Posts: 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians may be outlined under the theme, “Always look on the bright side.” In the first section (1:1 – 22), the objectives of the faithful are to develop a gracious nature and a mind at peace. These are based on the promises of being comforted when (not if) distress comes, the simplicity and sincerity of the gospel, the confidence the faithful have in one another, and the down payment which is the indwelling Spirit. Even in places as messy as the congregations in Corinth, the faithful must maintain the optimistic attitude that God can work with even this.

The second section of 2 Corinthians (1:23 – 3:6) lays the foundation for looking at the bright side of conflict. In the family of God, correction is accomplished through exhorting, not rebuking. The objective of pointing out problems is joy, not correctness. People are what is important, not performance. If the corrector’s goal is to create sorrow over poor choices, joy is lost by all. But if the goal is to build faith, all rejoice over successful overcoming. The dedication to one another among the faithful is a proof of the gospel.

Change is scary. Yet, Paul, in 2 Corinthians 3:7 – 4:14, encouraged the faithful to look at the bright side of change. The Jewish Christians had great difficulty leaving behind 1500 years of cultural history embodied in the Law of Moses. The church has repeated the same problems through clinging to authority, rules, and traditions. But the faithful may achieve liberty by focusing on the indwelling Spirit who transforms the character into that of Jesus: hope, boldness, and confidence. Change usually brings adversity; the faithful know how to handle it.

The physical world easily gains priority over the unseen, so Paul, in 2 Corinthians 4:15 – 5:16, encouraged the faithful to look at the bright side. Faith requires that we assume that other faithful people are “other centered,” that their characters are being transformed. Those focused on the physical see their dreams slowly die. The faithful see continuing transformation, in which is hope. The faithful persuade others so that they may share in a life of hope. The love of Christ compels us. We no longer see people, but spirits in need of repair and reconnection.

Responsibility for spreading the gospel belongs to all of the faithful, which can be stressful. So, Paul addressed, in 2 Corinthians 5:17 – 6:18, the bright side of ambassadorship. The message is not that of conquest or retaliation, but that God came to earth, not as the all-powerful but as a regular person, seeking out those who might find reconciliation appealing. The faithful are motivated to overcome the trials of life so as to represent the message well, not out of fear or self-interest but serving yet with liberty, independent yet in the family of God.

Personal relationships often cause pain, so people find safety in superficiality, authority, and, eventually, isolation. So, Paul addressed, in 2 Corinthians 7:1 – 16, the bright side of personal relationships. Connected people feel each other’s pain. Because of the promises listed in chapters 4, 5, and 6, the faithful have the courage to expose themselves to others for the purpose of building them up and achieving a mutual joy, not for moralizing or condemning. Big rewards require big risks. Passivity may result in a lack of conflict, but also a lack of joy.

Sharing of physical assets can be frightening because of the unforeseen, the lack of reciprocity, and our normal concern for our own physical well-being. So, Paul addressed, in 2 Corinthians 8:1 – 9:15, the bright side of sharing among the faithful. Liberty requires that sharing be voluntary, not coerced. Shifting from inward to outward thinking requires that the faithful “see” the unseen, the connection between spirits. Mutual trust between the faithful placates the fear of a one-sided relationship. God promised the faithful an abundance for this.

Humility and gentleness often appear as weakness, but Paul asserted that they are essential for true victory (2 Corinthians 10:1 – 18). The faithful “do not war according to the flesh.” Clever misinformation is refuted by gently revealing its contradictions. Charisma and eloquence may be masking low quality. Control gained by force will be lost the same way. The humble approach is to build up, not tear down. Value is derived from being consistent from belief to action. The reward of the faithful comes from stimulating the growth of faith in others.

Humility and gentleness prompt the faithful to speak up when their connections with other faithful spirits are being disrupted (2 Corinthians 11:1 – 15). All faithful people naturally spread the gospel to others. Those whom they have taught become very special to them. That relationship keeps them close, so they know when complexity or deceit are causing confusion, against which humility and simplicity are the best weapons. And, if the complexity comes from one being paid to deliver it, be suspicious.

Humility and gentleness do not disallow recounting when such “weakness” overcame great adversity (2 Corinthians 11:16 – 33). Certainly, some use accounts of hardship as a means of gaining control. However, the point is in the overcoming, not in the hardship itself, in the maintaining of connectedness, not in proving strength. The most difficult hardship is concern for fellow faithful, for connected spirits. The faithful must be looking for those humble and gentle spirits who have overcome the humanly impossible.

Paul delivered communications from God and performed great miracles. Yet he reveled in the fact that he had some unnamed malady which God declined to heal, because this adversity helped keep him humble (2 Corinthians 12:1 – 13). He had the same attitude about the times when he was persecuted, in need, and spoken against. Some of his deprivations were the result of declining to accept financial support, because he thought the Christians of Corinth would misunderstand it. Humility and gentleness are the gateway to great success in the kingdom.

Humility and gentleness prevent gaining authority, but provide the ideal position from which to correct and advise (2 Corinthians 12:14 – 13:14). Paul did not seek the power of God in himself, but to develop the power of God in those whom he taught. Paul addressed problems not from a position of authority but out of his mourning for the harm the bad choices of others would do to them. As in today’s investigative dramas, Paul advised, “Follow the money to find the true motives.” His point was not to be in charge, but to remind them that Jesus was in them.

