When Paul wrote this letter to the church of God in Corinth, together with all the holy-people in the whole of Achaia, as directed by God and/or the Lord Jesus Christ, he did not include chapter divisions, verse divisions or the punctuation which are in many translations and versions today. These are all added by man for the purpose of making it easier for people to find certain scriptures and as a help to understand it better - however, this is not always the case, as here in the division between verse 24 of chapter 1 and verse 1 of chapter 2, when clearly it flows from one to the other.
Therefore, continuing from what Paul has just written – "1:23But I call-upon God (Who is) witness to-myself on my soul that (for the reason of) sparing you I no-longer went into Corinth, 1:24not because we are lord of your belief but we are workers-together with your joy, for with belief you stood2" – he writes:
II Corinthians 2:1 and 2:
2:1For I judged this for myself: not to go towards you again in sorrow, .2for if I cause you sorrow, who (is) also the (person) making me glad-minded except the (person) being caused-sorrow from me!
In truth, I made this decision for/to myself: not to go back to be with you within the sphere of action of grief. And to clarify this, I ask the rhetorical question: in truth, if I myself were the one actively causing you holy-people to be sorrowful (cause you grief), then additionally, what person is causing me to be glad-minded (filling me with gladness, giving me a cheerful-mind with well-thoughts) except the person who is receiving grief out-from me!
[Reference: Romans 15:10.]
Verses 3 and 4:
.3And I wrote this same-thing in order that having come I may not have sorrow from whom it used-to-be necessary (for) me to joy, having been persuaded2 on you all that my joy is (the joy) of all of you; .4for from much pressure and anguish of heart I wrote to you by means of many tears, not in order that you may be caused-sorrow but in order that you may know the love1 which I have more-exceedingly into you;
Paul had heard how some of the Corinthian holy-people had responded to his previous letter to them, and he explains: I wrote what I wrote to you for the purpose and result that when I had come to you the next time I would not have sorrow (hold grief) which comes away-from you holy-people because it would be from you that I ought to have received joy.
These holy-people were supposed to cause Paul to rejoice. He was to derive joy from being with them when he would visit them following their acceptance of his first letter to them (First Corinthians). It was necessary for Paul to joy on his second visit. Why? He writes: I was persuaded and I am still actively persuaded (convinced) resting down on all of you that my joy (emphatically mine) is the joy of all of you. Paul rejoices when they are rejoicing.
He explains: in truth, it was out-from a lot of…
…proceeding from the center of my being that I had to write to you by means of (through) a lot of tears. Even though Paul was upset that such a letter needed to be written to them at that time, he still wrote what God and/or the Lord Jesus Christ told him to write to them. And, he continues: it was not for the purpose and result that you would be caused grief, but on the contrary, it was for the purpose and result that you would personally know the love1 which I presently and actively have more-abundantly for you (more than above the measure I had previously attained).
The word "love1" or the verb "to love1" comes from the Greek word agape which is God's kind of love. To love with His love means to love the same way as God loves, to manifest God's love towards another, whether it is towards God Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, yourself, your Christian neighbor, or towards anyone else. God tells His children today (all who have the spirit of Christ within us) how to Godly-love by means of His previously-revealed written Word and also via our holy spirit-life whereby we receive information from Him regarding how to love in different specific situations. It is the carrying out of God's commandments, His Word, which is the correct usage or way to manifest God's kind of love according to His will (refer to I Corinthians chapter 13 and I John 5:1-3). It is not the same as the brotherly or friendly kind of love, nor is it the same as the emotional/feelings/sexual kind of love.
[Reference: I Corinthians 12:25-27; II Corinthians 1:13, and chapter 7.]
