NOTES for Co2 2:3-4
Paul says that the letter he had written earlier, harsh in many respects, was connected with the "great distress" that seized him at the thought of the Corinthian brothers and of the situation in the Corinthian church.
Judging by some passages from First Corinthians, one may think that the spiritual situation there was indeed quite serious: the apostle had to remind the Corinthians of fundamental things connected with Christianity and with Christian life, things that, as it appears, they had not exactly forgotten, but that had moved into the background, obscured by things more "interesting" and "urgent." But the severity of the apostle's words was not aimed at accusing someone or forcing him to leave the church; that would only have served Satan's purposes. Rather, one should speak of the trial that Paul's letter became for the Corinthian church, a trial of obedience.
And the point here, of course, is not that the apostle demanded unconditional submission to himself. Such a thing was practically unthinkable in the early Christian Church; formal discipline never came to the foreground there. The issue was the attitude personally toward Paul and toward his authority in matters of spiritual life. Obedience in this case turns into the ability to listen and the readiness to hear.
Judging by everything said in First Corinthians, the Corinthian church was large, active, and, as we would say today, "progressive" and "advanced": the people there were educated, inclined to theological disputes, and critical of traditions. In such a community everyone feels more or less self-sufficient, and it is very difficult for people of this sort to hear someone else, especially someone from outside, even if respected and authoritative. And accepting the rightness of another person's opinion is still harder.
The first natural reaction in such a case is usually rejection, sometimes mild, sometimes sharp, but always decisive and unambiguous. And the fact that the apostle's words nevertheless had an effect means that this first reaction was overcome. The Corinthian church heard the apostle and listened to his words. Paul evaluates this state of affairs as a spiritual victory for the Corinthian Christians, a victory first of all over themselves, over their own nature. A victory in which he sincerely rejoices, not because he was heard, but because it meant the triumph of the Kingdom in the church community of Corinth.