seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Corinthians 2:1 1 So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you. 2 For if I grieve you, who is left to make me glad but you whom I have grieved? 3 I wrote as I did, so that when I came I would not be distressed by those who should have made me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would all share my joy. 4 For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.
5 If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. 6 The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. 7 Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8 I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 9 Another reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. 10 Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
12 Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, 13 I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.
14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.
I'm going right to the easy English commentary this morning.
Paul did not change his plans because he was afraid of the Christians at Corinth. He did so to avoid another painful visit. The words mean that he could have come to punish them. He did not want to do that. He was not there to rule over them (perhaps like the false teachers among them). Their trust was strong enough. Jesus was their Lord. Paul was just someone who served them. He wanted to work with them so that they could all share each other’s joy. This would only happen when they all had the same purpose. The letter was the one that Paul sent after his visit. We do not think that we have that letter in the Bible. Although Paul wrote a severe letter he did so with tears and great sorrow. He did not intend to make them sad. He wanted to show how much he loved them. He wanted the best for them.
Paul now writes about the person who has caused all the trouble. This man probably caused trouble when Paul made his unhappy visit. Perhaps this man upset Paul by his words. And this man also upset the whole church. Because of Paul’s severe letter, most of the people had punished this man. Perhaps they made him leave the church for a time. Some people wanted the punishment to be even more severe. Paul said that they had punished the man enough. Now they should forgive him and bring him back into the church. They should show their love for him. If they did not, the man might leave the church completely. Paul said that he wrote the letter as a test. It was to see if they would obey him.
Now that they had forgiven the man, Paul forgave him as well. Paul did not continue to dislike the man because of his actions in the past. Paul forgave the man by Christ, because he loved the Christians at Corinth. He wanted the man to come back into the church. He did not want Satan to divide or to destroy the church. The devil’s method is to prevent unity.
Paul uses the description of a Roman victory procession. A Roman general who had won a battle would lead a procession of soldiers and prisoners. They would walk through the streets of the city. The priests carried incense with them as they walked. To the victors, the incense meant that they would live. To the prisoners it meant death. Paul was a prisoner in Christ’s victory procession. He was weak. He was not successful and strong. His opponents said that they were strong.
Christians show that they belong to Christ. This is like the beautiful smell of incense to other people. ‘Knowledge’ here means personal experience. To those who believed it, it smelt of life. To those who rejected it, it smelt of death. Paul wondered who was able to do this work. He said that none of us could do it by ourselves. We all need the help of God. The false teachers only wanted to make money. The false teachers’ good news was not as good as Paul’s good news! Paul was sincere in what he preached. He lived his life ‘in front of God’. He remembered that one day God would be his judge. God sent him when he made him an apostle.
This is the introduction to 2 Corinthians 2 from bible-studys.org.
We found in 1 Corinthians that Paul had received disturbing news of further difficulties at Corinth, including the arrival of self-styled false apostles. To create the platform to teach their false gospel, they began by assaulting the character of Paul. They had to convince the people to turn from Paul to them if they were to succeed in preaching demon doctrine.
Temporarily abandoning the work at Ephesus, Paul went immediately to Corinth. The visit (known as the painful visit), was not a successful one from Paul’s perspective. Someone in the Corinthian church (possibly one of the false apostles), even openly insulted him. Saddened by the Corinthians’ lack of loyalty to defend him, seeking to spare them further reproof, and perhaps hoping time would bring them to their senses, Paul returned to Ephesus.
From there Paul wrote what is known as the “severe letter” and sent it with Titus to Corinth. Leaving Ephesus after the riot sparked by Demetrius (Acts 19:20 - 23-20:1), Paul went to Troas to meet Titus. But Paul was so anxious for news of how the Corinthians had responded to the “severe letter,” that he could not minister there though the Lord had opened the door.
So he left for Macedonia to look for Titus. To Paul’s immense relief and joy, Titus met him with the news that much of the Corinthians had repented of their rebellion against Paul. Wise enough to know that some rebellious attitudes still smoldered under the surface, and could erupt again, Paul wrote (possibly from Philippi), the letter called 2 Corinthians.
In this letter, though the apostle expressed his relief and joy at their repentance, his main concern was to defend his apostleship, exhort the Corinthians to resume preparations for the collection for the poor at Jerusalem and confront the false apostles head on. He then went to Corinth, as he had written. The Corinthians’ participation in the Jerusalem offering (Romans 15:26), implies that Paul’s third visit to that church was successful.
What is it about the Bible's infatuation with Paul? There's more about this apostle [little a] than there was about Jesus Himself. Now this guy Paul has a problem with a particular person in the church in Corinth. This morning I am reminded of the guy who would travel around the US with a wagon of "snake oil". It was supposed to cure everything. There was even a guy like that in the Wizard of Oz.... and cleverly enough... the dream turned him into the fake behind the curtain that finally lowered his voice and explained to Dorothy that he couldn't help her. There was a good witch in the story.... and the good witch was only too happy to tell Dorothy how to go home.
Anyway.... apparently Corinth had inherited a fake apostle who was spinning his own "snake oil" version of the story of Salvation. The church called that guy out... finally.... and the church had decided on the man's fate. Apparently Paul had called the guy out on a previous trip.... Paul's interference in the process caused some kind of altercation..... so Paul was happy the church had settled the matter. Paul hoped [according to the letter] that the guy was able to return to the church once he learned not to spin up new ideas about Salvation.
I really don't care if Paul is a good guy or a bad guy in this chapter.... I'm looking for a truth. As I read this.... I was thinking... those churches were so far apart.... and the original 12 [eleven now after the demise of Judas] could not be at every church every day.... there was no email or skype. There was ample opportunity for a real "snake oil" guy to make his way into the church back then.... a fake could contort it all.... a fake could twist it up so good that Paul and Peter became saints and the ones who never denied Jesus.... who never held a murderer's coat...... were tossed......
BUT wait..... God is controlling all of this.... and I figure if God sent His Son.... the one who I figure was watching as each of these characters was sculpted ..... then it's not likely God would let anyone twist it up so severely that the light wouldn't still come out. Even out of the "snake oil" the truth about what Jesus did can stand on its own.
I'm glad Paul is apparently going to give Corinth a break. They have enough on their hands. Their church meets in a building that was the Temple of Aphrodite.... a place where male and female prostitutes make sex a part of their worship. The Christians in Corinth.... literally walked through debauchery of all types to get to the church chapel. Although there was not sex involved in the Christian Church Service.... the members were still sitting in a brothel next to the intrigue of raw life. After sticking to the faith while being enticed with a humans favorite treat [sex].... it would be a shame if some slick money grubber started preaching to the paycheck..... pulling them away from the gospel or worse yet twisting the gospel to allow that money grubbing preacher direct access to their pockets.
I've seen it for myself. That bar right off the block in Baltimore.... was run by a twisted sort. The services were advertised by word of mouth... at first, I am told.... they had a good little church starting up.... but then it all went terribly bad.... because the preacher was spreading snake oil instead of the gospel. For Jim... it was new income.... a collection plate for the price of an hour's electric and a pot of coffee.... good trade. And.... there were the benefits of the "new member" indoctrination.... according to Jim...... see....
The Church in Corinth had it's problems.... and they were hefty..... but when they stopped worrying about circumcision and picky eating habits.... and they got down to the reason for meeting..... they worked together.... being kind to one another.... and offering help to the poor, sick, widowed, and orphaned.
"Snake Oil" is not good for anyone but a snake.
