A Warning against Too-Familiar Association with Unbelievers (6:14–7:1)
1 Now since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from every defilement of the flesh and spirit and thereby complete our sanctification through reverence for God.
“Receive Us”: The Plea Resumed (7:2–4)
2 Make room for us in your hearts. We have treated no one unjustly; we have corrupted no one; we have taken advantage of no one. 3 I am not saying this to condemn you, for as I have already said, you have a place in our hearts such that we would live or die together with you. 4 I have great confidence in you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with comfort. I am overflowing with joy in all our tribulation.
Joy in the Report of Titus (7:5–7)
5 For even when we came to Macedonia, our body found no rest at all; rather, we were afflicted in every way—struggles on the outside, fears within. 6 But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus. 7 And not only by his arrival but also by the encouragement he received while among you when he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your earnest concern for me, so that I rejoiced even more.
The Positive Effects of Paul’s Harsh Letter (7:8–12)
8 For even if I caused you sorrow with my letter, I do not regret it (even though I initially regretted it, for I see that the letter made you sorry, although only for a short time). 9 Now I am happy, not because you were made sorry but that your being made sorry led you to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner such that you suffered no loss through us. 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to salvation that is without regret. But worldly sorrow produces death. 11 For see what this very thing, this being made sorry in a godly manner, has produced in you—what earnestness, indeed what eagerness to defend yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what desire to see justice done! In every particular you have shown that you were innocent in the matter. 12 And so, even though I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did the wrong nor on account of the one who was wronged, rather it was in order to demonstrate to you your eagerness on our behalf before God.
“I Have Complete Confidence in You” (7:13–16)
13 Therefore, we have been encouraged.
And in addition to our own encouragement, we rejoiced even more greatly at Titus’s joy because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. 14 For if I have boasted about anything to him concerning you, I have not been put to shame. Instead, just as everything we told you in truth so also our boasting about you to Titus proved true. 15 And his affection for you is even greater when he remembers the obedience of all of you—how you received him with fear and trembling. 16 I rejoice because I have complete confidence in you.
