Isaiah 55:7,8 - For my thoughts are not your thoughts

55:7

So the wicked are to forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. We need to repent, to turn to the Lord, and if we do that He will have mercy upon us. A key element of the gospel is that man’s ways are not good. The ways of man who has rebelled against God are not righteous, they fo not produce life. Yet this is an element of the gospel that we seem very reluctant to talk about. Repentance is an essential element of the gospel (it was an essential element of Jesus’ teaching!) and is good news.

55:8

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and neither are your ways my ways.” This is a well known verse, and a highly important one. In a sense this is obvious. If we look at western society’s views on sexuality there is a very clear difference between God’s thoughts and our thoughts, but the difference goes far deeper than this. When we rebelled against God everything changed. We see the extent of the change when we see Jesus. In Christ we see a man who lives His life in complete obedience, trust and love for the Father, for God. And when we see Christ we see someone who is so radically different from every other man or woman. 

2 Corinthians 12:6,7 - A thorn in the flesh

12:6

Paul does not want to boast, but that is not because he has achieved nothing, nor that there is nothing he could boast about if he set his mind to it. When some people boast they are essentially being fools, for they really have nothing to boast about, they have achieved very little, and most people who hear them boast know it! Paul had done many things, but he did not want to boast. So if the accusers said Paul refuses to boast because he has nothing to boast about they were wrong. But of Paul did boast people would then start focusing on him, instead of focusing on Christ.

12:7

Now look at what Paul does. He has just said he does not want to boast about himself. One might now think “what a wonderful upstanding fellow he is, what great moral character!” So his refusing to boast becomes a form of boasting! But look at what Paul actually says,. He says “a messenger from Satan” was sent to “keep me from becoming conceited”. He is making sure that they did not think that this humility was something that brought great merit to Paul. Now there is great debate about what exactly the “messenger from Satan” or the “thorn in the flesh” were. Many theories, very little knowledge. We are not told, and that is not the point that Paul is making. So let’s focus on what the Bible wants us to focus on. Something happened that was not very pleasant or desirable and the effect was to make sure that Paul did not get too full of himself. Sometimes things will happen in our life, sent by God, to help keep us humble.

Isaiah 55:5,6 - Seek the Lord while He may be found

55:5

Under the authority of Jesus, Israel will summon people they know not. This can also be seen as applying to the church. When Israel rebelled against God, as she frequently did, she became nothing, on object of ridicule and derision. So it is with the church when it abandons faith in God and looks to the world for its “wisdom”. Yet when Israel or the church repents and turns back to God things change, and we start to become the people that God always intended us to be, fulfilling the mission He has for us. And that mission is to summon all nations. There will be a complete transformation. Instead of being mocked, we will be sought after, because we are speaking and acting in the wisdom of the Lord. Why this change? Because of the Lord our God, for He will endow us with splendour. Everything is God focused.

55:6

So the Lord has made these promises, telling them what will happen, but this is not the end of the matter. The people have to “seek the Lord while He may be found.'' There is the Calvinist/Arminian debate, or monogyst/synergyst debate. Is salvation all down to God, or do we have a part to play in it. The reason for the debate is that the Bible supports both. Yes, our salvation is entirely down to God, but that does not mean that we have no responsibility, nor does it mean that we have no part to play. The Bible is very clear that a response is demanded from us, and that we have responsibility. God created us as responsible human beings, and beings whose actions and decisions matter.

2 Corinthians 12:3-5 - I will not boast about myself

12:3,4

This man (presumably Paul) saw amazing things. He was taken up to Paradise and heard things that no one is permitted to tell. So why is Paul saying this? Essentially he is saying that whatever the false apostles are boasting about he has seen much greater things. He is also saying he does not speak about them. First because God does not permit him too, and most poignantly here, he has no wish to boast about these things. They do not make him great. The power of the gospel does not lie in the greatness of the messenger. For one thing, the messenger (including you and me) is not great. Most importantly, the power of the gospel is based on who Jesus Christ is and what He has done.