2 Corinthians 1:3 – 4, “Worthy of praise is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” God comforts the faithful so they will be able to comfort others. The faithful are, principally, other-centered. So even when, in the midst of grief or distress, they are comforted by God, it is for the purpose of learning how to do the same for others.

2 Corinthians 3:18, “We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory [the parade of godly character traits] of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.” The characters of the faithful are being repaired by the indwelling Spirit who resides in each of them. The outside world sees this superhuman overhaul in progress and wants to know how it happens, which is the subject of the next two chapters.

2 Corinthians 4:1, “Therefore [because the faithful are being transformed by the indwelling Spirit], since we have been assigned this task [of spreading the good news of being rescued from ourselves], having received mercy [these repairs], we do not lose heart.” Spreading the good news about the personality and promises of God can be a daunting task because such a small percentage of people are interested. But, because the faithful see themselves being miraculously transformed, they do not become discouraged but rather renew their efforts.

2 Corinthians 4:7, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” When this was written, most cooking was done in clay pots which tended to crack or break after few times on the fire. Paul likened the faithful to those short-lived pots. The fact that those poor and politically powerless people changed the world in less than 40 years was an evidence that something bigger than human effort was in play. The same evidence is repeated daily in the superhuman character transformations of the faithful.

2 Corinthians 4:13, “Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what is written, ‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’ we also believe and therefore speak.” For the faithful, evangelism is a no-brainer. It is part of who they are. Not that they follow a prescribed program of what to say or how to act; rather, they cannot refrain from building up others by presenting the nature and the promises of God, offering hope and liberty in a world with little of either. The supernatural selflessness of the faithful makes it happen.

2 Corinthians 5:2, “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our dwelling which is from heaven.” As is one of the symbols of the unleavened bread in the Lord’s Supper, the faithful are in haste to reach the other side of this wilderness called earth to reach the promised land where God dwells. Unfortunately, many sincere church-goers have not been able to shake their fears, so cling to their search for the meager and transitory rewards available to few in this life. The faithful would be very happy with an early out because they trust God.

2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Unlike any other religion, Christianity is based on evidence, not wishful thinking. To avoid self-deception, well-meaning but ignorant religious traditions, and deceitful opportunists, faith must be based on the well-documented promises of God (my personal list has 885 promises in the New Testament). One must know at least a significant number of those promises to have Biblical faith. Further, the faithful are comfortable with refraining from filling in the details that God chose to keep secret.

2 Corinthians 5:11, “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” The faithful do not fear for themselves, but for outsiders. All of the passages that describe fear by the faithful are the same; knowing the plight of the outsider motivates the faithful to action, to find new ways to overcome the barriers outsiders have constructed as they try to reconcile the shortcomings of their lives, their lack of joy, and their anxieties. The faithful, being other-centered, adapt the message to address the outsiders’ fragile desires to overcome themselves.

2 Corinthians 5:14, “The love of Christ compels us.” People are motivated variously: authority, punishment, personal gain, ethnic identification. Christianity appeals through the same draw as a good family: love. Such a structure would not work in business or government or social groups because many would take advantage. The faithful are compelled not through the usual methods of rules and rewards but because God came to earth to rescue people from themselves. The family environment is the controlling element.

2 Corinthians 5:16, “From now on, we regard no one according to the flesh.” The church was designed to eliminate ethnic division from within itself. Over the centuries, this has proven to be difficult to achieve because various groups see other groups in the way their small segment of society sees them, instead of seeing them as God does: spirits in need of a family.

2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” The faithful no longer bumble through life, but rather have their characters re-created by the indwelling Spirit deposited as a down-payment toward the future full purchase of their faith. The trick is to engage that Spirit and get out of the way. Faith implies confidence in that promised reconstruction in this life, not just in the next one.

2 Corinthians 5:18 – 20, “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the world of reconciliation. Now we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” The task of every faithful person is to be one of those ambassadors.

Although all the faithful are ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), which implies that they must have relationships with outsiders, they are cautioned not to be “unequally yoked” (6:14) but to “come out from among them and be separate” (6:17). The faithful are a family. Within that family they find their close relationships. In that way, they avoid lop-sided liaisons and the rubbing-off effect of broken cultural norms. Outsiders are important and are regularly interfaced, but they are not family.

2 Corinthians 9:8, “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” Grace is the collection of godly character traits with emphasis on the way they are integrated and consistent. God promises to repair the characters of the faithful such that they are able to balance their lives, neither being restricted in their sharing by fear of future needs, nor being so generous so as to be in need of help themselves. This balance ensures the cash flow to handle every opportunity.

2 Corinthians 9:10 – 11, “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality” God promises the faithful that the ability to help meet the needs of others will be found. The source is “the fruit of righteousness.” Trust that the character development brought by the indwelling Spirit will open doors that will result in finding resources for helping others.

2 Corinthians 10:7, “If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ’s let him again consider this in himself, that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we.” The task of the faithful is not to determine who is faithful and who is not, but rather to increase the faith of whomever they meet.

2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” Paul’s point was not to find some flaw in yourself and therefore disqualify yourself, but rather to examine the results of Jesus being “in” you (another way of referring to the indwelling Spirit who is given to all the faithful). When the faithful see themselves acting selflessly and overcoming themselves, they have proof that the Spirit is in them, therefore, they can know that God has accepted them.