher, and a man under conviction of sin came to see his pastor. He told Mr. Spurgeon to stay and hear what the man had to say. The sinner stated his case. The preacher said, “You go home and read a certain book on the ‘Evidences of Christianity’ and read certain passages, and pray to the Lord, and in a week come back to see me.” Mr. Spurgeon leaped to his feet and said, “My dear sir, don’t dismiss that man that way. You have no right to do it. He comes to you as an anxious sinner, for you to tell him what to do, and you have marked out a line of conduct that may take him beyond his life time. If you will permit me, I will tell him what to do. Let him now accept Christ; let us pray now that he may at once accept Christ.” The Episcopalian said, “If you want to do it, do so.” Mr. Spurgeon said to the man, “Will you right now look to the Lord Jesus Christ while we pray,” and he knelt down to pray and the man arose happily converted.

We should never postpone a convicted sinner’s case. If the man is not under conviction we may work to convict. But when a contrite and penitent man comes, who feels that he is a sinner, and wants to know what to do to be saved, we should deal with him just as Paul did with that jailer at midnight, who said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” He was saved that very night. There is the great failure in most meetings.

One Sunday in Oklahoma City I preached three times. I suppose there were fully 2,500 that heard the sermons. The audience room was very large, and it was crowded. In the afternoon I was preaching to men, and I came to the point of immediate reconciliation to God. Since God is the author of this reconciliation, and since the blessing of reconciliation is remission of sins and since that comes by imputation of our guilt to Christ, and the ‘imputation of his righteousness to us, what use is there for us to take time? If salvation be a gift, how long does it take to receive a gift? A wonderful impression was made. Three men came to see me after the sermon on the subject of immediate acceptance of Christ. One of them offered me an extravagant sum of money if I would stay and hold a meeting.

I heard a very distinguished preacher take this text: “We beseech you in Christ’s stead be ye reconciled to God.” The main thing he preached about was this: That there were two parties to the original enmity, God and man; that the man did not have to do anything to reconcile God; that the man was the only fellow out of it; that God is already reconciled, and the man must bring himself to bear upon reconciling himself. When he got through I said, “Do you know that you have made a dreadful mistake? God’s reconciliation is in Christ, and so long as man rejects Christ, God is not reconciled to that man; the wrath of God is on him,” It was Christ that appeased the wrath of God by dying for the sinner, but it does not follow that because Christ died nearly 1900 years ago the law has nothing against us. It has nothing against us only when we accept Christ.

The reconciliation of God to us is not out of Christ, but in Christ, but we get in touch with that reconciliation when we accept Christ.

What then should be the conduct of a preacher who has this ministry of reconciliation? 2Co 6:3-10 constitute a lesson to a preacher: “Giving no occasion of stumbling in anything, that our ministration be not blamed; but in everything commending ourselves, as ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings, in pureness, in knowledge, in longsuffering, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love unfeigned, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”

Now comes another point in the argument since a man who is a new creature ‘is to live not unto himself but unto Jesus Christ, how does it affect his past relations with men and things? 2Co 6:14-17 answer: “Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity, or what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols, for we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore, Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing. What follows from being a new creature? A man must draw a line of demarcation between himself and every evil tiling and evil association. The argument is tremendous.

We now come to the second and most important part of the whole letter his discussion of repentance. What precedes repentance? Godly sorrow, or contrition. “Godly sorrow worketh repentance.” What does repentance mean? A change of mind toward God on account of sin. How is repentance distinguished from worldly sorrow? Worldly sorrow has a different origin; it is remorse. How is repentance evidenced? Look at verse 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.” They had partaken of the sin of that fornicator, and were not disturbed until Paul wrote this letter which brought about Godly sorrow in their hearts, and led them to repent. Their repentance was evidenced by its fruits. They cleared themselves of the offense by excluding that man, and what is true of Godly sorrow and repentance there is true of repentance on the part of the sinner. There is no other mill that grinds out that kind of grist. John the Baptist said, “Bring forth fruits meet for repentance. Don’t oppress the poor, but be content with your wage.” If a man is a Christian let him prove it by a Christian life.

QUESTIONS

1. What is the meaning of “fear of the Lord” in 2Co 5:11 ?

2. What is the meaning of “constrain” in 2Co 5:14 ?

3. What is the force of “therefore” in 2Co 5:17 , and what the two reasons given in this passage why a man is a new creature?

4. What is the meaning and application of “old things . . . they are become new” in 2Co 5:17 ? Illustrate.

5. What bearing has 2Co 5:17 on the evidence of salvation?

6. What is the preacher’s duty relative to his text when he goes to preach, and what is an illustration of a violation of this rule given by the author?

7. What, according to the author’s estimate, is the most important part of this letter, and why?

8. What does the word “reconciliation” imply?

9. What does it mean?

10. Who is the author of our reconciliation in salvation?

11. What is the meritorious ground of reconciliation?

12. What is the method of this reconciliation?

13. What is the strongest passage in the Word of God on imputation, and the prophetic teaching on this subject?

14. What is the blessing of reconciliation? Illustrate

15. What is the ministry of the reconciliation?

16. What is the authority conferred upon the preacher? Illustrate,

17. What, then, the preacher’s evident duty?

18. What reconciles God to man, and what reconciles men to God?

19. What is the time of reconciliation, and why? Illustrate.

20. What illustration of a misconception, of reconciliation, and how did the author correct this misconception?

21. What should be the conduct of a preacher who has this reconciliation?

22. How does the “new creation” affect a man’s past relations with men and things?

23. What is the second most important part of this letter?

24. What precedes repentance?

25. What does repentance mean?

26. How is repentance distinguished from worldly sorrow?

27. How is repentance evidenced, and particularly in this case?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Ver. 1. Having therefore, &c. ] Faith in the promises purifieth the heart, Act 15:9 , and argueth notably from mercy to duty, melting the hardness of it by the consideration of the promises. Let a cart loaded go over a frozen river, the cart breaks the ice, but it remains ice still. But let the sun shine upon the river, and it dissolveth it. The apostle saith not, Having these menaces, but, Having these promises.

From all filthiness ] Sin defileth a man worse than any jakes or leprosy. It is the devil’s excrement, it is the corruption of a dead soul. Seldom or never is there a birth of saving grace, but there follows it a flux of mortification.

Of flesh and spirit ] i.e. Both of the outward and inward man. Or of flesh, that is, worldly lusts, and gross evils, as uncleanness, earthlymindedness, &c, And of spirit, that is, more spiritual lusts, as pride, presumption, self-flattery, &c. These lie more up in the heart of the country, as it were; those others in the frontiers and skirts of it.

Perfecting holiness ] Propounding to ourselves the highest pitch and the best patterns. And having for our motto that of Charles V, Plus ultra, further yet. And here let faith and obedience make a perfect pair of compasses. Faith as the one foot must be pitched upon the centre, God, while obedience (as the other) walks about in a perfect circle of all good duties. He will not crush but cherish that worm Jacob. “He will not break the bruised reed,” &c.

In the fear of God ] Which is the fountain whence holiness flows. See Pro 8:13 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

1 .] Inference from the foregoing citations: seeing that we have such glorious ( in the position of emphasis) promises, we are to purify ourselves (not merely, ‘keep ourselves pure:’ purification belongs to sanctification , and is a gradual work, even after conversion).

, as the actual instrument and suggester of pollution: , as the recipient through the flesh, and when the recipient, the retainer and propagator, of uncleanness. The exhortation is general : against impure acts and impure thoughts.

. ., as De W. remarks, gives the positive side of the foregoing negative exhortation: every abnegation and banishing of impurity is a positive advance of that sanctification, in the fear of God (as its element) to which we are called.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

11 8:1. ] EARNEST EXHORTATIONS TO SEPARATION FROM UNBELIEF AND IMPURITY.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

14 7:1 .] Separate yourselves from unbelief and impurity . On the nature of the connexion, Stanley has some good remarks. He now applies to circumstances which had arisen among the Corinthians the exhortation which in 2Co 6:1 he described himself as giving in pursuance of his ministry of reconciliation. The following exhortations are general , and hardly to be pressed as applying only to partaking of meats offered to idols , as Calv., al., or to marriage with unbelievers , as Estius, but regard all possible connexion and participation, all leanings towards a return to heathenism which might be bred by too great familiarity with heathens. Become not (‘ne fiatis , molliter pro: ne sitis ,’ Bengel: rather, perhaps, as expressing, ‘do not enter into those relations in which you must become’) incongruous yokefellows (the word and idea from ref. Levit. Hesych [9] : . Grot. explains it, ‘ alteram partem jugi trahere ,’ but this does not give the force of – : Theophyl., . : so making the simile that of an unequal balance: but this could hardly be without more precise notification) with unbelievers (Winer explains the construction, edn. 6, 31. 10, Remark 4, thus, . , : better, as De W., . . . ).

[9] Hesychius of Jerusalem, cent y . vi.

] ‘ share in the same thing ,’ community. .

. is the state of the Christian, being justified by faith: he is therefore excluded from , the proper fruit of faith being obedience .

, of which we are the children, 1Th 5:5 , and not of darkness.

Meyer remarks, that the fivefold variation of the term to express partnership, , , , , , shews the Apostle’s command of the Greek language. The construction of with a dat. and , is illustrated by Wetst. from Stobus, S. 28, , and Philo, leg. ad Caium, 14, vol. ii. p. 561, , ;

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

2Co 7:1 . . . .: having therefore these (note the emphasis given to by its position) promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all contamination of flesh and spirit ( cf. 1Pe 2:11 , 1Jn 3:3 ). We find the construction again in Sir 38:10 and Heb 9:14 (see also Deissmann, Neue Bibelstud. , p. 44). We have already pointed out (on 2Co 6:14 ) that is always used of the defilement which springs out of evil (and especially heathen) associations; this may affect the (see on 2Co 2:13 ) as well as the . . . .: perfecting holiness in the fear of God, sc. , the fear that man ought to feel towards God (see 2Co 5:11 ), which is, indeed, one of the gifts of the Divine Spirit (Isa 11:3 ), and which was repeatedly commended to the chosen people (Deu 6:2 , Psa 111:1 ). The practical issue of belief in the promises of the Old Covenant (which have a yet larger meaning under the New) is positive as well as negative , sanctification as well as separation. St. Paul’s word for man’s sanctification is , the result of which process is here expressed by (see reff.); this is especially an attribute of God in the O.T. (Psa 95:6 ; Psa 96:12 ; Psa 144:5 , 2MMal 3:12 ).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

2Co 6:14 to 2Co 7:1 . PARENTHETICAL. HE WARNS THEM AGAINST TOO FAMILIAR ASSOCIATION WITH THEIR HEATHEN NEIGHBOURS. These verses are somewhat perplexing, inasmuch as they seem to interrupt the appeal of 2Co 6:11-13 by the introduction of an irrelevant warning. If they be omitted, the argument is quite consecutive, 2Co 7:2 f. being in close and evident connexion with 2Co 6:11-13 . And it has been supposed that the whole section is an interpolation either ( a ) added by St. Paul after the arrival of Titus, in consequence of the news he had received as to the state of the Corinthian Church; or ( b ) belonging to another Pauline letter (possibly the Lost Epistle of 1Co 5:9 ), and inserted here at a later date when a collection of Pauline letters began to be made; or ( c ) it has been regarded ( e.g. , by Heinrici) as a fragment of an ancient homily, not by St. Paul, which has found a resting place here. It is urged in favour of the non-Pauline authorship of the section that ( ) it contains a considerable number of words which do not occur elsewhere in St. Paul. To this it may be replied that and have their origin in O.T. phraseology, while is a LXX word (see reff.); and that, as to the words , , , it is not surprising that some of the synonyms which are found in this section should be comparatively rare. It is not easy to find (as has here been done, with no small skill) five distinct terms to convey almost the same idea. ( ) Schmiedel urges that the phrase (2Co 7:1 ) is quite un-Pauline, and that it is inconsistent with St. Paul’s psychology to speak of being “cleansed” from it, inasmuch as for him the is always tainted by sin. But there is no thought here of the taint of sin which remains in fallen man; is always used in the LXX (see reff.) of a too intimate association of the chosen people with heathen nations, and such “contamination” is exactly what it stands for in this place. As an argument on the other side, there occur in this section several quite common Pauline ideas and phrases, e.g. , the contrast of Christianity and heathendom as light and darkness (2Co 6:14 ), the description of Christians as God’s temple (2Co 6:16 ), the phrases “the living God” (2Co 6:16 ) and “the fear of God” (2Co 7:1 ), the introduction of the term (2Co 7:1 ), etc. We regard, therefore, the section as undoubtedly Pauline; and, further, its connexion with what precedes reveals itself on a close inspection of the phraseology. The Apostle has bidden the Corinthians “Be ye enlarged in heart”. But he is reminded that this phrase has a bad meaning in the Law (Deu 11:16 ; see Chase, Classical Review , 1890, p. 151), where it is applied to that excessive tolerance which should permit the worship of other gods beside Jehovah; and so he hastens to give a warning (parenthetically introduced) to the Corinthians that he does not mean by enlargement of heart any undue tolerance of or contaminating association with their heathen neighbours (see on 2Co 4:4 above for ).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

2 Corinthians Chapter 7

The apostle returns to the expression of his affection towards the Corinthians, as he desired their love.

“Receive us: we wronged none, we corrupted none, we overreached none. For condemnation I do not speak; for I have said before that ye are in our hearts to die with and to live with. Great [is] my frankness toward you, great my boasting in respect of you: I am filled with encouragement, I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction. For also when we came into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but [we were] afflicted in every way; without fightings, within fears. But he that encourageth the lowly, God, encouraged us by the coming of Titus, and not by his coming only but also by the encouragement with which he was encouraged in your case, declaring to us your longing desire, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I the more rejoiceth. Because if also I grieved you in the letter, I do not regret, if also I did regret;* for I see that that letter if also for a time grieved you. Now I rejoice, not that ye were grieved but that ye were grieved unto repentance, for ye were grieved according to God that in nothing ye might suffer damage from us. For grief according to God worketh repentance to salvation not to be regretted; but the grief of the world worketh out death. For, behold, this very thing that ye were grieved according to God, how much diligence it wrought out in you, nay self-clearing, nay indignation, nay fear, nay longing desire, nay zeal, nay avenging! In everything did ye prove yourselves to be pure in the matter. Wherefore, if also I wrote, [it was] not for the sake of him that wronged, nor for his sake that was wronged, but for the sake of your diligence for us (or, ours for you)** being manifested unto you before God. On this account we have been encouraged; but in our comfort we rejoiced the more exceedingly over the joy of Titus, because his spirit hath been refreshed by you all. Because if I have boasted to him anything of you, I was not put to shame; but as we speak all things to you in truth, so also our boasting of you to Titus was truth. And his affections are more exceedingly toward you, calling to mind the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him. I rejoice that in everything I am confident in you.” (Vers. 2-16.)

* Some punctuate thus: “if also I did regret, for I see that that letter grieved you if also for a time, now I rejoice,” etc.

p.m. B C D B P, etc. – Text. Rec. with corr. F G K L, and most cursives, etc.

** B C E K L P and a great many cursives, etc., etc. Steph. . . ; etc. . ; G, etc. . . ; but EIz. with some cursives, Vulg., Gothic, etc., . .

T. Rec. omits , which affects the sentence considerably, and also reads instead of .

Elz., not Steph., adds with a few cursives.

Thus does he call for room in their hearts: a touching appeal when we reflect who and what he was, who and what they were. The lack of love was certainly not in him; nor was lowliness absent from him who deigns to repudiate the unworthy insinuations whispered against him, which they had better see whether they might not be more applicable elsewhere: neither injustice nor corruption nor fraudulent gain were true of him. He was careful to exclude even the appearance of these evils. But if the Holy Spirit work in the saints, Satan is ever busy and knows how to avail himself of all circumstances to detract and undermine, especially where love should most abound. In speaking thus however the apostle is careful to guard his words from the semblance of a condemnatory spirit. As he had already implied in 2Co 6:11 , they were in his heart to die with and to live with. He that is familiar with the Latin lyric may remember the well-known line which resembles this sentiment in form – how different in reality! “Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens.” And how infinitely superior, in strength as in purity, is this outpouring of unselfish affection, where the Christian begins with dying together, whilst the heathen can but end with it!

Far from a word to wound their spirits now restored, he can and does speak freely and in the strongest confidence. “Great [is] my frankness toward you, great my boasting in respect of you: I am filled with encouragement, I am overflowing with joy in all our afflictions.” Sorrow closes the heart, joy opens it; and now the apostle’s gladness of heart was proportionate to the depth of his pain over saints so dear in the Lord. “For also when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted in every way: without fightings, within fears. But he that encourageth the lowly, God, encouraged us by the coming of Titus, and not by his coming only but also by the encouragement with which he was encouraged in your case, declaring to us your longing desire, your mourning, your zeal for me. so that I the more rejoiced.” It was not only in Troas he was full of heaviness and anxiety, but also in Macedonia whither he had gone in the hope of hearing the latest tidings from Titus. There he had yet more pressure of trouble till the good news came. Deeply interesting and affecting it is to hear the apostle opening his heart thus freely and to know how distracted and burdened he had been by all. . . “Our flesh” (ver. 5) is a peculiar expression, signifying (I suppose) his human weakness as such; “afflicted in every way” describes the circumstances (“without fightings, within fears”) inward and outward. But God does not fail. He is the encourager of the depressed as He resists the proud; and He it was who now appeared to cheer the distressed apostle by the coming of Titus, above all by the tidings of what grace had wrought in the Corinthians, restoration in affection, and, as we shall see later, in conscience too.

The reason or explanation of his former severity, given in the verses that follow, is highly interesting and important in various respects. It is not “a” but the letter, clearly referring to the first epistle to the Corinthians. Did our translators wish to conceal this? It is not the only instance here of want of faith in men of God; for Calvin also shirks the truth, when he contends that “I repented” is used in the passage improperly for being grieved. For (argues he) when Paul made the Corinthians sad, he himself also shared in the grief and in a certain way inflicted sadness on himself at the same time. It is therefore just as if he said, Though I unwillingly pained you, it grieved me too that I was forced to be harsh to you; now I cease to grieve on this account whilst I see it has been useful to you. Otherwise if we own that Paul was concerned at what he had written, Calvin thought it would involve the grave absurdity that the former epistle was written under inconsiderate impulse rather than by the direction of the Spirit.* So Erasmus considered that the supposition was not the face.

* “Sed quid est quod addit: etiamsi me poenituerit? Nam si fateamur Paulo displicuisse quod scripserat, sequetur non levis absurditas inconsiderato magis impulsu scriptam fuisse superiorem epistolam quam Spiritus directione. Respondeo, verbum Poenitendi improprie hic positum pro Dolorem capere. Paulus enim, quum moerore afficeret Corinthios, doloris partem capiebat ipse quoque, ac sibi quodammodo tristitiam simul infligebat. Proinde ergo est acsi diceret: Tametsi invitus vos pupugi, ac mihi doluit quod vobis durus esse cogerer, nunc dolere ob hac causam desino, dum video utile vobis fuisse.” Calv. Opp. vii. 250.

This seems a singular slip in an unquestionably great scholar as to a nicety of Greek phrase; for (when used as a composite, instead of the first as a mere copulative) differs from in that the former treats the condition as itself altogether improbable, the latter raises no doubt as to the fact, though reduced in moment as much as possible.

But there is not the smallest need for toning down or altering the language. It is indeed, however common, an erroneous view of inspiration, which does in no way preclude the working of motive as we see in Luk 1:1-3 , any more than deep exercise of mind as here. We are bound to accept the plain words of the apostle, which show his anxiety after he had written an unquestionably inspired epistle. “Because if also I grieved you in the letter I do not regret, if also I did regret; for I see that that letter if also for an hour grieved you. Now I rejoice not that ye were grieved but that ye were grieved unto repentance; for ye were grieved according to God that ye might in nothing suffer loss from us.” He recognised the indubitable fruit of the Holy Spirit’s operation through the very epistle which had harassed his spirit after he had written and sent it off. He had no question more. It was of God, as he was divinely convinced and reassured; but now in his joy at their restoration he could tell them all his feelings freely, even a passing regret for having written the first epistle, truly inspired of God as it was, though joy abounded the more now for the blessing that had resulted.

It is a mistake to call even an inspired man infallible: none but Christ was, and He was pleased to write neither Gospels nor Epistles, without overlooking of course what He commanded His servants to write in the great and final book of the Canon. But the Spirit of God guided and kept the vessels of His inspiration, so that, maintaining the individuality of each writer, He should give a result perfectly according to God. In the first Epistle the apostle distinguishes between the fruit of his spiritual judgment and the positive commandments of the Lord; but he was inspired to give us both in 2Co 7 . Here he is inspired to tell us how his spirit was agitated even about that inspired epistle, in no way as to its absolute truth, but through his anxiety lest the very desire to win his beloved children back might not have estranged them for ever.

Further, we have precious light from God here as to that great work in the awakened soul, repentance. it is quite distinct from regret or change of mind. Even sorrow however deep is not repentance, though sorrow according to God works it out. Again, it is not correct to confound repentance with conversion to God, which is surely a turning from sin with earnest desire for holiness. Repentance is the soul as born of God sitting in judgment on the old man and its acts, its words and its ways. And as repentance for remission of sins was to be preached in Christ’s name, so He was exalted to give both. It is not a changed mind however great about God in Christ, which is rather what faith is and gives; it is the renewed mind taking account of the man and his course according to God’s word and nature. Hence it is said to be not about God, but “toward God” or Godward; for the conscience then takes His side in self-judgment before Him, and all is weighed as in His sight. It is of course of the Spirit, not intellectual but moral. “Surely after that I was turned, I repented.” It follows conversion and consequently that application of the word which arrests the soul by faith, though it be not yet the faith of the word of truth, the gospel of salvation, which brings into peace.

Here of course it is the repentance of saints who had sinned. But it is the same principle, and in contrast with the world’s grief which, knowing not God, gives itself up to despair and works out death. However overwhelmed may be the believer, God takes care that there shall be enough hope in His mercy to guard from the despairing fear which Satan wields for his deadly purposes.

And what a picture the apostle draws of God’s recent work in the repentant Corinthians! “For behold this very thing, that ye were grieved according to God how much diligence it wrought out in you, nay self-clearing, nay indignation, nay fear, nay longing desire, nay zeal, nay avenging! In everything did ye prove yourselves to be pure in the matter.” (Ver. 11) Of course its precise character was modified by the generally bad state of the assembly before grace thus used the first epistle. No indifference now, but earnest care; no extenuation of the evil, but thorough cleansing of themselves; a burning sense of indignation, fear, longing desire, zeal, and revenge, all had their place; so that he who had sternly reproved them could say that they had proved themselves clear in the matter: a, if not the, grand aim of the Spirit in discipline, and not merely getting rid of the offender.

Sometimes in a case of disciplinary truth, it is a question as at Corinth of the assembly’s state as a whole. Before the first Epistle they were wholly ignorant that all were involved in the evil which was before their eyes, and which they did not know they were bound to judge. When we read that they were puffed up and had not rather mourned, we must bear in mind that they were quite inexperienced, and that the mind of the Lord as to dealing with wickedness in the assembly or its members, had not yet been revealed to them. Still as saints they ought to have felt the sin and scandal deeply, and if they did not know how to act, they should have betaken themselves to mourning in order that he that had done this deed should be taken away out of the midst of them. Spiritual instinct should have felt thus and laid it with shame and earnest desire before the Lord who never fails. But that epistle was blessed of God, in dealing with their souls, not only as to the offender, but, as to their own state, and thus gave occasion for the apostle to open his heart so painfully burdened, and sorely agitated with all the fervour of a real love which only overleaps its old channel because of the temporary repression.