12:5

Such a man and the vision he saw would be worth boasting about if that sort of boasting was in order. In contrast, the things the false apostles boasted about were nothing at all, mere figments of their imagination, if indeed that. Perhaps a similar situation today would be some so-called prophecies. I do believe that prophecy is still a relevant gift for the church, but some of the stuff that passes for prophecy is  rubbish. However, Paul had no wish at all to boast about himself, except his weaknesses.

Isaiah 55:3,4 - Give ear and come to me

55:3

In order to get this choice food we need to do two things. We need to listen to the Lord, and we need to go to the Lord. We need to listen so that we will live. If we refuse to listen then we will not, indeed cannot, receive from the Lord. Jesus often said, “let him who has ears to hear, listen”. If we come and listen to the Lord He will make an everlasting covenant with us. This covenant is based on the Lord’s love, and is founded on His promises to David.

55:4

“See I have made him ...” It seems most likely that this is a reference to the Messiah, or to the Lord’s Servant or Isaiah. He is a witness to the peoples, to the nations. And He is a ruler and commander. When we look at Jesus we need to see Him as a ruler and commander. Now, he did not come as a normal ruler and commander, but as a servant, but He is also the One who has been given power and authority over all things. 

2 Corinthians 12:1,2 - I must go on boasting

12:1

Paul then carries on his “boasting”. It is quite possible that some of the false apostles claimed to have visions and revelations. Paul could easily “out claim” them on this score, though he saw no personal advantage in doing this. So why is he continuing to “boast”? Because he wants to show that even in the areas where the false apostles claimed to be good or experts, they were really nothing much at all. He will then move the argument on to the things he really wants to talk about, namely strength in weakness.

12:2

Paul then describes a vision. He does not even talk directly of the vision having been seen by himself, though it is generally assumed that it is a vision received by himself that he is talking about. The third heaven probably means the place where God lives. In Hebrew thought the first heaven is the earth’s atmosphere (Deut 28:12). The second heaven is space, the cosmos (Ps 19,4,6). The third heaven is the dwelling place of God. He does not know whether he went there just in spirit, or in body as well.

Isaiah 55:1,2 - Come all who are thirsty

55:1

The previous chapter has painted a picture of great restoration for very needy people, seeming to offer something that is beyond hope. For people in that situation, the natural reaction is “how can this be?”, “how can we pay possibly pay for this?” The Lord’s response is to invite those who are thirsty and have no money. Ie people who have great need but no means of dealing with that need. We are called to come and buy without money and cost. Our inability to pay is totally irrelevant, for the Lord Himself has paid the price.

55:2

We do put much effort into all sorts of things. If we look at governments we will see them devoting great resources to trying to sort out society’s problems, but all to no effect. As individuals we will often do the same. Instead we should listen to the Lord, for He will give us the richest of fare, He will gives us food that truly satisfies.

2 Corinthians 11:24-34 - Who is weak and I do not feel weak?

11:24-29

Paul then expands on what he has outlined in the previous verse. Five times he received forty lashes minus one from the Jews, three times he was beaten with rods, and once pelted with stones. He was shipwrecked three times. He has faced all sorts of dangers, from the Jews and from bandits. He has been constantly on the run. He has been in danger from the Gentiles as well as the Jews. He was in danger in the country and in the city, this is a play on Deut 28:3. He has been hungry, thirsty, without food, cold and naked. Added to all this were the inward pressures that come from seeking to serve the church. Seeking to serve the church means having to endure all the pressures that come with that. He feels everyone else's weakness and failings. So much for the prosperity gospel!

11:30

Having sort of played along with the false apostles in “boasting”, Paul now gets to what he really wants to “boast” about. The super apostles boasted about how great they were. Paul wanted to boast about how great God is. He wanted to boast about his own weaknesses, for God did not work through him because he was so wonderful, but because God is so wonderful. So he is not ashamed to speak about his weaknesses (as he did in the opening of the letter), and is indeed delighted to do so. For God can save anyone.

