Paul's phrase, "another painful visit," indicates that he had already made one difficult trip to Corinth since founding the church. Paul had gone there to deal with those in the church who had been attacking and undermining his authority as an apostle of Jesus Christ, thus confusing other believers.
   Paul's last letter, referred to here, was not the book of 1st Corinthians, but a letter written between 1st and 2nd Corinthians, just after his unplanned, painful visit (2:1). Paul refers to this letter again in 7:8.
   Paul did not enjoy reprimanding his friends and fellow believers, but he cared enough about the Corinthians to confront them with their wrongdoing. Proverbs 27:6 says: "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses." Sometimes our friends make choices that we know are wrong. If we ignore their behavior and let them continue in it, we won't be showing love to them. We show love by honestly sharing our concerns in order to help these friends do and be their very best for God. When we don't make any move to help, we show that we are more concerned about being well liked than about what will happen to them.

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Forgiveness for the Sinner
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   Paul explained that it was time to forgive the man who had been punished by the church and had subsequently repented. He needed forgiveness, acceptance, and comfort. Satan would gain an advantage if they permanently separated this man from the congregation rather than forgiving and restoring him. This may have been the man who had required the disciplinary action described in 1st Corinthians 5, or he may have been the chief opponent of Paul who had caused Paul the anguish described in 2:1-11. The sorrowful letter had finally brought about the repentance of the Corinthians, and their discipline of the man had led to his repentance.

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Cross-reference 2nd Corinthians 7:8-14
   (8)Even if I caused you sorrow 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 - (9)yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. (10)Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. (11)See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. (12)So even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong or of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are. (13)By all this we are encouraged.
   In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. (14)I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well.

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   Church discipline should seek restoration. Two mistakes in church discipline should be avoided - being too lenient and not correcting mistakes, or being too harsh and not forgiving the sinner. There is a time to confront and a time to comfort.
   We use church discipline to help keep the church pure and to help wayward people repent. But Satan tries to harm the church by tempting it to use discipline in an unforgiving way. This causes those exercising discipline to become proud of their purity, and it causes the person who is being disciplined to become bitter and perhaps leave the church entirely. We must remember that our purpose in discipline is to restore a person to the fellowship, not to destroy him or her. We must be cautious that personal anger is not vented under the guise of church discipline.

   Titus was a Greek convert whom Paul greatly loved and trusted (the book of Titus is a letter that Paul wrote to him). Titus was one of the men responsible for collecting the money for the poverty-stricken Jerusalem church. Paul may also have sent Titus with the sorrowful letter. On his way to Macedonia, Paul was supposed to meet Titus in Troas. When Paul didn't find him there, he was worried for Titus's safety and left Troas to search for him in Macedonia. There Paul found him, and the good news that Paul received led to this letter. Paul would send Titus back to Corinth with this letter.

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Cross-reference 2nd Corinthians 8:16, 17
(16)I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. (17)For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative.

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   In the middle of discussing his unscheduled trip to Macedonia, Paul thanked God for his ministry, his relationship with the Corinthian believers, and the way God had used him to help others wherever he went, despite difficulties (2:14-7:4). In 7:5, Paul resumed his story of his trip to Macedonia.
   In a Roman triumphal procession, the Roman general would display his treasures and captives amidst a cloud of incense burned for the gods. To the victors, the aroma was sweet; to the captives in the parade, it was the smell of slavery and death. When Christians preach the gospel, it is good news to some and repulsive news to others. Believers recognize the life-giving fragrance of the message. To nonbelievers, however, it smells foul, like death - their own.
   Paul asks "who is equal" to the task of representing Christ? Our adequacy is always from God.

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Cross-reference 1st Corinthians 15:10
(10)But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

Cross-reference 2nd Corinthians 3:5
(5)Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.

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   He has already commissioned and sent us.

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Cross-reference Matthew 28:18-20
"...(18)Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. (19)Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (20)and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

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   He has given us the Holy Spirit to enable us to speak with Christ's power. He keeps his eye on us, protecting us as we work for him. So, if we realize that God makes us competent and useful, we can overcome our feelings of inadequacy. Serving Christ, therefore, requires that we focus on what he can do through us, not on what we can't do by ourselves.
   Some preachers in Paul's day were "peddlers" of God's word, preaching without understanding God's message or caring about what happened to their listeners. They weren't concerned about furthering God's kingdom - they just wanted money. Today there are still religious teachers who care only about money, and not about truth. Those who truly speak for God should have sincerity and integrity, and should never preach for selfish reasons (1 Timothy 6:5-10).

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Cross-reference 1st Timothy 6:5-10
(5)and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.
   (6)But godliness with contentment is great gain. (7)For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. (8)But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. (9)People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. (10)For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.