2 Corinthians

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

 

by Samuel E. Ward

 

January 30, 2011

 

2 Corinthians 2:12-17

 

Introduction

 

Dr. Sam Storms has seen four qualities that characterize Paul's preaching:

 

1.  He speaks with "sincerity" (i.e., with pure motives; wanting only that people would understand the truth; whether or not they choose to believe the truth and live, or reject the truth and die, is beyond his control)

2.  He speaks "as from God" (i.e., what he says originates with God, not himself; he didn't make up the gospel; it wasn't his creation; cf. Gal. 1:15-17)

3.  He speaks "in Christ" (i.e., from the spiritual context of his vital, living union with/in Christ)

4.  He speaks "in the sight of God" (i.e., in God's presence, under his omniscient and ever-watchful eye, mindful that every syllable he speaks is known to God and that he will give a full account to God for what he speaks in God's name).

 

I have often wondered how my ministry, especially preaching and teaching might be characterized by others but then quickly decide that perhaps it is better not to know.  I do remember that the final project of my homiletics course in college was to preach in chapel while being video-taped.  Later, I had to meet with the professor for a private viewing and critique of the sermon and its delivery.  The professor and I must have seen two different things on the monitor for I nearly decided to change my major from pastoral studies to anything else!

But, like Paul, there is that overriding feeling of passion to communicate God's Word in a meaningful way and the sense that for me to do anything else was impossible.  And so, on a fateful day in 1971, I decided to give in to that passion which God had given me and let Him work out the kinks.  He is still working out the kinks. 

I understand Paul's passion to teach God's message to others.  I am sincere.  It does come from God because it comes from God's Word, not me.  It is in Christ because I also speak from my personal experience with Him and choosing not to pretend to know things that I do not.  I also know that God is watching and will be the Judge of all my words and actions as one of His ministers.  Finally, I would also, like Paul, want to defend myself against any who would question my motives.

We review quickly the outline of Paul's letter to the Corinthians that has been considered thus far.

 

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

 

A.  Paul's Introduction, 2 Cor 1:1

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

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

 

And now Paul discusses . . .

 

D.  The Bothersome Circumstances that Lead Paul to Macedonia, 2 Cor 2:12-13

 

2 Corinthians 2:12-13 (NIV) ¹²Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me,  ¹³I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good–by to them and went on to Macedonia.

 

1.  Paul had been forced to leave Ephesus due to riots instigated by idol-makers and begin his journey to Macedonia, Acts 19:23-20:1.

2.  Paul reached Troas expecting to meet Titus coming from Corinth but Titus had not arrived.

3.  On the day before leaving Troas, Paul spoke to the people until midnight leading to the Eutychus's unfortunate accident, Acts 20:7-12.

4.  The next morning Paul leaves Troas to complete his trip to Macedonia.

5.  Titus arrives to meet Paul in Macedonia (city of Philippi) bearing good news about Corinth's status, leading to Paul's writing 2 Corinthians.

 

E.  The Basic Explanation of Paul's Apostolic Ministry, 2 Cor 2:14-7:16

 

      1.  The gospel Paul proclaims offers two distinct spiritual aromas, 2 Cor 2:14-17.

2 Corinthians 2:14-17(NIV) ¹⁴But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.  ¹⁵For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.  ¹⁶To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?   ¹⁷Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.

 

a.  Christ leads as a liberator with the message of the gospel.

b.  Paul and his team follow spreading a spiritual fragrance which radiates to those confronted with the knowledge of Christ.

 

1)  To those who reject the gospel its messengers stink like death.

2)  To those who believe the gospel it is the fresh fragrance of life.

3)  To those who preach the gospel, it is an awesome responsibility, challenging one's aptitudes.

4)  One thing is sure, Paul and his team ministered without charge in order to maintain their integrity and to manifest their  sincerity.

 

2.  The gospel Paul proclaims is preached with confidence and competence that comes from God, 2 Cor 3:1-18.

 

2 Corinthians 3:1-6 (NIV) ¹Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?  ²You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.  ³You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.   ⁴Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.  ⁵Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.  ⁶He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

 

a.  The effectiveness of Paul's ministry is apparent in the Corinthian church.

b.  The empowerment of Paul's ministry in such a competent manner is the work of God.

c.  The expression of the differences between the old and new covenants which Paul's ministry exposes is substantial.

 

2 Corinthians 3:7-11(NIV) ⁷Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was,  ⁸will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?  ⁹If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!  ¹⁰For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory.  ¹¹And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

 

Old Covenant	New Covenant
Rules by the letter of the old covenant	Rules by the Spirit of the new covenant
The letter of the old covenant kills	The Spirit of the new covenant gives life
The old covenant came with a fading glory	The new covenant comes with a surpassing lasting glory

 

d.  The excitement and boldness such a gospel brings to Paul's ministry.

 

2 Corinthians 3:12-18(NIV) ¹²Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.  ¹³We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away.  ¹⁴But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away.  ¹⁵Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts.  ¹⁶But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  ¹⁸And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect^£ the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever–increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

 

1)  There is no reason to hide the glory of the gospel as Moses did the fading glory of his face from having been in the presence of God when the law was received.

2)   The veil over the law remains only by the will of those who will not see the fulfillment of it in Jesus Christ.

3)  Faith in Christ will lift the veil which hides the law's true purpose of directing sinners to Christ and give them freedom from sin's bondage and liberty in Christ.

4)  Faith in Christ begins the transformation in believers in which they increasingly reflect the likeness of Christ in the lives.

 

Romans 7:7 (NIV) ⁷What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet."

 

Galatians 3:23-26(NIV) ²³Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.  ²⁴So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ^£ that we might be justified by faith.  ²⁵Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. ²⁶You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 

 

Applications

 

1.  Preach Christ as the Liberator!

 

Romans 6:22-23 (NIV) ²²But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.  ²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in^£ Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

2.  You cannot please all of the people all the time.  In sharing the gospel expect that your witness will either cause them to "turn up their nose" or to stop and "smell the One Who is the Rose of Sharon."

 

1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV) ¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 

 

3.  The sincerity of our commitment to Christ is not known by what we say alone, but by what we do and how we serve.

 

John 2:4-6 (NIV) ⁴"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come." ⁵His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." ⁶Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

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