11:31-34

All the things Paul has already spoken about, the things he is about to speak about, and his willingness to glory in his weakness is all true, and God knows that it is true. He starts off by recalling the time that he escaped from Damascus in a basket. This fleshes out a little the detail given in Acts 9:25. This was in the time immediately after his conversion. Having to leave the city by escaping in a basket would be somewhat humiliating.

Isaiah 54:16,17 - No weapon forged against you will prevail

54:16

“It is I who created the destroyer”. To our modern ears this sounds terrible and many will try and ignore or twist the meaning of this because it offends us. However, it is actually good news. To Israel it seemed that Assyria and Babylon had wreaked havoc. They thought they were at the mercy of these nations. However, it was God to whom they were at the mercy of. And that is good news, for God has provided a saviour, He has provided atonement for our sins. We want to avoid the reality of our sin, we do not naturally want to acknowledge the reality of sin. Yet to do so is the only way to salvation. And it is a good thing to do because God’s heart is to forgive the repentant. Our problem is our sin against God, and our salvation lies in repenting and trusting in God. And, which is the key point of this section, when we have done this we are completely secure in God.

54:17

Once we have turned to God everything changes. “No weapon forged against us will prosper”. Why? Because we are no longer under judgement. Our punishment has been paid in full by Jesus Christ. So we will refute every tongue that accuses. See that it is us who refute the accuser. This is our heritage, the fruit of our vindication. There is an enormous transformation through the cross and we need to appreciate it. We need to appreciate the before and to appreciate the after. Before the cross, before we repented, we were enemies of God. We were under judgement because of sin, we were rebels against God. Afterwards we are completely justified by the blood of Christ, we are now adopted as sons. God is for us and not against us.

2 Corinthians 11:22,23 - I have worked much harder

11:22

Paul now lists various qualities. He was a Hebrew, he was an Israelite, he was descended from Abraham. On anything based on ancestry he could easily out do them. One wonders what the ethnic background of the super apostles was. Were they Jewish? If so their “line of attack” was unusual. In most places where attacks came from Jews it was a matter of them wanting to get the people to keep the Law (eg Galatians), but that does not seem to be the case here. If they were Gentiles they could not claim to be Hebrews etc.

11:23

“Are they servants of Christ?” One type of false teacher will always claim to be be servants of Christ and will often use the right words, but their actions will belie the truth. Paul states the true marks of an apostle, and it isn’t pretty! They are not something one would go after unless one is truly dedicated to Christ and the power of the gospel. Paul worked harder than anyone, he was often in prison, he was flogged and beaten, close to death. This is not an attractive job description guaranteed to get the best candidates applying.

Isaiah 54:14,15 - In righteousness you will be established

54:14

“In righteousness you will be established”. So many people seem to see God’s “love” as a matter of God agreeing with us, or simply overlooking our sins. This is not a Biblical view. There are two key things involved in our salvation. One is that we are justified through the cross, through the shedding of blood. The full price of our sin has been paid for. The second is that the Holy Spirit works in our lives to make us evermore Christlike. Only then will tyranny and terror be far from us. Righteousness is a fundamental component of salvation.

54:15

When Assyria and then Babylon attacked Israel it was God’s doing! He sent these nations against Israel and Judah as judgement upon Israel. This does not mean everything Babylon or Assyria did was right, but the basic fact was that God was judging Israel and Judah. Now that we are justified this will happen no longer. It does not mean we will never suffer, but if we are attacked it will not be God’s doing, and by faith in Christ they will surrender to us.

2 Corinthians 11:17-21 - You gladly put up with fools

11:17,18

Paul does not want to boast, indeed has no interest in boasting. Elsewhere he says that he does not care about other people’s judgement on him, nor even on his own judgement of himself. But since boasting seems to be the only language that the Corinthians understand he will boast, even though this is not the way of the Lord.

