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2nd Corinthians 7:2-11
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January 13th 2019
So we left off last week covering only verse 1 of chapter 7 and all that it entails relative to believers being sons and daughters.
If you recall, verse 1 says
2Co 7:1 Having therefore these promises (which were presented in chapter 6 verses 16-17) Paul adds, “dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
At this point Paul continues at verse 2, which seems to me to be the real first verse of chapter seven and says:
2 Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.
3 I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.
4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.
5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.
6 Nevertheless God, that comfort those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;
7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.
8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.
9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
So, let’s see if we can get through the next ten verses. Back to verse 2 where he opens the chapter up with . . .
2 Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.
We know by now that here in 2nd Corinthians Paul has been attempting to get the believers to receive him, to trust in his motivations toward them and that his position as an apostle is trustworthy.
This is another direct appeal to this desire. The Greek word for receive is choreo, and it means space – as in choreography – the use of space in movements.
His meaning appears to be, open up a space in your hearts for us. Tyndal translates this to, “understand us.”
Make room in your affections for us.
That is kind of what we do with people in our lives isn’t it – we make room for them or we don’t.
I am often disliked because in my life, and what I am made to do, I do not make room for many people in terms of activities – hanging out, going to events, dinner socials, etc.
When you have a family and a ministry and other things like this it is really hard to accomplish what you need to accomplish if you make room for such things.
However, I have made room in my heart for everyone, and I do love and receive them in this way and WILL ALWAYS make time for them if there is a need, a problem, and way that I can offer care.
This is what Paul is requesting – for them to make room for him in their hearts.
He has been asking them to do this toward him back in chapter 6:13 and here he seems to return to the subject – remember, in this epistle Paul is more rambling than in any other thing written in the Record.
After petitioning them to make room for them (meaning, in their sentiments and hearts) he goes on to justify why they are worthy of such, laying our three claims of innocence, including:
“We have wronged no man.”
“we have corrupted no man,”
“we have defrauded no man.”
Wronged (adikeo) “been unjust”
Corrupted (phtheiro) “ruined or corrupted”
Defrauded (pleonekteo) “overreached, as in greedily taken what from anyone.”
Three words that really sum up treating others well. In our language, we could say that Paul
Did not treat anyone unjustly (backstabbed, gossiped, betrayed, or was unfair toward)
Did not ruin them with ill advice, philosophies or practices, and
Did not overreach into their lives and take their money lands or wives.
These are really practical reasons Paul justifies themselves before them and requests that they make room for them in their hearts. Summed up in, “We are trustworthy and not dangerous to your material well-being.”
He adds at verse 3:
3 I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.
It is not because I have no love for you that I say this, nor is it to condemn you.
I have said before, that you are in our hearts and if it were the will of God, we would be glad to spend our lives among you until the point of death.
Paul is being extremely loving here and it was to a crew who were not being particularly receptive of Him. And he adds:
4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.
That line, “Great is my boldness of speech toward you,” appears to refer to some direct language he had used toward them in other places (like chapter 6:12) and in 1st Corinthians.
He is softening up his words here, but first admits that he had been greatly bold toward them. Now he adds that great is his glorying of them, and the fact that he is “filled with comfort, and extremely joyful in the trials and tribulations they are experiencing.
Why? What has occurred where he has eased into this comfort and joy and willingness to suffer?
He begins to tell us in the next verses, and he starts with some backstory, saying:
5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.
We know from chapter 1 that Paul and company took an indirect route on their way to Macedonia so as to stop in at Corinth. Here he tell them that when they got to their ultimate destination of Macedonia they were met with endless strife and restlessness, described as
“our flesh had no rest and we were troubled on every side – without were fightings, within were fears.”
These words depict some real turmoil for Paul and Company – every way they turned. Outwardly in probably some literal attacks on their attempting to preach the Gospel and inwardly due to worried and fears over everything in the ministry – including the troubles the church was having at Corinth.
Remember, Paul was not just church building – he was on an errand of immense proportions – to reach and preach in a hostile environment, and to prepare and protect those who were in the flock . . . until He came for them, or until he died.
I think we can add the troubles at Corinth to the probable internal worries of Paul as he now adds:
6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;
So amidst their trials God stepped in and sent Titus to them who comformed them. How? Paul tells us, saying:
7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.
So it was not only in the fact that Titus came and joined them, adding his faith in the Lord and personality to their plight, but he brought information to Paul that he was worried about, and he was comforted . . .
“by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.”
In other words, Titus arrived at Macedonia comforted by the actions of the Corinthians, especially in light of Pauls 1st Corinthians letter to them which caused them to
“Have an earnest desire, and to mourn and to possess a fervent mind toward Paul.”
All of this caused Paul, he says, “to rejoice the more.”
In other words, Titus came to Paul and was satisfied and delighted with his interactions with the people of Corinth.
He had been apparently received, kindly treated, and he had seen all the effect produced by the letter which he had desired, he had, therefore, been much comforted by his visit to Corinth; and this was a source of additional joy to Paul.
So, Paul adds (verse 8) a kind of confusing admission, saying:
8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.
So, let’s first look at the words repent here. The word for changing the mind about a matter is “metano-eh-o.” The word used here is a form of it, and it is “met-am-el-omahee” and it best means to care later or to regret.
This word is only used four times in the Record whereas metano-eh-o is used repeatedly.
I say this because I think we can change the KJV verbiage to regret here and be correct. It helps a bit with comprehension. So . . .
8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.
This is starting to make a little more sense.
8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not regret it, (it was the proper instruction that the bride at Corinth needed painful as it was) though I did regret it: (because I hated to cause you pain, and he adds) “for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.”
Make sense? Isn’t his how it is in ministry? You are required by the Spirit of Truth to speak truth, even though we know the truth can be painful to hear, and this pains us, but we know it is good and right and that the pain will only last for a season.
The ability to speak painful truths to others and NOT lose space with them in their hearts is greatly enhanced when the recipient knows you love them – which is why I think Paul is continually reminding them that they are loved by him.
It’s almost a guarantee that if a person does not feel loved by a critic the criticism will fall on hard ground. Paul was in this position of having to be an apostles of the Lord of Love to them, but to try to ensure that they knew he loved them. And it seems that after he wrote them 1st Corinthians and chided them for some things, and then went to Macedonia, he worried in his heart that what he had written had caused them to hate him.
And since he really did love them and care for them, this greatly troubled him – internally. The arrival of Titus and the news he gave him greatly alleviated his fears – and this seems to be what he is saying here. And so he adds – at verse 9:
9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.
And herein lies the big difference in Christian counseling – does it make people just sorry that they heard it in the first place because it causes them sorrow or does the counsel cause them to have sorrow unto repentance, unto the change of mind, or as Paul says, “for ye were made sorry after a Godly manner, that ye (or causing you) to not receive any sort of damage from us?
And this introduces us to a really vital point all of us have to learn as Paul summarizes in verse 10:
10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
I’ve written this on the board because it is really a vital topic for Christian parents, youth leaders, and pastors.
First, let’s hear from some other translations:
(BBE) For the sorrow which God gives is the cause of salvation through a change of heart, in which there is no reason for grief: but the sorrow of the world is a cause of death.
(DBY) For grief according to God works repentance to salvation, never to be regretted; but the grief of the world works death.
(MNT) For your pain came from God, and so you took no harm from me. For the pain which is from God works repentance leading to salvation, a repentance never to be regretted. But the world’s pain works death.
(Oracl) For godly sorrow produces a reformation to salvation, never to be repented of; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
(TCNT) For, when sorrow is in accordance with God’s will, it results in a repentance leading to Salvation, which will never be regretted. The sure result of the sorrow that the world knows is Death.
This reiteration gives us some perspective and clarity. From it we can assume a few principles:
ON BOARD:
When SORROW is from God
The result is a repentance
That leads to salvation.
Which is never regretted over.
But the certain result
Of sorrow from or in or by the World
Is death.
Personally, this passage is extremely important and meaningful as I have had a life of people bringing me sorrow that has only lead to death – death of respect, of hope, of relationships, of religious association – but I have also had the great blessing to have repented countless times due to the sorrow according to or from God,” which I have never regreted.
