Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Corinthians 1:23
Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.
23. I call God for a record upon my soul ] Literally, to witness, as the Rhemish version. Tyndale, whom the other translators follow, has recorde. Either (1) I call God to witness against my soul, i.e. to avenge my perjury (so Calvin and Grotius; Wiclif, agens), or (2) on behalf of my soul, as appealing to God as a witness of his sincerity. See Rom 1:9; Rom 9:1; Gal 1:20; Php 1:8; 1Th 2:5. Also ch. 2Co 11:31. In these passages, however, the form of the expression is different. The word here translated ‘call for a record’ is not used in Scripture in a bad sense. It signifies (1) to surname, as in Mat 10:3; (2) to appeal, as in Act 25:11; and (3) to call upon, as in Act 22:16; 1Co 1:2, &c. Augustine and other commentators have remarked that it is lawful for a Christian to take an oath upon a proper occasion. Cf. Mat 26:63.
that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth ] Though St Paul could ‘use sharpness’ if need so required he desired, as the minister of the God of love, rather to come in the ‘spirit of meekness.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Moreover, I call God for a record upon my soul – It is well remarked by Rosenmuller, that the second chapter should have commenced here, since there is here a transition in the subject more distinct than where the second chapter is actually made to begin. Here Tyndale commences the second chapter. This verse, with the subsequent statements, is designed to show them the true reason why he had changed his purpose, and had not visited them according to his first proposal. And that reason was not that he was fickle and inconstant; but it was that he apprehended that if he should go to them in their irregular and disorderly state, he would be under a necessity of resorting to harsh measures, and to a severity of discipline that would be alike painful to them and to him. Dr. Paley has shown with great plausibility, if not with moral certainty, that Pauls change of purpose about visiting them was made before he wrote his First Epistle; that he had at first resolved to visit them, but that on subsequent reflection, he thought it would be better to try the effect of a faithful letter to them, admonishing them of their errors, and entreating them to exercise proper discipline themselves on the principal offender; that with this feeling he wrote his First Epistle, in which he does not state to them as yet his change of purpose, or the reason of it; but that now after he had written that letter, and after it had had all the effect which he desired, he states the true reason why he had not visited them.
It was now proper to do it; and that reason was, that he desired to spare them the severity of discipline, and had resorted to the more mild and affectionate measure of sending them a letter, and thus not making it necessary personally to administer discipline; see Paleys Horae Paulinae, on 2 Corinthians, Numbers 4 and 5. The phrase, I call God for a record upon my soul, is in the Greek, I call God for a witness against my soul. It is a solemn oath, or appeal to God; and implies, that if he did not in that case declare the truth, he desired that God would be a witness against him, and would punish him accordingly. The reason why he made this solemn appeal to God was, the importance of his vindicating his own character before the church, from the charges which had been brought against him.
That to spare you – To avoid the necessity of inflicting punishment on you; of exercising severe and painful discipline. If he went among them in the state of irregularity and disorder which prevailed there, he would feel it to be necessary to exert his authority as an apostle, and remove at once the offending members from the church. He expected to avoid the necessity of these painful acts of discipline, by sending to them a faithful and affectionate epistle, and thus inducing them to reform, and to avoid the necessity of a resort to that which would have been so trying to him and to them. It was not, then, a disregard for them, or a lack of attachment to them, which had led him to change his purpose, but it was the result of tender affection. This cause of the change of his propose, of course, he would not make known to them in his First Epistle, but now that that letter had accomplished all he had desired, it was proper that they should be apprized of the reason why he had resorted to this instead of visiting them personally.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Co 1:23-24
I call God for a record that to spare you I came not as yet to Corinth.
Why Paul did not visit Corinth
His reasons were–
I. One of mercy: to spare them pain (2Co 1:23)–to save them from the sharp censure their lax morality would have necessitated. It was no caprice, no fickleness, respecting St. Pauls character that–
1. He was not one of those who love to be censors of the faults of others. There are social faultfinders, who are ever on the watch for error and who yet provide no remedy. Now all this was contrary to the spirit of St. Paul; he had that love which thinketh no evil, etc. It pained him to inflict the censure which would give pain to others.
2. He was not one of those who love to rule.
II. Apparently a selfish one: to spare himself pain (2Co 2:15). But if we look closely into it, it only sheds fresh light upon the unselfishness and delicacy of St. Pauls character. He desired to save himself pain, because it gave them pain. He desired joy for himself, because his joy was theirs. He will not separate himself from them for a moment.
1. It was not to pain them merely that he wrote, but because joy, deep and permanent, was impossible without pain; as the extraction of a thorn by a tender father gives a deeper joy in love to the child.
2. It was not to save himself pain merely that he did not come, but to save them that pain which would have given him pain. Here there is a canon for the difficult duty of blame. To blame is easy enough–with some it is all of a piece with the hardness of their temperament; but to do this delicately–how shall we learn that? I answer, Love! and then say what you will; men will bear anything if love be there. If not, all blame, however just, will miss its mark; and St. Paul showed this in verse 4. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
A threefold theme
I. The fulfilment of a promise adjourned (2Co 1:24).
II. Authority over the faith of others disclaimed. Not for that we have dominion over your faith.
III. The true work of a gospel minister. He is a helper, not a lord; a helper, not a substitute. A true minister is to help men–
1. To think aright–i.e., on the right subject, in the right way.
2. To feel aright–in relation to self, mankind, the universe, and God.
3. To believe aright. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Not for that we would have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy.—
Ministerial helpfulness
(Inaugural):–
I. Negatively. Not, etc.
1. This disclaimer, to some of us, is perhaps unexpectedly strong. Paul might well have said the opposite, and for other purposes did so, as an inspired apostle. But he seems to have been always sensible of the individual responsibility of others, which no other should assail or could share. He is grandly intolerant of falsehood and evil living, but none so respectful of individual liberty.
2. After this, is it not passing strange that any should arrogate the very thing which Paul here so anxiously disclaims–authority over human consciences? Every real successor of the apostle will say, My soul, come not thou into their secret. Your souls are your own to-day when I first speak to you; they will be your own when I speak my last.
II. Positively. But, etc. Joy is to be taken here as the happy fruit of all Christian principles and affections, so that to be a helper of joy is to promote the whole moral perfection.
1. There is a great deal of intellectual hindrance to Christian decision and life.
(1) A number of people prove all things without holding fast to that which is good–at least, they stir all things into doubt and difficulty, but cannot work their way to a solution. Here we may help. Great gospel facts are questioned, denied. What then? We who are set for a defence of the gospel go on asserting them as true, because, with unshaken faith, we believe them to be so. And the sight of our unmoved constancy has a reassuring effect. How can the battle be lost when we are seen advancing, well in rank, looking for victory?
(2) The same kind of effect is produced on those who are prejudiced against doctrinal preaching. Hear doctrines explained by those who have really studied them, who put them in their proper relations and draw them out into practical duty, and the prejudice will melt away.
2. Life is to many a busy one, without leisure, ever on the move. From this we may see that Gods day was never more needed or precious, and that the opportunity to both preacher and people is one of the great opportunities of life. Welcome to both should be the hour that brings them into the Divine presence and abates somewhat of the fever and stir of life. And if we can but be helpers during the week in preparing for this service, we shall reach our utmost ambition.
3. Then there is the continual shortcoming of the Christian life making the helpfulness of the ministry necessary and welcome. Go where we will, there is the same tale of infirmity, the failure to realise the ideal, which not seldom engenders despondency or despair. But we are helpers of your joy. We are sent to revive it, and to take means that it shall not die. Whatever dark tales we hear we are to meet and overmatch by the glad tidings. No rums of any life-plan but may yet be built up. The weak may be as David, and David as an angel of the Lord.
4. Wherever we go we find troubles–if we seek for them; and it is worth while putting forth all our skill to find them. There is no scene, however distressful, in which we may not quietly yet confidently appear as helpers of joy. Unlike the apostles of natural law, who command you to bow to the inevitable in the present and dismiss all hope for the future, we tell you that all things work together for them that love God and have fruitage in a blessed immortality.
5. The grave is not the end of all, but to each there is a grave. There can be no fellowship in the article of death, but on the brink we can tell some such things as will rob death of its terrors, and make it no more than a quiet passage into life. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
Christian ministers helpers of their peoples joy
I. The Christians privilege–joy.
1. Its origin and nature. It is not the offspring of a fervid imagination, but the effect of a well-grounded conviction of the love of God. It has its root in faith: the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing. And why? Because faith connects the believer with Jesus, who is all his salvation and all his desire.
2. This is the legitimate state of the Christian. Joy diffuses a beautiful and attractive lustre around every grace which ornaments the believers character; it is the very atmosphere through which he should continually walk, proving that the ways of religion are ways of pleasantness, and that all her paths are peace. I know of nothing that recommends the gospel more than this; I know of no moral proof of its divinity more powerfully convincing than this.
3. Joy fits the believer for comforting and encouraging others. It was a great sin in those who were sent to take a survey of the Promised Land to return with an evil report.
II. The ministers office. Helpers of joy, but not of salvation. Christ is the only Saviour; and He allows not of any helpers. But, though ministers are not helpers in the work of salvation, they are, as instruments, helpers in the application of it. Ministers act as helpers of joy–
1. By unfolding the Word of God. The Bible contains glad tidings, which are calculated to rejoice the heart.
2. By expatiating on the love of Christ. Nothing can fill the soul with so much gladness as this.
3. By giving a just interpretation of present trials.
4. By praying to the Author of every grace and Giver of every privilege (Rom 15:13). (D. Bagot, B. D.)
Helpers of others joy
I. As religious persons we are happy. There are various sources of this joy.
1. God Himself. We joy in God.
2. Gods works.
(1) Their variety, order, beauty, and splendour.
(2) Because they are His–a temple which He has made for Himself to be worshipped in.
(3) On account of the figurative instruction which they convey.
(4) As created and constituted for us to dwell in.
3. His providence. The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice.
(1) It is exercised over nations. By God kings reign and princes decree judgment. We have joy in a nations joy. When pestilence disappears, when there is an ample harvest, when there is reviving commerce, it is by Gods providence, and as religious men we rejoice therein.
(2) It bears personally upon ourselves. We can lie down upon the everlasting arms, and say, The eternal God is my refuge.
4. All things that are common to humanity.
(1) The joy of honourable marriage.
(2) When affliction disappears and God turns for us our mourning into dancing.
(3) In the common conditions of human life. Whatever may be the amount of human suffering, the amount of human happiness immensely preponderates.
5. Christ Jesus and His gospel. He came into the world in joy. The angels sang for joy at His nativity; He opened His ministry in joy–The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, etc.; and He spake very often of His joy. We may have joy–
(1) In the knowledge of Him.
(2) In reconciliation by Him.
(3) In justification through Him.
6. The Holy Ghost. The kingdom of God is righteousness, and peace, and joy, in the Holy Ghost. There is joy in the gifts of the Spirit. Was not the day of Pentecost a day of joy?
7. The ordinances of the gospel. Happy on the Lords day, in the reading of Gods Word, in the preaching of the gospel, in Christian association and alliance.
8. The prospect of the life to come. For the joy set before Christ He endured the Cross, despising the shame; and you and I may have joy set before us in like manner.
II. It is our duty to enhance each others joy. It is clear enough that we can promote each others sin. We may help forward afflictions; we may do a good deal to make one another miserable. How can we augment one anothers joy?
1. By expounding the principles of joy, as our Saviour did. He began His ministry with the beatitudes. Wherever He went there was joy.
2. By removing the causes of infelicity. What makes you unhappy? Is it sin? Go to God in penitence and ask for remission, and you shall have it. Is it anxiety? Be careful for nothing, etc. A sense of weakness and insufficiency? My grace is sufficient for thee; My strength shall be perfected in weakness.
3. By reminding of the fact that our religion is a happy religion (Psa 98:1-9.). The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs.
4. By being examples of this joy. We are contagious, or communicative, beings. He that sympathises with me in my sorrow divides the stream and takes half of it away; he that sympathises with me in my gladness and my joy, lights his lamp from my lamp, takes nothing from me, only kindles a brighter light, only diffuses a wider blaze.
5. By seizing on the occasions and opportunities of joy, such as the Sabbath and the means of grace.
6. By inciting and stirring one another up to it.
7. By adverting often, as Christ and believers do, to that which is to come. (J. Stratten.)
Helpers of your joy
The points considerable in this clause are these:
I. That joy is the state proper to Christians. Either they do rejoice, or they should labour to come to it. God requires it at their hand as a duty (Php 4:4). Consider–
1. The ills they are freed from–sin, the wrath of God, the sting of death, etc.
2. The state that God brings them to by believing (Rom 14:17).
3. Why should they labour to be in that state?
(1) That God, who gives them such matter of joy, may have glory from them. Their life should be a perpetual thanksgiving to God; and how can man be thankful that is not joyful?
(2) It makes him active in good when he is anointed with the oil of gladness (Rom 9:23).
(3) And then for suffering; we have many things to go through in this world. How shall a man suffer those things that are between him and heaven unless he labour to bring himself to this temper of joy?
(4) And then for others–every man should labour to encourage them. We are all fellow-passengers in the way to heaven. Therefore, even to bring on others more cheerfully, we ought to labour to be in a state of joy. And if a Christian do not joy, it is not because he is a Christian, but because he is not a Christian enough.
II. Ministers are helpers of this blessed condition.
1. By acquainting people with the ill estate they are in; for all sound comfort comes from the knowledge of our grief, and freedom from it. For they must plough before they sow, and the law must go before the gospel. The law shows the wound, but the gospel heals the wound.
2. By showing the remedy which is in Christ; then they open the riches of Gods love in Christ, the sweet box of ointment. Thus did St. Peter, after he had brought them to, Men and brethren, what shall we do to be saved? point them to Jesus Christ.
