2 Corinthians 12:1-10 - Thorns and Grace

The false apostles boasted about their visions. If Paul wanted to he could boast all the more about this, but he does not want to boast about visions he has seen, for he knows that it is of no value. Yet at the same time he needs to get the Corinthians to see sense and stop being taken in by the false apostles. So he talks about the vision in an oblique way. The "man in Christ" is most probably Paul himself. At some point God had lifted him up to paradise itself. 

So Paul could outmatch the false apostles in terms of visions, but he has no wish to do so. The only aspects of himself that he will boast about are his weaknesses. Why? Because it is here that the power of God's grace and love are shown most clearly. Our role in life is to display the splendour of the Lord.

So Paul tells of a time when God failed to answer his prayers! Now there are many speculations on what the "thorn in the flesh" was, the simple answer is that no one knows, so I am not going to join the speculations.

The thorn came from Satan, but was allowed by God in order to keep Paul from becoming conceited. See the humility here. Paul was aware of his weaknesses, but also knew God's strength. That is the mark of a true believer. Paul pleaded with God to take the thorn away, but God refused to do so. 

So we see something about prayer here, but it is not that we should be weak and vague in prayer. There are times to be specific and to pray with authority, but ultimately if something is not going to be good, then I do not want God to give it to me, and I recognise that only God has perfect wisdom. So when I pray I am happy for God to overrule me, and mighty glad that He will do so. But there are two key lessons to learn here. 

One is that some people talk as if we pray for the wrong things it can hinder the work of God. If we are praying out of a hard heart, then God may give us the thing we are asking for in order to bring us to our senses. But if I am praying for the wrong thing, but from good motives, then I trust that my Father in heaven will gently say no.

The second is that this is not a reason for weakly adding "if it be your will" to all our prayers. Sometimes we can be almost certain what God's will is, or at least have a pretty good idea. So often we should pray specifically and pray with authority fully expecting God to answer. We can do this with the confidence of children of God.

In this situation God was teaching Paul about His grace. His grace is sufficient to overcome all our weaknesses, and His grace is the foundation of our confidence. So Paul, unlike the false apostles, was happy to boast about his weaknesses and difficulties, for in these Christ's power was most clearly demonstrated.

May the power of Christ be demonstrated in our lives!

2 Corinthians 11:16-33 - Suffering

Paul now takes on the false apostles on their own ground. He doesn't want to boast, but says "if you want boasting, then here is some boasting". In a sense he is being sarcastic here. He is also rebuking the Corinthians, for they were looking for the wrong things. They assessed people by their boastings, and even by how much money they exploited the Corinthians for! Paul is telling them that they are really acting very foolishly.

Paul then turns to his Jewish ancestry. The false teachers were apparently boasting of their Jewish ancestry, claiming that this gave some superiority to them. Paul could outmatch them in any "I am a better Jew" contest.

Paul next talks about suffering. Now the false apostles would probably not boast of these things, but Paul does. For as he says at the end it is the things that show his weakness that he will boast about. Here we have the key difference between the false and real apostles. The false apostles exalt themselves and are proud of their own strengths. The true apostle boasts only of Christ and lives by Christ's strength.

2 Corinthians 11:5-15 - Super Apostles

The false teachers grandly called themselves "super apostles". I must admit I am a little wary of the way the term apostle is sometimes bandied about these days, especially when it is used in an agrandising way. For Paul being an apostle meant doing the work of God and suffering with Christ. 

The super-apostles boasted about themselves and denigrated Paul. Paul is responding to these accusations. The super-apostles made money out of the Corinthians, whereas Paul refused to do so. Indeed Paul's mission in Corinth was supported by other churches, and by his own work, and Paul was criticised for this! 

The super-apostles were false apostles. We need to be aware that Satan will masquerade as an angle of light. There are two key tests to the authenticity of anyone claiming to be a man or woman of God. Do they faithfully preach Jesus Christ as Lord in accordance with the Bible, and how does their lifestyle measure up. If the focus is on themselves rather than Jesus then we need to be very much on our guard.

2 Corinthians 11:1-4 - Only one truth

Paul asks them to put with his "foolishness". What he means is that he is going to have to speak about himself, seeming to boast, in order to counteract the talk of the false apostles.

Paul's prime concern was not himself, but Christ, and his desire was to see the Corinthians presented to Christ as a "pure virgin", ie with complete devotion to Jesus alone.

