2 Corinthians 7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 7:3

I speak not this to condemn you ,.... Referring either to the exhortations before given, to have no sinful conversation with unbelievers, and to cleanse themselves from all impurity, external and internal; and to go on in a course of holiness, in the fear of God, to the end of life; or to the account just given of himself and fellow ministers; and his sense is this, the exhortations I have given must not be so understood, as though I charged and accused you with keeping company with... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 7:4

Great is my boldness of speech towards you ,.... Or "liberty of speaking", which I use with you; I very freely, and without any disguise, open my mind to you; I faithfully tell you your faults; I am free in my exhortations and counsels to you, as in the case of the incestuous person, and in other instances, which is a sign of true friendship; for had I any suspicion of you, or not cordial affection for you, I should have been more reserved, more upon my guard, and have spoke and wrote with... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 7:5

For when we were come into Macedonia ,.... Whither Paul went in quest of Titus, not finding him at Troas, 2 Corinthians 2:12 and where he met with him, and had the agreeable account from him of the state of this church; but here, as elsewhere, they had their troubles: our flesh had no rest ; that is, their outward man, their bodies; they were continually fatigued with preaching, disputing, fighting; what with false teachers, and violent persecutors, they had no rest in their bodies;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 7:6

Nevertheless, God that comforteth those that are cast down ,.... Or "humble ones": such as are humbled under the afflicting hand of God, and have low and mean apprehensions of themselves; these God looks unto, dwells with, revives their hearts, cheers their drooping spirits, and fills them with comforts; he has been used to do so with such persons; he has raised comfort to them; they may expect it, and the apostle experienced it; and which he refers to God as the author of it, as he had done... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 7:7

And not by his coming only ,.... It was not barely by his coming, that he and his fellow ministers were so much comforted: but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you . The church at Corinth received Titus with all respect and reverence; treated him in the most kind and tender manner; satisfied him in the affair of the incestuous person; greatly refreshed his spirits with an account of their faith in Christ, experience of the grace of God, and their regard and close... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 7:8

For though I made you sorry with a letter ,.... His former epistle, relating to the incestuous person: I do not repent, though I did repent ; not of writing the letter, which was wrote by divine inspiration; but of the sorrow occasioned by it, though now he did not repent of that: for I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though it were but for a season ; inasmuch as the sorrow was true, hearty, and genuine, though it was but for a time, the apostle was entirely satisfied,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 7:9

Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry ,.... Their grief and sorrow, as a natural passion, was no matter or cause of joy to him; nor was this what he sought after, being what he could take no real pleasure in; for so far as that was a pain to them, it was a pain to him: but that ye sorrowed to repentance ; their sorrow issued in true evangelical repentance, and this was the ground of his rejoicing; for as there is joy in heaven among the angels, at the repentance of a sinner, so... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 7:10

For godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation ,.... These words contain a reason, proving that they had received no damage, but profit by the sorrow that had possessed them, from the nature of it, a "godly" sorrow; a sorrow which had God for its author; it did not arise from the power of free will, nor from the dictates of a natural conscience, nor from a work of the law on their hearts, or from a fear of hell and damnation, but it sprung from the free grace of God; it was a gift of his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 7:11

For behold, this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort ,.... The apostle proceeds to describe godly sorrow by its effects, which are so many evidences of the sincerity and genuineness of it; some of the things mentioned are peculiar to the case of the Corinthians, and others common to evangelical repentance in any: what carefulness it wrought in you ; to remove the incestuous person from communion with them, which they were very negligent of before; to sin no more after... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 7:12

Wherefore, though l wrote unto you ,.... Meaning in his former epistle, with so much sharpness and severity, and as may have been thought too much: I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong ; not for the sake of the incestuous person only and chiefly, not merely for his correction and restoration; though these things were intended, and earnestly desired by the apostle: nor for his cause that suffered wrong : that is, the father of the incestuous person, who had been injured... read more

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