Titus - 2 Corinthians 2:12-17

It seems that Paul is anxious for the Corinthians to understand that they are important to him and that he didn’t come by his rebuke to them easily. Let’s remember Paul’s timeline. I found a Wikipedia article that was very helpful:

1.       “Paul visits Corinth for the first time, spending about 18 months there. He then leaves Corinth and spends about 3 years in Ephesus.

2.       “Paul writes the ‘warning letter’ in his first year from Ephesus (1 Corinthians 5:9).”

3.       “Paul writes 1 Corinthians from his second year at Ephesus.”

4.       “Paul visits the Corinthian church a second time, as he indicated he would in 1 Corinthians 16:6. Probably during his last year in Ephesus. 2 Corinthians 2:1 calls this a ‘painful visit’.”

5.       “Paul writes the ‘letter of tears.’” – The 3^rd letter that was “harsh” and rebuking.

6.       “Paul writes 2 Corinthians, indicating his desire to visit the Corinthian church a third time (2 Cor. 12:14, 2 Cor 13:1). The letter does not indicate where he is writing from, but it is usually dated after Paul left Ephesus for Macedonia (Acts 20), from either Phillipi or Thessalonica in Macedonia.”

7.       “Paul presumably made a third visit after writing 2 Corinthians, because Acts 20:2-3 indicates he spent 3 months in Greece. In his letter to Rome, written at this time, he sent salutations from some of the principle members of the church to the Romans.”

Keeping track of when and where Paul was when what was written and sent to whomever is kind of tough, in fact I’m really like to have like an interactive map or something, maybe I’ll work on that. But this layout of the timeline is very helpful for me. At this point Paul is probably in Macedonia, and this is after he was forced to flee from an angry mob. He’s been accused of not taking his calling as an apostle seriously, nor caring about the people of Corinth, but Paul reiterates that he was SO concerned about the reaction of the Corinthians to his harsh letter that he “had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother.”



The people he’s writing this letter to would know exactly why Paul’s meeting with Titus was important, because Titus had been the one to take the harsh letter from Paul to the Corinthians. He probably would have spent some time there fielding questions, counseling the people, helping where he could in the church. He even points out that when he went to Troas “to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord,” he was still vexed because Titus wasn’t there to give him the news of the people in Corinth. I don’t know why Titus wasn’t in Troas like Paul expected him to be, but as soon as he was done with this work there, Paul set out for Macedonia to find Titus.



With Titus spending time with the Corinthians, there might have been people who were angry with him because of the rebuke, or because he was maybe counseling the people against believing what the “false apostles” were teaching. Titus’ visit would have been a joyful experience for the righteous and a disastrous visit for the wicked. But just to make sure that the people knew that Titus came because of Paul’s instruction, therefore had some measure of priesthood authority, Paul calls Titus “my brother.” They probably weren’t biological brothers, but they were brothers in Christ and that’s what mattered to Paul, that they were united in purpose.



The article about this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com quotes Richard Lloyd Anderson as noting, “Titus emerges as a seasoned assistant in disciplining the Corinthian branch of the Church… Titus obviously had done his work with courage and capacity, but Paul goes further to show another critical ingredient in his success- his love for the people that he sought to help. ‘And his heart goes out all the more to you, as he remembers the obedience of you all, and the fear and trembling with which you received him.’” The word “assistant” here makes it sound like Titus was perhaps just Paul’s secretary or something, and really, that’s the impression that I got from the readings. But the responsibility of taking a rebuking letter from the presiding apostolic authority to a people who were in need of a harsh rebuke would have been a daunting task.



Titus didn’t know how the people would respond and honestly, it could have gone either way. It probably was more likely that the people would receive Paul’s rebuke and become angry. If the people became angry, any number of scenarios could have played out and Titus could have found himself beaten, whipped, crucified or just plain murdered for delivering bad news. But Titus delivered the message anyway, perhaps expecting hostility at the letter received. He was not afraid, or at least he overcame his fear and did his job anyway.



Then there would be the possibility that the people needed clarification on Paul’s words, so Titus obviously would have needed to have some sort of priesthood authority in order to handle and counsel about church disciple, policy, and procedure. Surely the people would have asked Titus’ advice about issues that concerned them that Paul’s hadn’t explicitly addresses. Again, this means that he would have had to possess an undisputable amount of priesthood authority. So it seems that Titus isn’t just a secretary hand delivering performance reviews then walking away, leaving the people to figure everything out themselves. He is obviously a man who is trusted with a substantial amount of priesthood authority by Paul, the presiding apostle in that area at that time. It’s important that the people of Corinth know that Titus has Paul’s full support because there were probably some issues that arose that were not handled the way that some people had wanted, but knowing that Titus had Paul’s blessing would take away the argument that “Titus isn’t the apostle, he can’t tell us what to do.”



Perhaps to reinforce the idea that Titus’ counsel along with his own in the letter, were legitimate, Paul thanks God “which always causeth us to triumph in Christ.” Those of the Corinthian saints who took the counsel to heart and repented “are unto God a sweet savour of Christ.” The IM explains, “The smoke of temple offerings was described as a sweet savor to God. Similarly, the lives of righteous saints represented an offering that was pleasing to God, for they were becoming like Christ.” The use of incense during religious ceremonies was common among both Jew and Gentile at this time, so the people would probably have been familiar with the concept. And because the Christian converts didn’t use incense but were familiar with it, Paul used this analogy to give an image of understanding to the people. We don’t burn incense anymore, but trying to live righteous lives pleases God just as much as incense does during the ceremonies.



The next bit is a little bit confusing because Paul says that they are “the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life.” This makes no sense to me, how is someone the “savour” of both life and death? The article quotes Bruce R. McConkie as noting, “Those who partake of the spirit breathed by the saints, the spirit of the gospel, the sweet influence that results from obedience to God’s laws, gain eternal like; those who reject it inherit eternal death. That is, the gospel is an instrument of life and of death, of life to the obedient, and death to the disobedient.” This goes back to the concept that the most important thing in the universe in the gospel. This is a difficult concept for us because we are so caught up in the everyday, hand to mouth circumstances of mortality. Receiving the gospel can give people eternal life, joy, happiness, and fulfillment. But rejecting the gospel brings spiritual death, misery, and unhappiness. The gospel is the same, but our choice of how to interact with it determines our spiritual life or our spiritual death.



Ending this chapter is Paul’s testimony that they are on God’s errand. He says, “for we are not as many which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ.” Interestingly, the IM says, “the word corrupt, as used in 2 Corinthians 2:17, is taken from a Greek word for a peddler; it referred specifically to persons who sold impure or adulterated goods. As an Apostle of Jesus Christ, Paul did not preach the gospel for money nor adulterate its message as some were doing in Corinth at the time.” The article says, “It is entirely possible for important churchmen of high position (a number are pointed out by name in the New Testament) to ‘preach another Jesus’ and to ‘pervert the gospel of Christ’ and to ‘corrupt the word of God,’ and to ‘wrest…the…scriptures.’ And it is quite possible for these to enjoy great success and become the leaders of the church after the apostles are gone. This is the process of apostles and the Lord predicted.”



In the new Saints volume that the Church put out, there are several incidents where high level church priesthood authorities start teaching different doctrine and by the time someone from the church leadership comes out, the whole congregation has been turned away from the gospel in such a way that it is totally unrecognizable. Paul reassures the people of Corinth that he and his associates are there to preach Christ’s gospel in love and hope and faith.