Second Corinthians is the most underrated, underappreciated book in the New Testament, maybe the whole Bible. In it, Paul is passionately personal in his defense of his ministry and his authority, but he also exhorts and encourages the believers in Corinth in a touching heartfelt way. It is packed with tremendous truth. (I could do several posts on my favorite verses…)One thing worth noticing, even keeping a list of, is everything Paul says about God, Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit.
For example in 1:3-4, Paul says "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."
- The Father of mercies
- The God of all comfort
- He comforts us in our tribulation
Some major topics Paul covers include:
- What does it mean to be a minister (and we are)? What are our responsibilities? What should we be doing? (You'll find these answers mostly in chapters 2-6)
- What are our responsibilities when it comes to giving? (Look at chapters 8-9)
- How a leader should conduct himself and how should we in the body respond? (Try chapters 10-13)
But the guts of the book are found in chapter 5:17-20. It is perhaps the most succinct statement of what God did for us and what our job is as a result. Love these verses!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 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 word of reconciliation.
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Is Second Corinthians the most underrated book? If not, which one would you say?
Acts is the sequel to the gospel of Luke and it tells the story of the witnesses empowered by the Holy Spirit. It naturally divides into two sections. In the first twelve chapters, Peter is the main character and the church is just beginning to function. Beginning with chapter thirteen, Paul takes over and missionary work dominates the rest of the narrative. Acts is a dynamic action-packed book that forms the bridge between the Gospels and the epistles and it serves as the framework upon which the remainder of the New Testament is built.
The gospel of Matthew contains some of the most familiar passages in the New Testament- the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer and the Great Commission – and that helps make it great choice for study.
