2 Corinthians 2

2 Corinthians 2:1-13

The apostle expresses his great affection to the Corinthians, as manifested both in his sympathy with the offending member of their church, who, having been under censure, was now penitent; (in which view he advises his readmission;) and also in his solicitude for tidings concerning them from Titus, whom not finding at Troas, he went to meet in Macedonia. 2 Cor. II. 1—13.

2 CORINTHIANS II. 1.

I NOW plainly and faithfully tell you the true reason of that delay of my journey, which has so much surprised most of you, and at which some appear to be scandalized. It was not that I forgot you, or failed in any friendly regards to you; but I determined this with myself, on hearing how things stood among you, that I would not, if it could by any means be prevented, come to you again in grief;ᵃ in circumstances which must have grieved both myself and you; but that I would wait for those fruits which I had reason to hope from my endeavours in my former epistle, to regulate what had been amiss. For if I should be obliged to grieve you, who should then rejoice me, unless it be he who is now grieved by me?ᵇ My affection to you as a church is indeed so great, that I could enjoy very little comfort myself, if you were in sorrow, especially in consequence of any act of mine, however necessary it were: And therefore I have written thus to you, in order to the farther promoting of that reformation which is necessary to my own comfort, as well as to your honour and peace; that I may not, when I come again, have grief on ac-

ᵃ I would not come to you in grief.] It may be objected, why then did he speak of coming in his former epistle, (1 Cor. xvi. 5—7,) when the incestuous person being yet impenitent, and their obedience to his directions with relation to that case, being as yet unapproved, the cause of sorrow, and the necessity of grieving them, seemed yet greater than now? But it is very likely, that after he had writ that epistle, and perhaps while these things were in suspense, he had received news of other disorders among them; and indeed it is evident, that he seems apprehensive, even on the supposition that the incestuous person were

happily restored, he might yet be under a necessity of exercising an unwilling severity among them. Chap. xii. 20, 21; and chap. xiii. 1—6, 10.

ᵇ Unless it be he who is grieved by me] It cannot reasonably be objected, that the sound part of the church would rejoice him; for even they would be grieved by the necessity of such severities; they would sympathize with the afflicted and corrected persons; and on the other hand, the recovery of offenders would give him more sensible joy than any thing else; which considerations taken together, will abundantly justify this expression.

VOL. 4.

He had wrote his ormer epistle, to shew his

count of those for whom I ought to rejoice, having this confident persuasion concerning you all in general, that my joy is [the joy] of you all, and that you do in the main bear the same affection towards me, as I feel in my heart towards you. For sometime ago, with much affliction, and overbearing anguishᵈ of heart, I wrote an epistle to you, which was attended with many tears, and I designed by it, not, as you may be sure, that ye might be grieved, but that ye might know, by one of the most genuine tokens which it was possible for me to give, that overflowing love which I bear to you, of the degree and tenderness of which I was never myself so sensible as I have been since this sad occasion of discovering it happened. And if any one of you hath been so unhappy, as to have occasioned grief, he hath only grieved me in part; I am but one of a much greater number, who have felt this affectionate concern. And this I say, that I may not overburden you all, nor fix any unjust charge upon the whole body of the Corinthian church, as if it had taken part with such an offender in afflicting me: far from that, I rather believe it has sympathized with me in my grief. And sufficient to such an one, who hath here been the aggressor, [is] this rebuke and censure, [that he hath] already [suffered] by many, and indeed by the whole body of your society; which has shewn so wise and pious a readiness to pursue the directions I gave, for animadverting upon him, and bringing him to repentance. So that, on the whole, I am well satis-

ᶜ My joy is the joy of you all.] Mr. Locke argues from hence, that a distinction is to be made between the Corinthians, to whom this epistle was written, and the false teachers who were Jews, and who crept in among them, and whom he does not comprehend in the number of those concerning whom he speaks with such tenderness and hope. And thus he would reconcile this passage, and chap. vii. 13—15; with chap. xi. 13—15; chap. x. 6—11. Compare chap. xi. 22, where it is intimated some of them were Hebrews. But as we are sure some of the Corinthians had been seduced and alienated from St Paul by them, I think it most reasonable to understand this as spoken of what he might conclude to be their general character; and it was both generous and prudent in the apostle to set it in this point of view.

ᵈ Overbearing anguish.] This seems the import of συνόχη; which nearly resembles συνιχή, (compare chap. v. 14,) which I render bears away.

ᵉ Wrote an epistle, &c.] Probably he here refers to such passages as those in the first epistle, which speak of scandalous persons among them, and direct to the methods to be taken to reduce them to order.

ᶠ To such an one.] Mr. Locke very well observes the great tenderness which the apostle uses to this offender; he never once mentions his name, nor does he here so much as mention his crime; but speak of him in the most indefinite manner that was consistent with giving such directions in his case as love required.

refined in what the church has done; and instead of arguing you to pursue farther severities against him, who now, by the blessing of God on the Discipline you have used, is become a penitent, I on the contrary, declare it to you as my judgment, that you should rather forgive and comfort him;] lest such a one, if kept under continual rebuke, should be swallowed up with an excess of sorrow, and rendered incapable of those duties of the Christian life, to the performance of which, I would cheerfully hope that he is now inclined. Therefore I beseech you to confirm [the assurances] and demonstrations [of your] love to him, in the most tender and endearing manner that you can; which may convince him that your seeming severity proceeded from cordial affection. For indeed it was partly to this purpose that I have written, that I might have experience of you, whether ye would be obedient in all things to my apostolical instructions and decisions: and it gives me unspeakable pleasure to find that ye have been so. And truly I have such confidence in you as a society, that I may say, not only in this instance, but in any other that may happen, that to whom you forgive any thing which hath been esteemed an offence, so as to be willing to restore the offender to your communion, I also shall be ready to [forgive it;] and if I forgive any thing, to whomsoever it may be, [it is] not out of regard to the offender alone, but in a great measure for your sakes, that as in the person of Christ, and by the high authority with which he hath been pleased to invest me, I join in taking off the censure. For I know the prosperity of the church in general is concerned in conducting these affairs aright, and am solicitous, lest if they be carried to any excess of rigour, Satan should get an advantage over us, and turn that severity into an occasion of mischief to the offender, to his brethren, and to others. For we are not ignorant of his devices, and of the great variety of stratagems which he is continually making use of to injure us, and to turn even discipline itself, to the reproach of the church, and the destruction of souls. These are the sentiments which prevail in my heart towards you; and my conduct, since the date

Reflections on the ministerial temper :

of my last epistle, hath been a genuine demonstration of this my affectionate concern. For when I came unto Troas⁸ in the service of the gospel of Christ, and found things there so situated, that there was a large door opened to me in the Lord, many circumstances seeming to invite my stay, and to give a prospect of success in my ministry; Yet I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find my brother Titus there; whom I had sent to inquire into your affairs, and from whom I expected tidings of you. I would not therefore make any abode at Troas, though so many considerations concurred to invite me to it; but taking my leave of them, I went out of Asia, into Macedonia; where I thought he might be, and where I had the happiness quickly to meet him, and to receive that news of you which has given me so much pleasure, and in consequence of which I have found occasion to write to you in a more comfortable manner, as I here do. And I bless God, that the purposes of my Christian ministry have not upon the whole been frustrated by this journey, but that the Divine blessing hath attended my labours here, as well as in the places which I left, that I might come hither.

IMPROVEMENT.

LET ministers learn from hence, after the example of this wise and benevolent apostle, to be very tender of the ease and converse fort of those committed to their care; doing nothing to grieve 1, 2 or distress them, unless, as in the case before us, love requires it, in order to their safety and happiness. Let them learn this candid and endearing method of putting the best interpretation upon every thing, and of believing, where there is any reason to 3 hope it, that their joy is the joy of their people also. When professing Christians offend, and cannot be reclaimed by gentler methods, let them, not out of resentment, but affection, have recourse to the discipline which Christ hath instituted in his church; an

⁸ Came unto Troas.] Mr. Owen, (of Ordin, Part I. p. 124,) thinks this happened in St. Paul’s journey from Corinth to Macedonia; and mentions it as a fact omitted by St. Luke, to be collected from the epistles. Many such facts there undoubtedly are, and this seems one of them, though not just in that circumstance. It seems to have happened in that passage from Asia to Macedonia, of which so ve short an account is given, Acts xx. 1, 2 He afterwards ordered some Christian friends, who were attending him to Asia after he had spent three months in Macedonia, to wait for him at Troas, (ib. verse 4, 5,) probably for this reason among others, that they might have an opportunity of preaching the gospel to a people who seemed so ready to receive it.

and of a right conduct.

when that discipline hath answered its end, and the offender is sec. iii. recovered to a sense of his evil, let them with the greatest pleasure concur in readmitting him to the communion of the church verse from which he has been excluded; with a tender concern, lest he should be swallowed up of overmuch sorrow; always considering, how watchful the enemy of souls is to get an advantage over us; and remembering, that it will be the peculiar wisdom of ministers, to acquaint themselves with these artful and malicious devices of Satan, by which he is incessantly endeavouring to distress and ruin the church, and to lay snares for its members in their hopes and their fears, their joys, and their sorrows, so as to take occasion from every incident, and from every interest, to weaken and to wound them.

The great source of a right conduct on all these occasions, is unfeigned love: that let us labour to establish in our hearts towards each other; praying that God, by his Spirit, would establish it. And though the consequence of this will be, that our spirits, like the apostle’s, will be accessible to many sorrows which we should not otherwise feel; and though it is possible, that we, like St. Paul in the instance before us, may sometimes be interrupted in active services of life, which we might otherwise have been more ready to pursue; yet we may hope, that while we are faithfully influenced by love, under the direction of that Christian prudence, which ought ever to attend it, views of usefulness may be opened, where we least expect them, may be opened one way, while they are obstructed another; yea, upon the whole, what has for a while interrupted our success, may in its remoter consequences greatly advance it.

2 Corinthians 2:14

The apostle expresses, in the most affectionate terms, his thankfulness to God for having intrusted him with the ministry of the gospel, for the success attending his services therein; and declares his joyful confidence in all events of the Divine acceptance; and speaks of the Corinthians, as his credentials written by the finger of God. 2 Cor. II. 1+, to the end. Chap. III. 1—6.

Cor. II. 14. NOW thanks be unto God, which 2 CORINTHIANS II. 14. I HAVE informed you, that I left a fair opportunity of preaching the gospel at Troas, in consequence of that great desire I had to hear from you; for which purpose I went into Macedonia. But I desire thankfully to own the Divine goodness, in attending my ministry with very comfortable success there. And indeed I have great reason to

The apostle blesses God for success at Troas, and

reak out into a transport of praise in the reflection: Yes, my brethren, thanks, everlasting thanks [be rendered] by you and me, to the God of all power and grace, who always causeth us to triumph in Christ, carrying us on from one spiritual victory to another; and manifesteth by us in every place, the fragrant and powerful odour of his saving knowledge. Well may I rejoice upon this account; for we the apostles, and other ministers of his gospel, are to God a sweet and acceptable odour of Christ: he is as it were pleased and delighted with the incense of his name and gospel as diffused by us, both with respect to them who believe and are saved, and to them, who in consequence of their unbelief, perish in their sins. To the latter indeed [we are] an odour of death; the fragrancy, so rich in itself, instead of reviving, destroys them, and is efficacious to bring on death in its most dreadful forms. But to the other [we are] an odour of life; the gospel revives their souls, and is effectual to their eternal life and salvation. And when we consider all these awful consequences, which one way or other attend our ministry, we may truly say, who [is] sufficient for these things? Who is worthy to bear such an important charge? Who should undertake it without trembling? Nevertheless, though we must acknowledge ourselves unworthy of such a charge, God is pleased to succeed us in the execution of it, as he knows our sincerity in his sight and presence. For we are not as many, who adulterate the word of God

a Causeth us to triumph.] Witsius would render Ἁγιαμῶν, who triumphs over us, (compare Col. ii. 15,) and supposes it expresses the joy with which St. Paul reflected on that powerful and sovereign grace which had led him in triumph, who was once so insolent an enemy to the gospel. I rather think the apostle represents himself as triumphing through the Divine power. And as in triumphal processions, especially in the east, fragrant odours and incense were burnt near the conquerors; so he seems beautifully to allude to that circumstance, in what he says of the σήμη, the odour of the gospel, in the following verses. And he seems farther to allude to the dif-

ferent effects of strong perfumes, to cheer some, and to throw others into violent disorders, according to the different dispositions they are in to receive them; and Elian observes, that some kind of animals are killed by them, Hist. Anim. iii. 7.

b Adulterate the word.] Κατηλικονίς is a very expressive phrase, and alludes to the practice of those who deal in liquors, which they debase for their own greater gain; and it insinuates in strong terms the base temper and conduct of their false teachers. Boz has finely illustrated the force of this expression in his learned and elegant note on this text. Exer. p. 154, 155.

peaks o the Corinthians as his epistle ;

by their own base mixtures, and retail it, when formed according to the corrupt taste of their hearers ; but as of unmingled sincerity, but as by the express command of God, in the presence of God we speak in the name of Christ ; delivering every part of our message, as those that know how awful our account is ; and how impossible it is to conceal so much as a single thought from that all penetrating Being to whom we are shortly to give it up.

And when I say this, do we again, as some presume to insinuate, begin to recommend ourselves, and one another, [to you ?] Or do we need, as I perceive some [do,] recommendatory letters to you from other churches, or recommendatory [letters] from you to others ? Truly I may well say, you are yourselves our epistle, the best recommendation from God himself, his testimonial, as it were, written upon your hearts in the glorious change by our means produced there ; and the effects of it are so apparent in your lives, that I may say, ye are known and read by all men, who know what you once were, and you now are ; and they who consider these things, must acknowledge, that such success granted by the cooperation of Divine grace, is as evident a proof of God’s gracious presence with us as can well be imagined. [Ye,] whose characters were some of them once so enormous, (1 Cor. vi. 11,) but [are] now so amiable and excellent, are indeed manifest and apparent, as the epistle of Christ which is ministered by us; and by you Christ doth, as it were, declare, that he hath been faithfully preached among you by us ; an epistle written not, as epistles generally are, with ink, but by traces drawn by the Spirit of the one living and true God, moving on your hearts, and producing that variety of graces which render many of you so conspicuous and lovely. And the inscription is not,

Upon your hearts.] Some copies read knowledge, (and it is certain that some our hearts, that is, always remembered and judgment may be formed,) must ow thought of. But I apprehend, the apostle it a great attestation of his ministry means, that the change produced, not The great enormities in which the only in their external conduct, but in were once plunged, (see 1 Cor. vi. 11, their inward temper, was so great, that &c.) would much illustrate this argument all who could judge of it by intimate

Written by the Spirit of God, and proving his

(as that boasted monument, which did so great an honour to the mission and authority of Moses,) written in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart; to which no hand, but that by which the heart was made, could find access, in such a manner as to inscribe these sacred characters there. Such confidence have we towards God by Jesus Christ, that our ministry shall be effectual in other places, and that the world shall by your means be persuaded of our apostleship.

We say this, not as insinuating, that we are sufficient of ourselves to reckon upon any thing as from ourselves;^a we would not insinuate this, or encourage any others to do it; for we are upon all occasions ready most thankfully to acknowledge, that all our sufficiency [is] from God; whatever furniture of any kind we have for our work, we humbly ascribe it to him, and from him arise all our expectations of success with this furniture, whatever it be: From that great and adorable Author of all good, who also hath made us his apostles, and others whom he hath sent into the work, able ministers of the new covenant, sufficiently qualified to discharge that important trust of proposing this gracious covenant of God, established in Christ, to our fellow creatures. For we are indeed ministers, not of the letter, but of the Spirit;^c for we are enabled to enter into the sense and spirit of the law, and other sacred writings; whereas that Divine volume is to the Jews, but as a heap of letters and characters, which they know not how to read or understand, and yet pride themselves so much in them, that in that sense it may be said, they receive mischief, rather than benefit, from

^a To reckon upon any thing as of ourselves.] cation we here assign it, and signifies to his seems the most exact rendering of reckon, or account.

^b We are unable by any reasoning of our own to bring men to conversion: which gives a fine and just sense, but I think only a part of what the apostle intended. Compare Acts xix. 27; Rom. iv. 3, 6, 11; chap. viii. 18, 36; 1 Cor. iv. 1; in all which the word λυγίζεμαι has the signification we here assign it, and signifies to reckon, or account. c Not of the letter, but of the Spirit.] To understand this of an allegorical, rather than literal explication of the Old Testament, is very arbitrary and unwarrantable; and I wish no Christian commentators had given encouragement to the Deists to abuse this text in the manner it is well known the have done.

Reflections on the importance of the gospel message.

ter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.

their own oracles. Thus the letter killeth; the unbelieving Jews are undone by their obstinate adherence to it, and more prejudiced against the gospel, than those that never heard of any Divine revelation at all. But when taught by the Spirit of God, speaking in us, they enter into the spiritual sense and design of the law, then it giveth life; it establisheth our faith, quickens our obedience, and becomes a source of happiness in this world and in the next.

IMPROVEMENT.

MAY the infinite importance of the gospel message be deeply impressed on all who preach, and all who hear it. Life, or death, is in question; eternal life, or everlasting death: and while it is from day to day reviving its thousands, is it not to be feared, that in some places it is, by the righteous judgment of God on hard and impenitent hearts, aggravating the guilt and misery of its ten thousands? How awful is the work of dispensing this gospel! Who can pretend to be sufficient for such things as these! 16 Who, that considers the nature and importance of the ministerial work, can undertake, or pursue it, but with fear and trembling!

Yet, insufficient as they ought humbly to acknowledge themselves to be, to reckon upon any thing, as from themselves, there is a sufficiency in God, imparted to faithful ministers; in consequence of which they are often made to triumph in Christ, and borne on, in a holy superiority to all the difficulties of their work, and see their labour not to be in vain in the Lord. Well may that support them, under the discouragements, which, in other instances, they feel, when the fruit of their labours does not immediately appear; yea, when the present state of many under their care is directly contrary to what they could desire; for their work is still with the Lord, and they are a sweet savour to God in them that perish, as well as in them that are saved. Let them therefore gird up the loins of their mind, and exert themselves with the utmost vigour, rejoicing in this, that God will on the whole be glorified, and they shall on the whole be accepted, and through his abundant grace be amply rewarded. Yea, God will consider, in that day of final recompense, the anguish which they have felt for the souls they have seen perishing under their ministrations, as well as the faithful pains they have bestowed to reclaim them.

But as they desire to secure this acceptance; yea, to secure their own salvation, let them never allow themselves, by any foreign mixtures, to adulterate the word of God; but let them

VOL. 4.

If the law were glorious, the gospel is much more so:

speak it in its uncorrupted sincerity, as in the sight and presence iv. of God, and as those who know it is not their business to devise a message out of their own hearts, but to deliver what they have received of the Lord. So may they hope there shall not be wantchap. ing those, who, according to the views which the apostle gives us iii. 2 of these Corinthians, shall appear as epistles written by the hand of Christ himself, in attestation of their commission from him.

That ministers may more cheerfully hope for, and expect such an honour, let us all pray, that the Spirit of God may lead them into the true sense and meaning of scripture; that they may not unprofitably amuse themselves and their hearers with vain and 6 cold criticisms on the letter of it, so as to neglect and forget what is most spiritual in its design and meaning; but that they may, under Divine illumination, attain to the mind of the Spirit, and be enabled to make greater proficiency in unfolding and illustratchap ing the important mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and may ii. 16 be to multitudes a savour of life unto life.