Eve was led astray by the serpent, she was deceived. The serpent said that God did not want them to become like Him. In fact this was a complete lie, for God made us in His image, and being like God is precisely the thing that He does want. Jesus came to restore the broken image, and in Christ we see what we should be like. The enemy will try and use deception to stop that happening.

Notice that the mind is a battlefield. We are to have constantly renewed minds. Christianity is most definitely not a matter of kissing our brains goodbye, instead we need to feed constantly on the word of God so that our minds can be renewed by the Holy Spirit.

There is only one gospel, one Jesus Christ, and one Holy Spirit. Yet the Corinthians were tolerating false teaching. We need great wisdom in knowing the difference between being patient with people and tolerating evil.

2 Corinthians 10:7-18 - The Lord's approval

The Corinthians were guilty of judging by appearances. They were too easily taken in by the persuasive charms of the false apostles. We need to be wise, and not to take everything at face value. 

So Paul calls on the Corinthians to look more closely at his life. Paul had been accused of being bold in his writing, but timid in reality. We need to be aware that acting in a Christian spirit can sometimes be construed as weakness. Paul warns them that they would be mistaken to make such an assessment. He was being patient with them, giving them the chance to repent, a chance that most of them took. 

It is the same with God. Often when He seems to be slow in acting, what He is actually doing is giving people the chance to repent (2 Peter 3:9,10). 

The false apostles compared themselves to each other and commended themselves. They are foolish to do this. Jesus is the only standard by which we should compare ourselves. Paul would boast only of what God had given him to do. Paul had spent a considerable amount of time with the Corinthians, so was perfectly justified in speaking to them, and taking an interest in their spiritual development.

It is the Lord's approval alone that counts in the end.

2 Corinthians 10:1-6 - Not the weapons of this world

So far the focus has been on teaching and encouraging the Corinthians, with a somewhat oblique references to the methods and mindset of the false teachers. Now Paul deals much more directly with the attacks on him. 

One of the accusations was that he was "strong" in his letters, but timid in person. However, while defending himself Paul continues to use godly weapons, rather than worldly methods. He appeals first with the "meekness and gentleness" of Christ. The world encourages us to become brutal and overbearing. These are not Christian virtues. Paul will be firm, but his goal is always to build up and restore, not to destroy. It is easy to destroy people, but difficult to save them. That is why Jesus went to the cross. We can often wonder why God doesn't "do something" about all the problems in the world. It would be very easy for God to destroy all the evil, He could do this with one word from His mouth. But it is very difficult to save people, and God's overriding aim is to save as many as possible. So it is with Paul.

Paul could have been bold with the Corinthians, and would indeed be so if necessary, but before doing that he would do all he could to restore people. We do not live by the world's standards and do not fight with their methods.

So Paul is seeking to destroy and capture the pretensions and ideas of the false teachers. He is looking for a victory, and is confident that the weapons we have the power to do this. So we need to be on our guard. We need to know what the objective is, and not give in to the taunts of the enemy, who will try to get us to fight with the same weapons that he uses. Instead we need to remain firm and steadfast. Then we will destroy the enemies strongholds.

2Corinthians 9:10-15 - Open the floodgates of God's grace

God supplies both physical and spiritual needs, and He does this to enable us to serve. We have a habit of separating the material and spiritual, but in the Bible both go together. So if we look at this purely in terms of money we are wrong, if we look at in purely in terms of spiritual service we are wrong. They go together. We can have a fear about our ability to give, but Paul is assuring us that our Lord will supply all that we need in order to give. 

Notice that Paul is using God's practical provision to demonstrate that He will also make spiritual provision. In our lives we can feel spiritually inadequate, knowing our weaknesses and failings, and wondering how we can meet God's demands. Jesus said "blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 5:3). we can trust God both for our material and our spiritual needs, and we can serve with confidence that everything will be provided.

Generosity also results in praise and thanksgiving, and prayers to God. Now the Bible is clear that God hears pays special attention to the prayers of the needy. He hears them when they cry our against their oppressors. Conversely, He also hears them when they pray for those who help them. 

Giving is an act of grace and results in ever increasing grace in our lives. Let us open the floodgates of God's grace.

2 Corinthians 9:6-9 - Giving and receiving

We were created to give. The world, the devil, and our flesh (our old nature) tell us that we need to take and get, but this is a lie. We were made in the image of God, and so we should operate on the principle of giving and receiving, not taking and getting. We receive from God and we give generously to others.

