<p>2:7 <em>So that to the contrary you should rather forgive him and comfort him- </em>This command to &quot;forgive him&quot; suggests that he may not himself have been repentant. One would rather expect his penitence to be mentioned, both here and in 1 Cor. 5, if that were an issue. But there is no mention of it. Paul seems to want to move on, to put this issue behind them, so that they can focus on his pet project of the Jerusalem Poor Fund. &quot;Forgive and comfort&quot; are words full of association with the gift of the Spirit. <em>Charizomai </em>is not the usual word translated &quot;forgive&quot;; it means literally 'to gift', and <em>charis</em> is usually associated with the gift of the Spirit. Likewise &quot;comfort&quot; recalls the Spirit gift of the Comforter. Paul consistently appeals to the Corinthians to take the way of the Spirit in dealing with their issues. The receipt of the <em>charis</em> of the Spirit should lead us to likewise 'give'- both of our forgiveness, and also as Paul will soon develop in literal giving to the poor.</p><p><em>Lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up with his excessive sorrow- </em>The psychological impact of disfellowship must be carefully considered. These words have been proven true time and again; those who are ejected from communion end up in spiritual shipwreck and with psychological issues as a result of being consumed, swallowed up, by the psychological trauma of rejection. And yet despite this, disfellowship of whole blocs of believers is practiced so freely by those who ought to know better. It is death and our mortality which is to be &quot;swallowed up in victory&quot; (1 Cor. 15:54; 2 Cor. 5:4). This 'swallowing up' in sorrow may be a reference therefore to the opposite outcome- condemnation at the last day. This is the end product of keeping a believer 'out of fellowship', no matter what they have done. And our history is littered with examples of shipwreck of faith brought about by disfellowship. The mention of &quot;sorrow&quot; uses the same word used throughout the chapter so far, in dealing with the Corinthian complaint that Paul had made them sorry by asking them to disfellowship this individual. He has responded that their sorrow should morph into a Godly sorrow that led them to repentance, and he likes to think that the immoral man has this same Godly sorrow of repentance.</p>