11:19,20

Paul’s boasting is in part a criticism of the Corinthians. They should not be impressed by boasting, yet it seems that they are. This is a sign of their immaturity, a sign of their foolishness. Instead of being impressed by those who boast they should reject them. Moreover, those who boasted enslaved them or took advantage of them. As well as the doctrinal content of people or organisations, we should also look at the attitude of them. 

11:21

“To my shame ...” Paul is being sarcastic here when he says he was too weak to take advantage of the Corinthians. Moreover, on any of the areas where the super-apostles boasted, Paul could “out boast” them. He had no wish to do so, but since this was the only language the Corinthians seemed to understand he would do so.

Isaiah 54:11-13 - Afflcited city lashed by storms

54:11,12

We continue with the relational and emotional theme. God knows how the Israelites feel. When people have been through traumatic events, God knows how they feel. He knew that Israel felt like a city continually afflicted and receiving no comfort. His response is that He will rebuild the city with the finest of stones, even with precious stones. Even her battlements will be made with rubies. She will become a glorious place.

54:13

When disaster strikes it is usually the children who suffer the most, and they are deprived of a future. God’s promise is that they will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace. It is only when we receive the Lord’s instruction, and we accept the Lord’s instruction (instead of rebelling against it) that we find true peace.

2 Corinthians 11:14-16 - Satan masquerades as an angel of light

11:14,15

The false teachers were masquerading as “apostles of Christ”, Paul then turns the screw, saying that Satan masquerades as an angel of light. Pretending to be something or someone good when in fact you are evil is a common tactic of the devil. Look at the evils in society. Dictators claim to be helping the people, and then when in power the true nature comes out. I am writing this a few days after Robert Mugabe’s death. He came to power as a hero of Zimbabwean people, but turned out to be an evil tyrant. During his reign life expectancy in Zimbabwe fell from just under sixty to the mid thirties. The abortion bill in 1967 was promoted as being necessary to prevent the evil backstreet abortions, it soon morphed into abortion on demand with countless lives being ended in the womb each year.

“Their end will be what their actions deserve”. There is no beating about the bush from Paul, no slowness to call evil what it truly is.

11:16

“Let no one take me for a fool”. Paul was probably accused of being a fool. He tells the Corinthians that he is no such thing and that they would be foolish to take him as such. Paul was preaching life, the others were preaching death. However, he recognises the nature and effect of what the “super-apostles” were preaching and saying. So for a while Paul will “boast”, and since the Corinthians seem so keen to listen to those who speak about themselves, he bids that they may listen to him speaking about himself for a while. But the way that Paul speaks about himself will prove to be very different from the way that the super-apostles did.

Isaiah 54:9,10 - My unfailing love for you will not be shaken

54:9

This verse describes salvation, or rather God’s attitude towards us. And the flood and Noah are used as an illustration of that change. In the days of Noah God sent a flood on all the earth (which may or may not refer to absolutely all the earth, or to a very wide regional area). After that judgement God swore never to flood the earth like that again (which would tend to favour a whole earth view). What it means now is that the cross has dealt with judgement once and for all for those who believe. 

54:10

Again things are expressed in terms of God’s attitude towards us. The revelation of God is primarily a relational revelation. His greatness, His power and almightiness, and all the “omnis” are, of course, important, essential even, but the heart of the revelation in Scripture is relational. Here God declares that His love for His people will not be shaken, His covenant of peace not removed, and He is the God who has compassion upon us.

2 Corinthians 11:12,13 - I will keep on doing what I am doing

11:12

“I will keep on doing ...” Paul had no intentions of changing his ways. Was this just stubbornness? No, there was a purpose in mind, and that was to undercut those who wanted to be “considered equal with us”. So was this pride? No. The false apostles were promoting a man-centred religion, indeed a self-centred religion, not a Christ-focused message. Paul and his co-workers (and note that in most of his statements he talks about “us”) were acting for the good of others and for the glory of God, and their actions would eventually show what was right and true, and what was false.

