Verse 10 says, “For the sorrow according to God works repentance unto salvation, a repentance without regret; but the sorrow of the world works death.” Salvation here refers to being reconciled to God (5:20). This results in more life, which is versus death. By this the apostle sees the fruit of his first Epistle to the Corinthian believers.
In verse 11 Paul continues, “For behold this very thing, your being made sorrowful according to God, what earnestness it wrought in you, moreover, what defense, moreover, what indignation, moreover, what fear, moreover, what longing, moreover, what zeal, moreover, what avenging! In everything you commended yourselves to be pure in the matter.” Being made sorrowful according to God wrought, produced, earnestness in the Corinthians. The Greek word rendered earnestness may also be translated diligence. It refers to the earnest care of the repentant Corinthian believers toward the apostle because of his loving concern for their relationship with God and condition before God. Formerly they were careless with regard to the apostle’s concern. Now in repentance they became careful and earnest concerning it. All seven results produced by the repentant sorrow of the Corinthian believers, as listed in this verse, are a rich reaping that came out of the apostle’s first Epistle to them.
Verse 11 contains seven crucial words: earnestness, defense, indignation, fear, longing, zeal, and avenging. The word “moreover” is used six times in this verse. Literally the Greek word means “but,” in the sense of “not only that, but also.” If we read this verse carefully, we shall see that earnestness stands by itself, whereas the last six results of the repentant sorrow according to God fall into three pairs: the first relating to the Corinthian believers’ feelings of shame, the second to the apostle, and the third to the offender (Bengel). Wuest’s translation also indicates this by the expression “Yes...in fact,” three times as follows: “Yes, verbal defense of yourselves, in fact, indignation, yes, fear, in fact, longing, yes, zeal, in fact, the meting out of disciplinary punishment.”
The word earnestness in verse 11 means earnest care. Here Paul seems to be saying, “Corinthians, you did not have any care for us apostles, especially for me. But in the first Epistle I wrote to you I rebuked you, and that caused you to be sorrowful according to God. Such a sorrow works repentance unto salvation. This produced in you an earnest care for us. Now your earnestness concerning us has been recovered. When I came to see you the first time, you did have an earnest care for me. But certain false teachers distracted you and misled you, causing you to forsake your earnest care for us. Now because of sorrow producing repentance unto salvation, you have an earnest care for us again.”
Actually, Paul was pointing out to the Corinthians their shortage, but he did this in a way that was tender, soft, and sweet. His way of presenting the facts was very tender. If I had been one of the Corinthian believers reading this word, I would have been full of shame at having been distracted and misled and having lost my earnest care for the apostle, the very one through whom I had been saved.
The Greek word for defense in verse 11 also means vindication. It refers to the Corinthian believers’ self-vindication, their clearing of themselves to Paul through Titus, their declaration of their innocence in the offense. After experiencing repentance unto salvation, the Corinthians realized that the situation of the church in Corinth was wrong. In his first Epistle Paul had rebuked them and charged them to humble themselves. An extremely serious evil had been present among them, but they did not feel ashamed. Rather, even with the existence of such a gross sin as incest, they had been proud. As a result, the entire church was rebuked. Because the believers at Corinth repented, they were reconciled to God and wanted to vindicate themselves. They were zealous to make the situation clear to the Apostle Paul.
In verse 11 Paul also refers to the Corinthians’ indignation. This was an indignation at the offense and against the offender. As they were endeavoring to vindicate themselves, the Corinthians were indignant. They were angered by the offense and with the one who had caused it. They knew that their situation was sinful, they repented of it, they wanted to vindicate themselves concerning it, and they were indignant because of it. Their feeling of indignation was present along with their defense, their vindication of themselves.
With respect to Paul, the Corinthians had both fear and longing. They had fear of the apostle, lest he come with a rod (1 Cor. 4:21). But they also had a longing for him. The repentant believers had a fear of the apostle, yet they also had a longing desire for him. They surely wanted to see him again.
In verse 11 Paul also speaks of zeal and avenging. The zeal was to mete out the punishment of justice to the offender, and the avenging was the meting out of justice, doing justice, to all parties, as disciplinary punishment (2:6).
Once again I would emphasize that Paul’s word concerning the situation at Corinth is full of tenderness, softness, and sweetness. To be sure, the Corinthians were exposed. Paul, however, was not harsh in writing to them. Verse 8 is full of the softening element, and verse 11 is full of wisdom. Verse 11 demonstrates Paul’s best writing. It is difficult to translate into any language the Greek expressions used by Paul. This is true in particular of the word used for “moreover,” or “yea” in the King James Version. As we have seen, this Greek word means “not only so, but also.”
In verse 11 we have a wonderful presentation of the situation at Corinth. By the use of seven words—earnestness, defense, indignation, fear, longing, zeal, and avenging—Paul causes the believers at Corinth to know their actual situation. By speaking this way, he brings the situation to the surface and presents a full view of it. Here we see Paul’s tender wisdom. There is no roughness or harshness; instead, there is fineness, tenderness, softness, and sweetness. Paul’s word is full of intimate concern. Instead of offending the Corinthians, he mends them and heals their wounds. This is the ministering life.
It is not sufficient that we learn to preach the gospel or teach doctrine. Paul, of course, was an outstanding preacher of the gospel and a great theologian. He certainly knew all the doctrines of the Bible. But here he does not exercise his ability in preaching or display his knowledge of doctrine. Instead, he exercises in wisdom his tender and intimate concern for the church in Corinth.