Not only this, and much more regrettably, I have been greatly guilty of using worldly ways on people and creating worldly sorrow in them, that has, of course, led to death too.
What is the difference? It can be such a fine fine fine line, and because so it is fine, we well-meaning humans often cross over it – and make a mess of things.
So let’s first discuss the first five principles here that Paul offers:
When SORROW is from God
The result is a repentance
That leads to salvation.
Which is never regretted over.
We are on a path of stealing hubcaps from cars at night. On evening the Spirit move in on us and explains in detail how offensive this is to God, to light, to Goodness, to fairness, to love of neighbors.
It reveals to us that if we get caught our reputations in the community, and with our children, will be tarnished.
And we are reminded by the Spirit that amidst such criminality God still loves us, that He will never leave us, and that we remain His.
We ignore it.
It returns. We may even get arrested. But the message and the delivery is the same – kind, peaceable, gentle . . . it is by the fruit of the Spirit.
And ultimately its is this goodness of God that leads to repentance, which leads to salvation, which, because it is from the heart, is never regretted.
This sample is just one of millions but the principles remain – the gentle, loving, peaceable, kind, longsuffering sorrow.
This is Christian sorrow from God because it comes from Him by His Spirit and will, in fact, cause Godly sorrow, and leading to Salvation, will never be regretted but instead will be rejoiced in and over, with gratitude that God took the time to correct us, guide us, and wait to gently move us to changing our minds.
The fact that Paul says that such sorrow results in repentance, which leads salvation should not be a surprise.
Remember, Paul is writing to believers. So the implication is that unrepented of sin can lead to a loss of salvation. Contextually speaking, it is not the specific sin that leads to such a loss, but it is the specific sin that can lead to a loss of faith wherein salvation would be lost.
Cannot forget this caveat and nuance.
But the point is, when God, by the Spirit, causes sorrow in us, this is fantastic sorrow, and it results in actual repentance, or change, which is from the heart, and leads to salvation, and nobody experiencing such can regret it.
This is the sorrow that leads to life, and therefore it is a wonderful thing.
Paul here were in the position of delivering instructions to the church at Corinth which caused them sorrow, which he did not regret – but then did – because he feared that it would cause in them a sorrow unto death –
The death of their relationship with him, perhaps with each other, and worst of all with Christ, and therefore God – which would be the ultimate form of death.
In other word, Paul worried that his approach to bringing them sorrow was the kind the world gives – which are summarized by the last three points:
But the certain result
Of sorrow from or in or by the World
Is death.
The fact that the believers at Corinth did, in fact, receive his advice proves that God was in his advice and that He did work in and through Paul’s efforts to redirect them.
Most of us have been on both the receiving end, and on the giving end, of “sorrow from, in or by the World.”
Unlike the longsuffering love and kind gentleness that patiently comes from God, the sorrow that comes from the world is of course opposite:
It is harsh, attacking, condemnatory, rude, impetuous, personal, guilt and fear laden, and at times extremely manipulative.
Some of it can work in producing immediate results – and this is what our penal system is built upon. But if God is not working hand in hand with them, the result is often death, just like Paul says – death of the soul, death of the heart, death of faith, hope and love.
Unfortunately, some religious approaches to sins of the flesh, meted out by religious men and women, appeal to the sorrow the world gives – and this approach kills the recipient.
I remember being chided one too many times by religious leaders as a youth. One was particularly mean-spirited and condemnatory. I saw right through him and was not in the least interested in hearing what he had to say. In the end the result was death – his death in my mind over and over again.
This is what happens when we use the ways and tools of the world on others when we want to make them feel bad.
And the end result, as Paul promises, will be the death . . .
Between parents and children
People and the law
Humans and preachers.
The goal is to learn to help use the fruit of the Spirit and all that it entails in our efforts to direct people back to the ways of God without creating sorrow that leads to death.
And again, this comes first by and through them KNOWING that we love them.
If there is any inking that love is lacking, there will be a much higher failure rate, in my estimation.
And it is not a mistake that the first word in describing the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE.
