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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 2 Corinthians 7:1 - 7:4
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Paul's Consolation and Joy because of the Corinthians.
A frank and urgent appeal to sanctification:
v. 1. Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
v. 2. receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.
v. 3. I speak not this to condemn you; for I have said before that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.
v. 4. Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you; I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.
The first verse completes the appeal of chapter 6, to receive not the grace of God in vain. And in order to make his entreaty very impressive and winning, the apostle includes himself in the admonition: Since now these promises we have, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Great, exalted promises were those of which the apostle had reminded them, especially of the fact that they were the temple of the living God. Such a great privilege, however, naturally imposed obligations upon them, as it does upon all Christians, namely, those of putting away all pollution, all defilement, as it springs out of all evil associations, with unbelievers and heathen of every description. Such fellowship pollutes the absolute purity of the believer's personal communion with God; it defiles not only the spirit, but the body as well; it is incompatible with the proper reception of the grace of God as offered in the Gospel. Every Christian must rather feel the necessity of growing in the proper fear and reverence toward God day by day, and thus becoming more perfect in holiness. That should be the state of mind, the disposition, of all believers, that they aim to walk before God and be perfect, Gen_17:1. The consecration to God which was begun by faith in Baptism must be actualized, developed, and perfected during the whole life, and always with the sense of the nearness, of the presence, of God, before whom nothing is concealed.
With this thought to challenge their emulation, Paul now repeats his appeal of chap. 6:13: receive us, that is, make room for us in your hearts; let the former unpleasant narrowness of sympathy he a thing of the past. He is anxious to possess their love, he is concerned about the fact that they were grieved by his letter, he is delighted on being reassured of their affection He assures them, therefore: No man have me done wrong, no man have we corrupted, no man have we taken advantage of. Here is the reason for his appeal to be accepted by them, into their hearts. All charges against his moral conduct were without foundation. For he had done injustice to no one, in his dealings with them he had violated no one's rights by a needless severity of discipline; he had seduced no one by false doctrine, he was no deceiver; in all his dealings with them he had not attempted to take any advantage of them, neither by reminding them of their duty to provide for their teachers, nor by recommending to them a method of systematic collecting for the poor in Jerusalem.
But lest the Corinthian Christians in this very defense of the apostle feel their wrong in not having defended him against the attacks of his detractors, he hastens to add: By way of condemnation I do not say this; for I have stated before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together. As a sentence of condemnation they were not to construe his words; he was not accusing them of mistrusting him. Rather it remained true what he had assured them of before, chap. 1:6; 6:11, that his heart was enlarged in loving sympathy for them, just as he felt sure of their affection toward him. Their image was in his heart, they were so inseparably connected with him in love that they would be absent from his heart neither in death nor in life. And the Greek word which he uses implies that this feeling was mutual, that his devotion to their welfare was equaled by their love for him. This fact makes him continue, with all joyfulness: Great is my frankness toward you, great is my glorying on your behalf. The assurance of their loving sympathy gives him the confidence to unburden himself so frankly to them, to boast so trustingly on their account, not only in this letter, but on the occasion of his visits to other congregations. Such was the exultation of his heart over their spiritual progress that he cried out: I am filled with comfort, I am more than filled, I overflow with joy in all our affliction. Misery, distress, sorrow there is indeed always for the faithful minister, both on account of the persecution of the world and by reason of apostasy and enmity within the congregations. But all this is overshadowed by the consolation derived from the success of the Gospel, as a result of which the apostle's heart is filled with joy to overflowing; it could not contain his feeling in silence, but must needs break forth in happy exclamation. It is the experience of all pastors that are unswervingly faithful in the discharge of their duties, consolation and joy overshadowing the affliction of sorrow.