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"Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our
brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in
the whole of Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ" (II Cor. 1: 1 R.V.).
In the opening verses of I Corinthians Sosthenes is associated with Paul, but here
Timothy is mentioned instead. From I Cor. 4: 17 it appears that he had been sent to
Corinth and when he rejoined Paul later on at Ephesus he had to report failure in
rectifying the troubles there. Possibly he moved on with the Apostle to Troas into
Macedonia and he sends his greetings with those of Paul in the first verse of the epistle.
It is clear that both the canonical letters to Corinth were intended to be read in other
places by the author. In the first epistle "all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ in every place" is added and here, "the saints which are in all Achaia" are linked
with the Corinthian church.
Achaia was the name of the Roman province which included the isthmus of Corinth
and the land south of it, roughly corresponding to the southern half of the modern
kingdom of Greece. It is probable that the local churches kept copies of Paul's letters
forwarded to them by their neighbours and thus came to possess collections of their own
which would be read at their gatherings together with the Old Testament.
Paul continues:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and
God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we may be able to
comfort them that are in any affliction" (1: 3 and 4 R.V.).
The Apostle first of all directs our thoughts not merely to God, but God Who has
revealed Himself through the Lord Jesus as the One Who is all-compassionate and the
origin of all comfort and encouragement, and this conception is paramount right through
the epistle. Paraklesis, `comfort' (translated `consolation' in A.V. in verses 5, 6 and 7) is
a key-word in II Corinthians, occurring no less than eleven times and the verb
parakaleo, eighteen times.
When Paul speaks of this, he does so as one who was constantly experiencing it
himself, for the overwhelming tests and tribulation which this epistle reveals that he
passed through would have been otherwise unendurable. Not only does he come through
these triumphantly, but he even obtains blessing through them! There is another aspect
too which is related to the mystery of pain and suffering in this life. Much we may not be
able to understand, but having passed through a measure of this, at least we can
understand and comfort others who go through similar dark experiences. We are then
able `to comfort them that are in any affliction, through the comfort wherewith we
ourselves are comforted of God' (verse 4) and so the tests are not valueless and
unfruitful. Furthermore, when the Corinthians saw the Apostle's Christ-like conduct
under suffering, they would be encouraged and inspired to make a similar stand
themselves. This is what verses 6 and 7 mean:
"But whether we be afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or whether we be
comforted, it is for your comfort, which worketh in the patient enduring of the same