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had not yet taken place, should not be a painful one; or that he would not pay the
Corinthians a second painful visit, which would mean that he had already paid them two
visits, the second of which, unrecorded in the Acts, had been of a painful character. The
latter view seems the more probable. The Apostle's main wish was to promote their joy.
If he had to use his apostolic power to discipline them because of the sinful failure of
some in the church, it was with reluctance and sorrow that he took this step, for it caused
him much anguish and tears owing to the great love he had for them. He would much
rather have commended them, but a real friend is one that speaks the truth even though it
hurts, always having the interests of the other person at heart. The wounds his words
would inflict on them would be the faithful wounds of a loving friend who only wanted
their spiritual progress, faithfulness in witness and response to the Lord.
The following verses (5-11) deal with the offender at Corinth. Who was he and what
had he done? The person is not named. Some have assumed him to be the incestuous
person mentioned in the first epistle, but this does not fit the passage we are now
considering which seems to indicate an offence against the Apostle personally, either in
his absence or when he last visited them.
"But if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure--not
to put it too severely--to you all. For such a one this punishment by the majority is
enough; so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be
overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this
is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything.
Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven
anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, to keep Satan from gaining the
advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his designs" (2: 5-11 R.S.V.).
It seems evident that the believers at Corinth, influenced by the painful letter the
Apostle had sent them, had taken the step of punishing the offender. They had not been
unanimous, but the majority had acted in obedience to Paul's advice and he was satisfied
that it had been adequate, so much so that he now advised them to changed their attitude
and seek to restore the sinner and assure him of their brotherly love lest he be
overwhelmed with sorrow. They should now make clear to him their forgiveness and
Paul states that he himself will also forgive, which would not have much point unless he
has been personally wronged and involved in the matter. This forgiveness was important,
because if it was not put into effect, some lasting damage might be done to the offender, a
permanent breach caused and Satan would then get the advantage, for he waits tirelessly
for the opportunity to get in and spoil the work of the Lord.
The Apostle now returns to the details of his personal movements subsequent to the
terrible experience he describes in 1: 8-10. He makes clear to the Corinthians that,
having abandoned the original plan to go straight to Corinth, he went north to Troas
with the intention of preaching the gospel there. This was a sea-port town from which he
had previously sailed on his first crossing into Europe (Acts 16: 8-11). Here he
expected eventually to be joined by Titus on his return from Corinth and from him to
have up-to-date news of the condition of things in the church there.