Brief reminder of the chronology here: Paul was in Ephesus building up the church there when he got alarming news about Corinth. So he wrote a brief message we do not have, and someone responded, perhaps several people, from Corinth. It was not good news, as at least a portion of the church was resisting his warnings. So, he wrote again, and that letter is our 1 Corinthians. They responded again, but during that time, Paul had been run out of Ephesus. Thus, he wrote another note to them that we do not have. Finally, he gets word back that the Corinthians are once more on the right track. This fourth message we have as 2 Corinthians precedes his personal arrival by a few days.
The whole point in refusing to come was not hard feelings on his part, but on theirs. Then again, it also was a warning in itself that the church was outside the covenant boundaries, and at risk of losing their association with all the other churches. We have some hints here and there that some first century churches did break off from the flock and slipped so far away that they became a byword for apostasy. The apostles as a whole refused to visit those churches, so it was important for Corinth to understand their situation.
This letter begins with conciliatory words. One of those words is translated into English as “comfort” (paraklesis). We have nothing close in the English language; it refers to the supplication of a higher power, and the thing received in response. Paul also mentions the word parakaleo, a related Greek word referring to approaching that higher power and being accepted. Thus, there is a strong emphasis on seeking the Lord in our time of suffering, of seeking to rise above the fleshly level of sorrow.
God’s response is to call us into His Presence, implying that we are drawn up out of ourselves. The whole opening of the letter is a doctrinal statement about how suffering works in Christ’s Kingdom. It is God’s wrath on sin; we are supposed to flee that sin. Not just a particular sin, such as Paul pointed out in the Corinthian church, nor even the broader sinful tendencies he also wrote about. Rather, it is the fleshly nature itself that we must flee. If God sends a little suffering, and it provokes you to cry out, He empowers you to separate from it. But then, He reveals more of His wrath on that fleshly nature, because it’s for sure you have not fled enough yet so long as you live in this world.
The point is that you are continually drawn up out of your fleshly nature, farther and farther, as your faith grows in strength to handle mortification. This is how Paul faced the high risk of death in the riot in Ephesus. He was ready to die, and only God’s purpose kept him alive. The whining and carping from some of the Corinthians was the wrong way to handle the tension with Paul and his coworkers. Those at Corinth who were praying for Paul had a better response.
The reason Paul didn’t really answer the objections of the rowdies in Corinth was because they were operating in the flesh. There is no remedy for flesh other than the Cross. They needed to learn about convictions and pure sincerity of heart, not human reason. Had they been working from their hearts, none of this nonsense would have gotten started in the first place. It was necessary to write to them on a level of law for the flesh, and he was hoping they would see through that to a higher level.
He goes on to explain that the plans he first announced about coming straight to Corinth, then up into Macedonia, then back down through Corinth, was simply not possible. They were not ready to see him. He didn’t blame them directly, but if they didn’t humbly take the blame, they would never understand. That church as a whole had a serious need to climb up out of their fleshly selves.