11:13

Now Paul is direct, he calls their opponents “false apostles” and “deceitful workers”. We don’t always have to be nice about our opponents! Sometimes we need to be clear about what people are. Part of the reason for this is that false teachers lead people away from Christ and down wrong roads. They will either lead people down roads where they themselves will do wrong, or they will lead them down roads where other people will enslave them or take advantage of them in some way. Keeping quiet about things, or being polite, is not always a loving thing to do.

Isaiah 54:7,8 - In a surge of anger I hid my face

54:7

“For a brief moment I abandoned you”. God did abandon Israel, He did abandon us. We need to take sin seriously, and that God takes sin seriously, but where sin abounds grace abounds all the more (Rom 5:20). But if we do not take sin seriously, both in its effects and in God’s judgement upon sin we will never understand the gospel. “But with deep compassion I brought you back.” The sin was real, God’s righteous judgement was real, but so is His redemption. And He brought us back not grudgingly, but with deep compassion. We need to appreciate the compassion element of salvation.

54:8

“In a surge of anger ..” We don’t like this verse, but we should. The wrong reaction is to try and soften it. “God doesn’t really get angry”. Yes He does, and justifiably so. Our sin hurts us, and, worse than that, hurts other people, perhaps many other people. Sinning is not just making an alternative choice, it is taking an action that leads to much harm. But then God has redeemed us with “everlasting kindness”, and the Lord Himself is our redeemer.

2 Corinthians 11:8-11 - I robbed other churches

11:8

So how did Paul manage to exist while he preached to the Corinthians? He received support from other churches, as he puts it here he “robbed” other churches. This was very different from the way that travelling teachers and philosophers behaved. So this shows us that we do not necessarily have to follow the model of the world. It isn’t always wrong to do so, but we do not have to.

11:9-11

Paul then expands on this point, stating that brothers who came from Macedonia provided support. So from an early stage in the life of the church it has been the practice to provide financial help for missionaries. Paul had meticulously avoided becoming a burden to the Corinthians. We don’t find this point being made about any other churches, I wonder why it was such an issue here? Yet Paul was criticised for not charging the Corinthians money to hear his preaching! Yet Paul had no intention of changing his ways in response to this criticism. We do not always have to respond to criticism. Sometimes the response should be “You said, but I carried on doing things God’s way”.

Did Paul’s actions show that he didn’t really care or love the Corinthians? Quite the opposite was the case.

Isaiah 54:5,6 - The Lord will call you back

54:5

Remember all this is expressed in terms of an analogy of a barren woman, and probably an unmarried woman. In that culture if a woman was barren a man would not want her as a wife. So we should not press the point of God being our husband too far. It is an analogy. ie no silly services of women “marrying God”! What it means is that God Himself makes good all the failings and sufferings we have endured. This applies to men and women, and it is a quite amazing promise. God Himself is my saviour and your saviour. Yet so often we will settle for something so much less. We need to appreciate the greatness of the gift we have in Christ.

54:6

This paints us as a rejected wife, one who had been given a certificate of divorce, and we have all been rejected by God. After the fall we were banished from Eden, and a flaming sword stops us ever getting back there (Gen 3:24). We need to give full weight to God’s rejection of us if we are to appreciate the full weight of His salvation.

2 Corinthians 11:6,7 - I may be an untrained speaker

11:6

Paul was not trained as a speaker. In Greek culture rhetoric was considered to be very important and highly valued, hence the criticism of Paul. This was something he alluded to in 1 Corinthians as well, see chapter 2. So we should be wary of placing too much emphasis on presentational skills in preaching. This is not an excuse for incoherent rubbish or a monotonous drawl, but we need to be always aware that true success is down to the work of the Holy Spirit, not any supposed eloquence on our part. Moreover, the content of the message is vital. We should preach Biblical truth, not worldly nonsense.