Where souls since then, in the face of these epistles, have tampered with grave evil whatever it be, where palliation has been at work, where ingenious excuses have blunted the sense of right and wrong, as may be at any time among Christians, it is a state of things worse in some respects than that at Corinth. For there ignorance of the duty of the assembly in discipline prevailed, and we cannot wonder at it, though the sin was appalling. The mere getting the wicked person outside, important as it may be, is not what comforted the apostle’s heart, but the working of deep and united moral feelings all round. “In everything ye have proved yourselves to be pure in the matter.” Where there had been such indifference to their complicity, even though in ignorance of their responsibility as at Corinth, the saints had to clear themselves and prove it for the Lord’s vindication. But it is, I doubt not, a general principle, and always incumbent. Merely to have done with the offender would show in others an unexercised conscience, or but judicial hardness. The happy contrast with all this was here manifest. They had indeed been grieved according to God.

Hence the apostle adds that, if also he wrote to them, it was not for the sake of the wrong-doer nor of the one wronged, but for the manifestation to them before God of their diligent zeal for them or of the apostle’s for them. (Ver. 12.) It seems passing strange that the early clauses should seem obscure; as to the latter in opposite ways the copies singularly differ, some as the Sinaitic and the Boernerian yielding no good sense. Whatever the adversary had wrought for a while, their true zeal for the apostle was made plain to themselves at last before God. This is the best supported sense.

“On this account we have been encouraged; and in [or in addition to] our encouragement, we rejoiced much more abundantly at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.” Grace had given the happiest issue to that which fleshly energy or ease had ruined for a time. And joy abounded not in them only but more in Titus, most in Paul himself. And there were other grounds beyond, though connected with, their present state. “Because if I have boasted anything to him over you, I was not put to shame; but as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also the boasting about you before Titus was truth; and more abundantly toward you are his bowels, while calling to mind the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him. I rejoice that in everything I have good courage in respect of you.” Such an allusion to his feelings towards the Corinthians, when they must have been conscious of their temporary alienation, and deplorably low state, would more than ever seal their affection, as it proved his to have been true from first to last. His heart was not inconstant, nor was his tongue insincere. He loved, if also he had blamed his beloved children at Corinth, and they could now appreciate all better, as he could tell out all freely, however delicately. How blessed it is when grace thus reigns through righteousness, as it perfectly did by Christ unto eternal life!

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

2 Corinthians

HOPE AND HOLINESS

2Co 7:1

It is often made a charge against professing Christians that their religion has very little to do with common morality. The taunt has sharpened multitudes of gibes and been echoed in all sorts of tones: it is very often too true and perfectly just, but if ever it is, let it be distinctly understood that it is not so because of Christian men’s religion but in spite of it. Their bitterest enemy does not condemn them half so emphatically as their own religion does: the sharpest censure of others is not so sharp as the rebukes of the New Testament. If there is one thing which it insists upon more than another, it is that religion without morality is nothing–that the one test to which, after all, every man must submit is, what sort of character has he and how has he behaved–is he pure or foul? All high-flown pretension, all fervid emotion has at last to face the question which little children ask, ‘Was he a good man?’

The Apostle has been speaking about very high and mystical truths, about all Christians being the temple of God, about God dwelling in men, about men and women being His sons and daughters; these are the very truths on which so often fervid imaginations have built up a mystical piety that had little to do with the common rules of right and wrong. But Paul keeps true to the intensely practical purpose of his preaching and brings his heroes down to the prosaic earth with the homely common sense of this far-reaching exhortation, which he gives as the fitting conclusion for such celestial visions.

I. A Christian life should be a life of constant self-purifying.

This epistle is addressed to the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints which are in all Achaia.

Looking out over that wide region, Paul saw scattered over godless masses a little dispersed company to each of whom the sacred name of Saint applied. They had been deeply stained with the vices of their age and place, and after a black list of criminals he had had to say to them ‘such were some of you,’ and he lays his finger on the miracle that had changed them and hesitates not to say of them all, ‘But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.’

The first thing, then, that every Christian has is a cleansing which accompanies forgiveness, and however his garment may have been ‘spotted by the flesh,’ it is ‘washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.’ Strange cleansing by which black stains melt out of garments plunged in red blood! With the cleansing of forgiveness and justification comes, wherever they come, the gift of the Holy Spirit–a new life springing up within the old life, and untouched by any contact with its evils. These gifts belong universally to the initial stage of the Christian life and require for their possession only the receptiveness of faith. They admit of no co-operation of human effort, and to possess them men have only to ‘take the things that are freely given to them of God.’ But of the subsequent stages of the Christian life, the laborious and constant effort to develop and apply that free gift is as essential as, in the earliest stage, it is worse than useless. The gift received has to be wrought into the very substance of the soul, and to be wrought out in all the endless varieties of life and conduct. Christians are cleansed to begin with, but they have still daily to cleanse themselves: the leaven is hid in the three measures of meal, but ‘‘tis a life-long task till the lump be leavened,’ and no man, even though he has the life that was in Jesus within him, will grow up ‘into the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ’ unless, by patient and persistent effort, he is ever pressing on to ‘the things that are before’ and daily striving to draw nearer to the prize of his high calling. We are cleansed, but we have still to cleanse ourselves.

Yet another paradox attaches to the Christian life, inasmuch as God cleanses us, but we have to cleanse ourselves. The great truth that the spirit of God in a man is the fontal source of all his goodness, and that Christ’s righteousness is given to us, is no pillow on which to rest an idle head, but should rather be a trumpet-call to effort which is thereby made certain of success. If we were left to the task of self-purifying by our own efforts we might well fling it up as impossible. It is as easy for a man to lift himself from the ground by gripping his own shoulders as it is for us to rise to greater heights of moral conduct by our own efforts; but if we can believe that God gives the impulse after purity, and the vision of what purity is, and imparts the power of attaining it, strengthening at once our dim sight and stirring our feeble desires and energising our crippled limbs, then we can ‘run with patience the race that is set before us.’

We must note the thoroughness of the cleansing which the Apostle here enjoins. What is to be got rid of is not this or that defect or vice, but ‘ all filthiness of flesh and spirit.’ The former, of course, refers primarily to sins of impurity which in the eyes of the Greeks of Corinth were scarcely sins at all, and the latter to a state of mind when fancy, imagination, and memory were enlisted in the service of evil. Both are rampant in our day as they were in Corinth. Much modern literature and the new gospel of ‘Art for Art’s sake’ minister to both, and every man carries in himself inclinations to either. It is no partial cleansing with which Paul would have us to be satisfied: ‘ all ’ filthiness is to be cast out. Like careful housewives who are never content to cease their scrubbing while a speck remains upon furniture, Christian men are to regard their work as unfinished as long as the least trace of the unclean thing remains in their flesh or in their spirit. The ideal may be far from being realised at any moment, but it is at the peril of the whole sincerity and peacefulness of their lives if they, in the smallest degree, lower the perfection of their ideal in deference to the imperfection of their realisation of it.

It must be abundantly clear from our own experience that any such cleansing is a very long process. No character is made, whether it be good or bad, but by a slow building up: no man becomes most wicked all at once, and no man is sanctified by a wish or at a jump. As long as men are in a world so abounding with temptation, ‘he that is washed’ will need daily to ‘wash his feet’ that have been stained in the foul ways of life, if he is to be ‘clean every whit.’

As long as the spirit is imprisoned in the body and has it for its instrument there will be need for much effort at purifying. We must be content to overcome one foe at a time, and however strong may be the pilgrim’s spirit in us, we must be content to take one step at a time, and to advance by very slow degrees. Nor is it to be forgotten that as we get nearer what we ought to be, we should be more conscious of the things in which we are not what we ought to be. The nearer we get to Jesus Christ, the more will our consciences be enlightened as to the particulars in which we are still distant from Him. A speck on a polished shield will show plain that would never have been seen on a rusty one. The saint who is nearest God will think more of his sins than the man who is furthest from him. So new work of purifying will open before us as we grow more pure, and this will last as long as life itself.

II. The Christian life is to be not merely a continual getting rid of evil, but a continual becoming good.

Paul here draws a distinction between cleansing ourselves from filthiness and perfecting holiness, and these two, though closely connected and capable of being regarded as being but the positive and negative sides of one process, are in reality different, though in practice the former is never achieved without the latter, nor the latter accomplished without the former. Holiness is more than purity; it is consecration. That is holy which is devoted to God, and a saint is one whose daily effort is to devote his whole self, in all his faculties and nature, thoughts, heart, and will, more and more, to God, and to receive into himself more and more of God.

The purifying which Paul has been enjoining will only be successful in the measure of our consecration, and the consecration will only be genuine in the measure of our purifying. Herein lies the broad and blessed distinction between the world’s morality and Christian ethics. The former fails just because it lacks the attitude towards a Person who is the very foundation of Christian morality, and changes a hard and impossible law into love. There is no more futile waste of breath than that of teachers of morality who have no message but Be good! Be good! and no motive by which to urge it but the pleasures of virtue and the disadvantages of vice, but when the vagueness of the abstract thought of goodness solidifies into a living Person and that Person makes his appeal first to our hearts and bids us love him, and then opens before us the unstained light of his own character and beseeches us to be like him, the repellent becomes attractive: the impossible becomes possible, and ‘if ye love Me keep My commandments’ becomes a constraining power and a victorious impulse in our lives.

III. The Christian life of purifying and consecration is to be animated by hope and fear.

The Apostle seems to connect hope more immediately with the cleansing, and holiness with the fear of God, but probably both hope and fear are in his mind as the double foundation on which both purity and consecration are to rest, or the double emotion which is to produce them both. These promises refer directly to the immediately preceding words, ‘I will be a Father unto you and ye shall be My sons and daughters,’ in which all the blessings which God can give or men can receive are fused together in one lustrous and all-comprehensive whole. So all the great truths of the Gospel and all the blessed emotions of sonship which can spring up in a human heart are intended to find their practical result in holy and pure living. For this end God has spoken to us out of the thick darkness; for this end Christ has come into our darkness; for this end He has lived; for this end He died; for this end He rose again; for this end He sends His Spirit and administers the providence of the world. The purpose of all the Divine activity as regards us men is not merely to make us happy, but to make us happy in order that we may be good. He whom what he calls his religion has only saved from the wrath of God and the fear of hell has not learned the alphabet of religion. Unless God’s promises evoke men’s goodness it will be of little avail that they seem to quicken their hope. Joyful confidence in our sonship is only warranted in the measure in which we are like our Father. Hope often deludes and makes men dreamy and unpractical. It generally paints pictures far lovelier than the realities, and without any of their shadows; it is too often the stimulus and ally of ignoble lives, and seldom stirs to heroism or endurance, but its many defects are not due to itself but to its false choice of objects on which to fix. The hope which is lifted from trailing along the earth and twining round creatures and which rises to grasp these promises ought to be, and in the measure of its reality is the ally of all patient endurance and noble self-sacrifice. Its vision of coming good is all directed to the coming Christ, and ‘every man that hath this hope in Him, purifieth himself even as He is pure.’

In Paul’s experience there was no contrariety between hope set on Jesus and fear directed towards God. It is in the fear of God that holiness is to be perfected. There is a fear which has no torment. Yet more, there is no love in sons or daughters without fear. The reverential awe with which God’s children draw near to God has in it nothing slavish and no terror. Their love is not only joyful but lowly. The worshipping gaze upon His Divine majesty, the reverential and adoring contemplation of His ineffable holiness, and the poignant consciousness, after all effort, of the distance between us and Him will bow the hearts that love Him most in lowliest prostration before Him. These two, hope and fear, confidence and awe, are like the poles on which the whole round world turns and are united here in one result. They who ‘set their hope in God’ must ‘not forget the works of God but keep His commandments’; they who ‘call Him Father,’ ‘who without respect of persons judgeth’ must ‘pass the time of their sojourning here in fear,’ and their hopes and their fears must drive the wheels of life, purify them from all filthiness and perfect them in all holiness.

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2Co 7:1

1Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

2Co 7:1 “having these promises” This is a Present active participle. Paul quoted the OT prophetic words from God as if they currently applied to the Corinthians (cf. 2Co 6:2). The OT is also quoted in 2Co 6:16-18, showing YHWH’s continual desire to have a people who reflect His character. Paul is trying to motivate the Corinthian believers to live godly, separated lives. They have experienced “grace” (cf. 2Co 6:1), now they must live in it. This verse is a call to Christlike holiness (cf. Eph 1:4; Eph 2:10).

“beloved” This phrase is used in Mat 3:17; Mat 17:5 as a title for Jesus. Paul uses this same term to describe Jesus’ followers (cf. 2Co 12:19; 1Co 10:14; 1Co 15:58; Rom 12:19; Php 2:12; Php 4:1). This term speaks of God’s established, loyal covenant love (Hebrew, hesed; Greek, agap) for us in Christ, but here it speaks of Paul’s love for this fractious, arrogant, disruptive church.

“let us cleanse ourselves” This is an aorist active subjunctive. The aorist tense is the way Koine Greek affirms an action. It can have many different implications (see D. A. Carson, Exegetical Fallacies, 2nd ed., pp. 68-73). Here it is a call for decisive action (i.e., hortatory subjunctive used as an imperative. The subjunctive mood gives an element of contingency. Believers must cooperate with God in salvation and then cooperate in maturity.

“of flesh and spirit” This speaks of our whole human being. Many people have disallowed this verse as being original because of Paul’s technical use of these two terms in other contexts. However, 2Co 7:5, when linked with 2Co 2:13 (which is the beginning and end of Paul’s extended parentheses), used these two terms synonymously. Paul often uses the same terms in different senses (read A Man in Christ by James S. Stewart, Harper and Row).

“perfecting holiness in the fear of God” This is a present active participle. It is theologically true that when we are saved, we are both instantaneously justified and sanctified (cf. 1Co 1:30, also see SPECIAL TOPIC: NEW TESTAMENT HOLINESS/SANCTIFICATION at 1Co 1:2). This speaks of our position in Christ. However, we are to live in light of our position. Therefore, we are urged to fulfill our calling by progressive sanctification or Christlikeness (cf. Rom 8:28-29; Eph 4:1). This is an ongoing struggle (cf. Romans 7). As salvation is both a free gift and a costly commitment, so too, is sanctification. This same concept is true of believers being called saints (indicative) and then called to be saintly (imperative). I do not believe in the possibility of sinlessness in this life, but I do believe in the appropriateness of believers sinning less and less! This is the theological and practical tension caused by believers being in the Kingdom, but the Kingdom not being consummated (cf. Fee, Stewart, How to Read the Bible For All Its Worth, pp. 131-134).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

dearly beloved. Greek agapetos. App-135.

from. Greek. apo. App-104.

fllthinees = pollution. Greek. molusmos. Only here. The verb occurs in 1Co 8:4.

spirit. App-101. Flesh and spirit being put for the whole person.

perfecting. Greek. epiteleo. App-125.

holiness. Greek. hagiosune. See Rom 1:4.

in. Greek. en App-104.

God. App-98.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

1.] Inference from the foregoing citations:-seeing that we have such glorious ( in the position of emphasis) promises, we are to purify ourselves (not merely, keep ourselves pure: purification belongs to sanctification, and is a gradual work, even after conversion).

, as the actual instrument and suggester of pollution: , as the recipient through the flesh, and when the recipient, the retainer and propagator, of uncleanness. The exhortation is general: against impure acts and impure thoughts.

. ., as De W. remarks, gives the positive side of the foregoing negative exhortation: every abnegation and banishing of impurity is a positive advance of that sanctification, in the fear of God (as its element) to which we are called.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Shall we turn in our Bibles now to II Corinthians, chapter seven.

The first verse of chapter seven immediately refers us back to chapter six. And so as we look at this, we realize that chapter seven more, verse one of chapter seven, more appropriately belongs with chapter six. This is one of those cases where I feel they made a mistake in their chapter separations.

Originally, when Paul wrote his letter to the Corinthians, it was just a letter that they were to read straight through. In about the year 1300, in the 1300s, a scholar decided to divide the Bible into chapters. And so, they made chapter distinctions in the 1300s to help a person, really, in looking up a scripture. Oh, I know it’s somewhere in Isaiah. Well, that’s a pretty long book. So they divided Isaiah into sixty-six chapters, so you can say, “Well, it’s somewhere in the fifty-third chapter. If I say, “Oh, well,” then you were able to find it more readily.

Then in the 1600s, they came along and they divided the Bible up also into verses. Divided the chapters into verses. And so making it even that much easier to look up a particular passage of scripture. But this was done by man, nothing about divine inspiration as far as the chapter divisions. And so, though they overall did a very excellent job, in a few places I feel that they did make a mistake. And this is one where I feel there is a mistake in the chapter divisions. For obviously, as we begin chapter seven, we have a reference back to chapter six as he refers to the promises that he had just quoted.

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved ( 2Co 7:1 ),

What promises? In verse seventeen and eighteen, Paul put together a collage of scriptures from the Old Testament, none of them quoted exactly accurately. But in the latter part of chapter six, and of course, remember Paul did not have chapters and verses, and so he is quoting from memory, which they so often did. But let me share something with you now.

I do feel that there is a tremendous benefit in a lot of the new translations, in that it has gotten us away from this kind of being bound to chapter and verse, or being bound to the exact wording of a scripture. The Holy Spirit is not really called the Spirit of Chapter and Verse. He’s called the Spirit of Truth. Now, it is more important that you grab the truth out of the verse than the exact wording. The truth that is there is what will set us free.

And so Paul is free quoting, free translating as he brings the essence of truth that was expressed through the word. And I think that this is great when we have the truth in our hearts and we can express the truth and we don’t have to worry about getting the exact quotation.

A lot of people are so bound because, “Oh, I don’t know if it’s in or on, you know.” And I’m afraid to say it because I don’t know if it’s in or on, you know. And I want to be so . . . We grew up in Sunday School, and the teacher, “No, no, no, that was wrong.” You know, because you made some slight mistake in the preposition or something. And so we become fearful of quoting the scripture because we want to quote it exactly word for word.

But the new translations, especially the Living Letters, Amplified and so forth, do help free us from that sort of bondage almost that we had to the “get the word just exactly right.” Get the truth right, that’s what’s important. The Spirit of Truth. King James is an excellent translation, but the Bible wasn’t written in King James. Paul didn’t know anything about King James English. And I, he can’t quite go along with the fellow who says, “Well, I like the King James Bible because that’s the one Paul wrote.” And they are so bound, you know, to the exact word.

So, Paul is freely quoting from several passages of the Old Testament and as he is freely quoting, he makes reference here to some of the glorious promises that God has made. First of all, God said, “I will receive you” ( 2Co 6:17 ). And that, in itself, is something to be thankful for. Something to rejoice over, the fact that God will receive me. You know, the President of the United States won’t even receive me.

I, years ago, when I was in college, I went back to the Ford Motor Company. I wanted to meet Henry Ford. That’s the kind of a young man I was. And I went into the factory there in Detroit, Michigan and I said to the girl at the desk, “I’d like to see your boss.” And so, she got me into her boss and I said, “I’m here; I’d like to see Henry Ford.” And the fellow said, “Well, I would, too. I’ve been working here for the Ford Company for thirty years, I haven’t seen him yet, you know.” He wouldn’t receive me. But the Lord said He would receive me. That’s what is important.

Not only that, He said, “I will be a Father unto you” ( 2Co 6:18 ). Now, there are a lot of people who have difficulty in relating to God in the father image, because they did not have a good relationship with their own fathers. And unfortunately, we are finding this to be true more and more. As the fathers refuse to take their real role as a father within the home, and thus, many times people have a hard time relating to God as a father. If indeed you have a poor father image because of your own relationship to your own earthly father, don’t be afraid of the father image.

If you’ve had a good relationship with your father, then this becomes really glorious as God says, “I will be a Father to you.” And it has all of the right implications. It should have, no matter what kind of a father you’ve had. It should have the right implications to you.

Fortunately, I had a great dad. And so this thing has all the right implications. I’m thrilled that God would say, “I will be a Father unto you,” because I had a great father. My father was a real supporter and fan of his son. I could be playing football, the stands would be crowded with people, and after I had made a touchdown, everybody was cheering and yelling, I could hear my dad above them all. Always I could hear my dad. “That’s my son, you know.” Great dad! And so, I have no problem with this father image, and it’s really something that’s very meaningful to me that God would say, “I would be a Father unto you,” because it implies to me the love, the devotion, the attention, the provisions, the concern–all that my dad was to me. “And ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” ( 2Co 6:18 ). Glorious promises.

“Having therefore these promises,” that He would receive us, that we would be His sons and daughters, He would be our Father,

let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God ( 2Co 7:1 ).

So the call was, “Come apart and be separate, saith the Lord, touch not the unclean thing.” The broader context is, “Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship has light with darkness? What concord has Christ with Belial? What part has he who believes with an infidel? What agreement has the temple of God with idols?” So come apart from idolatry. Come apart from unrighteousness. “Be separate, saith the Lord, don’t touch the unclean thing. And if we will, then God will receive us, be our Father, we will be His sons and daughters” ( 2Co 6:14-18 ).

And because of these promises, let us then really come apart; cleanse ourselves from the filthiness of the flesh and of the mind. And there is both. The filthiness of the man’s flesh, the filthiness of the man’s mind, as we perfect or we become complete in holiness in the fear of God. The reverence of God, the awe of God.

Again, I think it was Thursday night that we mentioned that whenever we talk about the fear of God, there are some people that have the wrong concept here. When I was a child, I was afraid of God. I had heard a lot of preaching that caused me to be afraid of God. I was afraid that God was going to hurt me. That He was just waiting for me to do something wrong, and then He was going to hurt me. And as a child, I had this fear of God. God’s going to hurt me.

That is not the fear of God that the Bible is encouraging. My fear of God is changed. Now I fear that I might hurt God. I love Him. I appreciate His love; I don’t want to do anything that would hurt Him. And that’s what the true fear of the Lord is. Afraid that you might hurt Him. God truly isn’t going to hurt you, and I surely don’t want to hurt Him.

Now, Paul is talking in sort of a relieved way. Paul heard that there were problems in Corinth, that there were divisions there, and so he visited the church and his visit was a disaster. Yes, there were divisions, and they sort of polarized when Paul came. So Paul left Corinth quite upset. He then wrote a letter to them and sent it by Titus. And after he wrote the letter, he worried about that letter that maybe he was too severe. Maybe he laid it on them too heavy. And so he was really worried about what their reaction would be to the letter that he wrote because he was very firm in the things that he said. And he did rebuke them soundly in many areas.

And so, Paul now is coming back to the previous letter. And Titus, having met him . . . Paul was in Troas, opportunities came to minister there, but Paul couldn’t rest in his spirit because he was so worried about the Corinthians and what their response might be. The heart of the true minister. You know that, at times, it is necessary to rebuke. And yet, you’re fearly because you don’t want to hurt. And so Paul said,

Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man. I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you ( 2Co 7:2-3 ).

So, Paul is now asking for acceptance by them, for he has been honest before them.

Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus ( 2Co 7:4-6 );

So, Paul is telling now of his feelings, his love for them, and how concerned he was because he hadn’t heard from them. And he had sent this letter off, he didn’t know how they received it, he didn’t know just what the reaction was going to be, and he had this real turmoil going on within him. The fighting on the outside, no rest; within him he was filled with fear. Until he finally caught up with Titus, and Titus told him of the positive response of the people in Corinth to the letter that he had written.

And so, “God that comforts those that are cast down,” I like that. “God who comforts those who are cast down.” You’re cast down in spirit tonight. God comforts those that are cast down. But that comfort comes by getting our eyes on the Lord. Getting them off of those troubling things that have disturbed us. You see, our problem is that we so often become so completely involved in our problem that we lose sight of God. The problem becomes overwhelming; we lose perspective. Our problem seems to be greater than God. But God comforts those that are cast down. So we need to get our eyes upon the Lord this evening.

If you’re discouraged, if you’re cast down, if you’re worried about a pressing situation, get your eyes off of that and get your eyes on to the Lord. Just begin to worship Him, tell Him how much you love Him. Develop your relationship with God, and you’ll be amazed how the other things will just smooth out. Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these other things will be taken care of” ( Mat 6:33 ). Isn’t it interesting how that our minds are so filled with these other things.

All through Bible college I was looking for that one that God had chosen to be with me in the ministry. Every year when the new class came in, I sat in the front row looking them over. Graduation time came, and I had never seen one that really did anything for me. In fact, we used to say that 95 percent of the women in America were beautiful and the other 5 percent went to our school. And I was getting a little panicky. Graduation time has come. Going have to go out into the world by myself. But the Lord kept giving me the scripture, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things will be taken care of, will be added to you.”

So, I just began to seek the Lord first, His kingdom. And one evening, in the most unexpected way, as I was sitting at a ballgame . . . I had graduated; I had been out ministering as an evangelist. I had come home for a time. My brother was playing on a ball team, and we used to play together a lot, so I went out to watch his game. And as I was sitting there watching the game, here came this beautiful gal who didn’t want to sit down on the bench because it was dusty. And so I just scooted across and said, “Here, I’ve dusted off a place for you.” Right out of the blue, there she was.

So Paul said, “I was comforted.”

And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more ( 2Co 7:7 ).

Titus brought good news: “Paul, the people have really repented. They really love you, Paul. They really appreciate your love and concern for them. And they were grieving over these things that they had allowed to become a part of the fellowship there in Corinth.” And so, Paul speaks about the report of Titus just really rejoicing his heart.

For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent ( 2Co 7:8 ):

“Man, I was sorry for a while until I got Titus’ word. I was really sorry that I wrote that letter, because I didn’t know how the response was. And so at one time, I had really felt bad that I wrote it. Now I don’t.”

for I perceive that the same epistle [or letter] hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. 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. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death ( 2Co 7:8-10 ).

And so, Paul draws a distinction here between sorrow and repentance. There is a sorrow; there is a godly sorrow that works repentance. There is a sorrow of the world that brings death. Repentance brings a change. True repentance is to change. We find in the Scriptures that Judas brought the money back that he had received from the high priest when he betrayed Jesus. “And he said, ‘Take this back; I betrayed innocent blood.’ And they said, ‘What’s that to us? It’s your problem.’ And so he threw it down at their feet and he went out and he said, ‘Now it’s your problem.’ And he repented and went out and hung himself” ( Mat 27:3-5 ).

Judas was sorry for what he did, as many people are sorry for what they have done. But if you’re sorry and you keep doing it, that just brings death. If you’re sorry and you don’t do it anymore, that’s repentance. Godly sorrow that leads to repentance.

Peter denied his Lord three times. When the rooster crowed, Jesus looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the words of Jesus that said, “Before the cock crows you will deny me three times. And he repented and went out and wept bitterly” ( Mat 26:75 ). Never again did Peter deny his Lord. He repented. There was a real change. And repentance always does signify a change, and the godly sorrow works repentance.

I dare say if you would go to San Quentin Prison and do a survey asking the question, “Are you sorry for your crime?” That you probably have a very high ratio of prisoners that would mark a “Yes, I am sorry for what I did.” But if they were totally honest, and your next question said, “Are you sorry for what you did, or are you sorry that you got caught?” That if they were truly honest, most of them would then put, “I’m sorry I got caught.” For when they get out, they go back and they do the same thing over again, only they would try and do it more cleverly so they won’t get caught the next time.

Now, make sure that you just don’t have a sorrow that you’ve been found out, sorrow that you got caught. That’s worldly sorrow. Godly sorrow brings a change, a changed life. “Godly sorrow works repentance to salvation, not to be repented of.”

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 ( 2Co 7:11 ).

So, the things that Paul wrote to them about: their carnality, their allowing into the fellowship evil conditions. And there was a real repentance there in Corinth over these things.

Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you ( 2Co 7:12 ).

So, it was really for your sakes that I wrote these things. That you might know how concerned I am about you.

Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all ( 2Co 7:13 ).

So, I’m rejoicing because of the treatment you gave Titus, and how joyful he was over what God had wrought in your lives.

For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed ( 2Co 7:14 );

And he, Paul no doubt told him what a tremendous church the Corinthian church was, what great people.

but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth. And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him. I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all [of these] things ( 2Co 7:14-16 ).

So Paul’s report from Titus, his reaction and response to it. Titus’ feelings concerning the church of Corinth and how that the hurts and the wrongs had now been corrected as the result of Paul’s first epistle.

Now, as we get into chapter eight, towards the end, in fact the sixteenth chapter of the first epistle, Paul wrote to them in Corinth also, on the first day of the week to set aside an offering for the poor saints in Jerusalem. You remember when the church first started in Jerusalem there was an attempt at a communal type of living. The people were selling their possessions, bringing the money to the apostles, and the apostles made distribution to every man according to as he had need. They had a real equality.

But in times when they had ran out of funds, they had sold their homes, their properties, now the money had been dissipated. The needs were still there. And so, the church in Jerusalem was in a very poor condition. The church in Jerusalem was made up basically of Jews who were suspicious of the Gentile believers. Not all of them were convinced that a Gentile could really be saved except he became a Jew. There were many Pharisees and all who believed, but they brought in a lot of the Jewish practices, and with it, a general suspicion of the Gentile.

Paul, being an apostle to the Gentile, is desiring to take to Jerusalem, to the Jewish believers, a good, healthy sum of money to help them in their poverty, to sort of break down the feelings that existed in the Jewish believers towards the Gentile believers. He felt if we could bring to them a generous offering from the Gentiles, that this wall of partition that more or less existed between them could be broken down. And they would realize the oneness of the family of God as they received help and support from the Gentile believers, a token of their love and esteem for Jerusalem.

Now, it was from the church in Jerusalem that the gospel went out. And so there was a debt, in a sense, of the Gentile believers to the church in Jerusalem, for it was the result of the church in Jerusalem sending out the apostles and all that they received the gospel.

So, Paul comes back now and spends the eighth chapter on the issue over the offering that he wanted them to take for the church in Jerusalem. And in encouraging them to give, he first of all tells them of what the churches in Macedonia gave. Now Macedonia was upper Greece, the area of Thessalonica, Berea, Philippi. And these churches in the upper part of Greece were rather poor. And yet, they gave very generously.

The church in Corinth was a wealthy church. And so, Paul is encouraging them to follow the example of the poor brethren in Macedonia. And so,

“

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

2Co 7:1. , let us cleanse) This is the last part of the exhortation, set forth at 2Co 6:1, and brought out ib. 2Co 7:14. He concludes the exhortation in the first person. The antitheses are the unclean thing, 2Co 6:17, and filthiness in this passage. The same duty is derived from a similar source, 1Jn 3:3, Rev 22:11.-, filthiness) Filthiness of the flesh, for example, fornication, and filthiness of the spirit, for example, idolatry, were closely connected among the Gentiles. Even Judaism, occupied, as it is, about the cleanness of the flesh, is now in some measure filthiness of the spirit. Holiness is opposed to the former; the fear of God, promoting holiness (comp. again 1Co 10:22) to the latter.-, of spirit) Comp. Psa 32:2; Psa 78:8.-, perfecting) even to the end. It is not enough to begin; it is the end that crowns the work. The antitheses are , , I begin, I finish, ch. 2Co 8:6; 2Co 8:10-11; Gal 3:3; Php 1:6.-, holiness) corresponds to be ye separated, ch. 2Co 6:17.-, in) he does not say, and [perfecting] the fear. Fear is a holy affection, which is not perfected by our efforts, but is merely retained. [The pure fear of GOD is conjoined with the consideration of the most magnificent promises, ch. 2Co 5:11; Heb 4:1.-V. g.]

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

2Co 7:1

2Co 7:1

Having therefore these promises, beloved,-Having the promise of Gods indwelling, his favors, and that they should be his sons and daughters, he exhorts them to cleanse themselves from all defilement.

let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit,-Our flesh is defiled when our hands and feet and bodies do the bidding of sin; our spirits, when we contemplate sin with pleasure. Paul warns his readers, not only against all actual contact with sensuality, but also against that consent of the spirit which often defiles the inner life even where there is no outward sin. [The work of purification is frequently referred to as the work of God (Act 15:9; Eph. 5; 26), but it is plainly taught that this can be done only as those who are cleansed cooperate with him in its accomplishment, for the exhortation is; Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure (Php 2:12-13). If Gods love as manifested through Christ does not arouse and direct us; if it does not create in us the desire for holiness, and the perseverance to attain it, it is because we refuse to hear and obey him.]

perfecting holiness-We must go forward in faithful obedience to perfect ourselves in a holy life. [This does not mean simply to practice, but to complete, to carry to perfection.]

in the fear of God.-To do these things we must look to God with reverence and fear. [All contact with impurity is in us a defilement of the temple of God and an insult to the majesty of him who dwells therein. Therefore, fear as well as hope should prompt us to abstain from all sin.]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

The section culminates in an appeal full of local coloring and suggestion. In a great cry he gave expression to the hunger of his heart when he wrote, “Make room for us” (see margin). He then declared that he had wronged no man, that he had corrupted no man, that he had taken advantage of no man.

Almost afraid lest such a statement should embitter them by creating a sense of shame, as though he would rebuke, he immediately declared that this was not his purpose, and proceeded to emphasize his love for them, going through his personal experiences to demonstrate it. He told them of his sorrow in Macedonia. He told them of the new joy and gladness that flooded his heart when Titus came and told him that they had received and been obedient to his letter, that it had caused them such sorrow as to produce in them repentance. He told them yet again of the great added joy that had come to him because they had refreshed the soul of Titus, for the apostle had boasted to Titus of them, and they had proved worthy of his boasting.

His final word was one of magnificent hopefulness, thrilling with great joy. “I rejoice that in everything I am of good courage concerning you.” Perhaps there is hardly a chapter in Paul’s writings in which the heart of the man is more perfectly revealed, and the charm of it is found in the natural humanness which is manifested, and yet which all the while is under the constraint of that love of Christ which makes the fear of the Lord the supreme motive in all life and service.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

7:1. Here again, as between 1. and 2., and between 3. and 4., and between 4. and 5., and between 5. and 6., the division between the chapters is not well made. As the shows, 7:1 belongs closely to what precedes. It closes the digression which warns the Corinthians against fellowship with heathen modes of life; and then we have a resumption of the tender appeal in which his beloved converts are implored to make some response to the frankness with which he has opened his heart to them.

1. . comes first with emphasis; These, then, being the promises which we have. They are so incalculably precious, and so sure to be fulfilled if they are properly met.

. With us this affectionate address has become almost a canting expression in sermons, and it means very little. But the Apostle is not prodigal in his use of it, and with him it means a great deal; twice in 1 Cor. (10:14, 15:58), once again in 2 Cor. (12:19); twice in Phil. (2:12, 4:1); once in Rom. (12:19).

. He again softens the severity of his words, as in (v. 13); this time by including himself among those who need cleansing. Baptism cannot be repeated, and earnest Christians would not need a repetition of it; but all in their walk through life become soiled and need frequent cleansing (Joh 13:10). He who looks for a fulfilment of the gracious promises must strive to be . If we are to have God to dwell in us, we must purify the dwelling. If we are to have Him as a Father, we must strive to acquire some likeness to Him. The verb is not peculiar to Bibl. Grk. It occurs in Josephus (Ant. xi. v. 4) and is found in inscriptions (followed by , as here and Heb 9:14) in much the same sense as in this verse, of the necessity for purification before entering a holy place. Deissmann, Bib. St. p. 216. Cf. (Ecclus. 38:10). Index IV.

. From every kind of defilement. The noun implies an evil stain, foul pollution; in LXX in connexion with idolatry (1 Esdr. 8:80 [84]; 2 Macc. 5:27; cf. Jer 23:15). In the Testaments (Symeon 2:13) we have . On the date of the Testaments see Lightfoot, Galatians, p. 320. Here there may be a reference to , but not to that exclusively. The noun occurs nowhere else, but is freq. in O.T. and N.T. Trench, Syn. xxxi.; Wetst. ad loc.

. Man may be defiled in either flesh or spirit, and in either case there must be cleansing. The two together sum up human nature, and the intercommunion of the parts is so close, that when either is soiled the whole is soiled. St Paul is using popular language covering the material and immaterial elements in man, and it is manifest that he is not under the influence of the Gnostic doctrine that everything material is ipso facto evil. He says that the flesh must be cleansed from every kind of pollution. Gnostics maintained that it was as impossible to cleanse flesh as to cleanse filth. In either case the only remedy was to get rid of the unclean matter. See P. Gardner, Religious Experience of St Paul, p. 165. He quotes Reitzenstein; All the different shades of meaning which has in Pauls writings may be found in the magic papyri Paul has not developed for himself a peculiar psychology, and a mystic way of speaking in accordance with it, but speaks in the Greek of his time (Die Hellenistischen Mysterienreligionen, pp. 42, 137). Epictetus (Dis. ii.13) has a similar thought; When you are conversing with others, know you not that you are exercising God? Unhappy man, you carry God about with you, and know it not. You carry Him within you, and perceive not that you are polluting () Him with unclean thoughts and filthy acts. If an image of God were present, you would not dare to do any of the things which you do. But when God Himself is present within and sees all, you are not ashamed of thinking such things and doing such things, ignorant as you are of your own nature and subject to the anger of God. Nestles proposal to take only with and transfer to need not be more than mentioned.* The latter constr. is intolerable. With . . comp. . (1Co 7:34). It is uncritical dogmatism to assert that St Paul would never have used such an expression as defilement of flesh and spirit. See on v. 5.

. The mere cleansing oneself from defilement is not enough. It is right that the unclean spirit should be cast out; but the place which he has occupied must be filled with such things as will make it impossible for him to return; there must be a process of self-consecration always going on. This is the meaning of bringing to completeness (8:6, 11; Php 1:6) a state of holiness (1Th 3:13; Rom 1:4). Cf. Zec 4:9. In LXX, is used generally of God. In the Testaments (Lev 18:11) we are told that the saints who enter Paradise will eat from the tree of life, . Here it is the divine quality of that fits Christians to become Gods sanctuary and to have Him as their Father.

. Not in the fear or love of men. The may mark either the sphere in which the perfecting of holiness takes place or the means by which it is accomplished; cf. , (v. 7). The fear of God or the fear of the Lord is repeatedly given in O.T. as the principle of a good life; so esp. in Psalms (2:11, 5:7. etc.) and Proverbs (1:7, 1:29. 13, etc.). It is the whole duty of man (Ecc 12:13). He who tries to do any good thing without the fear of the Lord, says Herveius, is a proud man. Cf. v. 11; Rom 3:18; Act 9:31, Act 9:10:2, Act 9:35. In Eph 5:21 what is said in O.T. of Jehovah is in a remarkable way transferred to Christ, .

2-4. The return to the affectionate appeal in 6:11-13 is as sudden as the digression at 6:14. He has concluded the warning against what would hinder complete reconciliation and gladly resumes tender language. goes back at once to . It shows still more clearly what he means by their opening wide their hearts; they are to open them to him.

2. . Capite nos (Vulg.), Accipite nos (Beza). The latter is better, but dots not give the exact sense. Make room for us in your hearts is the meaning. Not all men have room for the saying, that it is not good to marry (Mat 19:11). Cf. Mar 2:2, and (Gen 13:6).* The asyndeton throughout these verses is expressive of the eagerness with which he dictates the telling sentences. He rapidly negatives reasons which might make them hesitate to open their hearts to take him in.

. The comes first in each case with emphasis, and the aorists imply that there has not been a single case in which he has wronged, ruined, defrauded, any of them. Evidently he had been accused or suspected of something of the kind; but here again we are in ignorance as to the facts to which he alludes. Cf. 4:2 and (1Th 2:3). We have a similar protest in the Apostles speech at Miletus (Act 20:26, Act 20:27); cf. 1Sa 12:3; Num 16:15. Those who think it improbable that he is alluding to charges actually made by the Corinthians take the words as playfully ironical, or as a hit at the Judaizing teachers, who had injured the Corinthians with their corrupt doctrine and perhaps lived in Corinth at their expense. See on 4:2.

. We ruined no one, a vague expression, which we cannot define with certainty. It may refer to money, or morals, or doctrine. Calvin is too definite; corruptela quae fit per falsam doctrinam, which may or may not be right. He might be said to have ruined people who had had to abandon lucrative but unchristian pursuits. The Judaizers declared that his doctrine of Christian freedom was thoroughly immoral and some of his disciples, who misinterpreted his teaching, gave the freedom an unchristian and immoral meaning.

. We took advantage of no one. Defrauded (AV) is too definite, as implying financial dishonesty; and we are not sure that there is any such allusion in any of the three verbs. If 10-13 is part of a letter written before this letter, may refer to 12:17, 18. Excepting the difficult passage 1Th 4:6, the verb is peculiar to 2 Cor. in N.T., and in LXX it is rare; is more freq. in both LXX and N.T. See Trench, Syn. xxiv. With the rhetorical repetition of comp. that of in 11:22, and of (seven times in all) in 1Co 12:29, 1Co 12:30.

3. . It is not for condemnation that I am saying this. He does not wish to find fault with any one; they must not think that; he is merely defending himself. This seems to show that in v. 2 he is answering accusations which had actually been made, either by some Corinthians or the false teachers. In spite of what people say of him, there is no reason why they should not open their hearts to take him in. Cf. (1Co 6:5).

. He has not said these words before or anything that is exactly equivalent to them; indeed in 4:12 he has said what is very different. But he has spoken of the bonds of affection which bind him to them, and he now speaks of these ties in a very emphatic way. Cf. 13:2; Gal 1:9; Gal_3 Macc. 6:35.

. Ye are in our hearts to share death and to share life; i.e. You are in our hearts, whether we die or live. The general meaning is clear enough, but, as in Rom 8:39, there is a rush of emotion which does not allow the Apostle to choose his words carefully. He probably means that neither death nor any experience in life can extinguish his affection for them; but he may mean that he is ready to share either death or life with them. He will (if need be) die with them, and he cannot live without them. This is the mark of a good shepherd (Joh 10:12). Perfecta charitas profectum vel detrimentum aliorum credit esse suum (Herveius). It is evident that here St Paul is including his colleagues in the . In v. 2, as in vv. 11, 12, Timothy and others may have dropped out of sight, but here, if meant himself only, he would have said . See on 3:2, and Lightfoot on 1Th 2:4, where we have a similar case. Probably he includes others in all four verses. The interchanges between I and we in vv. 2Ti_4 are quite intelligible. We cannot infer from dying preceding living that dying with Christ in faith in order to live with Him is meant (5:15). The reason for putting dying first is not clear; but it may point to his being (11:23). In Athenaeus, vi. 249 (quoted by Wetstein), the more usual order is observed; .

. ( B C P) rather than . (D E F G K L), which is an obvious correction. B omits. . ( B* C D E F G) rather than (B3 K L P).

4. … Note the alliteration, of which St Paul is fond, esp. with the letter . It is probable that here means confidence (1Ti 3:13; Heb 10:19), rather than boldness of speech (3:2). Great is my confidence respecting you; great is my glorying on your behalf. * The confidence is the result of their obedience and affection as reported by Titus, and this feeling of confidence manifests itself in glorying. He is very proud of them and is not afraid to say so, for they will not come short of his praise. He has told them (v. 12) that they ought to glory on behalf of their teachers, and he tells them (here and 8:24) that he is ready to glory respecting his converts. (see on 1:12), (see on 1:3), and (see on 1:4) are specially freq. in this Epistle, and the frequency should be marked in translation.

. I am filled with the comfort; I was then and I am still (perf.). The usual constr. is with the gen. (Act 2:28, Act 2:13:52; Rom 15:13; etc.); but the dat. occurs in late Greek; (3 Macc. 4:16). Cf. 2 Macc. 6:5, 7:21; Rom 1:29.

. I am overflowing with the joy. A double climax; overflowing is more than filled, and joy is more than comfort. The article should probably be translated; it points to the comfort and the joy caused by the report brought by Titus. The compound verb is very rare; only here and Rom 5:20; not in LXX. We have similar alliterations with in 8:22, 9:5, 13:2.

. Amid all my affliction. The does not mean that the affliction was the basis of the comfort and joy, a paradox (12:10) which here would have no point; but that, in all his great trouble, he was able to have abundant comfort and joy. He at once goes on to explain the cause of this happiness.

En qualiter affectos esse omnes pastores conveniat (Calvin).

7:5-16. The Reconciliation Completed

This part of the chapter is all of one piece; but for convenience we may divide it into three, according to the subject matter. The Apostle speaks first of his longing for the arrival of Titus, and of his relief at the tidings which he brought (5-7), especially about the great offender and the Apostles painful letter (8-12); and finally he speaks of the joy of Titus at being able to bring such good tidings (13-16).

The close parallel with the description of Timothys mission to Thessalonica, and the Apostles anxiety, followed by joy at the happy result (1Th 3:1-9), should be noted.

5 For indeed, even after I had got as far as Macedonia, my poor suffering frame found no relief, but at every turn I found something to distress me; round about me were bitter conflicts for and against me, within, me were haunting fears as to how it would all end. 6 I was almost in despair; but God, who is ever ready to comfort the depressed, comforted me then by the arrival and company of Titus. 7 Yes, and not only by his arrival and company, but also by the comfort, with which you comforted him in his intercourse with you; for he gave a most welcome report of how you longed for reconciliation with me, how you lamented the trouble that you had caused, how eagerly you espoused my cause; so that this still further increased my joy.

8 Because, although I know that I gave you pain by the letter which I sent you, I cannot bring myself to regret it. When I saw that that letter gave you pain, although only for a season, I was inclined to regret it; 9 but now I am very glad,-not glad because you were pained, but because your pain issued in repentance. For you were pained in Gods way and not in the worlds way, and it was His will that you should not be the worse for anything that we did. 10 For the pain which is directed in Gods way leads to a repentance whose fruit is salvation, a repentance which can never be regarded with regret; whereas the pain which the heathen world inflicts on those who belong to it works out into moral ruin. 11 For see! it was this very thing, your being pained in Gods way, and not anything else, which did so much for you. See what earnestness it worked out in you, how keen you were to clear yourselves from just reproach, how indignant with the chief offender, how alarmed as to what the consequences might be, how eager for my forgiveness and return, how zealous in condemning evil, how stern in punishing it. In every one of these points you put yourselves right and purged yourselves from complicity in this distressing matter. 12 So then, although I did not let things slide but wrote severely to you, it was not in order to get the wrong-doer punished, nor yet to have the wronged man avenged. No, I wrote in order to bring out clearly before you all what a genuine interest you do take in us; I wrote as in Gods sight, with a full sense of responsibility. 13 It is this right conduct of yours and my own consciousness of having meant well that is such a comfort to me.

But over and above our own comfort we were the more exceedingly glad at the gladness of Titus; for refreshment and repose have come to his spirit, thanks to all of you. 14 For I told him how I gloried in you, how proud I was of you, and I have had no reason to be ashamed of what I said. You have not come short of my commendation of you. Just as all that we said to you was said in truth, so all that we said before Titus in praise of you has turned out to be quite true. 15 And he feels as we do. His inmost heart goes out the more abundantly towards you, as often as he recalls the ready obedience of all of you, and how timidly and nervously anxious you were in the reception which you gave him. 16 I am indeed glad that in every particular I can be of good courage in respect of you.

5. . For indeed when we were come into Macedonia. He is going back to 2:13, where he tells us that even the excellent opening for preaching the Gospel which he found at Troas could not keep him there, because of his intense anxiety about Corinth, and so he crossed to Macedonia in order to meet Titus the sooner and learn how the Corinthians had taken his rebukes. So that we may regard the whole of 2:14-7:4 as a digression. The fact that it exists makes the hypothesis that 6:14-7:1 is a digression all the more probable. It is St Pauls way to dart off to some important side-topic and then return to what he had previously been saying. He would probably land at Philippi. But coelum non animum mutat; he is just as feverishly anxious in Macedonia as he had been in Troas.

. In 2:13 he says . If there were any reason for wishing to get rid of either that passage or this, we should be told by some critics that it is impossible that St Paul, who elsewhere opposes and , can have written both. See above on (v. 1). Language was made for man, not man for language. The use of words in a technical sense does not bar the writer from using them elsewhere in a popular sense. Here is the sphere, not of sin, but of suffering. Intense anxiety affects both flesh and spirit. In both passages we have the perf.; cf. 1:9; Rom 5:2. In all four places we might have expected the aor., and hence the reading here. See on 1:9 and 2:13. For see on 2:13; also Index IV.

. In every way pressed, as in 4:8. He was experiencing every kind of tribulation. The participle without any verb is irregular, but intelligible and not rare; cf. 9:11, 11:6, and other instances quoted in Moulton, p. 182. Here might be understood, but it is not required. is very freq. in 2 Cor., and often first with emphasis; 6:4, 9:8, 11:6, 9. What follows explains : the pressure was both external and internal.

. What these conflicts in Macedonia were we cannot tell; Chrysostom thinks they were with unbelievers. The asyndeton is impressive, as in vv. 2-4.

. The conflicts would produce fears as to the issue, but his chief fears, as the context shows, were about the state of things at Corinth. Mental perturbations, Augustine points out, are not wrong. The citizens of the Holy City of God, who live according to God in the pilgrimage of this life, fear and desire, grieve and rejoice. That fear of which the Apostle John says, Perfect love casteth out fear, is not of the same kind as that which the Apostle Paul felt lest the Corinthians should be subdued by the subtlety of the serpent; for love is susceptible of this fear, yea, love alone is capable of it (De Civ. Dei, xiv. 9).

( C D E L P) rather than (B F G K), a correction, because the perf. seemed to be out of place. C F G, Latt. Syrr. have after .

6. . But He who comforteth the downcast. The context shows that the lowly (RV) is here not the meaning of . . It means those that are cast down (AV), the dejected, the depressed; these rather than the lowly require to be comforted. In Ecclus. 25:23 a wicked woman is said to produce , which RV. renders abasement of heart and sadness of countenance. The wording here (cf. 1:3) comes from Isa 49:13, . Cf. Isa 40:1, Isa 40:11, 51:3, Isa 40:12, 61:2, 66:13.

. By the arrival and company of T. The word implies not only the coming but the staying; a lasts some time. Deissmann (Light from the Anc. East, pp. 372, 382) has shown that it was a technical term to denote the visit of a potentate or his representative, and hence its ready transfer to the Second Advent. No such meaning attaches to it here. St Paul is not suggesting that the return of Titus to him was of an official character, but perhaps he desires to intimate that the coming meant a great deal to himself. The is instrumental rather than local, it gives the means rather than the sphere of the comforting; cf. (v. 1).

7. . The exact meaning of this is uncertain; perhaps over you is safest, indicating that the Corinthians were the basis of the comfort. Comp. the parallel passage, 1Th 3:7.

. While he told us. The actual making of his report was a comfort to Titus. In strict grammar we ought to have , but the participle is attracted to the verb, almost inevitably.

. We have to conjecture the object of this longing; to be on good terms once more with the Apostle may be right, or perhaps to see him again. The noun is very rare in Bibl. Grk. (v. 11; Eze 23:11), but occurs in all groups of the Pauline Epp. and is not rare in Lxx.

. Lamentation (Mat 2:18) for having caused so much distress.

. Zeal (v. 11, 9:2) for the Apostle against those who had attacked him, or eagerness to carry out his wishes. Trench, Syn. xxvi. For the exclusively Pauline between the art. and the noun (thrice in this verse) see on 1:6 and 12:19.

. The may be understood in several ways. (1) So that I rejoiced still more; the meeting with Titus delighted him; the report that Titus gave of the Corinthians increased his delight. (2) So that I rejoiced rather than was merely comforted. (3) So that I rejoiced instead of being distressed. The first is best. The threefold throws light on the meaning. It was the Corinthians longing, the Corinthians lamentation, the Corinthians eagerness which inspired Titus with such joy. Previously the longing, lamentation, and eagerness had been St Pauls, and it was a delight to his emissary to find similar feelings in the Corinthians. With characteristic tact the Apostle attributes his own happiness to the comfort which the Corinthians had given to Titus and which Titus had communicated to him. He does not tell the Corinthians that he had doubted as to how they would take his letter, and how great had been his anxiety as to its possible effect. The position of and the contents of v. 13 favour (1) rather than (2) or (3).

8. , . Because, though I made you sorrowful (see on 2:2) in my letter, I do not regret it. That he pained them by what he wrote is treated as a fact; rather than : see on 4:3. The difference between (Mat 21:30, Mat 21:21:32, Mat 21:27:3; Heb 7:21 from Psa_109[110]:4) and (12:21; Act 2:38, Act 2:3:19; etc.) is fairly represented by the difference between regret and repent, but no hard and fast line can be drawn, such as that the former refers to transitory feelings respecting details, while the latter implies moral choice affecting the whole life. Either verb is used either way. But, as the derivations show, has the richer and more serious meaning. Trench, Syn. lxix.

. See crit. note below. Whether we read or , we may take as the aposdosis of ., and treat what lies between as a parenthesis. This is somewhat awkward when written, but might easily be given in dictation. Though I was inclined to regret it-I see that that letter, though but for a time, made you sorrowful- now I rejoice. We may put it more smoothly thus; I see that that letter gave you pain, though only for a while; at the time I was inclined to regret having written it, but now I am very glad. puts the letter away from him; it is remote from his present attitude. It is quite clear that he had written a letter about which he had had misgivings and regrets; he could have wished that he had not written it. It is difficult to agree with those who think that he could ever have had such feelings about 1 Corinthians. Could he for a moment have regretted having written such a letter? There must have been another letter of a much more painful character. See on 1:17, 2:3, 9. If 2 Cor. 10-13. is part of that letter, it is easy to point to passages which he might sometimes wish that he had never written.*

The arrangement given above is that of Tisch., WH., and the American Revisers, but RV. gives it no recognition, perhaps because of its apparent awkwardness. AV capriciously renders first letter and then Epistle, and treats as a perf., as if the pain still continued, which the Apostle certainly did not mean to imply.

. The pain will not last; there is nothing that need rankle; the present letter will entirely extinguish it. Gal 2:5 and Phm 1:15 show that the expression may be used of either a short or a long time, either a few minutes or several months. The main point is that an end is certain. Cf. (1Co 7:5; Luk 8:13), (1Ti 4:8), and (1Th 2:17). It is possible that should be taken together, although it pained you for a season, and that the sentence is left unfinished. Perhaps some such words as has had excellent effects ought to have followed. However we unravel the confused constr., the general sense is clear.

After D* E* F G, d e f g add . B inserts between at and . D2 E F G K L P, f g Syrr. Copt. inserts after . In all three cases we may omit. Lachmann and Hort would follow Vulg. (videns) and read , having been read as . Videns, like the insertion of , may be an attempt to smooth the constr.

Only to those who believe in verbal inspiration in the most rigid sense, could this verse cause any difficulty, other than that of reading and constr. There is no need even to ask the question, How could an inspired Apostle ever regret what he had written? Such questions belong to views about Holy Scripture which criticism has demonstrated to be untenable. The Apostle himself would scarcely have understood what such a question meant. If he did, he might ask, Do you suppose that I never make a mistake?

9. . With much delicacy, he makes them rather than himself the cause of his present happiness. It was not his letter, the writing of which was no pleasure to him, but their way of receiving it, which produced so much joy. He claims no credit for it.

. For you were made sorrowful in Gods way; i.e. as God would have you sorrowful; not owing to the grace of God, thanks to His help. Cf. Rom 8:27; Rom_4 Macc. 15:2. Gods way is opposed to mans way and the devils way.

. Such was Gods intention; that in nothing ye might suffer loss (1Co 3:15; Luk 9:25) at our hands. If he had not urged them to change their course, that would have been great loss to them and great blame to him. God did not will either his negligence or their loss. It is unnatural to make depend upon . .*

10. . The adj. belongs to . There is no need to say that salvation brings no regret. To make this clear we must repeat; repentance unto salvation, a repentance which bringeth no regret (RV), or repentance which bringeth no regret, repentance unto salvation.Repentance not to be repented of (AV) is a pleasing verbal antithesis, like righteousness with unrighteousness (6:14), but neither is justified by the Greek. Vulg. has paenitentiam in salutem stabilem operatur, and stabilem can be taken readily with salutem without perpetrating a truism; but stabilis is not an accurate rendering of . In Rom 11:29 Vulg. has sine paenitentia for . is freq. in Paul, being found in all groups (Rom 1:16, Rom 1:10:1, Rom 1:10; Php 1:19; 2Th 2:13; 2Ti 3:15), but nowhere does he weaken by giving it an epithet.

. But the sorrow of the world worketh out death. The Revisers adopt the reading (see below), but make no difference between it and , and Vulg. has operatur in both places; works or promotes , . works out or produces Cf. Rom 7:13.* Perhaps the reference is chiefly to sorrow for sin, and Cain, Esau, and Judas may be illustrations of the wrong kind of sorrow. But we need not confine the verse to that. Sorrow for worldly losses and troubles does not lessen them; indeed sorrow for sickness may aggravate the disease and prevent recovery; but sorrow for sin may cure the sin. Affliction which is not taken as discipline, but resented as unreasonable, hardens and deadens the soul: submission to Gods will brings peace. Moreover, men regret the sorrow which they feel for worldly losses, but they do not regret the sorrow which cures sin. Cf. , (Ecclus. 4:21). In the Testaments (Gad 5:7) there seems to be a reminiscence of this passage; . See Heinrici-Meyer.

(* B C D E P 37) after is to be preferred to (3 G K L), which is assimilation to the next clause.

11. . He wants them to see how they themselves afford an example of the right kind of and its fruits. For behold, this very thing, your being sorrowful in Gods way, what earnestness (see on 8:7) it worked out in you. He looks back to what was said in v. 7, and in his desire to give them full credit for the excellent change in them he adds a great deal to what was said before; in v. 7 we have three particulars, here we have seven. He is brimming over with affectionate delight. The repeated means but moreover, but over and above this, and the same effect is produced in English with either yea or nay. Blass, 77.13.

. Not merely earnestness instead of their previous indifference; but self-vindication. They were anxious to exculpate themselves and show that they had not abetted the offender or condoned his offence.

. Indignation at the shame brought upon the Church. occurs several times in the Synoptists, but here only does the noun occur. Cf. Thuc. 11. xli. 3.

. Ne cum virga venirem (Beng.); but we need not restrict it to that. Gods judgments may be included. Indeed it is unlikely that St Paul would put fear of himself in the foreground. Happy is the man that feareth alway (28:14).

. Yearning for the Apostles favour and return. Yearning for their own improvement, quo desideratis in melius provehi (Herveius), is less probable.

. Zeal for God and the Apostle and against the evil which dishonours both.

. Avenging, in punishing the offender, about which there had been difficulty (2:6). It is placed last, possibly for that reason, or possibly because St Paul does not now regard it of great importance. Enough had been done to vindicate the authority which had been outraged. is from (1Th 4:6; Rom 13:4) through (10:6; Rom 12:19). Hort (on 1Pe 2:14) says, In both Lxx and N.T. stands for both avenging or vindication, and, as here, for vengeance, requital. This sense is specially abundant in Ecclus. Bengel and Meyer arrange the last six items in pairs, dealing respectively with the shame of the Church, feeling towards the Apostle, and treatment of the offender. But the grouping is perhaps fanciful: may have reference to the offender, and to the Apostle. The grouping is probably not intended by St Paul.

. In everyone of these points ye approved yourselves. See on v. 5. He acquits them of all responsibility for the offence which was committed. At first they had been to blame. By not protesting against the outrage they had seemed to acquiesce in it, but all this had been put right by their reception of Titus and submission to Pauls letter.

. To be pure in the matter, to be purged from all complicity in it, because they no longer felt any sympathy with it. St Paul does not say but : he does not wish to hint that they had not always been . marks predominantly a feeling, and a state (Westcott on 1Jn 3:3). The indefinite points to a disagreeable subject which he does not care to specify; the Corinthians know all about the unhappy business. Neither the use of this vague term (1Th 4:6) nor (11:2) is any argument for the incredible identification of this oftender (2:5) with the incestuous Corinthian (1Co 5:1).

After , 3 D E K L P, d e Vulg. add . * B C F G 17, g omit. ( B3 C G K L P) rather than (B* D E). Before , 3 C F G P, f g Vulg. Syrr. read . * B D E L K omit. B C D* F G, f g omit the before , which is probably an insertion to ease the construction.

12. . So then, although I did write to you. The subject seems to be closed, and yet the Apostle does not end here. The excellent results of the mission of Titus and St Pauls intense joy have been fully described, but something more is added as a sort of explanatory appendix. He goes on to explain why he wrote the letter which has borne such good fruit. There was one point in which it had partially failed, for the Corinthians had not treated the offender in the way in which he had expected; they had been more lenient than he had perhaps suggested. But he has assured them that he is content with what was done and does not desire anything further (2:5 f.); and he now tells them that his main object in writing was not to get the offender punished, or the person who was offended righted, but to give them an opportunity of showing how loyal they really were to himself. We may regard it as almost certain that the person offended was himself. His whole treatment of is in harmony with this view. This is another allusion to the severe letter.

The here is equivalent to with a finite verb; so then, accordingly, consequently. In class. Grk. it is almost invariably sub joined to another word, as in 1Co 7:14; Rom 7:21; Gal 3:7; etc., and is hardly ever placed first, as here; 1Co 15:18; Rom 10:17; Gal 5:11.

. St Paul is always exhibiting Hebrew modes of thought and language. In Jewish literature we often have two alternatives, one of which is negatived, without meaning that it is negatived absolutely, but only in comparison with the other alternative, which is much more important. I will have mercy, and not sacrifice (Hos 6:6) does not prohibit sacrifice; it affirms that mercy is much the better of the two. Cf. Mar 9:37; Luk 10:20, Luk 14:12, Luk 23:28. Here St Paul does not mean that he had no thought of the offender or the offended person in writing; he means that they were not the main cause of his doing so. His object was to get the Corinthian Church out of the false position in which it was in reference to himself. That was the thing for which he chiefly cared, and in comparision with that all other ends were as nothing. Cf. 1Co 1:17. Is it possible to believe that the letter to which allusion is here made Isa_1 Corinthians?

It is still less possible to believe that is the incestuous person of 1Co 5:1. St Paul would hardly have regarded such a sin as a personal injury to an individual; it was a monstrous injury to the whole of the Corinthian Church. But there is a stronger reason than this. If is the man who had his fathers wife, then must be the mans father, who was alive when the son committed incest with his fathers wife. Disorderly as the Corinthian Church was, it is difficult to believe that one of its members would be guilty of taking his fathers wife while his father was living, and that the rest of the Church, so far from being scandalized, were as much puffed up with self-complacency as usual (see on 1Co 5:2). What is said about forgiving the offender (4:5 f.) is strangely worded, if he was an offender of such heinousness.

It is possible that was Timothy (Hastings, D B. iv. p. 768), but almost certainly it was St Paul himself (D B. iii. p. 711).* That hypothesis satisfies all requirements, especially with regard to the reserve with which he speaks of the matter. The Corinthians would understand. Who was was known to them, but is unknown to us. He was probably a turbulent Corinthian who in some outrageous and public manner had defied the Apostles authority. Now that the Corinthians had withdrawn all sympathy from him and had submissively sought reconciliation with St Paul, it did not matter whether the punishment inflicted by the congregation had been adequate or not.

. Not for either of these ends, but in order that your earnestness on our behalf might be made manifest unto you. If the same translation is to be given to in all three places, we may say, not in order to punish the wrong-doer, not yet in order to avenge the wronged, but in order, etc. The main object was to get the Corinthians to realize their true state of mind respecting the Apostle. In the friction and excitement of the recent crisis they had fancied that they could part from him with a light heart; but his letter showed them what casting him off would mean, and they found that the ties which bound them to him could not be so easily broken. They cared for him too much for that. Unto you is simpler and more telling than among you or with you (1Th 3:4) for . It was unto themselves that this revelation had to be made; they did not know the state of their own hearts till the shock of the letter came. With comp. 1:11.

. Placed last with emphatic solemnity, as in 4:2 (see the last note there). The words are to be taken with : he wrote with a deep sense of responsibility. God would judge of his reason for writing and of the words which he said.

In this verse we twice have in MSS. the common confusion between and . The reading of Vulg., sollicitudinem nostram, quam pro vobis habemus, and of T.R., . . is inconsistent with the context. He did not write to manifest his zeal for them, but to bring out their zeal for him. The in this verse is the same as in v. 10. B C D2 E K L P, e Syrr. Copt. have . . . .

13. . For this cause (because our good purpose was accomplished in bringing your loyalty to light) we have been and are comforted. These words, with a full stop after them, should have, been given to v. 12. Chrysostom ends a Homily with them, and he begins another (16.) with the words which follow. A teacher is comforted by the progress of his pupils, a spiritual ruler by the loyalty of the ruled; and spiritual rule is the highest of all arts.

. But over and above our personal comfort. The is certainly rightly placed here (see below), and it bars the rendering of Luther, Beza, and AV, which takes . . with the preceding , reading for , we were comforted in your comfort. This does not fit the context.

. My own comfort was great; in addition to it came the more abundant joy at the joy of Titus. The strengthening of the comparative with a pleonastic is not rare; (Mar 7:36); (Php 1:23). It is found in class. Grk. Blass, 44. 5; Wetstein on Php 1:23. In 12:9 does not strengthen , but belongs to .

. Because his spirit has been refreshed, thanks to all of you. Cf. (1Co 16:18; see note there). In Phm 1:7, Phm 1:20 we have for . The compound expresses a temporary relief, as the simple a final cessation (Lightfoot), a truce as distinct from a peace. It is refreshment and relief which Christ promises to the weary and heavy laden, not a permanent removal of their burdens, (Mat 11:28). For where might have stood, at the hands of rather than by, cf. (Mat 16:21; also Luk 7:35, Luk 7:17:25; Jam 1:13). Blass, 40. 3. This is repeated in v. 15. The whole Corinthian Church had had a share in making this happy impression on Titus, and he was deeply grateful to them for it. The Apostle is careful to let them know this, because Titus is to return to them to carry out the arrangements for the collection for the poor at Jerusalem (8:6, 16).

is certainly to be retained after , and to be omitted after , with B C D F G K L P, Latt. Goth. The insertion after . has very little authority. A few cursives and Arm. omit altogether. F K L, Copt. have , another confusion of the two pronouns, as in v. 12.

14. , . For if in anything I have gloried to him on your behalf, I was not put to shame. This is added in explanation of the great relief which the conduct of the Corinthians had been to Titus. Titus had accepted the mission to Corinth with serious misgivings; his overtures might be rejected with contempt and violence. St Paul had praised the Corinthians to him, and had assured him that the strained situation would pass, because they were thoroughly sound at heart. St Paul is now able to tell them that his praise of them had been completely justified by their subsequent conduct. He was not put to shame (RV) by being proved to be utterly mistaken about them. Titus had found that the Apostles high estimate of them was correct. The Corinthians were rightminded people who knew how to listen to reason and respect authority. He had told them to welcome and obey Titus, and they had done so; and this had quite won Titus heart. For see on 9:2.

… As we spake all things to you in truth, so our glorying also before Titus was proved to be truth. For = in the presence of, before, cf. 1Co 6:1, 1Co 6:6; Mar 13:9; Act 25:9. The introductory means, On the contrary; so far from my being put to shame, etc. He appeals to his own truthfulness and sincerity, which had been challenged at Corinth and had been proved to be real: and balance one another, and there is a sort of chiasmus; . The first is subjective, the second is objective.

( B D E K L P, Latt.) rather than (C F G, g Copt.). C D E P, Latt. have by assimilation of order to . . No before . (* B).

15. . And so his heart goes out to you the more abundantly, i.e. still more than before he came to you and had this happy experience.* They received him as the Galatians received St Paul (Gal 4:14), in spite of the stern letter which he brought. Hence his affection for them when he recalls it all. Cf. (Dan 11:27, Theod.).

. These words indicate that Titus had very definite demands to make, and that compliance with them was universal. There was no thought of rebellion against the Apostle or his delegate.

. This strong expression suggests something more than that they were afraid that they could not do enough to please him. St Paul himself had confessed to having had this feeling when he first begun his work in Corinth (1Co 2:3), and in him it meant a nervous anxiety to do his duty.* No other N.T. writer uses the phrase, and this seems to be its meaning in the four places in which it occurs. The other two are Eph 6:5 and Php 2:12, where see Lightfoot. In Eph 6:5 this fear and trembling is opposed to eye-service In Isa 19:16, means actual terror.

16. . A joyous conclusion to the whole section (6:11-7:16), added impressively without any connecting particle. The , therefore (AV) is one of those freq. insertions made by scribes and translators (here Goth. Arm.) for the sake of smoothness, and such smoothness generally involves weakness. It does not much matter how we take , whether I rejoice that, or I rejoice because. The translation of is more important; I am of good courage (RV), as in 10:1, 2, rather than I have confidence (AV). If 10-13. is part of the painful letter which preceded 1-9., this verse may refer to 10:1, 2. There he is of good courage in standing out against some of them; here he is of good courage about the present obedience of all of them, and (as he hopes) about their readiness to help in raising money for the poor at Jerusalem. This verse prepares the way for the request which he is about to urge in 8. and 9. Their past good works and present loyalty give him courage in pressing this matter upon them. See on 1:23, 2:3, 9, 4:2, 5:13, 7:2 for other instances in which these first nine chapters seem to refer to passages in the last four. Whatever may be the truth about this or any other possible reference, the Apostles mood and judgment must have changed extraordinarily, if, after dictating these verses (13-16), he dictated 12:20, 21 as part of the same letter.

. Concerning you; cf. , I am perplexed about you (Gal 4:20); lit. in your case. Others explain that the root of the courage or the perplexity is in them, and translate through you. The difference is not very great.

The reconciliation between the Apostle and the Corinthians is now complete; and with this verse the first main division of the Epistle (1:12-7:16) ends. Sicut sapiens medicus jam paene sanata vulnera lenissimis medicamentis curabat, ut prioris increpationis usura sanaretur (Herveius).

Before leaving this chapter we must notice once more its exuberant and passionate tone. The Apostle lets himself go, and can hardly find language in which to express his appreciation of the present attitude of the Corinthians towards himself and Titus, and his consequent joy over them and over the joy which they have produced in Titus. Words expressive of comfort, rejoicing, glorying, boldness, and courage occur with surprising frequency, as if he could not repeat them too often. We have four times, thrice, four times, twice, twice, and and once each. With regard to the good conduct of the Corinthians we have twice, twice, twice, twice, together with and other terms of approbation. And all this is within the compass of fifteen, or rather of thirteen verses. It is all the more necessary to notice this because of the very marked change of tone which is at once evident directly we leave this part of the Epistle and begin to study the next two chapters. The change of subject causes a sudden cessation of this overflowing enthusiasm and generosity of language. So far from letting himself go, the Apostle manifestly feels that he is treading on delicate ground, and that he must be cautious about what he says and the language in which he says it. The Epistle is full of rapid changes of feeling, perhaps caused in some cases by breaks in the times of dictating. Here it is the new subject that causes the change.

* The proposal has been anticipated by Augustine (De Doc. Chris. iii.2), who points it out as possible, but does not adopt it.

* Several of the Latin commentators, misled by Capite nos, take this as meaning mente capite, intelligite, Consider what I say. Others interpret, Consider me, take me as an example. The Greek cannot mean this. Theophylact is right; . Bengel expands thus; vestri amantes, vestra causa laetante.

(Fourth century). Codex Sinaiticus; now at Petrograd, the only uncial MS. containing the whole N.T.

B B (Fourth century). Codex Vaticanus.

C C (Fifth century). Codex Ephraemi, a Palimpsest; now at Paris, very defective. Of 2 Corinthians all from 10:8 onwards is wanting.

P P (Ninth century). Codex Porfirianus Chiovensis, formerly possessed by Bishop Porfiri of Kiev, and now at Petrograd.

D D (Sixth century). Codex Claromontanus; now at Paris. A Graeco-Latin MS. The Latin (d) is akin to the Old Latin. Many subsequent hands (sixth to ninth centuries) have corrected the MS.

E E (Ninth century). At Petrograd. A copy of D, and unimportant

F F (Late ninth century). Codex Augiensis (from Reichenau); now at Trinity College, Cambridge.

G G (Late ninth century). Codex Boernerianus; at Dresden. Interlined with the Latin (in minluscules). The Greek text is almost the same as that of F, but the Latin (g) shows Old Latin elements.

K K (Ninth century). Codex Mosquensis; now at Moscow.

L L (Ninth century). Codex Angelicus; now in the Angelica Library at Rome.

* information respecting the commentator is to be found in the volume on the First Epistle, pp. lxvi f.

* Cf. (Wisd. 5:1): (1 Macc. 4:18): also Heb 3:6, Heb 4:16, Heb 10:35

* We must remember that we have not the letter in its entirety. Are not the passages which he most repented those have disappeared? (Rendall, The Epp. of St. Paul to the Corinthians, p. 69).

d d The Latin companion of D

e d The Latin companion of E

f d The Latin companion of F

g d The Latin companion of G

* It is remarkable that occurs only four times in the Pauline Epistles, twice in these two verses and once in Rom 2:4 and 2Ti 2:25, while occurs only in 2Co 12:21. This does not imply the almost complete ommission of the twin Rabbinic ideas of repentance and forgiveness (C. G. Montefiore, Judaism and St. Paul, p. 75). These words are rare, but the thought of forgiveness, such as he himself had won, is often present as reconciliation to God.

Superest ne rursus prauinciae, quad damnasse dicitur, placeat, aeatque pxnitmtiam poenitentias suae (Plin. Ep. vii. 10).

* See the Essay and the Sermon on these words by F. Paget, The Spirit of Discipline, pp. 1 f. and 51 f.

37 37. (Evan. 69, Acts 69, Rev_14. Fifteenth century). The well-known Leicester codex; belongs to the Ferrar group.

A steady reformation is a more decisive test of the value of mourning than depth of grief” (F. W. Robertson).

17 17. (Evan. 33, Act_13. Ninth century). Now at paris. The queen of the cursives and the best for the Pauline Epistles; more than any other it preserves Pre-Syrian readings and agrees with B D L.

* Bousset says with reason; so gibt diese Wendung nur dann einen er traglichen Sinn, wenn man annimt, dass Paulus selbst der Betroffence sti.

* But it is possible that is simply very abundantly and implies no comparison with any other occasion.

* In the same spirit with which a young man of character would work who was starting in business on capital advanced by a friend (Denney).

Fuente: International Critical Commentary New Testament

Separate from All Uncleanness

2Co 6:11-18; 2Co 7:1-4

Pauls love failed to be appreciated by his converts because the channel of receptiveness, that is, of their faith and love, was so straitened. How often is this the case between Christ and us! Let us dredge the channel. Be ye enlarged! Open your mouth wide and He will fill it.

The best method of doing this is to be only, always, and all for Him. We must not offer Him a share of our heart and devotion. There must be no division between Him and others. Whenever iniquity, darkness, Belial, and unbelievers seek to share our nature with the Holy Spirit, and we permit the partnership, He withdraws. No idols must be permitted in any hidden shrine of the heart. The whole nature-spirit (that is, the Holy of Holies) soul (that is, the seat of our individuality), and body-must be the temple of the Eternal, who rules it from the Shekinah, which is enthroned on the Ark of the Covenant. God still walks the world in those who love Him and are wholly yielded to His indwelling. The loneliest spirit finds Him to be father, mother, brother, sister, all. What an incentive to cleanliness not only of flesh but of spirit! Heb 10:22. The Apostle concludes by expressing his intense thankfulness that his converts had not misunderstood the urgency of his former letter.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Perfecting Holiness

2Co 7:1-16

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man. I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you. Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more. 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. 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. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 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. Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you. Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all. For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth. And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him. I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things. (vv. 1-16)

In order properly to understand this chapter we need to remember that some time before the apostle Paul had heard of some very serious wrongdoings tolerated in the church of God at Corinth. One offence was of greatest gravity; a man had actually entered into an incestuous, adulterous relationship with his own fathers wife-his stepmother, of course-and the church, instead of immediately dealing with this great sin and seeking to show the man his wickedness, and if he refused to repent excommunicating him from their fellowship, rather gloried in the breadth that would permit them to tolerate a thing like that and go right on without discipline. There were other offences, brother going to law with brother, etc. When the apostle heard of these things he wanted to visit Corinth, and yet he felt that if he did, it would mean he would have to be very stern in dealing with these questions. He disliked this, and, too, the Spirit of God seemed to hinder his going, so instead of that he wrote them a letter, that letter which we have already taken up, the first epistle to the Corinthians, and in it he pointed out these things and called upon them to act in the fear of God. As to the wicked man, the Word of God was, Put away from among yourselves that wicked person (1Co 5:13).

After having sent the letter Paul was greatly perturbed. The epistle was divinely inspired, and he was a servant of the Lord, but he was a very human personage, just as we are. After he had sent the letter he began to question the wisdom of it; he wondered whether it might simply stir up the flesh in these Corinthians and alienate them further from God and from himself. He questioned whether perhaps it would not have been better if he had gone to them and dealt personally with them, and wondered just what reaction the letter would have upon them. Finally his distress was so keen he could not wait to hear from them in the ordinary way, so he sent his friend and companion, Titus, to Corinth, to find out exactly how they had acted upon receipt of the letter. After waiting some time, still in perturbation of mind (for he loved the church of God, he loved the saints in spite of their failures and he was fearful lest when he wanted to help he might have hurt, lest when he wanted to bless his message might have had the contrary effect), Titus came and said something like this, Paul, your letter had the effect you desired it to have. Those brethren in Corinth have taken it as a message from God, and have dealt with this evil thing and have put this man out of their fellowship. He, on his part, has accepted it as divine discipline and is repenting in bitterness of soul. He weeps over his sin and feels utterly unworthy of further recognition of fellowship with the church. They have determined that they are going to keep that assembly clean from all these evils. When Paul heard these things he was greatly rejoiced and sat down and wrote this second letter, and in this chapter he comes to the subject before him.

The first verse properly belongs to the previous chapter: Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved. That leads us to ask what promises, and so we turn back to chapter 6 to find out, and we read in the last two verses, Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. God has given promises of blessing that will accrue to us if we walk in separation from evil, and now we must see to it that we meet the conditions. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. How do we cleanse ourselves? We cannot cleanse our own consciences from the guilt of sin. God has to do that. Our consciences can be cleansed from sin only by the precious atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I could not wash out one stain from a guilty conscience. But if a Christian, having been cleansed from my sin by the blood of Christ, my heart needs daily cleansing, and that is by faith in the Word which God has given. As I receive that Word in faith and I act upon it, I cleanse myself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.

What is the difference between filthiness of the flesh and filthiness of the spirit? There are two classes of sin, and all sin is filthy in the sight of God. Filthiness of the flesh refers to sins of the body, and there are so many of them, unholy lusts, unbridled appetites. Drunkenness, gluttony, licentiousness, inordinate affection, are all sins of the flesh, and though at the present time our abominable philosophies throw a glamour over these things they are utterly vile in Gods sight. My own heart is stirred to indignation as I pick up the newspapers or magazines of the day, for there is hardly one that does not seem to be glorifying sin. Alluring advertisements suggest that the grandest thing in the world is to indulge in the free use of strong drink. There are beautiful pictures of lovely women drinking with their men friends, and of the whole family gathered around the table being served cocktails. All this in reputable magazines going into Christian homes to teach our children that drinking is a fashionable and decent and respectable thing, when Gods Word says, Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also (Hab 2:15). Look not upon the wine when it is red (Pro 23:31). All mens efforts to make money by causing us to become a nation of drunkards is something for which they will have to account to Almighty God someday. My heart is stirred when I think of these things. You see the same thing in regard to the vile habit of tobacco. Pick up the magazines that come to your home, and you will see some dainty young woman with an abominable cigarette in her fingers. They are trying to teach our girls that if they would be up-to-date they must become cigarette fiends. I cannot understand Christian women tolerating things like that. There is not one good reason why Christian women, or men either, should poison their bodies with tobacco.

And then again take our bookstands. They are filled with the vilest pornographic literature, glorifying fornication and adultery, as though man reaches the highest and noblest in life when he throws the reins upon every low appetite and lives to please himself in absolute indifference to purity and decency and goodness. Christians ought to be very careful to give everything like this a wide berth. Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh, let us avoid everything that has to do with the filthiness of the flesh.

What about filthiness of the spirit? Vanity, pride, conceit, haughtiness, and unbelief are just as evil as these other things in the sight of God. Take this dainty girl who stands in front of her mirror trying to make a work of art out of her face in order to attract the attention of the opposite sex, that vanity that is so characteristic of her is as truly filthy in the sight of God as the other sins I have been mentioning. Take that man who is so haughty and proud, and is seeking power and authority over his fellows, constantly looking for admiration on the part of men who like himself are going on to the grave, that haughtiness, that pride, is in Gods sight absolutely filthy. Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Mark this, none of us have yet attained to perfect holiness. We are commanded to follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord (Heb 12:14). But we follow that which is still before us; we have not attained to holiness, but we are to aim at perfecting holiness in the fear of God. As we submit ourselves to the Word and seek to judge those things that we see to be contrary to the mind of God, we will grow in grace and thus become holier men and women as the days go by.

Beginning with verse 2 and going on to the end of the chapter, the apostle sets before the Corinthians the exercises that he had in regard to them, and the joy that now fills his soul because they are indeed perfecting holiness in the fear of God. First, he mentions his claim to their obedience, for he had no right to be heard if in himself he was not seeking to live out what he taught them. But he says, Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man. Many a one who has taken the position of a servant of Christ, who is recognized as a minister of the gospel, has failed terribly because of lack of care right here. Paul can face the whole world and can say, We have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man. He did not teach that which would injure others; he did not by his behavior set a bad example to others; he had no part in turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, as some had done, or in defrauding another. He never had to do with money matters that were shady; he did not collect money for one purpose and use it for another; he did not pretend to be raising funds to do certain things with them and then allow them to be turned aside into some other channel. He was straight in all his dealings, and that is what God expects of every servant of His.

And then he says, as it were, I am not saying this about myself to condemn you, but I want you to know that I am entitled to be heard because I am living what I preach. I love you too much to want to condemn you; you are my children in the Lord, and I am concerned about you, and I want to help you, not to hinder you. My boldness of speech is great, I have told other people of the wonderful work of grace that has taken place in Corinth, and I was in great distress when you were going wrong, but now I am joyful even though I am passing through tribulation.

When we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus. What was the comfort Titus brought? Not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you. It did him good to hear how earnest they were in putting away the evildoer from their assembly. Titus told Paul of their earnest desire, and their mourning. It was not vindictive-ness that put him away-they mourned over him. Paul rejoiced in their loyalty to him as the one who had led them to Christ. The previous epistle, he found, did upset them. He was not sorry now that he wrote it, but says, Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentanceFor godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of. This is the divine principle. Of course he is speaking to them as Christians. They had been saved by acting upon the truth revealed to them. But the same principle always prevails. Godly sorrow worketh repentance not to be repented of. Repentance unto salvation-that leads a man to judge himself in the presence of God, and thus be in the place where God can bless him.

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. They were determined to see that the church now was clear of all complicity with evil, they were stirred to the very depths of their souls. The evil must be dealt with if blessing would come, and they valued Gods favor above all else.

And so Paul says, Though I wrote unto you, I did not do it in order to punish the man that did the wrong, nor in order to comfort the man who was wronged. It is impossible, you see, for any one to commit that sin without doing wrong himself and wronging others. But he makes it clear that he wrote to show that he really loved them and wanted them to be right with God-that his care for them in the sight of God might appear unto them. Now because of the way they had acted his heart was filled with gladness, and his boasting that he expressed when talking about them had been fully justified, and Titus inward affection was more abundant toward them, while he remembered the obedience of them all, how with fear and trembling they received him. What a happy outcome this was, and what a lesson it ought to have for us today! We are continually praying for revival, but we can pray for that from now until doomsday and will not get it, unless as individuals we judge any evil that is in our own lives. It will never come until we as individuals put away all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. That is what God is waiting for, for His people individually to get right with Him. Mark, it is not for us to look at others and say, O Lord, Thou knowest what a terrible state Thy people are in. Help them to get right with Thee. No, it is, Show me any extent to which any sin has found lodgment in my heart and life, and give me grace to judge it in Thy holy presence, that I may put away all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

A woman came to a servant of Christ and said, I wish you would go and talk to my husband; he is getting where he never stays home at night; he sets the children such a bad example; and if I talk to him, he slams the door and out he goes.

The minister happened to know something of that home, and said to the woman, Before we pray for your husband there is something I want to talk to you about. What about that vile temper of yours? Go to God and say, O God, I come to Thee confessing my vile, wicked temper; my bad temper is driving my husband from home; it is alienating my children; my bad temper is bringing dishonor on the name of the Lord. Deliver me from that bad temper, that thus I may be able to present the sweetness and graciousness of Christ, and so help my husband and children.

Did she do it? She jumped to her feet and ran out in another fit of temper. Let us perfect holiness in the fear of God by cleansing ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and then we may expect blessing.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

2Co 7:1

Consider:-

I. That part of the exhortation which requires the destruction of evil: “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.” By filthiness is meant moral pollution of any kind. It denotes not exclusively or especially any particular sin, but sin as such-everything which renders the character loathsome in God’s sight. (2) The words “flesh and spirit” we understand as denoting the seat of the sin. Filthiness of the flesh we take to be sin in its outward manifestation; filthiness of the spirit, sin in its internal emotions. (3) The cleansing required extends to both. (4) The extent of the cleansing required is shown by the use of the word all. He who would taste Christianity’s joys and reap her rewards must have no favourite sins. He must cleanse himself from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. (5) The exhortation of the text shows us that, while God is the sanctifier of His people, there is an important sense in which we must sanctify ourselves.

II. That part of the exhortation which enjoins the cultivation of perfect holiness. Trusting in Christ for sanctification no less than for forgiveness is our first duty; for until we trust in Him and are united to Him by a living faith, no effort we may make in order to sanctify ourselves will be of any avail. The danger against which we need to be on our guard is that, instead of resting in Christ for sanctification, we should be persuading ourselves that we are sanctified, when it is only too manifest that we are resting, not in Christ, but in our own fancies about Christ-resting not for but without sanctification, and thereby jeopardising our own souls.

W. Landels, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 328.

References: 2Co 7:1.-R. W. Dale, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxv., p. 81; F. W. Robertson, Lectures on Corinthians, p. 360. 2Co 7:2-8.-Ibid., p. 365. 2Co 7:4.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 265. 2Co 7:6.-S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Sermons, vol. iii., p. 213; Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 51. 2Co 7:9, 2Co 7:10.-F. W. Robertson, Lectures on Corinthians, p. 372; Ibid., Sermons, 3rd series, p. 104.

2Co 7:10

Notice:-

I. Godly sorrow: its nature and origin. (1) The nature of godly sorrow. In the immediate context it is directly contrasted with a commoner truth, the sorrow of the world. The sorrow of the world, though it seem a thick homogeneous covering over all human life, is yet made up of as many kinds as that carpet of green which covers the earth. Godly sorrow is like the rest, inasmuch as it is sorrow; it is unlike the rest, inasmuch as it springs, not out of the sufferer’s connection with earth and time, but out of his connection with God and eternity. The expression clearly intimates that the attitude of the soul must be changed ere it can be sensible of this sorrow. Away from the world, with its hopes and fears, the man must turn, and open his inmost being towards God. Godly sorrow is an affection which the carnal mind never knew. (2) Consider the cause of this sorrow: “The goodness of God leadeth to repentance.” The sorrow for sin was not felt until God’s goodness aroused it; and that sorrow once aroused, instantly manifests true repentance in an eager effort to put sin away.

II. The repentance which godly sorrow produces. It is a change of mind which imparts a new direction to the whole life, as the turning of the helm changes the course of the ship. Two things are said in the text about this turning: (1) it is unto salvation; and (2) it is not to be repented of. The repentance which led unto salvation is the only repentance which the saved see in the memory of the past, and that repentance they will never repent.

W. Arnot, Roots and Fruits, p. 300.

References: 2Co 7:10.-A. Maclaren, A Year’s Ministry, vol. ii., p. 113; C. C. Bartholomew, Sermons Chiefly Practical, p. 65; H. V. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 331; Ibid., Sermons, vol. ii., p. 31; Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 287; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. v., p. 122.

2Co 7:11

Marks of Godly Sorrow.

No sham work will suffice in religion. Heart work must be God’s work. He who made the heart alone can change it from its natural hardness and stubbornness into one that is broken and contrite.

I. Godly sorrow is such a sorrow as God approves of, because it brings us to see the hatefulness of sin; because it has touched the heart and brought the offender back, in penitence, to his forgiving Father. Many a wounded and agonised conscience is like a sheet of ice shivered on the pavement, and which lies there stiff and cold; but let the sun burst forth in his might, and the frozen mass is melted. So, too, true godly sorrow is accompanied by the softening influences of the Holy Spirit, and brings forth fruit meet for repentance.

II. If we have really experienced this godly sorrow, it will assuredly have wrought in us great carefulness to seek an amendment of life: we shall feel ashamed and indignant with ourselves for our past misdoings; we shall cherish a wholesome fear of relapsing into evil ways; a vehement desire for pardon and sanctifying grace; a zeal for the honour of God and for the advancement of His kingdom; and a revenge, as it were, against the sinful lusts that once caused us to offend. While Sir Christopher Wren was engaged in demolishing the ruins of old St. Paul’s, London, in order to make room for the new and grander cathedral, he used a battering-ram, with which thirty men continued to beat upon a part of the wall for a whole day. Our prayers and repentances may seem like puny agencies for overturning the strongholds of sin within us, but God can and will render them effectual in the end.

J. N. Norton, Every Sunday, p. 143.

References: 2Co 7:11-16.-F. W. Robertson, Lectures on Corinthians, p. 379. 2Co 7:16.-A. Maclaren, Christ in the Heart, p. 229. 2Co 8:1-12.-F. W. Robertson, Lectures on Corinthians, p. 387. 2Co 8:4.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 249. 2Co 8:5.-T. J. Crawford, The Preaching of the Cross, p. 299; Outline Sermons to Children, p. 234.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

perfecting

(See Scofield “Mat 5:48”).

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

therefore: 2Co 1:20, 2Co 6:17, 2Co 6:18, Rom 5:20, Rom 5:21, Rom 6:1-11, Heb 4:1, 2Pe 1:4-8

let: Psa 51:10, Psa 119:9, Pro 20:9, Pro 30:12, Isa 1:16, Jer 13:27, Eze 18:30-32, Eze 36:25, Eze 36:26, Mat 5:8, Mat 12:33, Mat 23:25, Mat 23:26, Luk 11:39, Luk 11:40, Tit 2:11-14, Jam 4:8, 1Pe 1:22, 1Pe 2:11, 1Jo 1:7, 1Jo 1:9, 1Jo 3:3

filthiness: Isa 55:7, Jer 4:14, 1Co 6:20, Eph 2:3, 1Th 5:23

perfecting: Mat 5:48, Eph 4:12, Eph 4:13, Phi 3:12-15, 1Th 3:13, 1Th 4:7, Heb 12:23, 1Pe 5:10

in: 2Ch 19:9, Psa 19:9, Pro 8:13, Pro 16:6, Act 9:31, Heb 12:28

Reciprocal: Gen 35:2 – clean Lev 6:27 – wash Lev 8:35 – the tabernacle Lev 13:6 – wash Lev 13:58 – be washed Lev 14:14 – General Lev 15:13 – wash Lev 15:16 – General Lev 15:21 – General Lev 19:2 – Ye shall Num 8:6 – cleanse them Num 19:9 – a water of separation 1Ki 8:61 – perfect 2Ch 29:5 – sanctify the house Ezr 6:21 – all such Ezr 9:11 – the filthiness Job 22:3 – thou makest Psa 14:3 – filthy Psa 24:4 – pure Psa 45:10 – Hearken Psa 53:3 – filthy Psa 119:40 – I have Pro 23:17 – be thou Ecc 11:10 – and put Eze 24:13 – thy filthiness Eze 36:28 – be people Dan 12:10 – shall be Joh 13:10 – needeth Act 10:35 – feareth Rom 6:15 – shall we 1Co 10:14 – my 1Co 15:58 – Therefore 2Co 7:11 – fear 2Co 12:19 – dearly 2Co 13:9 – even Gal 5:16 – and Eph 5:21 – in Col 3:22 – fearing 2Ti 2:19 – depart 2Ti 2:21 – purge Tit 2:12 – denying Heb 6:1 – let Heb 10:22 – our bodies Heb 12:1 – let us lay Heb 12:14 – and holiness Jam 1:21 – filthiness Jam 2:18 – and I will 1Pe 1:15 – so 1Pe 1:17 – in fear 1Pe 2:17 – Fear 1Pe 3:21 – the putting

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

WE HAVE THEN these striking promises from the lips of God. If we are separate from the world, and face whatever loss that may involve, we shall find God acting as Father toward us, and we shall enter consciously into the good and sweetness of the relationship in which we are set. Now having such promises we are exhorted (as we open chapter 7) to purify ourselves, and thus perfect holiness in the fear of God. Notice that it says, from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. This is a very important word, and very sweeping. Our attention has just been directed to the necessity of a purification from all fellowship with the world in outward things. Yet if we merely practised separation in outward things, confining ourselves to that, we should just become Pharisees; a most undesirable thing. The separation we are to practice goes much deeper. All filthiness or pollution of the flesh is to be avoided, and all filthiness of the spirit too.

Both forms of separation are called for; the inward and the outward too. The outward without the inward is just hypocrisy. The inward without the outward is at best a very defective thing. At the worst it descends to the plight in which Lot was found in Sodom, though not himself descending to the shocking morals of that city. Abraham was in the happy path of Gods will; clean outside the place as well as free from the evil. There are the pollutions of the world: the pollutions of the flesh: the pollutions of the spirit: the last of the three the most subtle of all, because the most refined form of sin. May God awaken us to great carefulness as to it. Holiness when carried to its perfection covers all three. But we are to be carrying it on towards its perfection even now. May God help us to do so.

The Apostle had delivered his soul thus as to the Corinthians, and was conscious that the threatened breach between himself and them had been averted in the mercy of God; and those from outside, who had fomented trouble and had been his detractors, had lost something of their power. The Corinthians, under the influence of these men, had been inclined to turn their backs on Paul. Things however were now changed, and he can say simply, Receive us. They knew the integrity that had ever characterized him, and the fervent love towards them that was in his heart; he was identified with them in his affections whether in life or in death. Moreover, confident now as to their affection for him, he was filled with encouragement and joy. He could tell them now of the happy experience that was his, when tidings of the effect of his first epistle reached him.

Verse 2Co 7:5 picks up the threads of happenings from 2Co 2:13. One can read from one verse to the other as though nothing came between them. He had left Troas, in spite of the door for the Gospel opened of the Lord, because he had no rest in his spirit as to the Corinthians; yet when he got into Macedonia conditions were even worse. There were not only fears within but also fightings without. One can imagine a little perhaps of what he felt as he plunged deeply, and yet more deeply, into sorrows and troubles. Suddenly however Titus appeared, bringing good news as to the effect of his first epistle, which ministered to him great comfort. He had the companionship of Titus, and the assurance that God had intervened in His mercy.

His first epistle had been used to effect two things: first, a thoroughgoing repentance as to the evils he had denounced; second, a revival of their affection for himself. There was of course a very distinct connection between them. As they realized the error of their ways so they saw that his plain and faithful remonstrances were actuated by love; and responsive love was kindled in their hearts towards him. For a time he had been tempted to regret that he ever wrote the letter, but now that its good effect had been manifested he could only rejoice.

This scripture shows us very clearly what genuine repentance really is. It is not exactly sorrow for sin, though godly sorrow of that sort is an ingredient of it. Verse 2Co 7:11 shows what repentance involved in their case, and with what zeal and fear they cleared themselves. Repentance of a right sort is repentance to salvation; that is, it means deliverance from the thing repented of. Mere sorrow for sin, when confronted with its consequences, is the kind of which the world is capable, and it only works death and not salvation. Judas Iscariot is a sad example of this.

