INTRODUCTION

One of the basic lessons of Scripture is the lesson of gospel inversion. Humility exalts. Servanthood rules. Death lives. The underdog triumphs. The back of the line is the front of the line. And it does not matter how many times we are taught this principle, we always have to learn it afresh every morning.

THE TEXT

“But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all. Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow . . .” (2 Cor. 2:5–17).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

To stay oriented, in the scenario that we are assuming here, the man that Paul is urging forgiveness for here in these verses is the man who led the rebellion against Paul in the congregation at Corinth. It is not the incestuous man who took his stepmother in 1 Corinthians.

So Paul begins by saying that if someone has caused grief, it was mostly to the church, and not to him personally (v. 5). There had apparently been a vote in which the majority came back to Paul, and inflicted punishment on this ringleader and troublemaker. Paul says that this action was sufficient (v. 6). He then urges the church to forgive and comfort this man, lest he be overwhelmed (v. 7). The rebels against Moses had been swallowed up (Num. 16:31-34), but the rebel against Paul was not to suffer that fate. Reaffirm your love for him, Paul says (v. 8). Paul wrote them in order to test them. Now that they had passed the test, it was time for forgiveness (vv. 9-10)—and the requirement to forgive was yet another test. Paul agrees to forgive anything that they forgive, in the presence of Christ, lest Satan take advantage and stir up even more acrimony (v. 11). You all must forgive (Col. 3:12-13). Satan’s wiles in this are many—he throws fiery darts and he hands out candies.

After Titus had been sent off to Corinth with the hot letter, Paul went to Troas (north of Ephesus, toward Macedonia), and the door for ministry there was wide open (v. 12). But because Titus was not there with any news, Paul went on to Macedonia (v. 13). And after an agonizing wait there (2 Cor. 7:5-7), he eventually got the good news back from Corinth, and so he breaks into a very different kind of exultation—and it is quite a strange one. God leads Paul in triumph in Christ, and diffuses knowledge of Himself like a fragrance (v. 14). Paul’s band was the fragrance of Christ, to both the saved and the perishing (v. 15). One of them reacts to it like it was the smell of death upon death, and the other as though it were life upon life (v. 16). Who is sufficient for these things (v. 16)? The answer is no one. This is the measurement of authentic ministry—our theme, remember (v. 17)? Paul does not hawk or peddle the gospel of God, like others do, but rather speaks sincerely in the sight of God in Christ (v. 17).

TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION

Paul takes a custom of the Romans, the triumphal procession, and works it into a striking metaphor. When a victorious general was given a triumph, he led the parade in a chariot drawn by horses, and sometimes by elephants. He was clothed in purple, and held an eagle-crowned scepter. His face was colored red, to evoke the name and power of Jupiter. There were musicians, and pagan priests burning fragrant incense that wafted over the crowd, and mountains of treasure, and prows of ships, and a horde of prisoners in native costume bringing up the rear—who were all then executed at the conclusion of the parade. This is what God did to the principalities and powers (Col. 2:15).

But in his use of the metaphor, Paul occupies an unexpected spot. He is at the end of the procession. He is one of the prisoners, one led by God in triumphal procession. He is not the conquering general, but rather God is that general, and Paul is the captive. One of the themes of this epistle is that authentic ministry is characterized by suffering. “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body” (2 Cor. 4:10). “As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed” (2 Cor. 6:9). Paul knew what it was to die daily in ministry (1 Cor. 15:31).

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When Paul says here that he does not “peddle” the Word of God (v. 17), the original word has the connotation of hucksterism—a merchant with his thumb on the scale, a wine merchant who cuts his product with a little water. The sinner is not shopping for an attractive salvation, one that is arranged nicely in the shop window, and reasonably priced. No, the thing is free, and to many of the passers-by, it stinks. Nevertheless, this is the message that will conquer the world. Who is sufficient for these things? And nevertheless this message preached by impotent and suffering messengers is profoundly potent. For the carnally minded, the real mystery is why this itinerant minister, pelted with rocks everywhere he went, was going to have cathedrals named after him.

THE AUTHORITY OF FORGIVENESS

So the apostolic band takes a pounding, and is dragged along behind the procession, in the sight of a gawking crowd. Paul takes the lead in dealing with this dishonor, and it is one of the great mysteries of the gospel as to why this is so inexorably attractive. It exudes an aroma—to the elect the aroma of life, and to the godless the aroma of death. In search of the answer to that question, we come back to the beginning of this passage, where Paul is requiring the Corinthians to forgive the man who had led the revolt against him. Forgiveness—everyone in this messed up world needs it. Forgiveness—apart from grace, everyone in this messed up world hates it. This is the radicalism of the cross. This is the salvation of Christ, and the way of Christ.

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INTRODUCTION

Christ must be worshiped by us as the ultimate yes, but we must come to understand how this works rightly. God does not come down and make promises to us directly. Rather, He makes promises throughout all Scripture, promises that are given generally to His people, and also to individuals (like Abraham) who are covenant representatives of His people. These promises are bestowed on the people of God, and as we read these promises, or hear of them, we join together with those people, identifying with them by faith, and God joins us to them through the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, using that same God-given faith of ours as His instrument for doing so. What is our relationship to the promises then?

THE TEXT

“For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward. For we write none other things unto you, than what ye read or acknowledge; and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end; As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus. And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit; And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judaea . . . ” (2 Cor. 1:12–2:4).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Remember the context. Paul’s severe letter has quelled the rebellion against him at Corinth, but there is still some clean-up to do. There is still some residue of resistance to him there, and so he begins to address specific charges. He starts the process by rejoicing in the fact that his conscience is clear (v. 12), both toward the outside world and toward the Corinthians. Authentic ministry is described as being not in accord with “fleshly wisdom,” and as characterized by simplicity and sincerity. Paul is writing them with what they should already know (v. 13). They have acknowledged that in the day of Christ, both Paul and they will be engaged in mutual rejoicing. But they have only come part way along, which is why this clean-up is necessary (v. 14). And then we get to the complaint he is answering. Paul’s previous intention had been to visit them on the way to Macedonia, and then again on the way back, going to Judea (vv. 15-16). He changed his mind and wrote the severe letter instead. But was he vacillating or temporizing in this? Not at all (vv. 17-18). He reminds them that the gospel of Christ that he preached to them, along with Timothy and Silvanus, was not a “yes and no” gospel (v. 19). For all the promises of God are “yes” and “amen,” to the glory of God, “by us” (v. 20). He reminds them that God was the one who joined them all together through His anointing (v. 21). The sealing work of the Spirit, and the earnest payment of the Spirit was God’s gift (v. 22). In this context, Paul then gives the reason he had not come to them—he did not want to be their disciplinarian in person (v. 23). His more appropriate role was to be “helpers of their joy,” and not wielding dominion over their faith—because it is by faith that we stand (v. 24).

So Paul had decided against another personal visit if it was going to be a heavy one (2 Cor. 2:1). If he becomes a grief to the Corinthians, then who will be there to make him glad (v. 2)? And so he wrote to them instead, in order to preserve their relationship (v. 3), and his choice had clearly been wise. And he tells them here that his severe letter had been written in turmoil and anguish, and not in order to grieve them, but rather it was a testament to how much he loved them (v. 4).

CARPING CRITICISM

Once a revolt against authority is under way, whatever that authority does will be seized upon and rolled into the argument. If Paul had gone left, he would have been assailed for not going right. If he had gone right, he would have been pilloried for not going left. Remember that apostolic ministry is personal, and Paul reminds them how unambiguous his declaration of the gospel had been.

A temporizing traveler is going to be a temporizing man, and a temporizing man is going to sound like one in the pulpit. Paul’s argument here is not an argument of deflection. It is not as though he is charged with embezzling funds (as he probably actually was—1 Cor. 16:1-4; 2 Cor. 11: 7-10, 12:16-17), and he then tried to respond with “isn’t the gospel grand!?” No. It is possible for the gospel to be glorious, and for a particular preacher to be a skunk.

What Paul is arguing here is that the charges against him are not plausible, and that the kind of sneakiness he was being charged with was not consistent with what the Corinthians knew about him. He is not defending himself with an abstract gospel in the sky, but rather with a potent gospel as preached on the ground. God had brought glory down through him(v. 20), and the Corinthians had been there when it happened.

But Paul is not defending his own person or guarding his own fragile ego. If somebody wants to gather up some glory for himself, but leaves the truth alone, Paul doesn’t mind (Phil. 1:15-18). But he will fiercely defend himself if the target of the slander is the ministry and message itself—see both this letter and Galatians.

A HARD AND SEVERE PERSON?

When roused, Paul could be hard as nails. When the gospel was at stake, he could be immoveable (Gal. 1:8). He had been hard on the Corinthians in his severe letter (2 Cor. 2:2,4), but this had been much against his personal desire or inclination. There is a school of pastoral care that could be characterized as the “hang ‘em high” school of thought, with “why not now?” as the immediate afterthought. Paul did not belong to this school of thought.

YES AND AMEN

The apostle Paul here exults in the true nature of gospel light. Christ is the yes of God. Sin is the no of the devil. The devil is the accuser, the devil is the killjoy, the devil is the one telling you how awful you are—with no relief in sight. The Spirit convicts in order that He may comfort. The devil accuses in order that he may bite and tear.

So Christ is therefore ultimate yes—the only yes that sinners can have.

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