3. By advice in cases of conscience what people should do. So their office is to remove all hindrances of spiritual joy. We know that light is a state of joy. The ministry of the gospel is light. Spiritual freedom makes people joyful. But the end of the ministry is to set people more and more at liberty. Victory is a state of joy. Now the ministers of God teach Gods people how to fight Gods battles, how to answer temptations, and at length how to triumph.
4. By forcing it as a duty upon them (Php 4:4). They are as guides among the rest of the travellers, that encourage them in the way to heaven, Come on, let us go cheerfully.
5. In death itself. The end of the ministry is to help joy, to help them to heaven by a joyful departure, drawing comfort out of the Word for this purpose. But you will say true Christians are ofttimes cast down by the ministry. If so, yet it is that they might joy (2Co 7:8). We say of April that the showers of that month dispose the earth to flowers in the next; so tears and grief wrought in the heart by the ministry frame the soul to a joyful temper after. A physician comes, and he gives sharp and bitter purges; saith the patient, I had thought you had come to make me better, and I am sicker now than I was before. But he bids him be content; all this is for your joyfulness of spirit after; you will be the better for it.
III. Ministers are helpers of joy, and but helpers. They do but propound matter of joy, grounds of joy from the Word of God; but it is the Spirit of God that doth rejoice the heart (Joh 16:5). (R. Sibbes, D. D.)
By faith ye stand.—
The victory of faith
The Scriptures mention three sorts of faith–
1. Simple credence, or bare assent. This is not the faith of the text, for the devils have it (Jam 2:19).
2. Temporary conviction, which carries the soul to some short sallies in the course of godliness, but, having no firm fixation in the heart, comes to nothing.
3. A saving, effectual faith, which takes in both the former kinds and adds its own peculiar perfection. It is a durable, fixed disposition of holiness, immediately infused by God into the soul, whereby the soul is renewed and powerfully inclined to exert itself in the actions of a pious life. This is the faith by which we stand.
I. The thing supposed–a person assaulted by an enemy (cf. 2Co 10:4; Eph 6:12; Heb 12:4)
.Now in every such combat there are to be considered–
1. The persons engaged. Their enmity is almost as old as the world itself (Gen 3:15). The devils hatred of us bears date with our very being, and is directed against us as men, but much more as believers. As soon as we enlist under the Captain of our salvation, He proclaims perpetual war. So a Christians life is not a state of ease, but of incessant conflict with the devil.
2. The thing contended for: to cast them down–
(1) From that sanctity of life which the regenerating Spirit has wrought them up to; for, having lost all holiness himself, the devil abhors it in others. He is a murderer from the beginning, and he chiefly attempts the murder of souls by making them like himself.
(2) From their interest in the Divine favour; and no wonder, since he finds it denied to himself. So he tries to sow enmity between God and the soul, and to embroil the whole creation in a war against heaven.
3. The ways and means by which it is carried on.
(1) The devils own immediate suggestions (Joh 13:27; Act 5:3).
(2) The infidelity of the human heart–a quality which does the devils work most compendiously and effectually.
(3) The alluring vanities of the world (Jam 4:4).
(4) Mans own lusts and corruptions.
II. The thing expressed–Viz., that faith alone can give the victory in this contest. Consider–
1. Mans natural estate void of the grace of faith. That this is deplorable enough is proved by the fact that, were not bare nature insufficient to work out its own recovery, the Divine grace would never have put itself to such an expense for its recovery. What forces can man rally against the workings of his own corruptions?–his imperfect good desires, resolutions, duties? Alas! nature will quickly break through such puny resistances.
2. The advantages and helps of faith.
(1) Union with Christ. Christ, being to the soul like armour, only defends when He is close to it.
(2) The assistance of the Spirit, without whom it is impossible for the soul to do anything in the way of duty, or to oppose sin with success (Rom 8:13; Php 2:13).
3. The title to and power to effectually apply Gods promises. The promises are weapons which the Spirit places in our hands, and faith is the spiritual hand into which they are put. (R. South, D. D.)
.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 23. I call God for a record upon my soul] The apostle here resumes the subject which he left 2Co 1:16, and in the most solemn manner calls God to witness, and consequently to punish, if he asserted any thing false, that it was through tenderness to them that he did not visit Corinth at the time proposed. As there were so many scandals among them, the apostle had reason to believe that he should be obliged to use the severe and authoritative part of his function in the excommunication of those who had sinned, and delivering them over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, c. but to give them space to amend, and to see what effect his epistle might produce, (not having heard as yet from them,) he proposed to delay his coming. It is plain, as several commentators have observed,
1. That St. Paul’s doctrine had been opposed by some of Corinth, 1Co 15:12. His apostleship questioned, 1Co 9:1-2, and 2Co 12:13.
2. Himself despised, and treated as a person who, because of the consciousness he had of his own worthlessness, dared not to come, 1Co 4:18. His letters, say they, are weighty and powerful-full of boastings of what he can and what he will do; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible, 2Co 10:10.
3. This being the state in which his reputation was then at Corinth, and he having promised to come to them, 1Co 16:5, he could not but think it necessary to vindicate his failing them by reasons which should be both convincing and kind, such as those contained in the preceding verses. See Dodd and others.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Here is a perfect form of an oath, which is nothing else but a solemn calling of God to witness the truth of what we speak, whether promising or asserting. Those words,
upon my soul, also have the force of an imprecation; but it is in a very serious thing: the apostle was deeply charged with levity, for not making good his promise in coming; and because he reasonably presumed, that some amongst them would be difficult to believe the true cause, to gain credit with them, he takes a voluntary oath, which in weighty matters is lawful (though sometimes it be done not before a magistrate). The thing he thus attests is: That he hitherto had forborne to come out of kindness to them; to
spare them, (as he phraseth it), which may either be understood of their purses, for he could not have gone without some charge to them, though he took no standing salary from them for preaching: or (as others possibly judge better) to spare their persons; for if he had come before they had reformed those abuses that were amongst them, he must (as he before spake) have come unto them with a rod.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. Moreover IGreek,“But I (for my part),” in contrast to GODwho hath assured us of His promises being hereafter fulfilledcertainly (2Co 1:20-22).
call Godtheall-knowing One, who avenges wilful unfaithfulness to promises.
for a record upon my soulAsa witness as to the secret purposes of my soul, and a witnessagainst it, if I lie (Mal3:5).
to spare youin ordernot to come in a rebuking spirit, as I should have had to come toyou, if I had come then.
I came not as yetGreek,“no longer”; that is, I gave up my purpose of thenvisiting Corinth. He wished to give them time for repentance, that hemight not have to use severity towards them. Hence he sent Titusbefore him. Compare 2Co 10:10;2Co 10:11, which shows that hisdetractors represented him as threatening what he had not courage toperform (1Co 4:18; 1Co 4:19).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Moreover, I call God for a record upon my soul,…. The apostle having asserted his stability, both as a minister and a Christian, which, with others, he had from God, appeals to him in the most solemn manner, in full form of an oath, for the truth of what he was about to say; and is all one as if he had said, I swear by the living God, the searcher of all hearts; I call upon him to attest what I say, and bear witness to my soul, that it is true,
that to spare you, I came not as yet unto Corinth; however fickle, unstable, and inconstant, it may be insinuated to you I am, or you may take me to be, I do assure you in the name and presence of God, that the true reason of my not coming to you hitherto, since I gave you reason to expect me, was, that I might not be burdensome or chargeable to you; or I have delayed coming to you, hoping for a reformation among you, that when I do come, I may not come with a rod, and severely chastise you for the many disorders among you; that I might not use sharpness according to the power God has given me, in an extraordinary way, as an apostle, to punish for offences committed. Hence we learn, that an oath is a solemn appeal to God, and may be lawfully made in cases of moment and importance, as this of the apostle’s was; whose character was traduced, and with which was connected the usefulness of his ministry; and it being an affair that could not be determined in any other way, and an oath being for confirmation, and to put an end to strife, he makes one in this serious and awful manner.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But I call God for a witness upon my soul ( ). Solemn attestation, “calling heaven to witness is frequent in literature from Homer onwards” (Plummer). Thus God is described above (cf. 1Thess 2:5; 1Thess 2:10; Rom 1:9; Gal 1:20; Phil 1:8).
To spare you ( ). Present middle participle (causal rather than final) of , old verb, to hold back, to spare. Ablative case .
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
I call God for a record [ ] . Rev., better, witness. A common classical idiom. Compare Plato : “Next will follow the choir of young men under the age of thirty, who will call upon the God Paean to testify to the truth of these words” (” Laws, “664). Homer :” For the gods will be the best witnesses “(” Iliad,” 22, 254). Compare Rom 1:9; Gal 1:20; Phi 1:8; 1Th 2:5, 10; Gen 31:50, Sept. This particular form of expression occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. The verb is often translated appeal, as Act 25:11, 12. Also to call upon, in the sense of supplication, Rom 10:12, 13, 14; 1Co 1:2.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Moreover I call God as a record,” (ego de martura ton theon epikaloumai) “now I call upon God as a witness;” as he often did to emphasize the honesty of his testimony in this matter, Rom 1:9; Gal 1:20.
2) “Upon my soul,” (epi ten emen psuchen) on my life,” or against my soul”; if he spoke falsely; See Php_1:8; 1Th 2:5; 1Th 2:10.
3) “That to spare you,” (hoti pheidomenos humon) “That sparing or to spare you;” sharp reproof such as he had written them in 1Co 4:21.
4) “I came not as yet unto Corinth,” (ouketi ethon eis Korinthon) “not yet I came (of my own accord) to Corinth;” Paul wanted the brethren to know that he had their interest at heart in delaying his visit with them. He did not wish his next visit to be as painful in rebuking them as on a previous occasion, 2Co 13:1-2.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
23. I call God for a witness. He now begins to assign a reason for his change of purpose; for hitherto he has merely repelled calumny. When, however, he says that he spared them, he indirectly throws back the blame upon them, and thus shows them that it would be unfair if he were put to grief through their fault, but that it would be much more unfair if they should permit this; but most of all unfair if they should give their assent to so base a calumny, as in that case they would be substituting in their place an innocent person, as if he had been guilty of their sin. Now he spared them in this respect, that if he had come he would have been constrained to reprove them more severely, while he wished rather that they should of their own accord repent previously to his arrival, that there might be no occasion for a harsher remedy, (303) which is a signal evidence of more than paternal lenity. For how much forbearance there was in shunning this necessity, when he had just ground of provocation!
He makes use, also, of an oath, that he may not seem to have contrived something to serve a particular purpose. For the matter in itself was of no small importance, and it was of great consequence that he should be entirely free from all suspicion of falsehood and pretence. Now there are two things that make an oath lawful and pious — the occasion and the disposition. The occasion I refer to is, where an oath is not employed rashly, that is, in mere trifles, or even in matters of small importance, but only where there is a call for it. The disposition I refer to is, where there is not so much regard had to private advantage, as concern felt for the glory of God, and the advantage of the brethren: For this end must always be kept in view, that our oaths may promote the honor of God, and promote also the advantage of our neighbours in a matter that is befitting. (304)
The form of the oath must also be observed — first, that he calls God to witness; and, secondly, that he says upon my soul For in matters that are doubtful and obscure, where man’s knowledge fails, we have recourse to God, that he, who alone is truth, may bear testimony to the truth. But the man that appeals to God as his witness, calls upon him at the same time to be an avenger of perjury, in the event of his declaring what is false. This is what is meant by the phrase upon my soul. “I do not object to his inflicting punishment upon me, if I am guilty of falsehood.” Although, however, this is not always expressed in so many words, it is, notwithstanding, to be understood. For
if we are unfaithful, God remaineth faithful and will not deny himself (2Ti 2:13.)
He will not suffer, therefore, the profanation of his name to go unpunished.
(303) “ Remede plus aspre et rigoureux;” — “A harsher and more rigorous remedy.”
(304) “ Moyennant que ce soit en chose iuste et raisonable;” — “Provided it is in a matter that is just and reasonable.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES
(N.B.The paragraph really begins at 2Co. 1:23.)
2Co. 1:1. Determined.As in 1Co. 2:2. For myself.So R.V., meaning, For my own sake as well as for yours. Again.To be linked with come only? (q.d. To come again, and to have a sorrowful visit); or with with sorrow? (q.d. a second sorrowful visit, like a former one). Answer variously given, according as an intermediate visit, unmentioned in the Acts, is not, or is, supposed. Agreed that the visit recorded in Acts 18 was not specially a sorrowful visit. In heaviness.With sorrow (R.V.). Here also external considerations very much decide whether this shall mean, with sorrow in my heart or to inflict sorrow on you. [See Introduction, more fully.]
2Co. 1:2. He that is made sorry.Probably not the particular offender of these verses; but quite general. Paul can grieve them all; each one of them, thus grieved, must make him glad. 2Co. 1:3 confirms this.
2Co. 1:3. This very thing.Viz. 1Co. 5:1 sqq. (Waite, in Speaker, however, thinks rather the decision announced in 2Co. 1:1.) Paul means, I wrote, rather than come at once.
2Co. 1:4.Another concurrent and quite consistent reason, I wrote with tears, in order that, etc.
2Co. 1:5.Very difficult to translate with any certainty. Ambiguous for two reasons:
(1) What does in part belong to? Answer not certainly clear;
(2) What is the grammatical object of overcharge, overweight? Answer again not certainly clear.
(2) is answered in opposite ways by the and A.V., the two being typical of many more commentators. So is
(1). The A.V. means, The grief has not fallen entirely and only upon me, but on you also. Not to think so, would on my part be to charge upon you all the heavy sin of indifference to his sin. means, But in part (let me say)not to make too grave a matter of it against himhe has grieved you all. Four variants are supported:
He hath not grieved me
but in part; that I may not overcharge you all.
but in part, that I may not overcharge (him), you all.
but in part, that I may not overcharge you, all (of you).
but in part, that I may not overcharge all, you.
