Deeper Commentary
CHAPTER 7
7:1 Therefore beloved, having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves
from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear
of God- The promises which concluded chapter 6 related to God's people
being His temple, where He would live through the Spirit. Paul is arguing
that they have already been fulfilled in the Spirit-filled believer, and
he is urging the Corinthians to behave appropriately to that status. So we
could understand "Having these promises" as meaning 'Having had such
promises fulfilled in us'. Yet for many in Corinth, it seems that they
were still promises which they had not yet attained to, because of their
resistance of the Spirit and the spiritual life.
The call to leave Babylon in Is. 52:11 has been quoted about the
Corinthians in chapter 6. They were to live appropriate to the calling
received. The usage of Is. 52:11 suggests that the people referred to were
actually in spiritual Babylon; they had unequally yoked themselves
together with unbelievers; they needed to separate (s.w. to divide, sever)
themselves, and come out from among them. The idea of unequal yoking could
be a marriage allusion. We must wash ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit even after baptism (2 Cor. 7:1); by doing so, we as it
were go through the death-and-resurrection process of baptism again; we
live it all once again. See on Gal. 3:27.
2 Cor. 7:1 exhorts us to cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the
flesh, not being like those sinners who “defile the flesh” (Jude 8). These
passages would imply that the flesh is defiled not by who we are
naturally, but by human behaviour and mindsets from which we can separate
ourselves. Whilst we consider ourselves so awful that we consider our
flesh to be defiled naturally, we will never value the human
person, and will give way too easily to sin as if it’s just our natural
fate. See on Rom. 8:3. The cleansing had already been done to them at
their baptisms, when they were given the cleansing or sanctifying of the
Spirit, as noted in 1 Cor. 1 and 2 Cor. 1. God thereby purified or
cleansed their hearts by faith (Acts 15:9). But they had not made use of
this, and needed to believe and experience it again. "Flesh and spirit" is
a term Paul has used in appealing for sexual purity at Corinth (1 Cor.
7:34). This verse is really an appeal to quit the idol worshipping and
sexual misbehaviour which characterized the church.
7:2 Open your hearts to us- The appeal to open their hearts (see
on 6:11 and 6:13) was in order for them to get in touch with their own
consciences, and realize that indeed, Paul had not wronged anyone. As
noted on 5:11, Paul appealed for them to look at their consciences, to
look within their hearts- for their, potentially, the Spirit of God was
dwelling and active, if they would allow it to be. The allegations that
Paul had wronged or abused others were untrue, and Paul baldly states as
much.
We wronged no one-
The same word used by
the Lord of Himself in the parable of Mt. 20:13: "I did you no wrong".
Consciously or unconsciously, Paul's thinking was saturated with the
Gospels. Paul twice uses the term in Act 25:10,11 in insisting that he had
done no wrong to the Jews; so again we sense that it was Judaists who were
behind this false accusation.
We corrupted no one-
The word Paul uses about
the Jewish false teachers corrupting the Corinthians (2 Cor. 11:3).
Perhaps the emphasis is therefore upon the word "we". Paul had not
corrupted them- others had.
We took advantage of no one-
This sounds like the
usual accusations against Christian leaders of seeking sexual or financial
advantage. Paul uses it in a financial sense in 2 Cor. 12:17,18 and in a
sexual sense in 1 Thess. 4:6. The 'Satan', the adversary, the Jewish
opposition, did indeed get an advantage over the Corinthians (s.w. 2 Cor.
2:11). Paul is stressing that he had not done this; but others had.
7:3 I say it not to condemn you- Paul can tell some at Corinth that
they have no knowledge of God (1 Cor. 15:34), that they need to re-enter
covenant with Him and come out from Babylon (as he has just said at the
end of chapter 6). But he still refuses to condemn them- and therefore as
he cannot pre-judge the outcome of the judgment seat of Christ, he accepts
them as his brethren, uncondemned by him. Even if he begs them to act in a
way which is appropriate for those who are the Lord's.