Giving is not a burden but a joy and a gift. It has been shown that one of the key factors that makes people happy is giving. Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). Now we tend to fear giving because we think it will make us poor, but this is not the case. If you read the Old Testament you will find that one of the keys to security is being generous (Psalm 112:8,9). We live in a different kingdom and we have a different relationship. We live in the kingdom of God, and we have been adopted as children of God. Giving is about living in this new kingdom and this new relationship.

Now sometimes people teach as if the sowing and reaping bit her means that as we give money we can expect to receive money, as if there is a causal relationship between the two. This is not the right way to look at it, for it is a legalistic way. When we give money we should give in order to achieve a purpose. We give to enhance the work of the church, to support missions, to help the poor. The harvest we should be looking for is the growth of the kingdom, seeing people set free. And we do all this knowing that our God will supply all our needs (Phil 4:19), we do not do it so that God will supply our needs. God supplies our needs not because we give, but because He loves us. But giving is a vital part of kingdom life, if we want to experience the life of the kingdom we need to be people who give.

2 Corinthians 8:22-9:5 - We affect each other

Titus' zeal was increased by the good attitude of the Corinthians. It is true that we need to be dependent only upon God, but it is also true that we receive spiritual help and strength from each other. God's primary means of working in our lives is through other people. We can be a source of great strength to each other, and should make it one of our goals to be a source of encouragement to one another.

Paul then returns to the matter in hand, namely the collection for the Jerusalem church. He had told others about the Corinthians generosity, which they had expressed the previous year. Now he wants to make sure that they follow through on this expressed desire. 

So Paul is making sure that practical steps are in place. As a church we need to make sure we are well organised, as well as having right desires. There is nothing spiritual about being disorganised!

2 Corinthians 8:16-21 - Open and honest

A collection was being made from many churches for the Jerusalem church. In financial matters it is essential that things are done properly, and are seen to be done properly. One area of attack that the enemy will always make is in the area of money. He does this in various ways. One is through poverty. The church was countering this one here by collecting money for the Jerusalem church. Another is through individuals acting improperly, embezzling money, or acting wrongly in some other way. The third, and the one which is the focus of this section, is through false accusations. This latter attack is being countered by making sure things are done in a transparent and accountable manner. 

The church is often reluctant to talk about money, much more reluctant than the Bible is! Here we see first an openness to be honest about needs, and now adopting a sensible and orderly means of handling the money. 

Note also the person who was charged with overseeing the collection, Titus. Titus was a man of God who often worked with Paul on his missionary journeys. He was a man full of the Spirit. So, as with the "serving at tables" (Acts 6:1-7), we see that "practical jobs" are given to spirit-filled people. The whole of our lives, the whole of the churches life, is to be dedicated to Christ, and carried out in His power.

2 Corinthians 8:8-15 - Giving Generously

Paul was not insisting that the Corinthians give, but the sincerity of what they had said earlier. 

Christ died for so that we would become rich. Now some use this as a support for financial prosperity teaching, but we need to look at the context. What is Paul doing here? He is urging the Corinthians to be generous. So Christ is being used as an example of how we should seek to behave. 

Now I have no problems at all with financial wealth. Indeed if we live in the West and employed then most of us are among the richest people on earth. Moreover, knowing Jesus will make a difference to your finances, but if we make financial wealth the goal of faith we are mistaken.

Last year the Corinthians had expressed a desire to help the Jerusalem church, and had taken some steps towards doing that. Paul is now encouraging them to complete the work that they started.

People are very good at expressing intentions, but often not so good at fulfilling the intentions. Here we see Paul urging them to complete the task. So we too should be willing to be held to account, and should be willing to urge others to fulfill desires that they state and tasks that they start.

Now Paul is asking them only to give what they can afford to give, ie "according to what one has". So those who are financially rich should give generously. 

A repeated refrain in the Old Testament was that there should be no poor among them, and generosity on the part of people is the means of achieving this. 

Some might take this interest in equality as support for socialism, but this too would be mistaken. Look at the effects of socialism when it tries to achieve equality. It results in leveling down, an intrusive state, high taxation, wasteful spending and a loss of responsibility. God's way is much better.

2 Corinthians 8:1-7 - True prosperity

We now come to a couple of chapters that spend quite a lot of time dealing with giving. The believers in Jerusalem were experiencing hard times and Paul was involved in collecting money to help them. The process had started in Corinth, but had not been completed.

Paul talks about the grace that had displayed itself in the Macedonian churches. We are all to give, but giving is also a gift. A generous heart with generous actions is clear evidence of the work of God's grace in a person. Our God is a giving God, so His people should be a giving people.

In Macedonia the church was also experiencing severe trials, and with this poverty. Yet the result was overflowing joy and rich generosity. We see here the true prosperity gospel at work. The grace of God in them overcame the circumstances and produced the exact opposite results that one might have expected.

They gave extravagantly and joyfully. Paul urged Titus to encourage the Corinthians to do the same.

In these two chapters we will learn a lot about appeals for money and giving, and the lesson has only just started, but one of the things we can learn is that it is fine to ask for money. Churches can be reluctant to talk about money, but if money is needed we should talk about it. We also see that giving is a grace, and is evidence of God's grace.

2 Corinthians 7:8-16 - Repentance the path to salvation

Now Paul is not regretting having sent the "severe letter". This is the letter referring to sin issues in the church. Paul was deeply concerned and upset, knowing that the issues had to be dealt with, and at the same time caring for the church at Corinth. However, now he is glad because the result of the letter was repentance. Repentance is the pathway to salvation. This applies when we first become Christians, and at various points during our Christian life. 

Paul draws a distinction between godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. Godly sorrow is a realisation that what we have done is wrong, that we have let God down, that we need to change. Worldly sorrow is usually just regret at the consequences, with no admittance that we are wrong and in need of change. Godly sorrow leaves no regret. When we repent we are completely forgiven, and our relationship with God is completely restored.

In the Corinthian case it produced a determination to do what is right. When Paul wrote to them he was not taking sides in the issue. And Paul was further encouraged by what Titus found in Corinth.

2 Corinthians 7:1-7 - Restoring relationships

We have been called into a relationship with the Lord, so we are to live holy lives, ridding ourselves of things that contaminate us. This applies both to our bodies and to our spirits. The Greeks were keen to separate body and spirit, so some taught that as long as the mind was pure, you could do what you like with the body. This of course was nonsense. Our spirits are affected by what we do with our bodies, and our bodies are affected by our spirits.

The false teachers had sought to bring division between the Corinthians and Paul, here Paul appeals to them not to let their relationship be broken. Paul rebuts the false accusations that the false teachers had made. Paul had acted properly, and he greatly valued the Corinthians.

When Paul came to Macedonia he was greatly troubled, being particularly concerned about Titus and the situation in Corinth. So he was greatly encouraged when at last he met up with Titus again, and that Titus has good news about the Corinthians. See that Paul was not immune from the inner turmoils that we all go through, and God comforts the downcast. 

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 - Completely committed to Christ

"Do not be yoked with unbelievers". We need to appreciate the difference between believers and unbelievers. When we read "righteousness and wickedness" we read this as "goody goody two shoes" and "unbelievably bad", and can react against it, thinking it is making us out to be self-righteous and superior. This is not so. We think we are autonomous, but the truth is we are not, We are either in the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of light, we are either serving God or serving Satan, whether we admit it or not. And the one that we serve influences our life in a deeper way than we admit.

So if we are yoked to an unbeliever then we are subjecting ourselves to influence from Satan. Believing in Jesus is not just a matter of accepting one set of ideas as against another set, or of adding some ideas to what we already believe. It is about a whole new relationship, a whole new life. It cannot be bolted on to our old life, nor can we bolt things on to it.

So we are to be completely committed to Christ.

2 Corinthians 6:3-13 - Enduring all things

Now we get back to the defence and description of Paul's ministry. First they put no stumbling blocks in anyone's path. We need to be careful that we do not do things that unnecessarily offend people. The gospel is offensive enough! There is a battle when the good news is preached, but we need to make sure the battle is about the right things, namely God's goodness and glory, and man's sin and need to repent.

Instead of putting obstacles in people's way Paul did things that would commend them. Above all else this meant great endurance, enduring all sorts of things. 

Being a servant of Christ and fairness do not go together. Jesus was not treated fairly, nor are His servants. If you are interested in your rights, in getting a fair deal, then forget following Jesus. Now the world puts pressure on us, saying that unless we are getting our "rights" something is wrong, and we will only be happy, and should only be happy when we get our "rights". This way does not work. If we want to be truly content, then we need to have a deep love for Jesus, a deep love for people, and a Godly passion for the gospel. We need to be motivated by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God.

These verse are an answer to cheap prosperity teaching. As servants of Christ and children of God we have a different motivation and a different source of life to the rest of the world. The life that Christ gives us enables us to overcome all things and to triumph in all situations.

Paul has been completely open with the Corinthians, he has made himself vulnerable. Now he implores them to do the same. When we put up a veneer, when we wear a mask, we make it impossible for God to get through to us. Now we need to be wise in who we trust, but we do not need to fear the truth, even the truth about ourselves, for Christ has won complete salvation for us, and the truth will set us free.

2 Corinthians 6:1-2 - Today is the day of salvation

The Corinthian believers are addressed as co-workers. If you are a disciple of Christ then you are a co-worker. We must not view pastors, preachers, evangelists etc as Christian workers and ourselves as just pew fodder. We are all to be completely dedicated to Christ, and all our lives are to be lived for Him. 

We are not to receive God's grace in vain. Receiving God's grace is not a passive thing. It is true that we did nothing to deserve it, but that does not mean we do nothing with it. God's grace is living and active, enabling us to do things for Christ.

Paul quotes from Isaiah 49:8, one of the servant songs in Isaiah. There it says "I will answer you", "I will help you". Now Paul says "I heard you", "I helped you". Salvation is here, this is the day of God's favour and now is the day of salvation. There is an urgency about this. We cannot afford to sit around waiting. We need to cease the moment and live in the fullness of His grace and salvation today.

Biblical principles of Giving

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2 Corinthians 5:16-21 - Be reconciled to God

"We regard no one from a worldly point of view". We need to look at people differently. Why? Because of what Christ has done, and what He can do in a persons life. We might look at someone from a human perspective and think they are useless. There may well be evidence to support such a view. However, Jesus died for that person, and if that person turns to Christ there is no limit to the transformation that can take place. If that person has already turned to Christ, His work in their life has only just begun. Even if you have known Jesus for fifty years, His work in you has only just started!

Conversely suppose someone is doing well in the world's terms. Well Jesus said the first will be last and the last first. This does not mean we despise success, far from it, but Jesus uses a different measuring stick than the world uses. 

If someone is in Christ then he is a new creation. The possibilities are endless. We need to view ourselves from this perspective as well, we need to view members of our families like this too.

Christ changes our whole perspective on life. Without Christ we are the focus, but now He is the focus. On the cross God was reconciling men to Himself, and we are His ambassadors, calling people to be reconciled to God. We need to dump all self-righteousness, and get Christ-righteousness.

2 Corinthians 5:11-15 - Living for Christ

They knew the fear of the Lord, therefore they tried to persuade others. Paul and his co-workers knew who the Lord was. Fear does not mean dread. Essentially it means knowing who the Lord is. This includes knowing that He is more righteous than anyone or anything else, that He is more powerful than anyone or anything else. It means knowing that above all we should look to Him, and that doing things His way is more important than anything else.

Paul emphasises again his straightforwardness. False teachers are always slippery. We should always seek to be honest and straightforward about what we teach. The false teachers were concerned above all else about external appearances, much as the Pharisees and Sadducees were. However, note that Paul was concerned that the Corinthians were not ashamed of Paul and his co-workers. For when people attack the truth, they will also attack those who teach the truth. So it is about people as well as ideas. This is why it is vital that as servants of Christ we live lives that are worthy of respect, so that no one can justly accuse us (there will always be unjust accusations). 

Some thought Paul to be mad, much the same as some think Christians are at best naive, and at worst fools or simpletons today. That is a risk one runs in choosing to follow Christ. But it means that we can help those who do believe.

Christ's love compels us. This does not mean so much that because we love Christ so much we are compelled to tell others, but rather that Christ's love for others compels us to tell others. And now we should live for Christ, not for ourselves.

2 Corinthians 5:6-10 - It matters how we live

Christianity is not about escapism nor about living in unreality. It faces up to the present, the reality about ourselves, the reality about our circumstances. It also faces up to the reality of the future, Therefore we live with confidence. 

We live by faith and not by sight. As Hebrews 11 says, faith is the evidence and substance of things to come, I say again, it is not unreality. We know by faith what is going to happen. We would like everything to be completed now, but it is not. So our response in the present is to live to please Christ. 

All of us will face judgement and have to give an account for our lives. The fact that we are forgiven freely by the cross does not mean our lives do not matter, it does not mean that it does not matter what we do. The whole of the Bible is clear that it matters how we live. If your theology leads you down a path that says it does not matter how we live then you up a gumtree and the sooner you see sense and come down it the better.

