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Rightly Dividing
the Word of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15)
Established
November 2008 Published Weekly on Friday
This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Savior, who desires all men (and women) to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1Timothy 2:3-4)
2 Corinthians (10:12-18)
(Lesson 22)
Greetings one and
all, and welcome to HBS.
If you’re just
joining us, chapters 10-13 are about Paul’s defense of his apostolic authority
and his gospel (Romans 2:16). Our
Apostle Paul was called and sent by God to preach the mystery of God’s grace, regarding
the salvation of all, to Gentiles
and Jews alike for now there is no difference (Romans 1:1,
10:12; 1Corinthians 15:1-4).
The Corinthian
letters are suitable to our situation today for few know the Lord Jesus Christ
as He should be known. This is because
so many Christian leaders are
preaching another Jesus. They present, as a matter of routine, the
Jesus of the gospels. The Son of Man who
walked on the water, performed countless miracles, fed thousands of hungry
people, and taught His disciples parables. But too little is said today about the One who
left heaven’s glory to bear the disgrace and penalty for our sins, and now
dispenses the riches of His grace to believing
sinners, as the Head of His one church
(Philippians 2:5-10; Colossians 1:18). Unfortunately,
this is where a lot of people turn me and others with a similar message off. Instead of studying the scriptures to see
what God has said about these things, they prefer to “go with” the teachings of men, much like the
Corinthians. I have a few personal
encounters of my own that are now in the bank, so to speak, so I have some experience in
this area. I’ve defended Paul’s apostolic
authority and his gospel several times because of comments such as, “You make too much of Paul.”
Why
Paul, Why Not Jesus?
The debate
regarding Jesus Christ versus Paul has been going on since the first century,
even though they’re on the same team, if you’ll permit the expression, but
their ministries came in two different dispensations. I’ve mentioned a time or two that many
churches prefer to preach solely from the four gospels or the words of Jesus
Christ and there’s nothing wrong with some of that but do that religiously fails to properly teach
people who Jesus Christ is today in relation to His Church, i.e. the Body of Christ.
I am not
anti-Jesus, folks. I’m only saying our
Apostle Paul has been forced into the gospels and the gospels have been forced
into Paul for the past 2000 years, and he doesn’t fit in there. Jesus’ death on the Cross changed everything. Paul articulated this change with these words: Therefore from now on we recognize no one
according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the
flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer (2 Corinthians 5:16). This literally screams the truth that the
ministries of Jesus Christ and Paul are fundamentally
different. Anyone who studies their
Bible, rightly divided, understands why God separated the twelve after Paul’s
conversion and why Paul’s contact with the twelve was extremely limited. God kept
them separated because He’s doing something new and at this point in time Grace
and the Law do not mix (Galatians 1:1, 6, 11-12, 15-20, 3:23-25).
Fundamental
Differences between the Ministries of Jesus and Paul
Jesus
Preached
the gospel of the kingdom
Defined
the “kingdom of heaven” as Israel’s prophetic earthly kingdom
Presented
Himself as Messiah and King of the Jews
(Israel)
Preached
repentance, water baptism, and faith as necessary for salvation
Had
Jews only for His audience (3 exceptions
in the gospels)
Operated
under the Mosaic Law
Paul
Preached
the gospel of the grace of God
Defined
the “kingdom of heaven” as the heavenly position of the Body of Christ
Presented
Jesus as the risen Lord, Head of the Church, the Body of Christ
Preached
faith alone as necessary for salvation
Had
Gentiles as his primary audience
Operated
under God’s Grace
To resolve the fundamental differences (a.k.a.
misconceptions) between the
ministries of Jesus and Paul one must be faithful to the text, recognize the truth, and recognize major differences exist
between their two ministries. There are
zero contradictions in scripture for God is not the author of confusion (1
Corinthians 14:33). We need to realize
God has a program for Israel, which he revealed to the prophets, and a new
program for His one, Church, the
Body of Christ, which He revealed to our Apostle Paul, and God wants them kept
separate (Acts 20:24; Ephesians 3:2).
********
Please
open your Bible at 2 Corinthians 10:12.
2 Corinthians 10
12: For we are not
bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves;
but when they measure themselves by themselves with themselves, they are
without understanding.
