<p>3:4 <i>And such confidence have we toward God, through Christ- </i>&quot;Confidence&quot; means the certain expectation which comes from faith. Paul has used the word in 1:15 of how he was &quot;confident&quot; in the Corinthians; and he will use it again in this context in 2 Cor. 8:22. It is the confidence he himself expresses of how &quot;in Christ&quot;, righteousness has been imputed, and he himself stands boldly before the judgment seat of Christ, both now and in the last day (Eph. 3:12). The ideas of being right <i>pros </i>God <i>dia </i>Christ are found in the classic explanation of imputed righteousness in Rom. 5:1: &quot;Being justified made righteous by faith, we have peace with <i>pros</i>- toward God, through <i>dia</i> our Lord Jesus&quot;. This explains how on one hand he can be so critical of the Corinthians, fully aware of their gross immorality and lack of faith in the Gospel. Therefore his confidence was &quot;toward God&quot;, in His presence both now and at judgment day; and <i>dia, </i>on account of, Christ- and not of themselves. And yet on the other hand he can speak and write so positively of them; as he cannot condemn them, he like us can only confidently assume that any baptized into Christ shall indeed be accepted at the last day. The idea of imputed righteousness continues in :5. This approach takes away all the angst associated with the perceived need to separate from any who depart from the one faith in doctrine or practice. The platform of course should not be open to such people, but in terms of continued association and fellowship- Paul's example with the Corinthians is crystal clear. He had &quot;confidence&quot; towards them whilst stating that some of them had no knowledge of relationship with God (1 Cor. 15:34).</p><p>However, as mentioned elsewhere in this commentary, Paul also seems prone to obsessive mindsets, he so wanted the Corinthians and his Jerusalem Poor Fund to work out succesfully that he speaks and thinks of things and people in far more positive terms than is realistic.</p>