2Co. 1:6.Note, the many (R.V.). The sentence was the act of a (voting) majority.
2Co. 1:7.Note His sorrow. accurately.
2Co. 1:9.How many, perfectly true, concurrent, motives go to one act.
2Co. 1:10.He concurs in what the majority had, previously to his writing, determined; concurs surely is not the spirit of one who played the Lord over them (2Co. 1:24). Choose between presence and person, [The homiletics that follow assume person, because of Mat. 18:20.]
2Co. 1:11.Beet makes more of Satans endeavouring to compass some harm, not to the poor penitent offender, but, by means of him, and using him and other evil circumstances of their case, to the Church. Unwise discipline, and tolerated evil within, perhaps equally give an open door to the adversary of souls. [Cf. 1Co. 7:5 for the need of wise watchfulness against a real, evil Personality, full of very wise devices.] But preferable to understand as of Satan directly seeking opportunity of harming the penitent man.
HOMILETIC ANALYSIS.Chap. 2Co. 1:23 to 2Co. 2:11
Paul and the Now Penitent Offender of 1Co. 5:1-5.
I. The penitent man is an instructive study.
1. The interval had been brief since chap. 5 of the former letter was written, and from that brief interval must be deducted the time from writing until it was read at Corinth, and from the time of the mans manifest repentance until the news of this reached Paul in Ephesus. But in the brief interval, thus narrowed, had occurred a marvellous, a revolutionary, moral change in the man,from a form of fornication abhorrent even to Corinthian heathen ideas, to repentance so deep, that he who was to have been delivered to Satan, might now safely be restored to the Church and to Christ. And not the least remarkable point in the case is that a man living in such sin, apparently with as little sense as had some of his fellow-members, of the shame it brought upon the Church, should, by the very fact of the Church having laid upon him a sufficient punishment [though (perhaps) one something short of the full penalty prescribed in the former letter; his alarm and repentance may have been so quick and so genuine that the need for this was averted], have been so filled with sorrow, that there was danger of a true penitent being driven to despair, and (we may say?) delivered to Satan by the very overmuch of his grief.
2. The case is not an uncommon one in mission-fields in heathen countries, or even in home mission work amongst the lowest or the degraded population of a nominally Christian land; and, as one of the typical, didactic instances by which, rather than by abstract discussions or elaborate theses upon given topics, God has been pleased to reveal His thought, it has many divinely authoritative suggestions. For example, it reminds us how widely the degrees of moral enlightenment and of moral sensitiveness may differ, whilst yet there is equally a relation to Christ which, though gravely imperilled by the sin, is worth caring for and endeavouring to strengthen. In a Christian land, in circles where Christian standards of morality have largely influenced even society ethics, such a sin as this of the Corinthian offender is reprobated with the utmost weight of verbal and practical censure; whilst a persistent refusal to forgive a fellow-Christian for a comparatively small offence, is hardly condemned at all. No doubt a practical difficulty occurs in judging of a sin of spirit (2Co. 7:1); it is not easy to verify the facts, as can be done in (say) a palpable lapse into sensuality; it is not easy to pronounce judgment upon the moral worth of often very complex feelings[no virtue, and no sin, is single; all is complex]; whereas a plain act, manifestly incompatible with the most elementary law of God, can be both verified and judged. But this should not so affect our estimate of sin, as to make us forget that for a reclaimed drunkard to fall back grossly into his old sin, or for a man saved from profanity to break out, like Peter, in oaths and imprecations, or for a heathen, half in habit and heedlessness, to be led back into some gross but customary sin of his old life, may argue less of downright evil of heart than for a professedly Christian man persistently to cherish envy or pride, or to indulge in evil-speaking, or to become thoroughly of the world, in principle and spirit, in aims and affections. Remembering the men remembering the history of the men, their opportunities, their surroundings, the worldliness of the one may be a more grievous fall than the gross sin of the other. [The one is certainly as little compatible with the perfect law of life in Christ as is the other, the open and gross.] Our relative estimate of sin and of sinners needs continually reviewing in the light of that holiness which condemns sins of the flesh and of the spirit with at least equal censure. Rebellion in Saul may be more than the witchcraft in some wretched hag of Endor; stubbornness in Saul may be a worse sin than that idolatry which he had prosecuted in others with a Puritan rigour (1Sa. 15:23). Sin may not be extenuated. [Certainly, even consummate genius must not excuse sensualism and impurity, in poetry or art, or laxity in morals.] An Ananias and a Sapphira may so deliberately and distinctly lie unto the Holy Ghost (Act. 5:3), that there is for them no forgiveness, and nothing but excision from the body [query Gal. 5:12] is on all accounts possible. Such discipline, sharp and swift, may be the only means of educating a pure public opinion in the Church, and for teaching a man of low type like the fornicator at Corinth to see himself as others see him, and as God sees him and his sin. An objective conscience, thus forcing its decision upon the attention of the wrong-doer, may be the only awakener and educator of his own. But Father, forgive them, for they know what they do, is high authority for a tender handling of some whose actual sin is flagrant and open. They needed forgiving, but their ignorance left the door open for forgiveness. Their guilt who actually, and perhaps with some coarse delight in giving pain, drove in the nails, was not so great as that of Caiaphas, who stood by, laying not a finger of his unsoiled hands upon the Sacred Sufferer, yet who in his heart was perhaps more truly than any other one man there present His real murderer. There is more grace in the repentance of a Corinthian fornicator, than in the largely conventional purity of some English or American Christians. There is more to love in the repentant prodigal, with all his riotous living and the waste of his patrimony, than in the grudging elder brother, whose life is blameless, save for the one lifelong sin of a loveless heart. This Corinthian sinned grossly, but he repented graciously. The sin needed every word of sternest rebuke which Paul had written; the fair name of the Church, and of Christ, must at all costs be kept clear before the world. If there had been no repentance, then the mysterious penalty of deliverance to Satan must righteously have been enforced to its uttermost of consequence [though even this contemplated the saving of the spirit (1Co. 5:5)]. But gross and unexampled as was this mans sin, there was much grace in a man, and hope for a man, who so promptly and unreservedly, with tears and broken heart, bowed before the censure of his pastor and his brethren, and in whom conscience was so easily awakened and so entirely obeyed. The bruised reeds (in Mat. 12:14-21) were as helpless as they were evil, in the presence of the power of Jesus; the smoking flax of the wick of the lamp of their expiring religious life was as offensive as it was easily to be quenched. But if the reed is humbled at its weakness and sin, if the smoking flax will bear to be rekindled, Paul loves to restore such a one. His sin was a grievous offence; yet such a gross, but easily convinced and deeply penitent offender as this man of Corinth, is not the greatest sinner, nor the hardest to win and keep or recover for Christ. And all this not indistinctly outlines the judgment of God in Christ upon some chief of sinners.
II. The tears of Paul.
1. In no letter do we get so near to Paul as in this Second to Corinth, or see and hear his very self. And, of all the letter, this is truer of no section more than of 2Co. 1:23 to 2Co. 2:11. First and foremost stand his tears. The Corinthians had imagined a man lording it over their faith; and all the while he was weeping over the loss of their love! They imagined, and maligned or decried, a self-seeking man, not above enriching himself and his companions and emissaries out of funds given to the Jerusalem poor (2Co. 8:16-23); and all the while this masterful, tyrannical, self-seeking man was toiling at his tentmaking in Ephesus, and instead of arranging for an immediate visit was dictating to his amanuensis a letter [assuming with some that 2Co. 1:4 alludes to an intermediate, lost letter], because, if he were to come, he must use an Apostolic severity of power such as he was unwilling to inflict upon those whom he had led to Christ, and whom he loved as only a spiritual father loves spiritual children. The unmarried [or widower], childless Paul is as tender as a mother. I am only happy when I see you happy; I am sure that you are only happy when I am so; I could not bear to think of your making me unhappy by your own sorrow (2Co. 1:3); I must have used the rod if 1 had come, and I could not bear your tears. This man, whose words thunder and flash lightnings, has written out of much affliction and anguish of heart; [and according to a strongly favoured interpretate of 2Co. 1:8-10 was quite prostrated, overburdened, broken-hearted, fit for no work, nearly killed, by the tidings of their wrong-doing and of their factious jealousy against himself]. They thought, or said, that they found a man strong, stern, to the point of hardness; we know a man tender, tearful, perhaps even constitutionally timid [so Howson suggests: Character of St. Paul, lecture ii.; and if so, then naturally drawn to Timothy, around whom he so often in these letters throws the arm of his guaranteeing, guarding, strengthening love], doing all he did with a great and often violent strain upon himself, and all simply in the strength of the grace of God. It is imperfect manhood that cannot weep; and if in our undemonstrative, self-repressed days, tearful eyes be out of fashion for men, a perfect man will have a heart that can weep. Strong men are tender; tender men are strong. Their very tenderness is a helpful strength to many who lean upon them.
2. And, once more, as in the case of the Penitent Wrong-doer, there comes back the lesson to be very cautious in judgment. Naturally it is not easy for one who is smarting under the lash, to think very kind things of him who must needs wield it. The child hardly appreciates at the moment the love or wisdom which blames sharply or punishes severely. But the love is there. Do not sit in Corinth and hastily misread as a hard man Paul weeping at Ephesus. Experience shows, as it accumulates with years, how tender a heart may guide a stern tongue or move a strong hand. [See a tender delicate weed springing up from between the flagstones of a courtyard. Under those cold, hard stones its roots have found, and now witness to, soft, moist soil, where it may nourish its strength. So, see a strong, rough-spoken man bending over a fallen child to pick it up, perhaps with an awkward kiss before he carries it to a place of safety. That kiss is the weed which tells of the tender heart underneath the stone-cold, stone-hard surface of the manner and the life. That man is not wholly bad. These few verseseven these two, 3, 4with their tears, are precious; they reveal the true Paul to us, as we should not have known him from the Acts, nor from the First Epistle to Corinth. How many a worker must be content to go forward year after year misread, misjudged, and feeling in some degree crippled in his usefulness by the wrong estimate formed of him by those to whom he would be useful!
3. May we not rise higher, with the suggestion of Pauls tears whilst he writes words of sharp rebuke, to help us? From Pauls tears may we not rise to the tears of Christ, and, yet higher, once more to the heart of God? By no forced or chance analogy. Paul, like every Christian man, of necessity reproduces more or less perfectly his Pattern, because the Spirit of Christ is within him the Life of his life, the Former of his character. And he that hath seen Christ hath seen the Father. We remember how Christ once at least looked around on a gathering in a Capernaum synagogue with a holy anger in His eyes (Mar. 3:5); but the sentence continues, being grieved with the hardness of their hearts. The wail of disappointed love cries, How often would I have gathered. Ye would not; but words of stern, irrevocable doom follow: Your house is left unto you desolate. As we see them in the Son who has revealed Him, anger and grief are never far apart in God. He has no love for inflicting pain. He has no love for the future punishment of creatures whom He has made. If it must beif they make it a necessityit must and will be. Holiness must be vindicated; sin is a peril to the good order, and so to the happiness, of the universe. He must reign, even if this must mean enemies put beneath His feet. But one can believe that there are tears in the heart of the very Judge, as He sets some on the left hand for whom He shed His blood. One may almost venture reverently to imagine Him following them as they depart, with His word, Ye would not, ye would not, come to Me that ye might have life! [Can we not see in His face the sorrow of the love of Christ, as He follows with His eyes the departing young ruler, so lovable, and yet so unready for eternal life? (Luk. 18:23-24).] Men say of God, I know Thee, that Thou art hard, reaping where, etc. (Mat. 25:34). But they know God as little as the Corinthians knew Paul, the man of many tears. They do not know Him, as they may see Him, if they will, in Christ.
III. Paul the pastor.
1. How careful he is that his motives should be understood. I call God for a record upon my soul, etc. Quite consistent with all said above (under 2Co. 1:17 sqq.), that his personal character, and what they thought of it and of him, were only matters of concern so far as they might be supposed to affect their estimate of the Gospel he preached, or of the Christ Who is the very heart and burden of it. And quite consistent also with the words of the Divine Legislator for the kingdom of heaven (Mat. 5:37). Paul is not a yes and no man; but his word here is not simply, Yea, yea; nay, nay. He strengthens it with an affirmation (cf. Rom. 1:9) which one could have supposed too serious for a mere personal matter like this, his motive in making a change in his itinerary. The Master had said, Whatsoever is more than thesethe plain yes and nocometh of evil. In a world of evil, where men are evil, and where sin has put the relations of social intercourse so much out of joint, a strengthened Yea or Nay may be inevitable. And in this particular instance it is no merely personal matter. It is for the Gospels sake still. A pastors good understanding with his people is to him a power which he can use for their sakes. If they distrust his character, or lose confidence in his word, he will be of little use to them. A transparent simplicity of act and word and motive will give him a hold upon their hearts, if even they question, or differ from, his judgment. But such a protest as this, such a purgation of himself on oath, is a rare thing; Pauls normal attitude is in 1Co. 4:3,A small thing with me that I, etc. Since, however, those words were written, new circumstances had arisen, which wrung from him this protest, for his peoples sake even more than for his own. Says the Great Shepherd: I know My sheep, and am known of Mine! Paul wants his flock to know him.
2. Not a lord over faith, but a helper of joy.
(1) They are believers; even these Corinthians are (2Co. 1:24). He is only a believer himself; in Christ, as man and man, every Corinthian and he have the same standing. Their faith is the vital link holding them to Christ; every man believes aloneby and for himself. It is his own unshared act. And the status in Christ is retained by believing; it may be forfeited by sinsin which is fatal to faith, because grieving to the Spirit by Whose help alone men do, or can, savingly believe. If not, if we (continue to) walk in the light as He is. We have fellowship, and the blood cleanseth, etc.; with a continuous efficacy it puts a bar between us and our native guilt, and we retain our new status of grace. We are justified by faith, and by the same faith we have our access into grace whereby we stand (Rom. 5:1-2) and rejoice. The grafting into Christ, the abiding in Christ, the joy in Christ,all hinge upon faith. No Paul, nor any other wise pastor, will venture to lord it over the life of faith. One is Master, even Christ; the rest are all brethren (Mat. 23:8).
(2) But it is brotherly in the highest degree to help the joy of another. To add sunshine to daylight, as Wordsworth says, is no small honour to a successful pastor. To be able so to bring a living, bright, realised Christ near to them, as that fear gives place to rest, and gloom to joy; so to be used to open up Scripture, with its teachings as to the style of life possible to, becoming in, provided for, children of God, as that they rise to the higher level, and with a glad and free heart, which has lost everything of merely obligatory and mechanical, all sense of bondage and constraint, in religion, go forward, glad in the Lord; by his own testimony and experience, so to be helpful as to clear away difficulties, and to encourage and embolden fearful hearts to hope for more, and to dare more, in the life of godliness;it may well be an ambition of a worthy pastor, as, when won, it will be a cause of unspeakable thankfulness.
IV. The pastor exercising discipline.
1. He does it in the spirit just sketched out,not as a lord, but as a helper. A pure Church is a glad Church. Offences purged away, Achans sought out and put away, then conquests and work proceed apace, and all share the joy of success. If also discipline be exercised upon the individual, it is not for his destruction, or even for his exclusion, but for his recovery from his fall, and his restoration to his place in Christ; and thus is really working towards the joy of even the offender. It might be difficult, without undue straining, to find any analogical suggestion of God or Christ in Pauls disclaimer of lordship over their faith; though when we remember how sacredly the liberty of the will is guarded in all the relations between God and man, and how that most Godlike characteristic of the human personality is (may we say?) so respected by God Himself, that all the loving, mighty constraint used by the Spirit of God, when endeavouring to lead a man to Christ, always stops short of compulsion; and when we remember how, assisted though it be by the grace of God, the act of believing is a mans own, for which he is responsible; we might almost say that God Himself has chosen to refrain from exercising lordship over mens faith. There would be no morality, no value to Him, in a compelled believing, or in a compulsory creeda thing which, if accepted at all, must be accepted by a hypocrite or a machine. He would not care for the offering of such a faith. So far as there is surrender to His yoke, it is the surrender of a convinced understanding or of an instructed heart. But it needs no forcing of analogy to see God as the supreme helper of His peoples joy, even when exercising the discipline of rebuke and sharp chastening. It is the happy paradox of the Christian life: Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. We exult in tribulations also, knowing that, etc. (Jas. 1:2; Rom. 5:3). If the foundation of the Christian character be right, if the heart be sound toward God, then all His providential discipline of habit and character, all the keen pruning away of excrescences and blemishes, everything which smites, and delivers from, sin,all work together for a holiness which is, in part, joy. The happy God [so literally 1Ti. 1:11; 1Ti. 6:15] works towards His own happiness in His children. He loves to have them rejoice evermore; it is part of His will in Christ Jesus concerning them (1Th. 5:16-18). That your joy may be full is a distinct desire and purpose of that Son, Who in all things has revealed to us the Father, by what Himself is, quite as much as by what He says about the Fattier (Joh. 16:24). Cf. also Joh. 17:13 : That they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves. The pastoral office of the Great Shepherd may not infrequently demand words as sharp, and discipline as severe, as those of Paul the pastor towards his Corinthians; but it aims at their joy. Their religious life can never realise fully how the fruit of the Spirit is joy, if there be, in any degree or form, sin. Yet He would have their life not a restraint, or a series of self-denials, or a round of stern obligations, nor even a hoping and striving forward and upward, without ever being quite satisfied; but, rather, a joyous life, full of assurance and buoyancy and victory. Indeed, the joy is not only a thing desirable in itself; it is a means to something yet more desirable. The joy of the Lord is strength to the Lords people, as certainly now as in the days of Nehemiah (Neh. 8:10). It is a view of the Heavenly Father as unworthy and untrue as was the Corinthian view of Paul, to imagine Him without care for His peoples happiness. He is not the God to grudge joy to His creatures. They should not think of Him as, if anything, predisposed to take away rather than to give; as likely to meet their devotion to Him of themselves and of all they are and have, by a demand for the surrender of something very dear. He cares for their holiness first; if that can be secured, and yet even their natural joy be untouched or enhanced, He will assuredly so order it, in His disposition of their life. Holiness is before all; but joy through holiness is certain; and He will always work towards this, with a minimum of discipline and of pain. Did this passage in the letter so reveal the heart of the real Paul to the Corinthian Church that they doubted, or maligned him, no more? Do believe it, brethren, that in writing as I did, and in all I have done for you, I desired to be a helper of your joy. If His people will look into the heart of God, as it has been laid bare to them in the words and work, and in the very self, of His Son, they will see in Him also One Who by all His dealings with them heartily desires their joy. And when at last they enter into the joy of their Lord (Mat. 25:21), the good and faithful servants will be realising the fulfilment of all their Divine Masters purposes and leading in their life.
2. He delays, and is reluctant to exercise discipline at all. To spare you, I came not as yet, etc.Here again is a trait of that God in Christ Whom Paul, as it were, reproduces, as a consequence of the union, the unifying, the real fellowship of life, which are his in Christ. Anybody can drive away or cut off a sheep from the flock (Eze. 34:4, etc.; Joh. 10:12). The Wolf can do that admirably; it is his work. We are not ignorant of his devices. If he could have picked up this poor Corinthian thrust out of the fold, nothing would have served his turn better than an excessive discipline, carried beyond what the repentance of the offender now had made necessary. Accordingly, Paul would have the Corinthian Church follow the lead of his own action towards them as a whole. A minimum of discipline, brethren, and that reluctant, and delayed. Take your penitent back again. You have chastened him sufficiently. Your concurrent (2Co. 1:6) censure has had its effect. He is in danger of being swallowed up by the very excess of the sorrow of his repentant shame. You have been yourselves put to the test. [As every case of wrongdoing in a Church does put the members to the test. What is their attitude towards sin? What towards this particular sin? Can it be said by their Lord, Ye cannot bear them which are evil? (Rev. 2:1, of the very Ephesus from which Paul is writing). Is there that sure sign of health in a body, that it is restless, and cannot suffer a wound to heal up, so long as any diseased bone or foreign body lodged in its tissues is unexpelled?] I wanted [did not their Lord also desire?] to see whether you felt with me about such sin, and whether, indeed, my word would command your obedience. [Not lording it over them, indeed, yet having rule, such rule as a shepherd must needs exercise over a flock (Heb. 13:7; Heb. 13:17).] You have stood the test well. Now we must not play the game of Satan, and leave to him a soul for his prey. Restore the man; confirm your love toward him. As little discipline as possible; as little putting away as possible. That was in my heart towards yourselves, when I changed my route, and did not come direct to you. I did not want to be necessitated to visit sharply sin such as I should have found if I had come then, but which you now have put away. It is wise pastoral policy, it is wise paternal rule in a family, as it is wise political government, to govern as little as possible, to punish as seldom as possible, to aim at recovery and restoration rather than penal infliction or exclusion. It is the wisdom, it is the heart of a good shepherd; it is once more the heart of God. Again the analogy needs no forcing, and it is based upon a real unity of purpose and life. As the weeping pastor at Ephesus, so the patient, but often deeply grieved, Father in heaven: To spare you I came not, etc. Hear Him speaking of old: I will not be always wroth, for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made (Isa. 57:16). The longsuffering of God leadeth thee to repentance (Rom. 2:4). Remembering the holy intensity of Gods necessary antagonism [hatred] to sin; remembering the flagrant, and insolent, offence to His holiness which every day goes up to Him from earth; remembering the fearful propagatory power of evil and of the prolonged life of an evil-doer; do not men naturally wonder that the just Judge bears so long, not only with His people, to whom all this sin is an offence, a temptation, a trial, and sometimes an acute and oppressive persecution, but with the evildoers themselves? (Luk. 18:7). When men have seen some culminating and outrageous piece of cruelty, or treachery, or fraud committed, have they not prim facie reason to say, as the wrong-doer seems not only to escape penalty, but even to prosper as the fruit of his sin, Him doth God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High? [Psa. 73:11; but note that the question has in that verse a boldly unbelieving turn and tone given to it]. God can afford to wait, and to be silent, however misunderstood and misjudged. [Patiens, quia ternus (Augustine).] And His answer to His Church in the day of His own vindication will be: To spare the sinners, I came not, etc. It is the appeal of His forbearance to the individual sinner. Why was he not cut off, cast off, the very first time he deliberately, and with clear understanding of his act, refused to obey the will or call of God? Why did not a stroke of judgment make his first sin his lastat any rate, his last on earth? To spare thee, I came not, etc. Judgment must come some day. Gods patience is holy, and therefore cannot be infinite. But holy wrath lingers. The times of this ignorance God winked at, but now, etc. (Act. 17:30). How often has Pauls turning aside from a visitation, which could have had no room in it for anything but punishment, been reproduced on a scale of Divine enlargement of love and patience, in His turning aside from the sinner, desiring that respite and delay might mean a repentance which should make judgment needless, and mercy and restoration possible to the Divine Love?
V. The pastors absolution.Two Gospel passages underlie, or are well illustrated by, 2Co. 1:7; 2Co. 10:1. In Mat. 18:18 a power of binding and loosing is made one of the prerogatives of the Church of Christ within its own borders. To whom is such a power to sit in judgment upon their fellow-men to be entrusted? To even two or three, if they be met in [unto] the name of their Lord; in which case He also is with them in the midst, and thus, with Him, two or threewith no restriction to apostles or official membersare a quorum which may form an assembly of the Church, valid for discipline whether to bind or loose sentence and penalty. Inherent in the whole body,for the terms are perfectly general,it may be from time to time, and from case to case, specially localised in the particular Church, or even in the two or three along with whom is the Fourth, the First, the Lord. [So Joh. 20:22-23, spoken, both as to mission and disciplinary power, to a much larger company than the twelve.] Accordingly the many at Corinth had inflicted the punishment. It is ye forgive; Paul follows the lead, or adopts the act, of the Church. There is no need to suppose that, even at a date so early, there were not elders, or officers of some sort, at Corinth, who in the disciplinary action would be the mouthpiece of the Church. But convenience and seemly order, not principle, would govern and dictate such a specialisation of function. Their forgiveness would be the forgiveness of the whole Church. The Church has acted, without waiting for Paul, or even for his directions to forgive the man.
2. Mat. 17:19-20 is also in his mind. Rather, it is his working theory of discipline in the Church, as was seen in 1Co. 5:3-5. The gathering which he there instructed them to arrange for, in regard to this very offender, was to be composed of the Church, plus Pauls spirit, plus the power of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then their discipline became the discipline of Christ; and now that they have forgiven, Paul concurs and forgives, just as if he had been actually with them. But the forgiveness of the Church, met in that Name, and the forgiveness of Paul thus exercised to ratify theirs, are neither ecclesiastical nor sacerdotal, but representative; it is, as it were, in the person of Christ [to keep to the translation which falls in so perfectly with the passage in the Gospels and that in the preceding Epistle]. As in the original enactment of this power of binding and loosing, the act is His Who is in their midst, answering by His very presence and direction the prayer for guidance, as touching which the little company have agreed to ask. Christ is the supreme and sole fount of forgiveness. All human forgiveness is declaratory only. The priest who cleansed the leper [Psa. 51:2, cleanse me; the quasitechnical word for the act of the priest in such a case] could only declare him physically clean, and give official recognition to the fact that ipso facto he had become released from all the restrictions binding on a leper. Loosing him meant declaring him loosed. It is a pastoral absolution; the forgiveness of a shepherd who cares most that a sheep shall not be thrust into the power of Satan, the master of many devices, subtle as of old.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(23) I call God for a record.Better, I call upon God as a witness against my soul. The thought seems to come across St. Pauls mind that the Corinthians will require a more specific explanation of his change of plan, and he finds this in what had been in part suggested in 1Co. 4:21. Had he carried out his first purpose, he would have come to punish or chastise. He had been, on this account, reluctant to come. His not coming was an act of leniency.
I came not as yet.Better, I came no morei.e., not a second time after his first visit. The Greek adverb cannot possibly mean not yet.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23. For a record Literally, as a witness.
Upon my soul Upon which I invoke the divine penalty in case of falsehood. This is a most solemn adjuration. It expresses the deep intensity of his wish to expel from their minds the notion that his change of plan was from fickleness in him, or slight to them, or any other motive than a desire to spare them a severe visitation. St. Paul repeatedly makes asseveration, in this epistle, since his truth and rectitude stand impeached by his detractors on the most important of all subjects. The sacred loftiness of these formulae raise them above profanity.
To spare you To avoid meeting you with discipline.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2. Paul’s motive for changing his plan of visit, was a wish not to come to their grief, 2Co 1:23 to 2Co 2:4.
St. Paul most earnestly protests that his not coming, as planned, was to spare them, 2Co 1:23. Not that by the term spare he claims to be lord of their faith; for faith must be free, and by a free faith do they stand; but by severe purifying of their Church he would really aid their joy, 24. But his spare, means, that he determined, even in his own behalf, not to come with an afflicting mission to them. See 2Co 2:1. This in his own behalf, for if he saddened them, his own sole consolers, he abolished the sole source of his own comfort, 2Co 2:2. And he wrote the very severities of his first epistle in order that, the severities being finished in the writing, when he should come he would find a purified Church, and no grief, but a common joy, 2. 3. His writing was, indeed, in tears; but his object in writing was not their grief, but a manifestation of his own love in bringing them to purity and rectitude.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘But I call God for a witness on my soul, that to spare you I forbore coming to Corinth.’