11:7

The philosopher teachers of the day sought to exalt themselves, making themselves out to be someone of note. Paul did not do this, he sought to identify with the people. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23), and all of us can be saved by faith. If we are a preacher or teacher we are in no way higher than the people we preach to. Moreover, Paul did not seek to make money out of preaching, he preached free of charge. He was criticised for this! Now this does not mean pastors should not be paid properly, elsewhere Paul makes clear that pastors should be paid. But if making money becomes our goal we are no longer in step with the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 54:3,4 - You will not be put to shame

54:3

Look at all the “wills” in here, you will spread abroad, you will possess nations, you will people the desolate cities. The work of salvation is God’s work, the fruit of salvation is God’s work, so it will happen. But that does not mean we are passive. With regard to salvation we repent and believe (exercise faith), with regard to the fruit we cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Notice also that when God saves someone, or a group of people, that is not the end of it but only the beginning. Salvation is not merely a matter of being forgiven, it is the start of a new life.

54:4

This concept of a new life can be scary. Most of us have been battered and wounded by our own sin and by the sin of others. This can lead to us being consumed with fear. We fear disgrace and shame. After they sinned, Adam and Eve were ashamed. Sin produces shame and the expectation or fear of shame. The salvation of God takes away our shame and our fear of shame. Here God promises them that they will forget the shame of their youth. There is healing from the past shame that we have experienced. Healing also of our sense of weakness, our sense of being destined to fail.

2 Corinthians 11:4,5 - You put up with false teachers easily enough!

11:4

Paul chastises the Corinthians for their gullibility, their willingness to believe anything without testing it. This is a criticism that the charismatic parts of the church should be acutely aware of. There is only one Jesus, only one gospel and only one Spirit. How do we distinguish genuine from fake? The primary means is the word of God. If something is contrary to the word of God then it is to be rejected outright and without further ado. For example, churches which have debates on whether LGBT is actually OK are stupid. There is no Biblical evidence whatsoever for saying LGBT is consistent with the Bible.  But we also need to watch out for the spirit of what is taught. For it doesn’t seem that the Corinthians were being taught any outright heresies. The factor that Paul has been focusing on is the man-centredness and the man glorifying nature of the false apostles. Another example is legalism. Legalistic teaching will, superficially at least (in actual fact it won’t be, but it may take more effort to tease this out), seem to be consistent with the Bible, but the spirit is completely at odds with the Bible.

11:5

We now get the first mention of the term “super-apostles”. It seems that this group of people were very much into self-promotion and had a high opinion of themselves (if we detect these characteristics in ourselves, which we may well do from time to time, we should step back immediately and focus on the truth). Paul declares that he is not the least inferior to these people. The work of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Jesus and to convict us of sin and our need of Him.

Isaiah 54:1,2 - Sing, barren woman

54:1

We have just had the amazing description of what the Suffering Servant will do, and how things look from His perspective, ie seeing the light of day, being satisfied, being greatly exalted. Now we see the effect that this will have upon Israel and upon us. “Sing, barren woman”. We are barren. In our own right there is nothing we can do to become righteous, to be the fruitful people God intended us to be. Yet we are to sing. Why? Because of what Jesus has done. We never bore a child, we never lived righteously. Israel failed again and again. But now we are to burst into song. Because we are now more righteous than anyone (apart from Jesus) has ever been. “more than her who had a husband”. We are more righteous than any supposedly holy man or woman, more righteous than the Pharisees! (Matt 5:20).

54:2

So we are to enlarge the place of our tent. Previously we looked at life, looked at ourselves from a human perspective, from the point of view of our own abilities and goodness. If we were the least bit honest about ourselves this meant we would have a very limited view of ourselves and our ambitions. But now our righteousness is based on Christ’s righteousness, so we are to extend our horizons, because of what God has done.