Verses 5-8:
.5but since someone caused-sorrow2, he did not cause me sorrow2 but in-part in order that I may not pressure-weight-on all you, .6this censure, the (censure) by more-people, (is) sufficient to the-person-of-this-kind, .7so-that contrariwise rather (for) you to graciously-forgive and to encourage (him) lest-somehow with more-exceeding sorrow the-person-of-this-kind may be swallowed, .8on-which-account I encourage you to confirm love1 into him;
One of the holy-people within the church in Corinth had definitely caused all the other holy-people grief around the time of Paul’s writing of his first letter to them, and he specifically addressed that situation in that letter (refer to I Corinthians chapter 5).
Now Paul writes: he is not the one who caused and still causes me grief (to be sorrowful at the present time), but on the contrary…
The effects of what had happened (recorded in chapter 5 of I Corinthians) were still lingering on among that Christian community and so it was still causing sorrow among all of them. These Corinthians had heeded what Paul had written in his first letter to them as to what should be done regarding this situation, however, they were still carrying it around in their minds and it was still affecting them during their everyday living of life and they continued to evidence the result of their original sorrow towards that person which had turned into a censure, as if they were imposing a judicial-infliction on him, as though it was their duty to carry-out some kind of punishment towards him for what he had previously committed against God and His people - but for which he was now sorry!
Paul tells them that: the consequence or result of the behavior of all of you which presently causes sorrow is that you must do the opposite even more-so which is to graciously-forgive (to bestow unmerited favor, to grace another, and in this context it is the grace of forgiveness, willingly give forgiveness) and to encourage that holy-person (exhort him, call him beside you as a father and mother invites their children near them to help them to do that-which is right) lest in some manner he would be swallowed (drunk-down) with/by more-abundant sorrow (more than above the measure of grief already attained by him).
That person would be so completely overcome with sorrow that he could not bear it and therefore he would not walk in the greatness of God's Word, which he also had been taught, regarding his having been forgiven by God in the walk/behavior category following his-own agreement that his sinful behavior was wrong (refer to I John 1:9) and for-which he is now sorry.
Paul continues: wherefore, I encourage you holy-people to confirm (validate, authenticate, remove any doubts by a lordly/masterly authoritative action, ratify) your Godly-love into, directed-to him. They were to give him their assurance of their Godly-love towards him evidencing it, having graciously-forgiven him and encouraging him in the truth of God's Word.
Look at how tender, loving, forgiving and encouraging Paul is towards all of these Christians, including the person who had committed such a terrible act against God and His children but who had truly become sorrowful about what he had done and therefore his wrongful behavior was forgiven!
We need to remember that once a person becomes a holy-person (Christian) he remains holy because he has received the gift of holy spirit from God by means of the Lord Jesus Christ. He cannot lose his holy spirit-life, and so he has already been judged in Christ spiritually from God's point of view. However, his walk with and for God, his close-fellowship relationship with God, may fluctuate quite a lot! It is in the walk/behavior category that a Christian may be forgiven of his sinful behavior during the everyday living of his life, because in God’s viewpoint in the spirit category he has already been forgiven and he is a son of the only true God and that is not going to change.
[Reference: I Corinthians chapter 5, and 15:54; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13; I Thessalonians 2:9; II Thessalonians 3:8; I John 1:9, 3:18-24, and 5:11-15.]
Verse 9:
.9for into this also I wrote in order that I may know your proof (that) you are obedient into all-things;
Paul gives another reason for writing his letter to them: in truth, I also wrote with a view to this: for the purpose and result that I would personally know your proof (this word “proof” dokime means: that-which has the quality and character of having already been tried, tested, and has been proven to be true, it is the evidence that proves it as fact and demands the mind to accept its validity) that you presently and actively are obedient (you hear and listen attentively to God's Word and you carry-out what God says to do, which includes believing what He says in order to do it correctly) into or regarding all-things pertaining to this situation.
[Reference: Romans 5:4 and 5; I Corinthians 5:3-5; II Corinthians 1:13.]
