A verse by verse commentary with quotations from many different authors.

1. 2 CORITHIAS 7 COMMETARY
Edited by Glenn Pease
1Therefore, since we have these promises, dear
friends, let us purify ourselves from everything
that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting
holiness out of reverence for God.
1. BARES, Having therefore these promises - The promises referred to in
2Co_6:17-18; 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 argument here is, that we have the
promises of God to aid us. We do not go about the work in our own strength. It is not a
work in which we are to have no aid. But it is a work which God desires, and where he
will give us all the aid which we need.
From all filthiness of the flesh - The noun used here (μολυσμς molusmos) occurs
nowhere else in the New Testament. The verb occurs in 1Co_8:7; Rev_3:4; Rev_14:4,
and means to stain, defile, pollute, as a garment; and the word used here means a
soiling, hence, defilement, pollution, and refers to the defiling and corrupting influence
of fleshly desires and carnal appetites. The filthiness of the flesh here denotes evidently
the gross and corrupt appetites and passions of the body, including all such actions of all
kinds as are inconsistent with the virtue and purity with which the body, regarded as the
temple of the Holy Spirit, should be kept holy - all such passions and appetites as the
Holy Spirit of God would not produce.
And spirit - By “filthiness of the spirit,” the apostle means, probably, all the thoughts
or mental associations that defile the man. Thus, the Saviour Mat_15:19 speaks of evil
thoughts, etc. that proceed out of the heart, and that pollute the man. And probably Paul
here includes all the sins and passions which pertain particularly to mind or to the soul
rather than to carnal appetites, such as the desire of revenge, pride, avarice, ambition,

2. etc. These are in themselves as polluting and defiling as the gross sensual pleasures.
They stand as much in the way of sanctification, they are as offensive to God, and they
prove as certainly that the heart is depraved as the grossest sensual passions. The main
difference is, that they are more decent in the external appearance; they can be better
concealed; they are usually indulged by a more elevated class in society; but they are not
the less offensive to God. It may be added, also, that they are often conjoined in the same
person; and that the man who is defiled in his “spirit” is often a man most corrupt and
sensual in his” flesh.” Sin sweeps with a desolating influence through the whole frame,
and it usually leaves no part unaffected, though some part may be more deeply
corrupted than others.
Perfecting - This word (
πιτελοντες epitelountes) means properly to bring to an end,
to finish, complete. The idea here is, that of carrying it out to the completion. Holiness
had been commenced in the heart, and the exhortation of the apostle is, that they should
make every effort that it might be complete in all its parts. He does not say that this work
of perfection had ever been accomplished - nor does he say that it had not been. He only
urges the obligation to make an effort to be entirely holy; and this obligation is not
affected by the inquiry whether anyone has been or has not been perfect. It is an
obligation which results from the nature of the Law of God and his unchangeable claims
on the soul. The fact that no one has been perfect does not relax the claim; the fact that
no one will be in this life does not weaken the obligation. It proves only the deep and
dreadful depravity of the human heart, and should humble us under the stubbornness of
guilt.
The obligation to be perfect is one that is unchangeable and eternal; see Mat_5:48;
1Pe_1:15. Tyndale renders this: “and grow up to full holiness in the fear, of God.” The
unceasing and steady aim of every Christian should be perfection - perfection in all
things - in the love of God, of Christ, of man; perfection of heart, and feeling, and
emotion; perfection in his words, and plans, and dealings with people; perfection in his
prayers, and in his submission to the will of God. No man can be a Christian who does
not sincerely desire it. and who does not constantly aim at it. No man is a friend of God
who can acquiesce in a state of sin, and who is satisfied and contented that he is not as
holy as God is holy. And any man who has no desire to be perfect as God is, and who
does not make it his daily and constant aim to be as perfect as God, may set it down as
demonstrably certain that he has no true religion, How can a man be a Christian who is
willing to acquiesce in a state of sin, and who does not desire to be just like his Master
and Lord?
In the fear of God - Out of fear and reverence of God. From a regard to his
commands, and a reverence for his name. The idea seems to be, that we are always in the
presence of God; we are professedly under His Law; and we should be awed and
restrained by a sense of his presence from the commission of sin, and from indulgence in
the pollutions of the flesh and spirit. There are many sins that the presence of a child will
restrain a man from committing; and how should the conscious presence of a holy God
keep us from sin! If the fear of man or of a child will restrain us, and make us attempt to
be holy and pure, how should the fear of the all-present and the all-seeing God keep us
not only from outward sins, but from polluted thoughts and unholy desires!
2, CLARKE, Having therefore these promises - The promises mentioned in
the three last verses of the preceding chapter, to which this verse should certainly be
joined.

3. Let us cleanse ourselves - Let us apply to him for the requisite grace of
purification; and avoid every thing in spirit and practice which is opposite to the
doctrine of God, and which has a tendency to pollute the soul.
Filthiness of the flesh - The apostle undoubtedly means, drunkenness, fornication,
adultery, and all such sins as are done immediately against the body; and by filthiness of
the spirit, all impure desires, unholy thoughts, and polluting imaginations. If we avoid
and abhor evil inclinations, and turn away our eyes from beholding vanity, incentives to
evil being thus lessened, (for the eye affects the heart), there will be the less danger of
our falling into outward sin. And if we avoid all outward occasions of sinning, evil
propensities will certainly be lessened. All this is our work under the common aids of the
grace of God. We may turn away our eyes and ears from evil, or we may indulge both in
what will infallibly beget evil desires and tempers in the soul; and under the same
influence we may avoid every act of iniquity; for even Satan himself cannot, by any
power he has, constrain us to commit uncleanness, robbery, drunkenness, murder, etc.
These are things in which both body and soul must consent. But still withholding the
eye, the ear, the hand, and the body in general, from sights, reports, and acts of evil, will
not purify a fallen spirit; it is the grace and Spirit of Christ alone, powerfully applied for
this very purpose, that can purify the conscience and the heart from all dead works. But
if we do not withhold the food by which the man of sin is nourished and supported, we
cannot expect God to purify our hearts. While we are striving against sin, we may expect
the Spirit of God to purify us by his inspiration from all unrighteousness, that we may
perfectly love and magnify our Maker. How can those expect God to purify their hearts
who are continually indulging their eyes, ears, and hands in what is forbidden, and in
what tends to increase and bring into action all the evil propensities of the soul?
Perfecting holiness - Getting the whole mind of Christ brought into the soul. This is
the grand object of a genuine Christian’s pursuit. The means of accomplishing this are,
1. Resisting and avoiding sin, in all its inviting and seducing forms.
2. Setting the fear of God before our eyes, that we may dread his displeasure, and
abhor whatever might excite it, and whatever might provoke him to withhold his
manna from our mouth. We see, therefore, that there is a strong and orthodox
sense in which we may cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the
spirit, and thus perfect holiness in the fear of God.
3. GILL, Having therefore these promises,.... That God will walk in his temple,
and dwell in his churches, be their God, and they his people, that he will receive them,
and be their Father, and they his sons and daughters; which promises they had not in
hope, as Old Testament saints had the promises of the Messiah and his kingdom, and as
New Testament saints have of the resurrection, the new heavens and new earth, and of
appearing with Christ in glory; but in hand, in actual possession; for God was really
become their God and Father, and they were his people and children; they had had
communion with him, and were received, protected, and preserved by him; which
promises and blessings of grace, and which are absolute and unconditional, the apostle
makes use of to engage them to purity and holiness; and is a clear proof, that the
doctrine of an absolute and unconditional covenant of grace has no tendency to
licentiousness, but the contrary: and that his following exhortation might be attended to,
and cheerfully received, he uses a very affectionate appellation,
dearly beloved; so they were of God, being his people, his sons and daughters,

4. adopted, justified, called, and chosen by him; and so they were by the apostle and his
fellow ministers, who, as he says in a following verse, were in their hearts to die and live
with them; some copies read brethren, and so the Ethiopic version. The exhortation he
urges them to, and, that it might be the better received, joins himself with them in it, is,
let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit: by the
filthiness of the flesh is meant external pollution, defilement by outward actions,
actions committed in the body, whereby the man is defiled; such as all impure words,
filthiness, and foolish talking, all rotten and corrupt communication, which defile a
man's own body; as the tongue, a little member, when so used does, and corrupts the
good manners of others; all filthy actions, as idolatry, adultery, fornication, incest,
sodomy, murder, drunkenness, revellings, c. and everything that makes up a filthy
conversation, which is to be hated, abhorred, and abstained from by the saints: by
filthiness of the spirit is meant internal pollution, defilement by the internal acts of the
mind, such as evil thoughts, lusts, pride, malice, envy, covetousness, and the like: such a
distinction of הגוף טומאת , the filthiness of the body, and הנפש טומאת , the filthiness of the
soul, is to be met with among the Jews; who say (r), that when a man has taken care to
avoid the former, it is fit he should take care of the latter; they also call the evil
imagination, or corruption of nature, the filth of the body (s). Now when the apostle
says, let us cleanse ourselves, this does not suppose that men have a power to cleanse
themselves from the pollution of their nature, or the defilement of their actions; for this
is God's work alone, as appears from his promises to cleanse his people from their sins;
from the end of Christ's shedding his blood, and the efficacy of it; from the sanctifying
influences of the Spirit; and from the prayers of the saints to God, to create in them clean
hearts, to wash them thoroughly from their iniquity, and cleanse them from their sin:
besides, the apostle is not here speaking either of the justification of these persons, in
which sense they were already cleansed, and that thoroughly, from all their sins and
iniquities; nor of the inward work of sanctification, in respect of which they were
sprinkled with clean water, and were washed in the layer of regeneration; but what the
apostle respects is the exercise of both internal and external religion, which lies in purity
of heart and conversation, the one not being acceptable to God without the other; he is
speaking of, and exhorting to the same thing, as in the latter part of the preceding
chapter; and suggests, that it becomes those who have received such gracious promises
to be separate from sin and sinners, to abstain from all appearance of sin, and to have no
fellowship with sinners; to lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of haughtiness, and,
under a sense of either external or internal pollution, to have recourse to the fountain
opened; to deal by faith with the blood of Christ, which cleanses from all sin, of heart,
lip, and life; and which is the only effectual method a believer can make use of, to cleanse
himself from sin; namely, by washing his garments, and making them white in the blood
of the Lamb:
perfecting holiness in the fear of God; by holiness is not meant the work of
sanctification upon the heart, for that is wholly the work of the Spirit of God, and not of
man; he begins it, carries it on, and perfects it of himself; but holiness of life and
conversation is here designed, which in conversion the people of God are called unto,
and which highly becomes them: and this they are to be perfecting; not that a believer
is able to live a life of holiness, without sin being in him, or committed by him; this is in,
possible and impracticable in the present life; but the sense of the word επιτελουντες is,
that he is to be carrying on a course of righteousness and holiness to the end; to the end
of his life, he is to persevere as in faith, so in holiness; as he is to go on believing in

