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Sketches from the Life of Paul
his presence at that time would have precipitated a crisis which might
have endangered souls. Had he visited them immediately after leaving
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Ephesus, he could not have withheld the reproof that their course
deserved. Had they then resisted him, the power of God, through
him, would have been visited upon the evil workers. God saw that
this course was not proper at that time, and guided his servant in
another direction. He had sent his first epistle to present before them
the evil of their course, that they might manifest repentance, and take
action against those who were disgracing the church by their lascivious
conduct.
It was through the counsel of God that he had been turned away
from his original purpose of visiting them, so that when he should
go to them, it would not be with the rod of correction, but with love,
approval, and the spirit of meekness. He had felt that more could
be gained by his letter than by his presence at that time. He had
admonished them to put away the evils existing among them, before
he should visit Corinth in person.
His compassion for them is evinced by his advice that the ones
who had been dealt with for their sins, having given proof of their
repentance, should be received with love and kindness. They were
at liberty to act in his behalf toward the repenting sinner. If they
could forgive and accept the penitent, he, acting in Christ’s stead,
would ratify their action. Thus the apostle shows his confidence in the
wisdom of the church, and recognizes their authority to receive again
into their fellowship those who had once injured the cause by their
wicked course, but had now become truly penitent.
Paul’s opposers in the church made use against him of his failure to
visit Corinth according to his promise, and argued that he was inconsis-
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tent and vacillating, changing his plans according to his convenience or
inclination. But the apostle solemnly assures his Corinthian brethren
that the reports were untrue, and that their knowledge of him should
convince them of their injustice. His change of purpose, viewed from
any standpoint, was no evidence that his doctrine was uncertain. As
God was true and faithful, Paul’s preaching was not in uncertainty
or contradiction. After he had once declared the doctrine of Christ,
he had said yea in Christ, and had never after said nay; or, in other
words, had never retracted a single point which he had established by