(2Co 2:9) “For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things.”  For many years as a Pastor, I thought all you have to do is teach professing believers the truth and they would do it. Sadly, that is not true. Love for self should never come before love of our God and Savior. May God help us to love Him as we ought.

(2Co 2:8) “Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.”  The Lord desires us to “hate” sin (Ps 97:10; Ps 101:3; Ps 119:104, 113; 128; 163; Prov 8:13). Yet, we are to allow the Holy Spirit to love the sinful brother through us. If we do not, our love is for self and not for God Whom true believers seek to please (1 Jn 3:14;4:8, 20). Pray for the soul of he who claims to be saved yet holds hatred for a brother.

(2Co 2:7) “So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.”  This “sorrow” is an indication of the desire to do right, to be forgiven. It is a fallacy that one must forgive the person regardless of whether they desire forgiveness or not. Yes, our hearts are to forgive – period. But fellowship restored is upon the act of desiring to be forgiven: (Luk_17:4) “And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.”  Our Lord requires it (Luke 13:3,5; etc). We are to be like our Lord, not somehow better.

(2Co 2:7) “So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.”  The purpose of “going to your brother” or having to “bring it before the church” (Matt 18:17) is to bring about the repentance and thus the “good” of the saved sinner. So, if he repents at any time we are to immediately receive him with open arms.

(2Co 2:5) “But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all. (6)  Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.”  The Holy Spirit was teaching this church that since a member’s actions affect them (judgment falls on all), then they are to choose and administer the judgment. Paul, as their missionary could have; but shouldn’t have to.

(2Co 2:4) “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.”  This verse reference should be penned above 1st Corinthians with these words: “This rebuke was penned from a heart full of love.” That love was prompted from the Holy Spirit inside Paul. The Lord loves His Own!

(2Co 2:3) “And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all.”  Be careful in not perceiving the two sides of “I wrote….lest, when I came…” to mean Paul wrote of his own determination and will. He did not. When the Bible says, (2Ti_3:16) “All scripture is given by inspiration of God,…”, it gives us this understanding: the Holy Spirit moved Paul to think like this and make determinations in this way.

(2Co 2:2) “For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me?”  When the flesh rebukes, it normally is done so with some animosity in one’s own heart. When it done in obedience to the Spirit of God, it is for the good of the other person. It is done with love in one’s heart for the other person.

(2Co 2:1) “But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness.”  The more you love others before self, the more careful you will be in what you say and how you say it. Honesty – yes at all times. But there is a time and place for sharing, teaching, and rebuking. We must look to the Holy Spirit for guidance as to the when and how.

(2Co 1:24) “Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.”   “For by faith we stand…”  I find that by reading the whole of Scripture, this is the definition of faith: “Faith is believing what God says is true.” Heed: faith is not believing what I want to be true; it is believing what the Bible “says”; that….is true. The shame of it is, most have never read the whole Word of God so know only what someone else has told them.