2 Corinthians 13 English Standard Version Final Warnings 13 This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 2 I warned those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again I will not spare them-- 3 since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. 4 For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God. 5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! 6 I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. 7 But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. 8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. 9 For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. 10 For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down. Final Greetings 11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All the saints greet you. 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Paul gives the Corinthian church one final ultimatum that they should exercise church discipline and fix the problems going on in their church themselves before Paul arrives or he will carry out the promises that he made to exercise his apostolic authority and judge those who are living in sin. For even though Jesus died in a state of "weakness" by choosing to not fight against the men trying to arrest Him and crucify Him, and submitted to the will of the Father in all things, that does not mean that Jesus is in any way weak or doesn't have the power or authority to deal with sin and rebellion in His Church. On the contrary, He rose again and is living with power and now sits at the right hand of the Father (a position of power and authority) and one day He will return for His Church and then all of heaven and earth will be given to Him and He will reign with a rod of iron and will defeat and crush all the enemies of God as He judges both the living and the dead. Let there be no pretenders on that day who imagine themselves to be "in Christ" but they are still enslaved to sin and living in it and relishing it, for he will sift the grain from the chaff and separate the sheep from the goats and will expose every thought of the mind and ever intent and motive of the heart so that everything will be judged rightly. It is therefore better for us as the Church to deal with issues of sin here and now the the hope that it will lead to repentance and that such a person will not need to experience the wrath of God on that day, but will instead experience the grace and mercy of God for all eternity since God's wrath that was stored up against those who were to be saved was poured out on Christ at the cross.
So then, Paul, like both the apostle John and James the half-brother of Jesus encourage those who think themselves to be in the faith to examine themselves and see if they are truly in the faith, for those who truly love Him will submit to His authority, will love His commandments, and will live in obedience to them--not out of obligation or trying to earn eternal life, but because of how much we love the One that first loved us. This is not to say that any of us can "lose our salvation," but that we need to make sure we are a "sheep" that belongs to Him and not a "goat" that looks the part from a distance, but doesn't have the identity of a kingdom citizen, because the Kingdom of God will not have an illegal immigrants--only those who have become citizens and sons by adoption and who are officially recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life will be allowed entry, all others will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father, but it will be too late for them, for their confession will be like that of the demons--a confession of the facts, but not of a saving faith that changes their nature and identity. Those who die in such a state of rebellion will have perfect theology, but that will not save them. They may even appear to have "perfect" religion--examine Matthew 7:21-23: Matthew 7:21-23 English Standard Version I Never Knew You 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ So then the deciding factor is not calling Him Lord, or even the good works that we do, even if we do them in His Name, but it's all about if He knows us and has chosen us as a groom knows and has chosen His Bride. For heaven is an eternal honeymoon meant only for the Bride and the Bridegroom. The angels of heaven will be witnesses and the Father will officiate as the Bride of Christ is part of the eternal inheritance that the Father gives to the Son. Paul prays for the restoration of those who have fallen away so that they will not be found to be in rebellion at that time when there will be no more opportunity for repentance. This is not a prayer that Paul prays so that he and his team would look good (that they would have a great "success rate," but for each and every soul that he has ministered too because he, like Christ, does not wish for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 English Standard Version 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. For this reason and for this purpose, it is worth it if Paul needs to come with authority and power to judge them now so that they would repent and not have to face the wrath of God and judgment of the Lamb who sits upon the throne