Chapter 17—Paul Revisits Corinth
It was autumn when Paul again visited Corinth. As he beheld the
Corinthian towers and lofty citadel in the distance, the clouds that
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enshrouded the mountains and cast a shadow upon the city beneath,
seemed a fitting emblem of the error and immorality which threatened
the prosperity of the Christian church in that place. The mind of Paul
was agitated by conflicting thoughts. He was to meet his children in
the faith of the gospel. Some of them had been guilty of grievous
sins. Some of his former friends had forgotten his love and the sweet
friendship and confidence of earlier days. They had become his ene-
mies, and questioned and disputed whether he was a true apostle of
Christ, intrusted with the gospel. Though the majority of the church
had turned from their sins and submitted to the commands of Paul, yet
it could not be with them entirely as it was before their immorality.
There could not exist that union, love, and confidence between teacher
and people, as upon the occasion of his former visit.
There were still some in the church, who, when reproved by the
apostle, had persisted in their sinful course, despising his warnings and
defying his authority. The time had come when he must take decisive
measures to put down this opposition. He had warned the Corinthians
of his purpose to come and deal in person with the obstinate offenders:
“I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that if I
come again, I will not spare; since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in
me.” He had delayed his coming, to give them time for reflection and
repentance. But now all who continued in their course of error and sin,
must be separated from the church of Christ. They had charged Paul
with timidity and weakness because of his long forbearance through
love for their souls. He would now be compelled to pursue a course
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which would disprove this charge.
As Paul thus approaches Corinth, how striking the contrast to the
close of a former journey, when Saul, “breathing out threatenings and
slaughter against the disciples of the Lord,” drew near to Damascus!
How widely different the appearance, purposes, and spirit of Saul and
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