Written solely by the Spirit of the living God

 

Written solely by the Spirit of the living God

 

2 Corinthians 2:4-5: "I have written to you with many tears, with great distress (thlipseos) and worry (synoches) in my heart, not to grieve you, but to let you know that I have overflowing love (agapen) toward you. And if anyone has grieved (relypeken), he has not grieved me, but has grieved all of you to some extent (melus). I say 'to some extent' so that I do not speak too highly."

 

Thlipseos means "push" in English. It signifies the pressure to enter the Holy of Holies within the heart, due to the difficulties encountered in the process of preaching the gospel. Synoches is a compound word of "shi" (together) and "noches" (to possess). It means being of one mind with God. Paul intended to go to the Corinthian church to rebuke them, but because God prevented him, he resolved that even if he went, he would not rebuke them. It means that God pressed Paul’s heart to bring him into the Most Holy Place within his soul, enabling him to know the heart of the Lord. Thus, having realized the Lord’s heart, he came to write the letter with tears. The tears Paul sheds are tears of agape. Agape signifies spiritual love.

 

The Corinthian church was in a poor spiritual state. Paul was the apostle who established the Corinthian church; it was clear that if he were to visit the church, he would impose many disciplines, yet he stated that he would not do so.

 

If Paul were to go to the Corinthian church and severely rebuke them, who could please him other than the one being rebuked? If the one being rebuked were to turn away, it would be something to rejoice about for Paul, but he was saying that such a method would not be effective.

 

If Paul rebukes and the one being rebuked repents and turns away, it is a joy; however, if the opposite happens, it becomes a source of worry instead. Paul states that the Corinthian believers living a faithful life fully brings joy to both Paul and the believers. "Relypeken" (λελύπηκεν) means to inflict pain for a wrong. This implies that if someone was causing pain, that person was not inflicting pain on Paul. "Melus" means "partially," implying that even if the pain was not directly inflicted upon Paul, he felt it indirectly. Therefore, Paul intends not to burden the Corinthian church with such a load.

 

2 Corinthians 2:6-8: "Such a person deserves to be punished (he epithymia) by many. Therefore (tunanthinon), you should rather forgive (karisastai) and comfort (parakalesai) him, lest he be overwhelmed with grief. Therefore, I urge you to show them love (agape)."

"Epithimia" (ἐπιτιμία) is a compound word formed from "epi" (on) and "timia" (value). Receiving punishment is a translation error. The point is that such people, who trouble Paul's heart, must be given greater respect.

 

"Tunantinon" (τοὐναντίον) means "on the contrary." "Karisastai" (χαρίσασθαι) means "show favor," and "Parakalesai" (παρακαλέσαι) means "exhort." Translated again, it means, "On the contrary, you should show him favor and exhort him, for I am concerned that he might suffer severe distress after being rebuked." Agape is spiritual love, expressing valuable love through spiritual communion.

 

While the leaders of the Corinthian church rebuke the erring members, Paul wants to know if they, too, are properly obeying the Lord's word. He wants them to realize through the letter whether they are truly obeying the Lord's word. Paul's rebuke of the Corinthian church members is intended to guide them correctly, but it is a message to act with the Lord's heart, not to be used by Satan. Even within a church community, righteous leaders are necessary. This is because if a leader is not righteous, all the harm ultimately falls upon the believers. Since Paul desires for the believers to move in the right direction rather than simply pointing out their faults, he prefers that they be transformed through letters and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 

When Paul went to Troas, he intended to meet Titus to preach the gospel together, but he was unable to meet him. Because the Holy Spirit within his heart was uneasy, he parted ways with them and went to Macedonia to meet Titus. Perhaps Paul’s relationship with Titus played a significant role in his ministry of the gospel.

Paul told Titus to correct the false teachings of false teachers and to instruct and teach the believers with the sound Word. He confessed that before believing in the Lord, he was a fool, disobedient, deceived by Satan, enslaved by various lusts and pleasures, and an abominable person who habitually practiced malice and jealousy. However, this means that since entering into Christ Jesus, he is no longer this kind of person but a transformed one. It implies that having lived a pitiful life serving Satan as a slave to sin after being deceived by him, he must now live a life befitting his status as a child of God, having been liberated from Satan's bondage.

 

He tells Titus to avoid foolish arguments, genealogical discussions, disputes, and quarrels over the law with people of lies—that is, those who have fallen into heresy. People of lies are those possessed by the spirit of falsehood, that is, Satan. Those possessed by the spirit of falsehood cannot realize their own wrongdoings even if explained, because they are held captive by the spirit of falsehood. Therefore, he exhorts him not to waste time with such people. Today, although there are countless churches, if they distort God's Word and do not speak according to the Scriptures, they are not churches but merely heretical groups.

 

Since believers are beings saved through God's mercy, they must live a life befitting that status—that is, living daily while confirming that they have died on the cross and resurrected. The Apostle Paul confessed, "I die daily." The death of our old self (the fleshly body) with Jesus is holiness toward God, becoming light toward the world, and becoming the life of resurrection. That light revives the dead spirit. This is practicing God's goodness.

 

In 2 Corinthians 2:14-15, Paul says, "Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us spreads the fragrance (osmen) of the knowledge of Christ everywhere. For we are the fragrance of Christ to God, both among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing." Osmen means fragrance. The fragrance of Christ becomes a smell that leads from death to death for those who cannot accept Christ, but for those who are in Christ, it becomes a fragrance that leads from life to life.

 

It signifies a life in which the saint in Christ is offered to God as a living sacrifice. This is a life of believing that one dies daily and is resurrected daily. It means not merely speaking of a life in Christ with words, but acting faithfully as one born of God. This becomes a life lived under the guidance of the Holy Spirit within the heart. A life freed from the law and freed from the world is precisely what becomes the fragrance of a Christian.