Finally, Paul encourages them to see restoration and reconciliation as they exercise their authority in church discipline. The purpose is not to take our own vengeance out on those who do not believe or to put those who are not under condemnation or wrath somehow under it, but that in true faith and humility that all should repent and believe the truth gospel and that we can say together "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" because those whom he saves he justifies, and those whom He justifies, He also sanctifies (makes us holy and set apart) so that we might be conformed to the image of Christ that one day be may be glorified with a different kind of glory whereas the sun has one kind of glory that bright and blinding because it produces its own light, but the moon has another glory, soft and gentle that lights up the night and reflects the light of the sun. So too the Church is there to reflect the light of Christ and because we see the light of the moon, we know the light of the sun is still there, even though we cannot look directly into it without being blinded or come into direct, prolonged contact with it without being burnt. Only in our collective submission to the authority of God and to the Word of God will we have peace with God and each other so that we will be be able to see each other as brothers and sisters of one holy priesthood as we "greet each other with a holy kiss." (A sign of fellowship and a greeting that you would give to friends and family members). Paul then says that all the saints (probably of the other churches, as it seems the Corinthians church has been on the minds of Paul as well as the other churches in the area) send their greetings, and Paul closes with a slightly non-traditional closing asking for the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God (the Father), and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit to be with them all. I think this again goes back to Paul continuing to pray that all of those who hear these words come to salvation and experience grace, love, and fellowship, for those are only things that those who are saved can experience. Something about this group of people that claimed to be Christ-followers must have really been weighing on Paul's heart and mind for him to close this letter in such a way. This is the last we hear of the Corinthian church. We really have no idea from the Bible if they repented and their faith was proved to be genuine or if they continued to wink at sin and allow their members to live in sin because they did not want to exercise their authority on earth to judge sin in the Church through church discipline. Failure to act is complicity and those who are complicit will not be found guiltless (we've already seen this in the Law of Moses). Those who refuse to confront sin do not have a proper view of God or themselves or what's at stake for those that live in sin and in open rebellion to God. You cannot love both God and your sin. You will either love God and hate your sin or you will love your sin and hate God, but you cannot try to be a citizen of both kingdoms and play in the world's sandbox all while saying "I've got my fire insurance, so I'm good." It doesn't work like that--"By their fruits you will know them." The Fruit of the Spirit is the fruit that is in keeping with repentance that can only come about by changed hearts, changed minds, changed lives, and changed identities. We need to become "new creations" in Christ. Matthew 3:7-9 English Standard Version 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Let's look back at one key passage from the book of 2 Corinthians that I think will sum-up the whole book very well for us: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 English Standard Version 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
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2 Corinthians 12:11-21 English Standard Version Concern for the Corinthian Church 11 I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing. 12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works. 13 For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong! 14 Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less? 16 But granting that I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit. 17 Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? 18 I urged Titus to go, and sent the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps? 19 Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved. 20 For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. 21 I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced. Paul wraps up this part of bragging and being a fool by saying that he's done this because the Corinthians kept comparing him to these others they called "super-apostles" and didn't simply accept the signs and wonders that accompanied his apostleship when he was in their presence. Paul also says they seem to be the only church struggling with this particular issue and thinks perhaps he himself is to blame for treating them differently than he treated the other churches--I think namely this is about not asking them to financially support him like he asked the other churches to do.
Paul then starts making plans to visit them again, for a third time. Travel plans are one of the ways that Paul likes to end his letters so you might imagine that we're nearing the end of the book of 2 Corinthians, and you'd be correct in that assumption. After this passage we will have Paul's "Final Warnings" and "Final Greetings" (again, a typical way he closes his letters) and that will be it for the letters to the church in Corinth. Even though Paul is probably in no condition to make the trip from the verbiage he uses about being "spent" for his spiritual children, he knows it is his responsibility to shepherd them, protect them and care for them as Christ would if He were present. Apparently their were some wild accusations that Paul and his team had tried to take advantage of them and fleece them, which Paul rebuts by saying that he knows he never asked them for anything, that Titus never did so either, and that there was another brother there with Titus as a witness, so Paul knows that Titus treated the Corinthians the same way that Paul did, never asking them for anything, but allowing the other churches in the region--even the poor churches in Macedonia--to support them. Paul then says that this message is not their own and they are not fighting for themselves and their livelihood. They are fighting for "the sign of God" (this is probably the Holy Spirit, but could also be the Church, Christ, the cross,....but we have to think this was a phrase they would understand). Paul then steps back into his same voice that he had in 1 Corinthians--he wants to come to encourage them, but he may find that they once again need correction and that they will not be in the condition he wants and that will mean that Paul will not come in the way in which they want. Paul is concerned that these people are still controlled by the flesh and not by the Spirit (see I Corinthians 9-20 as Paul seems to indicate that they are still living in those same sins that he told them should not identify a person who is joined with Christ. Paul fears that he may have to deal with the issue of unrepentant sin in the body of Christ and probably fears that it's time once again to "clean house" and excommunicate some of the "church members" in the same way that they did for the man who was living in an incestuous relationship with his step-mother and was loud and proud about it--shaming Paul, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Church universal. It should be impossible for these people to have bene "born again" and still live like the "natural man" Remember the Sermon on the Mount, "By their fruits, you will know them." Perhaps there were a lot of fakers in this church. We don't hear an more about them after this point, but it does seem like the Corinthian church has a lot in common with our Western churches. We are controlled by our lusts and passions instead of by the Spirit. We live in sin and make excuses about how it's not hurting anyone other than us and how no one should be able to judge us because we are "under the blood" and think we have been forgiven. We live in open rebellion to God and expect Him to bless us. We are stingy with our material belongings and for the most part refuse to support the local church, the missionaries, or other churches and gospel work elsewhere in the world without being embarrassed and shamed into doing so. We try and live a double-life where we act one way on Sunday and live a different way in the workplace so that no one in the "real world" will know who we are and that we're not one of them--that's not how ambassadors are supposed to act. Do you want God to be ashamed of you in the day of judgment? Then don't be ashamed of Him in the here and now! Don't make God have to send correction. Come under His authority and lordship today and be obedient to "all that He has commanded you." (see The Great Commission in Matthew 28). We have one who is coming soon who is greater than Paul. Do we think about His coming with joy and expectation or with fear and dread? How will He find you when He returns? A good and faithful servant or a wicked servant who has been selfish and misused the time, talent, and treasure that has been entrusted to him? Remember what happened to the wicked servants in the parables of Jesus? They weren't simply protected because they called themselves His servants. It was only those who obeyed their Master that proved they were truly His servants where the others proved they never submitted to His authority and therefore never received the protection that would be provided if they did so. There is no true salvation without repentance. It is not about belief or intellectual ascent. Even the demons do that, but it is about a faith that works in concert with your works to bring about a change in heart and life so that you become obedient to the Word of God. Your works don't save you, but your works are what others look at to determine if your faith is genuine or not. James the half-brother of Jesus would put it this way, "Faith without works" is both "dead" and "useless." 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 English Standard Version Paul's Visions and His Thorn 12 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows-- 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses-- 6 though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Paul starts this chapter by continuing to boast, so it seems clear the the "man" that he knows is himself, even though he's speaking in third person (a common literary device of the time, and meant to show humility). Paul says that he saw the third heaven (the throne of God) though he didn't know if it was simply a vision or if his soul was actually taken up to heaven for a time and he had an "out of body experience." In either case, he saw things that he could not describe, which makes sense when we read Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation as they are full of things that authors struggle to describe. He boasts in the privilege of having this experience, but knows at the same time that he is weak and did nothing to deserve this.
