Author: Jim Cantelon

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 11:29 “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?””

Paul continues his boasting in verse 16-33. In so doing, he is reminding the Corinthians of his credentials (as compared to false teachers who are undermining Paul’s credibility).  What does he boast about? He is a Jew (v.22). He is “more” than “a servant of Christ” in that he has “worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again” (v.23). He has received thirty-nine lashes five times. Three times he has been beaten with rods, once he has been stoned, three times he has been shipwrecked and treaded water for a night and a day in the shark-infested Mediterranean Ocean (vv.24, 25).  In fact, his life has been one constant danger (v.26) at worst, and a colossal inconvenience (v.27) at best. Then, on top of it all, he has lived with “the pressure of [his] concern for all the churches” (v.19).

It is in this context that Paul says, “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?” In other words, “there is nothing you have experienced that I don’t know something about. I have been there. I have suffered I have been angry at injustice and the object of injustice. I understand.”

This is a bit of a twist on boasting. Usually we hear boasts about successes. Here we read boasts of failures, hardships, and deprivations. Paul has paid the price. And who is going to object to that king of boasting?

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 10:17 (NIV) “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Generally speaking, most of us disapprove of boasting. We don’t like boasters because they seem either bent on putting us down by exalting themselves or, on the other hand, too hungry for our approval. In both cases it’s a pain. doubly obnoxious is the person who boasts about his spirituality — he’s not only better than you on the human plane, but he’s also achieved superior approval on the heavenly plane. Such arrogance!

Paul talks about boasting in verses 12-18. The context: boasting about ministry. He refers to those who “measure themselves by themselves” and “compare themselves with themselves: (v.12) and declares he won’t even “dare to classify or compare ourselves with these who commend themselves.” It’s not that Paul is opposed to a proper boast once in a while (see 11:16) — it’s just that he refuses to boast apart from track record. For example, he says  he “will not boast beyond proper limits”, that is, he won’t say, “I’ve done a great work for God” in a general way. Rather, he will say, “I have done a great work for God among the Corinthians”. Or, as he says in verse 13, he “will confine [his] boasting to the field God has assigned to [him]”, and here is where track record comes in — “a field that reaches even to you”. In other words, he will boast to those who know his record, and those who know his record know that his bottom-line boast is “in the Lord”.

Something just as obnoxious as unsupported boasting is false humility. Why? Because we know intuitively that a self-detracting response to commendation is just a call for more commendation. What you want to hear when you commend someone is, “Yes, thank you. I’m pleased myself”, or something along that line.

And when it comes to God’s work, how about saying, “Praise the Lord! He has done great things!” And then thank God for including you in the process.

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 9:6 “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”

Before he became president of the USA. Woodrow Wilson was president of Princeton University. I read recently of an occasion when he spoke to a group of parents.

“I get many letters form you parents about your children. You want to know why we people up here in Princeton can’t make more out of them and do more for them. Let me tell you the reason we can’t. It may shock you just a Little, but I am not trying to be rude. the reason is that they are your sons, reared in your homes, blood of your blood, bone of your bone. They have absorbed the ideals of your homes. You have formed and fashioned them. They are your sons. In those malleable, moldable years of their lives you have forever left your imprint upon them.”

The Bible says, “train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Doing this isn’t easy, nor does it happen by itself. It takes commitment, sacrifice, and a lot of love. Lay the love on thick, and your children will draw on its depth for the rest of their lives. Love thinly, on the other hand, and they will have shallow reserves for the rest of their lives. It’s all a case of how you sow.

The same principle holds true in every area of life. If you want a lot of tomatoes you plant a lot of tomatoes. If you want God’s best for your life, you give your best for all of your life. You commit, you pay the price, you follow through. After all, the stakes are high. We are living for eternity — and we’re going to walk into a Kingdom someday. There we will become “the planting of the Lord”. How fruitful will that tree be? You can be sure it will bear just as much fruit as we’ve planted while we lived our moment in space and time. Now is the time to be generous. In everything.

Key Verse: Corinthians 8:12 “For if there is a first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.”

I think most of us have heard or read about ministries that “never ask for money”. Usually this observation is made with a muted condemnation of any ministry that does ask for money. The implied message is: if God approves of a ministry, He’ll supply the need without fundraising. That sounds impressive. But for most ministries, God expects us to labour in fundraising. Paul is a case in point.

Chapter 8 is all about fundraising. As you read it carefully, you see Paul doing his utmost to stimulate generosity in the Corinthian church. He refers to the Macedonian churches who gave generously in spite of their “extreme poverty” (v.2). He talks of their eagerness to participate in “the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints” (v.4 NIV). He then urges the Corinthians to do the same (v.6) and commends them for their excellence “in everything” (v.7a) — (Paul seems to have forgotten, for the moment, their lack of excellence in morality). He follows this with a comment that their generosity will be a “test” of “the sincerity of [their] love” (v.8) — and says he’ll “compare it with the earnestness of others” (how would you respond to this kind of pressure from your pastor?).

