Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

7:2-4 Paul resumes the exhortation from 6:11-13. The Corinthians are to side with Paul and renounce the false teachers (cf. 6:14-7:1).

7:5 Paul picks up the narrative from 2:13. The intervening section has explained his new covenant ministry.

7:6-9 Paul was comforted by Titus's coming because Titus reported that the Corinthians had fully repented and had turned back to Paul, and therefore back to the gospel. Hence, the grief Paul had inflicted on them was worth it, for it produced repentance.

7:10 godly grief. Grief that comes from God is characterized by repentance, i.e., remorse caused by having lost God's approval and the consequent resolve to reverse one's conduct and live for God (5:6-10, 15). worldly grief. Grief that comes from the world, i.e., a remorse brought about by losing the world's approval, leads to a resolve to regain that approval, and this produces death, or divine judgment.

7:11-12 The Corinthians' response to the letter Paul wrote to them demonstrated that they truly belonged to God. in the sight of God. All of the Corinthians' actions are done before an all-seeing God, before whom Paul also carries out his ministry (2:17; 4:2; 12:19).

7:13-14 Paul had boasted to Titus that the Corinthians were truly a work of the Spirit, and their response showed that he was correct.

7:15 with fear and trembling. Paul's description of the Corinthians' response to God's call to obedience (cf. 1 Cor. 2:3; Eph. 6:5; Phil. 2:12).

7:16 The first section of the letter ends with Paul's affirmation of confidence that the Corinthians as a body are truly believers, as evidenced by their "repentance that leads to salvation" (v. 10) and their "obedience" (v. 15). Paul's expression of confidence in the Corinthians also includes confidence that they will do what Paul asks, and thus serves as a transition to the topic of chs. 8-9 regarding the collection of a generous gift (9:11) from the church to help the impoverished Christians in Jerusalem. Paul's "perfect confidence" in the Corinthians is further supported by the "great confidence" (8:22) of Titus, Paul's "partner and fellow worker" (8:23).