5. Christ, so he is to go on to live soberly, righteously, and godly, to the end of his days;
which requires divine power to preserve him from sin, and keep him from falling; and
the grace of God, the strength of Christ, and the assistance of the Spirit, to enable him to
perform acts of holiness, and the several duties of religion, and to continue in well doing:
all which is to be done, in the fear of God; not in a servile slavish fear, a fear of hell and
damnation, but in a filial fear, a reverential affection for God, an humble trust in him,
and dependence on him, for grace and strength; it is that fear which has God for its
author, is a blessing of the new covenant, is implanted in regeneration, and is increased
by discoveries of pardoning grace; and it has God for its object, not his wrath and
vindictive justice, but his goodness, grace, and mercy. This shows from what principle,
and upon what views believers act in a course of righteousness and holiness; not from
the fear of hell, nor from the fear of men, or with a view to gain their applause, but as in
the sight of God, from a reverential affection to him, a child like fear of him, and with a
view to his glory.
4. HERY, These verses contain a double exhortation: -
I. To make a progress in holiness, or to perfect holiness in the fear of God, 2Co_7:1.
This exhortation is given with most tender affection to those who were dearly beloved,
and enforced by strong arguments, even the consideration of those exceedingly great and
precious promises which were mentioned in the former chapter, and which the
Corinthians had an interest in and a title to. The promises of God are strong
inducements to sanctification, in both the branches thereof; namely, 1. The dying unto
sin, or mortifying our lusts and corruptions: we must cleanse ourselves from all
filthiness of flesh and spirit. Sin is filthiness, and there are defilements of body and
mind. There are sins of the flesh, that are committed with the body, and sins of the
spirit, spiritual wickednesses; and we must cleanse ourselves from the filthiness of both,
for God is to be glorified both with body and soul. 2. The living unto righteousness and
holiness. If we hope God is our Father, we must endeavour to be partakers of his
holiness, to be holy as he is holy, and perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. We must
be still perfecting holiness, and not be contented with sincerity (which is our gospel
perfection), without aiming at sinless perfection, though we shall always come short of it
while we are in this world; and this we must do in the fear of God, which is the root and
principle of all religion, and there is no holiness without it. Note, Faith and hope in the
promises of God must not destroy our fear of God, who taketh pleasure in those that
fear him and hope in his mercy.
5. JAMISO, 2Co_7:1-16. Self-purification their duty resulting from the foregoing.
His love to them, and joy at the good effects on them of his former epistle, as reported
by Titus.
cleanse ourselves — This is the conclusion of the exhortation (2Co_6:1, 2Co_6:14;
1Jo_3:3; Rev_22:11).
filthiness — “the unclean thing” (2Co_6:17).
of the flesh — for instance, fornication, prevalent at Corinth (1Co_6:15-18).
and spirit — for instance, idolatry, direct or indirect (1Co_6:9; 1Co_8:1, 1Co_8:7;
1Co_10:7, 1Co_10:21, 1Co_10:22). The spirit (Psa_32:2) receives pollution through the
flesh, the instrument of uncleanness.
perfecting holiness — The cleansing away impurity is a positive step towards
holiness (2Co_6:17). It is not enough to begin; the end crowns the work (Gal_3:3; Gal_
5:7; Phi_1:6).

6. fear of God — often conjoined with the consideration of the most glorious promises
(2Co_5:11; Heb_4:1). Privilege and promise go hand in hand.
5B. CALVIN, These promises, therefore. God, it is true, anticipates us in his promises
by his pure favor; but when he has, of his own accord, conferred upon us his favor, he
immediately afterwards requires from us gratitude in return. Thus what he said to
Abraham, I am thy God, (Genesis 17:7,) was an offer of his undeserved goodness, yet he
at the same time added what he required from him — Walk before me, and be thou
perfect As, however, this second clause is not always expressed, Paul instructs us that in
all the promises this condition is implied, 624 that they must be incitements to us to
promote the glory of God. For from what does he deduce an argument to stimulate us? It
is from this, that God confers upon us such a distinguished honor. Such, then, is the
nature of the promises, that they call us to sanctification, as if God had interposed by an
implied agreement. We know, too, what the Scripture teaches in various passages in
reference to the design of redemption, and the same thing must be viewed as applying to
every token of his favor.
From all filthiness of flesh and spirit. Having already shown, that we are called to
purity, 625 he now adds, that it ought to be seen in the body, as well as in the soul; for
that the term flesh is taken here to mean the body, and the term spirit to mean the soul,
is manifest from this, that if the term spirit meant the grace of regeneration, Paul’s
statement in reference to the pollution of the spirit would be absurd. He would have us,
therefore, pure from defilements, not merely inward, such as have God alone as their
witness; but also outward, such as fall under the observation of men. “Let us not merely
have chaste consciences in the sight of God. We must also consecrate to him our whole
body and all its members, that no impurity may be seen in any part of us.” 626
Now if we consider what is the point that he handles, we shall readily perceive, that
those act with excessive impudence, 627 who excuse outward idolatry on I know not
what pretexts. 628 For as inward impiety, and superstition, of whatever kind, is a
defilement of the spirit, what will they understand by defilement of the flesh, but an
outward profession of impiety, whether it be pretended, or uttered from the heart? They
boast of a pure conscience; that, indeed, is on false grounds, but granting them what
they falsely boast of, they have only the half of what Paul requires from believers. Hence
they have no ground to think, that they have given satisfaction to God by that half; for let
a person show any appearance of idolatry at all, or any indication of it, or take part in
wicked or superstitious rites, even though he were — what he cannot be — perfectly
upright in his own mind, he would, nevertheless, not be exempt from the guilt of
polluting his body.
Perfecting holiness. As the verb ἐπιτελεἐν in Greek sometimes means, to perfect,
and sometimes to perform sacred rites, 629 it is elegantly made use of here by Paul in
the former signification, which is the more frequent one — in such a way, however, as to
allude to sanctification, of which he is now treating. For while it denotes perfection, it
seems to have been intentionally transferred to sacred offices, because there ought to be
nothing defective in the service of God, but everything complete. Hence, in order that
you may sanctify yourself to God aright, you must dedicate both body and soul entirely
to him.
In the fear of God. For if the fear of God influences us, we will not be so much
disposed to indulge ourselves, nor will there be a bursting forth of that audacity of
wantonness, which showed itself among the Corinthians. For how does it happen, that
many delight themselves so much in outward idolatry, and haughtily defend so gross a
vice, unless it be, that they think that they mock God with impunity? If the fear of God

7. had dominion over them, they would immediately, on the first moment, leave off all
cavils, without requiring to be constrained to it by any disputations.
6. BI, Having the promises of God
Under what notion have we the promises of God?
1. We have them as manifest tokens of God’s favour towards us.
2. We have them as fruits of Christ’s purchase.
3. They are plain and ample declarations of the good-will of God towards men, and
therefore as God’s part of the covenant of grace.
4. They are a foundation of our faith, and we have them as such; and also of our
hope, on these we are to build all our expectations from God; and in all temptations
and trials we have them to rest our souls upon.
5. We have them as the directions and encouragements of our desires in prayer.
6. We have them as the means by which the grace of God works for our holiness and
comfort, for by these we are made partakers of a Divine nature; and faith, applying
these promises, is said to work by love.
7. We have the promises as the earnest and assurance of future blessedness.
(Matthew Henry.)
Personal purification
I. The ground of the apostle’s request—“Having these promises” (2Co_6:16-18). Observe
the gospel principle of action: it is not, Separate yourself from all uncleanness in order
that you may get a right of sonship; but, Because ye are sons of God, therefore be pure. It
is not, Work in order to be saved; but, Because you are saved, therefore work out your
salvation. “Ye are the temple of God”: therefore cleanse yourself. The law says: “This do,
and thou shalt live.” The gospel says: “This do, because thou art redeemed.” We all know
the force of this kind of appeal. You know there are some things a soldier will not do,
because he is a soldier: he is in uniform, and he cannot disgrace his corps. There are
some things of which a man of high birth is incapable: he has a character to sustain.
Precisely on this ground is the gospel appeal made to us.
II. The request itself. St. Paul demanded their holiness. In Jewish literalness this meant
separation from external defilement, but the thing implied was inward holiness. We
must keep ourselves apart, then, not only from sensual but also from spiritual
defilement. The Jewish law required only the purification of the flesh; the gospel
demands the purification of the spirit (Heb_9:13). There is a contamination which
passes through the avenue of the senses, and sinks into the spirit. Who shall dislodge it
thence? “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out
of the mouth, this defileth a man.” “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts.” The
heart—there is the evil! And now what is the remedy for this?
1. The fear of God. An awful thought! a living God, infinitely pure, is conscious of
your contaminated thoughts! So the only true courage sometimes comes from fear.
We cannot do without awe: there is no depth of character without it. Tender motives

