Saturday, January 29, 2011

2 Corinthians

Insights into the Life, Ministry, and Challenges of the Apostle Paul

 

by Samuel E. Ward

 

January 23, 2011

 

2 Corinthians 2:5-11

 

 

Introduction

 

Warren Wiersbe discerns these purposes for Paul's writing of 2 Corinthians:

 

(1) To commend the church for disciplining the offender (1 Cor. 5), and to encourage them to forgive and receive him (2 Cor. 2:6-11).

(2) To explain why he had apparently "changed his plans" and not visited them as he had promised (1 Cor. 16:3-7, 2 Cor. 1:15-22).

(3) To answer those in the church who were questioning his apostolic authority (2 Cor. 10-12).

(4) To answer those who accused him of wrong motives (2 Cor. 4:1-2).

(5) To encourage the church to share in the offering for the Jerusalem saints (2 Cor. 8-9).

(6) To prepare them for his planned visit (2 Cor. 13).

 

Wiersbe also offers these observations of the content of 2 Corinthians.

 

This letter is in direct contrast to the tone of 1 Corinthians, for it is intensely personal and filled with the deep emotions of the dedicated apostle. If 1 Corinthians "takes the roof off" the church at Corinth and lets us look in, then 2 Corinthians "opens the heart" of Paul and lets us see his love and concern for the work of the Lord. In the first letter, Paul is the instructor, answering questions and setting matters right; in this second letter he is the loving pastor, the minister of Christ, pouring out his life that his spiritual children might be perfected in the faith. No letter in the NT reveals the true character of the Christian ministry as does this one. No letter says so much about Christian giving, suffering, or spiritual triumph.

 

In the opening of the letter Paul had testified to the comfort which he and his ministry team with him had received from God.  The sufferings that had been endured for the sake of preaching the gospel were merely an overflow of the suffering of Christ for the message He brought from heaven.  Not everyone perceived the gospel as good news, but rather a threat to the lifestyles they had come to enjoy in the case of the pagans, or, as in the view of certain Jews, long-held traditions and teachings they felt were being uprooted.

 The Corinthian church felt pressure from both groups. But the core believers had been able to this point to overcome the opposition, though not completely.  Opposition from those who loved their sin and others who hated the truth of the gospel as fulfilled in Christ were still undermining Paul's ministry.  Paul knew from experience that those who preach truth will always encounter opposition from those who resist God's work in their lives.  But that did not keep it from causing deep personal hurt when both his motives and the commission he personally received from Christ as an apostle were questioned.  He thought surely what he had endured for the sake of Christ would prove his commitment to Christ and the sacrifices he had made in the service of the gospel was proof that he was not in the ministry for self-gain.  It surely caused much emotional and spiritual distress to feel the need to defend himself.  But he felt he must.

 

The first section in 2 Corinthians is . . .

 

I.  Paul's Defense of His Conduct and Ministry, 2 Cor 1-7

 

A.  His Introduction, 1:1

 

1.  Includes a salutation identifying the writer (Paul) and its recipients (the church at Corinth and the region of Achaia)

2.  Includes an explanation of the church's suffering as a context from which to provide meaningful ministry to others who suffer, teaching them  of God's ability to bring comfort.

3.  Includes the promise of God that He will deliver his people from suffering by resolving the issue in thier lifetime of removing them from it to Himself in glory.

4.  Includes a statement on Paul's dependence on their prayers and his looking forward to everyone giving thanks to God when He answers.

 

After this introduction, Paul's first defense concerns his change in plans to visit the Corinthians. Some had attributed this change to either cowardice or some sort of manipulation.  He responds essentially by answering . . .

 

B.  The Best Laid Plans Are Subject to Change, 1:12-2:13.

 

The principles behind any plans Paul made he said were based on reflecting God's holiness—they must be righteous plans.  Also, they must be carried out with complete sincerity, not by manipulation but with transparency of intent and motive.

When deciding not to come to Corinth and instead write this letter, Paul offered the following reasons:

 

1.  To spare them a harsh visit, something that Paul evidently felt the Corinthian church did not need at that time

2.  To give them an opportunity to deal with their problems internally by writing his concerns and counsel in a letter born of deep love for them and their spiritual health and development.

3.  To hope for a joyful reunion later in which everyone could be mutually blessed after God had led them through a resolution.

 

C.  The Best Response to the Issue at Hand, 2 Cor 2:5-11

 

1.  The church is the real victim of the issue at hand, 2 Cor 2:5.

 

(2 Cor 2:5 NIV)  If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent--not to put it too severely.

 

It appears that there was one in the church who had publicly attacked Paul and perhaps had worked to undermine his efforts there.  It also seems that this individual had been disciplined and that its intended effect of influencing him to halt his divisive actions had been successful. 

 

a.  The injury done to Paul was less than the injury ultimately to the church as a whole.

b.  The injury done was not as damaging as they might have perceived.

 

2.  The punishment is sufficient to the one who brought grief, 2 Cor 2:6.

 

(2 Cor 2:6 NIV)  The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him.

 

3.  The ministry of restoration needs to be applied, 2 Cor 2:7.

 

(2 Cor 2:7 NIV)  Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

 

a.  Because it is the righteous thing to do.

b.  Because it is the healing thing to do.

 

Paul was concerned that the offender might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.  The word translated overwhelmed is the same word used in Heb 11:29 to describe the drowning of the Egyptians who tried to follow Israel through the Red Sea.

 

c.  Because it is the loving thing to do, 2 Cor 2:8.

 

(2 Cor 2:8 NIV)  I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.

 

4.  The test of absolute obedience was applied, 2 Cor 2:9.

 

(2 Cor 2:9 NIV)  The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything.

 

To Paul, the public affirmation of their love for this offending brother was proof that theirs was not a merely a faith of convenience.  They were willing to obey even the difficult commands of loving and forgiving someone who had repented of actions that had hurt them.

 

5.  The assurance of Paul's support, 2 Cor 2:10a

 

(2 Cor 2:10a NIV)  If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven--if there was anything to forgive.

 

If the offense was in the form of personal remarks made against Paul, he was indicating that the church was more offended than he was.  He had broad shoulders and was not immune from or a stranger to criticism.  His feelings were probably much the same as those of D. L. Moody who when he was criticized for his evangelistic methods replied that he liked so much more what he was doing than what his critic was not doing."

 

6.  The reasons for Paul's response, 2 Cor 2:10b, 11

 

(2 Cor 2:10b-11 NIV)  I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, {11} in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

 

a.  It advances the cause of Christ

b.  It defeats the cause of Satan. 

 

Satan is a master schemer and deceiver, seeking to outwit those who seek to serve Christ by neutralizing their witness.  It is perhaps helpful to review his nature.

 

1)  Satan is a liar, John 8:44. 

 

(John 8:44 NIV)  You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

 

2)  Satan is an accuser, Rev 12:10.

 

 (Rev 12:10 NIV)  Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.

 

3)  Satan is a challenger, Job 1:9-11. 

 

(Job 1:9-11 NIV)  "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. {10} "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. {11} But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."

 

4)  Satan is a tempter, 1 Thes 3:5.

 

(Mat 4:1 NIV)  Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

 

(1 Th 3:5 NIV)  For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.

 

5)  Satan is a sifter,  Luke 22:31.

 

(Luke 22:31 NIV)  "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.

 

6)  Satan is a destroyer of the flesh, 1 Cor 5:4-5.

 

(1 Cor 5:4-5 NIV)  When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, {5} hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

 

7)  Satan is a thief, Mark 4:15.

 

(Mark 4:15 NIV)  Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.

 

8)  Satan is a tormenter, Luke 13:15-16; 2 Cor 12:7.

 

(Luke 13:15-16 NIV)  The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? {16} Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"

 

(2 Cor 12:7 NIV)  To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

 

9)  Satan is an obstructionist, 1 Thes 2:18.

 

(1 Th 2:18 NIV)  For we wanted to come to you--certainly I, Paul, did, again and again--but Satan stopped us.

 

Applications:

 

In our relationship to others, especially brothers and sisters in Christ, Christians are to manifest the fruit of the Spirit.

 

(Gal 5:22-23a NIV)  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, {23a} gentleness and self-control.

 

There is that which we might call the fruit of Satan that is produced in the lives of those who employ his devices to their own ends resulting in dissension and division in the church.  We do well to heed the warning of Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians.

 

(1 Cor 3:16-17 NIV)  Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? {17} If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

 

God forbid that we would ever produce fruit born of the devil and lie to one another, accuse another without cause, question another's motives, draw another into temptation to do wrong, test another's spiritual strength in the hopes they might fail, lead another into sin that could lead to their destruction, steal the word of God from another's heart, to inflict pain upon another to keep them succeeding, to put obstacles in the path of someone who is seeking to serve the Lord.

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