This is a remarkable passage from the hand of the apostle Paul, describing the nature of his ministry as an apostle and the way in which, in all kinds of difficulties and hardships, he conducted himself so as to commend the Gospel to his hearers. And when he uses the word “we,” he is thinking of th
The third reason we go to others with the Gospel is that the love of Christ constrains us. If you do not know Jesus Christ, then you do not have the kind of love for other people that would compel you to go in difficulty and endure all the sufferings Paul describes in order to present the Gospel to
In addition to the image of a tent, Paul uses a second image, this time of clothing. These bodies of ours are great things but they are mortal. They are weakened by sin, subject to disease, and will eventually die. In a sense they are like clothing that has fallen into rags. What we look forward
In the opening section of chapter 5, Paul continues this discussion on his ministry from a heavenly perspective. He knows that death is going to come sooner or later for everybody, and in Paul’s case it is perhaps coming sooner because of the kind of hardships he was enduring. This body is at best
What we teach is not that which comes out of the experience or heart of man. It is that which God has revealed to us in our own language in propositions that we can understand. At this point we are criticized. Some people say, “Well, that really is something you can’t support because why should y
At the beginning of the two major sections of this portion of 2 Corinthians, 5:1-10 and 5:11-6:2, you notice that they each begin with the words “we know.” 2 Corinthians 5:1 says, “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven,
Do you have your eyes on what is happening internally? Do you know that in all of the circumstances of life, all of the things you go through, God is renewing you inwardly? He is building within you a new character. He is building a new life, one that is going to exist for all eternity in His pre
Here in chapter 4 he talks about being hard pressed, crushed, perplexed, persecuted, and other things. Then he goes on to say, “For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake” (v. 11a). Do you see yourself in any of those terms? You probably have experienced at least so
Beginning in verse 7, Paul begins to talk about the ministers. He refers to himself, but the use of the plural is significant. Paul is not appealing to his own experience alone, drawing attention to how much he suffered. Yes, he is speaking personally because he has a personal relationship with t
The second practice Paul avoided was the use of deception. This is pretending to do one thing, but actually doing something else. I regret to say that an application of this takes place even in the Christian church, where something will be put forward to attract people but which is really not what
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not considered by the world to be a source of power or wisdom. So it is no surprise that as Paul writes this letter, from the world’s point of view he experienced little attention. People were not impressed with Paul. But this does not mean that he experienced no att
In yesterday’s study, we concluded by mentioning the first two contrasts that Paul gives between the old and new covenants. Today we continue with the other three.A third contrast is in verses 7-8, which talks about the glory of both covenants. Even though the old covenant is ineffective in being
In chapter 3 Paul starts by talking about letters of recommendation. Apparently, it was a problem in the church, perhaps because of Paul’s enemies who came to the Corinthian Christians with some kind of recommendation letters from others. They belittled Paul’s ministry because he did not have such
Ray Stedman, who is the pastor of the Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California, has faced a number of serious disciplinary situations in his long and effective ministry. On one occasion there was a young man in the church who grew in spiritual things and was eventually elected to a position
I think there are three aspects in this section. One is the forgiveness of sins, which we see in verses 5-11 concerning someone who had been guilty of great sin. Whoever the man was and whatever the nature of the offense, there clearly needed to be discipline. You have to make clear that sinful c
On the surface, this is a passage that seems to deal with very diverse things. There is a section in which Paul refers to a disciplinary case that existed in the church in Corinth, and which had been handled, and to which he now responds. There is also a personal section where he begins to talk ab
In yesterday’s devotional, we looked at the third thing Paul does with respect to attacks, which is to evaluate his relationship to Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. There are three aspects to this, and they are related to each other. The first aspect was Paul’s union with Christ.The second as
The second thing we need to do when God changes our plans is to relate the change to His sovereignty. Paul talks about his surrender to God’s sovereignty in verses 15-20. When God speaks, God speaks surely and directly. When He acts in our lives it is always the best course to where God wants to
Sometimes criticisms that come to us are utterly unfounded and utterly unjust. And yet, often it is the case that there is some truth to the criticism. What we need to do at that point is examine ourselves and see if any of the criticism is true. We sometimes say in common speech, “Let your consc
It is hard to believe that people who had benefitted by Paul’s ministry would be as petty as they were, or, even if they were not the ones who made the slander, that they were petty enough to at least listen to it. But that is sometimes the way it is, even in Christian work. I regret to say that t
In my opinion, it is a very difficult thing to have our plans changed when we have worked out something carefully. It is especially difficult when we are criticized as a result of having to change them. Now I acknowledge that people are different in this respect. I think perhaps at this point, I
As I read here about God’s comfort, I think Paul also says that because God comforts us in our suffering, we learn to trust Him. If you look back over your life and conclude that in the midst of a horrible situation, you knew that God was there upholding you and strengthening you, then you also kno
In yesterday’s devotional, we referred to the story of Job as an example from the Old Testament of how one can respond to suffering in a way that glorifies God.We have another example in the New Testament of how suffering results in God’s glory. In John 9 we have the story of the man who was born b
As I have studied this, it seems to me that there are a variety of reasons why different forms of suffering come into our lives. One is that such things are just common to humanity in our sinful world. Job was expressing that idea when he wrote, “Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly
