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.

Readiness to forgive belonged to those seeking a righteous life even in pre-Christian times. Then the need for forgiveness was explained by the features of the path of righteousness itself. After all, it was about nothing other than one's attitude toward one's neighbor, and the chief condition of righteousness, love for God and love for one's neighbor as for oneself, was known even before the Savior came.

And the point, of course, was not only one's neighbor, but oneself as well: it was impossible to preserve inner spiritual wholeness while nourishing hatred for another person. Such hatred in itself slowly but steadily corroded the spiritual core on which a person's whole life rests, both inward and outward. Now, after Christ's coming, readiness to forgive has become even more important.

Before, the issue was the life of an individual person and his spiritual path; now the issue is the life of the Kingdom. It would seem that the life of the Kingdom depends little on the spiritual state of one individual person. But this is true only when that person has no relation to the Kingdom. If, however, we are speaking of Christians, who are by definition inhabitants of the Kingdom, the situation looks completely different.

For the Kingdom, the spiritual state of each of its inhabitants is absolutely important. After all, the Kingdom is precisely relationships; relationships make up its structure. People's relationships with God and with Christ, their relationships with one another, and finally Christ's own relationship with His heavenly Father as the chief relationship of the Kingdom, all of these make the Kingdom what it is before God and before people.

And here, of course, the spiritual state of each person becomes absolutely important and significant. Unwillingness to forgive simply destroys the Kingdom. Of course, this does not mean that every refusal to forgive means the end of the Kingdom. But every such refusal also means a "no" to the Savior Himself, just as every act of forgiveness means readiness to stand beside Him. That is why such a refusal separates the one who refuses from the fullness of the life of the Kingdom of God. And it becomes a loss. A loss that does not destroy the Kingdom, but proves to be as absolutely significant for it as every person saved is absolutely significant for it.

For two thousand years of the Christian history many were said and written about forgiveness. And in pre-Christians times, even in the gentile world, the capacity and the will to forgive were a sign of righteousness. The same thing, even in a higher degree, concerns righteousness as understood it the authors of the biblical books: without forgiveness it is inconceivable, and that was known in the people of God for a long time before the coming of Christ. But there is all the same in the words of the apostle something that in pre-Christians times was still inconceivable, so inconceivable that it even came to speak about nothing like that. "to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ". Of course, before the coming of Christ such thing could not be.

And it is of course about not only because the risen Christ becomes the witness of any act of forgiveness, as the moment of the restoration of these relationships, without which the life of the Kingdom is impossible. The words of the apostle suppose something much bigger: it is about the Church, about the body of Christ, its wholeness and integrity. Indeed, it is impossible to retain and assure the unity and the integrity of the body of Christ by any external means.

The laws of the non transformed world admit the existence of human communities, members of which are bound by common opinions or interests, not forming in more a spiritual unity. However in the Kingdom, such kind of communities are impossible, and especially the Church, the body of Christ cannot exist under such form. Here it is in particular the spiritual component of any relationship that comes to the fore. And if someone has something against one of his neighbors, something that can bind the both within the framework of the not transformed world, he will not enter the Kingdom.

Whatever are their relations in the not transformed world, no matter how depth and fertile they may be, without elimination of what prevents these people on a spiritual level, on the level of personal relationships, which is not conditioned by anything earthly, they will not become part of the Kingdom. And on the level of personal relationships the problem is solved only in the act of forgiveness. That is probably why Paul speaks about the intrigues of satan, which are destroyed by forgiveness: indeed, it is in particular the mutual non-forgiveness that separates people from the Kingdom. And the apostle reminds it to the addressees of his message. Remind so that in daily vanity they do not forget the main thing. Do not lose the Kingdom.