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2 Corinthians 7:1. Therefore, beloved, having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, What promises? that is, that we are churches of God, that God and the Father Himself dwells and walks in us. Let us cleanse ourselves from unclean deeds, for this means “defilement of the flesh,” and nasty and passionate thoughts, for this means “defilement of the spirit,” that is, the soul. performing holiness in the fear of God. It is not enough, he says, to abstain from uncleanness, but one must also do something good - “holiness,” that is, purity, chastity. He added “in the fear of God” either because chastity is preserved out of man-pleasing, and not in the fear of God, or in order to show us how it should be preserved, precisely in the fear of God. For, no matter how great the power of the flesh, have the fear of God, and you will overcome its fury. By holiness we mean not only chastity, but in general all purity in life. 2 Corinthians 7:2. Accommodate us. We did not offend anyone, we did not harm anyone, we did not seek gain from anyone. Again he talks about love. First he brought fear to them, saying that they had abandoned him and joined the infidels and the unclean. Now he softens towards them, saying: “accommodate us,” that is, give us a spacious place in yourself, so that we are not cramped in you. Hinting at the false apostles, he says: “they did not offend anyone” - in property; “they did not harm anyone,” that is, they did not deceive, damaging the mind with wicked teaching; “they did not seek gain from anyone,” that is, they did not seek profit for themselves under the pretext of preaching. 2 Corinthians 7:3. I don’t say this as a condemnation; for I said before that you are in our hearts, so that we can die and live together. I'm not saying this to judge you. Where can you see this? Out of love; for you are in our hearts. But since another person may love, but does not want to expose himself to danger, he says: “in order to die together.” And since there are many who do not rejoice in the prosperity of their friends out of envy, he added: “and live.” The idea in what was said is this: we do not avoid you in danger, and we live with you in prosperity and do not envy you. 2 Cor.7:4. I have a lot of hope in you, I boast a lot about you, It would seem that he insulted them, saying: “your hearts are crowded” and: “accommodate us.” Therefore, now he justifies himself and heals them, saying: I said this not to condemn you, but out of my great courage in relation to you and out of a desire to encourage you to virtue. For the fact that I do not condemn you is evident from the fact that I boast about you before others. I am filled with consolation, overflowing with joy, despite all our sorrow. Having corrected himself, he says, in what I condemned you for in my previous letter, you filled me with consolation, and not only consoled me, that is, freed me from sadness, but also abundantly filled me with joy. The word “abounding” means abundance of joy. This joy, he says, was such that in all our sorrow, no matter how great it was, it prevailed and extinguished the sorrow. This would seem to contradict what was said about them a little earlier, but in fact it does not contradict. For both are characteristic of someone who loves: the first as one who reproaches, and the last as one who encourages, because reproof does not come from hostility, but from strong love. 2 Cor.7:5. For when we came to Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, He talks about his grief and speaks about it in strong terms, in order to show how great the joy was from them when such grief was driven away. It was well said that the “flesh” had no rest; for Paul's soul was invincible. but we were constrained from everywhere: attacks from outside, Because among the faithful there are weak ones who could be carried away by false brothers. 2 Cor.7:6. But God, who comforts the humble, comforted us with the arrival of Titus, Since he said a lot in praise of the Corinthians, he brings Titus as a witness. Who “comforts the humble”? God says. He also consoled us by sending us Titus; for his arrival was enough to dispel our sorrow. He also wants to present this husband to them as worthy of respect, which is why he attributes great significance to his arrival. 2 Cor.7:7. and not only by his arrival, but also by the consolation with which he was comforted about you, He consoled you, he says, not only by being with you during your sorrow, but also by telling you about your virtue, with which he himself was consoled, that is, he rejoiced over you, accepting you for your virtues. He earns this husband their favor, as one who praised them before him. retelling to us about your zeal, (έπιπόθησιν) about your crying, about your jealousy for me, Probably the Corinthians cried and grieved that the teacher was so sick in spirit and had not been with them for so long. Therefore, he did not just say: tears, but “crying,” and not έπιθυμίαν, but έπιπόθησιν, that is, strong desire, also not anger, but “jealousy” against the fornicator. For my sake you were kindled and kindled to fulfill my command; You were jealous for me even before the false apostles. The apostle says this not only to heal previous reproaches, but also because he accepts those who have reformed; for although there are many who are bad and not worthy of these praises, he does not separate them, but praises and reproaches them all together, leaving everyone’s conscience to choose its own. so I was even more delighted. “I,” he says, “rejoiced at the presence of Titus, but more so that he told me such news about you. 2 Cor.7:8. Therefore, if I saddened you with the message, I do not regret it, although I did regret it, Although, he says, I wrote to you in such a way that I exceeded the measure of reproach and should repent of the fact that I reproached you beyond measure, but the great benefit that comes from it does not allow me to repent now. He said this not because he really blamed them beyond measure, but in order to increase their praise. For I see that that message saddened you, however, for a while. 