2 Corinthians 6–7

6Working together with him, we also appeal to you, “Don’t receive the grace of God in vain.” ²For he says:

At an acceptable time I listened to you,

and in the day of salvation I helped you.^Ea

See, now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation!^b

THE CHARACTER OF PAUL’S MINISTRY

³We are not giving anyone an occasion for offense, so that the ministry will not be blamed. ⁴Instead, as God’s ministers, we commend ourselves in everything: by great endurance, by afflictions, by hardships, by difficulties, ⁵by beatings, by imprisonments,^c by riots, by labors, by sleepless nights, by times of hunger, ⁶by purity,^d by knowledge,^e by patience,^f by kindness,^g by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,^{h 7}by the word of truth,^Fi by the power of God;^j through weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, ⁸through glory^k and dishonor, through slander and good report; regarded as deceivers, yet true; ⁹as unknown, yet recognized; as dying, yet see—we live; as being disciplined, yet not killed; ¹⁰as grieving, yet always rejoicing;^l as poor, yet enriching many; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. ¹¹We have spoken openly to you, Corinthians; our heart has been opened wide. ¹²We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. ¹³I speak as to my children; as a proper response, open your heart to us.

SEPARATION TO GOD

¹⁴Do not be yoked together with those who do not believe. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness?^m Or what fellowship does lightⁿ have with darkness?^{o 15}What agreement does Christ have with Belial?^A Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? ¹⁶And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols?^p For we^B are the temple of the living God, as God said:

I will dwell^q

and walk among them,

and I will be their God,^r

and they will be my people.^Cs

¹⁷Therefore, come out from among them

and be separate, says the Lord;

do not touch any unclean thing,

and I will welcome you.^Dt

¹⁸And I will be a Father^u to you,

and you will be sons^v and daughters to me,

says the Lord Almighty.^Ew

7So then, dear friends, since we have these promises,^x let us cleanse ourselves from every impurity of the flesh and spirit,^y bringing holiness to completion^F in the fear of God.^z

JOY AND REPENTANCE

²Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, corrupted^aa no one, taken advantage of no one. ³I don’t say this to condemn you, since I have already said that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. ⁴I am very frank with you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement; I am overflowing with joy in all our afflictions.

⁵In fact, when we came into Macedonia,^ab we^G had no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way: conflicts^ac on the outside, fears^ad within. ⁶But God, who comforts the downcast,^ae comforted us by the arrival of Titus, ⁷and not only by his arrival but also by the comfort he received from you. He told us about your deep longing, your sorrow, and your zeal^af for me, so that I rejoiced even more. ⁸For even if I grieved you with my letter,^ag I don’t regret it. And if I regretted it—since I saw that the letter grieved you, yet only for a while—⁹I now rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn’t experience any loss from us. ¹⁰For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death.^{ah 11}For consider how much diligence this very thing—this grieving as God wills—has produced in you: what a desire to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what deep longing, what zeal, what justice! In every way you showed yourselves to be pure^ai in this matter. ¹²So even though I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong, or because of the one who was wronged, but in order that your devotion to us might be made plain to you in the sight of God. ¹³For this reason we have been comforted.

In addition to our own comfort, we rejoiced even more over the joy Titus^a had, because his spirit was refreshed by all of you. ¹⁴For if I have made any boast to him about you, I have not been disappointed; but as I have spoken everything to you in truth,^b so our boasting to Titus has also turned out to be the truth. ¹⁵And his affection toward you is even greater as he remembers the obedience of all of you, and how you received him with fear and trembling. ¹⁶I rejoice that I have complete confidence in you.