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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 –
Introduction
Lesson 01
Introduction
to 2 Corinthians
It’s generally
understood that this second letter from our Apostle Paul to the saints in
Corinth was written without any formal plan.
Although He writes about a variety of important topics, it’s as though
he does so randomly, as each thought crosses his mind.
In 2 Corinthians
several factions appear to be dominating the different house churches. These aren’t necessarily the same divisive
groups as in 1 Corinthians, but they could be.
We also note the
arrival of Jewish troublemakers from Judea which caused additional controversy within
this church (2 Corinthians 10-13). They
are not the same Judaizers of Galatians or the Jewish/Greek legalists of
Colossians. They were probably the
rhetorically trained, charismatic teachers, similar to Apollos, before Aquila and
Priscilla took him aside and explained
to him the way of God more accurately (Acts 18:24-26).
Certain leaders of
the Corinthian church leveled these false charges against Paul:
He was fickle (He kept changing his travel plans) - 2
Cor 1:15
He was a powerful writer, but a weak speaker - 2 Cor 10:10,
11:6
Paul did not accept money for his services - 2 Cor 11:7,
12:13
Paul was not one of Christ’s apostles - 2 Cor 11:5, 13,
12:4
Paul was not an orthodox Jew - 2 Cor 11:2
These subjects needed
to be addressed by Paul, but he doesn’t address them systematically as he did
in 1 Corinthians. As we continue our
study, please keep these two things in mind as well, Paul only writes to
Believers and since this is a letter it is merely one-half of a conversation.
Let’s
Refresh Our Memory
As Paul traveled
down from Athens into the two-port city of Corinth, Greece he found many pagan temples. The city had gained a reputation as the
center of lascivious worship – specifically the worship of the goddess of love
and money – selling sex was a
prosperous venture then as it is now. There
were 10,000 prostitutes attached to the temple of Aphrodite and the inhabitants
of the city as well as the visitors “lived it up” 24/7/365. Corinth was a sex-saturated society! It was known as a place of sensual
pleasure. You can see an indication of
this is Paul’s first letter. During
Paul’s second missionary journey (50-52 AD) he stayed in Corinth, Greece for 18
months (Acts 18:1-18). Jewish opposition
eventually rose up against him in the synagogue where he preached the gospel, so he moved his operation next
door to the home of Titius Justus.
Now, for purposes I
will make clear later in this lesson, I bring your attention to something Paul
wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:3-10. “…giving no
cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited,
but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance,
in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings,
in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness,
in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the
Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the
weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and
dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded
as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold,
we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing,
as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.”
After reading
through that report from Paul, put yourself into his sandals for just a moment
or two. Upon his arrival in Corinth he
was regarded as the scum of the earth by the social elite, the lovers of
philosophy, and those who put their trust in the wisdom of men and their articulate
verbiage. They looked down upon this
vagabond, this peasant from Judea, who seemed to be passing through their worldly city. “Who did
this guy think he was?” He arrived in
their city with neither reputation nor evidences of wealth or power or influence
and he wasn’t a gifted speaker. Yet,
before he left, he shook the very foundation of their sordid city and established
a church amongst them that survived the normal, sin-filled life of Corinth. The gospel
Paul preached is today a living power on earth while the city of Corinth has
long since crumbled into ruins.
To get a handle on
this second letter of Paul to the church at Corinth you have to understand some
of its background. After Paul
established the Corinthian church there and had labored in the city for almost
two years, he left and went to the city of Ephesus on the Asian mainland. If you’ll recall we looked at this in Lesson
48. Paul wrote his first letter to the
Corinthians from Ephesus. After spending
eighteen months in Corinth, Paul left there and traveled to Ephesus. Apparently the vacuum this created was filled
by the Jewish sect who had caused him so much trouble during his second
missionary journey because they continued to grow stronger, i.e. gain
prominence.
They were led by an
anti-Pauline teacher who probably
came down from Jerusalem and had organized opposition to Paul’s teachings. In addition, Paul was beset with a group of
Judaizers who followed him around wherever he established churches, teaching a gospel contrary to his (1 Corinthians
15:1-4), and saying people had to observe the Law of Moses. These folks would come in after Paul had left saying
the teachings of the grace of God were not the accurate and authentic Christian
gospel, and that people had to be circumcised
and obey the teachings of the Law. Church history shows us there were two major
parties at this time. Those that
followed Peter were known as the Christ Party.