So why then had Paul failed in his promise to come to Corinth? He calls on God to witness to the truth of what he says. It was in order to spare them what would have resulted from his arrival had he come in person. He had felt that the result he desired was better achieved by his severe letter (2Co 2:1-4) and the arrival of Titus among them.
That he felt it necessary to make such an oath shows how difficult the position was. He clearly felt that it overrode the Lord’s teaching that oaths should be avoided in normal relationships. Here it was necessary because it was important for the sake of the Gospel to establish the facts without doubt. He wanted them to know that there really was no other reason for his absence than that he had wanted to spare them sorrow.
‘On my soul’ probably simply means ‘on me’, that is, ‘on what I speak from my inner heart’. Although some see it as indicating something stronger, ‘on my very life’.
In other words he did not want them to be left with the impression that that the reason that he had not come was because he was sulking, or because he was so angry that he wanted nothing to do with them. And a mild explanation at this point might have left them with just such a feeling, and with the idea that his explanation was just an excuse and that he was just being devious. So he was concerned that they did recognise that he was being honest and that that was the true reason, so he confirmed it by this mild oath.
But what does he mean by ‘spare you’? The probability is that he had recognised that he might have to speak very severely about the person in question, and those who were supporting him, in the presence of the whole church, which might have left a longstanding sense of grievance among them. Some might even have been brought in to the situation who were not really to blame, and who might well have been caught in the cross fire, leaving a further trail of resentment. Much misunderstanding might have arisen. This would then have been a hindrance to his future ministry among them. On the other hand his view had been that an Apostolic letter, and a visit by Titus who was clearly not directly involved, would not be taken so personally, and would hopefully strike at the right targets, leaving the way open for a further visit by him.
(That we do not have more details is annoying for the commentator, but it is actually for the good of the church due to the thousands of church situations to which it can be applied, thus giving church leaders an example of unselfish pastoring to go by and to imitate).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Co 1:23-24. Moreover, I call God for a record Or, to witness. Nothing but the great importance of St. Paul’s vindicating his character to such a church, would have justified the solemnity of an oath of this kind. The meaning of these verses is as follows: “With respect to that change in my purpose of coming to you, which some would represent as an instance of a contrary conduct, I call God to witness, and declare to you, even as I have hope that he will have mercy on my soul, that it was not because I slighted my friends, or feared my enemies, but of real tenderness, and with a desire to spare you the uneasiness, which I thought, I must in that case have been obliged to give you,that I came not as yet to Corinth, 2Co 1:24. Not that I pretend to have dominion over your faith; for it is by faith you stand; but I forbore to come, as one concerned to preserve and help forward your joy, which I am tender of; and therefore declined coming to you, whilst I thought you in an estate which would require a severity from me that would trouble you.” It is plain that St. Paul’s doctrine had been opposed by some of them at Corinth; (1Co 15:12.) his apostleship questioned; (1Co 9:1-2.) he himself triumphed over, as if he durst not come; (1Co 4:18.) they saying that his letters were weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence weak, and his speech contemptible; 2Co 10:10. This being the state in which his reputation was then at Corinth, and he having promised to come to them, 1Co 16:5 he could not but think it necessary to excuse his failing them at that time, by reasons which should be both convincing and kind; such as are contained in the verses before us.
Inferences.It is very observable, how often the great Apostle describes and addresses Christians under the appellation of saints. Let the venerable title be ever fixed and retained in our minds; that so we may continually remember the obligations that we are under to answer it, as we would avoid the guilt and infamy of lying to God and men, by falsely and hypocritically professing the best religion, very possibly to the worst, and undoubtedly to the vainest purposes: and that we may be excited to a sanctity becoming this title, let us often think of God, as the Father of mercies, and as the God of all consolation; and especially let us contemplate him, as assuming these titles under the character of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So shall we find our hearts more powerfully engaged to love and trust in him, and enter into a more intimate acquaintance and frequent converse with him. From him may we seek consolation in every distress; considering the supports which we so experience, not as given for ourselves alone, but for others also; that we, on the like principles, may console them. Ministers, in particular, should regard them in this view, and rejoice in those tribulations which may render them more capable of comforting such as are in trouble, by those consolations with which they themselves have been comforted by God; that so the church may be edified; and God glorified in all, by the thanksgiving of many, for mercies obtained in answer to united prayers.
Let us particularly remember the support which St. Paul experienced, when he was pressed above measure, and as it seemed, quite beyond his strength, so as to despair of life,and received the sentence of death in himself, as what was wisely appointed to teach him a firmer confidence in God, who raiseth the dead. Strong as his faith was, it admitted of farther degrees; and the improvement of it was a happy equivalent for all the extremities that he suffered. He therefore glories, as assured of being rescued from future dangers, 2Co 1:10. Nor was his faith vain, though he afterwards fell by the hand of his enemies, and seemed as helpless a prey to their malice and rage, as any of the multitudes whose blood Nero, or the instruments of his cruelty, poured out like water. Death is itself the grand rescue of a good man, which bears him to a state of everlasting security; and in this sense, every believer may in some sort adopt the Apostle’s words; and while he acknowledges past and present, may assuredly, in the confidence of faith, expect future deliverances.
Happy therefore shall we be, if by divine grace we be enabled at all times to maintain the temper and conduct of Christians; and can confidently rejoice in the testimony of our consciences, that our conversation in the world is in simplicity and godly sincerity; that our ends in religion are great and noble; that our conduct is simple and uniform; in a word, that we act as in the sight of a heart-searching God. Then may we look upon the applauses or the censures of men as comparatively a very light matter; and may rest assured, if, as with regard to the Apostle in the instance before us, we suffer a malignant breath for a while to obscure the lustre of our character, but, notwithstanding, continue to cleave to Christ,the day is near, which will reveal it in unclouded glory.
All the promises of God, are yea and amen in Christ. Let us depend upon it that they will be performed to all the faithful saints of God; and let us make it our great care, that we may be able to say we are interested through Christ in the blessings to which they relate. Let there be a proportionable steadiness and consistency in our obedience; nor let our engagements to God be yea and nay, since his are so faithful to his simple-hearted persevering saints.Are we established in Christ? Are we sealed with the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts? Let us acknowledge, that it is God who hath imparted it to us; and let Christians of the greatest integrity and experience be proportionably humble, rather than by any means elated on account of their superiority to others.
We see the light in which ministers should always consider themselves, and in which they are to be considered by others;Not as having dominion over the faith of their people, or a right to dictate, by their own authority, what they should believe, or, on the same principles, what they should do; but as helpers of their joy, in consequence of their being helpers of their piety and obedience. In this view, how amiable and engaging does the ministerial office appear! What a friendly aspect does it wear upon the happiness of mankind! and how little true benevolence do they manifest, who would expose it to ridicule and contempt!
May those who bear that office, be careful that they do not give it the most dangerous wound, and abet the evil works of those who despise and deride it; which yet they will most effectually do, if they once appear to form their purposes according to the flesh. Let them with a single eye direct all their administrations to the glory of God, and the edification of the church; that they may be able to appeal to their hearers, as those who must acknowledge, and bear their testimony to their uprightness. In that case, they may confidently look on them as those, in whom they hope to rejoice in the day of the Lord. And if, while they pursue these ends, they are censured as persons actuated by any mean and less worthy principle, let them not be much surprized or discouraged. They share in exercises, from which the blessed Apostle St. Paul was not exempted; as indeed there is no integrity or caution, which can guard any man from the effects of that malice against Christ and his Gospel, with which some hearts overflow, when they feel themselves condemned by it.
REFLECTIONS.1st, The Apostle opens the Epistle, 1. With his usual address and salutation. Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God eminently called to this high office, and Timothy our brother, who joins me in heartiest affection towards you; unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia, who in profession and practice appear to be separated from the world as the Lord’s peopleGrace be to you, and peace, with all their happy fruits, from God our Father, the Author of all our blessings, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the meritorious cause of them.
2. He blesseth God for the signal mercies that he had experienced. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in and through him, as the divine Mediator, is now become to us the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, multiplying his pardons, showering down his benefits, and giving us temporal and spiritual consolation through this Son of his love, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, by his word and Spirit bringing home the great and precious promises with power to our souls, and shedding abroad his love in our hearts; that, from experience of the riches of his goodness, we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, whether of soul or body, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God, tenderly sympathizing with them, and suggesting those encouraging words of scripture, which, in distress, we have found reviving to our own souls. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, to whom we are thus conformed, and who is still afflicted in all the afflictions of his members, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ, who fails not to minister supports and comforts proportionable to our sufferings. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, it is designed for your advantage; that by our examples of patience, fortitude, and perseverance, you may be encouraged to bear up under every trial, and boldly stand fast, till your salvation is completed; which is effectual by persevering in the exercises of faith and patience, in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted by divine supports under our afflictions, or by seasonable deliverances from them, it is also ordered for your consolation and salvation, as the means thereof, if you will but improve them. Note; (1.) All our mercies from God call for perpetual grateful acknowledgments. (2.) They who have been exercised with trials in their own souls and bodies, will be the most able comforters to others under the like troubles. We speak best, when we speak from experience. (3.) Though our afflictions may be at present grievous, the time will come, if we be faithful in the improvement of them, when we shall see peculiar reason to bless God for them, and know that they have been through grace especially conducive to our eternal salvation. (4.) All our comforts flow from God in Christ, as reconciled to us through the Blood of his Son.
2nd, St. Paul,
1. Expresses his confidence in them; and our hope of you is steadfast, that you will never be discouraged by any tribulations which you see us endure, or are called to bear yourselves; knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings with us, so shall ye be also of the consolation, rejoicing with us here in the experience of God’s love, and, if faithful unto death, shortly to arrive where sorrow shall be for ever banished, and our joys will be perfected.
2. He informs them what a weight of afflictions he had undergone. For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, (see Acts 14; Acts 16; Acts 19.) that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, loaded with burdens more than our natural strength could sustain; so that we despaired even of life, not knowing which way to escape, and our case to all appearance desperate. But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, and concluded that we must be destroyed; the Lord in his providence suffering us to be brought to these extremities, that we should not trust in ourselves, feeling by experience our own utter insufficiency to help ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead, whose wisdom, power, and grace alone could extricate us from our troubles, and save us from the jaws of death. Note; The Lord sometimes suffers his believing people to be reduced as it were to the last gasp in their trials, that he may convince them more deeply of their own helplessness, and magnify his grace and power more signally in their deliverance.
3. He gratefully acknowledges the divine interposition: who delivered us from so great a death, when to human view it appeared inevitable; and doth deliver, in jeopardy as we stand every hour: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us, content to cast our care upon him, in the fullest confidence of his protection and support: Ye also helping together by prayer for us, and joining in affectionate supplications on our behalf, that we may be still preserved in the midst of danger; that for the gift of so signal a deliverance as we have experienced, bestowed upon us by the means of many persons, in answer to the prayers of those faithful souls, who, ceaseless at a throne of grace, besought the Lord for us, thanks may be given by many on our behalf, and God glorified and praised for the mercy that he has extended towards us. Note; (1.) Past experience of God’s interposition should engage us still to hope in his mercy. (2.) None ever trusted God and were confounded. (3.) We owe much to the prayers of those who interest themselves for us in their approaches to God. (4.) The blessings received in answer to prayer, call loud for a due return of praise.
3rdly, The Apostle,
1. Vindicates himself in general from the insinuations of his traducers. For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, maintaining a single eye to God’s glory; not with fleshly wisdom, purposing any mean ends or selfish designs of our own; but by the grace of God, having this for our governing principle, taught by his word, and guided by his Spirit, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you ward who cannot but be conscious how holily and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you; and if I have now disappointed you of my intended visit, it was no double-mindedness, but the providence of God, which prevented me. Note; A good conscience affords always matter of real joy.
2. He appeals to themselves for the truth of what he said. For we write none other things unto you than what you read or acknowledge, and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end; our future conversation will, we trust, be as exemplary as the past. As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus, when we hope to appear with you before him as the seals of our ministry, our joy and crown.
4thly, In answer to the insinuations of his enemies, who accused him of levity and inconstancy:
1. He avers the sincerity of his intentions at he time when he gave them his promise. In the confidence of their affection and esteem he was fully purposed to visit them, in hopes of affording them further spiritual assistance; and not merely to call on them in his way to Macedonia, but to return thence, and make some considerable stay among them, and then to have been helped forward on his journey by them to Jerusalem. When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness, promising rashly, and altering my mind without sufficient reason? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh? Was I influenced by any secular views? Or did I want to flatter you, and tell you what I never intended to perform? That with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay, talking backwards and forwards to serve a turn? No; St. Paul; as every faithful man does, spoke the truth from his heart.
2. He vindicates his doctrine, which the seducers wanted to represent as equally erroneous as his promise was deceitful; and this he does with a solemn appeal to God. But, as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay, our doctrine was not various and changeable, but uniformly the same; for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea; the same crucified Jesus was the subject of our ministry, and we taught with perfect harmony all the glorious truths of Gospel grace: for all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him amen, to all his faithful saints; flowing from the favour and love of God, purchased by the obedience to death, and ratified by the blood-shedding of the Redeemer, unto the glory of God by us, who by our ministrations is thus exalted in the highest.