There seems to be a lot of double-speak here about if he did brag about it he wouldn't be a fool, but he's not going to brag about it, even though that's exactly what appears to be going on. The main thing Paul wants to get across here is that even in having such a vision, he still needs to remain humble and not be conceited. While this would probably make him more "super" than any of the "super-apostles," he knows that pride and arrogance are from the devil and not from God. So, God gave Him a "thorn in the flesh" to help keep him humble--no we don't know what it is, and I don't think we're supposed to. So then, it was through this that Paul learned to rely fully on the grace of God each and every day for everything, even the patience to endure trials and tribulations that God had sent his way. "For when I am weak, then I am strong" is song that the Christian can sing that makes no sense to the world, since it is not our strength but the strength of the One that lives within us and lives through us that makes us strong in our weakness. 2 Corinthians 11:16-33 English Standard Version Paul's Sufferings as an Apostle 16 I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. 17 What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would but as a fool. 18 Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. 19 For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves! 20 For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face. 21 To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? 30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, 33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands. Paul uses some of his traditional sarcasm here to first point out that they should not be boasting about anything and not to think themselves wise according to the world's standards, for the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God and the wisdom of God is foolishness to the world. So we will see here in the fact that Paul "boasts" in things that no normal man would boast about-his sufferings as an apostle. Paul is upset that the church listened to these deceivers or gave them any kind of audience, and Paul mockingly says, "I must be too foolish and too weak" as they would no longer listen to what Paul had to say.
Typically these "super-apostles" that were fake that Paul was talking bout earlier would look to the good life they had as a sign of God's blessing on their life and ministry, but Paul will say that he knows that he's a true apostle because he has gotten to share in the sufferings of Christ. Before boasting in his sufferings, Paul lays out all the things that he could boast about--his ethnicity, his salvation, and his zeal for the gospel that led to much persecution. He then lists out a lot of ways in which he has endured pain and suffering and trial and tribulation for the cause of Christ. Some things were natural like shipwrecks and storms while many others were at the hands of men--even some men who called themselves friends and collogues (we'll see this more in other letters where co-workers like Demas betrayed Paul and seemingly denied his faith in Christ). God has brought Paul through much adversity and persecution to this point in his life because the Lord wants Paul to be here in this place at this time to preach this message to these people. That's how Paul and his ministry are authenticated and validated as being the genuine article. Not because of flashy titles or eloquent speeches or large crowds or lots of money. It is by bearing the marks of Christ and His suffering on and in his own body that Paul would point to over and over and over again to show people that he was a legitimate apostle and a legitimate son of God, for He did not deny the faith when it got inconvenient or hard. These others that were out to abuse the gospel to take advantage of the church were false shepherds that would run and leave the sheep defenseless if they came under attack, but Paul loved the Church because Christ loved them to the point of giving His life for them, and Paul seemed to love them with that same kind of love, both like a parent and like a shepherd that was willing to lay down his life for the sheep. 2 Corinthians 11:1-15 English Standard Version Paul and the False Apostles 11 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 5 Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6 Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. 7 Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. 10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. 11 And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! 12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. It wouldn't be a Pauline epistle without Paul taking some time to spell out the real gospel and tell people to watch out for the false teachers and false prophets that were preaching and teaching a false gospel.
We've already established that Paul feels like a spiritual parent to the members of these churches, and he says here that he has a divine jealousy for them (actually a godly trait) that their allegiance should belong to God and not anyone else. This is like the best man wanting the bride-to-be to stay pure for his friend the groom, and he has a kind of jealousy for the sake of his friend that the one that belongs to his friend not betray her vows, so that he can have the joy of presenting her pure to his friend the groom. Paul is afraid that the people may entertain the lies of these false teachers and false prophets as Eve gave ear to the lies of the devil in the Garden of Eden. Paul seems to indicate that they should not give any attention to anyone that preaches a different Jesus, a different Spirit, or a different gospel they they should not put up with such a person. There is no need to to be polite and listen to such lies just because such a person pretends to be a brother (or sister) in Christ. They are simply wolves in sheep's clothing. These false teachers seemed to falsely claim apostolic authority and tried to make themselves out to be "super-apostles" and Paul simply said he wasn't going to play that game. As Pastor Dwayne Carson told us at Liberty University, the kingdom of God is about "towels not titles." That quote is in reference to the last lesson that Jesus wanted to teach His disciples after Judas Iscariot left The Last Supper before being betrayed. First if you wanted any part of Him and His kingdom, you needed to let Him wash you, but He also gave this as a lesson to them that He as the Master washed their feet (the job of the lowest of the servants in the house) so they too should be about the business of being humble and washing each others' feet (serving each other, in in the lowly and dirty jobs). "The one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Jesus told many parables about this, but the one that stands out to me is the one where you are to sit in the seat of least prominence so that the master of the banquet can promote you to a more important seat, but if you try to take the most important seat then the master may demote you and give your seat to another and you will be embossed because of your pride and arrogance. Paul here says that he was not a man used fancy lingo and jargon and crafty arguments--he spoke to them plainly. This is not because Paul was stupid, we know that he was extremely well-educated and that he debated with the best the world had to offer in terms of philosophers and scholars, but when he spoke to the everyday man on the street, the goal was for that person to understand what was being said and receive it and believe it, not to prove to everyone else looking and listening how smart Paul was at the risk of the clear meaning of the message being lost. This is one of the clear signs of a good teacher verses a bad teacher. Bad teachers often make everyone acknowledge their degrees and puff themselves up and give "lofty" answers to simple questions that either don't answer the question at all, or if they do they answer it in such a way where the goal of the answer is to say "if you were as smart as me, you would understand what I said, and you wouldn't need to ask such a question." This is truly infuriating when someone in trying to learn and all the "teacher" can do is put the student down to try to make themselves look better. Paul says to watch out for such "super-apostles" because their lack of humility is evidence that they are not from God and do not have the Spirit of the God living in them. Paul then rhetorically asks if it is somehow wrong or sinful for him to humble himself so that they can be exalted. We know the answer to that because we just talked about how Jesus commanded all of the apostles that were in the Upper Room with Him to take on the role of a doulos (the lowest of servants). Paul even points out that they need to watch out for people that try to profit from the gospel and are really con-men that cloak themselves in the robes of religion to try to scam people. Paul reminded them that he never took any money from them when preaching the gospel to them so that this would never be brought into question. It's more than that though as Paul says that all the other churches gave so that he could minister in Corinth and the Corinthians seemed to never even think about this issue to make any contribution to Paul's work among them or other places. Money was such an issue for them that Paul didn't want to confuse things by asking for money, but it did reveal something about the heart of the Corinthians. Paul also reminds them that he was in need and was right there in their midst and they did nothing to help, but rather there were Christians that came from Macedonia (a very poor area) to give Paul what he needed out of the little resources they had to offer. I'm sure this was meant to put the Corinthians to shame, and I don't think it's an accident that we saw Paul bringing up the Macedonians to the Corinthians in terms of the offering that they were raising for the Christians in Jerusalem. It was kind of like a "Do you really want to have egg on your face again?" Paul says that even so, despite all this, the gospel was still going forth in their region of the world, Achaia, the southern part of what we know today as Greece, where Macedonia is the northern part of what we know today as Greece. Paul also made sure to add that nothing he's saying means he doesn't love the Corinthians or in some way loves them less--I think he just wishes for the opportunity to be proud of them and brag about them to others like he has been able to do with the Macedonians. Paul wraps up by telling them to not believe those who come to them and claim to be on the same team as Paul--they know Paul and his co-workers by this point and there are others trying to use Paul's good name and work to take advantage of the Church. Paul compares these false teachers to the devil Himself as even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (a messenger from God), just as these men are disguising themselves as apostles of Christ, which they are not. Paul says it is no surprise that these servants of the devil use the devil's tactics to lie, cheat and steal and to disguise themselves as the servants of righteous. Paul reminds the Corinthians that such men will get what's coming to them when God as Judge judges the living and the dead according to their deeds. They will get exactly what they deserved for preaching and teaching lies and leading people astray, trying even to deceive God's elect, as if that was possible. God is still going to work to save the remnant that He has set out to save and no trick or scheme of Satan or the servants of Satan will stop Him. 2 Corinthians 10 English Standard Version Paul Defends His Ministry 10 I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!-- 2 I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. 7 Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we. 8 For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. 9 I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. 10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” 11 Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. 12 Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. 13 But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. 14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. 15 We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, 16 so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence. 17 “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. Now Paul switches to something more personal. We've recently been talking about the raising of a collection for the Jewish Christians still living in Jerusalem. Paul intends to visit the Corinthians again soon and he hopes for a pleasant visit that will not involve any need for correction like what was discussed in 1 Corinthians where he hinted that he might have to come and literally whip them into shape or beat them into submission. He wants the tone of his visit to be more in line with the tone of this letter, that is encouragement, rather than the tone of 1 Corinthians, that is rebuke and correction. There was still some issue with the reputation of the Corinthian church that their members were still controlled by the flesh instead of being controlled by the Spirit, and Paul said that's an issue they needed to tackle head-on. There should be no question of our loyalty and no divided allegiance for those who are in Christ. We cannot be citizens of both the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness.
God has given us divine weapons to fight this battle against the flesh that have the power to "destroy strongholds, strongholds and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God." These divine weapons also allow us to "take every thought captive to obey Christ" and allow us to be obedient to the commands of God and then to correctly discipline disobedience in others, but we must not by hypocrites that are trying to pick the speck out of someone else's eye when there is a log or plank in our own eye (see Matthew 7:1-5). Before moving onto the next part of the passage, what are these "divine weapons" that Paul is talking about? The only offensive weapons that we see in the Armor of God are the Sword of the Sprit, which is the Word of God, and prayer. I think these are probably the very "divine weapons" that Paul is talking about that we are to fight with, but we also have the Spirit of God living in us to fight for us and we have the angels of God that defend the people of God as God commands. Paul then addressed the issue that all of us who are in Christ have the same Holy Spirit within us and the same access to these spiritual weapons as any other Christian, including an apostle like Paul. Paul might have been proud of the fact that he was chosen to be an apostle and the special authority that had been granted to him in this role, and he again expresses his concern that he wants to use that apostolic authority to encourage and edify (that is "strengthen" and "build up") the Corinthians rather than to use his gift to tear them down and frighten them. Paul's opponents seemed to accuse Paul of talking a big game and that his body was too weak to cray out any of the threats that he made and that Paul's words were nothing to be feared. Paul said that anyone who thinks that doesn't know him because he's exactly the same in person as he is in writing--both a fiery passion for dealing with those that would disgrace God and the Church by how they live (maybe as evidence that they were not ever really saved) and an encourager of those who are in Christ to continue doing the good works they have been called to, even though there be pressure from everywhere and on all sides to give in, retreat, or recant. Apparently there were people then like there are today that compared themselves to one another probably using the same kinds of metrics that we use today---"bodies, bucks, and baptisms" That is the size of the congregation that meets together on a regular basis (attendance), the size of the collection of both tithes and offerings (you'll notice in all that we talked about the collection recently, Paul never stated any numbers because the issue was faithfulness and obedience and not the amount of coins collected), and decisions and professions of faith that many churches are quick to count in some official way--for Baptists this is often baptizing the person upon their profession of faith, giving them a certificate of baptism, and adding them to the church membership rolls. Paul doesn't appear in any of his epistles to be about any of that. Seriously! While he may mention a few church members by name who he wants to thank for their encouragement and help to him, he doesn't seem to boast to others about the size of the churches that he helped plant or shepherd. He has said in other places that he's glad that he never got into baptizing people himself with a few exceptions as this is never a metric he could or would brag about, and we already mentioned that he didn't brag about the actual amount of the offerings that he and his team helped collect. Paul warns the pastors and evangelists that engage in such one-upping each other that they are without understanding that we are not to be in competition with each other or comparing ourselves to each other. The only comparison we are to make is to compare ourselves with Christ and see if we are becoming more and more like Him and more and more obedient to Him. In this way if we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our Faith, we will remember to give all glory and honor and praise to Him and we will not seek to gain any glory or honor or praise for ourselves or our local assemblies be it for "bodies, bucks or baptisms." Paul does say that he boasts in God for what God has accomplished through the gifts God has given and the opportunities that Paul has been given, including the opportunity to minister to the church in Corinth. They