2 Corinthians 10:1,2 - By the meekness and gentleness of Christ

10:1,2

There is a distinct change in tone here. The first nine chapters have been predominantly gentle, but here it becomes much more combative. There are some, indeed many, who see 1-9 and 10-13 as being two separate letters. However, we should note that the “target” here is now the “super-apostles”. In the first part of the letter Paul was primarily addressing the church, now it is enemies of the church. This points us to a distinction we should draw in our day-to-day dealings with the church. There will be those who cause problems but are part of the church. In those cases gentleness and patience need to be our guiding principle. But there are those who are enemies of the church, and we need to take a much firmer line in such cases, always watching ourselves and our attitude. Note that this section begins with Paul appealing “by the meekness and gentleness” of Christ. Apparently he had been accused of being “timid” when with them, but “bold” when writing from afar. So in his letter so far he has been full of gentleness (by the way, this is an argument for the unity of the letter). He is the same Paul whether with them or distant from them. The “boldness” could be a reference to the painful letter. He also says that if necessary he will deal boldly with the enemies of the church when he comes to them, but he wants to avoid doing this. Note that the error of the “enemies” here was not doctrinal, but attitudinal. They were living by the world’s standards, seeking to run the church by the world’s standards. We need to watch ourselves that we do not do this.