CHAPTER 7

(A.D. 60)

A HOLY MINISTRY

¹Having therefore these Promises (that we can draw all nourishment from the Lord), dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit (when one sins, he sins spirit, soul, and body; there is no such thing as the body sinning, and not the spirit, etc.), perfecting holiness in the fear of God (to bring to a state of completion; we can do this only by walking after the Spirit [Rom. 8:1-2], which refers to looking to the Cross, and looking to the Cross exclusively).

PAULS JOY

²Receive us (dont turn a deaf ear to what we are saying); we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man. (This is insinuating that false teachers with their false doctrine would definitely wrong, corrupt, and defraud their followers.)

³I speak not this to condemn you(I do not speak this with any desire to reproach you): for I have said before, that you are in our hearts to die and live with you(refers to the Corinthians having such a place in his affections).

⁴Great is my boldness of speech toward you (they were his children in the Lord), great is my glorying of you (even though he used boldness when addressing them personally, behind their backs he gloried in them by praising them): I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. (The tribulation, whatever it might have been, did not take away the joy.)

⁵For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest (he had written his First Epistle to the Church at Corinth, and was not certain if they would accept his admonitions; if not, the Church would be lost), but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. (Like the rest of us, Paul was human. As such, he had all of these emotions, all in regard to the Church at Corinth.)

⁶Nevertheless God, Who comforts those who are cast down (God comforts the lowly, while He will not comfort the proud; that is, if the lowly will trust Christ and what Christ did at the Cross), comforted us by the coming of Titus (Titus gave happy news regarding Pauls First Epistle to the Corinthians; they had accepted Pauls admonitions; as well, Paul puts himself in the place of the lowly);

⁷And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you (what his coming brought, which was good news), when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning (over the sin being committed in the Church, and it not being properly addressed), your fervent mind toward me (their expressed love for Paul); so that I rejoiced the more.

⁸For though I made you sorry with a Letter (his First Epistle to them), I do not repent, though I did repent (not a contradiction! he had to send the Letter, but he was sorry it had to be sent): for I perceive that the same Epistle has made you sorry, though it were but for a season. (They repented, and the sorrow was lifted.)

⁹Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you sorrowed to Repentance (which is what the Holy Spirit intended): for you were made sorry after a Godly manner (toward Repentance), that you might receive damage by us in nothing. (This presents the grief of Repentance as never a loss in any way.)

¹⁰For godly sorrow (sorrow instigated by the Holy Spirit over wrongdoing) works Repentance to Salvation not to be repented of (means that such action will never be regretted): but the sorrow of the world works death. (This presents a sorrow that is merely remorse, often despair.)

¹¹For behold this selfsame thing (refers to the happy effects of Godly sorrow), that you sorrowed after a Godly sort (they did what true Repentance required), what carefulness it wrought in you (they wanted to correct the wrong immediately), yes, what clearing of yourselves (an apology for their laxness in respect to these problems being left unattended), yes, what indignation (a decided hatred of sin), yes, what fear (speaks of the fear of God they should have had all along, but did not), yes, what vehement desire (the fervent effort to carry out that which Paul had proclaimed), yes, what zeal (setting about the reformation in great earnest), yes, what revenge (a determination to right the wrongs perpetrated against Paul)! In all things you have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. (Their Repentance was sincere, resulting in certain things taking place.)

¹²Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause who had done the wrong, nor for his cause who suffered wrong (the one who was committing the sin of incest [I Cor., Chpt. 5], and his father who had been wronged, the husband of the woman in question), but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you. (The entirety of the Church at Corinth needed direction.)

¹³Therefore we were comforted in your comfort (refers to the joy and comfort the Corinthians experienced when they obeyed the Word of the Lord): yes, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all (refers to Titus being so kindly received and hospitably entertained).

¹⁴For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed (the Apostles boast to Titus had proven to be true); but as we spoke all things to you in Truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a Truth (refers to the fact that Faith is never idle boasting).

¹⁵And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, while he remembered the obedience of you all (it is natural that the stock of this Church went up in the eyes of Titus), how with fear and trembling you received him. (This suggests he had not expected to be received accordingly.)

¹⁶I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.(This refers not only to the present, but the future as well!)