I’m
picking up a bit of sarcasm from Paul here and that’s not unusual when he’s
writing to the Corinthians. If you
recall from last week’s lesson, the Jewish intruders were comparing themselves
to Paul by their standards, i.e. appearance, rank, eloquence, etc. But Paul has alluded to human commendations
in 2 Corinthians 3:1, and he will again in 10:18; now he expands this to human
comparisons. He does this because the
false teachers were obviously attempting to accentuate theirs while
depreciating his.
If
the people attempting to undermine Paul’s apostolic authority and the gospel would only stop long enough
to study the O.T., i.e. 1 Samuel 16:7 and Proverbs 21:2 specifically, they
would realize God’s standard for evaluating people differed from theirs greatly
making theirs fruitless.
Paul’s
comment: they are without understanding probably shocked his antagonists and
I think it was meant to – consider it “shock therapy.” To Greek philosophers it would depreciate
their claim to superior spiritual knowledge, knocking them off of their
pedestals, so to speak. To the Hebrew
legalizers, Paul’s saying the truths of God and the characteristics of Jesus
Christ are the proper standards Believers are to observe and respect and not
the inflated pride of individuals, seeking their own glory.
Let’s
go to verses 13-18.
But we will not
boast beyond our measure, but within
the measure of the sphere which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach
even as far as you. For we are
not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach to you (Corinthians), for we were the first to come even as far
as you in the gospel of Christ; not boasting beyond our
measure, that is, in other men’s labors (building on Paul’s
foundation) but with the hope that as
your faith grows, we will be, within our sphere, enlarged even more by
you, so as to preach the gospel even to the regions beyond you, and not to boast in what has been
accomplished in the sphere of another.
But HE WHO BOASTS IS TO BOAST IN THE LORD. For it is not he who commends himself that is
approved, but he whom the Lord commends (v13-18).
We
know these false apostles came to
Corinth building on the foundation laid
by the apostle Paul. But they were
building on it with false information which means they were destroying his
apostolic work already accomplished in the Lord. Then they
started
to demean him because he didn’t have letters of recommendations or credentials from Jerusalem. They overlooked the obvious. When he first came to Corinth he didn’t build
on someone else’s work. As per his
custom, he went straight to his countrymen in the synagogue preaching the gospel to Jews and Greeks, until he
was forced out and then his ministry was entirely to the gentiles (Acts
18:1-11), and as we know by the grace of God he planted the largest gentile
church in world at that time.
For we are not
overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach to you (Corinthians), for we were the first to come even as far
as you in the gospel of Christ (v14).
Paul
didn’t have to “overextend” his funds to evangelize Corinth. He didn’t have to build on another man’s
foundations. He certainly did not boast of other men’s labors, as though
they were his own accomplishments. None
of these things applied to Paul; his ministry advanced only as sufficient funds
were contributed by God’s faithful people.
It was his hope that now with the Corinthian church established, they
might truly experience spiritual growth,
and we will be, within our sphere,
enlarged even more by you, so as to preach the gospel even to the regions
beyond you (v15).
Meaning,
when the Corinthian church finally reached the point where their faith became
so strong his presence was no longer needed, and they could assist him with his
travel, then he would enter on his wide field of labor for the Lord. Paul had no intention of setting limits on
preaching the gospel; he would take
it as far as God would allow (Romans 1:8; Colossians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 1:8).
We
know Paul longed to go to Rome and then Spain, but let’s go to the book. Turn to Romans, chapter 15:20-25: And
thus I aspire to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s
foundation; but as it is written, “THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND
THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.”
For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you; but now,
with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many
years a longing to come to you whenever I go to Spain – for I hope to
see you in passing, and to be helped on my there by you, when I have first
enjoyed your company for a while – but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the
(poor) saints.
Paul
made it to Rome more than once, whether or not he made it to Spain is anyone’s
guess. But we do know his trip to Rome
was made possible only through the financial support of Believers who stepped up to the plate. This permitted Paul to practice what he
preached: HE WHO BOASTS IS TO BOAST IN THE LORD.
For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the
Lord commends (v17-18).
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
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