The second letter to the Corinthians is a sequel to the first. The state of the Corinthian saints had caused the apostle much sorrow and exercise of heart. He had also passed through great trial at Ephesus, so that he had despaired of life, and now he writes with a heart full of thankfulness, and seeks to encourage them and to confirm them in their judgment of their evil ways, and also to show them, when the evil is judged by the offender, how to restore him. In a loving way he seeks to lead them on in love to each other, and in faithfulness to the Lord.
Verse 1. He addresses not only the assembly at Corinth, but also all the saints which are in all Achaia, which shows us that their state at Corinth was generally known, and that their behavior would have a far reaching influence on others for bad, if their sin had not been judged; and also for good, if they pursued the path, of faithfulness to the Holy Name to which they were gathered. He again asserts his apostleship, for some had thrown doubt upon it (Chapter 12:12, 13). He associates Timothy with himself as a servant of Christ, as one who cared for them with genuine feeling.
Verse 2. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ,” is his earnest salutation and desire for them.
Verses 3, 4. His heart overflows with worship, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies (compassions), and the God of all comfort (encouragement); who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”
Verses 5-7. “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ, and whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the endurance of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation, and our hope of you is steadfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so also of the consolation.”
That is simple and precious. God balances things for us: the more suffering for Christ, the greater encouragement He gives.
Verses 8-11 tell how deep his trial was, and how great his consolation, and how the God who raiseth the dead, was made known to his soul in the trial as He “who delivered him from so great a death, and doth deliver: and will yet we trust deliver;” and in verses 13, 14 he associates the prayers of the saints with this gift of deliverance, and gives them also a share in the thanksgivings on his behalf.
Verses. 12-14. He could boast in this, that his conscience was clear, that in simplicity and godly sincerity (not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God), he had walked before the world, and more abundantly toward them, teaching them what he had ever taught, and what they had acknowledged was the truth and he hoped that they would ever acknowledge it to be the truth even to the end.
They had acknowledged that he brought the truth to them, and he had rejoiced in them also, and in the day of the Lord Jesus, when with Christ in glory, they would still be his rejoicing.
Verses 15-17. It was for their benefit he had spoken of coming to them on his way to and from Macedonia, and when he changed his purpose, it was not the lightness or changeableness of the flesh, he was still thinking of their blessing (see verse 23).
Verses 18-20. “As God is true (faithful), our word toward you was not yea and nay.” Here the apostle digresses from his subject to show us the One who makes all the promises of God good to us. It was Christ that he and Silvanus and Timotheus preached. He was not yea and nay, “but in Him was yea, for all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him, Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”
We bless Thee, O Thou great Amen!
Jehovah’s pledge to sinful men,
Confirming all His Word!
Doubtful no promises remain
For all are Yea, and all Amen,
In Thee, the faithful Lord.
How great the grace of God to bless
By Thee, the Lord, our righteousness!
By Thee, we say again:
For to us all things are made sure,
Through life, in death, and evermore,
By Thee, the great Amen.
Gladly His promises we hear,
For God’s “Amen” dispels all fear,
His faithfulness it proves:
And while such grace from God is shown.
To His Amen we add our own;
For our Amen He loves.
God does not change nor His Word—all the promises are made good in Christ Jesus the Son of God; He fulfills them all. In Him is the Yea, and in Him the Amen, unto the glory of God by us—life, glory, righteousness, pardon, the gift of the Spirit, all is in Him, it is in Him that all is true—Yea and Amen; believers are the objects of these counsels of God; they are to the glory of God by us.
Verses 21, 22. We are in Christ, but not according to the changing will of man, or his transitory and changeable works or feelings. “He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us with you, is God” Himself, the accomplishment of all depends on Him. Under the law, or under conditions, the fulfillment of which depended on the stability of man, the effect of the promise was never attained. Man could not attain it by his righteousness, his state was unable to accomplish it—all is made good in Christ alone. “To the glory of God by us.” We are firmly established in Christ, in whom all the promises subsist, so that we securely possess in Him all that is promised us, but not as something that we have attained to ourselves.
God has anointed us, also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
By His Spirit we are sealed marked out as God’s children, and the Spirit of God is also the earnest in our hearts, of that which we shall fully possess hereafter in Christ.
By Him we understand; by Him we are marked out as God’s possession, by Him we enjoy what God has given to us, and look forward to the possession of the inheritance of all that glory which we shall have with Christ.
Verses 23, 24, tell us why the apostle did not come to Corinth—it was to spare them; he would not come with a rod, but in love, and in the spirit of meekness (1 Cor. 4:2121What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness? (1 Corinthians 4:21)). He would not rule over them, but be fellow-workmen of their joy; as he was to the Thessalonians (see 1 Thess. 2:7, 117But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: (1 Thessalonians 2:7)
11As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, (1 Thessalonians 2:11)) a gentle nurse, and a loving, faithful father, remembering that each of us stands by faith. God’s sheep are to be fed and led, and not driven.