Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God.
Receive us; we have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one.
I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together.
I am very glad I can have complete confidence in you.
In all our distress and affliction we have been comforted by your encouragement.
Indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within.
But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,
and not only by his coming but also by the consolation you had given him. He told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more.
Even if I caused you pain by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while—
now I rejoice, not because you were hurt but because you were concerned for me. You showed that you had acted with holiness, not with impurity.
So I am glad that I can have complete confidence in you.
Your love has given me great comfort and joy, because you refreshed the hearts of the saints.
Therefore, although I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is right,
yet I will rather appeal to you on the basis of love—and I, Paul, do this as an old man, and now also as a prisoner of Christ Jesus.
I appeal to you, then, be reconciled to God.
For this is the purpose of my letter, I wrote it out of much distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love I have for you.
If anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you.
This punishment is sufficient for such a person,
so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.
To this end, I wrote you, so that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything.
Now if you forgive anyone anything, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if I have forgiven anything—has been for your sake in the presence of Christ,
so that we may not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
This is the Patristics text that appears when you select Patristics.