8. are not enough to restrain from sin; yet neither is awe enough.
2. The promises of God. Think of what you are—a child of God, an heir of heaven.
Realise the grandeur of saintliness, and you will shrink from degrading your soul and
debasing your spirit. To come down, however, from these sublime motives to simple
rules—
(1) Cultivate all generous and high feelings. A base appetite may be expelled by a
nobler passion; the invasion of a country has sometimes waked men from low
sensuality, has roused them to deeds of self-sacrifice, and left no access for the
baser passions. An honourable affection can quench low and indiscriminate vice.
(2) Seek exercise and occupation. If a man finds himself haunted by evil desires
and unholy images, let him commit to memory passages of Scripture, or passages
from the best writers in verse or prose. Let him store his mind with these, as
safeguards. Let these be to him the sword, turning everywhere to keep the way of
the Garden of Life from the intrusion of profaner footsteps.
III. The entireness of this severance from evil—“perfecting holiness.” Perfection means
entireness, in opposition to one-sidedness. This expression seems to be suggested by the
terms “flesh and spirit”; for the purification of the flesh alone would not be perfect, but
superficial holiness. Christian sanctification, therefore, is an entire and whole thing; it is
nothing less than presenting the whole man a sacrifice to Christ. “I pray God your whole
spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless.” (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
The Christian in various aspects
I. As possessed of most glorious privileges—“Having these promises.” Not promises in
reversion merely, but in actual possession.
1. The promises referred to are—
(1) Divine indwelling.
(2) Divine manifestation:
(3) Divine covenanting.
(4) Divine acceptance.
(5) Divine adoption.
2. These promises are already fulfilled in our experience.
II. As labouring to be rid of obnoxious evils.
1. The matter has in it—
(1) Personality: “Let us cleanse ourselves.”
(2) Activity; we must continue vigorously to cleanse both body and mind.
(3) Universality: “From all filthiness.”
(4) Thoroughness: “Of the flesh and spirit.”
2. If God dwells in us, let us make the house clean for so pure a God.
3. Has the Lord entered into covenant with us that we should be His people? Does

9. not this involve a call upon us to live as becometh godliness?
4. Are we His children? Let us not grieve our Father, but imitate Him as dear
children.
III. As aiming at a most exalted position—“Perfecting holiness.”
1. We must set before us perfect holiness as a thing to be reached.
2. We must blame ourselves if we fall short of it.
3. We must continue in any degree of holiness which we have reached.
4. We must agonise after the perfecting of our character.
IV. As prompted by the most sacred of motives—“In the fear of God.” The fear of God—
1. Casts out the fear of man, and thus saves us from one prolific cause of sin.
2. Casts out the love of sin, and with the root the fruit is sure to go.
3. Works in and through love, and this is a great factor of holiness.
4. Is the root of faith, worship, obedience, and so it produces all manner of holy
service.
Conclusion: See how—
1. Promises supply arguments for precepts.
2. Precepts naturally grow out of promises. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Holiness inculcated on gospel principles
1. The tender compellation by which these Corinthians are here addressed—“dearly
beloved.” However deficient some of them were in affection for this apostle (1Co_
4:14-15), and with all their faults, he retained a paternal affection for them. How
careful should both ministers and people be to guard against everything that tends to
impair their mutual affection.
2. The duty to which the Corinthians are here exhorted, and we together with them.
3. The manner in which the apostle urges the exhortation. He speaks not in the
second person, but in the first, “let us cleanse.” The same exhortation that he gives to
them he also takes to himself. We must recommend by our example the duties which
we doctrinally inculcate.
4. The manner in which the exhortation is to be complied with, and the duty
performed: “in the fear of God.” Not slavish fear.
5. The motive by which this exhortation is enforced: “Having these promises,” etc. It
is the duty of public teachers in the Church to make known to their hearers both the
precepts and threatenings of the law, as well as the promises of the gospel.
I. The first thing to be spoken of is the duty here enjoined. This, in general, is self-sanctification.
1. Because the law of God necessarily requires it. That law, even before sin entered
into the world, prohibited every species of moral pollution, and required the utmost
perfection of holiness in heart and life, in nature and practice. Through the entrance

10. of sin God neither lost His authority to command, nor did the law of God lose its
binding obligation.
2. Because, when the Holy Ghost comes to accomplish this work, He always does it
in a way of stirring up the person to diligence in the duty which is incumbent upon
him in this respect. Thus we are made a kind of instruments in promoting His
gracious design in ourselves. In justification we are wholly passive; because, this
being a judicial deed, none can be active in it but He whose prerogative it is to forgive
sins. In regeneration also, which, indeed, is the beginning of sanctification, we must
be passive; because we can perform none of the functions of spiritual life while we
continue dead in trespasses and sins. But the moment that the principle of life is
implanted the soul begins to be active; and it continues to be a co-worker with God
in every part of its own sanctification. Now, sanctification consists of two parts,
usually called mortification and vivication; and we must be active in both.
(1) To the duty of mortification, which is here expressed by our cleansing
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. By all sin we contract
filthiness as well as guilt. The guilt of sin exposes us to condemnation and
punishment; and the filth of it renders us hateful in the sight of God. This
filthiness has infected every part of human nature. Both body and soul are
polluted. With regard to the body, being a piece of matter, it may be thought
incapable of spiritual or moral pollution. And doubtless so it would if it subsisted
by itself. But, being united to a rational soul, it is a part of a human person, who
is a subject of moral government; and every part of the rational person is defiled.
A great part of the filthiness of our corrupt nature consists in a disposition to
gratify our appetites in a manner prohibited by the law of God, and ruinous to
the dearest interests of the immortal soul. With regard to the soul or rational
spirit, that also is become altogether filthy. Its whole constitution is depraved, its
extensive desires are all perverted, being set upon sinful and vain objects. All its
faculties are depraved. Though the cleansing of the whole man from this spiritual
filthiness must be a work beyond the power of any mere creature, yet there are
various things incumbent upon us by which we may actively contribute to the
gaining of this desirable end. To this purpose let us betake ourselves, by renewed
actings of faith, to the blood of Jesus Christ, in its sanctifying as well as in its
justifying efficacy. Let us carefully abstain from all those outward acts of sin by
which our corruptions might be gratified. Let us earnestly pray to God for His
sanctifying Spirit. Let us confidently trust in God, that, according to His promise,
He will cleanse us from all our filthiness. And if we are favoured with the motions
of the Holy Ghost to this effect, let us cherish them with the utmost care.
(2) We are exhorted to the duty of vivication, or living unto righteousness, here
expressed by “perfecting holiness.” Concerning this we may observe the following
things. Holiness is that perfection which is opposed to moral impurity. In
Scripture it is represented as the glory of the Divine nature (Exo_15:11). Among
creatures it is that which renders a rational being agreeable in the sight of God,
and fit to be employed in His service. It consists not barely in freedom from
spiritual filthiness, but is opposed to it, as light is opposed to darkness. Every
corruption has an opposite grace. And grace does not barely consist in freedom
from corruption, but includes something positive in opposition to it. Thus
holiness is not only something required of us by the law of God, it is something
highly ornamental to our nature. Hence we read of the beauty of holiness (Psa_
29:2). This holiness is not only a thing absolutely necessary to the happiness of a
rational being, but is itself a principal branch of happiness. That it is necessary to

