Paul finds himself encouraged in the faith by the behavior of the Corinthian believers. They repented when they received his first letter and corrected the things they were doing wrong. Their relationship with the Lord has been strengthened and their relationship with Paul has been strengthened. He isn't holding a grudge against them anymore than the Lord is, so we find nothing but words of praise for them in today's passage. We find a wonderful example here of how to let go of the past.
"See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter." (2 Corinthians 7:11) Paul isn't saying that the church was innocent of the things he accused them of in his first letter. They were most certainly guilty. If they hadn't been guilty, they wouldn't have experienced the godly sorrow over their mistakes that Paul talked about in yesterday's passage. If they hadn't been guilty, there would have been no need for them to repent and to correct their wrong ways. I think Paul is talking about the innocence we all can have as believers when we experience godly sorrow over a wrong action or a wrong attitude and decide to turn away from it. This is when the Lord, like a courtroom judge, dismisses our case from the docket. We no longer have to appear before Him to give an account for our actions or to put on a defense.
I want to point out that the world may still hold us accountable for things that the Lord has forgiven us for. In His eyes, because we have put our faith in the One who paid the penalty of sin for us, our slate is wiped clean. But there are natural consequences to sin that we may still have to face even though things have been made right between us and the Lord. We don't ever want to make the mistake of thinking the Lord is beating us up and holding things against us when it is actually just the natural consequences of wrong actions that we are reaping. Relationships that were harmed because of our sin may take a long time to mend, if they ever are mended. Opportunities that we lost due to sin may not come back around. Health issues we caused ourselves with sinful living may never fully resolve. The most we can do is give these situations to the Lord to work out. We can't undo the past, but we can't keep carrying it around with us either. That would be just as much of a sin as the sins we committed in the first place. We also aren't to hold someone else's past against them. If they have repented and have made things right with the Lord, who are we to keep flinging the past in their face? It's not the Lord's will for us to allow the future to be destroyed by the past. The Apostle Paul, a man who had a lot of dreadful mistakes before he came to Christ, understood this and was able to say, "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13b-14)
It is clear that Paul is not holding a grudge against the church at Corinth for their previous disrespect of him. "So even though I wrote to you, it was neither on account of the one who did the wrong nor on account of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are." (2 Corinthians 7:12) It was when they were confronted with their sins that the believers at Corinth realized how casually they had been living their new lives in Christ and how poorly they had been treating Paul who loved them with all his heart.
"By all this we are encouraged. In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you." (2 Corinthians 7:13) He says, "I was thrilled to hear how warmly you received Titus and by the wonderful things he had to say about you. He is convinced, as I am, that you are the real deal. You didn't stub up and become angry with me and refuse to see the error of your ways. Instead you were quick to make the necessary changes, changes that Titus witnessed in you himself."
"I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well. And his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all obedient, receiving him with fear and trembling. I am glad I can have complete confidence in you." (2 Corinthians 7:14-16) He declares, "I knew I could count on you to do the right thing! While I lived among you I witnessed your sincerity of faith. I told Titus that I believed you would react to my letter in the correct spirit, and you have not disappointed me. I feel so much better now about everything. Not only am I assured that you are back on the right path, but I am also assured that your love for me and for the other apostles is real. Our relationship has not been harmed because I had to tell you some tough things. I am so thankful for this!"
Paul is ready to move on. There is no need to keep bringing up the mistakes the Corinthian church made. There is no reason for the Corinthians to keep dwelling on their mistakes. These things have been dealt with in the proper way and now it's time to move ahead with the Lord. This is a wonderful example for us to not keep dwelling on past mistakes. If we've repented of those things, we need to move on. What will we ever accomplish for the Lord if we remain stuck in the past? If a man like the Apostle Paul could accept that he was forgiven for persecuting the church, surely we can accept that we have been forgiven for our own sins.
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