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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 (11:1-11)
(Lesson 23)
Welcome to HBS and
thank you, one and all, for being here today.
We finished our
study of 2 Corinthians 10 last week where Paul
Describes Himself.
This week we begin
our study of chapter 11 where Paul
Defends His Apostleship.
As we continue
studying chapters 10-13 we’re going to realize this section of 2 Corinthians is
entirely different from the previous portion of the letter because Paul is
defending himself and his apostleship against the attacks from some of the
Believers in Corinth and the false
apostles from Jerusalem. Paul goes
on the offensive because the Jewish intruders were discrediting the gospel by preaching another Jesus (11:3-4).
Who’s Really Behind All These Attacks Against Paul in Corinth?
When we become ill to
the point of being bedridden, we’re unable to see the virus at work within us
causing the problem. However we know the
road to recovery begins by taking the necessary measures to overcome it, only
then will our bodies experience wellness.
In like manner, the Believer’s in Corinth weren’t able to see the evil
force causing the problems within their church.
That’s because, the greatest trick
Satan ever played on mankind was getting them to believe he does not exist. Consequently, these attacks against Paul and
his ministry was actually Satan attempting to gain a victory in Corinth. He
meant to knock Paul down, and then out
of the spiritual battle to win souls
for God, and to halt the expansion of Christ’s one, church. He employs one
tried and true practice for doing this.
He denies the Word of Truth or the authority of scripture, always. (Genesis 3:1-7; 2 Corinthians 2:11, 11:12-14;
1Timothy 4:1-3)
Do we see this happening
today? That would be Yes! Today the Bible remains a bestseller, yet it
remains the most un-read book of all time!
More and more we’re finding Christians in this nation agreeing the Bible
is behind the times; it’s out-of-step with the modern family’s agenda,
meaning: they have issues with it, so they’re going their own way and church
leaders are helping them (Matthew 7:13-14; 2 Timothy 4:1-4).
********
Please
open your Bible at 2 Corinthians 11.
We’re going to start with verses 1-6.
2 Corinthians 11
I wish that you
would bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed you are bearing with me. For I am jealous for you with a godly
jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might
present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived
Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and
purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus
whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not
received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. For I consider myself not in the least
inferior to the most eminent apostles.
But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things (v1-6).
I wish that you
would bear with me in a little foolishness - in last week’s lesson, Paul made it
clear to his antagonists physical comparisons are foolish. Perhaps this is why this comment is here: bear with me in a little foolishness; a
sarcastic lampoon, in the Sophist’s rhetorical style of that day. For the good of the gospel and this church Paul had to defend himself. Boasting wasn’t Paul’s forte; he would prefer
not to go there, as this verse and others affirm (11:17 – 11:21).
But indeed you are
bearing with (hearing)
me – Paul gives this church three
reasons why they should listen to him in 2 Corinthians 11:2, 4, 5.
For I am jealous
for you with a godly jealousy; – here, in subtle fashion, Paul introduces us
to two types of jealousy. There’s sinful jealousy, a.k.a. the green-eyed monster we all become familiar
with as children while playing a game of dodge ball or tag in our backyard or
while sitting around a table playing a board game such as Monopoly, Scrabble,
or Yahtzee with family and friends. Any
one of these may have started out as a “friendly
game,” but in our humanness jealousy becomes the issue that spoils
the activity, causing emotions to surface and tempers to flare, if we’re being
honest with one another. When you reached
puberty and started to date, you soon learned that jealousy refuses to tolerate a rival and it’s the frequent cause of
a broken heart. Husbands and wives
recognize jealousy is the cause of many
shattered dreams and broken marriages.
The
other type of jealousy which Paul
speaks of here is a godly jealousy. In a
nutshell, this means God is jealous for
those whom He loves and takes positive steps to help them (John 3:16; Romans
8:28-31). In this instance, Paul’s
saying he shared God’s jealousy for
other Believers (Philippians 1:6-8).
When
the Corinthians began to “fall for” the subtle perversion of the gospel being propagated by Satan’s
servants who had infiltrated their church, Paul wrote: “For I
am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband,
so that to Christ I might present you as a
pure virgin for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might
present you as a pure virgin (v11:2).
If
you’ve been with us for awhile, then you’re aware this book teaches us and we
have established the fact that God’s one
church is the Body of Christ (Ephesians
1:22-23; Colossians 1:18, 24) and that Believers become members of His body
through baptism of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). How is it most of Christendom teaches the
Church is the bride of Christ? The above passage is one of the verses
they use to support this argument. The
other passage is (Ephesians 5:22-23).
Read
out of context, verse 11:2 may appear to support such an idea, but the verses (11:3-6)
that follow correct that wandering belief.
Paul instructs the Corinthians to remain faithful to Christ and to his gospel (1 Corinthians
15:1-4). Paul had to defend his gospel
constantly from both unbelievers and Believers.
