Chapter Six
2 Cor. 6:1. And we, as fellow workers, beseech you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
We, he says, work together both with you and with God: with you, so that you may be saved, and with God, so that His will may be fulfilled, that is, concerning your salvation. "We beseech" on behalf of Christ, even until His second coming, and as long as we exist in this life, so that you may not receive the grace of God in vain. For what is the use of receiving freedom from sins by the grace of God, and then filling up with them again through one's own carelessness? Enmity appears again, and grace toward us becomes futile. Therefore, do not think that faith alone constitutes reconciliation; life is also needed.
2 Cor. 6:2. For He says: "In an acceptable time I heard you, and in a day of salvation I helped you." Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
What is this favorable time? The time of grace, in which there is forgiveness of sins and the imparting of justification. The favorable time is that in which God accepts us, hears us, and saves us. For in the time of judgment He will neither hear, nor help, nor save. Therefore, we must strive in this time of grace, because we will easily receive rewards.
2 Cor. 6:3. We give no offense in anything, that the ministry be not blamed.
We exhort, he said, and we assist. In what way? By a blameless life. And by the very course of his narrative he advises them to pay attention to him. For, he says, I so order my life that I give no one occasion—I do not say for accusation, but even for ordinary reproach, and still more for scandal—so that our ministry may not be blamed. Again, he did not say: so as not to fall under accusation, but so that my work and my ministry may not receive even an incidental reproach. Some, however, explain this as follows: so that the reproach may not pass over to the preaching, for he calls that his ministry. When I live badly, the preaching is subjected to contempt and reproach. He also subtly hints to them that when they live badly, the blasphemy is directed against Christ and against the faith.
2 Cor. 6:4. But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God,
This is much higher: not only to make oneself pure from accusations and reproaches, but also to show such a life that from it one can see that he is a servant of God. He did not say: we show ourselves, but "we commend ourselves," that is, we show ourselves to be such in deed.
2 Cor. 6:4. in great patience,
He also speaks of the manner in which they become such, that is, through patience, and not simply through patience, but through "great patience." For it is not enough to endure one particular affliction or two, but one must be patient to the end.
2 Cor. 6:4. in afflictions, in necessities,
The highest degree of sorrow consists in when inescapable misfortunes oppress a person.
2 Cor. 6:4. in straitened circumstances,
This word signifies hunger or simply temptations.
2 Cor. 6:5. In stripes, in imprisonments,
Beatings and imprisonments: see how many evils! Each of them in itself is exceedingly grievous.
2 Cor. 6:5. in banishments,
That is, in persecutions, when someone has no place to stop, being driven from place to place.
2 Cor. 6:5. in labors, in watchings, in fastings,
Having spoken of external hardships, here he speaks of his own, which he voluntarily subjected himself to—labors, that is, the work of his own hands, by which he fed both himself and others, and at the same time kept vigil and fasted.
2 Cor. 6:6. In purity.
Thus he calls temperance, or purity in all things, and freedom from covetousness, and preaching without charge.
2 Cor. 6:6. in prudence,
That is, in the wisdom of God, which is truly knowledge, only not outward, as with the false apostles.