<p>2:8 <em>Therefore I beg you to confirm your love toward him</em>- This was far more than an on paper re-admittance of the brother to church fellowship. They were to assure him that they loved him, which would suggest that it is the sense of love withdrawn which leads the excommunicated into the mire of &quot;excessive sorrow&quot; which swallows up faith (:7). It could be that &quot;love&quot; here is a reference to the <em>agape</em>, the love feast; they were to re-admit him to fellowship at the breaking of bread.</p>