Paul admits he wasn’t the best speaker on the circuit. But in terms of knowledge, he was far ahead of anyone else; he was God’s apostle to
the Gentiles (Romans 11:13). Paul’s
comment: “present you as a pure virgin” was to illustrate his desire for holy
living for these Believers, not to teach the Church at Corinth they are Christ’s
bride – any more than Paul taught that he was their mother (See Galatians
4:19).
According
to the O.T. Wife and bride are terms and titles that belong to Israel not the Church. Our title is “the Body of Christ.” Let’s be
sure we are “rightly dividing” this book and then remember as the Body of
Christ, we are of the Bridegroom, not the bride. If you cannot tell the Bridegroom from the
bride at a marriage, it is going to be a confusing wedding ceremony. But please note God is not the author of
confusion (Corinthians 14:33). He wants
us to know who we are in Christ Jesus, where we fit in His plan, and what
promises belong to us.
Let’s
move on to verse 3.
2 Corinthians 11
3: But I am afraid
that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds
will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
But I am afraid
that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness - here Paul takes
these Believers back to the account of the woman’s temptation in Genesis 3 (1
Timothy 2:14). Satan deceitfully led her away from the LORD
God in cunningly devised steps which ultimately brought her to the point of
self-assertiveness and independence from God, which brings our Apostle Paul to
state:
your minds
will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ – Paul’s still alluding to the woman’s fall
from grace in Genesis 3 and he means to say it’s possible for Believers to be deceived, manipulated, and ultimately defeated
by the forces of evil (1 Corinthians 15:33).
Bottom line: The saints in
Corinth didn’t trust Paul’s apostolic authority evidenced by the fact they
thought and acted in worldly ways –
not having the mind of Christ.
They
didn’t appreciate or care for Paul’s appearance and simplicity in speech for
instance. This was an important point
because Paul’s apparent weakness was
shared by Jesus Christ who, being in the
form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself
of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in
the likeness of men. And being found in
appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to
the point of death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:6-8). So, you see, it wasn’t only the apostolic
credentials of Paul that were under attack; the very nature of Christ was being
attacked and we know who was behind this; don’t we.
Verse
4-6:
For if (any) one comes and preaches another Jesus whom
we have not preached, or you receive a
different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you
have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. For I consider myself not in the least
inferior to the most eminent apostles.
But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact in every way we have made this evident to you in all things.
In
case you unaware, Paul made a similar statement elsewhere. Let’s all turn to Galatians 1:6-8: I am
amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him (God) who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;
which is really not another; only
there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of
Christ. But even if we, or an angel from
heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you,
he is to be accursed!
What’s
Paul point? He’s saying these false apostles were not building on the
foundation he laid of Jesus Christ
dying for the sins of all mankind,
being buried, and then rising from the grave on the third day according to
the scriptures (1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 15:1-4). They came preaching a different gospel; they
came preaching another Jesus.
This
book does not give us information about this different gospel, i.e. its content, but it doesn’t really matter
what their message was. All that matters
is these false apostles preached a
false gospel to God’s people, which they
received openly (v4)!
Verse
4 is one of the most scrutinized verses in chapters 10-13 largely due to Paul’s
identifying the Corinthian intruders and their false teaching. After close examination though, there are few
clues as to what “another Jesus” or
a “different gospel” really
mean. Therefore, it’s difficult to say
for sure what Paul meant by these terms.
What we can take away from this is these false apostles were not disagreeing over some minor doctrinal
matter, but over the person and work of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11).
After
reading the remainder of this letter, it becomes pretty clear these false apostles were the Judaizers, as
in the book of Galatians, who came to Corinth claiming the support of the
Jerusalem church, and carrying letters of reference from the same. I say this because of Paul’s remark in
11:22: Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I.
Paul asserts time and time again in this letter he possessed the
proper credentials as God’s apostle, but he didn’t have one letter of recommendation
from Jerusalem and this was one of the problems he faced.
Let’s
go to verse 5.
2 Corinthians 11
5: For I consider
(think)
myself not
in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles.
As
I always point out to the group, it’s just as important to know what this book
does not say as it is to know what this
book says. Too many people are quick to
call Paul a false apostle and a braggart.
The reason for this should be rather obvious; discredit Paul and you
discredit his gospel (Romans 2:16) – the only gospel in effect that saves
people today. Can you guess who is
behind this activity? Let’s all say it
together… Satan! The same tactic he used
in the Garden of Eden and in Corinth is being used today – Lies/deception. I find it remarkable that mankind hasn’t
learned a lesson yet.
However,
in verse 5, Paul isn’t saying he’s superior
to these other apostles, as some
people would have you believe, he merely said, “I don’t believe I’m inferior to them.”
If you’re paying attention, it was the false apostles who considered
themselves to be “super-apostles,” i.e. eminent, as compared to Paul.
No one but Paul uses this sarcastic term in the N.T. We know he’s referring to these intruders
because later in this letter he refers to these folks as deceitful workers (11:13) and servants
of Satan (11:15).
