1En efecto, decidí no hacerles otra visita que causara tristeza. 2Porque, si yo los entristezco, ¿quién me brindará alegría, sino aquel a quien yo haya entristecido? 3Escribí como lo hice para que, al llegar yo, los que debían alegrarme no me causaran tristeza. Estaba confiado de que todos ustedes harían suya mi alegría. 4Escribí con gran tristeza y angustia de corazón y con muchas lágrimas, no para entristecerlos, sino para darles a conocer la profundidad del amor que les tengo.
Perdón para el pecador
5Si alguno ha causado tristeza, no me la ha causado solo a mí; hasta cierto punto —y lo digo para no exagerar— se la ha causado a todos ustedes. 6Para él es suficiente el castigo que le impuso la mayoría. 7Más bien debieran perdonarlo y consolarlo para que no sea consumido por la excesiva tristeza. 8Por eso les ruego que reafirmen su amor hacia él. 9Con este propósito escribí: para ver si pasan la prueba de la completa obediencia. 10A quien ustedes perdonen, yo también lo perdono. De hecho, si había algo que perdonar, lo he perdonado por consideración a ustedes en presencia de Cristo, 11para que Satanás no se aproveche de nosotros, pues no ignoramos sus artimañas.
Ministros del nuevo pacto
12Ahora bien, cuando llegué a Troas para predicar el evangelio de Cristo, descubrí que el Señor me había abierto una puerta. 13Aun así, me sentí intranquilo por no haber encontrado allí a mi hermano Tito, por lo cual me despedí de ellos y me fui a Macedonia.
14Sin embargo, gracias a Dios que en Cristo siempre nos lleva triunfantes2:14 nos lleva triunfantes. Alt. nos conduce en desfile victorioso. y, por medio de nosotros, esparce por todas partes la fragancia de su conocimiento. 15Porque para Dios nosotros somos el aroma de Cristo entre los que se salvan y entre los que se pierden. 16Para estos somos olor de muerte que los lleva a la muerte; para aquellos, olor de vida que los lleva a la vida. ¿Y quién es competente para semejante tarea? 17A diferencia de muchos, nosotros no somos de los que trafican con la palabra de Dios. Más bien, hablamos con sinceridad delante de él en Cristo, como enviados de Dios que somos.
1So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you. 2If I make you sad, who is going to make me glad? Only you, the people I made sad. 3What I wrote to you I wrote for a special reason. When I came, I didn’t want to be troubled by those who should make me glad. I was sure that all of you would share my joy. 4I was very troubled when I wrote to you. My heart was sad. My eyes were full of tears. I didn’t want to make you sad. I wanted to let you know that I love you very deeply.
Forgive Those Who Make You Sad
5Suppose someone has made us sad. In some ways, he hasn’t made me sad so much as he has made all of you sad. But I don’t want to put this too strongly. 6He has been punished because most of you decided he should be. This punishment is enough. 7Now you should forgive him and comfort him. Then he won’t be sad more than he can stand. 8So I’m asking you to tell him again that you still love him. 9I wrote to you for another special reason. I wanted to see if you could stand the test. I wanted to see if you could obey everything asked of you. 10Anyone you forgive I also forgive. Was there anything to forgive? If so, I have forgiven it for your benefit, knowing that Christ is watching. 11We don’t want Satan to outsmart us. We know how he does his evil work.
Serving Under the New Covenant
12I went to Troas to preach the good news about Christ. There I found that the Lord had opened a door of opportunity for me. 13But I still had no peace of mind. I couldn’t find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to the believers at Troas and went on to Macedonia.
14Give thanks to God! He always leads us as if we were prisoners in Christ’s victory parade. Through us, God spreads the knowledge of Christ everywhere like perfume. 15God considers us to be the pleasing smell that Christ is spreading. He is spreading it among people who are being saved and people who are dying. 16To those who are dying, we are the smell of death. To those who are being saved, we are the perfume of life. Who is able to do this work? 17Unlike many people, we aren’t selling God’s word to make money. In fact, it is just the opposite. Because of Christ we speak honestly before God. We speak like people God has sent.