By going to Paul’s description then of love, in 1st Corinthians 13, we are provided with a template on what our interactions, directives, advices, and conversations with others – our fellow Christian, our family, our neighbors – ought to look like, IF (or since) we want to create in them a Godly sorrow and not a worldly one.
For this reason alone I am backing way away from disgracebook – it does not allow for the flourishment and promotion of Godly sorrow but worldly – which leads to death (or in the case of Disgracebook) blocking and unfriending.
At verse 11, Paul now talks about how they received his instructions by God, and that this is evidenced in their response to it, saying:
11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
For look at your own example! He states. That you sorrowed in the Godly way. And then in a somewhat poetic fashion he describes the way that Godly way was manifested in them, saying:
what carefulness it wrought in you, yea,
what clearing of yourselves,
yea,
what indignation,
yea,
what fear,
yea,
what vehement desire,
yea,
what zeal,
yea,
what revenge!
What revenge? Let’s work through these words/statements carefully but quickly:
what carefulness
EAGERNESS
what clearing of yourselves,
INDIGNATION (resentment, anger, discontent)
what fear, A FEAR OF GOD what vehement desire, LONGING FOR what zeal, FERVENT HEAT what revenge VINDICATION. RETRIBUTION. PUNISHMENT And then he finishes with . . . “In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” And we are fully left with a decision to make folks. First of all, in verse 10 Paul seems to speak of the type of sorrow that works to repentance – and yet in verse 11, his praise for them and their response to the issue in 1st Corinthians sounds like worldly approaches to the man needing correction. What gives? Are we supposed to seek to help bring Godly sorrow to others that will lead to repentance and salvation in their lives by love, or are we to respond to others and their problems in the way he describes in verse 11? And are these exacting words (that have little room for reinterpretation) supposed to be at work in the individual churches around the world today like they obviously were at the church at Corinth? Are we supposed to embrace these attitudes toward others and their situations – attitudes of . . . “EAGERNESS, SELF-DEFENSE, INDIGNATION, A FEAR OF GOD, A LONGING FOR, WITH FERVENT HEAT, VINDICATION, RETRIBUTION and PUNISHMENT? (obviously of others)? There are those who live this way – they are all around here – they live the faith in these very attitudes – in the extremes of the Westboro Baptists and in the lesser realms of the regular old fundamentalists. First of all, these things ARE in the Bible. Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles did write them and we do read them today. Because of this they trouble me personally to no end (initially) because I would rather, by the Spirit in me, die then live my life in the faith through such attitudes. But, they are here and they must be taken into consideration. I would suggest that in that day, that these attitudes that Paul is praising, were what caused the man in question who was sleeping with his dads wife, WAS brought to repentance with Godly Sorrow by and through these means. I don’t think this can be ignored. So they can be effectual in bringing some to repentance. So now what!?? I think we need to ask, “Why were they effectual? And why did they work in him to Godly sorrow and therefore repentance, and therefore salvation? And perhaps in this line of questioning we discover some things. Remember the age, what was coming their way (as promised), what was required to be saved from what was coming, that this was the bride of Christ that was to be taken, that Paul was called to guide and protect them, and that they were to listen to him. Take all of this and put it in play in the life of the reprobate who did repent unto salvation. He was in that age, that economy, that time when the end was headed their way and they ALL knew it. He knew what was required to be saved, he felt the pain in being excommunicated, and that all of the friends and fellowship of that community would be lost if he didn’t soften his heart and ways to God in a time when the Spirit was abundantly pulling him back. Today, if a man in adultery is caught he can wander into any church. And while he may worry about the second coming to take the church, he shouldn’t be. See, this is why these words, while very emphatic to them then, are not applicable to us. And I say this with some trepidation. I don’t want to be out of sorts with the Lord and His ways, and I believe that if we are waiting to be rescued by Him at His return, we ought to practice in attitude what Paul describes here. My caveat is in eschatology. And I now believe that every individual is to allow the Holy Spirit and its fruit to move the individual to sorrow that leads to repentance, and that when we get in the way with what Paul endorses here, we will be appealing to the ways of the world, that will only lead to death . . . in the relationship, and perhaps in the heart of the individual for God. Let’s wrap this up with a Q and A
Prayer
