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NOTES II Corinthians 1:1-11 (click here for study)
COLLEEN MOORE TINKER
 

Paul wrote this second letter to the Corinthians less than a year after he wrote the letter that we know as 1 Corinthians. Paul had lived in Corinth for "some time" (Acts 18:18) between A.D. 51 and 52, and during this time, with the help of Silas and Timothy, he had preached the gospel first to the Jews and then to Gentiles. By the time he left for Syria to continue his missionary journey, he had established a church at Corinth.

The Corinthian church was a metropolitan and wealthy group. They also were spiritually immature and arrogant in their blatant harboring of sin among themselves. They had divided themselves into groups loyal to different teachers. They openly tolerated sexual sin, greed, legal disputes, and social classism in their fellowship. Paul's first (surviving) letter to them addressed these sins about which several of them, including members from Choe's household, had informed him. In addition, false teachers had infiltrated the Corinthian church, the Christ-followers there we being deceived into distrusting Paul and his apostleship.

In this second letter to them (it appears that Paul had written at least one other letter to the Corinthians which no longer exists), he expresses his sorrow and frustration over their refusal to clean up the sin in their ranks and over their disrespect of him and of his authority.

 

Greeting

Paul wrote this letter while he was with Timothy, one of his protégés whom he was training in evangelism. Timothy had been with him when he had initially preached in Corinth, so the brothers there knew him. Paul addressed this letter as he often opened his epistles: by affirming his apostleship by divine appointment. This affirmation was especially necessary in his letters to the Corinthians because they had become vulnerable to false teachers who had infiltrated their ranks and undermined Paul. While Paul had not been one of Christ's followers to receive personally His commission before Jesus ascended to heaven after his resurrection, he had met the living Christ on the road to Damascus (see Acts 9) and had been converted. His apostleship, he will explain further in this letter, is authentic and marked with the power of Christ.

In spite of the Corinthians' immature, divisive, and fleshly behavior, Paul still affirms their status in the eyes of God. They had received the gospel and accepted Jesus, and even in this letter of great disappointment and rebuke, Paul addresses them as "the church of God in Corinth" and includes them among "all the saints throughout Achaia." (v.1) This fact alone illuminates the heresy which many of us learned, that we lose our salvation when we sin. Clearly, from this second letter to the Corinthians, we learn that our position in God's kingdom is not snatched away from us after we accept Jesus just because we sin.

If we fall into sin after becoming Christ-followers, God will discipline us and hold us accountable to submit to him and allow him to teach us. But we still belong to him. We are part of his family, and he does not throw us out for our faithlessness. Only if we refuse to allow the Holy Spirit to give us a new birth will we be excluded from God's kingdom. (John 3:5)

 

The God of Comfort

Paul moves from his greeting straight into praise for God for the comfort He brings into our lives through the suffering we endure. Paul has recently experienced desperate hardship in Asia (v. 8), desperate enough that he expected to die. His suffering was so intense that he compared being delivered from it to being resurrected from death. (v. 9-10) While we do not know exactly what he endured on this visit to Asia, we do know that at other times Paul was beaten, stoned, imprisoned, and derided in various ways. Yet he emerged from his trials in Asia praising God for the comfort he received from Him. In fact, he declares that the comfort he received was for the benefit of the Corinthians, the unruly group of believers who persisted in living indulgently and in criticizing and disrespecting Paul.

Paul declares God to be "the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort." While he was suffering incredibly, Paul was also experiencing God's presence and deliverance and reassurance deeply. He was receiving the nurture from God described by Isaiah that has always been the hallmark of God's commitment to his people. God promised that he would answer his people's cries for help. He comforts his people and has compassion on his afflicted. He says "to the captives, 'Come out,' and to those in darkness, 'Be free!' " (Is. 49:8)

God not only provides physical relief and help, but most importantly he brings those in spiritual darkness and captivity into freedom. God himself initiates saving the lost and bringing freedom to those who are bound by deception. God himself reveals truth and provides a way for people to find him and to become fully alive.