11. happiness is clear from various considerations. There is no happiness adequate
to the desires of a rational soul without the enjoyment of God; and this can never
be attained without holiness. As happiness can never be perfect without the
gratification of all the person’s desires, it is manifest that an unholy person never
can be happy. While he continues possessed of a rational soul his desires must be
infinite; nor can anything satisfy them but an infinite object. Impure desires can
never find an infinite object to fix upon; for nothing unholy can be infinite. The
original standard of all holiness is in the nature of God. What is conformable to
that infinite nature is holy; and what is contrary to it must be impure and unholy.
But as the nature of God is not perfectly understood by any creature, nor is
capable of being so, it is impossible for us to judge of our holiness immediately by
that standard. For this reason God has given us in His holy law a transcript of His
nature adapted to our capacities; and this is the rule of all holiness to mankind.
As broad as that law is, so extensive is holiness. It must reach to the inward as
well as the outward man. To perfect holiness every genuine Christian will aspire.
In the text we are expressly required to “perfect holiness.” “But why require of us
an impossibility? For us to perfect holiness is not only impossible by any strength
of our own, but it is impossible by the help of any grace that we can expect in this
world?” Every argument that enforces holiness at all pleads equally for the
perfection of it. The broad law of God requires it; and without it we never can be
conformable to that unerring rule. It is absolutely necessary to perfect happiness;
and as no man can satisfy himself with an imperfect happiness, no man can act as
becomes a rational creature without aiming at perfect holiness. As much as our
holiness is imperfect, so much pollution must remain about us, and it must be so
far unfit for the full enjoyment of God. As our cleansing from filthiness, so, more
especially, the perfecting of holiness in us must be the work of God. There are
various things which you ought to do in order to your making progress in
holiness. Make continual application by faith and prayer to that infinite fulness of
grace and strength, that God has made to dwell in Christ, for all those supplies
that are necessary to enable you to be holy. Strive to live in the constant exercise
of all those graces which constitute that inward holiness of heart in which you
wish to grow. The weapon that is seldom used gathers rust. Continue in the
exercise of that love to God which is the principle of all practical holiness, and is
therefore called the fulfilling of the holy law of God. Attend carefully and
regularly upon all the ordinances of God’s worship in their appointed seasons.
Frequent the society of holy persons, and maintain communion with them in
holy duties. Think much of the obligations that you lie under to be holy. Of all the
different species of spiritual filthiness none is more hateful to God than the filth
of legality. Bear it always in mind that no holiness of yours can ever be a
righteousness to answer the demands that the law of works has upon you.
II. The manner in which this duty is to be performed—“In the fear of the Lord.”
1. There is a slavish fear of God, such as a slave entertains of the whip in the hand of
a rigorous master. Though this is not the fear mentioned in the text, it is in danger of
being mistaken for it; and therefore it is proper that Christians should know
something of the nature of it. It may be distinguished by the following marks. It is
always the fruit of a legal principle, i.e., a disposition to seek righteousness as it were
by the works of the law. It is always accompanied with a servile hope. In proportion
as his fear prevails when he is under the conviction of sin, his hope preponderates
when he can persuade himself that his services are regular. In proportion as he fears
the punishment of his sin, he vainly hopes for happiness as a reward for his

12. obedience. Where it reigns the person is neither affected with God’s displeasure nor
the dishonour done to him by sin. He fears for himself only. In a word, it is always
accompanied with torment; and the degree of torment is always in proportion to the
measure of fear.
2. There is a holy filial fear that God puts into the hearts of His people when He
implants every other gracious habit in the day of regeneration. It includes a holy
reverence of God and a profound awe of His omniscient eye. There may be reverence
where there is no fear; but this fear cannot subsist without reverence. Neither can
there be due reverence to God in any person who has sin about him without a
mixture of fear. It includes a holy caution and circumspection in the person’s walk.
Knowing how ready he is to turn aside, he examines every step of his way before he
takes it, and reflects upon it after he has taken it, comparing it with the Word of God.
If it is asked, What influence this fear of God may be expected to have in exciting us
to sanctify and purge ourselves? we answer, much every way. Where no fear of God is
all manner of wickedness is indulged in the heart, and all kinds of immorality
abound in the person’s life. The fear of God impresses our minds with a sense of
God’s presence, which is always with us, and of His omniscient eye upon us in all
that we do.
III. The argument by which this exhortation is enforced—“Having therefore these
promises.” And here two things are to be inquired:
1. What promises are they to which the Spirit of God here refers? All the promises of
the gospel are left to all that hear it. And there is no promise belonging to the
covenant of grace that may not have influence to excite us to the duty here enjoined.
And particularly—
(1) We have a promise of God’s gracious presence in the Church and in the
hearts of believers—I will dwell in them, and walk in them, or among them, as
some read it. In the literal temple there was but one particular apartment where
God was peculiarly said to dwell, viz., the most holy place within the veil. But He
dwells in every part of this spiritual temple, and is as really present in the heart of
every Christian as He was upon the mercy-seat between the cherubim. His
presence in the Church is neither inactive on His part nor unprofitable to her or
to her members. He not only dwells, but walks in her, and among them. If a man
sits still in any place and does nothing, His presence can be of little use. But if he
walks up and down he sees everything as he passes.
(2) We have a promise that He will be our God, and we shall be His people. This
imports that God will graciously bring us within the bond of that covenant by
which alone He can be so related to any of mankind, bringing us into a state of
union to Christ, and of favour with God through Him. That He will do all that for
us, which any people expects their God to do for them; subduing our enemies,
delivering us from spiritual bondage, guiding us through the wilderness of this
world, and bringing us at last to possess a city that hath foundations, whose
builder and maker is God. By the same promise we have security that His
propriety in us, as His people, shall be acknowledged both on His part and on
ours; on our part by a solemn dedication of ourselves to Him, and on His part by
a gracious acceptance of that dedication; for, as He will have none to be His
people but such as are made willing in the day of His power, so neither could our
consent make us His peculiar property without His acceptance.
(3) We have a promise that God will graciously receive us. By nature we are all

13. unclean and hateful in the sight of God. This promise is conditionally expressed,
though the others run in an absolute form. It is upon our coming out from among
a wicked world, and abstaining from the practice of sin, here called touching the
unclean thing, that we may hope to be graciously accepted of God. If any man,
therefore, thinks that he is accepted of God, and yet indulges himself in the
practice of sin, or in keeping society with sinners, or hopes to be accepted, while
that continues to be the case he deceives himself, and the truth is not in him.
(4) We have a promise of being received into God’s family and made His sons
and daughters. To be the people of God is much, but to be the children of God is
more. Yet this honour have all His saints. Adam was the son of God, in his
original estate as being created by Him, after His own image and likeness. But
Christians, after having been the children of the devil in their natural estate, are
created anew in Christ Jesus after the image of Him that made them.
2. What influence these promises, and others connected with them, should have in
exciting us to comply with the exhortation in the text. Our having such promises left
us is itself a benefit calling for such a return. The promises of men, especially of great
men, are often made without any resolution to perform them. And often where there
was such a resolution it is changed or forgotten. Hence the making of such promises,
instead of being a benefit, proves a very great injury to those who trust in them. But
none of these things can take place with God. Never did He make a promise without
an unfeigned intention to perform it to all who trusted in it. Never did any change of
circumstances produce a change of mind in Him. And surely our warmest gratitude
is due to Him who has given us this security. We ought to be grateful for what we
hope to enjoy, as well as for what we already possess. And there is no way in which
we can express our gratitude to God acceptably, without endeavouring to cleanse
ourselves and be holy; for there is nothing else in which He has so much pleasure.
Besides, by the promises of God we are furnished with security that, if we are
sincerely employed in what is here recommended, our endeavours shall be crowned
with success. God has graciously promised to make you both willing and able to do
what He requires of you in every other respect. He is ready to accomplish His
promise. In a word, every particular promise contained in the gospel of Christ
furnishes a corresponding argument for the study of holiness in both its branches. If
we have a promise of God’s dwelling in us and walking among us, shall we not
endeavour to prepare Him a habitation? Being infinitely holy Himself, He cannot
dwell with pollution. The promise that He will be our God, and that we shall be His
people includes an engagement that we shall serve Him, and live to Him as our God,
and shall walk as becomes His people. This we cannot do without being holy. We are
now to conclude with some application of the subject. The subject affords us much
useful information. It sets before us the polluted state in which all mankind are by
nature. We could have no need of cleansing if we were not defiled. From this subject
it appears that the doctrine of salvation by Divine grace through faith is so far from
being inimical to holiness, that it sets the necessity of it in the clearest light, and
affords the most powerful motives to it. (J. Young.)
Perfecting holiness in the fear of God.—
The difference between fearing God and being afraid of Him
“I was afraid … and hid thy talent” (Mat_25:25); “Perfecting holiness in the fear of God”
(2Co_7:8). “I was afraid.” Why? “Because I knew thee that thou art a hard man.” Then

14. our thought of God determines the character of our emotion, and shapes and regulates
our lives. “Thou art a hard man … I am afraid.” The emotion follows upon the
conception; the terror waits upon the severity; the life takes shape from the thought.
What think ye of God? The thought you make of God is the thought which makes you.
That is not a matter of chance and caprice; it is a fixed law. Your thinking colours your
living. If you think God hard, you will live a life of terror and gloom. If you think God
effeminate, your life will be characterised by moral laxity. Mark, then, how deeply vital is
the occasion when we give ideas of God to little children. We are putting into their lives
germs of tremendous power. I have met with old men who in their later years have not
been able to shake themselves free from the bondage of a false idea received in the days
of their youth. In the days of Isaiah social life was putrid and corrupt. Men and women
were passionate and licentious. Drunken carousals and luxurious indolence were the
daily delight of ruler and ruled. Yet, even when life was most debased, religious worship
was most observed. Their idea of God permitted and encouraged immorality in life. Such
is the blasting potency of a false idea. But now what is the idea of God which begets this
paralysing terror recorded in our text? The Scriptures tell us the servant had thought of
God as a “hard man.” Was the idea a true one? No; it was a false idea. Why? Because it
was only partially true, and partial truth is falsehood. Is God severe? No. Is severity an
element in His character? Yes. Is a ray of light of violet colour? No. Is violet colour an
element in the composition of a ray of light? Yes. “God is light.” You must not pick out
the violet element, the darker element, the severity, the justice, and say, “This is God.”
He is these in combination with others, and only of the resultant combination can you
say, “This is God.” And yet that is how many people profess to know their God. They
know an isolated feature, but not their God; and features, when torn from their
relationship, may become repellent. Take a most beautiful face, a face in which each
feature contributes to the loveliness of the whole. All the features combine to form a
countenance most winning, Now lay the face on the surgeon’s table. Dissect it; separate
its various features, Immediately each feature loses its beauty and becomes almost
repulsive. It is not otherwise with spiritual dissection. Yet how many men base their
religion upon a feature, and not upon a face! One of the most religious men I have ever
known is also one of the gloomiest. His mind is fixed upon God’s severity and justice,
and all things are regarded from their sombre and terrible side. The Bible is to him a
book of terrible judgments. When I turn away from separate features and gaze upon
God’s countenance as portrayed in this book, I see it wears, not a threat, but a promise;
not a scowl, but a smile; not a look of hardness, but the attractive look of love. But when
a man has isolated a feature of God’s countenance, and by isolation made it dark and
forbidding, and then regards it as his idea of God, see what happens. It makes him afraid
of God. It fills his life with terror and gloom. It paralyses his spiritual growth. All the
most luscious “fruits of the Spirit” find no place in his life. God’s severity is an element to
be mixed with the soil, to help us in resisting the vermin of sin, but is never intended to
constitute the bed in which we are to rear our flowers. If your leading, uppermost
thought of God is His hardness, you will grow no flowers; they will every one be
scorched; you will bring nothing to fruition. Your talents will never blossom into flower
or ripen into fruit. To be afraid of God means a flowerless garden, an empty orchard, a
barren heart. Now turn away from this hard conception of God, with its accompanying
terror, to consider a life which is full of spiritual activity and growth. Here is a man, the
aged Paul, at work “perfecting holiness”; that is to say, he is busy consecrating
everything to his Lord. He wants every little patch in his life’s soil to be used and
adorned by some flower growing for his Lord. He wants no waste corners. Let us read
the whole clause: “Perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” Then is Paul afraid of God?
The man of the parable was afraid of God, and so brought nothing to perfection. Paul is

