Day #340

Sermon - Audio
2 Cor 10-13 - Reading
2 Cor 10-13 - Audio

Daily Insights - Please Comment

2 Corinthians 10

10:2 Paul makes it clear that he longs to not have to be bold when he comes. Such boldness would cause pain for the people whom he loves and seeks to have grow in the faith. His letters provide the opportunity for them to get things right before he comes so that there can be joy in his coming.

10:3-4 Paul's opponents may say that he lacks some "spiritual" credentials, but Paul argues that he has the credentials that are actually the right ones - weapons that have divine power to destroy strongholds. Strongholds here, refer to false arguments. Paul has powerful weapons to destroy the false arguments of him opponents.

10:5 "Take every thought and make it captive to Christ" means that we take all of our thinking and bring it in line with the truth about Christ. Here this thinking speaks to accepting Paul's message and rejecting the message of the false teachers.

10:12 Paul points out the silliness of comparing ourselves to others. Such comparisons prove nothing. One of Paul's regular themes is that we compare ourselves not to others, but to be the person God has made us to be and to walk faithfully with him.

10:15 The hint behind these verses is that the boasting of the false teachers comes through the labors of others - they take credit that does not belong to them. In this case, they are trying to take credit for Paul's work by taking those who he brought to faith and bring them into their camp as if they were those who had won them to Christ. As they do so, they are actually taking people away from Christ

10:15-16 Paul's hope is to use Corinth as a base to launch his missionary work further into the world. However, this can only happen if the Corinthians stay true to the message that he brought and so support his missionary efforts.

2 Corinthians 11

11:1-2 Paul spells out the reality that the church is the bride of Christ. The people of Corinth are in danger of being an unfaithful bride because they are listening to false teaching.

11:3 The way that Eve was deceived was by the serpent making lies sound like truth. The false teachers use these same kind of lies as they teach that which will lead the Corinthians away from the truth taught by Paul.

11:4 Paul laments the fact that false teaching easily persuades the people of Corinth. We find that several false teachings were especially predominant in the early church. One teaching was Gnosticism which denied that Jesus became human. Another was Marcionism that rejected the God of the Old Testament as Jesus' father.

11:7 Oddly, one of the charges against Paul was that he didn't charge for his teaching. The super-apostles charged for their's and held that this was a sign of being legitimate.

11:18 Paul takes the super-apostles on, using their own way of boasting. Paul holds that the only true boast is boasting in the Lord, but for a time he will boast in who he is and what he has done to show himself as equal and even superior to the super-apostles.

11:24 The Jews always did one lash less than the punishment just in case miscounting had taken place. To over-punish a person was considered a great injustice.

2 Corinthians 12

12:1 A vision is something which appears vividly and credibly to the mind. It is not actually present, but it comes from a supernatural source. A revelation is something revealed to a person that had formerly been hidden.

12:2 The man who Paul "knows" is actually Paul himself.

"Third heaven" refers to heaven. The first heaven is the sky, the second heaven is the place of the stars and planets, and the third heaven is the abode of God.

12:10 Paul is content with all of his struggles not because he loves struggles, but for the sake of Christ i.e. so the power and wonder of Christ may be seen as he supports Paul.

12:12 The foremost sign of a true apostle is conversion along with the gifts of the Spirit being given to them. Along with this is Paul's own style of life, which reflects the patience and endurance of Christ. The last part of the signs are miraculous acts. The signs, wonders and mighty works are terms that are used of God's work in the Old Covenant as he cared for his people. Paul's use of the works put him in the line on God's continuing covenantal work.

12:14 Paul's first visit was when he planted the church, his second visit was a painful one, and now he is coming yet again to this church.

12:16 While Paul does not seek any financial gain from the congregation, some are saying that he's getting his money by sending others and getting money from them. This charge seems to be related to the offering for the poor in Jerusalem. Basically they are accusing Paul of taking some of the offering.

12:18 Paul points out that anyone who was watching would know that all who work with Paul in the matter of the offering are men of integrity.

2 Corinthians 13

13:1 Paul is coming to bring church discipline. His stipulation that every charge has to be established by 2 or 3 witnesses reflects the Old Testament standard set by God (Deuteronomy 19:15).

13:2 On Paul's painful visit he had to deal with multiple church discipline issues. It seems that he offered a certain level of grace to the offenders. Rather than excommunicating them he called them to repentance. In this visit, grace will come to an end. If they do not repent they will be excommunicated.

13:10 Paul will use his authority to build up the church. He hopes to use that authority in a joyful way, but if he has to be harsh in his coming in order to build up the church, he will be harsh.