who need his constant care. Compared with this, how small the honour of being permitted to call the rich our friends, or to be regarded as the sons or daughters of nobles or of princes! Let the Christian, then, most highly prize his privileges, and feel that he is raised above all the elevations of rank and honour which this world can bestow. All these shall fade away, and the highest and the lowest shall meet on the same level in the grave, and alike return to dust. But the elevation of the child of God shall only begin to be visible and appreciated when all other honours fade away. 20. Let all seek to become the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. Let us aspire to this, rather than to earthly honours; let us seek this, rather than to be numbered with the rich and the great. All cannot be honoured in this world, and few are they who can be regarded as belonging to elevated ranks here. But all may be the children of the living God, and be permitted to call the Lord Almighty their Father and their Friend. Oh! if men could as easily be permitted to call themselves the sons of monarchs and princes; if they could as easily be admitted to the palaces of the great, and sit down at their tables, as they can enter heaven, how greedily would they embrace it! And yet, how poor and paltry would be such honour and pleasure, compared with that of feeling that we are the adopted children of the great and the eternal God!

CHAPTER VII.

a

VER. 1. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

a Chap. vi. 17, 18. 1 John iii. 3. Ps. li. 10. Ezek. xxxvi. 25, 26. 1 John i. 7, 9. The first verse of this chapter properly belongs to the previous chapter, and should have been attached to that. It is an exhortation made in view of the promises there referred to, to make every effort to obtain perfect purity, and to become entirely holy.

In ver. 2, 3, he entreats the Corinthians, in accordance with the wish which he had expressed in chap. vi. 13, to receive him as a teacher and a spiritual father-as a faithful apostle of the Lord Jesus. To induce them to do this, he assures them that he had given them, at no time, any occasion of offence. He had injured no man ; he had wronged no man. Possibly some might suppose that he had injured them by the sternness of his requirements in forbidding them to contract friendships and alliances with infidels; or in the case of discipline in regard to the incestuous person. But he assures them that all his commands had been the fruit of most tender love for them, and that he was ready to live and die with them.

The remainder of the chapter (ver. 4—15) is | occupied mainly in stating the joy which he had at the evidence which they had given that they were ready to obey his commands. He says

therefore, (ver. 4,) that he was full of comfort and joy; and that in all his tribulation, the evidence of their obedience had given him great and unfeigned satisfaction. In order to show them the extent of his joy, he gives a pathetic description of the anxiety of mind which he had on the subject; his troubles in Macedonia, and particularly his distress on not meeting with Titus, as he had expected. (Ver. 5.) But this distress had been relieved by his coming, and by the evidence which was furnished through him, that they were ready to yield obedience to his commands. (Ver. 6, 7.) This joy was greatly increased by his hearing from Titus the effect which his former epistle to them had produced. (Ver. 8-13.) He had felt deep anxiety in regard to that he had even regretted, it would seem, (ver. 8,) that he had sent it: he had been deeply pained at the necessity of giving them pain. (Ver. 8.) But the effect had been all that he had desired; and when he learned from Titus the effect which it had produced-the deep repentance which they had evinced, and the thorough reformation which had occurred, (ver. 9— 11,) he had great occasion to rejoice that he had sent the epistle to them. This new and distinguished instance of their obedience had given him great joy, and confirmed him in the proof that they were truly attached to him. apostle adds, in the conclusion of the chapter, that his joy was greatly increased by the joy which Titus manifested, and his entire satisfaction in the conduct of the Corinthians, and the treatment which he had received from them, (ver. 13;) so that though he, Paul, had often Corinthians, all that he had ever said in their had occasion to speak in the kindest terms of the favour Titus had realized in his own case, (ver. 14,) and the affection of Titus for them had been greatly increased by his visit to them. (Ver. 15.) The whole chapter, therefore, is eminently adapted to produce good feeling in the minds of the Corinthians towards the apostle, and to strengthen the bonds of their mutual attachment.

The

Having therefore these promises.-The promises referred to in chap. vi. 17, 18-the promise that God would be a Father, a protector, and a friend. The idea is, that as we have a promise that God would dwell in us, that he would be our God, that he would be to us a father, we should remove from us whatever is offensive in his sight, and become perfectly holy. Let us cleanse ourselves.

Let us purify ourselves. Paul was not afraid to bring into view the agency of Christians themselves in the work of salvation. He, therefore, says, "Let us purify ourselves," as if Christians had much to do; as if their own agency was to be employed, and as if their purifying was dependent on their own efforts. While it is true that all purifying influence and all holiness proceeds from God, it is also true that the effect of all the influences of the Holy Spirit is to excite us to diligence to purify our own hearts, and to urge us to make strenuous efforts to overcome our own sins. He who expects to be made pure without any effort of his own, will never become pure; and he who ever becomes holy will become so in consequence of strenuous efforts to resist the evil of his own heart, and to become like God. The

had done no injury, and that there was no reason why they should not receive him to their entire confidence. It argues great consciousness of integrity when a man who has spent a considerable time, as Paul had, with others, is able to say that he had wronged no man in any way. Paul could not have made this solemn declaration, unless he was certain he had lived a very blameless life. Comp. Acts xx. 33. We have corrupted no man. -This means that he had corrupted no man in his morals, either by his precept or his example. The word (io) means in general to bring into a worse state or condition, and is very often applied to morals. The idea is, here, that Paul had not by his precept or example made any man the worse. He had not corrupted his principles or his habits, or led him into sin. We have defrauded no man.- We have taken no man's property by cunning, or trick, or by deception. The ποτά πλεονεκτέω means literally to have more than another, and then to take advantage, to seek unlawful gain, to circumvent, defraud, deceive. The idea is, that Paul had taken advantage of no circumstances to extort money from them, to overreach them, or to cheat them. It is the conviction of a man who was conscious that he had lived honestly, and who could appeal to them all as full proof that his life among them had been blameless.

VER. 3. I speak not this to condemn you; for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you.

d Chap. vi. 11, 12.

I speak not this to condemn you.-I do not speak this with any desire to reproach you. I do not complain of you for the purpose of condemning, or because I have a desire to find fault, though I am compelled to speak in some respect of your want of affection and liberality towards me. It is not because I have no love for you, and wish to have occasion to use words implying complaint and condemnation. For I have said before. Chap. vii. 11, 12. That ye are in our hearts. That is, we are so much attached to you; or you have such a place in our affections. To die and live with you.-If it were the will of God, we would be glad to spend our lives among you, and to die with you; an expression denoting most tender attachment. A similar well-known expression occurs in Horace:

Tecum vivere amem, tecum obeam libens. Odes, B. III. IX. 24. With the world I live, with the world I die. This was an expression of the tenderest attachment. It was true that the Corinthians had not shown themselves remarkably worthy of the affections of Paul, but from the beginning he had felt towards them the tenderest attachment. And if it had been the will of God that he should cease to travel, and to expose himself to perils by sea and land to spread the knowledge of the Saviour, he would gladly have confined his labours to them, and there have ended his days.

VER. 4. Great is my boldness of speech toward

you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.

e 1 Cor. i. 4. Chap. i. 14. f Phil. ii. 17. Col. i. 24.

Great is my boldness of speech toward you.This verse seems designed to soften the apparent harshness of what he had said, (chap. vi. 12,) when he intimated that there was a want of love refer to the plainness which he had used all in them towards him, (Bloomfield,) as well as to along in his letters to them. He says, therefore, that he speaks freely; he speaks as a friend; he speaks with the utmost openness and frankness; He speaks he conceals nothing from them. freely of their faults, and he speaks freely of his love to them; and he as frankly commends them and praises them. It is the open, undisguised language of a friend, when he throws open his whole soul and conceals nothing. Great is my glorying of you.—I have great occasion to commend and praise you, and I do it freely. He refers here to the fact, that he had boasted of their liberality in regard to the proposed collection for the poor saints of Judea, (chap. ix. 4 ;) that he had formerly boasted much of them to Titus, and of their readiness to obey bis commands, (ver. 14;) and that now he had had abundant evidence, by what he had heard from Titus, (ver. 5. seq.,) that they were disposed to yield to his commands and obey his injunctions. He had probably often had occasion to boast of their favourable regard for him. I am filled with comfort. That is, by the evidence which I have received of your readiness to obey me. I am The word exceeding joyful.—I am overjoyed. here used occurs nowhere else in the New Testament except in Rom. v. 20. It is not found in the classic writers; and is a word which Paul evidently compounded, (from Tèo and TEPLOTEÝW.) and means to superabound over, to superabound greatly, or exceedingly. It is a word which would be used only when the heart was full, and when it would be difficult to find words to express its conceptions. Paul's heart was full of joy; and he pours forth his feelings in the most fervid and glowing language. I have joy which cannot be expressed. In all our tribulation.-See Note, chap. i. 4.

VER. 5. For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without & were fightings, within were fears.

g Deut. xxxii. 25.