Verses 10 and 11:
.10but to whom you graciously-forgive something I also, for that-which I also graciously-forgave2, since I graciously-forgave2 something, (it is) because-of you in (the) face of Christ .11in order that we may not be covetously-claimed-as-more by satan, for we do not not-know his mindful-devices.
Paul assures them that: to whom (here referring to that holy-person who had previously committed fornication within the church and who was now sorry for his actions) you holy-people presently graciously-forgive (bestow unmerited favor, grace him with the grace of forgiveness, willingly give forgiveness) regarding that situation, so do I graciously-forgive that holy-person that thing.
Why? In truth, that-which I also have graciously forgiven, and there is no doubt but that I have graciously forgiven that thing, it is on account of you holy-people in the face of Christ (face-to-face with, before the eyes of, in full-view of the resurrected Christ) for the purpose and result that we (all of us holy-people, including that person who committed that fornication in the Corinthian church but who is now sorry for his actions) would not be covetously claimed as more by satan.
The verb translated “covetously claimed as more” by satan means: caused to be taken advantage of by the active-power of satan, whereby he gets more of something than he is rightfully due in the form of some so-called 'gain' for himself, whereby satan attains his covetousness, his constantly wanting to have more, his greediness, always intentionally grasping and reaching out to get something else – and here satan is grasping to take control and make a prey of as many holy-people in the walk/behavior category as he can!
We must understand that satan (the name emphasizing the devil's opposing and adversarial attributes) cannot take control of the holy spirit-life within any holy-person (sanctified-person, Christian, saint, child of the only true God). But, if any holy-person allows satan to do his will then he can claim that holy-person as more of his covetousness during the everyday of living of that holy-person's physical, fleshy life in the walk/behavior category.
Paul continues teaching as to why holy-people ought to graciously-forgive others who are genuinely sorry for their misbehavior agreeing that indeed it was wrong: in truth, all of us holy-people do not not-know (notice the double negative which gives great emphasis to what Paul is writing – we are not unknowing, not ignorant, not unaware of) satan's mindful-devices (the contrivances or products of his mind's thinking, the plans issuing from the action of his mind). In this situation for the Corinthian and Achaian holy-people, they were not ignorant of satan's stratagem because Paul had received information from God and/or the Lord Jesus Christ and Paul had told them what they were doing and what they should do instead to get out of their wrong behavior. He taught them God's Word, God's intention, God's will for His children which included how they were to manifest Godly-love towards one-another in that situation.
It is the same today for every holy-person: we do not not-know satan's mindful-devices, which are to cause us to not behave in accordance with what God says, to side-track us away from God's Word, to beguile us, so that satan can covetously claim us as more. The only true God has given and continues to give us a lot of information so that we can know what God's intention is about many, many things. None of us holy-people can claim ignorance saying, "oh, I didn't know that! There’s no way I could have known!" We have the previously-revealed written Word of God, and we can receive specific information from God and from the Lord Jesus Christ regarding specific situations and circumstances via our holy spirit-life, and we can receive God’s and our Lord’s specific words to us from another holy-person if God or our Lord were to instruct that holy-person to tell us something. It is up to each one of us to accept and believe and obey these words, no matter how He communicates His intention to us (directly to the holy-person(s) involved in the specific situation via their holy spirit-life, or by means of the Lord Jesus Christ revealing information via that same holy spirit-life, or indirectly via an angel, or by means of another holy-person sent to tell those involved, etc).
[Reference: Luke 22:31 and 32; I Corinthians 5:3-5; II Corinthians 3:14, 4:4, 7:2, 10:5, 11:3, and 12:17 and 18; Ephesians 4:32; I Thessalonians 4:6; I Peter 5:8.]
Verses 12 and 13:
.12But having come into Troas with-a-view-to the good-message of Christ, even a door having been opened2 to me in (the) Lord, .13I did not have2 relief with my spirit for me not to find Titus, my brother, but having arranged-myself-away-from them I went-out into Macedonia.