For as I have said before, you are in our hearts, to
die together and live together- Dying and living together is the language of
baptism. Just as we died and live together with Him and His body (Rom.
6:3-5), so we do with all the others who are in His body. Time and again,
Paul feels that his salvation, his resurrection and glorification at the
last day, is absolutely tied up with that of the Corinthians.
7:4 Great is my confidence in you- The following verses, climaxing
at the end of the chapter with his claim to have "perfect confidence in
you all", are all hard to square with what we know about the Paul-Corinth
relationship. They were sceptical and critical of him, and throughout the
Corinthian correspondence he is directly and indirectly answering their
slander of him. But now he appears to launch into a section of ecstatic
joy and praise of them, claiming things for them which clearly were not
true. And he concludes the letter by threatening judgment upon them,
deeply saddened by their rejection of him. The logic of his argument in
this section appears faulty, as if they are words uttered on the cusp of
emotional experience, not connected with reality, and as if he were just
madly 'in love' with them, willing to see them as something which they
simply were not in reality. And which reality he continually states and
laments, both immediately before and after this section.
There are various possible explanations. The positive language about them
may be pure sarcasm, of the kind he uses in 11:4; but it would be so
extensive and never signalled as such to make this unlikely. He may have
so counted them as "in Christ", imputing them as righteous when they were
not, that he allows himself to express his emotions about them in writing
in this way. Or he may have been 'buttering them up' because he moves
straight on to ask them to come up with some money for the Jerusalem Poor
Fund. Or perhaps he was so obsessed with his projects of saving them and
of the Jerusalem Poor Fund, that the slightest positive news about them
was amplified by him into ridiculously positive positions and claims on
their behalf. Inspiration in this case would have allowed the letter to be
written as is, full of Paul's irrational emotions at this point, just as
the bitter rantings of David against his enemies are likewise recorded
under inspiration in the Psalms.
It would be rather like the boy who madly loves a girl who isn't that
interested in him. He invites her for countless dates, and she refuses.
But then she calls him and asks if she can just drop by his place to pick
up her favourite umbrella, which she left there a month ago. The boy of
course agrees with glee, and as he waits for her to come, he gets onto
social media and tells his friends that the girl has agreed to marry him
and is on her initiative coming to visit him. And then afterwards she
calls him and says her brother will just drop by and pick up the umbrella,
as he is working in that area today, and she's too busy... This kind of
irrational 'in love' behaviour can be seen in Hosea, where Hosea's wildly
oscillating love and anger with Gomer reflect God's feelings for His
faithless Israel.
Great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled
with comfort, in all our affliction I am overflowing with joy!- This outbreak of
basting, comfort and joy was because of some positive report from Titus,
who had just come to Paul after a visit to Corinth. This letter is
therefore being written in real time; Titus as it were comes through the
door with the news, whilst Paul is up to chapter 7:3 of his letter. And
instead of going back and editing what he has written earlier in the light
of the coming of Titus, he just leaves it as is and utters this burst of
enthusiasm for the Corinthians- to return to reality in chapter 8.
It should be noted that an alternative is to view 7:4 as picking up from
2:14, with the intervening material as some huge digression. But 2:15
flows right on in context from 2:14. Such a break is unnatural; and all
the same, the position Paul held about the Corinthians in chapter 2
remains contradictory with the outburst of confidence he has in them in
chapter 7, and that outburst also contradicts the position and lack of
confidence he has in them throughout the rest of the letter. So this
ingenious idea doesn't really help things.
7:5 For even when we went into Macedonia, our flesh had no relief, but
we were afflicted on every side. Without were conflicts, within were fears-
"Our flesh" might mean that Paul's bodily health reflected his internal
worries about the Corinthians and his ministry. "Even when..." would be a
reference to the fact that the Lord had specifically called Paul to go and
preach in Macedonia in a vision (Acts 16:9,10). And yet despite that
specific invitation, the way was not easy and Paul was wracked with
pressures and difficulties. Paul paints a hard picture of his time in
Macedonia, as the backdrop against which the good news from Titus was
received by him.