Those that followed Paul were known as
the Pauline Party. Apollos was a member of the Pauline Party and Paul makes reference
to this in his first letter. The
opponents at Galatia were the radical elements of the Petrine division (Galatians 2).
After Paul had
written the first letter, certain members of the Christ party apparently entered in and assumed authority over one
or more of the house churches in Corinth.
Paul revisited Corinth for a very short time and apparently was rejected
by these same church leaders. The very
church that he had planted had now become so permeated with false Christianity
that, when the apostle himself came to them, they snubbed him and refused to
allow him to teach God’s Truths within the church. You can see that plainly as you read between
the lines in this second letter.
Paul returned to
Ephesus. From there he wrote a very
short, sharp, caustic letter rebuking and reproving them for their attitudes - but that letter has been lost to us. It is clear that Paul wrote it and yet it has
not been preserved. Perhaps this is
because Paul, writing in the peak of passion, said things that went beyond what
the Holy Spirit intended, so that letter not being fully Spirit inspired, as
were the others Paul wrote, has been lost – or it was destroyed by its
recipients. The outcome is the same
either way you come at it. I’ve destroyed
one or more letters after reading them because I didn’t particularly care for
the tone of the message; maybe a few
of you have done the same, in the heat of
the moment as it were.
That letter was
sent by the hand of Titus. While Titus
took the letter to the church at Corinth, Paul remained in Ephesus anxiously
waiting to hear how the Believers in Corinth would respond. This is how the second letter opens. Paul tells them that he has been troubled
about them. He also explains how he had
undergone intense suffering while he was waiting in Ephesus for word from them. In chapter 1, verse 8, Paul wrote: For we
do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened
excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;
Then he tells them
how anxious and concerned he was about them in chapter 2, verse 4,
For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote
to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you
might know the love which I have especially for you.
So Paul waited in
Asia for word to come as to what had happened, but while he was waiting, the
trouble arose in Ephesus which is recorded for us in chapter nineteen of the
book of Acts. If you’re familiar with
the account, then you know the silversmiths caused a great commotion in the
city, and Paul was threatened with being dragged before the Roman judges there
for disrupting their livelihood. He
escaped this threat and decided to go on to Macedonia to meet Titus, who would
be coming up through Macedonia on his return from Corinth. Paul could wait no longer for news; his
anxiety over the Corinthians was so great. He also intended to raise some money there for
the relief of the poor Christians in Jerusalem who were experiencing great
difficulty.
With these two great
concerns weighing heavy on his heart, he went to Philippi in Macedonia. He met Titus there and received word that the
scathing, sarcastic letter he had written had accomplished its work. Many of the Corinthian Believers had expressed
regret of their rejection of him and his teachings and had renewed their
commitment to follow Jesus Christ through his ministry (1 Corinthians 4:16,
11:1).
A minority remained
unyielding and at odds with Paul however, and still rebelled against him and his
authority as an apostle. So, from the
city of Philippi Paul writes this second letter to the Corinthians which expresses
so much of the anxiety of his heart.
********
Please
open your Bible at 2 Corinthians 1 and let’s read the first eleven verses
together.
2 Corinthians
1: Paul, an apostle
of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church
of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia: (pronounced: a-ka’-ya – a Roman province; a region that
includes Athens and Corinth in the southern part of Greece).
2: Grace to you and
peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4: who comforts us
in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort
those who are in any affliction with the comfort with
which we ourselves are comforted by God.
5: For just as the
sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant
through Christ.
6: But if we are afflicted,
it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it
is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same
sufferings which we also suffer;
7: and our hope for
you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so
also you are sharers of our comfort.
8: For we do not
want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened
excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;
9: indeed, we had
the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves,
but in God who raises the dead;
10: who delivered
us from so great a peril of death,
and will deliver us, He on whom we
have set our hope. And He will yet
deliver us,
11: you also
joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many
persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.
Starting
at verse 1, Paul presents his credentials to the Corinthian Church.
Paul, an apostle
of Christ Jesus by the will of God – From this we learn titles have
meaning. They communicate authority and
position, and they depend on the proper credentials.
For
instance when a police officer arrives at your doorstep you know you’re dealing
with “the law” right from the start because of the uniform, the badge, and the
patrol car in your driveway, right? The
gun on their hip silently communicates authority.