3. He mentions some of the inestimable blessings which God in Christ Jesus had bestowed. (1.) Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ is God, we are built up in him, and are united together to him as our living Head. (2.) He hath anointed us with the gifts and graces of his Spirit. (3.) He hath also sealed us, stamping his blessed image on our souls. (4.) He hath given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts, shedding abroad his love, as a pledge of that eternal felicity which he will confer upon all his faithful saints.
4. He gives a weighty reason for not coming at present to Corinth, and solemnly calls God to witness thereto, that it was out of mere tenderness towards them, to spare them, that he might not be obliged to inflict on the offenders condign punishment. But, to prevent mistakes, he adds, Not for that we have dominion over your faith, we assume no tyrannical power, nor pretend to be Lords over your conscience; but are helpers of your joy, desiring to promote your spiritual and eternal consolation; for by faith ye standfaith grounded not on fallible human testimony, but on the word of God.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Co 1:23 . After Paul has vindicated himself (2Co 1:16-22 ) from the suspicion of fickleness and negligence raised against him on account of his changing the plan of his journey, he proceeds in an elevated tone to give, with the assurance of an oath (2Co 11:31 ; Rom 1:9 ; Gal 1:20 ), the reason why he had not come to Corint.
] Hitherto he has spoken communicativ , not talking of himself exclusively. Now, however, to express his own self-determination, he continues: but I for my own part , etc.
For examples of , see Wetstein. Comp. Hom. Il . xxii. 254. , Plat. Legg. ii p. 664 C.
. . .] not: against my soul , in which case it would be necessary arbitrarily to supply si fallo (Grotius; comp. Osiander and others, also Ernesti, Urspr. d. Snde , II. p. 102), but, in reference to ( for ) my soul, “in qua rerum mearum mihi conscius sum, quam perimi nolim,” Bengel. It expresses the moral reference of the invocation, and belongs to ., in which act Paul has in view that he thereby stakes the salvation (Heb 10:39 ; 1Pe 1:9 ; Jas 1:21 ) or ruin of his soul (Rom 2:9 ). Comp. the second commandmen.
.] exercising forbearance towards you . This was implied in the very fact of his not coming. Had he come, it must have been , 1Co 4:21 . Comp. 2Co 2:1 .
not again , as would have accorded with my former plan, 2Co 1:16 . But since this former plan is altered already in 1Co 16:5 f., the in must refer to a visit preceding our first Epistl.
] “eleganter pro ad vos in sermone potestatem ostendente,” Bengel.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
23 Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.
Ver. 23. I call God to record ] He purgeth himseff by oath. So those, Jos 22:22 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
23, 24 .] His reason for not coming to them .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
23. . .] against my soul, ‘cum maximo meo malo, si fallo.’ Grot.
.] sparing you , out of a feeling of compassion for you.
‘ no more ,’ viz. after the first time: see Prolegg. to 1 Cor. 2Co 1:6 . The following . seems to be added to remove any false inference which might have been drawn from as seeming to assert an unreasonable degree of power over them. But why ? He had power over them, but it was in matters of discipline, not of faith : over matters of faith not even an Apostle has power (‘fides enim prorsus ab hominum jugo soluta liberrimaque esse debet.’ Calv.), seeing it is in each man’s faith that he stands before God . And he puts this strongly, that in matters of faith he is only a fellow-helper of their joy (the , Rom 15:13 ), in order to shew them the real department of his apostolic power, and that, however exercised, it would not attempt to rule their faith, but only to secure to them, by purifying them, joy in believing. He proceeds to say, that it was the probable disturbance of this joy, which induced bim to forego his visit.
, dat. of the state or condition in which: cf. Rom 11:20 . So Polyb. xxi. 9. .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
2Co 1:23-24 . THE REAL REASON OF THE POSTPONEMENT OF HIS VISIT TO CORINTH WAS THAT HE DID NOT WISH HIS NEXT VISIT TO BE PAINFUL, AS THE LAST HAD BEEN.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
2Co 1:23 . . . . .: but ( sc. , whatever my opponents may say) I invoke God as a witness against my soul, sc. , if I speak falsely; cf. Rom 1:9 , Gal 1:20 , Phi 1:8 , 1Th 2:5 ; 1Th 2:10 . For used in this way cf. (Luk 9:5 ). The A.V. and R.V. “ upon my soul” do not bring out the sense clearly. . . .: that to spare you I came not again to Corinth, i.e. , “I paid no fresh visit,” “I gave up the thought of coming”. The A.V., “I came not as yet ,” is here quite misleading ( cf. 2Co 13:2 and 1Co 4:21 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 2Co 1:23-24
23But I call God as witness to my soul, that to spare you I did not come again to Corinth. 24Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.
2Co 1:23
NASB”But I call God as witness to my soul”
NKJV ‘Moreover I call God as witness against my soul”
NRSV”But I call on God as witness against me”
TEV”I call God as my witness-he knows my heart”
NJB”By my life I call on God to be my witness”
This is an oath of truthfulness. Paul often uses oaths to confirm his words (cf. 2Co 11:11; 2Co 11:31; Rom 1:9; Gal 1:20; Php 1:8; 1Th 2:5).
“to spare you” Paul’s change of travel plans was not an example of his fickleness, but of his love. He chose not to return in an atmosphere where his only option was judgment and contention. The false teachers had impugned his motives and actions. Paul sets the record straight!
“I did not come again to Corinth” There is much debate about the number of visits Paul made from Ephesus to Corinth and the number of letters he wrote to the church in Corinth. For more information see the introduction to 2 Corinthians, D.
2Co 1:24 “Not that we lord it over your faith” Here we see the balance between Paul as an authoritative Apostle, 2Co 1:1, and the liberty of this local congregation. Biblical faith, covenant faith, starts and develops through volitional choices which are meant to produce joy, stability, and maturity.
“for in your faith you are standing firm” Paul mentions this concept in 1Co 15:1 (cf. Rom 5:2; Rom 11:20). This may have an OT background (cf. Psa 76:7; Psa 130:3; Nah 1:6; Mal 3:2; see Special Topic at 1Co 1:9). It speaks of confident faith in God’s presence. In light of the problems at Corinth this is a shocking statement. The Corinthian church was at least not as affected by the arrival of false teachers as the Galatian churches had been. Some of the house churches were strong and pure (i.e., perfect tense, “you have been and continue to stand firm”). See Special Topic: Stand (Histmi)at 1Co 15:1.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought-provoking, not definitive.
1. If Paul is writing to a local problem in Corinth, why was the letter to be read throughout Achaia? (2Co 1:1)
2. What are the two benefits of suffering mentioned in 2Co 1:4; 2Co 1:9?
3. What did Paul suffer in Asia that almost killed him? (vv.8-10)
4. Why was Paul attacked for his change in travel plans? (1Co 16:1-8 versus 2Co 1:12-20)
5. Why do we believe in a Trinity?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
call God for a record = invoke God as a witness.
call. Greek. epikaleomai. See Act 2:21, Compare Act 25:11, Act 25:12, Act 25:21, Act 25:25; &c.
record. Greek. martur. Compare Rom 1:9.
upon, Greek. epi. App-104.
soul. Greek. psuche. App-110.
spare. Greek.pheidomai. See Act 20:29.
as yet. Greek. ouketi.
unto. Greek. eis. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
23, 24.] His reason for not coming to them.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
2Co 1:23. , but I) The particle but forms an antithesis: I was minded to come, but I have not yet come.- , God) the omniscient.-, I call upon) The apostle makes oath.-, upon) a weighty expression.-, soul) in which I am conscious of all that passes within myself, and which I would not wish to be destroyed.-, sparing) a term of large meaning; therefore it is presently after explained: He is able to spare, who has dominion; he also spares, who causes joy rather than sorrow. It confirms this force of the [in his] explanation, in that he says, not for that[9] we have dominion: not, seeing that we have not [i.e. because we have not] dominion.- , to Corinth) This is elegantly used for to you, in using words showing his power. If face to face with them, he would have had to act with greater sternness:[10] for his presence would have been more severe. Comp. Exo 33:3; Hos 11:9. Therefore the apostle had sent Titus before him.
[9] On the ground that.
[10] 2Co 10:10-11.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
2Co 1:23
2Co 1:23
But I call God for a witness upon my soul, that to spare you I forbare to come unto Corinth.-Instead of its being fickleness or fleshly impulse with him, he calls God to witness that he failed to come directly from Ephesus to Corinth that he might spare them. He delayed his coming to give them opportunity to change their course, and that he through his epistle and the messengers he sent might induce them to change their course before his arrival.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Tender-hearted and Forgiving
2Co 1:23-24; 2Co 2:1-11
In these opening words Paul evidently refers to the sin mentioned in 1Co 5:1-13. His judgment had been strong and stringent, the Corinthian church had acted upon it, and the offender had suffered severely in consequence. But the result had been more than satisfactory. He had repented with great brokenness of spirit. Indeed, it seemed as if he would be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow, 2Co 2:7.
The Apostle desires the Corinthians to understand that he also had shed many tears over the case, 2Co 2:4. His was a very affectionate and tender disposition, which shrank from inflicting pain, and yet was resolute at all costs to maintain truth. We get a sidelight here as to the heart of God. May we not believe that whenever He chastens us, it is with profound pity? Whom He loves He chastens; and whom He receives, He scourges. But when there is full and frank repentance, there should be forgiveness. The penitent offender was to be restored to church fellowship and received with brotherly welcome. The Savior Himself speaks through forgiveness. It is His love that moves, His voice that declares; while an unforgiving spirit sets an open door to the entrance of Satan.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
2Co 1:23-24; 2Co 2:1-17
Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth. Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand. But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness. For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me? And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you. But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all. Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christs gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia. Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ. (1:23-2:17)
There are a number of verses in this portion of the Word, any one of which might furnish the theme for a lengthy address, but in giving these expositions I cannot pause on every important verse in the way I should like to do, but must occupy you rather with the general trend of the apostles words, the main thoughts that are emphasized. I want to confine myself largely to verses 14-16, where the saints are seen as led in Christs triumph. But to lead up to that and to connect with that which we have had previously, I will go over the intervening verses.
Some of the Corinthians had charged Paul with lightness, with insincerity, with carelessness, because he had intimated that he was going to visit them and then had refrained from doing so. They said, Yes, he promises one thing and does another. Now he explains more fully just why he did not visit them at an earlier date in accordance with his first intention. I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth. Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand. After having made up his mind to visit them he had heard of their very disorderly conduct; they were going to law one with another, petty jealousies had come up among them, there was a sectarian spirit manifested, some were saying, I am of Paul, others, I am of Apollos, and still others, I am of Christ, as though Christ were the Head of a party instead of the Head of the whole church. And then there were very grievous things of a moral character among them. One had fallen into very marked sin, so much so that the name of God was blasphemed by the world outside because of the wickedness of this professing Christian, and Paul says, as it were, If I came to you after learning these things I would have to come among you with a rod, simply to scold you, to speak sternly to you, and I could not do that. I loved you so tenderly that I preferred to stay away and write to you and pray for you, and to call upon God to enable you to judge these evil things. Now I am glad to find that you have judged them.
He told them in the previous letter that they were to put away that wicked man who had fallen into licentiousness, who was guilty of the sin of fornication, for otherwise he would corrupt the whole fellowship. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump (Gal 5:9). If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat (1Co 5:11). They were to refuse Christian fellowship to such an one, they were to put away from among them that wicked person. They had acted upon that, and because they had, he now feels differently toward them. He did not want to come until they obeyed his instructions-But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness. For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me? That is, if when I came to you my time had to be devoted to bringing before you these corrupt things that have been permitted in your assembly, it would break my heart. You would be made sad and I would be sadder, so I stayed away and prayed and wrote to you. I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. In other words, he said, I had this confidence that if once these evil things were really brought to your attention, your Christian conscience would make you see the importance of dealing with them, you would not go on tolerating the wickedness. And that indeed had been true. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you. It was no easy thing for Paul to bring these things to their attention, nor could he do it in a hard, legal way. They were his children in the faith, he loved them tenderly, and it grieved his spirit to find that they had turned aside to evil ways and were bringing dishonor on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That should ever be the attitude of a true pastor in the church of God.
Now he comes to speak particularly of that wicked man who had fallen into the gross sin of immorality and had been put away from Christian fellowship. If every person guilty of immorality in the professed church could be dealt with and put away today, how much more power there would be in the assemblies of the saints. Of course there is always hidden sin that we cannot deal with, but when it comes to light Gods Word demands that it be dealt with and the wicked person put away. We might say, Well, but if we excommunicate that man, we will drive him from Christian influence and he will get worse and worse. God said, Deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus (1Co 5:5). Put him outside of the assembly of God, put him back in the world to which he belongs, because he is living according to the worlds standards, and leave him there until God brings him to repentance. Then restore him to fellowship.
If any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all. Sufficient to such a man is this punishment [this discipline], which was inflicted of many. It was not Pauls discipline. Paul had told them what to do, and they did it. The responsibility rests, not on the apostle, but on the church of God in a given place. And so the church had inflicted discipline on this man. Now the man is repentant, he proves by his repentance that though he had failed he was really a child of God after all. What will they do with him now? So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. If the Devil cannot get the church of God to overlook an outbreak of iniquity and to go on as though nothing had happened, he will seek to have them go to the other extreme. If discipline is inflicted upon a person and there is sincere repentance, then the Devil will try to harden the hearts of Gods people against him. They will say, We cannot trust that man; he was in our fellowship once, and proved so bad we had to put him out, and we cannot trust him in the future. No, no, the apostle says; you are not to act like that. That is just as wrong as it is to tolerate sin. It is wrong to keep him out when he repents, for what is the church of God after all but a company of repentant sinners? And what is heaven? It is a home for repentant sinners. No one will ever get into heaven but repentant sinners. I am speaking of adults for, of course, all the little ones are taken home to heaven. There their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven (Mat 18:10). The church of God is simply a gathering, not of people who have never failed, but of repentant sinners, and if a man repents, bring him back into fellowship. Perhaps he feels so defiled, so bad, that he will never ask for restoration. He will say, I have disgraced the Lord, I am not fit for fellowship. Do not wait for him to ask, go to him and confirm your love toward him. For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. Ye were obedient when I said, Put him away; now let me see whether you are just as obedient when I say, Bring him back as a repentant person.