were the fist to travel that far with the gospel as apparently there were no Proselytes (Gentiles who had converted to Judaism) from this region who would have been present at Pentecost. When that was the case, you'll see that Paul would start by preaching and teaching in the local synagogues, but it seems that there was no local synagogue here meaning that there wasn't even a group of ten Jewish men (13 years or older) to form what we would call a quorum (they call it a "Minyan") that would be required for certain religious obligations, most notably public prayer. That's why you'll see Paul take a different tact with the Corinthians and he did with say the churches in Galatia which seemed to be well aware of Judaism and its practices and had an issue with understanding if the Gentiles needed to first become Jewish before becoming Christian or if Christians were somehow still bound to the Mosaic Law--specifically the dietary and ceremonial laws and the celebrations of their fast and feast days. This was a new group of Christians that skipped over Judaism completely and perhaps this is why Paul was so proud of them and wanted to brag about them when it came time to take up the offering for their Jewish brothers and sisters and to select representatives to escort the offering and tell of the work that was going on throughout Asia Minor and now Europe. Paul desired, with the support of the rest of the apostles and the entire Church, to take the gospel to even more lands into places where Judaism had never gone before. We know that Paul desired to visit Spain at one point, though we're not sure if he made it there or when he did if he did. There's also talk of Paul and his team making it as far as the British Isles (essentially that Paul took the gospel as far as the end of the Roman Empire throughout all of Europe). Again, there's no biblical record of these trips, and it would seem such journeys would have been included in the book of Acts by Luke since he seemed to accompany Paul on many of his journeys as co-worker, historian, and doctor. No matter whether Paul himself made it to the far reaches of Europe, we know that he was not a one-man team and he trained up many others to continue the work. God used many people to take the gospel to many parts of the world and we have no idea who those people are. While we may want some connection to one of the great apostles to trace our "spiritual lineage" back to Peter, or Paul, or even Thomas or Philip, there is no advantage to such comparisons, for we all are partakers in the same Spirit, are part of the same Body, and we all have access to the same gifts and blessings in Christ. We need not make such divisions and factions (as we saw among the Galtian churches who said "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos" or "I am of Cephas" or "I am of Christ.") It matters not who preached the gospel to you, because all of us are saved the same way--by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone! There is therefore no reason to brag and cause division, but we do thank God for sending us the ones He did, and we also thank God for the opportunities that He's given to us to go into all the world and make disciples of all people groups--to "reverse the curse" that happened at the Tower of Babel and we also look forward to even more opportunities to "go" to more places and meet more people so that all may hear and believe and give glory to God and worship God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 9 English Standard Version The Collection for Christians in Jerusalem 9 Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry for the saints, 2 for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3 But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 4 Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction. The Cheerful Giver 6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” 10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13 By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! This passage today ties in directly with our passage last time from 2 Corinthians 8. Paul is now giving instructions to the church in Corinth regarding the taking up of the special offering for their Jewish brothers in Jerusalem who are in need--the offering that he is going to let Titus administrate since ti seemed to be Titus's idea to start off with and he had already begun the work in the Gentile churches in the region.
