2 Corinthians chapter 2

vs 10

Paul is commending the forgiving action of the church by lending his support to their forgiveness. But what does it mean to forgive in the sight of Christ? Does this verse support the confessional method of the catholics? Perhaps they use it in that way. I think what Paul is saying is that if the Corinthians forgive someone, and he also forgives them, then you can be sure that, since Paul has forgiven them, it is right in Christ's sight to forgive them.

And he's also done it for their sake, which is nice, but the next bit is somewhat of a curler.

vs 11

I'm not 100% here, but hear me out. Satan is deceptive, and he could very well use the putting of a person out of the church as a way of fragmenting and dividing the church. That's why we've got to do everything in love and with forgiveness, because that combat's Satan's schemes. Satan, for all his evil, isn't really all that creative apparently.

vs 12-13

These verses, in my opinion, could poke big damn holes in the language of God "opening doors" for you. Paul freely says that God opened a door for him to preach the gospel in Troas, and what could be more beneficial than preaching the gospel? What is closer to God's will? And hasn't God shown Paul what he wants him to do by "opening a door" for him? But he doesn't do it.

However, it is possible that Paul is talking about his own fear and inability to do God's will even when God opens a door for him. So when he ends up in Troas and wants to preach, he freaks out because he doesn't have Titus there. So instead, he goes to Macedonia.

Or perhaps Paul is saying that, even though God had opened a door, Paul still had no peace of mind, but he preached there anyway until saying goodbye to them and going off to Macedonia.

To be honest, these verses seem very out of place. Whatever the meaning of these verses, it has to be taken in context of verse 14-17.

vs 14

The point of this verse is that, whatever happened in verse 12-13, God is to be thanked, because he always leads us in the conquering march home. And he always spreads the fragrance of his gospel around. So no matter where Paul went in the end, it was to God's glory. Not because of how good Paul is, but just because no matter what, we're always led by Christ in victory.

vs 15

Whether 'we' here means Paul and Timothy or is inclusive of all the Corinthians too, I think it's safe to say that this verse is inclusive of us all. As Christians, we all exist as the fragrance of Christ. And this is to everyone! Everyone should smell Christ on us, because it should be that pervasive in our lives.

vs 16

And not everyone likes the smell. Some people think it smells of death. I don't think Paul means too much behind that - I think he's just using the smell of death to offset the smell of life (which is obviously the renewing life of the gospel). I don't think he means they smell the death of their social life, or of their own lives, or their free will, or anything like that. What they do smell is judgement, even if they don't know it yet.

Paul also asks who is equal to the task of being the smell of both death and life, which leads me to believe that he is talking more about his own ministry and that of Timothy, than including the Corinthians in this. But that doesn't matter, as Paul is still an example for us.

vs 17

Paul never sought to make the spreading of the word a stumbling block to people by making a profit out of it. He would have legitimately made a profit, or at least a living, out of preaching, and it would have been culturally viable in Corinth or anywhere in Greece. But he wanted to be above reproach, and so sought not to be a financial drain on those to whom he was preaching. That doesn't mean he didn't accept gifts, especially from other churches.

But his aim was not to make money, but instead to speak about Christ with sincerity. Paul and Timothy are the original Blues Brothers, sent on a mission from Gahd.