Then he says, To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ. He had already forgiven this offender in his own heart. He says, I have taken that attitude toward this repentant offender. Once I demanded that he be put away, now I forgive him as simply one with you in this act. Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. His devices are, first, tolerate sin, and then if you wont do that but you deal with sin in discipline, then never forgive. How often that spirit is manifested among Christians! There is not a great deal of discipline in the church of God today. A minister said to me one day, One of our leading members is well known to be supporting a mistress in a hotel downtown, and breaking the heart of his wife and children, yet he is a leader in our church, a very wealthy man. If we were to bring him up for discipline it would split the church, and I do not know what we would do without his money. I said, Better split the church and go on with the godly part. Gods Word is clear, Put away from among yourselves that wicked person (1Co 5:13). Let him take his tainted money and go. God does not want the money of a fornicator, of an adulterer, of a drunkard, of an extortioner, of a covetous man. He does not need such money. God has plenty of money to support His work. Satan says, Be easy on him; we must not judge one another. But Gods Word says that we ought to judge those that are within. When there is blatant sin we are to deal with it. The one side is, put him away. But when he repents and says, Brethren, I have sinned, but by the grace of God I have turned from my sin; will you restore me to your love and confidence? what are we to do then? You ought now to forgive. Perhaps he will get so thoroughly under the power of remorse that he will just break completely and say, I will never be able to retrieve myself. The people of God will never have confidence in me again. V/hat difference does it make what I do? Show him now that you can forgive as well as discipline. Lest Satan should get an advantage of us.
Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christs gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord. He had been very near to them; he was at Troas, which is just across the water, and he would have liked to go ahead with the wonderful opportunity for service which came to him, but he was so restless thinking about their difficulties that he could not remain. I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia. But no matter what circumstances he is called upon to pass through he says, Thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. Or, it may be rendered, Thanks be unto God, which always leadeth us in Christs triumph. This is a very lovely picture. As Christs servants we are continually being led in His triumph. What does he mean by that? It is not merely that Christ always makes us victors, but whatever circumstances the people of God may be called upon to pass through we are always led in Christs triumph. It is a striking figure of speech, a wonderful picture that he puts before us.
When a Roman general had been out into some distant land to put down an uprising, or to win new lands for the Roman empire, to defeat great armies, the senate frequently voted him a triumph. When he and his army returned to Rome a public holiday was declared, and all the people thronged to the main thoroughfare to see this general enter in triumph. Here is a long line of captives, representatives of the people he has subjugated. They are in chains, and are holding censers in their hands, and sweet, fragrant incense arises. Then comes the general, and behind him another long line of captives bearing censers. These in front are to be set at liberty, and the fragrant incense is the odor of life to them. Those behind are condemned to die, and are going on to the arena; they are to be thrown to the wild beasts or put to death in some other way, and the fragrant incense that arises from their censers is a savor of death. The general marches on in triumph. There are some with a savor of life, there are others with a savor of death. The apostle says, as it were, Christ, our great Redeemer, has won a mighty victory over all the powers of hell. He has led captivity captive and given gifts unto men. He has annulled him that had the power of death, and God has voted Him a triumph; and now Christ is marching triumphantly through the universe, and He is leading us in His triumph, and we who are His captives by grace are a sweet savor unto life, but even men who refuse His grace must glorify God in their judgment, and they are a sweet savor, but unto death. So he says, Thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? As we march on with Christ proclaiming His gospel, that gospel is to God a sweet savor, whether men believe it or refuse to believe it. But to all who believe it, it is a sweet savor of life; to all who refuse to believe it, it is a savor of death, but its fragrance is just as precious to God whether believed or refused.
Who is sufficient for these things? Let me put it this way: I stand up and try to preach, I attempt to give the gospel of the grace of God knowing my message is to have a double effect, some people are going to believe it, and it will add to their joy for all eternity. Some people are going to refuse it, and it will make it worse for them than if they had never heard it at all. I may say, My God, I would rather not preach than make it worse for men in eternity. But God says, Go on and preach My Word; it is your business to give it out whether they receive it or reject it. The responsibility is theirs. Who is sufficient for these things? Our sufficiency is of God (3:5).
For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ. That word corrupt is a Greek word used for small trading, and suggests the thought of what we call, grafting. We are not of those who huckster the Word of God; in other words, we are not of those who are giving out the Word of God for the money we can get out of it, we are not selling the Word of God; we are seeking to minister Gods truth for the blessing of His people and the salvation of souls. What a wonderful thing to be led in Christs triumph! He went down into death, He came up in triumph, having spoiled principalities and powers. He has made a show of them, triumphing over them, and we are linked with Him who says, I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore (Rev 1:18).
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
I call: 2Co 1:18, 2Co 11:11, 2Co 11:31, Rom 1:9, Rom 9:1, Gal 1:20, Phi 1:8, 1Th 2:5
that: 2Co 2:1 – 2Co 3:18, 2Co 10:2, 2Co 10:6-11, 2Co 12:20, 2Co 13:2, 2Co 13:10, 1Co 4:21, 1Co 5:5, 1Ti 1:20
Reciprocal: Gen 21:23 – swear Exo 20:7 – take Num 30:2 – swear Rth 3:13 – the Lord liveth Job 16:19 – my witness Act 18:1 – Corinth Act 20:26 – I take 1Co 4:19 – I 1Co 7:28 – but 2Co 11:10 – the truth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Co 1:23. Call God for a record. Paul knew that God was a witness of everything that he or any other man did or thought. He then would certainly not make a statement that was not true. Came not as yet refers to Paul’s change of plans, cdmmented upon at verses 16, 17. By this change, his visit to Corinth was delayed until they had more time to reflect on the epistle that, he had sent to them, which was followed by their correction of many of the evils that were in their practices. By such a reformation, the congregation was “spared” the severe chastisement that he would have thought necessary, had he arrived before they made the corrections.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
2Co 1:23. But I call God for a witness upon my soul, that to spare you (and for that reason only) I forbare to come unto Corinth. Little would they expect such an explanation, and evidently he would fain have concealed it from them; but since he must be plain with them, with such suspicions attaching to him, he uses the most solemn of all asseverations in doing it, and the I is emphatic:Let enemies say what they will, I protest it before God. In his First Epistle (1Co 4:21) he had asked them to say whether he was to come to them with a rod (on the one hand), or (what he earnestly wished) in love and a spirit of meekness; and finding that they were not ripe for the latter way, rather than come to them at all on his way to Macedonia (as intended), he simply reserved his visit till after his return: that was his whole case.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
In these words, our apostle doth assure the Corinthians in a very solemn manner, that it was not any inconstancy or carnal respect in himself that made him delay his coming to them, but it was purely to spare them, as being unwilling to come with his rod among them, and to use severity upon them.
Here observe the apostle’s manner of speech, it is by way of adjuration: I call God to record upon my soul, &c. The words are an assertory and execratory oath, wherein God is called to witness the truth of what he said.
Learn hence, That it is lawful for Christians under the gospel to swear upon a necessary and great occasion.
But what great occasion was here for St. Paul to do it?
Ans. Very great; the false apostles did accuse him for a vain-glorious and inconstant man. This accusation did redound to the discredit of his ministry, the dishour of the gospel, the destruction of the church; therefore he solemnly protests, that no inconstancy or worldly motives did cause him to delay his promise; but a wise and spiritual consideration of their good, a willingness to spare them, and an unwillingness to use severity upon them.
Hence learn, That the ministerial power which God giveth the officers of the church, ought to be managed with much holy prudence and Christian commiseration: the end of their power should always be in their mind, which is edification, and not destruction.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
2Co 1:23-24. Moreover, I call God to record As if he had said, That you may believe me in what I am going to affirm, I call God as a witness, upon, or against my soul If I do not speak the truth. Was not Paul now speaking by the Spirit? And can a more solemn oath be conceived? Who then can imagine that Christ ever designed to forbid swearing? That to spare you That out of tenderness to you, and to avoid punishing you; I came not as yet to Corinth That is, I deferred coming, lest I should be obliged to use severity against you. He says elegantly, to Corinth, not to you, when he is intimating his power to punish. Not that we have dominion over your faith Power to impose upon you articles of faith or rules of practice, which the Lord hath not enjoined, or have any authority to dictate what you should believe or do; this is the prerogative of God alone: nor would we exert the power with which Christ hath endowed us, to any tyrannical or overbearing purposes. But are helpers of your joy Co- workers with Christ to promote your comfort, by establishing you in that faith from which all comfort springs; for by faith ye stand , ye have stood hitherto, and this will be a means of strengthening your faith, by which alone you can continue in the favour of God, and in union with him, and obtain a right and title to eternal life. Here we see the light in which ministers should always consider themselves, and in which they are to be considered by others; not as having dominion over the faith of their people, or having a right to dictate by their own authority what they shall believe, or what they shall do, but as helpers of their joy, by helping them forward in faith and holiness. In this view how amiable does their office appear! and how friendly to the happiness of mankind! How far then are they from true benevolence who would expose it to ridicule and contempt?
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
[Having first argued that he could not be guilty of duplicity because of the very nature of his relationships to the true and faithful God, Paul in this section answers the charge more specifically by giving such an explanation of his actions as clearly demonstrated his sincerity in the entire premises.] But I call God for a witness upon my soul, that to spare you I forbare to come unto Corinth.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
2Co 1:23 to 2Co 2:4. Paul now states the real and sufficient reason for his apparent vacillation. He had already paid a visit to Corinth (cf. 2Co 13:2) which had been full of pain to himself as well as to others. It had become only too probable that another visit would lead to even sadder experiences. In fact, it was to spare them that he had not fulfilled his promise. Not that it was true, as some said, that he wished to dictate to them in matters of faith. Far from that, the object of himself and his fellow-workers was simply to cooperate with the church in cultivating their joy. In respect of their faith they were fully established.
Was it likely that the apostle would come a second time to cause pain, when the very people he would pain would be the people on whom he depended for joy? Instead of coming he had sent a letter (the lost epistle), in which he probably explained why he was not coming, as well as dealt faithfully with their want of loyalty to himself. By that letter he had hoped to bring them into such a frame of mind that he might exchange sorrow for joy, and once more that joy would not be for himself alone, but shared by them and him. That letter had been written in what was little less than an agony of pain and anxietya description which cannot be applied to our First Epistleand yet its purpose was not to give pain but to prove the reality of Pauls affection.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Verse 23
To spare you, &c. The idea seems to be, that his reason for not going to them, as he had intended, was to spare them the pain of a personal interview under the peculiar circumstances of the case.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
1:23 {14} Moreover I call God for a record upon my {z} soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.
(14) Now coming to the matter, he swears that he did not lightly alter his purpose of coming to them, but rather that he did not come to them for this reason, that he, being present, might not be forced to deal more sharply with them than he would like.
(z) Against myself, and to the danger of my own life.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Paul’s use of an oath should not disturb us.
"Our Lord’s prohibition of swearing in Mat 5:33 ff. is directed against the casuistry that was prevalent among the Jews of His time, in accordance with which not only was swearing frequent in ordinary speech, but also oaths were regarded as not binding provided the Divine Name had not been invoked and even lies were condoned if unaccompanied by an oath. Such a situation was a grave scandal in the name of religion and truth." [Note: Ibid.]
Swearing refers to using an oath, not to using "dirty" words. Paul staked his soul on the truthfulness of his claim here. He made his decision to postpone his visit because he believed a visit then would not be in the Corinthians’ best interests.
"The gravity of his words indicates that Paul’s absence from Corinth remained a matter of deep hurt." [Note: Barnett, p. 114.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The loving motivation of Paul’s conduct 1:23-2:4
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 5
A PASTORS HEART.
2Co 1:23-24; 2Co 2:1-4 (R.V)
WHEN Paul came to the end of the paragraph in which he defends himself from the charge of levity and untrustworthiness by appealing to the nature of the Gospel which he preached, he seems to have felt that it was hardly sufficient for his purpose. It might be perfectly true that the Gospel was one mighty affirmation, with no dubiety or inconsistency about it; it might be as true that it was a supreme testimony to the faithfulness of God; but bad men, or suspicious men, would not admit that its character covered his. Their own insincerities would keep them from understanding its power to change its loyal ministers into its own likeness, and to stamp them with its own simplicity and truth. The mere invention of the argument in vv. 18-20 {2Co 1:18-20} is of itself the highest possible testimony to the ideal height at which the Apostle lived; no man conscious of duplicity could ever have had it occur to him. But it had the defect of being too good for his purpose; the foolish and the false could see a triumphant reply to it; and he leaves it for a solemn asseveration of the reason which actually kept him from carrying out his first intention. “I call God to witness against my soul, that sparing you I forbore to come to Corinth.” The soul is the seat of life; he stakes his life, as it were, in Gods sight, upon the truth of his words. It was not consideration for himself, in any selfish spirit, but consideration for them, which explained his change of purpose. If he had carried out his intention, and gone to Corinth, he would have had to do so, as he says in 1Co 4:21, with a rod, and this would not have been pleasant either for him or for them.
This is very plain-plain even to the dullest; the Apostle has no sooner set it down than he feels it is too plain. “To spare us,” he hears the Corinthians say to themselves as they read: “who is he that he should take this tone in speaking to us?” And so he hastens to anticipate and deprecate their touchy criticism: “Not that we lord it over your faith, but we are helpers of your joy; as far as faith is concerned, your position, of course, is secure.”
