2 Corinthians 7

¹Therefore, since we have these promises, beloved, let us scrub ourselves clean from every pollution of the flesh and the spirit, bringing holiness to its full expression in the fear of God.

²Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have ruined no one, we have exploited no one. ³I am not saying this to condemn you; for I have said before that you are in our hearts so deeply that we would die together or live together. ⁴I have great confidence in you; I have great pride in you. I am filled to the brim with encouragement; I overflow with joy in the midst of all our affliction.

⁵For even when we arrived in Macedonia, our human flesh found no relief. Instead, we were pressured at every turn—battles on the outside, fears on the inside. ⁶But God, who encourages the downcast, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus. ⁷And it was not only by his arrival, but also by the encouragement he received from you. He reported to us your deep longing, your mourning, and your burning zeal for me, so that I rejoiced all the more.

⁸For even if I grieved you with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it for a moment (for I see that the letter grieved you, even if only for a short time). ⁹Now I rejoice, not because you were pained, but because your pain led to a change of heart. For you were grieved in accordance with God’s own character, so that you suffered no loss at our hands in any way. ¹⁰For the grief that accords with God’s character produces a change of heart that leads to salvation—a path that brings no regret. But the grief of the world produces only death.

¹¹For look at this very thing—this grieving in accordance with God’s heart—what earnestness it has produced in you! What a defense of yourselves! What indignation! What fear! What longing! What zeal! What a redressing of wrong! In every way you have proven yourselves to be pure in this matter. ¹²So, even though I wrote to you, it was not primarily for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who was wronged, but so that your earnestness for us might be made plain to you in the sight of God.

¹³Because of this, we have been encouraged. And in addition to our own encouragement, we rejoiced even more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been set at ease by all of you. ¹⁴For if I have boasted to him at all about you, I have not been put to shame. But just as we spoke everything to you in truth, so also our boasting to Titus has proven to be the truth. ¹⁵And his deepest affections go out to you even more as he remembers the obedience of you all, and how you received him with fear and trembling. ¹⁶I rejoice that I can have complete confidence in you.[/SPEAKER]