Bible Commentaries
2 Corinthians 2

Verses 1-17

What a remarkable light is thrown on his first letter by his declaration that he wrote it "out of much affliction and anguish of heart," and "with many tears." Referring thus to his first letter, Paul singled out from it the flagrant case of the incestuous person, speaking of him with extreme delicacy. It is evident that, for the most part, the Church at Corinth was in accord with the apostle, for they had carried out his injunction, and had disciplined the wrongdoer. Also, the result had been salutary in his case, for the apostle writes of the guilty man being in danger of being "swallowed up with his overmuch sorrow." He now urged the congregation to manifest their love by restoring the. man to fellowship. As the apostle had urged them to exercise discipline to defeat the foe, he now counseled them to manifestation of love for the man, also to defeat the foe.

Perhaps nowhere in the New Testament is the subject of the ministry so clearly set in relation to its sublimities. The apostle described the triumphant nature of the true work of the ministry. The figure is of a Roman triumph. In such a triumph the conspicuous personages were the victor and the vanquished. The apostle spoke of himself and those engaged in the ministry as victors. Their work is likened to a long triumphant march. That is Paul's estimate of the true nature of the ministry. So great a conception is it that he exclaims, "Who is sufficient for these things?" The words that follow are really connected with what precedes the question; they declare that the reason for the victory lies in the fact that there has been no corrupting, or making merchandise, of the Word of God.