One great thing, then, that had come out of all the troubles at Corinth and the sending of the first epistle had been a mutual expression of love as between Paul and the saints there. Verse 2Co 7:7 mentions, your fervent mind toward me; and verse 2Co 7:12, our care for you in the sight of God. It was no small thing to put things right as between the one who did the injury and the one who was injured, but it was even greater to bring into display that love which is the fruit of the Divine nature in the saints.

A striking feature of this chapter, from verse 2Co 7:5 and onwards, is the way in which all these happenings are traced to the hand of God. Having sent his first epistle, Paul was agitated and cast down in spirit to the point of regretting that he had written it-even though, as we know, it was a letter inspired of God. Then at last, when things seemed at their lowest, Titus appeared with good news as to its effect upon the Corinthians. This was the mercy of God intervening to comfort the downcast Apostle, as also it had been the mercy of God effecting a godly repentance in the hearts of the Corinthians. The word, godly, occurring three times (verses 2Co 7:9, 2Co 7:10, 2Co 7:11), is really in each case, according to God. God had intervened, and this was the real basis and cause of Pauls comfort and joy.

Moreover Titus had come back thoroughly refreshed and joyful. This evidently had far exceeded Pauls hopes. There had been much anxiety as to them, and many things to blame, as the first epistle shows; and yet the way in which they had received him had gone beyond his expectations. True he had boasted of them to Titus. He had spoken of them with warmth of affection and with assurance of their reality. And now all had been found as he had said. The Apostles distress had been turned into exultant joy and thankfulness.

In all this we see how God delights to lift up and encourage His tried servants. The God who thus acted with Paul is just the same today. Why are we not filled with greater and more implicit confidence in Him?

The Corinthians had received Titus with fear and trembling; they had been marked by obedience. Pauls letter had come to them with an authority that was Divine. In it he had called upon them to recognize that the things he wrote to them were the commandments of the Lord. Being the inspired Word of God, it had authenticated itself as such in their consciences, and it commanded their obedience. Nowadays some would like to persuade us that we have no logical reason for accepting any given scripture as the Word of God unless we are prepared to receive it as authenticated by the Church, unless it carries the imprimatur of pope and cardinals. Nothing could be farther from the truth. It was not so at the beginning, and is not so today. The Word of God is self-authenticating in the hearts and consciences of those who are born of Him.

The obedience of the Corinthians to the Word of the Lord gave the Apostle full confidence as to them. He could say with joy, I have confidence in you in all things. Are we inclined to look upon this as a rather exuberant overestimate on his part, the fruit of the revulsion of feeling he had undergone? It was not so at all. It was the expression of a sober judgment. Saints may be very defective and blameworthy as to many things, but if they recognize the Word of God when they hear it, and yield obedience to its instructions, one need have no fear as to them. All will be well.

It was not that they had any fear of Titus, or that Pauls letters, though weighty and powerful, put the fear of Paul upon their spirits. It was rather that in spite of all their errors they did tremble at the Word of the Lord, when they heard it.

Are we equal to the Corinthians in this respect? Our day is peculiarly marked by disrespect for the Word of God. In many quarters, professedly Christian, the Bible is looked upon as subject matter for criticism. Let us beware lest we catch the infection of it. Would Paul have confidence in us as to all things? Only if he saw that we too were marked by subjection and obedience to the Word of God.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

2Co 7:1. These promises are the ones mentioned in the last two verses of the preceding chapter. The prospect of such favors from God should be a sufficient motive for all Christians to do their utmost to obtain them. Since our bodies are made in the image of God (Gen 1:26 Gen 5:1-2), then a spirit for man was formed within him (Zec 12:1), he should wish to keep that body and spirit clean both physically and spiritually. Filthiness is from MOLUSMOS, which is not used in any other place in the Greek New Testament. Thayer defines it by the single word “defilement,” then explains it to mean “an action by which any thing is defiled.” Since this is the only passage where the word is found, we know that by “anything” the author of the lexicon includes both the flesh and spirit of man. In its application to Christians today, therefore, it would include all false religious teaching, which defiles the spirit, and also that which defiles the body, such as narcotics, opiates and alcohol, when used as a habit.

Holiness is commanded here and elsewhere (Heb 12:14), therefore we know it is something that can be accomplished today. The word has been perverted by false teachers, and made to mean something of a supernatural or special attainment, that requires a direct operation of the Lord upon the heart of the disciple after he has come into the church. The term is from five different Greek words in the New Testament, but all of them have virtually the same meaning, which is that relation and practice of a Christian that makes him separate from the worldly life of sin. It has the same meaning as the words “righteousness” and “godliness,” and all other terms in the New Testament that are applied to Christians.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

2Co 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. It is a pity that this verse has been detached from the preceding chapter, of which it forms the natural close; for the promises meant are no other than those in 2Co 7:16-16, and the exhortation here given is simply a more comprehensive form of the call to separate themselves from all contamination. In the preceding verses it was the contamination of too close an association with unholiness in others; here, it is to separate themselves from unholiness in themselves. First, from defilement of the flesh (“the lusts of the flesh”); next, defilement of the spirit. The apostle regards the whole nature as thoroughly defiled by sin; and classing himself and his Jewish fellow-converts along with the Gentiles, he says, Among whom (the children of disobedience) we all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind (or thoughts); calling both kinds of desires alike the lusts of the flesh (Eph 2:3), or carnality. Also, in Gal 5:19-21, in a long catalogue of the works of the fleshone-half of which are of so spiritual a nature, that if there be defilement of spirit at all, these must belong to itthere, too, they are called lusts of the flesh. But whereas there, it is said, They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts (Gal 5:24), in virtue of their union with Christ; here the exhortation is to continue doing this. And there is no inconsistency. In principle, it is done at once, when if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature, the death-blow being then given to the reigning power of sin in the heart; but this seed has to be gradually developed into universal holiness. Accordingly it is added,perfecting holiness in the fear of God (1Pe 1:15-16).

What had been merely alluded to in chap. 2Co 2:12-14, is here explained in touching detail.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

These words are argumentative, and infer the indispensable duty of Christians to preserve themselves untainted from the idolatrous, impute world, by the consideration of the promises specified in the preceding chapter, I will dwell in you, and walk in you, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; a promise which contains the highest honour, and most perfect felicity, of the reasonable nature.

Now from hence he infers, That Christians having such promises, such helps and assistances, should cleanse themselves from sinful pollution, and endeavour after perfection in purity and holiness. Having therefore, &c.

Observe here, 1. The title wherewith the apostle addresses himself unto them, Dearly beloved; this expresses both the truth and also the strength of his affections towards them: By this appellation he recommends his counsel to their acceptance: For, as light opens the mind by clear conviction, so love opens the heart by persuasive insinuation.

Observe, 2. The matter of the address, and that is, to cleanse ourselves from all pollution both of spirit and flesh, and the changing of us into the unspotted image of God’s holiness. The pollution of human nature is intimate and radical, diffused through all the faculties of the soul, and members of the body; we are therefore to pray for, and endeavour after renewing grace, and to be always advancing in holiness on earth, till we arrive at perfection in heaven.

Observe, 3. The motive exciting hereunto; namely, the exceeding great and precious promises assured to us from the mouth of God, Having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves.

Observe, 4. The means to help us therein, the fear of God. This grace has an eminent casuality and influence in a Christian’s sanctification; it is a powerful restraint from sin both in thought and act, by considering that God’s pure and flaming eyes see sin wherever it is, in order to judgment. An holy fear of God, and an humble fear of ourselves, will both restrain us from sin, and engages us to obedience.

From the whole, learn, That the promises of the gospel lay the most powerful obligations upon Christians to endeavour after, and strive for the attainment of pure and perfect holiness. As the pollution is universal, so must the cleansing be; and though thankful we must be for the least measure of sanctifying grace received, yet not satisfied with the greatest, short of our perfection; perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Verse 1 Because such adoption is promised, we should cleanse the inward man so we will be pure for God’s entrance. We should fear his wrath at finding a dirty dwelling place.

Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books

2Co 7:1. Having therefore these promises Of blessings so unspeakably great and precious, encouraged by them, and in order to our obtaining their complete accomplishment; let us By the exercise of a lively faith in them, and in Gods word in general, by fervent prayer for the purifying influences of the Divine Spirit, and by obedience to the truth, 1Pe 1:22; cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh All irregular appetites, all outward sin; and of the spirit All unhallowed affections, corrupt passions and tempers, and all unholy designs and desires; all inward sin; perfecting holiness Universal, in all things; constant, at all times, and persevering to the end of our days; not resting in a mere negative religion, but aspiring after all the mind that was in Christ, a full conformity to the image of God; in the reverential, loving fear of God Setting him always before us, in whose presence we always are, by whom all our actions are examined, and to whom our hearts lie open; and therefore, guarding against every disposition, word, and action, whereby we might grieve his Spirit, and deprive ourselves of the light of his countenance.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. [By an appeal to the prophets the apostle shows how it was God’s design that his people should avoid all fellowship with unrighteous people in their unrighteous practices. To stimulate them to obedience, God had given them the wonderful promise that he would adopt them as his children if they would obey him in these things. This promise of adoption had been renewed in the new covenant, and belonged to all Christians, and therefore it behooved Christians not to temporize with evil because of any vainglorious desire to display their liberty, lest they should thereby lose the real and eternal glory of being adopted sons and daughters of God.]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

2 Corinthians Chapter 7-8

The apostle returns to his own relationships with the Corinthians-relations formed by the word of his ministry. And now having laid open what this ministry really was, he seeks to prevent the bonds being broken, which had been formed by this ministry between the Corinthians and himself through the power of the Holy Ghost.

“Receive us: we have wronged no one”-he is anxious not to wound the feelings of these restored ones, who found themselves again in their old affection for the apostle, and thus in their true relation with God. “I do not say this to condemn you,” he adds; “for I have said before that ye are in my heart to die and live with you. My boldness is great towards you, great is my glorying of you. I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all my tribulation.” He is not now unfolding the principles of the ministry, but the heart of a minister, all that he had felt with regard to the state of the Corinthians. When he had arrived in Macedonia (whither, it will be remembered, he had gone without visiting Corinth), after he had left Troas, because he did not find Titus there, who was to bring him the answer to his first letter to the Corinthians-when he was come into Macedonia, his flesh had no rest there either; he was troubled on every side: without were fightings, within were fears. There however God, who comforts those who are cast down, comforted him by the arrival of Titus, for whom he had waited with so much anxiety; and not only by his coming, but by the good news he brought from Corinth. His joy went beyond all his sorrow, for his heart was to die and live with them. He saw the moral fruits of the operation of the Spirit, their desire, their tears, their zeal with regard to the apostle; and his heart turns again to them in order to bind up, by the expression of his affection, all the wounds (needful as they were) which his first letter might have made in their hearts.

Nothing more touching than the conflict in his heart between the necessity he had felt, on account of their previous state, to write to them with severity, and in some sort with a cold authority, and the affections which, now that the effect had been produced, dictated almost an apology for the grief he might have caused them. If, he says, I made you sorry by the letter, I do not repent: even though he might have repented and had done so for a moment. For he saw that the letter had grieved them, were it but for a season. But now he rejoiced, not that they had been made sorry, but that they had sorrowed unto repentance. What solicitude! What a heart for the good of the saints! If they had a fervent mind towards him, assuredly he had given them the occasion and the motive. No rest till he had tidings: nothing, not open doors, nor distress, could remove his anxiety. He regrets perhaps having written the letter, fearing that he had alienated the hearts of the Corinthians; and now, still pained at the thought of having grieved them, he rejoices, not at having grieved them, but because their godly sorrow had wrought repentance.

He writes a letter according to the energy of the Holy Ghost. Left to the affections of his heart, we see him, in this respect, below the level of the energy of inspiration which had dictated that letter which the spiritual were to acknowledge as the commandments of the Lord; his heart trembles at the thought of its consequences, when he receives no tidings. It is very interesting to see the difference between the individuality of the apostle and inspiration. In the first letter we remarked the distinction which he makes between that which he said as the result of his experience, and the commandments of the Lord communicated through him. Here we find the difference in the experience itself. He forgets the character of his epistle for a moment, and, given up to his affections, he fears to have lost the Corinthians by the effort he had made to reclaim them. The form of the expression he uses shews that it was but for a moment that this sentiment took possession of his heart. But the fact that he had it plainly shews the difference between Paul the individual and Paul the inspired writer.

Now he is satisfied. The expression of this deep interest which he feels for them is a part of his ministry, and valuable instruction for us, to shew the way in which the heart enters into the exercise of this ministry, the flexibility of this mighty energy of love, in order to win and bend hearts by the opportune expression of that which is passing in our own: an expression which will assuredly take place when the occasion makes it right and natural, if the heart is filled with affection; for a strong affection likes to make itself known to its object, if possible, according to the truth of that affection. There is a grief of heart which consumes it, but a heart that feels godly sorrow is on the way to repentance. [10]

The apostle then sets forth the fruits of this godly sorrow, the zeal against sin it had produced, the heart’s holy rejection of all association with sin. Now also that they had morally separated themselves, he separates those who were not guilty from those who were so. He will no longer confound them together. They had confounded themselves together morally by walking at ease with those who were in sin. By putting away the sin they were now outside the evil: and the apostle shews that it was with a view to their good, because he was devoted to them, that he had written to testify the loving occupation of his thoughts about them, and to put to the test their love for him before God. Sad as their walk had been, he had assured Titus, when encouraging him to go to Corinth, that he would certainly find hearts there that would respond to this appeal of apostolic affection. He had not been disappointed, and as he had declared the truth among them, that which he had said of them to Titus was found true also, and the affections of Titus himself were strongly awakened when he saw it.

Footnotes for 2 Corinthians Chapters 7&8

10: Greatness of heart does not readily talk about feelings, because it thinks of others, not of itself. But it is not afraid, when occasion arises, to do so; because it thinks of others, and has a depth of purpose in its affections, which is behind all this movement of them. And Christianity gives greatness of heart. And besides, from its nature, it is confiding, and this wins, and gives unsought, influence this greatness of heart does not seek, for it is unselfish. His true relationship for their good the apostle did maintain.

Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament

2Co 7:1. Having therefore these promises. Our good archbishop Langton is blamed by many critics for separating this verse from the preceding chapter. The great and precious promises of the new covenant are all designed to embolden our approaches to God. If he adopt us, and make us his living temple, then we should resemble him in holiness. This holiness, it would seem, is taught here, both as a progressive, and as an instantaneous work. The first effort towards holiness is the renunciation of sin at a stroke, by the knife of excision. Mar 9:43-48. Also by an approach to the fountain, which cleanses from all unrighteousness. Then to grow in grace, and profit by all the trials of life for the mortification of sin. But, at the same time, ever to seek an instantaneous deliverance, for now is the day of salvation.

Perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Cultivating and improving the Christian temper, by growing in knowledge and in grace, till from a little child, the inner man of the heart shall attain the measure and stature of Christ. Labouring to attain that perfect faith which would sacrifice every idol at the divine command, that perfect love which distinguished the martyrs and confessors, that perfect patience which endures affliction with joy, and blesses God under the severest privations. This great change is superinduced by the effectual working of the divine power. Christ, long knocking at the door, enters the heart, expels the serpents brood, and hallows the living temple as his abode. His presence changes the mind from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. The old man is put off with his deeds, and the inner man is renewed day by day. This is the new heart, the glorious liberty of the children of God. The believer sinks into a state of humility, as less than the least of all saints, that Christ may be all in all.

2Co 7:2. We have wronged no man of his rights, corrupted no man in moral or religious principles, defrauded no man of money or of his just claims. These are three sins which alienate the affections of people from their ministers, and are here enumerated as a tacit rebuke to false teachers.

2Co 7:6. God who comforts those that are cast down. See Act 9:31. Rom 5:5.

2Co 7:10. The sorrow of the world worketh death. Sorrow for the loss of reputation, of fortune, of relatives, shortens life by grief and despair. Alas, what suicides followed the French revolution, and how many are still occurring even in our own country! True faith, on the contrary, bows to the will of God, and says, like the Shunamite, on the death of an only son, It is well. It rejoices in tribulation, and glories in the cross, as Christ has commanded us to do. Mat 5:11-12.

2Co 7:11. Ye sorrowed after a godly sort, so as not to relapse in anywise into the like faults, as was apparent from the seven fruits which followed.

(1) What carefulness to avoid temptation, and to shun the appearance of evil.

(2) What clearing of yourselves, by an apology in self-defence, that you never covered a deed which stained the church, nor ate bread with a fornicator.

(3) What indignation: , a just and laudable contest with sin.

(4) What fear of the divine displeasure, and visitations on the church.

(5) What desire, yea, great desire, as signified by letter, that Paul would come with a rod, and restore order and peace among the brethren.

(6) What zeal for the honour and glory of God, and the purgation of evil.

(7) Yea, what revenge, when the church assembled, and expelled the offender: 2Co 2:6. All these facts, and all these effects are recorded for the instruction of the church in future ages, and to warn men against the consequences of falling away.

REFLECTIONS.

This chapter commences with an inference from the preseding, of withdrawing from the feasts and intercourse of the heathen. It is, that the heart, as well as the life, should be purified from sin. Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh by temperance, and a rigorous chastity, as in the sixth chapter of the former epistle. The filthiness of the mind, or mental impurity, are pride, unbelief, malice, and all the reveries of earthly and sensual desire. These are common to demons and men; for what is the imagination of a wicked man but a roving fiend which dares not meet the eyes of God. From defilement of this nature we must be farther cleansed by coming to the blood of Christ. But all this is only the negative part of religion. We must grow in grace, and aspire to perfect holiness. We want a faith like that in 2Co 4:17-18, which looks at unseen things. We want a love which casts out fear, and discovers perfection when called to suffer for religion. Thus when the soul is cleansed from all impurity, grace takes a deep root and brings forth all the fruits of the Spirit to perfection.

The best consolation of a minister, suffering for Christ, is good news from the churches. While the mob was fighting without, while the saints were trembling within, St. Pauls soul overflowed with consolation when Titus informed him of the prosperity at Corinth. He seemed to exult in the thought, that though he should die in the contest, the cause of Christ should live and conquer the world. What a temper of mind what a model for martyrs.

Reformation and purity in the church is one grand and leading means of a revival of religion. In consequence of St. Pauls command to put the incestuous man out of the church, (for Reuben lost his birthright and Absalom his life for the same crime) religion afterwards revived in the city. The hearts of the people melted by true repentance, and they became united to one another in the bonds of purity. Thus tender plants flourish the more when the weeds are removed. One bad man, retained in communion, may paralize the whole church, and awfully revolt the world.

The honourable way in which St. Paul mentions Titus here, and his other fellow-labourers elsewhere, should teach ministers to behave well, and to be cordially attached to one another. It is both weak and base to deteriorate a brothers character because of his talents or popularity. If providence has placed us in a secondary rank, let us glorify God in that situation, and rejoice that we have brethren more honourable than ourselves.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

2Co 6:14 to 2Co 7:1. These verses appear plainly out of place. They break what is otherwise a close connexion between 2Co 6:13 and 2Co 7:2 : they introduce a new and very different subject, and they have a very different tone from what precedes and follows. They are best regarded as a scrap from another letter written by Paul to Corinth, possibly a fragment of the letter referred to in 1Co 5:9, which has accidentally crept into the sheets on which our letter was preserved. They contain an urgent, even passionate, demand for complete separation from the heathen, especially in their idolatrous practices. In a series of sharp questions Paul flashes scorn on every attempt to serve two masters, Christ and Belial, that is the devil (or, possibly, Antichrist, Pro 6:12*). The last of these questions reminds him that Christians are meant to be Gods temple; and he exposes the source and the significance of that conception by means of a series of quotations from OT, the first being freely reproduced from Eze 37:27, the rest combined from Isa 52:11, Ex. 20:34, and 2Ki 7:14. The description of God as the Almighty occurs in NT only here and in Rev. Men who rest in these promises seek to purify themselves (cf. 1Jn 3:3) in flesh and spiritthese words being used in the simple untechnical sense, as in 1Co 7:34 (body and spirit).

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 1 is plainly connected with chapter 6. Because the saints of God have these promises, and because they are dearly beloved, they are exhorted to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. “Flesh and spirit” are not used here in the same way as in Rom 8:1-39 and Gal 5:1-26, where the flesh is the corrupted nature of man, and the spirit is the new nature, incapable of sin. Here the flesh speaks rather of our bodily, human condition; and the spirit, of man’s human spirit. Fornication is sin against one’s own body, and therefore filthiness of the flesh (1Co 6:18). Idolatry, or association with “doctrines of demons,” that is, religious corruption, is “filthiness of the spirit,” the human spirit of course. Both are contrary to our precious association with our God and Father revealed in His beloved Son. “Perfecting holiness” is the full development of the nature and quality of holiness in response to the very character of our God and Father; and this is to be in reverential fear.

“Receive us,” the apostle pleads: this would be no false yoke; indeed rather one of vital blessing to them. As Samuel could call Israel itself to witness to his honourable treatment of all men (1Sa 12:3-4), so Paul could rightly appeal in the same way to the Corinthians: no man could accuse the apostles of wrongdoing toward any individual. Not that Paul desired to put them down: rather indeed the opposite: he desired their purest blessing. “Ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.” True love desires the company of its object, and the apostles sought nothing less than the full fellowship of the Corinthians, in death and in life. Notice the order here, not to “live and die,” but to “die and live.” Is it not the truth of association with the death of Christ that is of first importance in uniting the hearts of saints? And it is this that leads rightly to what is real living, for we are also raised with Him.

Confidence in God gives him great boldness in addressing them, and indeed in rejoicing in them; and this was encouraged by good news of them through Titus, so that he was filled with comfort, and greatly rejoicing, though in much affliction. What evidence of his real affection for them!

Paul had come to Macedonia, not too long a distance from Corinth, but not free to go to Corinth yet, for he had apprehensions as to them: “Within were fears.” And also, “Without were fightings.” Pressures from both directions combined to deeply try the vessel.

But God, true to His character, had intervened in mercy, bringing Titus at last from Corinth with good news. Both the coming of Titus and the news he brought were occasions of encouragement to Paul. Titus himself had been encouraged in the visit to Corinth, for Paul’s First Epistle had proved effectual in speaking to the souls of these dear saints. Their proper spiritual sentiments had been awakened, in earnest desire, in mourning, which of course involves self-judgment, and in fervent concern for Paul himself. How great a relief and joy to him!

He had feared his First Epistle might have been too severe. Little did he realize at the time that God had inspired its complete writing, and 1 Corinthians is Scripture. Precious to see in this the weakness of the vessel, and the sovereign working of God! Thankful now for such good results, Paul no longer regretted so writing: it is rather cause for his eternal thanksgiving. The Epistle had grieved them in such a way as to cause, not resentment, but repentance. It was grieving according to God, that is, seen as from God’s viewpoint, therefore fruitful in blessing, rather than damaging, as Paul had feared. Such grief works repentance to salvation, never to be regretted. This is true as to salvation first, of course, but here applied to believers: their true repentance issues in salvation from the snares of self-indulgence. On the other hand, if it were only the grief of the world, no faith in God involved, the issue is death, the misery of no recovery.

This grief had wrought in the Corinthians great carefulness, or diligence, the serious exercise of desiring God’s mind; and a clearing of themselves from the guilt of wicked associations. “Indignation” is added too, no doubt from the viewpoint of God’s indignation against sin. And “fear” also, the realization that God’s government is a most solemn matter. “Vehement desire” may seem very strong here, but evidently the First Epistle had struck them deeply, and awakened ardent affection toward the Lord. “Zeal” follows, and reminds us of the words from the lips of the Lord Jesus, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up” (Joh 2:17). Last is “revenge” or “vengeance,” which would speak Of the actual judgment of the evil among them, and the putting away of the wicked man of 1Co 5:1-13. There remains no question that they had properly cleared themselves in this matter.

We have already seen that in chapter 2 Paul had urged the restoration of this now repentant offender. The judgment had been by “the many:” as an assembly they were clear, and the apostle heartily commends every godly motive in this. We may wonder as to the sharp warnings he gives them in later chapters (10 to 13); but there were “some” still whose consciences had evidently not been properly reached (ch. 10:2), and Paul feared that in his coming to them he might be required to discipline “many” (ch. 12:20,21). This would not of course be the majority, but it was a condition serious enough to call for this warning.