On
the flipside of this truism there was a piece in the news recently about a man
who was going around claiming to be a military hero from Iraq, complete with
uniform and medals, but upon further investigation the authorities discovered
this gentleman had never been in the service.
He was receiving monetary benefits from the federal government and from
state agencies, but he was scamming people and he had been doing this for a
long time. However, the life he had made
for himself was a charade. A person
can’t simply call himself an army sergeant, a ship’s captain, a police officer,
or a medical doctor just because he or she wants to or because they hope to
gain something from it. Not only is this
illegal (See Stolen Valor Act of 2013) it’s a sure path to chaos and confusion
and quite likely certain disaster.
This
principle transfers over to the church as well. The apostles
in Scripture were chosen by God; Jesus Christ called them and appointed them
as such. According to Peter, an apostle needed to be someone who was
associated with Jesus Christ, who had consistently sat under His teachings, and
who had witnessed, first hand, His ministry and life. It wasn’t enough to know something about Him,
in other words. Few men fit this
description. The Bible speaks of the
original Twelve, subtract Judas, who killed himself, and then his replacement
whose name was Matthias (Acts 1:23).
Although
our Apostle Paul didn’t spend every day with Jesus Christ during His earthly
ministry, which is why he undoubtedly referred to himself as “one untimely (re)born,” he was no less a witness of the risen Christ (1 Corinthians
15:8). Saul of Tarsus met the risen,
glorified Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus and a few days later he was
called to be His apostle to the
gentiles.
Saul/Paul
then spent three years in the desert of Arabia.
Some folks believe he went there to preach the gospel, but I find that unlikely.
Before his conversion Saul was
known as the Destroyer of God’s
Church and not God’s chief church planter.
Based on what we read in Galatians 1:17, the trip to Arabia was made
after Paul received food, but before he spent several days with the disciples
at Damascus. For the better part of
three years, Paul went away to the Arabian Desert. I’m inclined to believe Paul was led by the Holy
Spirit to Mt Sinai; the same place God gave the Law to Moses, and that’s where
they remained for those 3 years, but that’s my opinion. If I go any further with this, I’d only be
offering you my opinion because the Bible gives us zero details concerning this
trip. However, this doesn’t mean I don’t
have a biblical opinion.
What
we do know is this Paul was a Pharisee.
He was an expert in the law. I
read somewhere once that somebody did the calculations on Paul’s education, and
said he basically had the equivalent of two PhD’s by the time he was twenty-one
years old. He was absolutely
brilliant. He understood what the
Scriptures said, but he did not
understand what the Scriptures meant
to say. Permit me to explain.
Turn
with me in your Bible to Luke 24:14-27 and think about this. Three days after Jesus’ resurrection, two men
were walking along the road to Emmaus.
These men were disciples of His and they were very discouraged: And
they were talking with each other about these things which had taken
place. While they were talking and
discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began
traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from
recognizing Him (24:14-16).
Jesus
Christ was dead and buried – that’s what these two understood. Now, note carefully what Jesus says to them:
And
He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to
believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
“Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter
into His glory?” Then beginning
with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things
concerning Himself in all the (what) Scriptures (24:25-27).
Our
Lord must have given these two disciples the greatest O.T. explanation in
history. It was then and there that all
of the types, shadows, and symbols of the O.T. revelation began to make
sense. Here, finally, was proof that
Jesus had fulfilled that which had been prophesied over the centuries; Jesus
was the Christ.
Skip
to verse 32: They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while
He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures
to us?"
Now,
go down to verses 44-47: Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still
with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and
the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then
He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
The
Lord taught these two disciples all about Himself from the O.T. It’s quite likely this is what the Lord did
for Paul for those three years after his conversion; he studied the Old
Testament Scriptures with the risen Lord.
I say this because whenever Paul entered a city, he went to the Jewish
synagogue first and preached using the Scriptures: Now when
they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica,
where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
And according to Paul's custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining
and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead,
and saying, "This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ" (Acts
17:1-3).
And:
Paul, a
bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of
God, which he promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures,
concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the
flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the
dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans
1:1-4).