2 Cor.7:9. Now I rejoice, not because you were saddened, but because you were saddened to repentance; for they were sad for God's sake, The sorrow was temporary - for an hour, but the benefit was everlasting. “I rejoice,” he says, “not because you were saddened” (for what benefit does your sorrow bring to me?), “but because you were saddened to repentance.” Notice how sorrow is attributed to repentance, and does not say that it brought you benefit - which was fair - but attributes this matter to their virtue. You, he says, were saddened, but you were saddened “for God’s sake.” so they did not suffer any harm from us. Having been convicted, he says, by us, you were saddened by God, and henceforth you will not suffer harm from us in any way. For all of you, not excluding those who reached extreme sin and fornication, have improved. The teacher then causes harm to the student when he does not rebuke the sinner. For if he had been rebuked, he would have benefited. 2 Cor.7:10. For Godly sorrow produces unchanging repentance leading to salvation, but worldly sorrow produces death. He talks about sadness and shows that sadness is not always evil, but only when it happens in the world, that is, about property, fame, and the dead. For such sadness “produces death,” certainly mental, and often physical, for through this many perished. If someone voluntarily grieves for sins, then he grieves “for the sake of God”; for this medicine is prepared for the case of this one illness, to bring about constant repentance (for none of those who mourned it ever repented of it) and to deliver a person from spiritual death. 2 Cor.7:11. For the very thing that made you sad for God's sake, see what zeal has produced in you, Not from the example of others, he says, I prove the benefits of sorrow for God, but from your experience. For you not only did not repent of being saddened, but you became more concerned about yourself. Apologies to me; for I have forgiven you because you repented. what indignation at the culprit, Before me; for you were corrected so and so quickly because you were afraid. To me. When he spoke about fear, so that they would not think that he was representing himself as some kind of ruler, he immediately corrected himself by using the word “desire,” which is a sign of love, not power. For the laws of God; for you punished those who violated them. By all accounts, you have shown yourself to be clean in this matter. You, he says, not only did not do anything like the fornicator did, but you also did not condone him. In a previous letter he said: “and you became proud” (1 Cor. 5:2), which made them partners in crime; Therefore, here he says: now you have cleared yourself of this suspicion, and have shown yourself to be clean from censure. 2 Cor.7:12. So, if I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the offender and not for the sake of the insulted, but so that our care for you before God would be revealed to you. So that they would not say to him: why did you denounce us if we were clean of crime? says: I so respect what I wrote before and do not repent of denouncing you that I say: for this reason I wrote this, so that my love for you and my care for you would be revealed “before God,” that is, before God, who sees that this is fair. I was afraid that the infection might spread to you. Who is meant by “offended” and “offended”? Who committed fornication; because both of them insulted each other. How can he say that he did not write for their sake? That is, although I wrote for their sake, it was not exclusively for their sake, but also for your sake, taking care that the whole society would not be spoiled. So it is when he says: “Does God care about oxen?” (1 Cor. 9:9), does not mean that God does not care about them; otherwise why were they created? but that God did not give the law primarily for the sake of the oxen. 2 Corinthians 7:13. Therefore we are comforted I showed my care for you, and my hopes did not deceive me; therefore, he says, he was greatly consoled. your consolation; and we are even more delighted with the joy of Titus, Now, to the consolation with which you consoled me, as I said, great joy was added - the joy of Titus. This joy and consolation is for you and for you. That's why he says further. that you all calmed his spirit. 2 Cor.7:14. So I was not left in shame if I boasted of anything about you to him, “I was glad that Titus found you the way I portrayed you to him in words,” he said. And he himself calmed down when he found you like this and did not encounter anything rude or unpleasant from you. And the fact that Paul boasts about his disciples shows that they were virtuous, and he was a lover of children. This is how students and teachers should be now. but just as we told you everything was true, so before Titus our praise turned out to be true, Just as everything I preached to you was true (or, perhaps, speaks of the praise he expressed about Titus), so everything that I boasted about you turned out to be true. 2 Corinthians 7:15. and his heart is very disposed towards you With these words he praises Titus so that they too will love him, as connected with him and passionately loving them. That’s why he said: “his heart,” in order to show the strength and fervor of his affection and sincere love. at the remembrance of the obedience of you all, how you received it with fear and trembling. Titus exposes the reasons for such love for them, showing that they themselves gave rise to such love, and at the same time encouraging them to greater love. For you not only showed love for him or care for him, but also obedience, accepting him as children of a father and at the same time as a boss - “with fear” and even “trembling”. This itself testifies to their deep virtue: love, as for a father, and fear, as for a boss, so that in them neither love weakened fear, nor fear poisoned love. 2 Corinthians 7:16. So I am glad that I can rely on you in everything. I rejoice not only about Titus that you honored him, but also that I find you like this - not putting me to shame, but giving me the courage to speak about you openly in every matter and at every time. And otherwise, “I can rely on you,” because whether I do something for you or tell you, you will willingly accept whether it is necessary to correct you, to reprove or praise you, or to prescribe something serious to you. You might be interested in: