2 Corinthians 2:6 Commentary and Bible Study

If we were to go on to 2 Corinthians 7:11, we’d see the nature of the repentance that this man made; he repented and so did they. This applied most of all to the sinful man himself, so there is now this instruction from the apostle to restore him. There was deep regret on the part of the fellowship to have ever allowed such a thing to go on and especially on the part of the man.There is a great deal we are not told about this case. If we are right in saying it was the man’s stepmother, what about her? Why wasn’t she disciplined? Was she a believer? Were there any sanctions? Could the man go on living in the same house that was the matrimonial home of his parents, where his sin lay? Was he at home? Did he have family of his own? Well, I am only mentioning these things because we are not told and we are not told what sanctions applied either. He repented but of course there were certain tasks he would no longer be eligible to do, as we are taught elsewhere in the Scripture. We are only given the bare bones and we may be sure that there were certain sanctions and certain provisions made for this man. But the point for is that there had been repentance on his part in the space of something up to a year and on the part of the church and so therefore he could be restored to the communion of the church and to the Lord.They were now to forgive him, and not only forgive him, but to comfort him. To comfort him? Why, he has done a terrible thing. I can forgive but I cannot comfort him. But yes, forgive him, ‘lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up.’ The Greek is powerful, swallowed up entirely, engulfed, we might say, with over much sorrow. The evidence was plain. The discipline had been carried out, and the result was this man was in great sorrow, in mourning. The effect had been that he had seen his sin, and shame bore down upon him, and he was horrified at his conduct so much so he was being in danger of being engulfed so he could think of nothing else and he could not consider himself saved any more. His state and condition was very low.