2 Corinthians
Chapter 7
Overview
Paul is writing to the community of Jesus’ followers in Corinth after a painful exchange. He had sent them a strong letter, then worried about how they would respond. Now Titus has returned with encouraging news: their sorrow led them to change course, and their concern for Paul remains alive. Paul moves from a call to live cleanly before God to an honest account of his anxiety, relief, and renewed confidence in them. The chapter explores a quiet paradox: sorrow can either crush a person or open the way to healing.
1Dear friends, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit. Let us bring a life devoted to God to its full expression, with deep reverence for him.
2Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, ruined no one, and taken advantage of no one.
3I am not saying this to condemn you. I have already said that you are in our hearts, so that we are ready to live and die together with you.
4I speak to you with complete openness, and I am very proud of you. I have been filled with encouragement and am overflowing with joy, even in all our suffering.
5Even when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no relief. Trouble pressed us from every direction—conflicts around us and fears within us.
6But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by Titus’s arrival.
7It was not only his arrival that encouraged us, but also the encouragement he had received from you. He told us how much you longed to see me, how deeply sorry you were, and how strongly you cared about me. This made me even more joyful.
8Even if my letter made you sad, I do not regret sending it. I did regret it for a time, because I saw that the letter had hurt you, though only briefly.
9Now I am glad—not because you were hurt, but because your sorrow led you to change your hearts and your course. Your sorrow was what God wanted it to be, so you suffered no lasting harm because of us.
10Sorrow that follows God’s purpose produces a change of heart and course that leads to rescue, leaving no regret. But the kind of sorrow shaped by this world produces death.
11Look at what this sorrow, experienced as God intended, produced in you: such eagerness to act, such determination to clear yourselves, such outrage, such alarm, such longing, such deep concern, and such readiness to see justice done! In every way, you showed that you were innocent in this matter.
12So although I wrote to you, I did not write merely because of the person who did wrong or the person who was wronged. I wrote so that, before God, your earnest concern for us would become clear to you yourselves.
13That is why we have been encouraged. Besides receiving this encouragement, we were even more delighted by Titus’s joy, because all of you had put his mind at ease.
14I had spoken proudly to Titus about you, and you did not embarrass me. Everything we told you was true, and in the same way, everything we proudly told Titus about you also proved true.
15His affection for you grows even stronger when he remembers how all of you obeyed and how you welcomed him with respectful fear and trembling.
16I am glad that I can have complete confidence in you.