This verse, as above remarked, is by some made to depend on v. 8, the vs.
9 and 10 being parenthetical. ‘Confirm your love towards him — lest Satan should get an advantage of us.’ Others make it depend on the preceding words, ‘We should act (or, I was pardoned) in the presence of Christ, lest,’ etc. The most natural connection is with the first clause of v.
10, which contains the main idea of the context. ‘I will join you in pardoning the offender lest Satan get an advantage of us,’ i.e. make a gain of us. The expression is mh< pleonekthqw~men uJpo< tou~ satana~, lest we should be made gain of; or defrauded, by Satan. It was a gain to Satan if either an individual soul could be driven to despair, or the peace of the church could be disturbed. Both of these evils were to be apprehended if discipline were carried too far. This dread of Satan was not chimerical or
unreasonable, for he really does seek to turn every thing to the
disadvantage of Christ and his kingdom. We are not ignorant, says the apostle, of his devices. This and similar passages of the Word of God teach that Satan is a personal being; that he exerts great influence over the minds of men; that although finite, and, therefore, not ubiquitous, he is
nevertheless represented as operating on the minds of men generally, and not merely on those in any one place. His powers of intelligence and agency therefore must be great beyond our conceptions. No individual and no community can ever be sure that he is not plotting their destruction.
Paul might have said to the Romans or the Ephesians, as he did to the Corinthians, that they must take heed lest Satan make a gain of them, and in some way secure them as his own.
12, 13. Furthermore, when I came to Troas to (preach) Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit because I found not Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia.
Furthermore, when I came; literally, But having come. The particle de>
(but) serves to resume the connection broken by the digression, vs. 5-11.
In v. 4 he said he had written his former letter in great anguish and distress of heart, to manifest his love for them. And as a still further proof of the deep interest which he took in their welfare, he refers to the incident mentioned in these verses. In execution of his plan of going from Ephesus through Macedonia to Corinth, <461605>
1 Corinthians 16:5, Paul came to Troas, literally, to the Troad (eijv th<n Trw|a>da) a name given to the whole district around the site of ancient Troy. The city itself was on the coast of Mysia opposite to the island of Tenedos. It had been made a Roman colony by Augustus, and was a place of considerable importance, in constant commercial intercourse with the cities of Macedonia and Greece.
Paul did not intend to make a rapid journey to Corinth, but a regular missionary tour; he therefore says he came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, i.e. the gospel of which Christ is the author. It is also called the gospel of God, and Paul speaks of it as his gospel, i.e. the gospel which he preached. When spoken of as the gospel of the kingdom of God,
<400423>
Matthew 4:23, the gospel of salvation, <490113>
Ephesians 1:13, of peace,
<490615>
Ephesians 6:15, the genitive expresses either the subject of which the gospel treats or the effects which it produces. And a door was opened to
me, i.e. a way of access, an opening to labor with effect. Of the Lord, according to this interpretation the words, ejn kuri>w|, are to be connected with the immediately preceding participle, “door opened by the Lord.” See
<461558>
1 Corinthians 15:58; <480510>
Galatians 5:10; <490221>
Ephesians 2:21. It is, however, more in accordance with Paul’s style, who so frequently uses these words in such expressions as ‘work in the Lord’ ‘temple in the Lord,’ ‘fellow-laborer in the Lord,’ to refer them to the whole clause.
“There was an open door in the Lord.” The kind of door is thus indicated, or the sphere of labor pointed out. It was an opportunity for laboring successfully in the Lord’s service. Though the prospects were so
favorable, Paul says, I had no rest in my spirit; tw|~ pneu>mati mou~, for my spirit. The word spirit is here used because it is the highest term to
designate the soul, <450816>
Romans 8:16, and the anxiety or distress which the apostle experienced concerned the highest feelings of his nature. Because I found not Titus my brother. He calls Titus his brother, both because of his relation to him as a fellow-Christian, and because he was a joint laborer with him in the gospel. He expected to meet Titus at Troas, and to learn from him the state of things in Corinth, and especially the effect produced by his former letter. It seems that he regarded this as a turning point in the history of that church. If they submitted to his authority and corrected the abuses, which he had pointed out, and especially if they excommunicated the member guilty of the unheard-of offense so often referred to in this chapter, then he had hopes of their stability in faith and progress in holiness. But if they refused to regard his injunctions, and persisted in the course on which they had entered, then he foresaw their speedy
destruction. So much was at stake that he could not endure the state of suspense which he was in; and therefore, taking leave of them, that is, of the brethren in Troas, he passed over into Macedonia. On his first visit to this city, Paul was prevented from remaining by a vision, from which he gathered that the Lord called him to preach the gospel in Macedonia.
<441608>
Acts 16:8. And on his return from his present journey, it is said, he sailed from Philippi and came in five days to Troas, and abode there seven days. <442006>
Acts 20:6. From the circumstances connected with this last visit it is evident that there was all established church at that time in Troas. The word ajpota>ssomai, to take leave of, means to separate oneself from, to bid farewell to. <421606>
Luke 16:61; <441818>
Acts 18:18, 21. I went from thence into Macedonia; exh~lqon, I went forth. He crossed over the northeastern
corner of the Mediterranean sea to one of the ports of Macedonia; the same voyage which he made on his return, which then required five days.
As Titus was to return from Corinth through Macedonia to Troas, Paul thus went to meet him on his journey.
14. Now thanks (be) unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in