2 Corinthians 11:1-3 - Yes, please put up with me!

11:1,2

Paul does not want to get into speaking about himself but feels he has to. Prov 26:4 say answer a fool according to his wisdom and the 26:5 says do not answer a fool according to his wisdom. These two verses are not contradicting each other. What they are saying is that there is a time to answer them, and a time to ignore them. It takes wisdom to know which one to apply in any given situation. Paul feels that he must say something here. So he asks the Corinthians to put up with his “foolishness” for a little while. Paul proclaimed the gospel to the Corinthians not to win their allegiance to him, but to win their undivided allegiance to Christ. And he wanted that allegiance to remain pure.

11:3

Now he fears that they have been led astray. He looks back to the example of Eve. She, along with Adam, had everything, but then the devil came along and deceived Eve, denying what God had said to them. Notice the basic nature of the sin. God had said in Gen 2:17 that they must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, if they did so they would die. This pattern is repeated again and again. In the area of sexual morality God states clearly that sex is for marriage between one man and one woman. It is not for outside marriage, and it is not for man and man, or woman and woman. Our age says God is not telling the truth and will do no harm to break these rules, this is a lie.

The Corinthians were being led astray from a pure devotion to Christ. 

Isaiah 53:11,12 - He bore the sins of many

53:11

“He will see the light of life and be satisfied”. In John 19:30 Jesus declared “It is finished” and gave up His spirit. His suffering was over, and He knew that the work of atonement was successful and was complete, so He was satisfied. Later He would raised from the dead, he would see the light of life. He would justify many, everyone who repents and believes is justified by Christ’s death on the cross, for He as bore our iniquities.

53:12

Jesus was exalted to the name above all names. Eventually everything will be brought under His authority. This will happen because he poured out his life unto death. Then yet again we have the emphasis on the propitiatory nature of His death. He was numbered among the transgressors, He bore the sins of many, and He made intercession for  transgressors. Any view of the cross that ignores and outrightly rejects the sin-bearing aspect of Jesus’ death on the cross is wholly inadequate, not to say completely wrong.

2 Corinthians 10:16-18 - Boast in the Lord

10:16

“so we can expand ..” It seems as if Paul had a strategy that required the region around Corinth to be “secured” before he could safely move further afield. The “boasting about work already done” seems to imply that the “super apostles” were building on other people’s work, which is often the case with charlatans of various sorts.

10:17,18

Paul returns again to the issue of boasting. As mentioned in an earlier post, boasting seems to have been an important matter to Paul. A key element of sinful man is that he will boast in things that he has no right to boast in, and will boast in the wrong way (usually self-glorification). The quote comes from Jer 9:24, and the emphasis in that verse is on boasting in the knowledge of the Lord. Knowing God is what counts. Also note that Paul is only using the word boasting here to contrast the right attitude with the wrong attitude of the super apostles. Self-commendation is worthless, it counts for nothing. It is only approval from the Lord that is worth anything.

Isaiah 53:9,10 - It was the will of the Lord to crush Him

53:9

This seems paradoxical, “assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich”, yet it is what happened. Death on a cross was for the wicked, yet Jesus was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. He was without violence or deceit. Almost all wickedness, in fact probably all, involves violence or deceit, or both. 

53:10

It was the Lord’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer. The Jewish religious leaders and Roman authorities (indeed all of us) were responsible for His death, yet it was also the Lord’s will. This was not “cosmic child abuse”, it was the plan of salvation, the means of atoning for our sins. His life was a sin offering. Then we get a prophecy of the resurrection. The suffering, the death were not the end. He would see His offspring, which is all of us who believe. And the will of God would prosper through Christ. Humanly the cross looks like a disaster, but it was really the road to the greatest triumph in history.

2 Corinthians 10:13-15 - We will not boast beyond limits

10:13

Paul and his colleagues would “boast” only of what God had called them to. We might think that means he would actually boast, but if we look at what has gone before, and what will come later, we see that this means talking about the glory of God and of Christ, and of his weakness and unworthiness. Our mission is that God has called us as forgiven sinners, incapable of doing the things He calls us to, but enabled to by the power of the Holy Spirit. And that sphere of service for Paul included the Corinthians. When we serve Christ properly there is both a humility and a boldness.