In verse 12 Paul does not imply that he was unconcerned about the person guilty of wrongdoing or as to any who suffered wrongly (as would be the case in those mentioned in 1Co 6:1-20 as going to law); but his reason for writing the Corinthians was mainly for the sake of the assembly itself: they cared for the assembly as in the sight of God, and for its true spiritual prosperity.

So that it was sweet encouragement to find that his First Epistle had not only grieved them, but had encouraged them. The apostle therefore was encouraged in their encouragement, and found exceeding joy in the joy of Titus, because his spirit had been refreshed by the Corinthians. Now whatever boast he had made to Titus as to the commendable virtues of the Corinthians, Titus had found to be true, and Paul does not have to ashamedly retract it. And the deeper affections of Titus were drawn out toward them because of their spirit of obedience, and their receiving him “with fear and trembling.” This is a precious reminder of Paul’s own attitude toward the Corinthians in his first visit to them (1Co 2:3). The apostle considers this therefore with the joyful assurance of his confidence in them “in all things:” for it was evident that God was working in their souls, a work always worthy of confidence.

Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

SECTION 9. PAUL BEGS THAT HIS LOVE TO THE CORINTHIANS BE RETURNED: AND EXHORTS THEM TO SEPARATE THEMSELVES FROM ALL DEFILEMENT. CH. 6:11-7:1.

Our mouth is opened to you, Corinthians; our heart is enlarged. You are not narrowed in us: but you are narrowed in your hearts. The same recompense-as to children I say it, be you also enlarged.

Do not become differently yoked to unbelievers. For what partnership is there for righteousness and lawlessness? Or, what fellowship for light with darkness? And what concord of Christ with Beliar? Or, what portion for a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement for Gods temple with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, according as God said, I will dwell among them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. (Lev 26:11.) For which cause Come forth out of the midst of them and be separated, says the Lord, and touch not an unclean thing (Isa 52:11). And I will receive you and will be to you for a father and you shall be to me for sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. These promises then having, Beloved ones, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and of spirit, accomplishing holiness in the fear of God.

After completing his long exposition of his apostolic work, its credentials, grandeur, encouragements, and motives, by a graphic picture of the circumstances in which he performs it, Paul turns suddenly to his readers and addresses to them a tender (2Co 6:11-13) and solemn (2Co 6:14 to 2Co 7:1) appeal.

2Co 6:11-13. Our mouth: of Paul and Timothy, writers of the Epistle.

Is opened: Eze 33:22; Mat 13:35; Act 18:14; Eph 6:19, etc.: more graphic than we have begun to speak to you. It is Pauls contemplation of his own bold words. Cp. Gen 18:27.

Corinthians: a loving appeal, like Php 4:15. The heart is enlarged when its thoughts, emotions, purposes, increase in depth and breadth and height. Cp. Psa 119:32; Isa 60:5. Paul refers evidently to his great love for his readers. While speaking to them he has become conscious of its intensity.

Narrowed: cognate to the word I have rendered helplessness in 2Co 4:8; 2Co 6:4; 2Co 12:10; Rom 2:9; Rom 8:35; and used here in its simple sense of being shut up in narrow space. From this is easily derived its frequent sense of being in extreme difficulty and almost without way of escape. It is the exact opposite of enlargement. No narrow place in the hearts (2Co 7:3; Php 1:7) of Paul and Timothy do the Corinthians occupy.

But you are narrowed etc.: sad and earnest rebuke. The word rendered in the A.V. bowels, in the R.V. affections, denotes, not specially the lower viscera, but (cp. Act 1:18) the inward parts generally, heart lungs, etc. It is used for the seat of the emotions, and in the Bible especially for love and compassion. Cp. 2Co 7:15; Luk 1:78; Php 1:8. We have no better English rendering than heart. The Corinthians were thrust into a narrow place, not in Pauls affection for them which was deep and broad, but in their own affection for him. They were narrow-hearted. For littleness of love towards those who deserve our love is a mark of a defective nature. Paul asks for the same affection, as a recompense for his affection towards them.

As to children: 2Co 12:14; 1Co 4:14; 1Th 2:7.

Be you also enlarged: make a large place for me in your hearts, and thus yourselves become nobler.

As Paul speaks to his readers, he feels how great is his love to them. Not in this do they fall short; but in their own affection to him. He asks therefore as a recompense, speaking to his own children in Christ, that they will cherish for him a love like his for them, and thus themselves be ennobled.

2Co 6:14 to 2Co 7:1. Do not become: milder than be not, as suggesting that they are not yet joined to unbelievers. Cp. 1Co 7:23.

Differently-yoked to unbelievers: like an ass joined to an ox by being put under its yoke. It recalls the prohibition of Deu 22:10. The suddenness of this warning, and the earnest questions and quotations supporting it, prove that Paul had in view real defect or danger at Corinth. And the question of 2Co 6:16, following a question equivalent to this warning, proves that Paul refers here specially to participation in idol rites; as in 1Co 10:14 ff, where we have similar words. And this agrees with the worldly spirit betrayed in 1Co 3:3; 1Co 6:1; 1Co 8:10. But his words simply forbid such alliances with unbelievers as imply common aims and sympathies. There is no hint that Paul refers here specially to marriage. But this most intimate of all human alliances is certainly included in his prohibition. Those already married to heathens, Paul deals with in 1Co 7:12, as a special case: and he does not forbid (1Co 5:10) all intercourse with bad men. The practical application of his words must be left to each mans own spiritual discernment.

2Co 6:14-15. Two pairs of questions, suggesting an argument in support of the foregoing warning.

Righteousness, lawlessness: practical conformity to the Law and practical disregard of it. Same contrast in Rom 6:19. The former is a designed consequence of the righteousness reckoned to all who believe, and a condition of retaining it.

Light, darkness: Act 26:18; Col 1:12 f; Eph 5:8 ff; 1Pe 2:9.

Light: a necessary condition of physical sight, and of spiritual insight.

Darkness: causes ignorance of our surroundings, physical or spiritual. Cp. 1Jn 2:8 ff. This second contrast makes us feel the force of the first. All who keep the Law are in the light; all who disregard it, in the dark. And these cannot go together.

Beliar: evidently a name of Satan, the great opponent of Christ. Same word probably as Belial, 1Sa 1:16; 1Sa 2:12, etc., a Hebrew word denoting apparently No-good. From the abstract contrast of light and darkness Paul rises to the personal contrast of the Sun of righteousness and the Prince of darkness. Same argument in Mat 6:24. The 4th question brings questions 1, 2, and 3, of which no. 3 is a climax, to bear directly on the matter in hand. If conformity to the Law and disregard of it are as incompatible as light and darkness, and as utterly opposed as Christ and Satan, what in common can there be to one who by faith accepts Christ and one who tramples His word under foot? This conclusion comes to us with sudden force, because it is put in the same form as the argument from which it is drawn. The inference is treated as itself the climax of the argument.

Unbeliever; denotes here one who rejects the Gospel: for his supposed alliance with a believer implies that he has heard of it.

2Co 6:16. Reveals the special reference of the general warning of 2Co 6:14; which, after being supported by questions 1, 2, and 3, has just been repeated in question 4. From the general matter of unbelievers Paul comes now to the specific matter of idolatry. Against this he warned the Corinthian Christians in 1Co 10:14 ff, by referring to the Lords Supper: he warns them now by the great truth that believers are the temple of God. Similar argument with other purposes in 1Co 3:16; 1Co 6:19. See notes. The word we puts Paul among those he warns. They share with him this great dignity; and he with them the duty it involves.

Living God: in contrast to lifeless idols, as in 1Th 1:9. See under 2Co 3:3. The words temple of God bring before us the inviolable sanctity of the Old Testament sanctuary, which was strictly separated from whatever was not sanctified. This absolute separation every Jew was eager to defend, even at the cost of life. Paul now says that his readers are themselves the sanctuary of Him who dwelt of old in the Tabernacle. And, that they may feel the force of this reference, he supports it by a free quotation giving the exact sense and scope, and in part the words, of Gods solemn summing up, in Lev 26:11 of the blessings of the Mosaic Covenant. Notice especially Lev 26:1. With Gods words to Israel, the words of Paul to the Corinthians accord.

I will dwell among them; implies that the essential idea of a temple is, the Dwelling-Place of God. That God might dwell in the midst of Israel, i.e. in order that day by day He might reveal Himself among them, He bade them erect the Tabernacle. Cp. Exo 29:44-46. He was thus fulfilling His ancient promise (Gen 17:7 f) to stand in special relation to Abrahams children as their God. Notice carefully that Paul assumes that the ancient promise, fulfilled in outward and symbolic form in the ritual of the Tabernacle, is valid now; and assures believers of the inward and spiritual presence of God in themselves. For the entire ritual was an outward symbol of the spiritual realities of the better covenant.

2Co 6:17-18. For which cause: Pauls own words, introducing a quotation from Isa 52:11, as an appropriate practical application of the truth asserted in the foregoing quotation. He gives the sense, and in part the words, of Isaiah.

From the midst of them: of the heathens. Isaiah says from the midst of her, i.e. of Babylon, the place of bondage to idolaters.

Be separated; i.e. from idolaters: LXX. rendering for be cleansed. In prophetic vision Isaiah beholds the sacred vessels given back (by Cyrus, Ezr 1:7) to Israel; and bids the Levites lay aside the ceremonial defilement of Babylon and fit themselves to bear the vessels back to Jerusalem.

Touch not an unclean thing: Isaiahs warning to the returning exiles not to take with them anything belonging to the idols of Babylon; repeated by Paul to those who had escaped from the idolatry of Corinth. An appropriate quotation: for all idolatry is bondage.

And I will receive you: not found in Isaiah. But the sense, viz. that those whom God leads out of the land of bondage He will Himself receive to be His own, is frequent in the Old Testament. Cp. Eze 11:17-21 : And I will receive them from the nations and I will give them to the Land of Israel.

And I will be to you: not found word for word in the Old Testament, but reproducing the sense of many passages. It may have been suggested by 2Sa 7:8; 2Sa 7:14, These things says the Lord Almighty, (LXX.,) I will be to him for a Father, and he shall be to me for a son; Jer 31:9. I have become a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn;

Isa 43:6, Bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth. The last two passages refer specially to return from captivity. The words sons and daughters in Isa 43:6 point specially to the equality of the sexes in the family of God: cp. Gal 3:28.

Almighty: and therefore able to perform His promises. Cp. Gen 17:1.

2Co 7:1. Practical application of these quotations, in harmony with 2Co 7:14 a and 2Co 7:16 a. Notice carefully that Gods words to Israel in the wilderness and through Isaiah are promises now possessed by Christian believers. For God acts always on the same principles: and therefore His words to one man are valid for all in similar circumstances. Moreover, the Mosaic ritual and the Old Testament history are symbolic of the Christian life. Gods visible presence in the midst of Israel was an outward pattern of His spiritual presence in the hearts of Christians: and the obligations which His presence laid upon Israel were a pattern of those resting upon His people now. And when, through the pen of Isaiah, God called the exiles returning from the dominion of idolaters His sons and daughters, He taught plainly that in days to come He would receive as such those whom He rescued from sin. Indeed, the universality, to believers, of the favor of God in gospel days makes His promise to David a promise of adoption for all believers.

Let us cleanse ourselves; (cp. 1Pe 1:22; 1Jn 3:3;) refers probably to abstinence from the outward corruptions of idolatry. It is justified by the truth that deliverance from sin, although it is Gods work in us, is yet obtained by our own moral effort and our own faith. It therefore depends upon ourselves whether we are made clean. [The aorist subjunctive exhorts us, not to a gradual and progressive, but to a completed, cleansing from all defilement. So Eph 4:22; Eph 4:25; Col 3:5; Col 3:8; 1Jn 1:9.] Our flesh is defiled when our hands and feet and bodies do the bidding of sin; our spirit, when we contemplate sin with pleasure. Flesh rather than body, because the defilement comes from desires belonging not so much to each individual organized body as to the common material and nature of all living bodies. Even the spirit, that part of us which is nearest to God, is capable of defilement. Cp. 1Co 8:7; Tit 1:15. Perhaps Paul had in view the sensuality always and specially at Corinth, connected with idolatry. He warns his readers, not only against all actual contact with sensuality, but also against that consent of the spirit which often defiles the inner life even when there is no outward sin.

Accomplish: to perform a purpose, or complete something begun. Same word, 2Co 8:6; 2Co 8:11; Rom 15:28; Gal 3:3; Php 1:6; Heb 8:5; Heb 9:6; 1Pe 5:9.

Holiness; brings to bear on the foregoing exhortation the teaching in 2Co 6:16 that we are the temple of God. Cp. 1Co 3:17.

Accomplishing holiness: not identical with cleanse yourselves; or it would be needless. It denotes everything involved in being the temple of God; viz. absolute reservation for God alone. See note under Rom 1:7. For God claimed that none set foot in the temple except to do His work. Now this devotion to God implies cleansing from all sin. For all sin is opposed to God. Therefore, that God has given us the honor of being his temple and has promised to receive us as His children, is a strong motive for cleansing and consecrating ourselves. For only thus can we be His temple.

In the fear of God: cp. Eph 5:21. It brings before us the dread presence and power of Him who slew Nadab and Abihu, and the company of Korah: Lev 10:2; Numbers 16. Cp. Living God in 2Co 6:16. All contact with impurity is in us a defilement of the temple of God and an insult to the majesty of Him who dwells therein. Therefore fear as well as hope should prompt us to abstain from all sin.

The argument of this verse is akin to that of Lev 11:43 ff; Lev 20:1 ff, Lev 20:25 ff. God has promised to dwell in our midst. And, since He can tolerate no rival, His presence in us requires absolute devotion to Him: and this involves separation from whatever, in symbol or reality, is opposed to Him. Therefore, that God has promised to dwell in us as His temple and receive us as His children, ought to move us to turn from all sin and to claim by faith that complete purity (cp. Rom 6:11) which He is ready to work in us. This reference to the Old Testament also teaches that the service of Christ is quite incompatible with that of Satan; and that therefore there is no true harmony between believers and unbelievers.

Pauls appeal in 2Co 7:11-13 was prompted naturally by his foregoing defence of his apostolic work, which was really throughout an appeal to his readers. But the reason of the sudden transition in 2Co 7:14 is not so evident. It may be that he knew that the disaffection towards himself of some at Corinth arose from their tolerance in some measure of the corruptions of idolatry. Or, the warning may have been prompted simply by the greatness of the peril. Certainly, of the exhortation in 2Co 6:1 this is a practical application.

Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament

CHAPTER 7

SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER

i. He declares his love, sincerity, and his confidence in the Corinthians.

ii. He declares (ver. 6) his joy at their repentance and amendment.

iii. He states (ver. 10) the signs and acts of true repentance.

iv. He names (ver. 13) Titus as his witness for the repentance, love, and obedience of the Corinthians.

Ver. 1.–Having therefore these promises. The promises that, Christians should be the temples of God, should be His sons and daughters, and should have God dwelling in them and walking in them.

Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. From this passage theologians draw the division of sin into that which is fleshly and that which is spiritual. The first has to do with a carnal object, and makes man like a beast, as, e.g., gluttony, lust, and drunkenness. The second has to do with a spiritual object, and makes man like a devil, as e.g., anger, pride, envy.

S. Basil (Reg. 53) says appropriately that “filthiness of the flesh denotes carnal actions, and filthiness of the spirit is having intercourse with them that do such things, as, e.g., the Corinthians had with the fornicator whom the Apostle bade them wholly to avoid.”

Perfecting holiness. So that the mind, purged from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, may be perfectly holy and pure, given in the fear of God to good works. The fear of God is both the beginning and perfecting of true wisdom and holiness (Ecclus 1:16-19, and Ecclus 5:18). The more the fear of God increases, the more does holiness increase, and so the perfect fear of God is perfect holiness. S. Basil (Reg. 53) says beautifully: “Holiness consists in being dedicated to God, and thenceforward wholly clinging to Him, in eagerly seeking after and earnestly maintaining such things as are pleasing to Him. Even in things offered to God as gifts those are rejected as unpleasing to Him which are maimed or defective; and to resume for human uses what has been once dedicated as a gift to God is infamous and accursed.”

Ver. 2.-Receive us. Embrace us with the arms of love, as with all our heart we do you (Theophylact). Cf. vi. 11-13. Strictly, the Greek denotes “make a place for us”-a large place in your hearts. Maldonatus (Not. Manusc.) renders the words. “Bear with me if I have praised myself over-much.”

We have defrauded no man. We have obtained no man’s goods, either by violence or fraud. Cf. ii. 11.

Ver.3.–I speak not this to condemn you. I do not mean to accuse you of suspecting me of such things.

Ye are in our hearts to die and live with you. So great is my love for you that with you and for you I am ready both to die and to live. How this harmonises with the preceding will be seen in ver. 4. S. Paul alludes to lovers, whose love is commonly so ardent as to make them of one life, to hold all things in common, and to involve one in the death of the other. Cf. Nilus and Euryalus in Virgil, n. ix. 427-445; the Soldurii, mentioned by Caesar in lib. iii. de Bello Gallico, and the sacred cohort of the Thebans, described by Plutarch. Erasmus and others add that the Apostle is referring to that ancient kind of friendship in which on the death of one friend the other also killed himself, as Caesar records that the Soldurii were in the habit of doing. Such was the friendship Horace says that he had with Mcenas. In Peru and Mexico wives and the better-loved servants, when the husband or master dies, throw themselves upon the funeral pyre, or are buried alive with the dead body. In Japan, too, when noblemen are condemned to death, they in company with their nearest friends inflict death on themselves by ripping themselves up. Such suicide the Apostle condemns, but praises and embraces the friendship. He seems to say: “As they love each other even to death, so do I, 0 Corinthians, love you, and long to live with you and die with you; but I do not, as they, long to inflict on myself death.” But there is no need to suppose that the Apostle finds a model for his love in illicit and parricidal friendships. They chiefly manifested themselves in simultaneous death and self-murder, and were, therefore, wickednesses, and deserving blame rather than praise

Ver. 4.–Great is my boldness of speech toward you. My boldness is great because my love is so great. Hence comes my “glorying of you” (Theophylact and Ambrose). Paul says all this to banish all suspicion of his good faith, and to gain credence to his declaration, “We have wronged no man,” &c. “I have not said this,” he seems to sail, “out of any distrust of your good opinion of me, but out of the boldness engendered by my great love for you; hence it is that I am wont to glory of you.” Let superiors learn of S. Paul, to beware lest those under them distrust them, from a belief that their superiors do not believe them, do not trust in them, and do not therefore confidently entrust themselves and their goods to their superior; let them rather endeavour to deal openly with them, and let them know that they are loved; let them show that they have a good opinion of their inferiors, and by so doing they will bind their hearts to themselves, and turn them wherever they please.

I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. Viz., because you have corrected what in my First Epistle I condemned. You have so comforted me that I not only am filled with comfort, but more than filled. This exuberance of joy drowns all feeling of my afflictions, even as floods of water put out a small fire.

Observe here that friendship produces four affections in the souls of friends. The first affection is one of trust, of which Paul says: “Great is my confidence in you;” the second is one of glorying, of which he says: “Great is my glorying of you;” the third is one of comfort, of which he says: “I am filled with comfort;” the fourth is one of superabundant joy, of which he says. “I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulations.”

Ver. 5.–Without were fightings. Unbelievers were openly hostile.

Within were fears. I was inwardly anxious, both because of false brethren and of weak Christians, lest they should be led to fall away through our persecutions (Anselm and Ambrose).

Ver. 7.-When he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more. I was before saddened through your divisions and other sins, but when I saw and heard of your desire to amend, your penitence for your sins, and your zeal to protect me against all detractors, I rejoiced.

Ver. 8.–For though I made you sorry with a better. Although in my First Epistle I made you sorry by rebuking your vices, nevertheless it was good for us, and it stirred you to repentance, which brought you at once peace and joy.

Though it were but for a season. My Epistle saddened you but for a short time, and it led you to repentance; therefore I rejoice both over my letter and your repentance.

Ver. 9.-Ye sorrowed to repentance. This sorrow led you to repentance, to mourning (ver. 7), to indignation and revenge (ver. 11). Repentance, therefore, is not merely a coming to one’s self again, as I will show directly by several proofs.

Ver. 10.-For gladly sorrow worketh repentance. Observe 1. that the Apostle here distinguishes two kinds of sorrow, one according to God, and one of the world. The sorrow of the world, or carnal sorrow, is that which springs from loss of excessively loved worldly goods-as when wealth or pleasures are lost, when friends or great men are offended. This sorrow often works death to the soul, by bidding us recover our goods and offend God. Not unseldom it even works diseases and death to the body, for many pine away and die through excessive grief. “Sorrow slays many,” says Ecclus. 30:25, “and there is no use in it.” But godly or Divine sorrow is that which follows on the thought of having offended God, and is called contrition; it produces penance, or self-punishment; so leading to salvation, it is firm, sure, and not to be repented of. Hence Chrysostom and Erasmus refer not to be repented of to penance, not to salvation.

2. The Apostle distinguishes this sorrow from penance as the cause from the effect; for sorrow, that is contrition, works penance, that is self-punishment. Hence it is evident that this sorrow and this penance are not merely a return to one’s sense and a new life, as heretics think; nor mere leaving off one’s past sins, as Erasmus says, but are contrition and self-discipline. It is evident in the second place that sinners are justified and attain salvation, not by faith alone, but also by penance; and thirdly, that repentance includes this contrition, confession, and satisfaction, and that these are the three parts of repentance. So in ver. 11 the Apostle, explaining repentance, says that it works carefulness, i.e., to appease and satisfy God, revenge, &c.

Here we should take note of the golden saying of S. Chrysostom (Hom. 5 ad Pop.), on the use, end, and fruit of sorrow. He says: “Sorrow was given us, not that we should mourn over death or other ills, but to blot out sin and to be a remedy against it. Just as the remedy for blear eyes takes away that particular disease and no others, so does sorrow banish sin, but not other ailments. For example, a man loses his money-he grieves, but does not mend his case; one loses his son-he grieves, but does not thereby raise the dead. He meets with scorn and contempt-he grieves, but the insult remains; he falls sick-he grieves, but does not thereby banish his sickness, nay, he makes it worse. But when a man sins and grieves for it, he blots out his sin, for godly sorrow works repentance powerful for salvation. Sorrow, therefore, was made because of sin alone, and from it takes its birth, and, like a moth, eats it up and destroys it.”

Cassian, following his master S. Chrysostom, thus describes (lib. ix. c. 10) godly sorrow: “Sorrow ran be said to be useful to us only when it is enkindled within us by repentance for our sins, or by a longing after perfection, springing from the contemplation of our future bliss. . . . This sorrow, which worketh repentance powerful to salvation, is obedient, affable, humble, meek, tender, and long-suferring, as descending from the love of God, and unweariedly extending itself through its longing after perfection to all bodily mortification, and to complete spiritual contrition. It is at times joyful, and feeds itself on hope of progress; it retains all the pleasantness of affability and long-suffering, having in it all the fruits of the holy Spirit-love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” He proceeds to give the marks of worldly sorrow: “It is harsh, impatient, hard, full of bitterness and unfruitful grief, and guilty despair. It breaks of from diligence and saving grief any one that it may have laid hold of; it is void of reason, and not only hinders prayer from being efficacious, but destroys all the aforesaid fruits of the Spirit conferred by godly sorrow.”

