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.
For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?
O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also?
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 2 Corinthians 7
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 7 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 7
2Co 7:1-16. Self-Purification Their Duty Resulting from the Foregoing. His Love to Them, and Joy at the Good Effects on Them of His Former Epistle, as Reported by Titus.
1. cleanse ourselves—This is the conclusion of the exhortation (2Co 6:1, 14; 1Jo 3:3; Re 22:11).
filthiness—"the unclean thing" (2Co 6:17).
of the flesh—for instance, fornication, prevalent at Corinth (1Co 6:15-18).
and spirit—for instance, idolatry, direct or indirect (1Co 6:9; 8:1, 7; 10:7, 21, 22). The spirit (Ps 32:2) receives pollution through the flesh, the instrument of uncleanness.
perfecting holiness—The cleansing away impurity is a positive step towards holiness (2Co 6:17). It is not enough to begin; the end crowns the work (Ga 3:3; 5:7; Php 1:6).
fear of God—often conjoined with the consideration of the most glorious promises (2Co 5:11; Heb 4:1). Privilege and promise go hand in hand.
2. Receive us—with enlarged hearts (2Co 6:13).
we have wronged … corrupter … defrauded no man—(compare 2Co 7:9). This is the ground on which he asks their reception of (making room for) him in their hearts. We wronged none by an undue exercise of apostolic authority; 2Co 7:13 gives an instance in point. We have corrupted none, namely, by beguilements and flatteries, while preaching "another Gospel," as the false teachers did (2Co 11:3, 4). We have defrauded none by "making a gain" of you (2Co 12:17). Modestly he leaves them to supply the positive good which he had done; suffering all things himself that they might be benefited (2Co 7:9, 12; 2Co 12:13).
3. In excusing myself, I do not accuse you, as though you suspected me of such things [Menochius], or as though you were guilty of such things; for I speak only of the false apostles [Estius and Greek commentators]. Rather, "as though you were ungrateful and treacherous" [Beza].
I have said before—in 2Co 6:11, 12; compare Php 1:7.
die and live with you—the height of friendship. I am ready to die and live with you and for you (Php 1:7, 20, 24; 2:17, 18). Compare as to Christ, Joh 10:11.
4. boldness of speech—(compare 2Co 6:11).
glorying of you—Not only do I speak with unreserved openness to you, but I glory (boast) greatly to others in your behalf, in speaking of you.
filled with comfort—at the report of Titus (2Co 7:6, 7, 9, 13; 2Co 1:4).
exceeding joyful—Greek, I overabound with joy (2Co 7:7, 9, 16).
our tribulation—described in 2Co 7:5; also in 2Co 4:7, 8; 6:4, 5.
5. Greek, "For also" (for "even"). This verse is thus connected with 2Co 2:12, 13, "When I came to Troas, I had no rest in my spirit"; so "also" now, when I came to Macedonia, my "flesh" had no rest (he, by the term "flesh," excepts his spiritual consolations) from "fightings" with adversaries "without" (1Co 5:12), and from fears for the Corinthian believers "within" the Church, owing to "false brethren" (2Co 11:26). Compare 2Co 4:8; De 32:25, to which he seems to allude.
6. Translate in the order required by the Greek, "But he that comforteth those that are cast down, even God." Those that are of an high spirit are not susceptible of such comfort.
7. when he told us—Greek, "telling us." We shared in the comfort which Titus felt in recording your desire (2Co 7:13). He rejoiced in telling the news; we in hearing them [Alford].
earnest desire—Greek, "longing desire," namely, to see me [Grotius]; or, in general, towards me, to please me.
mourning—over your own remissness in not having immediately punished the sin (1Co 5:1, &c.) which called forth my rebuke.
fervent mind—Greek, "zeal" (compare 2Co 7:11; Joh 2:17).
toward me—Greek, "for me"; for my sake. They in Paul's behalf showed the zeal against the sin which Paul would have shown had he been present.
rejoiced the more—more than before, at the mere coming of Titus.
8. with a letter—Greek, "in the letter" namely, the first Epistle to the Corinthians.
I do not repent, though I did repent—Translate, "I do not regret it, though I did regret it." The Greek words for regret and repent are distinct. Paul was almost regretting, through parental tenderness, his having used rebukes calculated to grieve the Corinthians; but now that he has learned from Titus the salutary effect produced on them, he no longer regrets it.
for I perceive, &c.—This is explanatory of "I did repent" or "regret it," and is parenthetical ("for I perceive that that Epistle did make you sorry, though it was but for a season").
9. Now I rejoice—Whereas "I did repent" or regret having made you sorry by my letter, I rejoice NOW, not that ye were caused sorrow, but that your sorrow resulted in your repentance.
ye sorrowed—rather, as before, "ye were made sorry."
after a godly manner—literally, "according to God," that is, your sorrow having regard to God, and rendering your mind conformable to God (Ro 14:22; 1Pe 4:6).
that—Translate in Greek order, "to the end that (compare 2Co 11:9) ye might in nothing receive damage from us," which ye would have received, had your sorrow been other than that "after a godly manner" (2Co 7:10).
10. worketh … worketh—In the best Greek reading the translation is, "worketh (simply) … worketh out." "Sorrow" is not repentance, but, where it is "godly," "worketh" it; that is, contributes or tends to it (the same Greek word is in Ro 13:10). The "sorrow of the world" (that is, such as is felt by the worldly) "worketh out," as its result at last, (eternal) death (the same Greek verb is in 2Co 4:17; also see on 2Co 4:17).
repentance … not to be repented of—There is not in the Greek this play on words, so that the word qualified is not "repentance" merely, but "repentance unto salvation"; this, he says, none will ever regret, however attended with "sorrow" at the time. "Repentance" implies a coming to a right mind; "regret" implies merely uneasiness of feeling at the past or present, and is applied even to the remorse of Judas (Mt 27:3; Greek, "stricken with remorse," not as English Version, "repented himself"); so that, though always accompanying repentance, it is not always accompanied by repentance. "Repentance" removes the impediments in the way of "salvation" (to which "death," namely, of the soul, is opposed). "The sorrow of the world" is not at the sin itself, but at its penal consequences: so that the tears of pain are no sooner dried up, than the pleasures of ungodliness are renewed. So Pharaoh, Ex 9:27, 28-30; and Saul, 1Sa 15:23-30. Compare Isa 9:13; Re 16:10, 11. Contrast David's "godly sorrow," 2Sa 12:13, and Peter's, Mt 26:75.
11. Confirmation of 2Co 7:10 from the Corinthians' own experience.
carefulness—solicitude, literally, "diligence"; opposed to their past negligence in the matter.
in you—Greek "for you."
yea—not only "carefulness" or diligence, but also "clearing of yourselves," namely, to me by Titus: anxiety to show you disapproved of the deed.
indignation—against the offender.
fear—of the wrath of God, and of sinning any more [Sclater and Calvin]; fear of Paul [Grotius], (1Co 4:2, 19-21).
vehement desire—longing for restoration to Paul's approval [Conybeare and Howson]. "Fear" is in spite of one's self. "Longing desire" is spontaneous, and implies strong love and an aspiration for correction [Calvin]. "Desire" for the presence of Paul, as he had given them the hope of it (1Co 4:19; 16:5) [Grotius and Estius].
zeal—for right and for God's honor against what is wrong. Or, "for the good of the soul of the offender" [Bengel].
revenge—Translate, "Exacting of punishment" (1Co 5:2, 3). Their "carefulness" was exhibited in the six points just specified: "clearing of themselves," and "indignation" in relation to themselves; "fear" and "vehement desire" in respect to the apostle; "zeal" and "revenge" in respect to the offender [Bengel]; (compare 2Co 7:7).
In all—the respects just stated.
clear—Greek, "pure," namely, from complicity in the guilty deed. "Approved yourselves," Greek, "commended yourselves." Whatever suspicion of complicity rested on you (1Co 5:2, 6) through your former remissness, you have cleared off by your present strenuousness in reprobating the deed.
12. though I wrote unto you—"making you sorry with my letter" (2Co 7:8).
his cause that suffered wrong—the father of the incestuous person who had his father's wife (1Co 5:1). The father, thus it seems, was alive.
that our care for you, &c.—Some of the oldest manuscripts read thus, "That YOUR care for us might be made manifest unto you," &c. But the words, "unto you," thus, would be rather obscure; still the obscurity of the genuine reading may have been the very reason for the change being made by correctors into the reading of English Version. Alford explains the reading: "He wrote in order to bring out their zeal on his behalf (that is, to obey his command), and make it manifest to themselves in God's sight, that is, to bring out among them their zeal to regard and obey him." But some of the oldest manuscripts and versions (including the Vulgate and old Italian) support English Version. And the words, "to you," suit it better than the other reading. 2Co 2:4, "I wrote … that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you," plainly accords with it, and disproves Alford's assertion that English Version is inconsistent with the fact as to the purpose of his letter. His writing, he says, was not so much for the sake of the individual offender, or the individual offended, but from his "earnest care" or concern for the welfare of the Church.
13. The oldest manuscripts read thus, "Therefore (Greek, 'for this cause,' namely, because our aim has been attained) we have been (English Version, 'were,' is not so accurate) comforted; yea (Greek, 'but'), in OUR comfort we exceedingly the more joyed for the joy of Titus," &c. (compare 2Co 7:7).
14. anything—that is, at all.
I am not ashamed—"I am not put to shame," namely, by learning from Titus that you did not realize the high character I gave him of you.
as … all things … in truth, even so our boasting … is found a truth—As our speaking in general to you was true (2Co 1:18), so our particular boasting to Titus concerning you is now, by his report, proved to be truth (compare 2Co 9:2). Some oldest manuscripts read expressly, "concerning you"; this in either reading is the sense.
15. his inward affection—literally, "bowels" (compare 2Co 6:12; Php 1:8; 2:1; Col 3:12).
obedience—(2Co 2:9).
fear and trembling—with trembling anxiety to obey my wishes, and fearful lest there should be aught in yourselves to offend him and me (2Co 7:11; compare 1Co 2:3).
16. therefore—omitted in the oldest manuscripts. The conclusion is more emphatical without it.
that I have confidence in you in all things—rather, as Greek, "that in everything I am of good courage concerning (literally, 'in the case of') you," as contrasted with my former doubts concerning you.