15. seeking to bring everything to perfection. Can these two attitudes be the same? Is it the
same thing to be afraid of God and to fear Him? One was afraid of God because he
thought Him “a hard man.” What was Paul’s idea of God? He uses an exquisitely tender
word in telling us his conception of God, “the Father of Jesus”! Listen to his jubilant
saying: “He loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Was he afraid of Him? “The fear of the
Lord is to hate evil.” Why, then, to fear the Lord is not to be afraid of the Lord, but to be
afraid of sin. The fear of God is the God-begotten fear of sin. Beware of any conception of
God which does not create in you a fear and hatred of sin. That is the only fear which
God wishes our hearts to keep. Any other fear is powerless to accomplish His will. Men
may be afraid of God, and yet may love their sins; and that is not living in the fear of the
Lord! Now, how can we obtain this sensitiveness which will recoil with acute fear from
all sin? You remember when Peter’s eyes were opened to behold the foulness of sin, how
he cried, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” He had seen the King in His
beauty, and he felt the awfulness and the fearfulness of sin. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.)
Perfecting holiness
I. Our business on earth is to act with our Lord in heaven in attaining complete
deliverance from sin. One great reason why many Christians come so far short of what
God requires is, because they do not aim at, or care for, any eminent degree of
sanctification. They are satisfied with a decent mediocrity in the service of God, and
aspire to nothing more than abstinence from grosser inconsistencies. How unlike is their
spirit to that of St. Paul, who, after years of earnest endeavour, is still found exclaiming,
“I count not myself to have apprehended,” etc. If you ask an unfailing test of a true
believer, it is that he is always aiming after higher attainments in the Divine life. Now
what destruction is it to all such attainments to have in our minds the conclusion that it
is not necessary to aspire after any very extraordinary sanctity. If one aims not high he
cannot shoot high. Your attainments in holiness are proportionate to the standard you
have adopted. The soul that pants not to be like God can be none of His.
II. The means of attaining it is—
1. Mutual exhortation. The Word of God speaks frequently of “exhorting one
another.” When I am in the country, I find that my watch is apt to get very much out
of the way; but when I am in the city, where there is a dial-plate on every church, all
regulated by a good standard, I am reminded of the incorrectness of my time if it
varies, and set it right by that of others. So Christians, where they are faithful in their
intercourse, regulate themselves by the common standard of God’s Word, and help
to regulate each other.
2. Faithfulness in private prayer. This is the thermometer of your souls, suspended
in your closet of devotion, and as it stands so is it with you in the sight of God. Look
at it by day, and see how it is between you and your God.
3. Gladness in service. We must not set about our religious duties as a sick man does
about his worldly employments, without life, relish, or vigour. God loathes a
lukewarm service. Do not let your devotions be like the turning of a chariot-wheel
that needs oiling, betraying its every motion by a painful creaking and laboured
progress; but as that which revolves on the moistened and well-polished axle, silent,
swift, and with scarce an effort. Love makes all labours light.
4. Watchfulness against everything which is opposed to the smallest whisper of
conscience. The finer and more perfect the instrument, the more carefully must it be

16. kept for the work to be done with it. The heavy cleaver may be knocked about against
wood and stone, but the surgeon’s implements must be nicely locked, where nothing
shall dim their polish or blunt their edge. Conscience must not be blunted if we
would have its office faithfully performed. Sensual appetites, engrossing worldliness,
and especially evil tempers, indulged, will ever prevent any high attainments in
holiness. All the prayer in the world would never make one eminent in holiness who
habitually gives way afterwards to evil tempers. To kindle devotion in the closet, and
expose it to the gusts of unhallowed tempers would be like lighting a candle in the
house and carrying it out into the wind of the open air. We must shield the flame
with watchfulness which we kindle by prayer. (W. H. Lewis, D. D.)
7. EBC, THIS is one of the most peculiar passages in the New Testament. Even a
careless reader must feel that there is something abrupt and unexpected in it; it jolts the
mind as a stone on the road does a carriage-wheel. Paul has been begging the
Corinthians to treat him with the same love and confidence which he has always shown
to them, and he urges this claim upon them up to 2Co_6:13. Then comes this passage
about the relation of Christians to the world. Then again, at 2Co_7:2 -Open your hearts
to us; we wronged no man, we corrupted no man, we took advantage of no man-he
returns to the old subject without the least mark of transition. If everything were
omitted from 2Co_6:14 to 2Co_7:1 inclusive, the continuity both of thought and feeling
would be much more striking. This consideration alone has induced many scholars to
believe that these verses do not occupy their original place. The ingenious suggestion has
been made that they are a fragment of the letter to which the Apostle refers in the First
Epistle: (2Co_5:9) the sentiment, and to some extent even the words, favor this
conjecture. But as there is no external authority for any conjecture whatever, and no
variation in the text, such suggestions can never become conclusive. It is always possible
that, on reading over his letter, the Apostle himself may have inserted a paragraph
breaking to some extent the closeness of the original connection. If there is nothing in
the contents of the section inconsistent with his mind, the breach of continuity is not
enough to discredit it.
Some, however, have gone further than this. They have pointed to the strange formulae
of quotation-as God said, saith the Lord, saith the Lord Almighty-as unlike Paul.
Even the main idea of the passage-touch not any unclean thing-is asserted to be at
variance with his principles. A narrow Jewish Christian might, it is said, have expressed
this shrinking from what is unclean, in the sense of being associated with idolatry, but
not the great Apostle of liberty. At all events he would have taken care, in giving such an
advice under special circumstances, to safeguard the principle of freedom. And, finally,
an argument is drawn from language. The only point at which it is even plausible is that
which touches upon the use of the terms flesh and spirit in 2Co_7:1. Schmiedel, who
has an admirable excursus on the whole question, decides that this, and this only, is
certainly un-Pauline. It is certainly unusual in Paul, but I do not think we can say more.
The rigor and vigor with which Paul’s use of these terms is investigated seems to me
largely misplaced. They did undoubtedly tend to become technical in his mind, but
words so universally and so vaguely used could never become simply technical. If any
contemporary of Paul could have written, Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement
of flesh and spirit, then Paul himself could have written it. Language offers the same
latitudes and liberties to everybody, and one could not imagine a subject which tempted
less to technicality than the one urged in these verses. Whatever the explanation of their
apparently irrelevant insertion here, I can see nothing in them alien to Paul. Puritanism

17. is certainly more akin to the Old Testament than to the New, and that may explain the
instinctiveness with which the writer seems to turn to the law and the prophets, and the
abundance of his quotations; but though all things are lawful to the Christian,
Puritanism has a place in the New Testament too. There is no conception of holiness
into which the idea of separation does not enter; and though the balance of elements
may vary in the New Testament as compared with the Old, none can be wanting. From
this point of view we can best examine the meaning and application of the passage. If a
connection is craved, the best, I think, is that furnished by a combination of Calvin and
Meyer. Quasi recuperata auctoritate, says Calvin, liberius jam eos objurgat: this
supplies a link of feeling between vv. 13 and 14 (2Co_6:13-14). A link of thought is
supplied if we consider with Meyer that inattention to the rule of life here laid down was
a notable cause of receiving the grace of God in vain (2Co_7:1). Let us notice
(1) the moral demand of the passage;
(2) the assumption on which it rests;
(3) the Divine promise which inspires its observance.
(1) The moral demand is first put in the negative form: Be not unequally yoked with
unbelievers. The peculiar word ετεροζυγουντες (unequally yoked) has a cognate form
in Lev_19:19, in the law which forbids the breeding of hybrid animals. God has
established a good physical order in the world, and it is not to be confounded and
disfigured by the mixing of species. It is that law (or perhaps another form of it in Deu_
22:10, forbidding an Israelite to plough with an ox and an ass under the same yoke) that
is applied in an ethical sense in this passage. There is a wholesome moral order in the
world also, and it is not to be confused by the association of its different kinds. The
common application of this text to the marriage of Christians and non-Christians is
legitimate, but too narrow. The text prohibits every kind of union in which the separate
character and interest of the Christian lose anything of their distinctiveness and
integrity. This is brought out more strongly in the free quotation from Isa_52:2 in 2Co_
6:17 : Come out from among them, and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not
anything unclean. These words were originally addressed to the priests who, on the
redemption of Israel from Babylon, were to carry the sacred temple vessels back to
Jerusalem. But we must remember that, though they are Old Testament words, they are
quoted by a New Testament writer, who inevitably puts his own meaning into them.
The unclean thing which no Christian is to touch is not to be taken in a precise
Levitical sense; it covers, and I have no doubt was intended by the writer to cover, all
that it suggests to any simple Christian mind now. We are to have no compromising
connection with anything in the world which is alien to God. Let us be as loving and
conciliatory as we please, but as long as the world is what it is, the Christian life can only
maintain itself in it in an attitude of protest. There always will be things and people to
whom the Christian has to say No!
But the moral demand of the passage is put in a more positive form in the last verse: Let
us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear
of God. That is the ideal of the Christian life. There is something to be overcome and
put away; there is something to be wrought out and completed; there is a spiritual
element or atmosphere-the fear of God-in which alone these tasks can be accomplished.
The fear of God is an Old Testament name for true religion, and even under the New
Testament it holds its place. The Seraphim still veil their faces while they cry Holy, holy,
holy is the Lord of Hosts, and still we must feel that great awe descend upon our hearts
if we would be partakers of His holiness. It is this which withers up sin to the root, and