The urgency of Paul’s appeal reflects a great concern on his part for the ongoing health of the financially poorer congregations. In a sense, you might say Paul’s intensity reflects his sense of “ownership” — he’s committed, and appeals not for himself, but for “the saint”. Maybe this is exactly the kind of pressure we should invite rather than resist. It’s a challenge to our will.

That’s why we need a “willing mind”, one that is committed first to the kingdom of Heaven. A mind that will choose to give “according to what one has”.

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 7:10 “For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

One day, while pastoring in Jerusalem, I was visited in my office e by a young man with a stricken conscience. He had done something very wrong and, in our Sunday evening service that week, had become very convinced of the wrongness of his action. As he spoke to me, his face was etched with sorrow, his eyes brimmed with tears and as we prayed his body shook with sobs. When he left he said, “Thank you, pastor , for praying with me about that sin. I wish I’d never done what I did, but I believe God has forgiven me. I’ll never do it again.” To my knowledge, he never did.

In Paul’s terms, the young man had experienced “godly sorrow”. Or, as some of my evangelical friends might put it, “conviction of sin”. Perhaps a psychologist might call it guilt.  But what gave it value was its product: repentance. The young man turned away from his sin and never did it again. And, by the way, was much happier (or “healthier”) as a result. His repentance strengthened his life.

Contrast this to the person who does wrong, feels guilty, but does nothing about it. His conscience may be stricken, but he continues to sin. What happens? Eventually, his action erodes his conscience. It chips away at that inner voice until that voice is silent. His conscience has become “seared”. Tenderness of heart gives away to scar tissue.

All of us have the potential to kill our conscience. No, we won’t doing it with one shotgun blast, but we do it by degree, little by little, until our moral sense is dead. And, in Biblical terms, when our conscience dies, our spirit dies. If we refuse to listen, we are choosing spiritual death. We may have no regrets today, but there will come a day of great regret. So why not choose life today. Repent and live!

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18 “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

To fully appreciate any Scripture reference, it is vital to be aware of context. In the case of these key verses, there are at least two contextual considerations converging. One relates to the restoration of Israel in a future Messianic era, the other to the cultural realities of the city of Corinth. Let’s look at the second one first.

Corinth was a pagan city. It was a key worldwide commercial centre that was dominated by the Temple of Aphrodite built on top of an 1800 foot high hill called Acrocorinth. Aphrodite, “the Love Goddess”, was served by hundreds of sacred prostitutes, and Corinth was known internationally as a sexual playground. This immoral flavour permeated all aspects of Corinthian society and was endangering the church. That is why Paul digs out a kind of “aggregate” quote from the prophets to encourage the Corinthian Christians to marry fellow believers.

Now look at the “aggregate” quote. I call it that because there are several references in which the essential substance is similar. For example, “Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean things; go out from the midst of her, be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord” (Isaiah 52:11). Or, “I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered…” (Ezekiel 31:8,9). The context is that of an historical restoration for a scattered Israel. The message: “stay kosher and don’t assimilate, because I’m bringing you back to the Land”.

What can we get out of it? Simply this: live morally and in expectation of the kingdom of Heaven. Messiah is at the door.

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

I call it “The New Year’s syndrome”. Every new year, people make resolutions. “I’m going to eat less”, or “I’m going to watch less television”, or “This year I’m joining that fitness club”, or “This is the year I read through the Bible”. The message is, “I don’t like what I’ve been doing. I’m going to change.” But we always seem to fall back into the same old bad habits. We rush ahead, then we backslide. One step forward, two steps back.

Generally, we tend to look at Christian growth this way, as well. We have the best intentions, but our performance leaves a lot to be desired. The resultant guilt, combined with a sermon from our pastor, can provide a momentary resolutions — but Monday through Saturday is a long time!

So how do we exit this seemingly endless cycle of sin-confession-sin? I’ve already stressed, in past comments, the absolute necessity of repentance — a change of mind accompanied by a change of direction. The will is vitally involved here. But there’s something else: fatigue. We get tired, day after day, turning away willfully from what our natural appetites demand. Our felt needs wear us down. The only answer seems to be a transformation of nature — where our “felt needs” become new.

That’s what Paul is getting at in the key verse. When we’re “in Christ”, we are in the process of being transformed. Yes, the vestiges of the old nature will raise their heads as often as we let them, but ultimately our tendency to. self-absorption is giving way to seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness. We now have a need — a felt need — to please God, even while pleasing ourselves. And if pleasing ourselves is at odds with pleasing God on any point, we deny ourselves and please Him. We’ve become a “new creation”.

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 4:2 “But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.”

Paul continues to defend his ministry. He speaks of the integrity and vulnerability to which he has committed himself. There’s nothing secret, shameful, or deceptive about his ministry. He doesn’t distort the Word of God for personal profit or popularity. He tells it like it is; and what you see is what you get.

