2 Corinthians 7:1-8 Joy from Grief
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: May 3, 2020 2 Corinthians 7:1-8
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy. For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while.
(Understanding the Text) “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” What promises? The promises in 6:17-18. “Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” God promises that we are His sons and daughters and that He is our Father. Paul says that since we are the sons and daughters of God, we must live up to our family name. We must not defile our bodies or our spirits because we belong to the immediate family of the God of the universe. We are not distant forgotten relatives. We are His, and He is ours. We need to live like we believe that.
First, Paul aligns the Corinthians with God. God loves them, and they are His children. Then Paul aligns himself with Corinthians. He protests that he has done nothing to hurt them. He has not wronged, corrupted, or taken advantage of anyone. In other words, if they look at all his past interactions with him, they will see that he has always dealt fairly, honestly, and above board with them. Implied by the next comment is that the Corinthians have not extended the same courtesy to Paul. Paul follows this by reaffirming his own love for them and that they and he are united in their entrance into God’s kingdom. He says that he is proud of how they have acted. Paul was full of anxiety before, but he is comforted now by the way the Corinthians have responded, and he says that the anxiety they have caused him and the pain that his admonitions caused them are actually full of joy. How can he say this? Because they are in a family relationship, and when you love someone, even the times of pain, are part of the joy of having them in your life.
While traveling around Macedonia, Paul was worried about the Corinthians’ response to his letter, but he was also dealing with outside conflicts at the same time, so he was happy when he finally met up with Titus and found that the Corinthians’ response was positive. The outside fighting might still be in place, but the inside anxieties disappeared. If we have inner peace and security, it is a lot easier to deal with outside problems. The Corinthians felt bad about the way they had treated Paul previously and longed to be able to be with him again. They were enthusiastic about how Paul had interacted with them and wanted to do the same again.
“For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while.” I was confused earlier. Different commentaries have different opinions about the Corinthian letters. I thought that Paul was referring to 1 Corinthians here, but according to F. F. Bruce, Paul is referring to a letter that was written after 1 Corinthians and before 2 Corinthians. In other words, 2 Corinthians should probably be referred to as 3 or even 4 Corinthians! “A visit from Paul himself seemed the only course that would meet the situation. But Paul’s visit brought the opposition to a head. He withdrew, and sent another letter, this time by the hand of Titus, in which he threw appeasement to the winds and dealt with his opponents in terms of unsparing severity, charging the church to take strong disciplinary action against those who refused his authority—or rather the authority of the Christ whose apostle he was. So severe was this letter, that after it was sent, Paul began to wonder whether it had not been too severe, and he waited anxiously for Titus to return and report on its reception. He tried to do some missionary work in the district round Troas (for he had left Ephesus by now), but he could not settle, and set out for Macedonia. There he met Titus, and to his infinite relief he learned that a complete revulsion in his favour had taken place at Corinth. The severe letter had done its work. The anti-Pauline factions were in utter disgrace. The church as a whole had been stung to such a degree of grief and shame and indignation by his letter that they were now in danger of going too far in their proceedings against those who had led the opposition to Paul.” (Bruce, F.F.. The Spreading Flame: The Rise and Progress of Christianity from Its First Beginnings to Eighth-Century England . Kingsley Books. Kindle Edition). On the other hand, the SDA commentary says that Bruce’s idea might not be true because there is no objective evidence of this and so the letter referred to here is assumed to be 1 Corinthians. However, I tend to agree with Bruce that the anxiety that Paul experienced from sending a very strong letter would not be justified by the contents of 1 Corinthians. The SDA commentary on page 822 says “Paul made at least three visits, and wrote three, perhaps four, epistles to the church at Corinth. The first visit, about A.D. 51, during the course of his Second Missionary Journey, continued for a year and a half (Acts 18:11). At this time Paul founded and organized the church. He continued to keep in touch with it from time to time through representatives (2 Corinthians 12:17) His first written contact with it is mentioned in 1 Cor. 5:9. This document is now presumed lost. Toward the close of more than two years spent at Ephesus, on the third journey, he wrote what is now known as First Corinthians (ch. 16:8; see p. 103).” “It is generally accepted that a period of several weeks probably elapsed between the writing of the two Corinthian epistles, the first from Ephesus and the second from Macedonia. Paul had intended to remain in Ephesus until Pentecost, and then to journey to Corinth by way of Macedonia (Acts 19:21). But he left Ephesus sooner than he had intended. This may have been due, in part at least, to the popular uprising that nearly cost him his life (vs 24-41). The opposition he experienced while at Ephesus placed a great strain upon him. He referred to the opponents of truth as ‘beasts’ (1 Cor. 15:32), and observed that he had been ‘pressed out of measure, above strength’ and had ‘despaired even of life’ (2 Cor. 1:8). It was in this condition that Paul left Ephesus for Macedonia.” “He journeyed to Troas, the port of embarkation for Macedonia. Here he expected the return of Titus with a report of the response of the Corinthians to his previous epistle. But Titus did not arrive within the time expected, and Paul, finding no rest of spirit because of anxiety for the church at Corinth (ch. 2:13), was unable to take advantage of the open door to the preaching of the gospel at Troas. Pressing on into Macedonia, he met Titus at Philippi. With relief and joy Paul listened to the good news Titus brought from Corinth.” “Some think that Paul had returned to Corinth for a second visit. He speaks of a previous visit that had been distressing and disappointing (see on chs. 2:1; 12:14; 13:1, 2). Probably following such a visit and the receipt of further disconcerting news from Corinth (1 Cor. 1:11), he dispatched a letter of reprimand and counsel (1 Corinthians), and sent Titus to prepare the way for a further visit he planned to make (2 Cor. 8:6; 13:1, 2; df. AA 301).” “In ch. 2:4 Paul refers to a former letter he had written to Corinth ‘out of much affliction and anguish of heart,’ and which had made them ‘sorry’ (ch.. 7:8). Many scholars think that in these and others passages Paul can hardly refer to 1 Corinthians, since–as they affirm–these statements do not properly describe the spirit and nature of the epistle. Accordingly, they argue that he must have written a letter between the two that appear in the NT. Some who hold this view consider that this letter has been lost, but others think that it is preserved as chs. 10-13 of 2 Corinthians. Plausible reasons can be presented both for and against this theory, but objective proof is lacking for either. This commentary therefore assumes that 1 Corinthians is the letter to which Paul refers in 2 Corinthians (cf. AA 324). From chs. 2:13; 7:5; 8:1; 9:2, 4, it appears that Paul wrote this second epistle while in Macedonia. The date was about A.D. 57.” While 1 Corinthians is pretty strong, it is also pretty objective-sounding, so I am inclined to think that there was another letter. On the other hand, 1 Corinthians does berate them for their factionalism, tolerance of sin, and lack of love, so maybe it is the letter referred to. However, the letter referred to was written after an unsatisfactory visit to Corinth, which 1 Corinthians does not allude to strongly while 2 Corinthians does. I think its interesting that chapters 10-13 might be that letter. I noticed when I preview read 2 Corinthians that there was a definite difference in attitude between the first part of the letter and the second part.
(Application / Revelation of God) My application for myself is that Paul loved and cared about the people he came into contact with. They were not just numbers. They were family members. They and he would stand before God together, and that was the way he wanted it. I am a daughter of God. God has given me brothers and sisters to care about, and sometimes that will mean worrying about them, but God will also give me the joy that comes with having family. Sometimes, they won’t care about me as much as I care about them. I may want to plead as Paul did that they open their hearts to me as I have to them, but in the end, their love for me is not necessary since I have Jesus loving me. God is my Father and His Spirit lives within me. I am not alone, even when I worry about His other children who are in my life. The others may or may not love me, but I am not alone.
(Prayer) Always be my Friend and remind me of Your love. Bring me closer to You so that I may know that You are always with me. When others hurt me, heal me with Your love.