ST. PAUL'S SECOND LETTER' TO CORINTHIANS. IN WRITTEN PROBABLY DURING HIS STAY MACEDONIA, IN THE COURSE OF HIS THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY, ABOUT 55 a.d. In the brief period that seems to have intervened between the writing of St. Paul's two existing Letters to the Corinthians, the Apostle appears to have paid a second visit to Corinth, of which no account has come down to us (2 Cor. 12. 14; 13. 1.). Apparently that visit failed of its object, and the reception given to the Apostle was not such as he had the right to expect. It seems that St. Paul, returning to Ephesus, wrote a stronglyworded letter to his disloyal Corinthian converts, and that this letter effected, as he afterwards learned, the purpose which the visit had failed to effect. (That letter is generally thought to have been lost, but it has been suggested, with some probability, that part of it forms the last four chapters of this so-called Second Letter' to the Corinthians). A few months later, a riot instigated by Demetrius, the silversmith, drove the Apostle from Ephesus (Acts 19. 20; 2 Cor. 1. 8). Travelling northwards, the Apostle went to the Troad, in the hope of meeting Titus (who had been sent, possibly with the ‘Lost Letter,' to Corinth), and of receiving from him some re-assuring news as to the position of matters in the Corinthian Church. Titus had not yet arrived, and, after waiting for him for some time in vain, St. Paul, keenly disappointed (2 Cor. 2. 13), went on into Macedonia. There he met Titus at Philippi; and to the Apostle's great joy Titus was able to report that the Letter had been well received, and promptly acted upon, by the majority of the Corinthian Christians, and that they cherished a hearty affection for St. Paul himself. On the other hand the Apostle was greatly distressed to learn that there were members of the Church who still stubbornly refused to submit to his authority, and who attacked him with cruel and persistent slander. This news, brought by Titus, may have been the occasion of the present Letter. It is an outburst of passionate feeling, in which the Apostle expresses his gratitude for the kindness and obedience manifested towards him by the majority of the Church, and defends his own personal character and apostolic authority against the unscrupulous attacks of the minority. But TO THE CORINTHIANS. II. Greeting. I. INTRODUCTION. To the Church of God in Corinth, and to all I 1 FROM Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, May God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ bless Thanksgiving you and 2 Blessed is the God and Father of Jesus Christ 3 The Apostle's our Lord, the all-merciful Father, the God ever for ready to console, who consoles us in all our 4 Encourage- troubles, so that we may be able to console those ment. who are in any trouble with the consolation that we ourselves receive from him. It is true that we have our full 5 share of the sufferings of the Christ, but through the Christ we have also our full share of consolation. If we meet with 6 trouble, it is for the sake of your consolation and salvation; and, if we find consolation, it is for the sake of the consolation that you will experience when you are called to endure the very sufferings that we ourselves are enduring; and our hope for 7 you remains unshaken. We know that, as you are sharing our sufferings, you will also share our consolation. want you, Brothers, to know that, in the troubles which befel us in Roman Asia, we were burdened altogether beyond our strength, so much so that we even despaired of life. Indeed, we had the presentiment that we must die, so that we might rely, not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. And from so imminent a death God delivered us, and will deliver us again; for in him we have placed our hopes of future deliverance while you, also, help us by your prayers. And then many lips will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us in answer to many prayers. We 8 9 ΙΟ II II. THE APOSTLE'S RELATIONS WITH HIS CONVERTS. The Purity of his Motives. Indeed, our main ground for satisfaction is 12 this-Our conscience tells us that our conduct in the world, and still more in our relations with you, was marked by a purity of motive and a sincerity that were inspired by God, and was based, not on worldly policy, but on the help of God. We never write anything to you other than what you read in public and acknowledge. And my hope is that you will acknowledge to the very end-and, indeed, you have already partly acknowledged it about us-that you have a right to be proud of us, as we shall be proud of you, on the Day of our Lord Jesus. The Postpone With this conviction in my mind, I planned to ment of his come to see you first, so that your pleasure Visit. might be doubled to visit you both on my way to Macedonia, and to come to you again on my return from Macedonia, and then to get you to send me on my way into Judaea. As this was my plan, where, pray, did I show any fickleness of purpose? Or do you think that my plans are formed on mere impulse, so that in the same breath I say 'Yes' and 'No'? As God is true, the Message that we brought you does not waver between 'Yes' and 'No'! The Son of God, Christ Jesus, whom we-Silas, Timothy, and I-proclaimed among you, never wavered between 'Yes' and 'No.' With him it has always been 'Yes.' For, many as were the promises of God, in Christ is the 'Yes' that fulfils them. Therefore, through Christ again, let the 'Amen'rise, through us, to the glory of God. God who brings us, with you, into close union with Christ, and who consecrated us, also set his seal upon us, and gave us his Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of future blessings. But, as my life shall answer for it, I call God to witness that it was to spare you that I deferred my visit to Corinth. I do not mean that we are to dictate to you with regard to your faith; on the contrary, we work with you for your true happiness; indeed, it is through your faith that you are standing firm. For my own sake, as well, I decided not to pay you another painful visit. If it is I who cause you pain, why, who is there to cheer me, except the very person whom I am paining? So I wrote as I did, for fear that, if I had come, I should have been pained by those who ought to have made me glad; for I felt sure that it was true of you all that my joy was in every case yours also. I wrote to you in sore trouble and distress of heart and with many tears, not to give you pain, but to let you see how intense a love I have for you. 13 14 Now whoever has caused the pain has not so much pained 5 me, as he has, to some extent--not to be too severe-pained 9 every one of you. The man to whom I refer has been 6 sufficiently punished by the penalty inflicted by the majority of you; so that now you must take the opposite course, and 7 forgive and encourage him, or else he may be overwhelmed by the intensity of his pain. So I entreat you to assure him of 8 your love. I had this further object, also, in what I wrote to ascertain whether you might be relied upon to be obedient in everything. When you forgive a man anything, I forgive him, too. Indeed, for my part, whatever I have forgiven (if I have had to forgive anything), I have forgiven for your sakes, in the presence of Christ, so as to prevent Satan from taking advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. ΙΟ II 12 When I went to the district round Troas to tell the Good News of the Christ, even though there was an opening for serving the Master, I could get no peace of mind because I failed to find Titus, my Brother; so I took leave of the people there, and went on to Macedonia. All thanks to God, 14 13 who, through our union with the Christ, leads us in one continual triumph, and uses us to spread the sweet odour of the knowledge of him in every place. For we are the fragrance 15 of Christ ascending to God--both among those who are in the path of Salvation and among those who are in the path to Ruin. To the latter we are an odour which arises from death 16 and tells of Death; to the former an odour which arises from Life and tells of Life. But who is equal to such a task? many people, we are not in the habit of making profit out of God's Message; but in all sincerity, and bearing God's commission, we speak before him in union with Christ. His Converts the Vindication of his Ministry. Unlike 17 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or are we like some who need letters of commendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter-a letter written on our hearts, and one which everybody can read and understand. All can see that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, a letter written, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God, not on 'tablets of stone,' but on tablets of human hearts.' I 3 2 3 III. THE MINISTRY OF THE APOSTLES. The Glory of the Gospel contrasted with the This, then, is the confidence in regard to God 4 that we have gained through the Christ. I do not 5 mean that we are fit to form any judgement by Glory of the ourselves, as if on our own authority; our fitness Law. comes from God, who himself made us fit to be 6 ministers of a New Covenant, of which the substance is, not a 3 Exod. 31. 18; 34. 1; Prov. 3. 3; Ezek. 11. 19; 36. 26. For the written Law means Death, 7 9 ΙΟ II 12 written Law, but a Spirit. but the Spirit gives Life. If the system of religion which involved Death, embodied in a written Law and engraved on stones, began amid such glory, that the Israelites were unable to gaze at the face of Moses on account of its glory, though it was but a passing glory, will not the religion that confers the Spirit have still 8 greater glory? For, if there was a glory in the religion that involved condemnation, far greater is the glory of the religion that confers righteousness! Indeed, that which then had glory has lost its glory, because of the glory which surpasses it. And, if that which was to pass away was attended with glory, far more will that which is to endure be surrounded with glory! With such a hope as this, we speak with all plainness; unlike Moses, who covered his face with a veil, to prevent the Israelites from gazing at the disappearance of what was passing away. But their minds were slow to learn. Indeed, to this very day, at the public reading of the Old Covenant, the same veil remains unlifted; only for those who are in union with Christ does it pass away. But, even to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies on their hearts. Yet, 16 whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.' And 17 the 'Lord' is the Spirit, and, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with faces from which the veil 18 is lifted, seeing, as if reflected in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into his likeness, from glory to glory, as it is given by the Lord, the Spirit. 13 23 4 14 15 56 I 4 2 3 4 Therefore, since it is by God's mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. No, we have renounced the secrecy prompted by shame, refusing to adopt crafty ways, or to tamper with God's Message, and commending ourselves to every man's conscience, in the sight of God, by our exhibition of the Truth. And, even if the Good News that we bring is veiled, it is veiled only in the case of those who are on the path to Ruinmen whose minds have been blinded by the God of this Age, unbelievers as they are, so that the light from the Good News of the glory of the Christ, who is the very incarnation of God, should not shine for them. (For it is not ourselves that we proclaim, but Christ Jesus, as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.) Indeed, the same God who said 6 'Out of darkness light shall shine,' has shone in upon our hearts, so that we should bring out into the light the knowledge of the glory of God, seen in the face of Christ. The 5 This treasure we have in these earthen vessels, 7 Weakness of that its all-prevailing power may be seen to come the Apostles. from God, and not to be our own. Though hard 8 pressed on every side, we are never hemmed in; though per |