10:14,15

Paul then gives the “evidence” that the Corinthians were indeed part of the sphere of service that God had given him. They had gone to Corinth, they had stayed for some time, preaching and teaching the gospel, doing miracles among them. Charlatans will boast of things they have no right to boast of, and they will seek to hijack the work of others. We need to be painfully aware that this sort of thing happens in churches. But we must act as faithful servants of Christ.

Isaiah 53:8 - He was cut off from the land of the living

53:8

“By oppression and judgement”. Jesus was oppressed by the Jewish religious leaders and by the Roman authorities. The case was a show trial, sentencing an innocent man. And no one objected to His unfair treatment. But He was also taken away by judgement. Our sin was laid upon Him, so He received the punishment, the judgement, that we deserved. He was “cut off from the land of living”. Islam cannot cope with idea of the Messiah dying, but this was essential for our salvation. Jesus died on the cross, but not without purpose. He died for the sins of God’s people. There are arguments about “limited atonement”, ie did Jesus just atone for the sins of the elect, or did He die for everyone, just providing the possibility of salvation. There is, of course, much more to be said on this matter than I will say here, so go and read about it if you wish. The strength of limited atonement is that Jesus died specifically for you and me, and died effectively. Ie His sacrifice was 100% effective. And Scripture seems to be fully support this contention. The “downside” is that it raises the question, can we make the evangelistic claim that “Jesus died for you”. It seems that limited atonement would say no, but I believe that that is a flawed deduction. We are deducing this conclusion from a temporal, human perspective, but the atonement is an eternal action and some of our deductions may therefore be invalid. Moreover, the Bible tells us to preach the gospel to everyone. So in effect we can proclaim “Jesus died for you”.

2 Corinthians 10:9-12 - They are without understanding

10:9-11

We get back to the accusation that in person Paul is weak and timid (see 10:1), but bold and forceful from afar, ie in his letters. He is also accused of not being a good speaker (see 1 Cor 2:1), and oratory was greatly valued in the culture of the time. Paul is not so much interested in the accusation that he is weak in person, but addresses the one about being bold in his letters. He stresses that he does not want to frighten them in his letters.

Paul finishes by declaring that he is actually the same in his letters as he is in person. The letters are not empty rhetoric, but would be backed up with action.

10:12

We now get more information on the opponents, and Paul is quite dismissive of them. The opponents boasted about themselves, and used themselves as the measure. Paul is being sarcastic when he says that he and his workers do not dare to compare themselves with the opponents. The only one we should measure ourselves against is Christ. This will have two effects. First, we will never boast, for we can never be anything like the equal of Christ. Secondly, it will urge us on to constant improvement, seeking to become ever more Christlike. This is a useful comparison to make, unlike comparing ourselves with ourselves, or even to others, will produce unjustified pride and complacency.

Isaiah 53:6,7 - We all like sheep have gone astray

53:6

This verse outlines the fundamental problem. “We like sheep have gone astray”. We have turned to our own way, instead of turning to God. We deserved to be punished for this, to suffer righteous judgement. But instead of doing this our iniquity was laid upon Christ. This was not “cosmic child abuse” as some ignorant people have said. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit were in complete agreement that this was the only way to save us. On the cross our sin has not merely been overlooked or swept under the carpet, rather it has been fully paid for. Righteousness and justice have been completely satisfied.

53:7

Jesus was “oppressed and afflicted”. For most of the time He kept silent (Mark 14:61; Matt 26:63). However, He was not silent all of the time (eg Luke 23:3). We are not meant to take an overly literalistic interpretation of His not opening His mouth. The point is that Jesus submitted to the trial and did not seek to defend Himself. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, “so He did not open His mouth”. Jesus came to die, He came to be the sacrificial lamb to take away the sins of the world.