2 Corinthians 2:5-11 (NIV)
If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. Another reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
At the heart of Paul’s conflict with the Corinthians had been the way in which they had dealt with, or failed to deal with, sin in their midst. Paul had already chastised them in 1 Corinthians 5 for failing to take action against a blatant sexual sin.
In the time since then, another person had rebelled in the congregation, causing distress and grief among those in the Church. The Corinthians had obeyed Paul’s earlier directive and had cut the sinner off from their fellowship. And that had effectively moved him to repentance.
But there were some in the Church who had been so hurt by this fellow Christian that, even though he had repented, they were unwilling to receive him back into the fellowship, or at least into their friendship. And Paul saw the danger in this.
Paul knew that real repentance fully restored a person’s relationship with God. But he also knew that if God’s people were less forgiving than God is, if they continue to be unwilling to bring back and to restore the repentant sinner, it could quickly move that sinner to despair, to hopelessness, and ultimately to believing that God was still rejecting them. That could cause them to turn away, and ultimately be lost. And if that happened, Satan would win—the last thing in the world that either Paul or the Corinthians would want!
Some were refusing to forgive in defense of attacks that had been made against Paul. And it is quite common for it to be much easier to forgive someone for what they have done to us than it is to forgive them for what they have done to someone we care about. But Paul would have none of that unforgiveness on his behalf, and he would have none of the resultant defeat that would come of it. So, he is quick to write that he has already forgiven the one who has repented and urging those who are withholding forgiveness on his behalf to stop it immediately and to completely forgive.
Father, You bring up an interesting and important point. Even if You forgive someone who repents, if I refuse to forgive them and continue to treat them as sinners, they won’t own their forgiveness from You, and will likely experience shame, frustration, and hopelessness. And they could ultimately be lost. When I do that, when I refuse to fully forgive those You have forgiven, I am putting myself in a position where I am overruling Your decision to forgive, and I am actually declaring that my standards are higher than Yours, essentially making myself not just the judge of my brother or sister in Christ, but of You as well! Forgive me, Lord, for anywhere I have done this in my life, and help me to never place myself on a higher level than You in my mind or my heart. Amen.
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