"I am he that comforts you," God says. "Who are you that you fear mortal men?" (Isaiah 51:12) God continues his declaration of his responsibility for his people's deliverance: "The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack breadI have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand-I who set the heavens in place, who laid the foundations of the earth" (Isaiah 51:14-16)

In Isaiah 66:12-13 God further declares his love for his people by saying, "I will extend peaceAs a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted"

God himself takes charge of his people's defense when they are suffering and persecuted. This sovereign love and responsibility was what Paul experienced in his suffering. This was the comfort he received from God.

Paul had been set free from darkness by the personal call of Jesus when he met Paul on the road to Damascus. Paul knew what it was to be on both sides of suffering: on the side where darkness controlled him and he wreaked havoc in the lives of believers, and on the side where the darkness was banished and he became the target of persecution. From his experience of both spiritual and physical suffering, Paul is a powerful witness to the power of God's compassion and comfort. He experienced the grace of God that called him from bondage, and he experienced the grace of God that protected and defended him when he endured persecution.

Paul adds his experience to the declarations of the prophet Isaiah. God is sovereign; he is responsible for his people. He takes charge of their defense and protection. No mere human can destroy God's people. The comfort we receive from God when we trust him to fight our battles and to direct our lives surpasses anything we could devise for ourselves.

 

Agents of God's Comfort

Paul expands the understanding of God's comfort by declaring that we are His agents in delivering comfort to one another. In the body of Christ, we are all one because of our unity in the Holy Spirit. In a way not possible during the days of Israel, God's church is connected to God by the indwelling presence of God himself in the hearts of his people. Jesus in us can minister to those around us when we trust him with our lives and experiences. We become his hands and eyes and feet and heart.

"If we are distressed," Paul declares, "it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer." (v. 6)

Just as Jesus suffered and became a high priest for us who can identify with our human experiences (Hebrews 2:18), so God transforms our sufferings by his comfort so we can support and encourage and hold each other before God when we go through trials.

 

Suffering for Christ

In this opening passage of 2 Corinthians, Paul also expands the significance of suffering in a Christ-follower's life. We do not merely suffer as we live for God. Our sufferings are "the sufferings of Christ flow[ing] over into our lives" (v.5) When we belong to Jesus, the things we endure because of the gospel are an extension of the sufferings of Christ. We suffer for his sake, and we also suffer as we die to the sin in us.

In Romans 6:6 Paul uses the metaphor of our old selves being crucified so our "body of sin might be done away with." The new birth, which is a very real spiritual birth into the reality of God and eternal life, takes place while we still inhabit our sinful bodies. Once we are spiritually alive, God continually nudges us by means of the Holy Spirit in us to leave our self-centered and destructive habits and to live by and for Him. This renouncing of our established habits and worldviews is often bumpy and painful. Even though we now want to live for Christ, our minds understand how to live for ourselves. In a spiritual sense we do experience a crucifixion of ourselves. In a lesser way we endure some of what Jesus had to endure on the cross: we have to be willing to give up everything in our lives, even our lives themselves, if that is the call of Jesus.

Paul also states in 2 Corinthians 4:10 that "we always carry around in our body the death of Jesus so the life of Jesus may be revealed in our body." This statement reflects the same idea implicit in Paul's statement in Romans mentioned above. We have to surrender ourselves to God, allowing his life to fill us and replace-put to death-our natural, self-serving impulses.

Concurrent with this dying to self, suffering for the sake of Jesus is part of a Christian's life. If we're children of God, Paul says in Romans 8:17, we're God's heirs and co-heirs with Christ "if we share in his sufferings in order to share in his glory."

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings," Paul wrote to the Philippians (Phil. 3:10), "becoming like him in his death."

To the Colossians he wrote, "Rejoice in what was suffered for you." He further said he filled up his flesh with "what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body"-the church. (Col 1:24)

"I bear on my body the marks of Jesus," Paul wrote to the Galatians (Gal. 6:17).