7:6 Nevertheless God that comforts the lowly comforted us by the
coming of Titus- This is an allusion to the LXX of Is. 49:13. It would
seem that Paul was so saturated with the Scriptures that he alludes to
phrases at times without any significant relevance to his purpose or
context; he is just using language and phrases which are in his mind at
the time, just as we all do. God's comfort came to Paul through a human
mechanism- Titus. It's as if Paul is seeking to provide an exemplification
of the principles he stated at the beginning of this letter- that our
experiences are in order to "comfort" others. Seeing that the Corinthians
remained an awful concern for Paul, as witnessed by the rest of the
letter, we can suspect that Paul is wilfully seeking to paint things in
these terms.
7:7 And not by his coming only, but also by the comfort with which he
was comforted in you- The Corinthians are commended for comforting
Titus who in turn passed on that comfort to Paul. This again is an attempt
to make the situation a fulfilment of the principles of 1:3-6, where Paul
states that God's comfort to believers is mediated through the comfort of
others. On :6 I noted that there seems an element of forcing the situation
with Titus to fit those requirements, when in reality there was not so
much comfort at all from the Corinthians. For Paul has to go on to badger
them to come up with the cash they have promised for his Jerusalem Poor
Fund. It seems from 12:16-18 that the Corinthians accused Paul of using
Titus to 'craftily... take advantage' of them. Yet here Paul wishes to
give the impression that the Corinthians comforted Titus, who relayed that
comfort to Paul, and thus Paul was deeply grateful to the Corinthians for
comforting him. It seems Paul here in chapter 7 is exaggerating things in
his own mind; see on :4 for an explanation of why.
While he told us of your longing, your mourning,
your zeal for me. So that I rejoiced yet more- Both before and after this section in chapter 7,
Paul is dealing extensively with the cynicism and criticisms of the
Corinthians against him. If indeed their love for Paul was so deep and
credible, why does he have to state in 8:8: "I am probing the sincerity of
your love"? If their love for him was so passionate, why in chapter 11
does he have to defend himself against their cynicism towards him, to the
point that he even gets sarcastic with them: "For if he that comes
preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different
spirit, which you did not receive, or a different gospel, which you did
not accept- it seems you think you do well to go along with him" (11:4).
"Forgive me this wrong" (12:13) is another example of a sarcasm which
would be inappropriate in a mutually loving and respectful relationship.
Clearly they were forsaking Paul in order to follow his enemies. This was
hardly "your longing... your zeal for me". Zeal for him was what Paul
subconsciously hoped for... and the news that they had been partially
obedient to Paul on some point was perhaps wildly over-interpreted to mean
they were zealous for him. The deep love for Paul which he likes to
imagine as Titus gives him some news from Corinth is hardly for real, if
he has to write to them: "I have become foolish. You compelled me. For I
ought to have been commended by you" (12:11). He desperately gave them
reason to respect him- when such reasons ought to have been forthcoming
from them. But they were not. 12:15 certainly sounds like they were
falling out of love with Paul, rather than the more in love with him: "If
I love you more abundantly, am I loved the less by you?". They directly
accused him of dishonesty: "You say I was crafty, and got the better of
you by deceit" (12:16), and "you seek proof that Christ speaks in me"
(13:3). Is this really reconcilable with Paul's claim to have heard of
"your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me"? Especially powerful is
12:19: "You think all this time that we are excusing ourselves to you".
"All this time" means that throughout their relationship over the course
of the correspondence, the Corinthians didn't trust Paul and thought he
was making excuses for having abused them through the visit of Titus and
in other ways. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that this exalting
language of chapter 7 is either bitter sarcasm, or Paul being overly
positive about them.
We hardly get the impression that they were longing for him, zealous for
him and mourning their disobedience to him. If that were indeed the case,
surely Paul would have put a red line through what he had previously
written in 2 Corinthians, and then not written as he did in the rest of
the letter. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Paul interpreted
the report of Titus in terms of his deepest psychological hopes for
the Corinthians. "Mourning" is an intense term, only used of the women
weeping for their baby children who had been murdered (Mt. 2:18). Such
deep lamentation is hard to square with the rest of the letter. "So that I
rejoiced yet more" suggests Paul was already rejoicing over the
Corinthians, and now he did so the more after the report from Titus. But
he has earlier explained that he cancelled an intended visit to them
because he knew they would give him sorrow rather than the rejoicing he
hoped to have for them (2:3). He hoped to rejoice in them- and that
psychological expectation was so deep in his subconscious that when Titus
mentioned some potentially positive things about them, he found himself
rejoicing, and imagining that even before that, he had been rejoicing. See
my explanation and analogy offered on :4.
The words Paul uses for longing, mourning and zeal are found in essence
in his description of their response to his command to separate from the
immoral man (:11,12). Yet the terms can mean 'indignation' and can equally
refer to their self-justification in explaining why they had not initially
removed the immoral person. Paul likes to turn that around to mean they
were zealous "for me". But the rest of the letter shows that to be wishful
thinking. These terms are also used by Paul in describing his longing,
mourning and zeal for his brethren. It's as if he is subconsciously hoping
that his feelings towards the Corinthians are theirs for him. He has
explicitly stated that he hopes that his attitude of mind toward them will
be theirs toward him (see on 6:11,13).
7:8 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it.
Though I did regret it, for I see that that epistle made you sorry, though
only for a time- We meet here the intriguing situation whereby Paul
wrote an inspired letter with a command concerning the immoral man- and
then regretted writing it. It seems that for a time Paul took false guilt
over the matter. But he emerged from that, refusing to feel guilty for it.
And there are other Biblical examples of refusing to take guilt when
others feel that it should be taken. Recall how the Lord’s own parents
blamed Him for ‘making them anxious’ by ‘irresponsibly’ remaining behind
in the temple. The Lord refused to take any guilt, didn’t apologize, and
even gently rebuked them (Lk. 2:42-51). In similar vein, Paul would not
take guilt for their being upset with him. Likewise Absalom comforted his
raped sister not to ‘take it to heart’, not to feel guilty about it, as it
seems she was feeling that way, taking false guilt upon her for her rape
(2 Sam. 13:20).
On a more human level, it seems that the Corinthians had replied that
they were 'most upset' by Paul's letter commanding them to remove the
immoral man, and criticizing them for not having done so. Yet Paul turns
that pouting, self-justifying 'We are most upset by how you wrote to us,
you know' into a claim that they had sorrowed unto repentance. He is
making a word play with "sorrow". But the rest of 2 Corinthians shows that
they still needed to experience Godly sorrow leading to real repentance
(12:20,21).
7:9- see on Lk. 9:23-25.
I now rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but
that you were made sorry to repentance. For you were made sorry in a Godly
way- Paul writes here as if
they were made sorrowful unto repentance by his letter, asking them to
remove the immoral man from amongst them. And he therefore rejoices at
their heart felt obedience to him. We would therefore assume that he could
now go to Corinth with joy- for I noted on chapter 2 that Paul had delayed
going to Corinth because he didn't want to have sorrow from them on his
coming, but rather joy. But even by the end of this letter, Paul states
clearly and repeatedly his unallayed fear that if he does visit them, "I
shall not find you such as I would" (2 Cor. 12:20,21). He urges them to
repent in response to his letter, because otherwise if he visited them,
the Lord might use him to seriously punish them (2 Cor. 13:10). So his
claim to be totally confident of their repentance and obedience seems
somewhat hollow- for if they indeed had done all he had asked, then he
could come to them with joy and not sorrow. But that clearly was not the
case. If indeed the Corinthians had sorrowed to repentance, then why
passages like: "See my suggestions for his exaggerated 'rejoicing' over
them on :4.
That you might suffer harm from us in nothing- He appears to be
quoting back to them their complaint that he had harmed them. He appears
to be desperately trying to argue that all is good now, because their
sorrow and hurt has led to their repentance and reconciliation with Paul.
Although the rest of the letter shows this was not the case.
7:10 For Godly sorrow works repentance to salvation, it brings no
regret; but the sorrow of the world works death- Paul is trying to
turn around their 'We were really upset you know by your letter, really
sad you should write to us like that' as meaning they had sorrowed with
Godly sorrow. But this was a desperate attempt to make things seem right.
“Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of” by
God (2 Cor. 7:10 AV) could mean that if we repent / change our minds, then
God will not repent of His plan for saving us. But more likely is Paul's
fear that they will regret their repentance, repenting of a repentance, as
it were. Rewriting and renegotiating the narrative of our sins so
that we no longer know Jesus as "the sinner's friend" because we are no
longer on our knees before Him. We must always be singing in our hearts "He
comes, He comes, the sinner's Friend! The fall'n to raise, the
meek to bless". And he says that this cannot be the case as Godly sorrow and
repentance leads to salvation, and going back on it would mean death.
Clearly Paul fears the Corinthians are unstable.
7:11 For observe this very thing: you sorrowed in a Godly manner, and
what diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what
indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication!
In all things you proved yourselves to be pure in the matter- See on
7:7. This diligence and zeal after repentance must be squared with
12:20,21: "I fear, lest by any means, when I come, I should find you not
as I would wish, and should myself be found by you such as you would not
wish. Lest by any means there should be quarrelling, jealousy, anger,
hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. I fear that when I come
again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many
of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual
immorality and sensuality that they have practiced". It could be argued
that Paul is thrilled at their obedience over "the matter", some specific
point of obedience. But the overall tenor of chapter 7 is that he is
thrilled with them and has complete confidence in them "in everything"
(:16). The comparison with 12:20,21 [and similar passages] leaves me
concluding that Paul here is carried away with a loving positivity about
the Corinthians. In 13:5 he seems to doubt whether they are really "in the
faith"; yet here he speaks so positively of their Godly zeal. Their
"indignation" and 'vehemence' may well have been indignation that Paul had
asked them to separate from the immoral brother. But Paul now likes to
interpret that as part of their Godly zeal. "You proved yourselves to be
pure" sounds like they may have given some reason excusing them for not
having previously separated from the immoral brother (1 Cor. 5); and Paul
accepts that explanation as he understands it from Titus. Their 'clearing
of themselves', apologia, self defence, sounds like self
justification- doubtless giving excuses as to why they had not initially
removed the immoral brother, and had now done so, in apparent obedience to
Paul's demand they do so. Paul wishes to understand their indignant
self-justification as Godly sorrow.
The Greek word zelos means both zeal in a good sense (2 Cor.
7:11,12; 9:2; 11:2)- and also it’s translated jealousy, strife, envying
(Rom. 13:13; 1 Cor. 3:3; 2 Cor. 12:20). Likewise, thumos is used
both about righteous anger, and also fits of anger which are sinful. It’s
clear enough from these linguistic facts, quite apart from our practical
experience, that zeal turns into strife far too often and far too easily.
The problem is, we so easily defend the strife, the jealousy, the anger…
as righteous zeal, Godly anger. The line seems to us very fine, although
it isn’t in God’s eyes. I observe too often brethren who appear so full of
anger, but never reveal it openly… until it comes to some matter connected
with their religious life. And then, wow, they let it all rip on some poor
person, feeling they are justified.
