Paul contended that there was no duplicity in his preaching to them originally nor in his epistles to them. "The meaning is that he intends just what appears in his writing, without any hidden meaning or reservation" (Gould, p. 154). If they saw some hidden or double sayings in his letters, they were mistaken; he wrote "nothing between the lines." He wrote what he meant, and he meant what he wrote, and what the Corinthians were reading in his letters was his inner feelings. "There is a play on words, anaginoskete which refers to what they read in his letters and epignoskete to what they know through personal contact with him" (Morgan, p. 27). The same minister who visited them originally was the author of the epistle.
The Corinthians had accepted what Paul preached when he was with them, why couldn't they accept at face value what he penned in his epistles? Paul rejoiced in the members of the church at Corinth, and he is hoping the feelings are mutual as they both look forward to the judgment day of the Lord Jesus. Yeager says of this verse, "Paul had some loyal friends in Corinth who understood Paul's character and his worth, just as he saw the same qualities in them. At the second coming they would look upon each other as sources of pride and rejoicing" (p. 266).
15, 16 In the confidence (pepoithesei) or trust that the Corinthians originally had of Paul, he was hoping to visit them again. He still believed that he had some loyal friends in Corinth although there was a faction against him. Paul looked upon his future visit with them as "a second (deuteran) benefit" or "a double advantage." "This word "benefit" denotes the visit as a manifestation of the apostle's favor, a gift of love" (Gould, p. 55). It must be remembered that Paul was an Apostle, and he was justified in believing that his second visit with the Corinthians could be beneficial.
Paul intended to pass (dielthein) or travel by them into Macedonia and to come again out of Macedonia to Corinth, and he trusted them that they would bring him on his way to Judea (Acts 24:17; I Corinthians 16:4). Sometimes the expression "bring on one's way" means "to accompany or escort one" or even "to provide traveling and lodging expenses for the journey." Paul had to change his plans that he had originally made (I Corinthians 16:5 - 8), which reminds us that we need to be flexible in our plans. God may have other plans for us. "The Corinthians, especially the anti-Pauline party, took advantage of Paul's change of plans to criticize him sharply for vacillation and flippancy" (Robertson, p. 213).
17 - 20 Paul was not guilty of insincerity (elaphria) or fickleness in his change of plans, as some were accusing him. He was being submissive to the will and plan of God, and he was not being adroit or submitting to the flesh. Paul poses a rhetorical question expecting a negative reply. "Was I really only being dexterous? Perhaps what (Paul) had planned was only the plan of a man who follows only human wisdom? If so the result is that I am being guilty of duplicity...To the extent that any Christian makes plans without consulting the Lord, his word may be untrustworthy" (Yeager, p. 269). The opposition was accusing Paul of double talk; "yea, yea, nay, nay," or the anti-Pauline party, took advantage of Paul's change in plans to criticize him sharply for vacillation and flippancy. A Semitic characteristic is carried over from the Old Testament when repetition was used for emphasis, such as "Moses, Moses" (Exodus 3:4), "Samuel, Samuel" (I Samuel 3:10). In the New Testament a similar repetition is seen in Matthew 5:37.
Paul was being accused of vacillation and self-interestedness; he was being deemed untrustworthy. So he replied at least there is no double talk with God; He knows the end from the beginning. God is faithful; his workers may need to change their plans to conform to God's plans. After all He is our Publicity Agent and Scheduler of events; He plans our down sittings and our uprisings. In fact, Paul wrote in Romans 3:4"...let God be true, but every man a liar;..." Sometimes man makes promises that he cannot keep because of circumstances; God controls the circumstances. "Paul was not a Yes and No man, saying Yes and meaning or acting No" (Robertson, p. 213).
The God that Paul, Timothy and Silvanus preached is a God of truth. What God and His Son say can be depended upon; His "yeas" are always YES, and His "nays" are always NO. Barnett says, "Few Old Testament passages sum up God's faithfulness to his word so clearly as Numbers 23:19 which reads, "God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?" (N. I. V.) (p. 108). Christ Jesus is God's YES to all meaningful human hopes and aspirations. "Jesus is the Yea and the Amen. That is to say, He is the One Who says, Yes, it shall be so, and Who ratifies it by the Amen, the unvarying and invariable Christ," (Morgan, p. 230). Under the caption Christ's tone of decision, J. Parker is quoted, "Why this tone of decision and clearness? Why this pomp of definiteness? Because the Lord Christ is not a speculator but a Savior. When the lifeboat goes out it does not go out to reason with the drowning men but to lay hold of them. When the sea is sunny, when the air is a blessing, then boats may approach one another, and talk to one another more or less merrily and kindly, and as it were on equal terms; but death has opened its jaws to swallow up, as if in a bottomless pit, all its prey, then the lifeboat says,'We have not come out here to reason and to conjecture and to bandy opinions with you, but to seize you and save you.' That is what Christ has come for" (B. I. Volume XLIV, p. 30).
When Jehovah God makes a promise, He has the power to carry it out; He is able. "When we follow His plan we rejoice to say 'Amen' to whatever happens, even if, in the short run, it looks to us like tragedy. God's short run 'tragedies' are long run blessings" (Yeager, p.273). He is the great I AM; He is the AMEN or VERILY to His own glory and honor. "Amen" denotes personal agreement, emphatic endorsement or most assuredly; it has its origin in the Hebrew word which means "faithful" or "firmness." Kittel states that "In the Old Testament the word is used both by the individual and the community (1) to confirm the acceptance of a task allotted by men in the performance of which there is need of the will of God, (2) to confirm the personal application of a divine threat or curse, and (3) to attest the praise of God in response to a doxology...The Hebrew root word means "to be firm or sure" (Volume I, p. 333). 21 - 24 It is God Who is establishing (bebaion) or confirming every one of His children in Christ; He is the Anointed of God. Jehovah God is the only One Who can establish His children in the Christian faith and practice. Because God is totally reliable, we His children, are completely safe and secure. The words 'confirm,' 'seal,' 'down-payment' in these verses have been borrowed from the legal sphere and have commercial implications (Kistemaker, p. 63).
It is He who has sealed (sphragisamenos) us, and given to us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. The word used for "sealed" means "to set a seal on something, thus forbidding entrance." The third Person of the blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit, has a seal upon the heart of everyone of His children forbidding anyone or anything to break it (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30). Furthermore, He has given to us the earnest (arrabona) or guarantee of the Spirit in our hearts. By earnest it is understood that it is a "down payment, pledged in advance to assure that the remainder would be paid and the deal consummated...It is reported that taxi drivers in Athens charge the 'arrabon' (a part of the total fee) at the beginning of the cab ride, because tourists have been known to leap from the cab and flee without paying at the terminal point" (Yeager, p. 274). "The verb sphragisamenos for 'sealed' is common in the LXX and papyri for setting a seal to prevent opening (Daniel 6:17), in place of signature (I Kings 21:28). Papyri examples show a wide legal use to give validity to documents, to guarantee genuineness of articles as sealing sacks and chests, etc...The word for 'earnest' is of Semitic origin (possibly Phoenician) and spelled both arabon and arrabon. It is common in the papyri as earnest money in a purchase for a cow or for a wife (dowry)" (Robertson, p. 214). Jehovah God has pledged to keep us to the end; this pledge is the witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
"Moreover," Paul writes, "I call God for a record (martura) or witness upon my soul, that to spare you (pheidomenos) or forebear I came not as yet to Corinth." Paul is telling the Corinthians that they had better be happy that he has not arrived in Corinth as yet. When he does, if they have not complied with his recommendations in I Corinthians, they will receive a stern reprimand. If Paul were to arrive in Corinth presently he would take action as deemed necessary to make them in compliance with the will of God concerning divisions, unruly conduct and other shortcomings. He will refrain from action until he arrives whenever it is the will of God. Doubtless God's will in delaying Paul's visit at Corinth was for the purpose of them getting their house in order.
Paul does not desire to be a dictator (kurieuomen) or exercise dominion over their faith, nor does he mean that he desires to "whip the church into shape;" however, he does have responsibilities to them. After all, he was their father in the ministry; he founded the church originally. He has simply been their helper in joy; their faith stands (estekate) or falls as they will be judged by Jehovah God. The Corinthians' steadfastness is a reason for not lording it over their faith, but for helping and increasing the joy that their faith gives them.
2:1 - 4 Paul has postponed his next visit to Corinth until a later date. He had made the judgment (ekrina) or determined that the visit would be too grievous (lupe) or painful. He would not make the journey until conditions improved. "Because if I make you sad who then is going to make me glad except the one who has been saddened by me?" writes Yeager (p. 279). Paul's chastening letter (I Corinthians) had been difficult for him to write; he was saddened to make such a judgment against the adulterous man and any others who were condoning his activity. Now that the letter has been written Paul is sad, the Corinthians are sad; who can please Paul but the ones who were chastened by his epistle. When the church "cleaned up her act" and the guilty person or persons confessed their sins, only then would they meet with God's approval. A repentant sinner will be received by the Father and God will make out of him a happy Christian again.
Paul was sorrowful that he had to write the epistle and only when the repentant sinner made things right with Jehovah God would Paul be able to rejoice with the Corinthians. When all things were made right everyone concerned would rejoice together having won the victory over Satan and sin. Paul now tells them how he had anguish (sunoches) or distress of heart and how he shed many tears because of their lack of understanding and acceptance of the word of God. He was as grieved as the church should have been with known sin in their midst. The epistle was grievously written, but Paul wanted the church members to know that down deep in his heart he loved them abundantly (perissoteros) with an everlasting love. Yeager says, "It is a touching picture of Paul as he sat, trying to see the parchment and direct his pen as his eyes were suffused and his cheeks drenched with tears. His motive was not that they should be saddened but that they might come to appreciate the extraordinary love which he felt for them" (p. 281). Paul could have quoted Proverbs 3:11, 12, "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction; for whom the Lord loveth he correcteth, even as a father the son in whom be delighteth."
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