Posts that reference the book of 2 Corinthians

2 Cor

When God Told Paul ‘No’

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

In a heartfelt letter to his friends at Corinth, Paul opens up in a moment of transparency and vulnerability about his deep frustration with what he calls a “thorn in his flesh”. But more than just a venting session, Paul uses it to tell his friends what Jesus taught him through the experience. (That in itself is a great model worth imitating.) So let’s see what we can draw when God told Paul ‘no’, not just once but three times.

Everyone struggles. Everyone from scholars to casual readers has offered up opinions as to what the thorn might have been. Frankly, I think that detail is left out so we can more readily identify with the struggle itself and apply the lessons given. Everybody wrestles with something that never seems to let up. It is there at every turn, ready to strip away all the progress we’ve made, making each step forward three times harder than it has to be. Paul was a better pastor for his suffering. His church and readers would know that they weren’t failures or weak or outside God’s favor because they struggled.

Grace – It’s not just for salvation. When God told Paul ‘no’, it demonstrates here, once again, the need for and the power of grace in our lives. You may be able to look back at a time in your life and wonder how you got through it. Grace. Even today, you may question how you’re going to go on. Grace. John MacArthur in his commentary on these verses lists several things that sufficient grace enables us to do: “to believe the gospel; to understand and apply the Word to all the issues of life; to overcome sin and temptation; to endure suffering, disappointment, and pain; to obey God; to serve Him effectively; and to worship Him.”

God knows what we need. Paul listed his impressive credentials a couple of times in Acts and in his letters. Pharisee. Scholar. Zealous for the things of God. It would have been easy and natural for him to devise a plan for evangelizing the known world and working tirelessly to carry out that plan. What Paul needed was Christ-reliance far more than self-reliance and this thorn was one way that Jesus moved Paul that direction. In fact, he used all sorts of difficulties to reinforce to the super-achieving apostle that he was not self-reliant. Neither are we. Following Christ is a life of dependence.

No one likes to be told ‘no,’ especially when the request is to ease pain, suffering, and hardships. The truth is, we learn more and we are better testimonies to Christ’s power in our struggles.

Next we’ll finish up this series with a look at the most significant ‘no’ of all.

John MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary – 2 Corinthians, (Chicago: Moody Press, 2004).

Light out of Darkness

By Paula

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6

Light out of darkness.
That’s the gospel in simple terms.
God gives us the knowledge of the His glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

But that is more than a one-time event.
He gives us the knowledge of His glory in the darkness of uncertainty.
And the darkness of fear and anger.
And the darkness of hopelessness and despair.

Honestly, if it weren’t for the light of the knowledge of His glory in Christ …
The world would be a very dark place.
Our very lives would be dark.

Perhaps someone you know needs to be reminded of that knowledge.
Perhaps someone you know needs to discover it.

Spread the light.

We Think You Ought to Know

By Paula

We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. 2 Corinthians 1:8 NLT

That’s Paul talking. You know, the Apostle.
Crushed. Overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure.
His words.

We think you ought to know.
In case you think being in leadership, or in ministry is easy.
In case you think I’m exempt.
In case you think following God means everything is smoothed out …
We think you ought to know.

It was too much.
I did not see how we were going to get through it.

Not the words we typically think of coming out of the mouth of someone who wrote a big chunk of the New Testament.
But there they are. Unvarnished.

If you read the whole passage, though, you find Paul learned three important things.
He learned God’s comfort rains down. (v.5)
He learned to rely on God alone. (v. 9)
He learned how many people were praying for him and how necessary those prayers were. (v.11)

If you are in a place like Paul, may God comfort you with the assurance that the things he learned are true for you as well.

If you are not in a place like Paul …
Pray for those who are.

Light in the Darkness

By Paula

Then they will look to the earth, and see trouble and darkness, gloom of anguish; and they will be driven into darkness … The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. Isaiah 8:22, 9:2

If we look around, it is hard not to see trouble and darkness, the gloom of anguish.
It is difficult not to be driven into darkness.
If this was all there was, it would be a reasonable response.

But God didn’t leave us in the dark.

Zachariah prophesied of the one who would come after his own son, John.
Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:78-79

Simeon recognized who the baby Jesus was.
“A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.” Luke 2:32

John affirmed His identity.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1:1-5

Jesus Himself claimed it.
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12

But God has been bringing light into darkness since the very beginning. Paul explains that God has done that for each of us who believe.
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6

Every candle, every twinkling light reminds us.

No Quid Pro Quo Gospel

By Paula

I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel. Galatians 1:6

Quid pro quo is a Latin phrase that means “this for that.” It implies an exchange of things of roughly equivalent value, a trade-off. In politics, it leads to an expectation of influence or benefits. In business, it means special perks. Unfortunately, it can also lead people to expect favors in return for a nice night out. Recently at a local high school, kids were given an early dismissal in exchange for having no tardies or discipline issues. Time off for good behavior, I suppose.

Because the notion of quid pro quo is so pervasive, it can influence our theology. A couple of weeks ago, someone remarked to me, “If we lead a godly life, He does things for us, doesn’t He?” She meant that God would intervene, that He would provide, that He would give us what we asked for, if and when we did our best to be good. I was supposed to answer yes. I didn’t. Let me address some of the reasons why.

1. We don’t obey God or lead a godly life because of what we get out of it. We do it out of love. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15). Love, genuine love at least, is not selfishly motivated by what it gets. Satan’s whole premise in Job was that Job only served God because he was prosperous. Take away the prosperity and the devotion would disappear. Job destroyed that argument.

2. We are in Christ. Paul explains that it was God’s plan. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God–and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. (1 Corinthians 1:30). Being in Christ means He became our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification and our redemption. It has all been accomplished. The things we do, even if they are completely godly and righteous, cannot add to the complete righteousness of Christ which has already been credited to us.

3. We enjoy the manifold blessings of God. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3) We have been given every blessing. Already. Because we are in Christ.

4. “Circumstantial” blessings, the “doing things for us” kind, are contrary to the real-life experience of many, many believers. Again, see Job. Check Hebrews 11:35b-38. Consider the situations of our brothers and sisters in nations hostile to Christianity. How cold and insensitive would it be to suggest that the reason God wasn’t doing things for them was due to their ungodliness. The way God chooses to act and the moment in which He does is governed by His sovereign will. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will. (Ephesians 1:11).

5. A quid pro quo gospel diminishes Christ’s work and God’s grace. If there is something we do, or something we contribute, then it’s not the grace of God at work. The very definition of grace is that it is neither deserved nor earned. The beauty and wonder of the gospel is that God supplies that grace without hesitation, reservation, qualification or limits. Quid pro quo buries that underneath complications and conditions. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Paul used very strong words when he warned the Galatians about other gospels. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8). A quid pro quo gospel is one of those “other” gospels. Take Paul’s warning seriously. Live confidently in Christ in possession of the grace of God and His manifold blessings.