ACC ~ 2 Corinthians 2 v5 - 11

OVERVIEW:

Paul asks the Corinthians not only to lift the censure of the fornicator but also to restore him to his former status (BASIL, THEODORET OF CYR), for to punish a man without healing him means nothing (CHRYSOSTOM). He wanted to see that they were as obedient in restoring the sinner as they had been in disciplining him (CHRYSOSTOM, AMBROSIASTER, PELAGIUS). Satan can destroy not only by leading into fornication but also by the immoderate sorrow that can follow on repentance for it (CHRYSOSTOM, DIDYMUS THE BLIND, AMBROSIASTER). The pain caused to Paul was shared by all the saints at Corinth (AMBROSIASTER).

2:5 | Causing Pain to All

PAIN CAUSED TO THE SAINTS. AMBROSIASTER: By “you all” Paul means the saints among the Corinthians. For they were divided into those who were saints and those who were not, but it is the former he is addressing here. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

PAUL’S ANGER SHARED BY ALL THE CORINTHIANS. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul’s anger and indignation at the man who had committed fornication was shared by all the Corinthians. He thus softens their anger with him by declaring that they also suffered in his indignation. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 4.4.

2:6 | Punishment Enough

THIS PUNISHMENT IS ENOUGH. CHRYSOSTOM: Notice that Paul nowhere mentions the crime, because the time had now come to forgive. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 4.4.

BY THE MAJORITY. THEODORET OF CYR: Paul reveals the zeal of the Corinthians, for they had all turned against this man, just as he had ordered them to. COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 297.

THE SAFETY OF COMMUNITY. BASIL: Community life offers more blessings than can be fully and easily enumerated. It is more advantageous than the solitary life both for preserving the goods bestowed on us by God and for warding off the external attacks of the Enemy. … For the sinner, moreover, the withdrawal from his sin is far easier if he fears the shame of incurring censure from many acting together—to him, indeed, might be applied the words: “To him who is such a one, this rebuke is sufficient which is given by many”—and for the righteous man, there is a great and full satisfaction in the esteem of the group and in their approval of his conduct. THE LONG RULES 7.

THE COMMUNITY’S LOVE REAFFIRMED. CHRYSOSTOM: However, be mindful of this: if you become lazy and indifferent, sin will seize you at one time or another. Therefore, show concern, if not for your brother, then at least for yourself. Repel the disease, overpower the decay, and interrupt the spreading of the cancerous sore. Paul spoke of these things and of much more than these. Since he ordered the Christians in Corinth to hand the fornicator among them over to Satan, he said later that “the sinner changed” and became better. “For such a one this punishment by the majority is enough. Therefore, reaffirm your love for him.” Even though Paul made him a common enemy, an adversary to all, expelled him from the fold and cut him off from the body, note how much concern he showed in order to bind him back indissolubly and rejoin him to the church. For he did not say, “simply love him” but “reaffirm your love for him.” In other words, reveal your friendship as certain, unshakable, fervent, ardent and fiery; present your love with the same strength as the previous hatred. “What happened? Tell me, did you not surrender him to Satan?” “Yes,” he said, “but not for him to remain in Satan’s hands, but to be quickly delivered from his tyrannical dominion.” Pay careful attention, however, to the very thing I was saying about how much Paul feared discouragement as a great weapon of the devil. He said, “Reaffirm your love for him,” and then added the reason, “lest such a one should be swallowed up by excessive sorrow.” ON REPENTANCE AND ALMSGIVING 1.3.22.

2:7 | Forgive and Comfort Him

OVERWHELMED BY SORROW. AMBROSIASTER: A person who is swallowed up in too much affliction will turn in desperation to committing sins. True repentance, on the other hand, is a turning away from sin. If this person repents, he will prove that he is sorry for what he has done. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

RESTORING THE MAN. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul asks the Corinthians not only to lift the censure but also to restore the man to his former status, for to punish a man without healing him means nothing. Note too how Paul keeps the man himself humble, so that he will not become worse as a result of having been forgiven. For although he had both confessed and repented, Paul makes it clear that he obtained forgiveness not so much by his repentance as by God’s free gift. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 4.4.

2:8 | Reaffirm Your Love for Him

REAFFIRM YOUR LOVE. PELAGIUS: Through your love the offender will know that he has received forgiveness. COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 2.

PAUL TAKES ON THE PART OF THE ADVOCATE. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul no longer commands but begs, not as a teacher but as an equal. He puts the Corinthians in the judgment seat and takes on the part of an advocate, asking them to reaffirm their love for him. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 4.4.

UNITE THE FLOCK. THEODORET OF CYR: Paul’s command now is that they should unite the member to the body, return the sheep to the flock and show him their most sincere love and affection. COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 298.

2:9 | Testing Their Obedience

OBEDIENT IN EVERYTHING. AMBROSIASTER: As far as anyone can tell, Paul was commending the Corinthians for their obedience in other respects. They had already put matters right in their church administration, and now he was asking them to be obedient in this matter as well. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

TESTING THEM. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul needs to see that the Corinthians are as obedient in restoring the sinner as they had been in punishing him. For the punishment might have proceeded in part from envy and malice, but if they now proceed to restore him in love, that will show that their obedience is pure. This is the test of true disciples: if they obey not only when ordered to do something but on their own as well. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 4.5.

2:10 | Forgiven for Their Sake

PAUL’S FORGIVENESS. AMBROSIASTER: Paul is practicing what he preaches. He has the right to give orders, but he cannot refuse to do himself what he is asking others to do. In the first letter he condemned this man’s crime, in the hope that everyone would loathe him for it, but now he wants him to be received back and prays that they will no longer show any anger toward him. The Corinthians evidently did not have the apostle’s wisdom and did not understand that this ought to be done immediately. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

SOFTEN CONTENTIOUSNESS. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul lets the Corinthians take the lead and tells them that he will follow. This is the best way to soften an exasperated and contentious spirit. Then, lest he should make them careless and they should refuse forgiveness, he again constrains them by saying that he himself has already forgiven the man. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 4.5.

2:11 | Aware of Satan’s Designs

AVOID DESPAIR. AMBROSIASTER: Paul did not want this brother, being filled with sorrow and being rigorously excluded from the love of the church, to despair of himself. The devil, who is always subtle in his tricks, would then see that this man’s mind was an easy prey, approach him and suggest that at least he should enjoy the things of the present, given that he has been denied any hope of future reward. Thus the brother would perish, being possessed by the devil, even though an opportunity for repentance had been given him. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

TO DENY SATAN AN ADVANTAGE. CHRYSOSTOM: Satan can destroy even under the show of piety. For he can destroy not only by leading into fornication but even by the opposite, the immoderate sorrow which can follow on repentance for it. To take us by sin is his proper work, but to ensnare us in our repentance is an even more subtle disgrace, because that is our weapon, not his. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 4.5.

SATAN’S DESIGNS. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: The problem is not merely to recognize Satan’s designs but to play into them. Paul knows their dynamics, not so as to be engaged in them but so as not to be entrapped by them. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.