In
verses 6-12, Paul deals with two specific areas of supposed weakness that his rivals chose to attack: his speaking
ability and his lack of financial
support.
Verse
6:
But even if I am
unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in
knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things – Paul freely admits
his public speaking skills were deficient, after all he wasn’t a professionally
trained speaker, and he certainly wasn’t Apollos, a gifted speaker (Acts 18:24). But he followed that comment up with this
statement: “Yet I am not so in knowledge,”
meaning he is not ignorant but skilled in the knowledge of the Church Age Doctrines he teaches. Put another way, Paul knows what he’s talking
about because he received it, first-hand from the Lord and not from men (Galatians 1:15-20), whereas his opposition does
not.
In fact, in every
way we have made this evident to you
in all things – Paul’s
saying you know all there is to know about me; I’ve hidden nothing from you. The thought Paul is expressing to these folks
is this, “You’ve had ample opportunity to
become acquainted with my manner of speech and my knowledge. Must we
dwell on this subject?”
From
1 Corinthians 2:1a, it is clear the Greeks placed a great deal of importance on
an individual’s oratorical skill. In
this respect they are not much different than many church-goers today who place
too much emphasis on the entertainment aspect
of the church service and this includes the sermon. Paul wasn’t trying to please people or meet
people’s standards; he was concerned with faithfully preaching the gospel in order to save some. Therefore, his knowledge more than compensated for any perceived lack of speaking
skill (v6). The word knowledge means those truths associated
with proclaiming the gospel (1
Corinthians 1:17), which is often missing in many church services today.
Verses
7-8:
Or did I commit a sin
in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the
gospel of God to you without charge?
I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you.
The
word Paul used for sin in the Greek
language is Hamartia (pronounced: ham-ar-tee’-ah), Noun, Feminine, Strong’s
Greek #266, meaning: missing the mark, a fault, failure. He uses it in a non-moral sense of “did I make a mistake or misjudgment?”
This
is another one of Paul’s questions to the Corinthians which expects a “No” answer. Today, the expected answer might very well be
the proverbial “Duh.” This is also
another example of Paul’s sarcasm and it’s related to the ongoing controversy
of his not accepting financial support from this church in Corinth (1
Corinthians 9:3-18).
The
exaltation of the Corinthians was
made possible through Paul’s own lowering or humbling of himself. When he first arrived in Corinth, just prior
to the Isthmian games (Acts 18:2-3), he went to work as a tentmaker to support
himself so he could effectively preach Christ
crucified, buried, and raised
from the dead in the synagogue. He did
not ask for or accept funds from the Corinthians. This was not unusual for Paul; he never
accepted financial support from the churches he currently ministered to.
The
idea that Paul lowered himself by working
with his hands was not his own. It was the
suggestion of his critics at Corinth.
The majority of Greek society, especially the social elite, frowned on
the idea of an educated man performing manual labor; they considered it
undignified. In our society today the social
differences between blue-collar laborers and white-collar workers reflects the
same prejudice.
At
some point he did receive funds from the Macedonian churches and he was able to
stop building tents and give his full attention to evangelism (Acts 18:5). His only reason for accepting these funds he
said is so he could serve the
Corinthians. In verse 8 Paul said: I
robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you. Paul does not mean he took money from the
churches of Macedonia, especially at Philippi (Philemon 4:15-16), which seems
to have contributed liberally to Paul’s ministry, illegally or by force as the
word would normally suggest. Here Paul
means to say he accepted their money but gave them nothing in return for it, “the laborer was worthy of his hire” (1
Corinthians 9:7-14). In Paul’s opinion,
he did not follow this rule while serving
the Corinthians.
Let’s
go to verse 9:
2 Corinthians 11
9: and when I was
present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone;
for when the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in
everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do
so.
What’s
Paul saying in verse 9? I underlined a
couple of phrases that should get the discussion started in the right
direction, and I’ll start with an illustration.
Anyone who goes to work understands the burdens and the difficulties involved in attempting to make “ends
meet.” Paul was a craftsman (tentmaker)
and the life of a laborer working from sun up to sun down was difficult, even
if you had an established business, i.e. people trusted you and your work. However, Paul traveled a lot. When he arrived in a city and set up his
business, no one knew him or his work.
Paul had to compete with others who were better off in that they were well
known and had established a clientele.
I
would think Paul previous comment: 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, such going hungry
(v6:4-5) begins to make sense, especially when you consider what he said in
verse 9: and when I was present with you (in Corinth) and was in need… Paul
clearly was in need but he was
determined not to be a burden to the
Corinthians. When the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and
in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do
so.
He
was so adamant about this policy of offering the gospel to both Jew and Greek
at no cost that it took the form of an oath in verse 10: As the
truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the
regions of Achaia.
Verse
11:
Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I
do! There isn’t any
sarcasm expressed here only a true expression of genuine love from this man’s
heart.
(To
be continued)
©
Copyright 2011
GJ
Heitzman’s Ministry
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