18. enables us to cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit. St. Paul includes
himself in his exhortation here: it is one duty, one ideal, which is set before all. The
prompt decisive side of it is represented in καθαρισωμεν (let US cleanse: observe the
aorist); its patient laborious side in επιτελουντες αγιωσυνην (carrying holiness to
completion.) Almost everybody in a Christian Church makes a beginning with this task:
we cleanse ourselves from obvious and superficial defilements; but how few carry the
work on into the spirit, how few carry it on ceaselessly towards perfection. As year after
year rolls by, as the various experiences of life come to us with their lessons and their
discipline from God, as we see the lives of others, here sinking ever deeper and deeper
into the corruptions of the world, there rising daily nearer and nearer to the perfect
holiness which is their goal, does not this demand assert its power over us? Is it not a
great thing, a worthy thing, that we should set ourselves to purge away from our whole
nature, outward and inward, whatever cannot abide the holy eye of God; and that we
should regard Christian holiness, not as a subject for casual thoughts once a week, but as
the task to be taken up anew, with unwearying diligence, every day we live? Let us be in
earnest with this, for surely God is in earnest.
(2) Observe now the assumption on which the demand not to be unequally yoked with
unbelievers is based. It is that there are two ethical or spiritual interests in the world,
and that these are fundamentally inconsistent with each other. This implies that in
choosing the one, the other has to be rejected. But it implies more: it implies that at
bottom there are only two kinds of people in the world-those who identify themselves
with the one of these interests, and those who identify themselves with the other.
Now, as long as this is kept in the abstract form, people do not quarrel with it. They have
no objection to admit that good and evil are the only spiritual forces in the world, and
that they are mutually exclusive. But many will not admit that there are only two kinds of
persons in the world, answering to these two forces. They would rather say there is only
one kind of persons, in whom these forces are with infinite varieties and modifications
combined. This seems more tolerant, more humane, more capable of explaining the
amazing mixtures and inconsistencies we see in human lives. But it is not more true. It is
a more penetrating insight which judges that every man-despite his range of neutrality-would
in the last resort choose his side; would, in short, in a crisis of the proper kind,
prove finally that he was not good and bad, but good or bad. We cannot pretend to judge
others, but sometimes men judge themselves, and always God can judge. And there is an
instinct in those who are perfecting holiness in the fear of God which tells them, without
in the least making them Pharisaical, not only what things, but what persons-not only
what ideas and practices, but what individual characters-are not to be made friends of. It
is no pride, or scorn, or censoriousness, which speaks thus, but the voice of all Christian
experience. It is recognized at once where the young are concerned: people are careful of
the friends their children make, and a schoolmaster will dismiss inexorably, not only a
bad habit, but a bad boy, from the school. It ought to be recognized just as easily in
maturity as in childhood: there are men and women, as well as boys and girls, who
distinctly represent evil, and whose society is to be declined. To protest against them, to
repel them, to resent their life and conduct as morally offensive, is a Christian duty; it is
the first step towards evangelizing them.
It is worth noticing in the passage before us how the Apostle, starting from abstract
ideas, descends, as he becomes more urgent, into personal relations. What fellowship
have righteousness and lawlessness? None. What communion has light with darkness?
None. What concord has Christ with Belial? Here the persons come in who are the
heads, or representatives, of the opposing moral interests, and it is only now that we feel

19. the completeness of the antagonism. The interest of holiness is gathered up in Christ;
the interest of evil in the great adversary; and they have nothing in common. And so with
the believer and the unbeliever. Of course there is ground on which they can meet: the
same sun shines on them, the same soil supports them, they breathe the same air. But in
all that is indicated by those two names-believer and unbeliever-they stand quite apart;
and the distinction thus indicated reaches deeper than any bond of union. It is not
denied that the unbeliever may have much that is admirable about him: and for the
believer the one supremely important thing in the world is that which the unbeliever
denies, and therefore the more he is in earnest the less can he afford the unbeliever’s
friendship. We need all the help we can get to fight the good fight of faith, and to perfect
holiness in the fear of God; and a friend whose silence numbs faith, or whose words
trouble it, is a friend no earnest Christian dare keep. Words like these would not seem so
hard if the common faith of Christians were felt to be a real bond of union among them,
and if the recoil from the unbelieving world were seen to be the action of the whole
Christian society, the instinct of self-preservation in the new Christian life. But, at
whatever risk of seeming harsh, it must be repeated that there has never been a state of
affairs in the world in which the commandment had no meaning. Come out from
among them, and be ye separate; nor an obedience to this commandment which did not
involve separation from persons as well as from principles.
(3) But what bulks most largely in the passage is the series of divine promises which are
to inspire and sustain obedience. The separations which an earnest Christian life
requires are not without their compensation; to leave the world is to be welcomed by
God. It is probable that the pernicious association which the writer had immediately in
view was association with the heathen in their worship, or at least in their sacrificial
feasts. At all events it is the inconsistency of this with the worship of the true God that
forms the climax of his expostulation-What agreement hath a temple of God with idols?
and it is to this, again, that the encouraging promises are attached. We, says the
Apostle, are a temple of the living God. This carries with it all that he has claimed: for a
temple means a house in which God dwells, and God can only dwell in a holy place.
Pagans and Jews alike recognized the sanctity of their temples: nothing was guarded
more jealously; nothing, if violated, was more promptly and terribly avenged. Paul had
seen the day when he gave his vote to shed the blood of a man who had spoken
disrespectfully of the Temple at Jerusalem, and the day was coming when he himself was
to run the risk of his life on the mere suspicion that he had taken a pagan into the holy
place. He expects Christians to be as much in earnest as Jews who keep the sanctity of
God’s house inviolate; and now, he says, that house are we: it is ourselves we have to
keep unspotted from the world.
We are God’s temple in accordance with the central promise of the old covenant: as God
said, I will dwell in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My
people. The original of this is Lev_26:2; Lev_26:12. The Apostle, as has been observed
already, takes the Old Testament words in a New Testament sense: as they stand here in
Second Corinthians they mean something much more intimate and profound than in
their old place in Leviticus. But even there, he tells us, they are a promise to us. What
God speaks, He speaks to His people, and speaks once for all. And if the divine presence
in the camp of Israel-a presence represented by the Ark and its tent-was to consecrate
that nation to Jehovah, and inspire them with zeal to keep the camp clean, that nothing
might offend the eyes of His glory, how much more ought those whom God has visited in
His Son, those in whom He dwells through His Spirit, to cleanse themselves from every
defilement, and make their souls fit for His habitation? After repeating the charge to
come out and be separate, the writer heaps up new promises, in which the letter and the

20. spirit of various Old Testament passages are freely combined. The principal one seems to
be 2Sa_7:1-29, which contains the promises originally made to Solomon. At 2Sa_7:14 of
that chapter we have the idea of the paternal and filial relation, and at 2Sa_7:8 the
speaker is described in the LXX, as here, as the Lord Almighty. But passages like Jer_
31:1; Jer_31:9, also doubtless floated through the writer’s mind, and it is the substance,
not the form, which is the main thing. The very freedom with which they are reproduced
shows us how thoroughly the writer is at home, and how confident he is that he is
making the right and natural application of these ancient promises.
Separate yourselves, for you are God’s temple: separate yourselves and you will be sons
and daughters of the Lord Almighty, and He will be your Father. Haec una ratio instar
mille esse debet. The friendship of the world, as James reminds us, is enmity with God;
it is the consoling side of the same truth that separation from the world means
friendship with God. It does not mean solitude, but a more blessed society; not
renunciation of love, but admission to the only love which satisfies the soul, because that
for which the soul was made. The Puritanism of the New Testament is no harsh,
repellent thing, which eradicates the affections, and makes life bleak and barren; it is the
condition under which the heart is opened to the love of God, and filled with all comfort
and joy in obedience. With Him on our side-with the promise of His indwelling Spirit to
sanctify us, of His fatherly kindness to enrich and protect us-shall we not obey the
exhortation to come out and be separate, to cleanse ourselves from all that defiles, to
perfect holiness in His fear?
Paul’s Joy Over the Church’s Repentance
2 Make room for us in your hearts. We have
wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we
have exploited no one.
1. BARES, Receive us - Tyndale renders this: “understand us.” The word used
here (χωρήσατε chōrēsate) means properly, give space, place, or room; and it means here
evidently, make place or room for us in your affections; that is, admit or receive us as
your friends. It is an earnest entreaty that they would do what he had exhorted them to
do in 2Co_6:13; see the note on that verse. From that he had digressed in the close of the
last chapter. He here returns to the subject and asks an interest in their affections and
their love.
We have wronged no man - We have done injustice to no man. This is given as a
reason why they should admit him to their full confidence and affection. It is not
improbable that he had been charged with injuring the incestuous person by the severe
discipline which he had found it necessary to inflict on him; note, 1Co_5:5. This charge
would not improbably be brought against him by the false teachers in Corinth. But Paul
here says, that whatever was the severity of the discipline, he was conscious of having
done injury to no member of that church. It is possible, however, that he does not here

21. refer to any such charge, but that he says in general that he 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; compare Act_20:33.
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 (φθείρω phtheirō) 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, by
trick, or by deception. The word πλεονεκτέω pleonekteō 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.
2, CLARKE, Receive us - Χωρησατε:μας. This address is variously understood.
Receive us into your affections - love us as we love you. Receive us as your apostles and
teachers; we have given you full proof that God hath both sent and owned us. Receive,
comprehend, what we now say to you, and carefully mark it.
We have wronged no man - We have never acted contrary to the strictest justice.
We have corrupted no man - With any false doctrine or pernicious opinion.
We have defrauded no man - Of any part of his property. But what have your false
teachers done? They have beguiled you from the simplicity of the truth, and thus
corrupted your minds. 2Co_11:3. They have brought you into bondage; they have taken
of you; devoured you; exalted themselves against you, and ye have patiently suffered all
this. 2Co_11:20. It is plain that he refers here to the false apostle or teacher which they
had among them.
3. GILL, Receive us,.... Into your affections, let us have a place in your hearts, as you
have in ours: Gospel ministers ought to be received with love and respect, both into the
hearts and houses of the saints; for he that receiveth you, says Christ, receiveth me,
Mat_10:40. Their doctrines are to be received in the love of them, and with faith and
meekness; and this may be another part of the apostle's meaning here; receive the word
and ministry of reconciliation, which we as the ambassadors of Christ bring, and the
several exhortations we give in his name, particularly the last mentioned: next follow
reasons, or arguments, engaging, them to comply with this request,
we have wronged no man; we have done no man any injury in his person, estate, or
name. There is one among you that has done wrong, and another among you that has
suffered wrong, 2Co_7:12 and we have given very faithful advice to the church how to
behave in this affair; but, in so doing, we have neither wronged him nor you; and as not

22. in this, so neither in any other case: if I or my fellow apostles have wronged you in
anything, it is in not being burdensome to you for our maintenance, forgive me this
wrong, 2Co_12:13 for in no other respect have we done you any: some understand this
of any lordly power, or tyrannical domination they had exercised over them, denied by
the apostle; we have not behaved in an insolent manner towards you, we have not lorded
it over God's heritage, or claimed any dominion over your faith, or required any
unreasonable obedience and submission from you:
we have corrupted no man; neither by our doctrines and principles, which are
perfectly agreeable to the word of God, make for the good of souls, and tend to the glory
of Christ; nor by our example, but have been careful to lead such lives and conversations
as are becoming the Gospel of Christ, adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour, and are
patterns to them that believe; nor have we corrupted by flatteries, or with bribes, any of
the leading men among you, in order to gain their good will, and thereby respect and
credit among others:
we have defrauded no man, or coveted no man; no man's silver, gold, or apparel;
we have not sought yours, but you; not to amass wealth to ourselves, but that we might
be useful to your souls, for your spiritual good, and serviceable to the glory of Christ; we
have not through covetousness made merchandise of you, with feigned words, as the
false apostles have done, therefore receive us.
4. HERY, To show a due regard to the ministers of the gospel: Receive us, 2Co_7:2.
Those who labour in the word and doctrine should be had in reputation, and be highly
esteemed for their work's sake: and this would be a help to making progress in holiness.
If the ministers of the gospel are thought contemptible because of their office, there is
danger lest the gospel itself be contemned also. The apostle did not think it any
disparagement to court the favour of the Corinthians; and, though we must flatter none,
yet we must be gentle towards all. He tells them, 1. He had done nothing to forfeit their
esteem and good-will, but was cautious not to do any thing to deserve their ill-will (2Co_
7:2): “We have wronged no man: we have done you no harm, but always designed your
good.” I have coveted no man's silver, nor gold, nor apparel, said he to the elders of
Ephesus, Act_20:33. “We have corrupted no man, by false doctrines or flattering
speeches. We have defrauded no man; we have not sought ourselves, nor to promote
our own secular interests by crafty and greedy measures, to the damage of any persons.”
This is an appeal like that of Samuel, 1 Sa. 12. Note, Then may ministers the more
confidently expect esteem and favour from the people when they can safely appeal to
them that they are guilty of nothing that deserves disesteem or displeasure.
5. JAMISO, Receive us — with enlarged hearts (2Co_6:13).
we have wronged ... corrupter ... defrauded no man — (compare 2Co_7:9).
This is the ground on which he asks their reception of (making room for) him in their
hearts. We wronged none by an undue exercise of apostolic authority; 2Co_7:13 gives an
instance in point. We have corrupted none, namely, by beguilements and flatteries, while
preaching “another Gospel,” as the false teachers did (2Co_11:3, 2Co_11:4). We have
defrauded none by “making a gain” of you (2Co_12:17). Modestly he leaves them to
supply the positive good which he had done; suffering all things himself that they might
be benefited (2Co_7:9, 2Co_7:12; 2Co_12:13).
5B. CALVIN, Make room for us. Again he returns from a statement of doctrine to

23. treat of what more especially concerns himself, but simply with this intention — that he
may not lose his pains in admonishing the Corinthians. Nay more, he closes the
preceding admonition with the same statement, which he had made use of by way of
preface. For what is meant by the expressions Receive us, or Make room for us? It is
equivalent to, Be ye enlarged, (2 Corinthians 6:13;) that is, “Do not allow corrupt
affections, or unfavorable apprehensions, to prevent this doctrine from making its way
into your minds, and obtaining a place within you. For as I lay myself out for your
salvation with a fatherly zeal, it were unseemly that you should turn a deaf ear 630 upon
me.” 631
We have done injury to no man. He declares that there is no reason why they should
have their minds alienated, 632 inasmuch as he had not given them occasion of offense
in any thing. Now he mentions three kinds of offenses, as to which he declares himself to
be guiltless. The first is, manifest hurt or injury. The second is, the corruption that
springs from false doctrine. The third is, defrauding or cheating in worldly goods. These
are three things by which, for the most part, pastors 633 are wont to alienate the minds
of the people from them — when they conduct themselves in an overbearing manner,
and, making their authority their pretext, break forth into tyrannical cruelty or
unreasonableness, — or when they draw aside from the right path those to whom they
ought to have been guides, and infect them with the corruption of false doctrine, — or
when they manifest an insatiable covetousness, by eagerly desiring what belongs to
another. Should any one wish to have it in shorter compass-the first is, fierceness and an
abuse of power by excessive insolence 634 the second, unfaithfulness in teaching. the
third, avarice.
6. EBC, REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE.
IN this fine passage St. Paul completes, as far as it lay upon his side to do so, his
reconciliation with the Corinthians. It concludes the first great division of his Second
Epistle, and henceforth we hear no more of the sinner censured so severely in the First.
(2Co_5:1-21) But see on 2Co_2:5-11, or of the troubles which arose in the Church over
the disciplinary treatment of his sin. The end of a quarrel between friends is like the
passing away of a storm; the elements are meant to be at peace with each other, and
nature never looks so lovely as in the clear shining after rain. The effusion of feeling in
this passage, so affectionate and unreserved; the sense that the storm-clouds have no
more than left the sky, yet that fair weather has begun, make it conspicuously beautiful
even in the writings of St. Paul.
He begins by resuming the appeal interrupted at 2Co_6:13. He has charged the
Corinthians with being straitened in their own affections: distrust and calumny have
narrowed their souls, nay, shut them against him altogether. Receive us, he exclaims
here-i.e., open your hearts to us. You have no cause to be reserved: we wronged no man,
ruined no man, took advantage of no man. Such charges had doubtless been made
against him. The point of the last is clear from 2Co_12:16-18 : he had been accused of
making money out of his apostolic work among them. The other words are less precise,
especially the one rendered corrupted, which should perhaps be rather explained, as in
1Co_3:17, destroyed. Paul has not wronged or ruined any one in Corinth. Of course, his
Gospel made serious demands upon people: it insisted on readiness to make sacrifices,
and on actual sacrifice besides; it proceeded with extreme severity against sinners like
the incestuous man; it entailed obligations, as we shall presently hear, to help the poor
even of distant lands; and then, as still, such claims might easily be resented as ruinous
or unjust. St. Paul simply denies the charge. He does not retort it; it is not his object to

24. condemn those whom he loves so utterly. He has told them already that they are in his
heart to die together and to live together (2Co_6:2); and when this is so, there is no
place for recrimination or bandying of reproaches. He is full of confidence in them; he
can freely make his boast of them. He has had affliction enough, but over it all he has
been filled with consolation; even as he writes, his joy overflows (observe the present:
υπερπερισσευομαι).
That word-ye are in our hearts to die together and to live together-is the key to all that
follows. It has suffered much at the hands of grammarians, for whom it has undeniable
perplexities; but vehement emotion may be permitted to be in some degree inarticulate,
and we can always feel, even if we cannot demonstrate, what it means. Your image in
my heart accompanies me in death and life, is as nearly as possible what the Apostle
says; and if the order of the words is unusual-for life would naturally stand first-that
may be due to the fact, so largely represented in 2Co_4:1-18., that his life was a series of
deadly perils, and of ever-renewed deliverances from them, a daily dying and a daily
resurrection, through all the vicissitudes of which the Corinthians never lost their place
in his heart. More artificial interpretations only obscure the intensity of that love which
united the Apostle to his converts. It is leveled here, unconsciously, no doubt, but all the
more impressively, with the love which God in Christ Jesus our Lord bears to His
redeemed. I am persuaded, St. Paul writes to the Romans, that neither death nor life
can separate us from that. You may be assured, he writes here to the Corinthians,
that neither death nor life can separate you from my love. The reference of death and
life is of course different, but the strength of conviction and of emotion is the same in
both cases. St. Paul’s heart is pledged irrevocably and irreversibly to the Church. In the
deep feeling that he is theirs, he has an assurance that they also are his. The love with
which he loves them is bound to prevail; nay, it has prevailed, and he can hardly find
words to express his joy. En qualiter affectos esse omnes Pastores conveniat (Calvin).
The next three verses carry us back to 2Co_2:12 ft., and resume the story which was
interrupted there at 2Co_2:14. The sudden thanksgiving of that passage-so eager and
impetuous that it left the writer no time to tell what he was thankful for-is explained
here. Titus, whom he had expected to see in Troas, arrived at length, probably from
Philippi, and brought with him the most cheering news. Paul was sadly in need of it. His
flesh had no rest: the use of the perfect (εσχηκεν) almost conveys the feeling that he
began to write whenever he got the news, so that up to this moment the strain had
continued. The fights without were probably assaults upon himself, or the Churches, of
the nature of persecution; the fears within, his anxieties about the state of morals, or of
Gospel truth, in the Christian communities. Outworn and depressed, burdened both in
body and mind, (cf. the expressions in 2Co_2:13 and 2Co_7:5) he was suddenly lifted on
high by the arrival and the news of Titus. Here again, as in 2Co_2:14, he ascribes all to
God. It was He whose very nature it is to comfort the lowly who so graciously comforted
him. Titus apparently had gone himself with a sad and apprehensive heart to Corinth; he
had been away longer than he had anticipated, and in the interval St. Paul’s anxiety had
risen to anguish; but in Corinth his reception had been unexpectedly favorable, and
when he returned he was able to console his master with a consolation which had
already gladdened his own heart. Paul was not only comforted, his sorrow was turned
into joy, as he listened to Titus telling of the longing, of the Corinthians to see him, of
their mourning over the pain they had given him by their tolerance for such
irregularities as that of the incestuous man or the unknown insulter of the Apostle, and
of their eagerness to satisfy him and maintain his authority. The word your (υμων) in

25. 2Co_7:7 has a certain emphasis which suggests a contrast. Before Titus went to Corinth,
it was Paul who had been anxious to see them, who had mourned over their immoral
laxity, who had been passionately interested in vindicating the character of the Church
he had founded; now it is they who are full of longing to see him, of grief, and of moral
earnestness; and it is this which explains his joy. The conflict between the powers of
good in one great and passionate soul, and the powers of evil in a lax and fickle
community, has ended in favor of the good; Paul’s vehemence has prevailed against
Corinthian indifference, and made it vehement also in all good affections, and he rejoices
now in the joy of his Lord.
Then comes the most delicate part of this reconciliation (2Co_7:8-12). It is a good rule in
making up disputes to let bygones be bygones, as far as possible; there may be a little
spark hidden here and there under what seem dead ashes, and there is no gain in raking
up the ashes, and giving the spark a chance to blaze again. But this is a good rule only
because we are bad men, and because reconciliation is seldom allowed to have its perfect
work. We feel, and say, after we have quarreled with a person and been reconciled, that it
can never be the same again. But this ought not to be so; and if we were perfect in love,
or ardent in love at all, it would not be so. If we were in one another’s hearts, to die
together and to live together, we should retrace the past together in the very act of being
reconciled; and all its misunderstandings and bitterness and badness, instead of lying
hidden in us as matter of recrimination for some other day when we are tempted, would
add to the sincerity, the tenderness, and the spirituality of our love.
The Apostle sets us an example here, of the rarest and most difficult virtue, when he goes
back upon the story of his relations with the Corinthians, and makes the bitter stock
yield sweet and wholesome fruit.
The whole result is in his mind when he writes, Although I made you sorry with the
letter, I do not regret it. The letter is, on the simplest hypothesis, the First Epistle; and
though no one would willingly speak to his friends as Paul in some parts of that Epistle
speaks to the Corinthians, he cannot pretend that he wishes it unwritten. Although I did
regret it, he goes on, now I rejoice. He regretted it, we must understand, before Titus
came back from Corinth. In that melancholy interval, all he saw was that the letter made
them sorry; it was bound to do so, even if it should only be temporarily: but his heart
smote him for making them sorry at all. It vexed him to vex them. No doubt this is the
plain truth he is telling them, and it is hard to see why it should have been regarded as
inconsistent with his apostolic inspiration. He did not cease to have a living soul because
he was inspired; and if in his despondency it crossed his mind to say, That letter will
only grieve them, he must have said in the same instant, I wish I had never written it.
But both impulses were momentary only; he has heard now the whole effect of his letter,
and rejoices that he wrote it. Not, of course, that they were made sorry-no one could
rejoice for that-but that they were made sorry to repentance. For ye were made sorry
according to God, that in nothing ye might suffer loss on our part. For sorrow according
to God worketh repentance unto salvation, a repentance which bringeth no regret. But
the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Most people define repentance as a kind of sorrow, but this is not exactly St. Paul’s view
here. There is a kind of sorrow, he intimates, which issues in repentance, but repentance
itself is not so much an emotional as a spiritual change. The sorrow which ends in it is a
blessed experience; the sorrow which does not end in it is the most tragical waste of
which human nature is capable. The Corinthians, we are told, were made sorry, or
grieved, according to God. Their sorrow had respect to Him: when the Apostle’s letter
pricked their hearts, they became conscious of that which they had forgotten-God’s

26. relation to them, and His judgment on their conduct. It is this element which makes any
sorrow godly, and without this, sorrow does not look towards repentance at all. All sins
sooner or later bring the sense of loss with them; but the sense of loss is not repentance.
It is not repentance when we discover that our sin has found us out, and has put the
things we most coveted beyond our reach. It is not repentance when the man who has
sown his wild oats is compelled in bitterness of Soul to reap what he has sown. It is not a
sorrow according to God when our sin is summed up for us in the pain it inflicts upon
ourselves - in our own loss, our own defeat, our own humiliation, our own exposure, our
own unavailing regret. These are not healing, but embittering. The sorrow according to
God is that in which the sinner is conscious of his sin in relation to the Holy One, and
feels that its inmost soul of pain and guilt is this, that he has fallen away from the grace
and friendship of God. He has wounded a love to which he is dearer than he is to
himself: to know this is really to grieve, and that not with a self-consuming, but with a
healing, hopeful sorrow. It was such a sorrow to which Paul’s letter gave rise at Corinth:
it is such a sorrow which issues in repentance, that complete change of spiritual attitude
which ends in salvation, and need never be regretted. Anything else-the sorrow, e.g.,
which is bounded by the selfish interests of the sinner, and is not due to his sinful act,
but only to its painful consequences-is the sorrow of the world. It is such as men feel in
that realm of life in which no account is taken of God; it is such as weakens and breaks
the spirit, or embitters and hardens it, turning it now to defiance and now to despair, but
never to God, and penitent hope in Him. It is in this way that it works death. If death is
to be defined at all, it must be by contrast with salvation: the grief which has not God as
its rule can only exhaust the soul, wither up its faculties, blight its hopes, extinguish and
deaden all.
St. Paul can point to the experience of the Corinthians themselves as furnishing a
demonstration of these truths. Consider your own godly sorrow, he seems to say, and
what blessed fruits it bore. What earnest care it wrought in you! how eager became your
interest in a situation to which you had once been sinfully indifferent! But earnest car
e is not all. On the contrary (;λλ) , Paul expands it into a whole series of acts or
dispositions, all of which are inspired by that sorrow according to God. When they
thought of the infamy which sin had brought upon the Church, they were eager to clear
themselves of complicity in it (;πολογ=αν), and angry with themselves that they had ever
allowed such a thing to be (;γανκτησιν); when they thought of the Apostle, they feared
lest he should come to them with a rod (φ?βον), and yet their hearts went out in longing
desires to see him (
πιπ?θησιν); when they thought of the man whose sin was at the
bottom of all this trouble, they were full of moral earnestness, which made lax dealing
with him impossible (ζAλον), and compelled them to punish his offence (
κδ=κησιν). In
every way they made it evident that, in spite of early appearances, they were really pure
in the matter. They were not, after all, making themselves partakers, by condoning it, of
the bad man’s offence.
A popular criticism disparages repentance, and especially the sorrow which leads to
repentance, as a mere waste of moral force. We have nothing to throw away, the severely
practical moralist tells us, in sighs and tears and feelings: let us be up and doing, to
rectify the wrongs for which we are responsible; that is the only repentance which is
worth the name. This passage, and the experience which it depicts, are the answer to
such precipitate criticism. The descent into our own hearts, the painful self-scrutiny and
self-condemnation, the sorrowing according to God, are not waste of moral force. Rather