What we do matters. How we live matters.

2 Corinthians 5:1-5 - Longing for the future

A key element of the New Testament, and in Paul's letters, is looking forward to what will happen in the future, either after we die or after Christ returns. Paul has just been talking about "light and momentary troubles", and this is from a man who was regularly beaten, thrown into prison, attacked in all sorts of ways. We need to have a proper focus on the future. This does not mean that we escape the present, but that we then live properly in the present, because we have a correct perspective on the future.

Our earthly bodies are dying and one day will be destroyed, but we have an eternal home in heaven. This is not an ephemeral place, but is very real. It is made by God, not by human hands. If you believe in Jesus your future is looking good.

So in this life there is always an element of groaning, of longing for something better. We receive many blessings from God now, but they are only an instalment on what we will receive in the future. There is an awareness that we are not all that we should be, that things are not all they should be. Paul makes several references to being unclothed. In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve were embarrassed by their nakedness after they had sinned. There are times when the sin that remains, our weaknesses and failings, embarrass us. We want to be perfectly Christlike now, but know that we are not. So we long for the mortal to be swallowed up by the eternal.

This is not a desire to die, but a desire to truly live. This longing is positive, for we have received the Holy Spirit and He is a guarantee of what is to come. We do experience change in our lives today, and this is wonderful. We do experience victory today, so we know that the promise of God is real and trustworthy. 

2 Corinthians 4:13-18 - An eternal glory

Paul quotes from Psalm 116:10, the Greek translation (Septuagint or LXX). This is a Psalm of deliverance. Our confidence is in the Lord. Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, we believe this to be true, therefore we speak of it.
For we know that the One who raised Christ will also raise us. And Paul and his colleagues worked for the benefit of the Corinthians. The false apostles worked for their own benefit. The true disciple of Christ works first for the glory of Jesus, and then for the benefit of other people. We want to see the grace of God reaching more and more people, affecting more and more lives. A persons life can either be determined by what they deserve, or by the grace of God.
Outwardly our bodies age, outwardly we may be subject to many trials, but inwardly we are being renewed each day by the power of the Spirit. Everything that we have to endure now is temporary. If you are going through a trial at the moment remember that it is only temporary, it will not last forever.
Moreover, these trials are not pointless, the Lord works through all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28), so they are achieving an eternal glory for us. So we live by faith and not by sight.

2 Corinthians 4:7-12 - No gain without pain

We have great treasure, but it is contained within jars of clay. We need to hold on to both aspects of this. On the one hand we have the wonderful good news of Jesus Christ. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. We are adopted into the family of God. We have a glorious inheritance. On the other hand we are still human beings, with our weaknesses and failings. If we forget one or the other of these then we are not being true to God. 

Paul here is again contrasting the truth and reality of the Christian life with the false triumphalism of the false apostles.

So there are times when we find things very difficult. Times when we feel pressed in on every side, when we are utterly perplexed by what is happening, when we are persecuted or struck down. These things happen, but they do not defeat us. None of us like going through trials, but they are normal. We need to take heart from the fact that just because we are finding things impossibly difficult it does not mean we are defeated or are going to be defeated. For we are not dependent just upon ourselves, but on the living God. 

Jesus was crucified on the cross and He was raised from the dead. Now we need to always remember that we share both in the cross and in the resurrection. If Jesus had not gone to the cross He could not have been raised from the dead, this is blatantly true. But it is also true that we cannot know the power of the resurrection in our life unless we also know the cross. 

It is not true that Jesus went to the cross so that we would not have to do so. It is true that He went to the cross so that we would not have to suffer the punishment that we deserve, but Jesus spoke about us all having to carry the cross, about sharing in His sufferings. and the church in Acts, particularly the apostles, demonstrated the reality of this. 

2 Corinthians 4:3-6 - Light in the darkness

Paul has just spoken about presenting the message clearly. Some might object that the message is not clear, that many cannot understand it. Paul replies that if its veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing and that it is Satan (the god of this age) who has blinded their minds. Satan does this because the gospel displays the glory of Christ, and Christ is the image of God.

The false apostles promoted themselves, and we need to be wary of anyone who is promoting themselves rather than Christ. So we have here a good test of true Christian ministry, for its focus is on presenting Christ, and we are presented as servants of Christ. False ministry will often show itself in self-promotion.

Now the minds on many Jews were blinded, as were the minds of many Gentiles. So what was the difference for Paul and the other believers? It is that God has made His light shine in our hearts. We can see the truth only because of the grace of God, and that truth is displayed in Jesus Christ.

All that we have we have only because of God's goodness towards us, but what we have we have from God Himself.

2 Corinthians 4:1,2 - Presenting the word plainly

The church has a terrible habit of swinging between two extremes. On the one hand there is cheap prosperity and superficial triumphalism, and the other hand is you can only be in God's will if you are miserable. Both of these are nonsense. as always the best thing is to see what the Bible says, and Paul is teaching about the true nature of the victory and prosperity that we have in Christ.

We do have the victory and we are being transformed from one degree of glory to the next. Moreover,we have been given this "ministry", this service. God has called us to serve in building and proclaiming the kingdom throughout the world.

Now this ministry has been given to us through God's mercy. We were not called because we are good, or super qualified. We were called because of the grace of God. So even when things are difficult we do not lose heart, we keep going, because our life and ministry is not built upon our strengths and our success, but upon God's strength and success. 

So we have received this ministry by grace. It still has consequences, and one of these is to "renounce shameful and deceitful ways". We are dependent upon God for success, indeed it is His success that we are looking for, Therefore trickery and the like have no place in what we do. We should be utterly transparent and honest. Most of all we should present the word of God plainly. 

This does not mean we do not try and do things well. It is better to have a well prepared and well presented sermon than a load of drivel, but we never try to manipulate nor deceive people.

2 Corinthians 3:7-18 - Greater glory

There is a fundamental difference between the old and new covenant. The old covenant was written in stone, the new covenant is written on the heart. It is a covenant not of the letter but of the Spirit. It is about the Holy Spirit changing the hearts of people.

Now, although they are different, they are not opposed. The problem arose when people thought that the old covenant was it, thought it was the be all and end all. Instead it needs to be seen as a preparation and a pointer towards the new covenant. So there are still things that can be learnt from the old covenant.

The old covenant, the Law, came with glory. This was demonstrated by the fact that Moses (to whom the Law was given) had a shining face after meeting with the Lord (Exodus 34:29-35), though this glory did fade. So if the old covenant is pointing towards something greater, then we can expect the ministry of the new covenant to have even greater glory associated with it. The Law brought death, for it could tell us what was right and what was wrong, but could do nothing to change people, so it brought a guilty verdict and a sentence of death.

Moses had to put a veil on his face to cover the glory, but under the new covenant the glory is to be on open display. This veil was also representative of the fact that people's minds were blinded to the true meaning of God's word. When Christ came the people, especially the religious leaders, rejected Him. All they could see was an end to the old covenant, they could not see that the new covenant was being brought into being, the very thing that the Law was pointing to. So they killed Him.

It is only when we believe in Christ that we can see what the Scriptures really say. When we read the Old Testament we need to look at it as pointing towards something and someone greater, ie to Jesus. Any other way of reading it leads to misunderstanding.

For when we turn to Christ we receive the Holy Spirit and He takes the veil off our minds. And the glory we receive is not a shining face, but a life that is being continually transformed to become more and more Christlike. This glory does not fade, but increases day by day, year by year.

2 Corinthians 3:1-6 - Not the letter, but the Spirit

Throughout the letter Paul is wary of self-promotion, for this is the very thing that he is accusing the false apostles of. The false teachers and apostles used letters of commendation to promote themselves, Paul says that the Corinthians themselves are the "letter of commendation". That is, the lives and the changes in the lives in the Corinthians is the "proof" that Paul and his companions were messengers from God. And these changes were open for all to see. Evidence for the real work of the Spirit is changed lives. Jesus said "by their fruit shall you know them" (Matthew 7:20). 

For Paul everything came from God. God was the source, the focus and the reason for his life. His confidence was not in his own abilities or reputation, but in Christ. 

This focus on Christ does not diminish us, but increases us. It made Paul competent to be an apostle, to be a minister of the new Covenant, a servant of Christ. And the new Covenant is a covenant of the Spirit not the letter. We should be wary of any teaching or movement that boils down to being a system. A system will inevitably result in failure, it will result in death, in a dead denomination. Now this does not mean we should not use methods or systems, but we should always be on our guard against them becoming the focus. 

Christ is the only focus we should have, and the Holy Spirit is the only One who can truly change a man or woman, or church, or a nation.