For when we were come into Macedonia.-For the reasons which induced Paul to go into Macedonia, see Notes on chap. i. 16. Comp. Notes, chap. ii. 12, 13. Our flesh had no rest.—We were exceedingly distressed and agitated. We had no rest. The causes of his distress he immediately states. But we were troubled on every side.-In every way. We had no rest in any quarter. We were obliged to enter into harassing labours and strifes there, and we were full of anxiety in regard to you. Without were fightings.-Probably he

here refers to fierce oppositions, which he met with in prosecuting his work of preaching the gospel. He met there, as he did every where, with opposition from Pagans, Jews, and false brethren. Tumults were usually excited whereever he went; and he preached the gospel commonly amidst violent opposition. Within were fears.-Referring probably to the anxiety which he had in regard to the success of the epistle which he had sent to the church at Corinth. He felt great solicitude on the subject. He had sent Titus there to see what was the state of the church, and to witness the effect of his instructions. Titus had not come to him as he had expected, at Troas, (chap. ii. 13,) and he felt the deepest anxiety in regard to him and to the success of his epistle. His fears were, probably, that they would be indisposed to exercise the discipline on the offender; or lest the severity of the discipline required should alienate them from him; or lest the party under the influence of the false teachers should prevail. All was uncertainty, and his mind was filled with the deepest apprehension.

VER. 6. Nevertheless God that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus;

A Chap. ii. 13.

God that comforteth those that are cast down. Whose characteristic is, that he gives consolation to those who are anxious and depressed. All his consolation was in God; and, by whatever instrumentality comfort was administered, he regarded and acknowledged God as the author. See Note, chap. i. 4. By the coming of Titus.To Macedonia. He rejoiced not only in again seeing him, but especially in the intelligence which he brought respecting the success of his epistle, and the conduct of the church at Corinth.

VER. 7. And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.

And not by his coming only.-Not merely by the fact that he was restored to me, and that my anxieties in regard to him were now dissipated. It is evident that Paul, not having met with Titus, as he had expected, at Troas, had felt much anxiety on his account, perhaps apprehending that he was sick, or that he had died. But by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you.-Titus was satisfied and delighted with his interview with you. He had been kindly treated, and he had seen all the effect produced by the letter which he had desired. He had, therefore, been much comforted by his visit to Corinth, and this was a source of additional joy to Paul. He rejoiced at what he had witnessed among you, and he imparted the same joy to me also. The joy of one friend will diffuse itself through the heart of another. Joy is diffusive, and one Christian cannot well be happy without making others

happy also. When he told us of your earnest desire.-Either to rectify what was amiss, (Doddridge, Clarke;) or to see me.—Macknight, Rosenmüller, Bloomfield. It seems to me that the connexion requires us to understand it of their desire, their anxiety to comply with his commands, and to reform the abuses which existed in the church, and which had given him so much pain. Your mourning. — Produced by the epistle. | Your deep repentance over the sins which had prevailed in the church. Your fervent mind toward me.-Greek, "Your zeal for me." It denotes that they evinced great ardour of attachment to him, and an earnest desire to comply with his wishes. So that I rejoiced the more.-I not only rejoiced at his coming, but I rejoiced the more at what he told me of you. Under any circumstances, the coming of Titus would have been an occasion of joy; but it was especially so from the account which he gave me of you. VER. 8. For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.

i Chap. ii. 4.

For though I made you sorry, &c.—That is, in the first epistle which he had sent to them. In that epistle he had felt it necessary to reprove them for their dissensions, and other disorders which had occurred, and which were tolerated in

the church. That epistle was fitted to produce pain in them-as severe and just reproof always does; and Paul felt very anxious about its effect on them. It was painful to him to write it, and he was well aware that it must cause deep distress among them to be thus reproved. I do not repent.—I have seen such happy effects produced by it; it had so completely answered the end which I had in view; it was so kindly received, that I do not regret now that I wrote it. It gives me no pain in the recollection, but I have occasion to rejoice that it was done. Though I did repent. · Doddridge renders this, however anxious I may have been." The word here used does not denote repentance in the sense in which that word is commonly understood, as if any wrong had been done. It is not the language of remorse. It can denote, here, nothing more than "that uneasiness which a good man feels, not from the consciousness of having done wrong, but from a tenderness for others, and a fear lest that which, prompted by duty, he had said, should have too strong an effect upon them.”—Cumplull, diss. vi. part iii. § 9. See the meaning of the word further illustrated in the same dissertation. The word (peraμćλopai) denotes properly to change one's purpose or mind, after having done any thing, (Robinson ;) or an uneasy feeling of regret for what has been done, without regard either to duration or effects.-Campbell. Here it is not to be understood that Paul meant to say he had done any thing wrong. He was an inspired man, and what he had said was proper and right. But he was a man of deep feeling, and of tender affections. He was pained at the necessity of giving reproof. And there is no improbability in sup

