2 Corinthians 7:2-16--​Paul's Joy

2 Corinthians 7:2-16
English Standard Version

​Paul's Joy
2 Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. 3 I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4 I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

5 For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. 8 For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. 9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.

10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 11 For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. 12 So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. 13 Therefore we are comforted.
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And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. 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. 15 And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. 16 I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you.

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It's hard to find the right words for what's going on in the first section.  Asking "can we still be friends?" isn't quite strong enough, but saying that Paul desires "intimacy" probably brings up the wrong kind of connotation, but for those who are biblically literate, let's go with the "intimacy" idea like the friendship between David and Jonathan.   They were more than friends, they were like brothers even though they were from families that should have opposed and hated each other.  They were closely-knit together.  I've had a few such relationships in my life that were very close friends and none of them sexual in nature--they were just my best friends who felt closer than a brother to me.  Paul desired a different kind of relationship though--one of a father-son relationship.  I'd say that I too have had that kind of relationship with a few people over my years of discipling and mentoring people.  Paul would always have a place for them in his hear like a parent never stops being a parent to his or her children, but it is possible for the child to want to go their own way and not have a relationship with their father or mother (let's stick generically with "father" and "son" as that's the language that is being used here).  It's especially true if the father does something that hurts the son and the son becomes bitter and wants to protect himself and those he loves from being hurt like that again.  Paul had written a scathing letter of correction to the Corinthian church (maybe that's the letter we have for us as 1 Corinthians or maybe it's one of the other letters between Paul and this church which we don't have recorded in the Bile).  The letter hurt the people deeply, which Paul did not intend to do, and Paul is sad that he hurt his spiritual children, but he is glad at the same time that the message he spoke to them led them to repentance.  Now Paul is concerned about making peace and restoration because it our job as much as it is up to us to be at peace with all men, but especially those who are part of the Body of Christ, because we should not be able to be divided against one another.

Paul tells them how much they mean to him and how much he treasures his relationship with them and how much joy it brings him just to think about them.  Paul recounts how they have been a place of rest and refuge for him and his team, and how they have even sent Titus to him--another protégé of Paul's like Timothy.  Titus was a great encouragement to Paul, and in this case Paul was encouraged by the words of Titus that while the wounds of the letter Paul wrote stung and hurt the people, they repented and the words accomplished their purpose.

Paul then goes into a lesson about the difference between regular grief and "godly grief" which is grief with a purpose.  Paul would desire that they never have to go through any kind of grief (most parents understand that feeling of wanting to protect their children from all the pain and suffering that exists in the world), but grief is inescapable.  It's just part of this life in the world which we live.  We are going to deal with death, pain, suffering, and even feeling betrayed.  It's that last one that I think Paul is concerned about here--like somehow Paul has damaged their trust and their relationship and somehow betrayed the love of the Corinthians.  But Paul says that godly grief leads to repentance, just like the response of the Corinthian church had been, and that should be a comfort to us if we had any question about if the Spirit was at work in these people.   For there seemed to be questions at a few points whether their faith was genuine, but genuine repentance is one of the surest signs of genuine faith.  For no one living according to the flesh truly feels convicted about their sin--they may feel guilty if they get caught and they may apologize, but they will only focus on how to sin better next time so as to not get caught or how to do damage-control to make things less severe for themselves or shift the blame to someone else.  It is the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin and corrects us so that repent, that is to turn around from going the wrong way and get back to the Way in which we should way.  The early Christians were called "followers of the Way" in reference to Jesus saying, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man comes to the Father but by Me."  (John 14:6).

Paul wrote the letter of correction to them so that the one who was doing wrong would be condemned and punished, but it must have come across like, "How could any of you allow this to happen and continue in your midst?!?"  It grieved the people that they believed that Paul was blaming them, the victims, which was not Paul's intent.  He simply wanted them to exercise church discipline and expel the immoral brother (I'm assuming that Paul is making reference to the incident of the man who was having an affair with his step-mother).  Paul said that their course correction in immediately taking care of the issue showed that they were not complicit in the sin, nor did they "wink' at it (we might say "turn a blind eye" in our culture)--basically the same idea of closing your eyes or covering them to willfully not see something that you know is going on right in front of you and in so doing give your tacit okay to it.  Paul has been comforted by the fact not only that they were not complicit in these immoral acts and did not condone them, but we also read in this book that the judgment that was passed on that man and his step-mother led to repentance.  So, Paul's joy was complete in that they had gained their brother back (we don't hear if the step-mother was ever part of the church or if she repented).

Paul was pretty good about knowing when he needed to send one of his companions to the churches for a time to encourage them, probably because of the open communication that they had with him and they sent many letters back and forth.  Paul felt even more joy because although he had sent Titus to the Corinthian church to encourage them and give them a time of healing and refreshment, it was Titus who seemed to return both encouraged and refreshed.  That's the way that it works lots of times for those of us who go on a trip to minister to others--we end up being the ones that are ministered to.  It's just the way that God seems to work to keep us humble.  As soon as we imagine that we have something to offer "those people," God uses them to teach things to us that we needed to know and the one who perceived himself to be a teacher becomes the student and the one who imagines himself the minister is the one being ministered to.

Paul said that all the good things he had told to Titus about the Corinthian church had proven to be true just as all the things he had told the Corinthians about Titus also proved to be true.  Not Titus like Paul also cares deeply for this church as they have at least gained another brother if not another spiritual father in Titus.  He will have a special relationship and a special place in his heart with this church moving forward.

Are you a "spiritual father" to anyone or a "spiritual son" to anyone?  Are there relationships that you need to mend so that there will be no division within the Body of Christ?  It is important to see that the ends don't always justify the means and it's okay to give God glory for accomplishing His perfect plan even by our imperfect means sometimes, and that it's okay to say "I'm not sorry about the result, but I am sorry for how I went about it."  I've been there and had to do that several times in my life. I've also experience people that turn away and no longer want to be discipled after being corrected.  It always hurts to feel like you lost one of your children, but you also know that you can't make them want to take your advice or correction and ultimately it is up to God to deal with them if they are His child.  His Spirit will work within them to bring about repentance if they belong to Him. 

Paul does not seem to be an "encourager" by nature, but it seems to be something he intentionally focuses on as the Holy Spirit works within him to give him that gifting that is not natural to him so that he can fully accomplish the work that God had prepared for him.  His job wasn't just to preach, teach and correct, but also to encourage and edify.  It seems many times that Paul sent someone else to help with this and this was part of the "team effort."  Paul realized when it was time to send someone like Barnabas (known as an The Encourager") and I think God in His wisdom paired the two of them together for this reason so that they could balance each other out and help each other where the other is weak.  I think we see the same think here with others that God brings into Paul's ministry, like Titus.  Are you maybe the kind of person who needs others to come alongside you to help you where you are weak?  Are you the person God may be calling to come alongside someone else-maybe not to be the person in the spotlight, but someone to support the ministry and make sure that things stay on track?  Do you ever feel called to minister to the ministers?  They too need encouragement as we see in this passage.  In what ways is God using this passage to teach you about reconciliation and encouragement and where those need to take place in your own relationships?  Let me know if I can pray for you or help you in any way as the Lord works on you through this passage.