Paul now returns to writing about his travel arrangements which he had been discussing in chapter 1, verses 15 and 16. He tells the Corinthian church and all the holy-people in the whole of Achaia that when he had gone into Troas for the purpose of preaching the good-message (gospel, evangel) pertaining-to Christ – because emphatically a door had been opened and was still open (metaphorically referring to access, opportunity, admission) to him in the Lord (within the sphere of action of, the efficient and instrumental cause of the Lord Jesus Christ) – he did not have relief (a loosening, relaxation) with his holy spirit-life, he remained ill-at-ease as though being tightly-stretched spiritually, for the reason that he did not find Titus, his brother, there.
By writing that Titus was his brother, Paul reminds everybody that Titus had the same holy spirit-life in him as he and every holy-person has, and that God was their Father. Paul did not have relief while in Troas because he did not find Titus there, so his plans changed and he made arrangements to leave them, he bid them farewell, and he went out from there and went into Macedonia.
[Reference: Acts 20:1; II Corinthians 1:15-24, Galatians 2:1, and 3; Titus 1:4.]
Verses 14-17:
.14But thanks to God, the (One) always triumphing us in Christ and manifesting the odor of the knowledge of him by means of us in every place .15because we are (the) good-odor of Christ to God among the (people) being saved and among the (people) being destroyed, .16to whom (the people being destroyed) indeed an odor out-from death into death, but to whom (the people being saved) an odor out-from life into life. And towards these-things, who (is) sufficient? .17For we are not as many-people adulterating the word of God but (we are) as out-from genuineness, but (we are) as out-from God – before God we utter-forth in Christ.
Even though Paul had to change his plans and not do what he wanted to do (which was to visit the Corinthian and Achaian holy-people before traveling into Macedonia) because the circumstances changed, he writes: but thanks to God…. This word "thanks" here in the Greek is the same word as the word "grace," but sometimes it is used as the expression made by the freedom of will of the recipient expressing his gratitude to the giver of the grace (the bestowed unmerited or undeserved favor) given-to and received-by him. Paul, the recipient, thanks God, the Giver of His grace.
In whom has God done this? In or within Christ – the Anointed-one – the Messiah! God has done all of this spiritually for us in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ – not in Paul, nor in those who traveled with him, nor in the Corinthian holy-people, nor in the Achaian holy-people! No matter where Paul and those with him went, the thanks must be to God Who always triumphs all holy-people in Christ. The church now makes known God's supreme rulership and authority which is triumphant in Christ! This is referring to the spirit category which does not change for holy-people – God always triumphs us in Christ (this cannot refer to the walk/behavior category of holy-people because that can change depending on the continued believing and obedience of each holy-person by the freedom of his/her own will).
Continuing, Paul writes: and God is the One presently and actively manifesting (evidencing, bringing to light, showing-forth) the odor (smell) of the personal knowledge (the truly active and relative knowing) of, pertaining-to Christ by means of (through) us holy-people in all/every place, not only in Corinth or only in Achaia or only in Macedonia or anywhere else as being the only location that this is true. As we holy-people continue to do God's will throughout our everyday living of life, God is the One Who is manifesting the odor of the knowledge of Christ by means of us – then correspondingly: if we do not do what God says then we refuse to allow God to do this by means of us!
But thanks to God, the One always triumphing us in Christ and manifesting the odor of the knowledge of him by means of us in every place. Paul explains that the objective-cause of this is that we holy-people are the good-odor (this smell is good, well, the kind of sweet odor as accompanying an acceptable sacrifice, sweet fragrance) of Christ to God (we smell good to God because we have Christ's good-odor) among the people who are presently being saved (being made safe to God) and also among the people who are presently being destroyed (being utterly-ruined, completely-lost away from God, because they refuse what God says).
Spiritually we are the good-odor of Christ to God, and as we carry-out what God says in the walk/behavior category other people can "smell" our good fragrance because they can physically see, hear, smell, taste or touch what we say and/or do.