7:12 So although I wrote to you, I wrote not for his cause that did
the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered the wrong; but that your
earnest care for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God- This
argument seems desperate. The reasons given for demanding the removal of
the immoral man were given in 1 Cor. 5 as being because a little yeast
affects the whole lump of dough. But now, Paul says that the whole thing
was just a test to make them realize before God, in their consciences, how
much they cared for / respected Paul. Paul has earlier appealed to their
consciences as being proof of his sincerity, and now he says that the
whole command to discipline the immoral brother was in order for them to
have revealed to themselves how much they cared for Paul. If the whole
request to remove the brother were really just an experiment to prove
this, then it reveals a marked lack of care for the person involved; for
Paul urges them to receive the brother back lest he be psychologically
shattered by the exclusion experienced (2:7). All the contradictions
within the argument can only really be explained by reading Paul here as
utterly desperate to be reconciled with the Corinthians, taking blame on
himself as much as he could, and trying to slip past the problem by saying
it had all only been an experiment. Their "care" is the same word as in
the preceding :11, translated "diligence" (AV "carefulness"). Paul is
saying that the fact they did eventually remove the immoral man shows
their diligence towards him. But that was just how he wished to see
it. For the rest of the letter shows their deep disrespect of Paul.
7:13 Therefore we have been comforted, and in our comfort we rejoiced
still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by
you all- Was this really what had happened, with Titus feeling joyful
and refreshed by them? 8:23 and 12:18 imply that they accused Titus of
being Paul's puppet and part of a crafty scheme to get money out of them.
According to the [uninspired] footnote at the end of the letter, 2
Corinthians was written by Paul and Titus. The "us" references in the
letter would therefore refer to Paul and Titus; and it is clear that
Corinth were cynical and critical towards the "us", which would include
Titus.
Yet all the same, Paul's joy for the joy of Titus is instructive. Paul
sincerely felt the joy of others as being his personal joy (Rom. 12:15 cp.
1 Cor. 15:31; 2 Cor. 2:3). Because we are in one body, we rejoice with
those who rejoice. “We are partakers of your joy”, Paul could
write. The comfort which Titus felt was that which Paul felt (2 Cor.
7:6,7,13); Corinth’s joy was Paul’s (2 Cor. 7:13). This should ensure a
true richness of experience for the believer in Christ, sharing in the
joys and sorrows, the tragedies and triumphs, of the one body on the Lord.
“He that separateth himself seeketh his own desire” (Prov. 18:1 RV). This
says it all. Any separation from our brethren, whether it be from personal
dislike of them or for fear of losing friends amongst others who order us
to separate from them… is all ultimately selfish.
7:14 For whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to
shame. But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our
boasting before Titus has proved true- If Paul wrote so toughly to the
Corinthians in both the recorded epistles, it is unlikely he kept Titus in
the dark about their problems. So it seems Paul is surely putting the most
positive possible interpretation on his guidance to Titus before Titus
went to visit Corinth. Yet he insists that he 'boasted' to Titus of their
obedience, and he feels he had been justified. We will go on to read that
he had boasted of the Corinthians' intention to support the Jerusalem Poor
Fund- even though it seems they never came through on their promises. So
Paul boasted of them because he so loved them that he dearly wished them
to be spiritual and obedient. He counted them as far more than they really
were.
7:15 And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the
obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling you received him-
Again, as noted on :13, we have to recall that 8:23 and 12:18 imply that
they accused Titus of being Paul's puppet and part of a crafty scheme to
get money out of them. If indeed they received Titus with "fear and
trembling" then this was of little lasting consequence. And their
"obedience" was hardly very significant, because in 10:6 Paul speaks of
their "obedience" (s.w.) as not having been yet achieved. Again we are
left with the impression that Paul is interpreting their behaviour in the
most positive possible way, to the point of being unrealistic.
7:16 I rejoice that in everything I can have perfect confidence in you-
Paul had every reason not to have confidence in them. The confidence he
exudes here may be a radical example of imputing righteousness to those in
Christ. Or it may also be an example of him being caught up on the cusp of
obsessive-compulsive emotion, wildly over-positive about them. The word
for "confidence" is used almost exclusively in 2 Corinthians (5:6,8;
10:1,2). Paul's confidence in the Lord spilled over into his confidence
about his brethren. Whatever, we have here a great example of love and
positive attitude toward those who are hopelessly weak.
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