2 Corinthians 7

God has made a promise that His people will be His holy temple, pure and undefiled. This will surely happen. One day, that will be our existence in our every moment. We will have no ungodly impulses molesting our hearts. This is our future because of what Christ has done. Paul tells the church in Corinth that, in light of these great promises of their participation in Christ in an eternal community of perfect purity, why should they wait for heaven in order to put off sin from their lives? They should take these promises of God, and use them even now to be cleansed from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness toward the fullness of its eventual completion in the fear of God. This is a good way for us to spend our time.

Your minister, your elders, your deacons, and your church family are supposed to be your allies in this Christian endeavor, this task of perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Therefore you need to be in a spiritual family where you are able to open your hearts to those who are on the same team as you. Paul says to the Corinthians, “Make room in your heart for me.” I am on your side. Together we serve our King, the Lord Jesus. Paul has not stolen anyone’s possessions there; he has not led anyone into sin; he has not taken advantage of anyone. Why then are some people in Corinth speaking about him as if he is an enemy of the church? It is because there is a spiritual battle going on in Corinth, and the Apostle Paul is a central figure in that battle on the side of Jesus Christ. He is willing to live and die for these people, so that whether they live or die, they will do so together. He writes this to them as a friend who sticks closer to them than a brother.

He recounts his own struggle for them since this controversy against him started. He says that this breach between him and some in the church has been keeping him up at night. He was so concerned about their reaction to his letter of correction, until he received good news at the return of his ministerial associate Titus, news that the church had responded well to the things that he had written to them. He is now ecstatic. This is a man who cares about Christ, the kingdom of God, and the gospel, not just in some abstract way, but as these things touch the lives of people in Corinth that he loves. With this news from Titus, Paul is now overflowing with joy.

What was the reaction of the church that made Paul so happy? The church in Corinth repented; they moved away from sin and darkness, and toward God and light. Paul distinguishes between a grief that just leads to death, and a grief that comes from the Holy Spirit and the love of Jesus when our sins are confronted by God, a grief that yields repentance and surely leads to life. This is the report that he received from Titus. The Corinthian church, at least most of them, have repented of their bad feelings toward Paul, and have abandoned their attraction to those who set themselves up as workmen for some other King than Christ, and messengers of some other news than the one and only gospel. The grief of this church was a good grief, a grief consistent with the best of heaven, a grief that was a gift from the One who was a Man of Sorrows for our sake.

Is the grief in your life good grief that leads to life, or is your grief something that will drag you down to death? Does your grief over sin warm your heart toward the true messengers of the gospel and especially toward Jesus, or is your grief the kind that can never seem to get away from self-preoccupation and spiritual bondage. If you have good grief, it will bear good fruit in pursuing holiness in the fear of God and in the love of Jesus Christ. If you are captivated by self-centered grief, you will never be moved from grief to true Christian joy, but only to misery and self-condemnation.

Paul’s purpose in writing to the church was to help to save the true believers in Corinth from being enticed away by some false messengers of discord. His words helped those with a true love for the Christ of the cross to remember again those things of first importance. This visit by Titus has confirmed to Paul that the church has not lost the faith for which the apostle had labored for so many months. God had encouraged him at the beginning of his dealings in that city that He had many people there (See Acts 18:10). This has been proven true in the way that the church has responded to Paul’s correction.

Real ministry is wrenching. The life of faithfulness in the midst of spiritual battle is not easy. This is not just a matter of wanting to be proven right, or wanting to be seen as a hero. Our concern for the success of the gospel ministry among those in whom we have invested our lives is all about the One who assured Paul that He had many people in that city. The church people in Corinth, or in any place, belong not to Paul or to any minister. They belong to the one who bought them with His blood. It is for His sake, for the glory of His Name and for the wonder of His grace that we stand firm in the message once for all time delivered to the church.

The problem with false teachers and divisive troublers is that they would pull people away from the love of Christ, which is the only thing that can save us, and the only thing that can move us forward in true holiness. Everything less than the cross-love of the Son of God is some kind a false message that will not yield a community of holiness. Such false messages may look very clean, but they are simply not the love of Christ, and they are powerless to truly prepare God’s people for the hope of heaven, and for a life on earth of perfecting holiness in reverence toward the Lord who saved us with His blood.