2 Corinthians 2:12-17 - Not for profit

Troas was a place that Paul visited on several occasions. It was here that he received the vision of the man of Macedonia, which was God telling him to go to Europe. It was also here that the boy fell out of the window, died, and was raised to life during Paul's teaching. 

God had opened a door, so Paul was being successful in his ministry. Even so he had no peace. He wanted to hear from Titus how things were going in Corinth.

However, everything worked out. So Paul talks about the God who leads us in triumphal procession. God's servants are the aroma of Christ. This is pleasing to God. To those who are being saved it is the aroma of life, but to those who are perishing it is the smell of death. 
This reference to an aroma is a reference to the practice of Roman leaders to parade their captives through a city. This was accompanied by a distribution of perfume. Note that Paul refers to himself and other Christians as being among the captives. There is a self-deprecating aspect to a lot of what Paul says in this letter. Now he is not saying this in the sense of we are worthless, but is countering those who boast about themselves and exalt themselves. When we exalt Christ we find who we truly are and find our true worth.

The gospel divides. Some will accept and welcome it, they find in it the way of life, the forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit. But to those who are stubborn it spells death. For Jesus died on the cross, and He was raised from the dead. So those who rebel are now without excuse. They could repent, they could receive forgiveness, they could receive the life of God, but they refuse to do so.

Paul is aware of the enormity of the task. We have a role in determining the eternal destiny of people! Up to now he has been implicitly contrasting his ministry with that of false apostles, now he makes the comparison explicit. The false apostles saw the gospel as means of personal popularity and making money. Paul always acted with sincerity.

2 Corinthians 2:5-11 - Forgiveness

The person who caused grief is probably the one referred to in 1 Corinthians 5 who had committed sexual immorality. This was a sin against the whole church. It is common these days to talk about anything being OK as long as it doesn't affect anyone else. This is rubbish. Everything we do affects other people. Every person is a part of the community and as such influences the community. If I do not live in a good way then at best I deprive others of the good I could do, at worst I have a corrosive effect on others.

Paul has called for the man to be put out of the church, handed over to Satan. Now the man has apparently learnt his lesson and it is time to receive him back into the church.

In verse 9 Paul refers to a letter, this could be 1 Corinthians, or possibly the severe letter. Perhaps some people had been so stung by Paul's words that they were in danger of over-reacting. So Paul assures them that in forgiving the man they have his full support.

We are not unaware of Satan's schemes. One of the devil's tricks is to get us to tolerate sin, which is what the church in Corinth had started off doing. His next trick is to get us to become harsh and unforgiving, which is the trap that Paul is now trying to get them out of. 

We need to tread a fine line between treating sin as sin and offering mercy to people. This is especially true in today's society where it is highly likely that new people who come into the church will have been involved in sexual sin of some sort, and where the pressures on Christians can be very strong.

2 Corinthians 1:15-2:4 - Reasons for change

Paul had planned to visit the Corinthians twice, once on his way to Macedonia, and then again on his return.

Before going on to explain why this did not happen, Paul gets sidetracked and talks about the general issue of yes and no. Jesus taught that we should let our yes mean yes and our no mean no (Matthew 5:37), and James (James 5:12) says the same thing. God is very straightforward, and we too are to be straightforward. We are representatives of the king, and so we must be reliable and straightforward. As Paul says, in Christ every promise is yes. Now we find this hard to believe, we find it hard simply to take God at His word. Why is this? There are many reasons, but one of them is that we are used to living in a duplicitous society, where everything has to be questioned and doubted, and no one can be trusted. Now if we are to know Christ properly we do need to take Him at His word, we do need to simply trust Him. This does not mean we do not try to understand anything, or ask questions (the Bible is full of people asking questions of God), but our starting point needs to be that what God says is right. So following Christ needs a different approach than the one we are used to. This is difficult, but we can make it easier for people if we ourselves are reliable people.

Paul knows that the questioning of himself by some is really a doubting of God. So he assures the people that the Holy Spirit within them is a guarantee of the good things to come.

Paul then returns to the matter in hand. Paul had changed his plans for the benefit of the Corinthians. Either there had been an extra visit, or it is the first of Paul's planned two visits, either way, Paul had changed his plans. For on the visit major problems had arisen, serious matters within the church that needed to be dealt with. After the visit Paul had written a "severe" letter to them. Paul acted out of love.

As an aside, this means that sometimes it is permissible to change our minds, even if we have made a promise, if the circumstances permit it. Here Paul acted out of love and out of the best interests of the Corinthians.