posing, that, after the letter had been sent off, and he reflected on its nature and on the pain which it would cause to those whom he tenderly loved, there might be some misgiving of heart about it, and the deepest anxiety, and regret at the necessity of doing it. What parent is there who has not had the same feeling as this? He has felt it necessary to correct a beloved child, and has formed the purpose. and has executed it. But is there no misgiving of heart? No question asked whether it might not have been dispensed with? No internal struggle; no sorrow; no emotion which may be called regret at the resolution which has been taken? Yet there is no repentance, as if the parent had done wrong. He feels that he has done what was right and necessary. He approves his own course, and has occasion of rejoicing at the good effects which follow. Such appears to have been the situation of the apostle Paul in this case; and it shows that he had a teuder heart, that he did not delight in giving pain, and that he had no desire to overwhelm them with grief. When the effect was seen, he was not unwilling that they should be apprized of the pain which it had cost him. When a parent has corrected a child, no injury is done if the child becomes acquainted with the strugglings which it has cost him, and the deep pain and anxiety caused by the necessity of resorting to chastisement. For I perceive, &c.—I perceive the good effect of the epistle, I perceive that it produced the kind of sorrow in you which I desired. I see that it has produced permanent good results. The sorrow which it caused in you is only for a season; the good effects will be abiding. I have, therefore, great occasion to rejoice that I sent the epistle. It produced permanent repentance and reformation, (ver. 9,) and thus accomplished all that I wished or desired.

Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, &c. -I have no pleasure in giving pain to any one, or in witnessing the distress of any. When men are brought to repentance under the preaching of the gospel, the ministers of the gospel do not find pleasure in their grief as such. They are not desirous of making men unhappy by calling them to repentance, and they have no pleasure in the deep distress of mind which is often produced by their preaching, in itself considered. It is only because such sorrow is an indication of their return to God, and will be followed by happiness and by the fruits of good living, that they find any pleasure in it, or that they seek to produce it. But that ye sorrowed to repentance.- It was not mere grief; it was not sorrow producing melancholy, gloom, or despair; it was not sorrow which led you to be angry at him who had reproved you for your errors-as is sometimes the case with the sorrow that is produced by reproof; but it was sorrow that led to a change and refor

mation. It was sorrow that was followed by a putting away of the evil for the existence of which there had been occasion to reprove you The word here rendered repentance (μETávolav) is a different word from that which, in ver. 8, is rendered "I did repent," and indicates a different state of mind. It properly means a change of mind or purpose. Comp. Heb. xii. 7. It denotes a change for the better; a change of mind that is durable and productive in its consequences; a change which amounts to a permanent reformation. See Campbell's Diss. ut supra. The sense here is, that it produced a change, a reformation. It was such sorrow for their sin as to lead them to reform and to put away the evils which had existed among them. It was this fact, and not that they had been made sorry, that led Paul to rejoice. After a godly manner.-Marg. "according to God." See Note on the next verse. ye might receive damage by us in nothing.-The Greek word rendered "receive damage" (npiw

That

Tε) means properly to bring loss upon any one; to receive loss or detriment. See Note on 1 Cor. iii. 15. Comp. Phil. iii. 8. The sense here seems to be, "So that on the whole no real injury was done you in any respect by me. You were indeed put to pain and grief by my reproof. You sorrowed. But it has done you no injury on the whole. It has been a benefit to you. If f you had not reformed, if you had been pained without putting away the sins for which the reproof was administered, if it had been mere grief without any proper fruit, you might have said that you would have suffered a loss of happiness, or you might have given me occasion to inflict severer discipline. But now you are gainers in happiness by all the sorrow which I have caused." Sinners are gainers in happiness in the end by all the pain of repentance produced by the preaching of the gospel. No man suffers loss by being told of his faults, if he repents; and men are unisters and other friends who tell them of their der the highest obligations to those faithful minerrors, and who are the means of bringing them to true repentance.

VER. 10. For godly sorrow 'worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world m worketh death. 7 Jer. xxxi. 9. Ez. vii. 16.

m Prov. xvii. 22.

For godly sorrow." Sorrow according to God," (Η γὰρ κατὰ Θεὸν λύπη.) That is, such sorrow as has respect to God, or is according to his will, or as leads the soul to him. This is a very important expression in regard to true repentance, and shows the exact nature of that sorrow which is connected with a return to God. The phrase may be regarded as implying the following things. (1.) Such sorrow as God approves, or such as is suitable to, or conformable to his will and desires. It cannot mean that it is such sorrow or grief as God has, for he has none; but such as shall be in accordance with what God demands in a return to him. It is a sorrow which his truth is fitted to produce on the heart; such sorrow as shall appropriately arise from viewing sin as God views it; such sorrow as exists in the mind when our views accord with his in regard to the existence,