Scripture Daily

Context No. 2052 of 4322 · 2 Corinthians

Context · Reflection

2 Corinthians 2:1-11: in context

1But I determined this for myself, that I would not come to you again in sorrow. 2For if I make you grieve, then who will make me glad but he who is made to grieve by me? 3And I wrote this very thing to you, so that when I came, I wouldn’t have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all that my joy would be shared by all of you. 4For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you should be made to grieve, but that you might know the love that I have so abundantly for you. 5But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in part (that I not press too heavily) to you all. 6This punishment which was inflicted by the many is sufficient for such a one; 7so that, on the contrary, you should rather forgive him and comfort him, lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up with his excessive sorrow. 8Therefore I beg you to confirm your love toward him. 9For to this end I also wrote, that I might know the proof of you, whether you are obedient in all things. 10Now I also forgive whomever you forgive anything. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

Paul writes about someone in the Corinthian church who had caused grief and had been disciplined by the community. Now Paul urges a change of course toward that person: the punishment inflicted by the majority is enough. So now, he says, you should rather forgive him and comfort him, so that he may not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. The discipline had done its work; now was the time for forgiveness, comfort, and the restoration of a repentant person to the fellowship.

Paul's concern here is the restoration of the offender, and it corrects a danger we might not expect. The person had done wrong and had been disciplined; and the temptation now, having taken a stand against the sin, might be to keep the person at a distance, to withhold forgiveness, to let the discipline harden into permanent rejection. Paul urges the opposite: forgive him, comfort him, reaffirm your love, lest he be swallowed up by excessive sorrow. Discipline is not meant to crush but to restore; and once it has done its work and the person is repentant, the loving response is forgiveness and comfort, not a harshness that drives the person to despair. There is wisdom here about how we treat those who have done wrong and turned back. It is possible to be so firm against the sin that we fail to restore the sinner, to hold the offense against a person even after repentance, to let our standing against wrong harden into a lasting coldness that offers no way back. Paul warns that this can overwhelm a person with excessive sorrow, crushing rather than healing. The aim is restoration: to forgive the repentant, to comfort them, to reaffirm love, to welcome them back rather than leaving them in isolating grief. If anyone is caught in a wrong, Paul says elsewhere, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. And he adds a further warning: that a failure to forgive and restore gives the enemy an opening, an advantage over us. Unforgiveness and a crushing harshness are not only unkind; they are a foothold for evil. This searches how we treat those who have wronged us or others and have repented. Do we forgive and comfort and reaffirm love, aiming at restoration? Or do we withhold forgiveness, keep them at a distance, let our stand against the wrong harden into a coldness that crushes? Paul's counsel is to restore: to forgive the repentant, comfort them, and reaffirm love, lest they be swallowed up by sorrow. Discipline that does not lead to restoration has missed its aim; and the loving response to the repentant is to welcome them back with forgiveness and comfort, rather than leaving them crushed in their grief.

When someone who has done wrong has repented, do I forgive and comfort and reaffirm my love, aiming at their restoration, or do I withhold forgiveness and keep them at a distance, letting my stand against the wrong harden into a coldness that could crush them with excessive sorrow, and can Paul's counsel move me to restore the repentant gently rather than leave them isolated in their grief?

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