II Corinthians 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.
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.
8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.
9 For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things.
10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ;
11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
The world does not understand relationships. The only way the world can function is through compromise. That is why the world has been going downhill for a long time.
God shows us that the way to fix problems is to address the problem head-on and then provide the real solution to the problem.
In verse 5 the apostle Paul was directed by God to continue to address the hurt that was caused by what God told him to say in I Corinthians. The pride of sinners was hurt. The saints knew what was going on, but were complacent about it. That does not work.
God knows that the tendency of man is to attack the messenger, rather than the source. There are people who dismiss God out of hand. They want nothing to do with Him, and yet they like to use His name in vain. There are others who have an imaginary God and when someone speaks the truth, they take offence because they do not accept the truth.
The good news is that the saints in Corinth accepted the truth when confronted with it. They were saints, thus they had accepted the fact that there is only One True God and only One true Saviour. Corinth was known for its idolatry. The saints there had come to see the folly of that and they rejected that and turned to God in repentance and were saved. However, they had some major problems they were not addressing as saints. The schisms needed to end. The fornication needed to be addressed and stopped. A true church cannot have members living in sin. Lost people live in sin, but saints need to deal with sin and forsake it.
In verse 6 we see that the saints ‘woke up’ and dealt with the fornicator. They understood they could not allow this to continue. The man knew he was wrong, and he knew what he was doing was unacceptable to God and to saints. It really should be unacceptable to all, but lost people tolerate many things that God hates.
In verse 7 God directed Paul to now remind the saints of the need to forgive. When a person acknowledges their sin and deals with it Biblically, saints need to be willing to forgive the person. Forgiveness is not sweeping sin under the rug. It is not a tolerance for wrong because after all we all sin sometimes. Forgiveness is a willingness to receive the repentant sinner into the fold and not continue to remind them of the past.
God warned that if the saints would push this repentant man away, they would be robbing him of the needed comfort that he should receive. They would also be robbing themselves of God’s peace. God comforts the repentant sinner. The thief on the cross was forgiven and comforted with words only Jesus could speak. Peter went out and wept bitterly after denying his Saviour. Jesus called him out and forgave him because Peter was not just sorry. He wanted to be restored and he took the necessary step to be restored.
The repentant sinner needs to find a home among fellow repentant sinners. We need to know there is hope beyond failure. Jesus Christ embraces the repentant sinner. Part of His comfort is through saints. Every saint has been a lost sinner in the past. Every saint commits sin as a saint. We tend to categorize sin. John was directed to help us see the truth on this:
I John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
The world opens its arms to all kinds of unrepentant sinners. The world is willing to crack open the liquor to try to comfort one another. The world has all kinds of tricks to try to make lost people feel better. That does not help.
Saints gather round and pray for one another and encourage one another to be better people because we have been forgiven by God. Saints look to God for the way to strengthen the inner man.
God directed Paul to speak to the saints about their need to be real and to be compassionate. Again, this was not a matter of ignoring the gravity of the sin committed. It was not ignoring the bad testimony that had been condoned. It was a matter of acknowledging that the sin had been Scripturally dealt with and the guilty party had done the right thing. Who were the saints to withhold the comfort and love this person needed?
It is important to note that God and Paul had demonstrated love for this man by exposing him and rebuking the saints regarding that situation. They had lacked love in allowing the man to continue on with his fornication. Now that he had dealt with it properly, they needed to draw him in and help him to build upon the foundation of Christ.
In verse 8 Paul stated they needed to confirm their love for this man. It is not enough to claim to love a person. There needs to be concrete evidence that this is true. In verse 9 Paul spoke further of the reason for writing this letter. Keep in mind that he is being directed by God in writing this. God wanted the saints to show the world the way true saints operate. Saints need to prove their obedience to God.
The Christian life is not some imaginary thing. It is real and there is ample evidence to show it is real. The saved person is changed by God and the world needs to see that.
In verse 10 Paul continued on with the impact of forgiveness. He had forgiven the man for his sin, and the church for their carnality. He was not holding a grudge. He did so in the person of Christ. He demonstrated how Christ would deal with this situation.
True saints are ambassadors for Christ. We are to show the world how Christ operates. The New Evangelical crowd is clued out on this as is the ecumenical crowd. True saints can show the world the blessedness of forgiveness.
In verse 11 we are reminded that the devil is always looking for some person to devour. He loves to see people sin. He loves to see people who think they sinned the unpardonable sin when they did not. The devil does not want anyone to know God’s peace. He wants people to think they have peace when they are bound in sin. He wants to have the upper hand in each person’s life. Paul reminded the saints that true believers are not ignorant of the devil’s devices. He is a murderer and a liar from the beginning. He is a corrupter of truth. The devil likes to attack true saints as well.
True saints cannot allow him to influence their lives. True saints need to function under the love of God. The world may not get it, but true saints will know a joy and a peace that is only possible when they know God’s peace and exercise the gift of love toward one another.
Pastor Bartel