Sufficient Punishment 2 Corinthians 2:6

Paul the apostle told the church members, “if any have caused grief, he has not grieved me, but in part”, and he added, “that I may not overcharge you all”. In chapter two and verse seven of Second Corinthians, Paul declared to the church members, “sufficient to such a man is this punishment”, where we read:

Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.

The verse begins, “sufficient to such a man is this punishment, ...” Paul began with the word, “sufficient” which means “many enough, meet and fit in ability” “to such a man” or “of this kind or sort of person” “is this punishment” which means “this penalty for wrong”. Paul considered the “penalty” “adequate” for the man whom they banned from the church .

The verse continues, “... which was inflicted of many.” Paul continued with the words, “which was inflicted” which means “imposed and put upon” “of many” or “by a great number of people”. Paul recognized how “many” people “penalized” the man of whom he wrote.

When we think through these words of Paul, we see how he considered the “penalty” “inflicted” upon the man “adequate”. Our question becomes, “who was this man?” This was the man living in an adulteress relationship with his father's mother of whom he wrote in his first letter. Paul told them, “to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Corinthians 5:5), and after some time passed, Paul recognized the “punishment” given to him by “many” people in the church was “enough”. We should remember this when people have recommitted their lives to Jesus Christ. Evidently the man repented of his ways, and it was now time to “restore” him to the church. Jesus Christ is in the restoration business, and though we fall, He desires to pick us up again, help us to our spiritual feet and use us in His Kingdom until He comes again.

Next time Paul tells the church members, “contrariwise you ought rather to forgive him”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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