And:
Now I
make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you
received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold
fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance
what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to
the Scriptures,
Paul,
once blinded, has now had Christ revealed to him. And now, as he reads through the O.T. he sees
Christ all through them. So, when Paul
said, “I conferred not with flesh and
blood,” he’s saying he knew about Christ from the Scriptures and not from men.
But, as I said, this is only my biblical opinion – take it for what it’s
worth.
Paul
was a Jew and a Roman citizen, perhaps this is why he possessed both a Greek
name and a Hebrew name. Saul is first
called Paul in Acts 13:9. Paul uses the
title of apostle for himself in most
of his letters as a way of asserting his God-given call and authority as
Jesus Christ’s representative here on earth (Romans 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:1; 2
Corinthians 1:1; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Colossians 1:1; 1 Timothy 1:1; 2
Timothy 1:1; Titus 1:1).
Timothy our brother
(v1)
– in 1 Corinthians 1:1, Paul
mentions Sosthenes; here Timothy is
named. It was customary for Paul to
associate some other person or persons with him in writing his letters to the
churches. We find Timothy’s name both
here and in the opening of Philippians and Colossians. According to 1 Corinthians 16:10, Paul had
requested that Timothy visit Corinth.
Paul had sent both him and Erastus into Macedonia, intending to follow
them (Acts 19:21-22). From the passage
before us now, it appears Timothy had returned from this expedition, and was
with Paul.
To the church
of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia. Achaia, in the largest sense, included all
of Greece. Achaia proper, however, was
the district of which Corinth was the capital.
There were probably several small churches scattered here and there
throughout this region; we know from 16:1 one of these small churches was
located in Cenchrea, the eastern port of Corinth.
Let’s
move down to verses 3-4.
2 Corinthians 1
3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4: who comforts us
in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are
in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted
by God.
There
are a couple of viewpoints as to the meaning of this verse. Some people say Paul was talking about
himself and the other apostles when
he said, “the Father of mercies and God
of all comfort, who comforts us (or
those He called as apostles), in all
our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any
affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Then there are some who tend to think Paul
meant to say he was referring to Believers in general with this statement. According to Scripture, they’re both correct.
Here,
Paul is referring to himself and to his fellow apostles, as having been comforted by God in all their trials, so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any
affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God (v4).
It
wasn’t that the apostle’s suffered it was how they responded to each and every
affliction that helped them serve God and His Church (See Acts 16:16-40). The twelve were under a great deal of pressure daily to be sure but none more
so than our Apostle Paul. Many of the
afflictions to which refers in 2 Corinthians are not described in the book of
Acts. Those recorded by the Apostle Luke
are merely the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, of Paul’s afflictions. This is why I directed your attention to
Paul’s remarks in 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 during the introduction. He suffers from heat, cold, hunger, thirst,
from physical attacks, from illnesses, from constant threats on his life, and
from betrayal, and false accusations.
His intelligence, i.e. his wisdom, and his apostolic authority are
challenged regularly and he’s often mocked.
He is accused of being fickle, and failing to fulfill promises. He is said to be strong in his written words
but a wimp in person. And if suffering
at the hands of men and nature is not enough, we are also informed that Paul
suffered at the hand of Satan (12:7-10).
Now, what’s remarkable is the way Paul and the other apostles responded
to these afflictions …as sorrowful yet always (what) rejoicing, as poor yet making many
rich (in God’s Good Grace),
as having nothing yet possessing all things (2
Corinthians 6:10; 1 Peter 1:6-10).
As
to the second biblical viewpoint on verses 3-4, every Believer will experience
trials or pressure in this life and I
don’t believe you need me to inform you of this. Paul broached this subject to Timothy
writing: “all who desire to live godly (lives) in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12). The Greek word for affliction is Thlipsis a
Noun, Feminine (pronounced: thlip’-sis),
Strongs Greek #2347, meaning – persecution,
affliction, distress, tribulation; pressure (what constricts or rubs together),
hems one in – causes one to feel confined, i.e. restricted, “without
options.” As we continue reading Paul’s
second letter to the Corinthians, we’re going to discover that suffering is one
of his major themes.
The
New Testament teaches us that suffering
plays a significant role in the life of every Believer. Verses 3-11 will reveal four distinct
purposes for those daily trials or pressures
we all encounter as Believers
and why. But that will have to wait
until next week. Until then, have a
great week, love one another as Christ loves His Church, and remain in the Word
of Truth.
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
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