ACC ~ 2 Corinthians 1 v15 - 24

OVERVIEW:

The apostle had not paid Corinth the visit that he had promised, but he tells the Corinthians that he did not change his mind lightly (AMBROSIASTER). When a spiritually minded person does not do what he had originally planned, it is because something more providential has emerged for the salvation of others’ souls (AMBROSIASTER, CHRYSOSTOM). In Christ the will to obey is never ambivalent or uncertain (AMBROSIASTER). The Father’s promises find their Yes in him. They abide, unlike the outcome of Paul’s earlier promise to come to them (CHRYSOSTOM, AUGUSTINE). Paul stayed away from Corinth because if he had gone he would have had to take on the role of disciplinarian, which neither he nor they wanted (AMBROSIASTER, CHRYSOSTOM). The true flock is duly identified (SEVERIAN OF GABALA). God has established us (AMBROSIASTER, CHRYSOSTOM) with a firm faith in Christ, anointed us and made us worthy to receive the seal of the Holy Spirit (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, AMBROSE, THEODORET OF CYR).

1:15 | A Double Pleasure

THEY HAVE MENDED THEIR WAYS. AMBROSIASTER: This is proof that the Corinthians have mended their ways, because earlier on Paul did not want to see them at all. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

A DOUBLE PLEASURE TO VISIT. CHRYSOSTOM: The pleasure would be double because it would come both from his writings and from his presence. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 3.2.

1:16 | To and from Macedonia

ON THE WAY TO MACEDONIA. THEODORET OF CYR: Some people think that Paul said this aggressively, because in the first epistle he had promised the Corinthians that he would visit the Macedonians first and then come to Corinth. But as they were not willing to wait for him, he gives them a piece of his mind. COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 293.

1:17 | Was I Vacillating?

GOOD REASONS FOR CHANGING HIS MIND. AMBROSIASTER: Paul dismisses the charge that he cannot be trusted by telling the Corinthians that he did not change his mind lightly. He had good reasons for not doing what he had originally planned. When a spiritually minded person does not do what he intends to, it is because he has in mind something more providential for the salvation of someone’s soul. The apostle did not carry out his original plan in order that the Corinthians might become better men and women. He delayed his coming specifically because there were some among them who had not purified themselves, and he was waiting for that to happen first. This is spiritual thinking. Carnal thinking, by contrast, makes changes of plan in order to suit personal desires, not in order to do what is beneficial. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

LED BY THE SPIRIT. CHRYSOSTOM: The carnal man, who is riveted to the present world and completely caught up in it, is outside the sphere of the Spirit’s influence and has the power to go everywhere, doing whatever he likes. But the servant of the Spirit is led by the Spirit. He cannot just do what he likes. He is dependent on the Spirit’s authority. Paul was not able to come to Corinth because it was not the Spirit’s will for him to go there. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 3.3.

1:18 | A Trustworthy Word

FLATTERERS OMIT PARTS OF THE TRUTH. AMBROSIASTER: Paul is saying that God’s preaching through him has been faithful. Flatterers, on the other hand, frequently fail to mention things which are true in order not to offend people. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

RELIABLE PREACHING. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul had to explain why he could not keep his promise, so that the Corinthians would not distrust his preaching. In fact, what Paul preached was reliable. His promise to come to them had been from himself, but the message he proclaimed was from God, and God cannot lie. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 3.3.

1:19 | In Christ It Is Always Yes

AN UNCHANGING WILL. AMBROSIASTER: Competent preachers ought to be unambiguous about what they say. Say nothing that is not beneficial. Given that our human will often tends in ambivalent directions, Paul is insistent that he is not acting according to his will but according to what he knows will be helpful. In Christ, of course, this problem does not exist, because he always wills what is beneficial. Furthermore, Christ’s will never changes and is never uncertain. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

NOT UNSAYING WHAT I SAID. CHRYSOSTOM: I have never unsaid what I said before. My talk was not now this, now that. That would be not faith but a wandering mind. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 3.4.

SPEAKING THE FATHER’S TRUTH. AUGUSTINE: And when we confess that we have lied, we speak the truth, for we are saying what we know, and we know that we have lied. That Word, however, which is God and more powerful than ourselves, cannot do this. … And of himself he does not speak, but of that Father is everything that he speaks, since the Father speaks it in a unique way. The great power of that Word is that he cannot lie, because in him there cannot be yes and no but yes, yes; no, no. For that is not even to be called a word if it is not true. ON THE TRINITY 15.15.

1:20 | All the Promises of God

THE PROMISES OF GOD FIND THEIR YES IN CHRIST. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul’s preaching promised many things. He talked about being raised to life again and of being taken up into heaven. He talked about incorruption and those great rewards which awaited them. These promises abide unchanging, unlike Paul’s own promise of coming to them. They are always true. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 3.4.

WE UTTER THE AMEN THROUGH THE SON. AMBROSIASTER: Paul means that the work of the Father and the Son is one. When the Father gives the Spirit, the Son gives him too, because the Holy Spirit comes from both of them. He is thinking of the Trinity here because he has been speaking about the perfecting of mankind. The whole sum of perfection is found in the Trinity. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

1:21 | Established in Christ

GENTILES ESTABLISHED IN CHRIST. AMBROSIASTER: Paul is saying that Christ confirms the Gentiles in the faith promised to the Jews, because he has made us both one. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE ROOT AND FOUNT. CHRYSOSTOM: If the root and the fount are properly established, how can it be that we shall not enjoy the fruits which will spring from them? One thing leads inevitably to the other. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 3.4.

STAND FIRM AGAINST THE EVIL ONE. CHRYSOSTOM: After these words, after the renunciation of the devil and the covenant with Christ, inasmuch as you have henceforth become his very own and have nothing in common with that evil one, he straightway bids you to be marked and places on your forehead the sign of the cross. That savage beast is shameless, and when he hears those words, he grows more wild—as we might expect—and desires to assault you on sight. Hence God anoints your countenance and stamps thereon the sign of the cross. In this way God holds in check all the frenzy of the Evil One, for the devil will not dare to look on such a sight. Just as if he had beheld the rays of the sun and had leaped away, so will his eyes be blinded by the sight of your face and he will depart. For through the chrism the cross is stamped on you. … And that you may again know that it is not a man but God himself who anoints you by the hand of the priest, listen to St. Paul when he says: “It is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ, who has anointed us.” BAPTISMAL INSTRUCTIONS 11.27.

THE TRINITY’S COMMON WORK. AMBROSE: Therefore, you received of the sacraments. … Because you have been baptized in the name of the Trinity, in all that we have done the mystery of the Trinity has been preserved. Everywhere the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, one operation, one sanctification. … How? God, who anointed you, and the Lord sealed you and placed the Holy Spirit in your heart. Therefore, you have received the Holy Spirit in your heart. THE SACRAMENTS 6.2.5, 6.

1:22 | God’s Seal on Us

THE SOURCE OF ALL GOOD. THEODORET OF CYR: God is the source of all good things. He has given us firm faith in Christ. He has anointed us and made us worthy to receive the seal of the Holy Spirit. COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 295.

THE FLOCK IS RIGHTLY MARKED. SEVERIAN OF GABALA: Shepherds brand their sheep so as to distinguish the ones which belong to them from others. This is what Christ has done to us. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

THE PLEDGE OF THE SPIRIT. AUGUSTINE: I have learned from your letter, as well as from the statement of the bearer, that you ardently desire a letter from me, in the belief that it will bring you the greatest consolation. I must not refuse or delay this letter, but you will have to see what good you can draw from it. Let the faith and hope and charity, which are diffused through the hearts of the faithful by the Holy Spirit, be your consolation. We receive a little of it in this life as a pledge to make us learn how to long for its fullness. You must not think of yourself as left alone, since in the interior life you have Christ, present in your heart by faith. LETTER 92, TO ITALICA.

THE SPIRIT’S PRESENCE. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: To realize that Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit, and like him all the apostles, and all who after them believe in Father, Son and Holy Spirit, pay attention to the clear words of Paul himself. … “God who also stamped us with his seal and gave us the Spirit as a pledge.” CATECHETICAL LECTURES 17.32.

1:23 | It Was to Spare You

HE WENT ELSEWHERE. AMBROSIASTER: Here Paul is addressing people who apparently wanted to reform but were not making much of an effort in that direction. It was to spare them until they pulled themselves together that he went elsewhere for the time being. Paul did not want them to think that he despised them as unworthy. Once they realized that, they would mend their ways, and then the apostle would come to visit them. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE ALTERNATIVE WOULD HAVE BEEN DISAGREEABLE. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul stayed away from Corinth at least partly because if he had gone there he would have had to take on the role of disciplinarian, which neither he nor they wanted. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 4.1.

1:24a | Not to Lord It Over Your Faith

FAITH NOT COMPELLED. AMBROSIASTER: Paul says this because faith is not a matter of compulsion but of free will. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

1:24b | We Work with You

THEIR NEED TO REFORM. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul did not want to go to Corinth in order to plunge the Corinthians into despair. Instead, he stayed away so that they would reform themselves, fearing what might otherwise happen if he did come. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 4.1.

WE WORK WITH YOU. THEODORET OF CYR: Paul added this because his authority was evidently what the Corinthians were afraid of. COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 296.

NO FAULT WITH THEIR FAITH. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Paul says that he finds no fault with their faith. However, there are some other things which need to be put right, and he is concerned with those. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.