This is a very interesting aside; the digressions in St. Paul, as in Plato, are sometimes more attractive than the arguments. It shows us, for one thing, the freedom of the Christian faith. Those who have received the Gospel have all the responsibilities of mature men; they have come to their majority as spiritual beings; they are not, in their character and standing as Christians, subject to arbitrary and irresponsible interference on the part of others. Paul himself was the great preacher of this spiritual emancipation: he gloried in the liberty with which Christ made men free. For him the days of bondage were over; there was no subjection for the Christian to any custom or tradition of men, no enslavement of his conscience to the judgment or the will of others, no coercion of the spirit except by itself. He had great confidence in this Gospel and in its power to produce generous and beautiful characters. That it was capable of perversion also he knew very well. It was open to the infusion of self-will; in the intoxication of freedom from arbitrary and unspiritual restraint, men might forget that the believer was bound to be a law to himself, that he was free, not in lawless self-will, but only in the Lord. Nevertheless, the principle of freedom was too sacred to be tampered with; it was necessary both for the education of the conscience and for the enrichment of spiritual life with the most various and independent types of goodness; and the Apostle took all the risks, and all the inconveniences even, rather than limit it in the least.
This passage shows us one of the inconveniences. The newly enfranchised are mightily sensible of their freedom, and it is extremely difficult to tell them of their faults. At the very mention of authority all that is bad in them, as well as all that is good, is on the alert; and spiritual independence and the liberty of the Christian people have been represented and defended again and again, not only by an awful sense of responsibility to Christ, which lifts the lowliest lives into supreme greatness, but by pride, bigotry, moral insolence, and every bad passion. What is to be done in such cases as these, where liberty has forgotten the law of Christ? It is certainly not to be denied in principle: Paul, even with the peculiar position of an apostle, and of the spiritual father of those to whom he writes, {1Co 4:15} does not claim such an authority over their faith-that is, over the people themselves in their character of believers as a master has over his slaves. Their position as Christians is secure; it is taken for granted by him as by them; and this being so, no arbitrary ipse dixit can settle anything in dispute between them; he can issue no orders to the Church such as the Roman Emperor could issue to his soldiers. He may appeal to them on spiritual grounds; he may enlighten their consciences by interpreting to them the law of Christ; he may try to reach them by praise or blame; but simple compulsion is not one of his resources. If St. Paul says this, occupying as he does a position which contains in itself a natural authority which most ministers can never have, ought not all official persons and classes in the Church to beware of the claims they make for themselves? A clerical hierarchy, such as has been developed and perfected in the Church of Rome, does lord it over faith; it legislates for the laity, both in faith and practice, without their co-operation, or even their consent; it keeps the cactus fidelium, the mass of believing men, which is the Church, in a perpetual minority. All this, in a so-called apostolic succession, is not only anti-apostolic, but anti-Christian. It is the confiscation of Christian freedom; the keeping of believers in leading-strings all their days, lest in their liberty they should go astray. In the Protestant Churches, on the other hand, the danger on the whole is of the opposite kind. We are too jealous of authority. We are too proud of our own competence. We are too unwilling, individually, to be taught and corrected. We resent, I will not say criticism, but the most serious and loving voice which speaks to us to disapprove. Now liberty, when it does not deepen the sense of responsibility to God and to the brotherhood-and it does not always do so-is an anarchic and disintegrating force. In all the Churches it exists, to some extent, in this degraded form; and it is this which makes Christian education difficult, and Church discipline often impossible. These are serious evils, and we can only overcome them if we cultivate the sense of responsibility at the same time that we maintain the principle of liberty, remembering that it is those only of whom he says, “Ye were bought with a price” (and are therefore Christs slaves), to whom St. Paul also gives the charge: “Be not ye slaves of men.”
This passage not only illustrates the freedom of Christian faith, it presents us with an ideal of the Christian ministry. “We are not lords over your faith,” says St. Paul, “but we are helpers of your joy.” It is implied in this that joy is the very end and element of the Christian life, and that it is the ministers duty to be at war with all that restrains it, and to co-operate in all that leads to it. Here, one would say, is something in which all can agree: all human souls long for joy, however much they may differ about the spheres of law and liberty. But have not most Christian people, and most Christian congregations, something here to accuse themselves of? Do not many of us bear false witness against the Gospel on this very point? Who that came into most churches, and looked at the uninterested faces, and hearkened to the listless singing, would feel that the soul of the religion, so languidly honored, was mere joy-joy unspeakable, if we trust the Apostles, and full of glory? It is ingratitude which makes us forget this. We begin to grow blind to the great things which lie at the basis of our faith; the love of God in Jesus Christ-that love in which He died for us upon the tree-begins to lose its newness and its wonder; we speak of it without apprehension and without feeling; it does not make our hearts burn within us any more; we have no joy in it. Yet we may be sure of this-that we can have no joy without it. And he is our best friend, the truest minister of God to us, who helps us to the place where the love of God is poured out in our hearts in its omnipotence, and we renew our joy in it. In doing so, it may be necessary for the minister to cause pain by the way. There is no joy, nor any possibility of it, where evil is tolerated. There is no joy where sin has been taken under the patronage of those who call themselves by Christs name. There is no joy where pride is in arms in the soul, and is reinforced by suspicion, by obstinacy, even by jealousy and hate, all waiting to dispute the authority of the preacher of repentance. When these evil spirits are overcome, and cast out, which may only be after a painful conflict, joy will have its opportunity again, -joy, whose right it is to reign in the Christian soul and the Christian community. Of all evangelistic forces, this joy is the most potent; and for that, above all other reasons, it should be cherished wherever Christian people wish to work the work of their Lord.
After this little digression on the freedom of the faith, and on joy as the element of the Christian life, Paul returns to his defense. “To spare you I forbore to come; for I made up my own mind on this, not to come to you a second time in sorrow.” Why was he so determined about this? He explains in the second verse. It is because all his joy is bound up in the Corinthians, so that if he grieves them he has no one left to gladden him except those whom he has grieved-in other words, he has no joy at all. And he not only made up his mind definitely on this; he wrote also in exactly this sense: he did not wish, when he came, to have sorrow from those from whom he ought to have joy. In that desire to spare himself, as well as them, he counted on their sympathy; he was sure that his own joy was the joy of every one of them, and that they would appreciate his motives in not fulfilling a promise, the fulfillment of which in the circumstances would only have brought grief both to them and him. The delay has given them time to put right what was amiss in their Church, and has ensured a joyful time to them all when his visit is actually accomplished.
There are some grammatical and historical difficulties here which claim attention. The most discussed is that of the first verse: what is the precise meaning of ? There is no doubt that this is the correct order of the words, and just as little, I think, that the natural meaning is that Paul had once visited Corinth in grief, and was resolved not to repeat such a visit. So the words are taken by Meyer, Hofmann, Schmiedel, and others. The visit in question cannot have been that on occasion of which the Church was founded; and as the connection between this passage and the last chapter of the First Epistle is as close as can be conceived (see the Introduction), it cannot have fallen between the two: the only other supposition is, that it took place before the First Epistle was written. This is the opinion of Lightfoot, Meyer, and Weiss; and it is not fatal to it that no such visit is mentioned elsewhere-e.g., in the book of Acts. Still, the interpretation is not essential; and if we can get over 2Co 13:2, it is quite possible to agree with Heinrici that Paul had only been in Corinth once, and that what he means in ver. 1 here is: “I determined not to carry out my purpose of revisiting you, in sorrow.”
There is a difficulty of another sort in ver. 2 {2Co 2:2}. Ones first thought is to read …, as a real singular, with a reference, intelligible though indefinite, to the notorious but penitent sinner of Corinth. “I vex you, I grant it; but where does my joy come from-the joy without which I am resolved not to visit you-except from one who is vexed by me?” The bad mans repentance had made Paul glad, and there is a worthy considerateness in this indefinite way of designating him. This interpretation has commended itself to so sound a judge as Bengel, and though more recent scholars reject it with practical unanimity, it is difficult to be sure that it is wrong. The alternative is to generalize the , and make the question mean: “If I vex you, where can I find joy? All my joy is in you, and to see you grieved leaves me absolutely joyless.”
A third difficulty is the reference of in ver. 3 {2Co 2:3}. Language very similar is found in ver. 9 ( ) {2Co 2:9}, and again in ( ) 2Co 7:8-12. It is very natural to think here of our First Epistle. It served the purpose contemplated by the letter here described; it told of Pauls change of purpose; it warned the Corinthians to rectify what was amiss, and so to-order their affairs that he might come, not with a rod, but in love and in the spirit of meekness; or, as he says here, not to have sorrow, but, what he was entitled to, joy from his visit. All that is alleged against this is that our First Epistle does not suit the description given of the writing in ver. 4 {2Co 2:4}: “out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears.” But when those parts of the First Epistle are read, in which St. Paul is not answering questions submitted to him by the Church, but writing out of his heart upon its spiritual condition, this will appear a dubious assertion. What a pain must have been at his heart, when such passionate words broke from him as these: “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you?-What is Apollos, and what is Paul?-With me it is a very little thing to be judged by you.-Though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I begot you through the Gospel.-I will know, not the speech of them that are puffed up, but the power.” Not to speak of the fifth and sixth chapters, words like these justify us in supposing that the First Epistle may be, and in all probability is; meant.
Putting these details aside, as of mainly historical interest, let us look rather at the spirit of this passage. It reveals, more clearly perhaps than any passage in the New Testament, the essential qualification of the Christian minister-a heart pledged to his brethren in the love of Christ. That is the only possible basis of an authority which can plead its own and its Masters cause against the aberrations of spiritual liberty, and there is always both room and need for it in the Church. Certainly it is the hardest of all authorities to win, and the costliest to maintain, and therefore substitutes for it are innumerable. The poorest are those that are merely official, where a minister appeals to his standing as a member of a separate order, and expects men to reverence that. If this was once possible in Christendom, if it is still possible where men secretly wish to shunt their spiritual responsibilities upon others, it is not possible where emancipation has been grasped either in an anarchic or in a Christian spirit. Let the great idea of liberty, and of all that is cognate with liberty, once dawn upon their souls, and men will never sink again to the recognition of anything as an authority that does not attest itself in a purely spiritual way. “Orders” will mean nothing to them but an arrogant unreality, which in the name of all that is free and Christian they are bound to contemn. It will be the same, too, with any authority which has merely an intellectual basis. A professional education, even in theology, gives no man authority to meddle with another in his character as a Christian. The University and the Divinity Schools can confer no competence here. Nothing that distinguishes a man from his fellows, nothing in virtue of which he takes a place of superiority apart: on the contrary, that love only which makes him entirely one with them in Jesus Christ, can ever entitle him to interpose. If their joy is his joy; if to grieve them, even for their good, is his grief; if the cloud and sunshine of their lives cast their darkness and their light immediately upon him; if he shrinks from the faintest approach to self-assertion, yet would sacrifice anything to perfect their joy in the Lord, -then he is in the true apostolical succession; and whatever authority may rightly be exercised, where the freedom of the spirit is the law, may rightly be exercised by him. What is required of Christian workers in every degree-of ministers and teachers, of parents and friends, of all Christian people with the cause of Christ at heart-is a greater expenditure of soul on their work. Here is a whole paragraph of St. Paul, made up almost entirely of “grief” and “joy”; what depth of feeling lies behind it! If this is alien to us in our work for Christ, we need not wonder that our work does not tell.
And if this is true generally, it is especially true when the work we have to do is that of rebuking sin. There are few things which try men, and show what spirit they are of, more searchingly than this. We like to be on Gods side, and to show our zeal for Him, and we are far too ready to put all our bad passions at His service. But these are a gift which He declines. Our wrath does not work His righteousness-a lesson that even good men, of a kind, are very slow to learn. To denounce sin, and to declaim about it, is the easiest and cheapest thing in the world: one could not do less where sin is concerned, unless he did nothing at all. Yet how common denunciation is. It seems almost to be taken for granted as the natural and praiseworthy mode of dealing with evil. People assail the faults of the community, or even of their brethren in the Church, with violence, with temper, with the One, often, of injured innocence. They think that when they do-so they are doing God service; but surely we should have learned by this time that nothing could be so unlike God, so unfaithful and preposterous as a testimony for Him. God Himself overcomes evil with good; Christ vanquishes the sin of the world by taking the burden of it on Himself; and if we wish to have part in the same work, there is only the same method open to us. Depend upon it, we shall not make others weep for that for which we have not wept; we shall not make that touch the hearts of others which has not first touched our own. That is the law which God has established in the world; He submitted to it Himself in the person of His Son, and He requires us to submit to it. Paul was certainly a very fiery man; he could explode, or flame up, with far more effect than most people; yet it was not there that his great strength lay. It was in the passionate tenderness that checked that vehement temper, and made the once haughty, spirit say what he says here: “Out of much affliction and anguish of heart, I wrote unto you with many tears, not that you might be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have more abundantly toward you.” In words like these the very spirit speaks which is Gods power to subdue and save the sinful.
It is worth dwelling upon this, because it is so fundamental, and yet so slowly learned. Even Christian ministers, who ought to know the mind of Christ, almost universally, at least in the beginning of their work, when they preach about evil, lapse into the scolding tone. It is of no use whatever in the pulpit, and of just as little in the Sunday-school class, in the home, or in any relation in which we seek to exercise moral authority. The one basis for that authority is love; and the characteristic of love in the presence of evil is not that it becomes angry, or insolent, or disdainful, but that it takes the burden and the shame of the evil to itself. The hard, proud heart is impotent; the mere official is impotent, whether he call himself priest or pastor; all hope and help lie in those who have learned of the Lamb of God who bore the sin of the world. It is soul-travail like His, attesting love like His, that wins all the victories in which He can rejoice.