To the people who are being destroyed indeed Christ's good-odor is an odor out-from death into death. When these people (who voluntarily refuse to believe what God says and therefore refuse to receive God's gift of holy spirit by means of the Lord Jesus Christ) smell the good-smell of Christ (which is proof of the accomplished redemption that he achieved by his sacrificial death and God's having raised him up from-among the rest of the dead-people), for them it is the smell emanating out-from the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ which definitely results-in their final death, which will occur during the "wrath" time-period after Christ gathers all holy-people together with him (refer to I and II Thessalonians for more details regarding the wrath).
But to the people who are being saved indeed Christ's good-odor is an odor out-from life into life. When these people (who voluntarily acceptingly believe what God says and therefore acceptingly receive God's gift of holy spirit by means of the Lord Jesus Christ) smell the good-smell of Christ (which is proof of the accomplished redemption that he achieved by his sacrificial death and God's having raised him up from-among the rest of the dead-people), for them it is the smell emanating out-from the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ's spiritual life that he is now living which definitely results-in their eternal spiritual life, which will occur when Christ gathers all holy-people together with him and they receive their spiritual bodies (refer to I and II Thessalonians, plus I Corinthians chapter 15).
Next, Paul asks the rhetorical question: and for the purpose of approaching towards and being with these-things which God has done and continues to do in Christ to/for/in all holy-people – who is sufficient, who is sufficing enough, who comes to enough, who reaches the point of satisfying sufficiency so there is no need to add anything else to it? Is there any man who can do it by himself? Is there any woman who can do it by herself? Is there any group of people who can do it without God? Is there another spirit that can do this? Paul does not write the answer because it ought to be so apparent that the answer is "no-one" – not even the Lord Jesus Christ could have accomplished what he has accomplished without God, his Father! It is God Who is sufficient towards these-things – not Paul, nor those with him, nor the other holy-people, nor any other spirit, nor any person.
Re-reading verse 17, it says:
Verse 17:
.17For we are not as many-people adulterating the word of God but (we are) as out-from genuineness, but (we are) as out-from God – before God we utter-forth in Christ.
Paul now explains the actions of himself and those who travel with him: in truth, we are not in comparison to a lot of people who are adulterating (diluting, as a vintner watering-down the wine by adding water to it, or a retailer exchanging things of inferior quality with his commodities in order to make a quick and easy sale to gain personal profit instead of seeking to benefit both himself and the recipient who ought to receive the authentic product, they are compromising with other people) the Word of God. Adulterating what? God's Word, the spoken-account of the inner-thoughts of God revealed by God to people so that they could know Him and His son, the Lord Jesus Christ! Evidently, there were people who would adulterate what God says at the same time as Paul and those with him were teaching what God says, God's Word.
But Paul makes it very clear that:
…before God we utter-forth in Christ (down and over-against, right in-front and in the sight of the only true God myself and those with me speak within the sphere of action of Christ). The resurrected Christ is the instrumental and efficient cause of our speaking because we speak according to the holy spirit-life within us which is the spirit of Christ in us which all of us holy-people have received from God by means of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul and those with him spoke what God and the Lord Jesus Christ wanted them to speak to the people as they traveled the countryside. They were not saying and doing things by themselves without God and/or without the Lord Jesus Christ – but – before God we utter-forth in Christ.
[Reference: Genesis 4:3-12, 7:1-16, and 8:15-9:17; Exodus 29:18; Leviticus 1:9, 24:7; Matthew 2:11; I Corinthians 1:17-21, 5:6-8, 10:17, and chapter 15; II Corinthians 1:12, 3:5, and 6; Ephesians 3:1-12, 4:8, and 5:2; Philippians 4:18; Colossians 2:15. Note: verbs with a superscript 2 (2) immediately following them indicate the "perfect" tense - details are provided in the "Relevant Notes" link of this study.]