Parts of this region have met their fundraising goals long before some of the other churches started to give, and this is a group of Christians that Paul pointed to in order to show others what generous giving was all about. So then why the passage in chapter 8 that might seem to indicate that Paul needed to give them instructions on this? Perhaps Paul was simply encouraging them that they were doing the right thing, or perhaps they grew weary of doing good and had stopped collecting once they had reached their goal, or maybe they had new Christians among them who didn't understand and needed to be taught these essentials. Whatever the reason, Paul makes it clear that he's proud of them for the good work they have done (this is one of the problems with reading passages in isolation and not seeing the book as an entire letter--we might get the wrong idea of what Paul was up to if we would read chapter 8 in isolation). Paul desires that they not be humiliated since he has held them up in high esteem. He's said how they have been ready for so long, yet what if the administrators come to collect the offering and it had not been gathered, counted and prepared? Would this not be an embarrassment to Paul and the Corinthians as the ones who told to emulate them where ready and may have been part of the team coming to help escort the offering back to Jerusalem, that is the Macedonian church? Paul thought it good then to give them a heads-up and give them time to be ready and to put out one final call for anyone who wanted to make a last-minute contribution so that no one would be left out and everything could be collected and counted in n a timely manner. Now for some of the verses that we hear so often that are abused by the prosperity gospel and Word of Faith movement. We see the imagery here of sowing and reaping once again and Paul says that whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly, but whoever sows bountifully will reap bountifully. This is fact of life--you reap what you sow. It seems that the harvest that Paul is talking about here though is not more money. He already seemed to hint that some of these Christians contributing to this offering already understood what it meant to be in need, and that one day it might be their turn to be on the receiving end of such an offering. Paul here seems to be talking about the rejoicing that comes from the news that comes when hearing what God is doing with the money that was given. Only if people contributed generously and cheerfully will they rejoice correctly in the news of what is God is doing, and, yes, God can do more with the money than we would imagine, and still take care of us in our time of need as well Paul quotes a verse here to remind the Corinthians that taking care of the poor is part of God's work that they get the opportunity to participate in--that's the blessing of the "harvest" that Paul is talking about. There is no idea of "Sow $1, reap $1,000" here. Paul says that if they are faithful and cheerful givers that the God who owns all the resources will make sure to make them stewards of enough to take care of their own needs and for them to make the contributions that He has put in their hearts. There should never be doubt about this--give as you are lead to, but not out of compulsion when it comes to freewill offerings such as this (again, this passage has nothing to do with tithing). Paul talks about this being a good work for them and something that will add to their harvest of righteousness, but we know all the righteousness that we have really comes from the righteousness of Christ as we let Him live in and through us, so it's correct to say having this mindset within us is part of having the mind of Christ, and that in participating in what He would be doing that we are showing off His righteousness to the world as He lives in and through us. Paul then says that the purpose of the gift doesn't stop with the receipt of the collected funds, but that both the giver and the receiver will pour out thanksgiving to God and this is another good work that comes out of obedient, faithful, generous and cheerful giving. The giver is blessed and thanks God for the opportunity to participate in His work, and the receiver thanks God for hearing his prayer, knowing His every need and moving other brothers and sisters to provide for those needs--probably to people that they have never seen or heard from. This is part of us being part of one family--and we are all brothers and sister, there are no "distant relatives." We are all of equal standing and status before God, and what wouldn't you do to take care of your own brother or sister (for those of you who have been blessed to have siblings)? It is a blessing both to give and to receive as God blesses the gift, and the giver, and the one who receives the gift. This then strengthens the bond between believers as the ones who received begin to want to learn more about those who gave and how the gospel is at work in their lives and their church. They want to know what their needs are and how they can help pray for the work of the Lord that is happening in that area of the world, and so it is that something as simply as a love offering between churches like this leads to the unification and reconciliation between Jewish and Gentile believers where we originally saw conflict and division. There is now a network of prayer and support for each other and a bond that is stronger than being blood brothers, for those of us that are in Christ should have "everything in common" with the others who are saved, even if they live on the other side of the world--many of us can't say that about our own families where we may have flesh and blood brothers and sisters who we don't feel very connected to because we have nothing in common with them when it comes to the most important things about our new nature and identity (though it is wonderful when you have the blessing of having members of your physical family who are also members of the family of God). Paul ends with a verse that I think is to take us back to Jesus when he says "Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!" I don't think this has anything to do with the money being collected and has everything to do with Jesus being given for each and every one of us so that we might be saved. We would all still be citizens of the kingdom of darkness, lost, and in slavery to sin if it were not for the obedient, faithful, loving, generous, and cheerful giving that we see in Christ's death on the cross that "for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross...." (See Hebrews 12:1-2) |
Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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