What you see is the “manifestation of the truth”. That’s quite a claim! Who of us would refer to what we teach and how we live as a “manifestation of the truth”? Most of us, I’m sure , would say, “Don’t look at me, look at Jesus.” A thought, by the way, with which I’m sure Paul would concur. But he’s not averse to putting his life under his congregation’s microscope. “Examine my life,” he says in effect, “and see the truth.”

And what is the “microscope”? Standards? Rules? Traditions? No. It’s something else: “every man’s conscience”. There may be nothing in life more personal than conscience, and nothing more judgmental. But before we react to this remarkable vulnerability, notice the qualifier, “in the sight of God”. Paul is talking about an educated conscience here: one that has been informed and transformed by the “word of God”.

But the point is clear. We’re to be discerning in our acceptance of professed ministries. Paul says, “scrutinize my ministry”, but don’t judge on the basis of style. Rather, judge on the basis of substance. And, as you submit yourself to the Word of God, let your conscience be your guide.

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 3:6 “…who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

As I pointed out in the introduction to this letter, there is more than a little of self-justification on Paul’s part throughout. Perhaps the amount of time spent in this regard is directly proportionate to the vehemence of the reaction Paul received from his first letter to the Corinthians. They were exceedingly angry at his reference to their immorality, and it would appear that there were several vibrant anti-Paul sentiments and actions within the congregation. Reactionary movements always create their own momentum. In this case, Paul was not just being spoken against, he was being vilified.

With this in mind, notice the clever construction of verses one through six. It’s a paragraph built around the word “letter” (or “epistle”). In verse one, Paul refers to “letters of recommendation” with thinly veiled sarcasm. Then, in verse two, he switches to a tender imagery, “you yourselves are our letter” — that is, any recommendation he may require is already evident in the fruit of his ministry. Verse three alters the imagery, with Paul referring to the Corinthian congregation as “a letter from Christ”. Then, in verse six, he concludes the paragraph with a completely different application. This time, “letter” is equivalent to “law” and is contracted to spiritual freedom.

I call it clever, because Paul uses a personal injury as an occasion, not for scolding, but for teaching. He rises above the misunderstanding about his letter and focuses instead on a timeless truth: legalism kills, but the Spirit of God gives life and freedom. It’s an excellent example of how a skilled teacher can build something timeless on a temporary aggravation

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 2:17a “For we are not, as so many peddling the word of God…”

A relative of mine, who is a television producer, called me recently from Washington D.C. He’d been watching 100 Huntley Street in Boston a few days earlier. “Your program is so unlike typical televangelism,” he said. “Sometimes I get the impression that televangelism is just another version of the home-marketing channel. They’re not presenting the gospel as much as selling themselves and hoping to entice the viewer to ‘buy’ into their ministry.”

I guess there’s very little new under the sun. Even in Paul’s day, there were evangelists peddling “the word of God for profit” (NIV).

So why didn’t Paul yield to the temptation of making money by marketing Jesus? Perhaps 2 Corinthians 5:10 provides the answer, “For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

The word is “accountability.” Paul had a world view which included not only a personal God, but also heaven, hell, and giving account for one’s choices. The judge, of course, was/is God Himself. As Paul saw it, our choices are indelibly entered into the “computer program” of our lives, and there’s coming a day when there will be a complete print-out. When the record is read, there will then follow a judgment on the evidence. Scary stuff!

That’s why Paul could never allow himself to reduce the gospel to a means to a worldly end. He knew that if profit was his motive, Jesus would be lost. And if Jesus wasn’t preached then the gospel would be lost. Paul saw himself as a steward of the gospel. He knew the day would come when the only profit of any value would be souls won to Christ.

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 1:21, 22 “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” (NIV)

I think a lot of us suffer from “performance anxiety” when it comes to Christian faith. It is especially acute just after hearing a Sunday morning sermon. After listening to the typical sermon with its “should”, “moulds”, and implied “what’s-the-matter-with-you’s”, there is little wonder you have “roast preacher” for Sunday lunch. It’s a matter of self-defence!

But generally speaking, most of us tend, Sunday sermons or no, to be pretty self-critical. Remembrance of the sin of the past week (or months, or years) just won’t go away. Or we feel the guilt of our uninvolvement in witnessing, Bible reading, or church attendance. And we’re a sitting duck for the pointed finger. It’s not easy being a good Christian: it’s hard work!

Thank God for today’s key verse! Here we see our faith as the result of God’s initiative. Notice the strong verbs: He makes us stand firm. He anoints us. He sets His seal of ownership on us. He puts His Spirit in our hearts. He guarantees the future. We are the product of His sovereign grace.

So God takes the initiative. What, then, is our responsibility? Simply to respond. As He gives us a firm stance, we choose to build our lives on the Rock. As He anoints us with His Spirit, we choose to please rather than grieve His indwelling presence. As He declares us His own, we choose to be obedient to His will and loyal to His Son. As He guarantees the future, we enter the future with our eyes set on Him. In other words, we respond with love. In God’s mind, this makes His initiative eternally worthwhile.