Peter also commented on suffering for the gospel. "Rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ." (1 Peter 4:13)

Suffering for Christ is literally participating in Christ's experience. Christ in us is the reason we suffer for the gospel. Darkness does not like the light, and the presence of God in us is deeply uncomfortable to those who walk in darkness. Evil tries to disarm truth. When Christ-followers suffer for the sake of their Lord they are not the literal objects of attack. It is Jesus against whom evil rails. As his followers indwelled by his Spirit, we physically suffer and carry in ourselves the suffering of Christ because we are his physical presence in the world.

Conversely, the comfort we receive when we suffer for Christ is a gift from God. Christ's presence in us catalyzes the suffering we experience, and Christ's presence in us also comforts us when we suffer. Because we are God's physical representatives on earth, his suffering overflows into our lives. Yet because our Savior literally lives in us and ministers to the world through us, his comfort to us overflows into the lives of those whom we serve.

All of life becomes more intense and we become more engaged when we follow Jesus. We experience the reactions of fear and hate which the truth of Jesus generates in people choosing to walk in darkness and compromise. We also experience the miracle of Jesus' peace and comfort and security even in the middle of suffering, and that peace and comfort flow from us to the people God calls us to love for him.

 

Enduring In Christ

Paul emphasized that his persecution in Asia was so severe that it was "far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life." Endurance is a recurring motif in Paul's exhortations to live faithfully for Jesus. Repeatedly he lists endurance side-by-side with other virtues that come from God.

In Romans 15:4-5 Paul recounts the fact that everything written in the scriptures was to teach us, "that through endurance and encouragement of scripture we might have hope." To the Colossians he writes that he is praying for them, asking God to "fill them with the knowledge of his will through spiritual understanding and wisdom" to they will be able to please the Lord in many ways including "having great endurance and patience." (Col. 1:10-11)

He commended the Thessalonians for their "endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thess. 1:3) He exhorted Timothy to flee the things of the world and to "pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness." ( 1 Tim. 1:11-12) He further reminded Timothy what he knew of him (Paul): his teaching, his way of life, his purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, and sufferings. (2 Tim. 3:10-11) To Titus he wrote, "Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance." (Titus 2:2)

John the Revelator wrote a poignant introduction of himself near the beginning of his book Revelation. In Revelation 1:9 he said, "I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus."

John distilled the shared inheritance of Christ-followers into three things: suffering, the kingdom, and patient endurance. A person cannot belong to the kingdom without also embracing suffering and endurance as theirs. When we become joint heirs with Christ, we inherit his suffering. When we receive the new birth from the Holy Spirit we receive the ability to endure with patience and hope. This endurance is the "place" in which God's comfort becomes real to us.

The comfort Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 is God's sure gift to us when we suffer for him. It would not become real to us, however, is we avoided the suffering or rationalized our way out of it. Only by enduring for Christ, even in the face of persecution and suffering, can we experience the comfort of Jesus which overflows through Him. Our endurance, itself a gift of the Holy Sprit, makes it possible for us to experience his comfort-which in turn makes it possible for us to continue to endure!

 

Interceding In Prayer

Paul ends his praise to God for his deliverance and comfort by saying, "On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers." (v.10-11a) Paul frequently asked the Christ-followers to whom he preached and later wrote to pray for him.

Of the church in Rome Paul requested prayer that he would be "rescued from unbelievers" and that his service in Jerusalem would be acceptable. (Romans 15:30-31) Writing to the Philippians from prison, Paul declared that he would "rejoice for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance." (Phil 1:18-19)

In his epistle to the Ephesians Paul's exhortation to pray was even more detailed. "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." He asked them to pray for all the saints, and to pray for him that whenever he opened his mouth, he would be given words so he would "fearlessly make know the mystery of the gospel."

James admonished the earliest scattered Christ-followers to pray on all occasions. In James 5:13-16 he told them to pray when they were troubled and to pray when they were happy. He told them to call the elders to pray when they were sick. He ends this passage with these words, "Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

When we are united by the Holy Spirit as the body of Christ, what happens to one of us affects us all. Our prayers for one another make a difference in our lives.

