Galatians 2
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CHAPTER 2
Paul’s Lost Letter (2:1-4)
1 After Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul made a painful visit to Corinth (2 Corinthians 13:2). At the time of that visit, there were many in the Corinthian church who opposed Paul. So after he had returned from Corinth, Paul wrote the Corinthians a severe letter. That letter has been lost (see 2 Corinthians: Introduction).
2 Paul did not want to make another visit to the Corinthians at a time when there was so much ill feeling and opposition between himself and them. If Paul was going to visit them, he wanted it to be a time of giving and receiving joy. If he went with a whip (1 Corinthians 4:21), how would they be able to make [him] glad?
3-4 In these verses we see Paul’s heart. Paul had the heart of a true Christian pastor or shepherd. He wrote and spoke to the Corinthians severely, but he did so with great distress and anguish of heart7 (verse 4). Paul wrote severely to them because of his love for them. He wrote in that way so that the “painful” matter between them might quickly be made right, and so that they might share again in each other’s joy.
Forgiveness for the Sinner (2:5-11)
5 Someone in the Corinthian church had caused grief—that is, he had sinned. This person had caused grief not only to Paul but to the whole church in Corinth. If one member brings dishonor upon himself, he brings dishonor upon the whole body—the whole church (1 Corinthians 12:26).
It is not certain who this person was who had caused grief to the church, but most Bible scholars believe it was the man mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, who had committed adultery with his stepmother.
Paul tells the Corinthians that this man has grieved all of them to some extent. He says “to some extent” in order not to exaggerate. The expression not to put it too severely means “so as not to exaggerate.”
6-8 Whoever the sinner was, Paul says that his punishment has been sufficient (verse 6). From this we can assume that the man has repented. Here Paul gives an important principle for all Christians to follow. We must always be ready to forgive and comfort a repentant sinner (verse 7), no matter how bad his sin has been. We must reaffirm [our] love for him (verse 8). When we do this, we are able to show the person that it was because of our love for him that we disciplined him. We show that it was not him but only his sin that we hated.
As part of reaffirming our love for the sinner, we must bring him back again into the full fellowship of the church. This is the whole purpose of discipline. Discipline is not for driving sinners out of the church, but rather for drawing them back in and leading them to repentance (see Gal-atians 6:1).
However, if the sinner refuses to repent, he must remain separated from the church; otherwise, the church will be defiled by his sin.
9 Paul had written before that the Corinthians must punish the man who had committed adultery with his stepmother (1 Corinthians 5:2-5). Now that they have indeed punished him, Paul is satisfied.
10 If the Corinthians now agree to forgive this sinner, Paul will forgive him also. As far as Paul is concerned, the matter will then be finished.
11 If we do not forgive a sinner after he has repented, but instead harbor resentment against him, then we are giving Satan a double opportunity. First, the sinner is likely to become discouraged and leave the church altogether; thus he will end up in Satan’s kingdom. Second, we ourselves will be guilty of sin, because we have refused to forgive the sinner; whenever we refuse to forgive a repentant brother, we sin against him. And Satan will surely seize the opportunity afforded by our sin to defeat us. He is always seeking for ways to get into our hearts and cause us to turn against our brother. In this way he can cause division in the church.
Members of the church, having freely and fully forgiven one another, must stand united together in Christ. Mutual forgiveness and the unity that comes from it are the chief means we have of blocking Satan’s schemes for dividing the church.
In the church two things are essential: love (or unity) and purity (or truth). These two things must always remain in balance. If in order to preserve the church’s purity we become too harsh, then where is our love? On the other hand, if because of our loving and tender heart we overlook or ignore the sins of others, where is our purity? Rather, we must always strive to preserve both our love and our purity together (see Hebrews 12:14 and comment).
The Fragrance of the Gospel (2:12-17)
12-13 Troas was an important city situated north of Ephesus on the west coast of present-day Turkey, about halfway between Ephesus and Macedonia. In Troas, Paul found another “open door” of opportunity for preaching the Gospel, which the Lord had opened up for him (see 1 Corinthians 16:9). But all the while Paul was preaching in Troas, he was also waiting for his colleague Titus8 to return from Corinth. Paul had sent Titus to Corinth some time earlier to deliver a severe letter to the Corinthian church, and now Paul was eager to hear how the Corinthians had received his letter. But Titus did not return as quickly as Paul had hoped. Because of this, Paul had no peace of mind about the Corinthians; and so he decided to leave Troas and travel on to the province of Macedonia9 in northern Greece in order to look for Titus.
14 Here in this verse, Paul suddenly interrupts his story to give thanks to God. Why? Because Paul did find Titus in Macedonia and found out from him that the Corinthians had received his severe letter with the right attitude (see 2 Corinthians 7:6-7). The Corinthians were filled with sorrow for having opposed Paul earlier. The devil’s scheme to create a division between Paul and the Corinthians had been thwarted. Paul had been victorious over Satan once again. Indeed, Paul’s life was like a triumphal procession. But Paul’s victories were always in Christ; apart from Christ there can be no victory (John 15:5).
Through the victorious lives of the apostles, the fragrance of the knowledge of him (Christ) spread everywhere.
15-16 Christians who share the Gospel of Christ with others are like an aroma; they are the aroma of Christ. To those who are being saved through faith in Christ, the “aroma” of Christ is the fragrance of life. To those who are perishing on account of their lack of faith, the aroma of Christ is the smell of death, because all those without faith will be condemned and receive the sentence of death (see John 3:36; 1 Corinthians 1:18).
Each Christian needs to ask himself: Does my life have the aroma of Christ? Or does it have only the smell of sin and selfishness?
And who is equal to such a task? asks Paul (verse 16). That is, who has sufficient strength and wisdom for such a great responsibility as that of being an apostle? In a real sense, apostles hold in their hands the life and death of those who hear their words. What a great responsibility!
And so, who is equal to such a task? Paul gives the answer in 2 Corinthians 3:5: … our competence comes from God. Those whose competence comes from God will be equal to the task of carrying the “aroma of Christ” throughout the world.
17 Just as happens today, there were many people in Paul’s time who preached the Gospel for their own advantage. They tried to get rich from their preaching. They sought to gain honor from men. They sought to turn men into their own disciples instead of making them disciples of Christ. They were false apostles.
But true apostles are not like that. True apostles do not appoint themselves. Rather, they are men sent from God (see Galatians 1:1). They always speak in Christ; they always speak before God—that is, with the knowledge that God is listening; and they always speak with sincerity. This is how Paul and the other true apostles always conducted themselves (see 2 Corinthians 1:12; 4:2).