Ver. 11.–For behold this selfsame thing, &c. The Apostle here, as Calvin admits, names seven effects of godly sorrow and true repentance. (1.) Carefulness to expiate the offence against God and to regain His favour. (2.) Defence (rendered by Ambrose, “excusing;” by Erasmus, “satisfaction;” by Maldonatus, “clearing of the accusation”), not by words but by deeds-by a good life. Here the defence may be the defence of S. Paul against his detractors and the false apostles. (3.) Indignation-that now, recognising your divisions your passing over the act of incest and the other sins rebuked in my First Epistle, you were grieved and penitent, you were indignant with yourselves. (4.) Fear, not only of man, but fear of offending God. (5.) Desire to correct self, and to satisfy man and still more God. (6.) Zeal to honour God and to cast the notorious sinner out of the Church (Anselm and Chrysostom). (7.) Revenge, or purpose to punish sin by grief and tears, by bodily and spiritual mortification (Theodoret, Theophylact, Ambrose, S. Thomas). Calvin himself says (Inst. lib. iii. c. 13, 16): “Last of all is revenge. The more severe we are against ourselves, the keener our condemnation of our sins, the more hope ought we to have that God will be propitious and merciful to us. And surely the soul that is smitten with fear of God’s judgment cannot but anticipate part of His punishment by inflicting punishment on itself.”

In these seven effects and fruits of repentance there is a gradation; for the Apostle rises by steps from the less to the greater, as is expressed by the repeated, “yea, what.” This sorrow for having offended God has not only brought on carefulness to be reconciled to Him, but also defence of me, Paul; not only that, but indignation against sin, holy fear of guarding against sin for the future, desire of making satisfaction, zeal against sinners, and, lastly, revenge on sin, which is the last step and fruit of repentance.

This passage plainly shows us, therefore, that repentance is not merely a change of life and a purpose of better living, but is also detestation of the old life, mortification, and satisfaction. Hence the Council of Trent (sess. xiv. c. 8), following the ancient usage of the Church, bids confessors, in enjoining satisfaction, to regard not only the needs of the new life, but also the revenge due to the sin committed, although its guilt by absolution is remitted.

Tertullian, one of the earliest of the Fathers, says the same (de Penit. c. ix.). His words are: “Public confession is a discipline which lays low and humiliates man, and acts as an allurement to mercy. As to dress and food, it bids us lie in sackcloth and ashes, defile the body with sordid clothing, tame the mind with sorrow, with stern treatment change what is sinful, to use food and drink for the sake of the life only, not for the pleasure of the belly, to cherish prayer by fastings, to weep and cry to God day and night, to attend Church services, and to kneel with those that are pleasing to God, to add supplications to those of all the brethren.”

Climacus, too (de Penit. Gradu. 5), says: “Repentance is thought condemning itself, a perpetual repudiation of bodily delight, a voluntary endurance of all afflictions, a constant deviser of sufferings for itself, a severe mortifier of the pleasures of appetite, a condemner of the physical life also in its keenest sensual delight, an abyss of humility.”

How different is all this from the easy system of Luther and Calvin, who enjoin no other penance than faith for every sin, no matter how frequent or how heinous. I believe, say they, that God has pardoned thee thy sins through the merits of Christ, and therefore He will pardon thee all thy punishment and guilt. In other words, believe yourself to be in the Elysian Fields, believe yourself a king, and straightway you are such; at all events, if not really, certainly in imagination. Surely all this is but like the fond dreams of lovers. Let him believe this who lacks, not so much faith, as brains and sound sense, and who, at his own risk, desires and intends to enter on the broad way of the many, which leads to perdition, and not the narrow way of the few, which leads to life. As the Sibyl said to neas. “Easy is the descent to Avernus, but to retrace one’s steps, and to emerge into the upper air-this is labour, this is toil; the few God-born ones, beloved by Jupiter, or raised by their virtues to the heavens, have alone availed to do it.”

Let the Protestants listen to S. Jerome, or the author of the Epistle to Susanna after lapsing, (whoever he may be, he is certainly of weight and of early times, nay, Erasmus and Marianus think from the style that he is S. Augustine himself). Prescribing to her or any other penitent the form of lamentation and repentance, he says; “Who shall comfort thee, 0 virgin-daughter of Zion, for thy contrition is made vast as the sea? Pour out thy heart as water before the face of the Lord, raise to Him thy hands as a remedy against thy sins. Take thy lamentation, and chiefly on no day omit to say the 51st Psalm, which is always used for this purpose, and with groaning and tears go through each verse, as far as that one, ‘A broken and contrite heart, 0 God, shalt Thou not despise.’ Moreover, pour out this lament, not without compunction of heart, in the sight of God, thy Judge. Who will give water to my head and a fount of tears to my eyes, that I may bewail the wounds of my soul? Woe is me! for I am become as Sodom, and am burnt even as Gomorrha. Who will have pity on my ashes? I have sinned worse than Sodom, for she sinned in ignorance of the law, but I have received grace and sinned. If a man sin against a man there will be one to plead for him, but I have sinned against the Lord, and whom shall I find to atone for me? How bitter is the fruit of concupiscence-more bitter than gall, more cruel than the sword! How am I become desolate! Suddenly have I fallen away and perished through my iniquity, like as a dream when one awaketh. Therefore has my image become vile in the city of the Lord, my name has been blotted out. Cursed be the day when the womb bore me, and the cruel light saw me. Better for me if I had not been born than become thus a proverb amongst the Gentiles. Through me confusion and reproach have come on the servants of the Lord, and on them that worthily worship Him. Mourn for me, ye mountains and rivers, for I am the daughter of weeping. My sin and my iniquity are not like to the offences of men. This wickedness is horrible, to pollute with flesh a virgin who has professed chastity. I have lied against the Lord Most High, but still I will call to the Lord: ‘Lord, rebuke me not in Thy anger, neither chasten me in Thy heavy displeasure.'” S. Ambrose gives the same directions to a lapsed virgin. Cf. Cyprian (Serm. de Lapsis), Chrysostom (Hom. 41 ad Prop.).

Climacus, in the passage already cited, relating examples and describing, the disposition of penitents, has the following remarks, which may worthily act as goads of compunction to the sinner: “When I came to the monastery of penitents, nay, to the religion of them that flee from sin, I saw and heard things which may well take God by storm. I saw some of those guilty ones standing and watching through whole nights till daybreak, standing motionless, resisting sleep applying force to nature, giving themselves no rest, but chiding themselves. Others I saw in prayer, with their hands bound behind their backs after the fashion of criminals, turning their sorrowful faces to the earth, saying that they were unworthy to see the heavens, asking for nothing, but offering to God a mind silent and mute and filled with confusion. Some I saw sitting on the ground that was strewn with sackcloth and ashes, covering, their faces with their knees, and bruising their foreheads against the earth. Others were smiting their breasts, and with deep sighs recalling their past life; others were weeping, and others lamenting their inability to do the like. I saw some as though turned into stone by grief, and insensible to everything. Others, with looks fixed on the ground, were constantly moving their heads and roaring like lions. . . . I saw too some with their thirsty tongues protruding from their mouth as dogs. Some of these tortured themselves under the heat of a burning sun, others submitted to the most bitter cold; some drank a little water, that they might not be altogether parched with thirst, and so gained relief. Some would eat a little bread and then throw away the rest, as if they were unworthy of it. What place was there among them for laughter, for gossip, for anger, for enjoyment of wine or fruits? They all alike cried to God, and nought was heard save the voice of prayer.” If any one desire more he will find much of the same kind, and enough to make him dumb. He ends by saying: “I saw them, and I counted them who so mourn after falling happier than they who have never fallen, and do not so bewail themselves.”

Lastly, listen to the repentance and sorrow of S. Paula for some slight sins, as recorded by S. Jerome: “She had not, even when stricken with violent fever, any soft bed-clothing, but lay on sackcloth, spread on the bare hard ground, and so took her rest, if that is to be called rest which mingled night and day with never-ceasing prayers, according to the words of the Psalmist, ‘Every night will I wash my bed, and water my couch with my tears.’ You might suppose that in her were fountains of tears, so bitterly did she bewail the slightest sins; and you might have thought her guilty of the most heinous crimes. When she was bidden by us, as often was the ease, to spare her eyes, and save them for reading the Gospel, she would say, ‘Defiled must that face be which, against the commandment of God, I have often painted with red dyes, and antimony, and different cosmetics. Afflicted must be the body which has been devoted to many delights. Long laughter must be atoned for by long mourning. Soft clothing and dainty silks must be exchanged for rough sackcloth. I, who once lived for my husband and the world, now desire to please Christ.”

In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. Free from the sin of the fornicator. Although at first you neglected to punish it, yet you have shown your detestation of it by punishing it, and by your repentance (Anselm and Theophylact).

Ver. 12.-Though I wrote unto you, I did it not, &c. He who suffered wrong was the father whose wife the incestuous man had taken to himself. Hence it is evident that the father was alive. The Apostle says in effect: In the former Epistle I wrote somewhat sharply, but I did not mean to avenge the private injuries done by the incestuous person and suffered by the father; but I wished to show the care that I have for the common salvation of your Church, by expelling from it this public scandal.

Ver. 13.-Therefore we were comforted. By your repentance, zeal, &c., as was said (vers. 6, 7, 9, 11). The Latin version points this verse as follows: “Before God, therefore, we were comforted. But in our comfort we joyed the more,” &c. If with some Greek copies we read “in your comfort,” S. Paul refers to the good news that he had heard of their repentance. “The tears of penitents,” says S. Bernard, “are the wine of angels,” nay, they are the wine of penitents, for nothing so makes glad the heart as compunction. How sweet to the penitent is it with the Magdalene to weep at the feet of Jesus, to bathe them with tears, to wipe them, to kiss them, and then to hear: “Thy sins are forgiven thee.” None but one who has tried it knows this sweetness.

Ver. 14.-Even so our boasting which I made before Titus is found a truth. I am accustomed to boast to him of you as good disciples, and you have proved my boasting true.

Ver. 16.–I have confidence in you in all things. I dare to speak and act boldly with you, whether in the way of praise or blame. You are always obedient to me, and, therefore, I am bold, and am able to boast of you and think well of you (Chrysostom, Theophylact, Ambrose). Anselm remarks on the prudence of Paul, as of a physician, in curing with the pleasant medicines of consolation and praise the wounds now nearly healed, so that the burning inflicted by his former rebuke might be wholly healed.

Fuente: Cornelius Lapide Commentary

7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the {a} flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

(a) Both of body and soul, that by this means the sanctification may be perfect, consisting in both the parts of the flesh.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Having the promises of intimate fellowship with God for obedience, Christians should avoid certain probable sources of spiritual contamination. These sources of contamination may be external or internal, in relation to other people or in relation to God. "Flesh (or body, Gr. sarx) and spirit" here is a figure (merism) for the whole person (cf. 2Co 5:9; 1Co 7:34). Instead we should press on in our continual struggle against sin while fearing God (cf. 2Co 5:11). This verse stresses what we must do to progress in practical sanctification, and it reminds us that this process is continuous.

"Paul is probably implying that the Corinthians had become defiled, perhaps by occasionally sharing meals at idol-shrines or by continuing to attend festivals or ceremonies in pagan temples (cf. 1Co 8:10; 1Co 10:14-22), or even by maintaining their membership in some local pagan cult. If they made a clean break (cf. katharisomen, aorist) with pagan life in any and every form, they would be bringing their holiness nearer completion by this proof of their reverence for God." [Note: Harris, pp. 360-61.]

"This passage [2Co 6:14 to 2Co 7:1] is a specific call for separation from the temple cults of Corinth, in direct continuity with the holiness-separation theme of 1 Corinthians, and is located here as the climax of the apologia for Paul’s apostolate." [Note: Barnett, p. 341.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

4-18

Chapter 18

NEW TESTAMENT PURITANISM.

2Co 6:14-18; 2Co 7:1 (R.V)

THIS is one of the most peculiar passages in the New Testament. Even a careless reader must feel that there is something abrupt and unexpected in it; it jolts the mind as a stone on the road does a carriage-wheel. Paul has been begging the Corinthians to treat him with the same love and confidence which he has always shown to them, and he urges this claim upon them up to 2Co 6:13. Then comes this passage about the relation of Christians to the world. Then again, at 2Co 7:2 -“Open your hearts to us; we wronged no man, we corrupted no man, we took advantage of no man”-he returns to the old subject without the least mark of transition. If everything were omitted from 2Co 6:14 2Co 7:1 inclusive, the continuity both of thought and feeling would be much more striking. This consideration alone has induced many scholars to believe that these verses do not occupy their original place. The ingenious suggestion has been made that they are a fragment of the letter to which the Apostle refers in the First Epistle: {2Co 5:9} the sentiment, and to some extent even the words, favor this conjecture. But as there is no external authority for any conjecture whatever, and no variation in the text, such suggestions can never become conclusive. It is always possible that, on reading over his letter, the Apostle himself may have inserted a paragraph breaking to some extent the closeness of the original connection. If there is nothing in the contents of the section inconsistent with his mind, the breach of continuity is not enough to discredit it.

Some, however, have gone further than this. They have pointed to the strange formulae of quotation-“as God said,” “saith the Lord,” “saith the Lord Almighty”-as unlike Paul. Even the main idea of the passage-“touch not any unclean thing”-is asserted to be at variance with his principles. A narrow Jewish Christian might, it is said, have expressed this shrinking from what is unclean, in the sense of being associated with idolatry, but not the great Apostle of liberty. At all events he would have taken care, in giving such an advice under special circumstances, to safeguard the principle of freedom. And, finally, an argument is drawn from language. The only point at which it is even plausible is that which touches upon the use of the terms “flesh” and “spirit” in 2Co 7:1. Schmiedel, who has an admirable excursus on the whole question, decides that this, and this only, is certainly un-Pauline. It is certainly unusual in Paul, but I do not think we can say more. The “rigor and vigor” with which Pauls use of these terms is investigated seems to me largely misplaced. They did undoubtedly tend to become technical in his mind, but words so universally and so vaguely used could never become simply technical. If any contemporary of Paul could have written, “Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit,” then Paul himself could have written it. Language offers the same latitudes and liberties to everybody, and one could not imagine a subject which tempted less to technicality than the one urged in these verses. Whatever the explanation of their apparently irrelevant insertion here, I can see nothing in them alien to Paul. Puritanism is certainly more akin to the Old Testament than to the New, and that may explain the instinctiveness with which the writer seems to turn to the law and the prophets, and the abundance of his quotations; but though “all things are lawful” to the Christian, Puritanism has a place in the New Testament too. There is no conception of “holiness” into which the idea of “separation” does not enter; and though the balance of elements may vary in the New Testament as compared with the Old, none can be wanting. From this point of view we can best examine the meaning and application of the passage. If a connection is craved, the best, I think, is that furnished by a combination of Calvin and Meyer. Quasi recuperata auctoritate, says Calvin, liberius jam eos objurgat: this supplies a link of feeling between vv. 13 and 14 {2Co 6:13-14}. A link of thought is supplied if we consider with Meyer that inattention to the rule of life here laid down was a notable cause of receiving the grace of God in vain (2Co 7:1). Let us notice

(1) the moral demand of the passage;

(2) the assumption on which it rests;

(3) the Divine promise which inspires its observance.

(1) The moral demand is first put in the negative form: “Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers.” The peculiar word (“unequally yoked”) has a cognate form in Lev 19:19, in the law which forbids the breeding of hybrid animals. God has established a good physical order in the world, and it is not to be confounded and disfigured by the mixing of species. It is that law (or perhaps another form of it in Deu 22:10, forbidding an Israelite to plough with an ox and an ass under the same yoke) that is applied in an ethical sense in this passage. There is a wholesome moral order in the world also, and it is not to be confused by the association of its different kinds. The common application of this text to the marriage of Christians and non-Christians is legitimate, but too narrow. The text prohibits every kind of union in which the separate character and interest of the Christian lose anything of their distinctiveness and integrity. This is brought out more strongly in the free quotation from Isa 52:2 in 2Co 6:17 : “Come out from among them, and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not anything unclean.” These words were originally addressed to the priests who, on the redemption of Israel from Babylon, were to carry the sacred temple vessels back to Jerusalem. But we must remember that, though they are Old Testament words, they are quoted by a New Testament writer, who inevitably puts his own meaning into them. “The unclean thing” which no Christian is to touch is not to be taken in a precise Levitical sense; it covers, and I have no doubt was intended by the writer to cover, all that it suggests to any simple Christian mind now. We are to have no compromising connection with anything in the world which is alien to God. Let us be as loving and conciliatory as we please, but as long as the world is what it is, the Christian life can only maintain itself in it in an attitude of protest. There always will be things and people to whom the Christian has to say No!

But the moral demand of the passage is put in a more positive form in the last verse: “Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” That is the ideal of the Christian life. There is something to be overcome and put away; there is something to be wrought out and completed; there is a spiritual element or atmosphere-the fear of God-in which alone these tasks can be accomplished. The fear of God is an Old Testament name for true religion, and even under the New Testament it holds its place. The Seraphim still veil their faces while they cry “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts,” and still we must feel that great awe descend upon our hearts if we would be partakers of His holiness. It is this which withers up sin to the root, and enables us to cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit. St. Paul includes himself in his exhortation here: it is one duty, one ideal, which is set before all. The prompt decisive side of it is represented in (“let US cleanse”: observe the aorist); its patient laborious side in (“carrying holiness to completion.”) Almost everybody in a Christian Church makes a beginning with this task: we cleanse ourselves from obvious and superficial defilements; but how few carry the work on into the spirit, how few carry it on ceaselessly towards perfection. As year after year rolls by, as the various experiences of life come to us with their lessons and their discipline from God, as we see the lives of others, here sinking ever deeper and deeper into the corruptions of the world, there rising daily nearer and nearer to the perfect holiness which is their goal, does not this demand assert its power over us? Is it not a great thing, a worthy thing, that we should set ourselves to purge away from our whole nature, outward and inward, whatever cannot abide the holy eye of God; and that we should regard Christian holiness, not as a subject for casual thoughts once a week, but as the task to be taken up anew, with unwearying diligence, every day we live? Let us be in earnest with this, for surely God is in earnest.

(2) Observe now the assumption on which the demand not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers is based. It is that there are two ethical or spiritual interests in the world, and that these are fundamentally inconsistent with each other. This implies that in choosing the one, the other has to be rejected. But it implies more: it implies that at bottom there are only two kinds of people in the world-those who identify themselves with the one of these interests, and those who identify themselves with the other.

Now, as long as this is kept in the abstract form, people do not quarrel with it. They have no objection to admit that good and evil are the only spiritual forces in the world, and that they are mutually exclusive. But many will not admit that there are only two kinds of persons in the world, answering to these two forces. They would rather say there is only one kind of persons, in whom these forces are with infinite varieties and modifications combined. This seems more tolerant, more humane, more capable of explaining the amazing mixtures and inconsistencies we see in human lives. But it is not more true. It is a more penetrating insight which judges that every man-despite his range of neutrality-would in the last resort choose his side; would, in short, in a crisis of the proper kind, prove finally that he was not good and bad, but good or bad. We cannot pretend to judge others, but sometimes men judge themselves, and always God can judge. And there is an instinct in those who are perfecting holiness in the fear of God which tells them, without in the least making them Pharisaical, not only what things, but what persons-not only what ideas and practices, but what individual characters-are not to be made friends of. It is no pride, or scorn, or censoriousness, which speaks thus, but the voice of all Christian experience. It is recognized at once where the young are concerned: people are careful of the friends their children make, and a schoolmaster will dismiss inexorably, not only a bad habit, but a bad boy, from the school. It ought to be recognized just as easily in maturity as in childhood: there are men and women, as well as boys and girls, who distinctly represent evil, and whose society is to be declined. To protest against them, to repel them, to resent their life and conduct as morally offensive, is a Christian duty; it is the first step towards evangelizing them.

It is worth noticing in the passage before us how the Apostle, starting from abstract ideas, descends, as he becomes more urgent, into personal relations. What fellowship have righteousness and lawlessness? None. What communion has light with darkness? None. What concord has Christ with Belial? Here the persons come in who are the heads, or representatives, of the opposing moral interests, and it is only now that we feel the completeness of the antagonism. The interest of holiness is gathered up in Christ; the interest of evil in the great adversary; and they have nothing in common. And so with the believer and the unbeliever. Of course there is ground on which they can meet: the same sun shines on them, the same soil supports them, they breathe the same air. But in all that is indicated by those two names-believer and unbeliever-they stand quite apart; and the distinction thus indicated reaches deeper than any bond of union. It is not denied that the unbeliever may have much that is admirable about him: and for the believer the one supremely important thing in the world is that which the unbeliever denies, and therefore the more he is in earnest the less can he afford the unbelievers friendship. We need all the help we can get to fight the good fight of faith, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God; and a friend whose silence numbs faith, or whose words trouble it, is a friend no earnest Christian dare keep. Words like these would not seem so hard if the common faith of Christians were felt to be a real bond of union among them, and if the recoil from the unbelieving world were seen to be the action of the whole Christian society, the instinct of self-preservation in the new Christian life. But, at whatever risk of seeming harsh, it must be repeated that there has never been a state of affairs in the world in which the commandment had no meaning. “Come out from among them, and be ye separate”; nor an obedience to this commandment which did not involve separation from persons as well as from principles.

(3) But what bulks most largely in the passage is the series of divine promises which are to inspire and sustain obedience. The separations which an earnest Christian life requires are not without their compensation; to leave the world is to be welcomed by God. It is probable that the pernicious association which the writer had immediately in view was association with the heathen in their worship, or at least in their sacrificial feasts. At all events it is the inconsistency of this with the worship of the true God that forms the climax of his expostulation-What agreement hath a temple of God with idols? and it is to this, again, that the encouraging promises are attached. “We,” says the Apostle, “are a temple of the living God.” This carries with it all that he has claimed: for a temple means a house in which God dwells, and God can only dwell in a holy place. Pagans and Jews alike recognized the sanctity of their temples: nothing was guarded more jealously; nothing, if violated, was more promptly and terribly avenged. Paul had seen the day when he gave his vote to shed the blood of a man who had spoken disrespectfully of the Temple at Jerusalem, and the day was coming when he himself was to run the risk of his life on the mere suspicion that he had taken a pagan into the holy place. He expects Christians to be as much in earnest as Jews who keep the sanctity of Gods house inviolate; and now, he says, that house are we: it is ourselves we have to keep unspotted from the world.

We are Gods temple in accordance with the central promise of the old covenant: as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” The original of this is Lev 26:2; Lev 26:12. The Apostle, as has been observed already, takes the Old Testament words in a New Testament sense: as they stand here in Second Corinthians they mean something much more intimate and profound than in their old place in Leviticus. But even there, he tells us, they are a promise to us. What God speaks, He speaks to His people, and speaks once for all. And if the divine presence in the camp of Israel-a presence represented by the Ark and its tent-was to consecrate that nation to Jehovah, and inspire them with zeal to keep the camp clean, that nothing might offend the eyes of His glory, how much more ought those whom God has visited in His Son, those in whom He dwells through His Spirit, to cleanse themselves from every defilement, and make their souls fit for His habitation? After repeating the charge to come out and be separate, the writer heaps up new promises, in which the letter and the spirit of various Old Testament passages are freely combined. The principal one seems to be 2Sa 7:1-29, which contains the promises originally made to Solomon. At 2Sa 7:14 of that chapter we have the idea of the paternal and filial relation, and at 2Sa 7:8 the speaker is described in the LXX, as here, as the Lord Almighty. But passages like Jer 31:1; Jer 31:9, also doubtless floated through the writers mind, and it is the substance, not the form, which is the main thing. The very freedom with which they are reproduced shows us how thoroughly the writer is at home, and how confident he is that he is making the right and natural application of these ancient promises.

Separate yourselves, for you are Gods temple: separate yourselves and you will be sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, and He will be your Father. Haec una ratio instar mille esse debet. The friendship of the world, as James reminds us, is enmity with God; it is the consoling side of the same truth that separation from the world means friendship with God. It does not mean solitude, but a more blessed society; not renunciation of love, but admission to the only love which satisfies the soul, because that for which the soul was made. The Puritanism of the New Testament is no harsh, repellent thing, which eradicates the affections, and makes life bleak and barren; it is the condition under which the heart is opened to the love of God, and filled with all comfort and joy in obedience. With Him on our side-with the promise of His indwelling Spirit to sanctify us, of His fatherly kindness to enrich and protect us-shall we not obey the exhortation to come out and be separate, to cleanse ourselves from all that defiles, to perfect holiness in His fear?

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary