Part Two: Paul’s Message of Comfort, Repentance, Reconciliation, and the Sufficiency of God’s Grace By: Junior Tate Introduction: The Story of Corinth Was Not Finished When I finished looking at 1 Corinthians, the story of this troubled church was far from over. Paul had confronted division, immorality, lawsuits between believers, confusion concerning Christian liberty, disorder at the Lord’s Supper, misuse of spiritual gifts, and questions concerning the resurrection. His words were strong because the problems were serious, but behind that correction was a man who genuinely loved these people and wanted to see them walking faithfully with Jesus Christ. Second Corinthians allows us to see that side of Paul more clearly. While 1 Corinthians focuses heavily upon problems within the congregation, 2 Corinthians is much more personal. Paul speaks openly about suffering, discouragement, forgiveness, repentance, reconciliation, opposition, weakness, and the grace of God that sustained him through everything he endured. Paul had not enjoyed correcting the Corinthians. In fact, he tells us that his previous words had been written through tremendous emotional pain. 2 Corinthians 2:4 KJV “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.” That verse helps me understand the heart behind both Corinthian letters. Paul did not confront sin because he enjoyed confrontation. He did it because he loved the people involved. His desire was not simply to make them feel guilty but to see them repent, be restored, and grow in Christ. Second Corinthians therefore gives us an important look at what happens after difficult correction has been given. It also gives us some of the greatest teaching in Scripture concerning suffering and weakness. Paul had discovered through experience that God’s strength is not limited by human weakness, and that sometimes God does not remove the burden we are carrying because He intends to demonstrate that His grace is sufficient to carry us through it. What Happened After 1 Corinthians? The events between 1 and 2 Corinthians are not recorded for us in one continuous historical account, so I believe we should be careful not to claim certainty about every detail. What Scripture does make clear is that Paul’s relationship with Corinth went through a painful period. Paul refers to a difficult visit when he writes: 2 Corinthians 2:1 KJV “But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness.” He also speaks of writing to them out of “affliction and anguish of heart” and “with many tears.” Whatever the complete sequence of events may have been, serious tension had developed between Paul and at least some within the congregation. During this period, Titus became especially important. Paul was anxious to hear how the Corinthians had responded, and when Titus eventually brought encouraging news, Paul was greatly comforted. 2 Corinthians 7:6-7 KJV “Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.” Something was changing in Corinth. Paul’s correction had hurt, but it had not been wasted. Many of the Corinthians had taken his words seriously, and the sorrow produced by that correction was beginning to lead them toward repentance. There were still problems. Paul would have to defend his apostleship against people who questioned his authority and attempted to turn the congregation against him. Yet 2 Corinthians shows that correction had begun accomplishing its intended purpose. The God of All Comfort Paul begins the letter by speaking about something he understood personally: suffering. He does not teach that following Christ means Christians will escape trouble. Instead, he points us toward the God who meets His people in the middle of it. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 KJV “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” Paul could call God “the God of all comfort” because he had needed that comfort himself. His ministry included persecution, rejection, physical suffering, opposition, disappointment, and the constant burden he carried for the churches. His faithfulness to Christ had not protected him from pain, but his suffering had taught him where genuine comfort could be found. Paul also shows us that God’s comfort can accomplish something beyond helping us survive our own difficulty. The comfort we receive from God can prepare us to minister to someone else. There are experiences we would never choose for ourselves, yet God can use them. Someone who has walked through grief may later be able to sit beside another grieving person with an understanding that cannot be learned merely from a book. Someone who has endured a difficult season may be able to tell another struggling believer from personal experience that God remains faithful. Paul himself had experienced circumstances so severe that he described being “pressed out of measure, above strength.” Yet those experiences taught him not to place his confidence in himself, but in God. The Christian life is not a promise that we will never be pressed beyond what we believe we can handle. It is the assurance that when our strength is insufficient, God’s strength is not. Forgiveness After Correction One of the most important lessons in 2 Corinthians concerns what should happen when correction produces repentance. Paul had previously called for serious sin within the congregation to be confronted, but he did not want discipline to become permanent condemnation. He writes: 2 Corinthians 2:6-8 KJV “Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. So that contrariwise ye ought … Read more
