August
19th 2
Corinthians 7
1:
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God.
(Difficulties
overcome) I’m glad my letter did good
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 comforteth 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.
12: Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause
that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but
that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you. 13:
Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the
more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed
by you all. 14: For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am
not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our
boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth. 15: And his
inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth
the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received
him. 16: I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all
things.
Pauls
says that because the Corinthians are Gods children they are
therefore to live honourably in the light of this privilege. Paul
pleads with them in affectionate terms – dearly beloved he says,
let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit
in the fear of God. Can Paul speak like this to christians? Yes of
course he can. Being a christian does not mean that we are sinless or
that the sins of the flesh or the spirit do not overcome us. Being a
christian is knowing that our sins are forgiven and coming to the
realisation of sin in our lives continually and dealing with it by
confession and walking in the light. It is a constant fight, a
constant battle, not waged in the flesh but waged in the enabling
power of the Holy Spirit. So says Paul because we are Gods children
put away the filthiness of the flesh and spirit and become mature in
holiness in the fear of the Lord. Then Paul changes the subject, he
says, ‘Receive us’. There must have been a sense in which the
believers were distancing themselves from Paul and his associates at
some time. Perhaps they were even publically renouncing Paul’s
ministry. Paul states that there is no basis for not receiving him.
He says, we have done nothing wrong to any man. We have not perverted
anyone with our teaching and we have not taken anything from anyone
by theft. He says, l am not saying this to make you feel bad because
as l said before you are in our hearts - for life or death. I am
speaking very bold to you and great is my bragging of you. I am full
of assurance for you and l am very much full of joy when l think
about you, even in the middle of our troubles. When we came into
Macedonia we had no rest in the flesh, but we faced trouble on every
side. Outside us was fighting’s and within us was fears. However
God who comforts those who are cast down, comforted us and especially
by the report that Titus brought us. And we were comforted not only
by the coming of Titus but by the blessing that Titus had received by
seeing how you are. When Titus told us of your seeking after God and
of your mourning over your condition and of your longing after me. In
all these things l rejoiced in God. Paul had sent a very stinging
letter to the Corinthians which the Holy Spirit has never included in
scripture. This letter had had the effect of a great repentance and
restoration in the Corinthians to the Lord. Of this severe letter
Paul says, even though l made you sorry by my letter l do not now
wish that l had never sent it or wish to change what l said in it,
because l see that this letter fulfilled its purpose in making you
sorry, even if it were for a short time. I do not rejoice because you
were made to be sorry but because your sorrow led to a real change of
mind. Your sorrow was a godly sorrow (and we did not intend this
letter to bring you any harm.) Godly sorrow leads to a real change of
mind which brings a restoration of the believer to the Lord. The
regret of the ungodly world leads nowhere but to separation from the
Lord. You had exactly the same sorrow that l am talking about, it was
a sorrow of the godly and it brought to you great anxiety in spirit
and this led to a clearing up of issues, It led to indignation of
your sins and fear before God. This manifested itself in a great
desire to be right with God and a zeal to serve him. In every sense
you have proved yourself to be clear before the Lord in all these
matters. It was for this purpose that l wrote to you. I did not write
because you had done wrong nor even on behalf of those to whom wrong
was done but l wrote to express our care for you in the presence of
the Lord. We are now comforted by your comfort in God. Yes and we
rejoiced in the Lord even more so by the good news of Titus. His
spirit was refreshed by all of you. I am not ashamed of boasting to
Titus about you. But because we spoke everything to you in truth in
this was are proud of you and in this l bragged to Titus. Paul says
that, the love that Titus has for you has grown even more, when he
remembers the obedience to God that he saw in you all, when you
received him in fear and trembling. Paul says, l rejoice because of
all this that l have full confidence in you in everything.
- Why does Paul need to tell the Christians to put away all filthiness of the flesh?
- Paul had written a very strong letter of rebuke to them. How does Paul feel releived about how they responded well to him?
- What comforts Paul?
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