Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 2 Corinthians 7:12-14

"So although I wrote unto you, I [wrote] not for his cause that did the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered the wrong, but that your earnest care for us might be made manifest unto you in the sight of God. Therefore we have been comforted: And in our comfort we joyed the more exceedingly for the joy of Titus, because his spirit hath been refreshed by you all. For if in anything I have gloried to him on your behalf, I was not put to shame; but as we spake all things to you in truth, so our glorying also which I made before Titus was found to be truth." — 2 Corinthians 7:12-14 (ASV)

(12-13a) Paul’s principal aim in writing the “severe letter” was for the Corinthians to recognize “before God” how devoted to their spiritual father they really were (cf. 2:9) and to ensure their future loyalty to Paul. This statement of his aim was likely influenced by his knowledge of the letter’s outcome. At the time he actually wrote that letter he was unsure of Corinthian loyalty and hence was restless (2:12–13; 7:5). But since God had prevented the letter from making the Corinthians resentful (v.9b), Paul was encouraged (v,13a).

Paul also hints at two subsidiary aims in this letter: the punishment of the guilty party (cf. 2:6, 9) and the vindication of “the injured party.” The offender was probably not the man guilty of incest (see comments on 2:5–6, 10–11), but an anti-Pauline intruder in the church; the injured party was likely Paul himself.

(13b–14) Through the “godly sorrow” of the Corinthians, Titus was as relieved and encouraged as Paul. He apparently had little occasion before his visit to Corinth as bearer of the “severe letter” to form an independent judgment about the Corinthians; so he was dependent on Paul’s glowing recommendation. This would suggest that this visit was his first one (though he may have had a brief earlier visit to organize the collection; see 1 Corinthians 16:1–2; see comment on 2 Corinthians 8:6–7). Titus seems to have ventured on this visit with some trepidation. But now that the visit was over, “his spirit has been refreshed.”

Paul’s relief stemmed from the fact that his generous assurances to Titus about the Corinthians had not proved unfounded and therefore embarrassing to him (v.11). On the contrary, just as his own truthfulness had been vindicated at Corinth (cf. 1:18–20), so also his boasting about them had now proved fully justified.