The Holy Spirit actually intercedes for us when we don't know what to pray. "He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." (Romans 8:26-27)

We don't know exactly how prayer affects reality, but we know it is effective. The Bible asks us to pray for each other, and Paul depended on the prayers of God's people. Jesus also requested the disciple's prayers in Gethsemane. When we pray for each other, God's love and power and peace uphold those for whom we pray. God always works to reveal truth to us, and the fact that we can trust him and rest in him peacefully is one of the great truths that becomes clearer to us as we pray for each other and as others pray for us.

When we pray, however, we are to pray with confidence, with an undivided heart. James says that if we doubt, we should not think we will receive anything from the Lord. A doubting person is "a double-minded man, unstable in all he does." (James 1:6-8)

As we learn to live in the Spirit, we learn to pray in the Spirit according to the will of God. Our human selves don't always know what we need or for what we should pray. The Holy Spirit will intercede for us, and He will also help us to know how to pray when we ask Him to help. We can be completely confident that God is working for us and is working out his salvation and truth in our lives and in the lives of those with whom we interact. We can trust God with the details and the insurmountable hurdles in our lives. He is faithful.

 

Commitment

God wants to be more real to you than the fear and the oppression of your suffering. Whatever you are enduring-whatever you fear you may endure-God knows it, and he knows the outcome. He wants his love to be more powerful and tangible to you than the devastation you fear may be yours.

Our biggest challenge is to be able to trust him with the things in our lives with which we've become familiar. We live with our health, our families, our jobs, our houses, our lifestyles however Spartan or comfortable, and these things become the framework within which we live and work and grow. When one or more of these things is threatened, our lives change completely. The future will never be the same for us as was the past before the threat or assault on our equilibrium.

It is in these times and places of life change over which we have no control that God can shape our experiences into strength and victory that would never have been ours without the crises. God cannot transform our suffering, however, if we don't release our hold on what is ours. If we hold onto our rights to our health, our homes, our loved ones, our income, or our lifestyles, God cannot be our answer or our comfort or our peace. Instead, the things we believe we deserve and love hold the center of our hearts. We spend our energy defending them and managing circumstances instead of on building trust by letting God's love teach us and change us.

Paul and the other apostles knew and loved Jesus. They believed so intensely in him and his gospel that Jesus and his cross were the consuming focus of their lives. When they suffered loss and disrespect and persecution, they were joyful because no matter what happened to them, Jesus never left them. Jesus filled their hearts and met their needs. Jesus provided food and friends and comfort, and Jesus rescued them from destruction.

Jesus did not always spare them from loss and hardship. They all experienced imprisonment, torture, and mockery, but the reality of God in them was greater than the pain and deprivation they endured. Their hearts were full and content because the one thing which has true staying power, a relationship with the living Christ, was theirs, and the love of Jesus always kept them.

God is asking you to release your hold on the things you love and take for granted. He is asking you to trust him with your needs and your future without knowing how he will provide for you. Jesus has promised never to leave you nor forsake you.

Whatever it is you face, Jesus asks you to let go. The solution your devise for your crisis could never be as effective as the outcome Jesus will design. Jesus is calling you to trust him. He's asking you to trust his love and his promises. He's asking you to allow him to defend you and heal your life. He's asking you to stop fighting to control your circumstances and to let his sovereign love shape your future.

Jesus asks you to pray-for yourself and for those he puts in your heart. He asks you to focus your attention on him and allow him to give you discernment and wisdom and faith. He asks you to be in surrender and submission to him so His words and truth can be inside your suffering and can transform the assaults Satan meant for evil.

God wants you to be a vehicle of his grace even in the middle of trauma. Only if we allow Jesus to have our pain and fear, only if we give him our need to control our lives, can He be our strength.

God will comfort you with his eternal love and power, and he will allow that comfort to spill over from your heart into the lives of those he brings near you. What you suffer God will transform into peace and rest. The resolution you experience in the love of God will minister to the suffering around you.

In Christ believers are united by the Holy Spirit. Through us the love and peace of Jesus ministers to the rest of Christ's body, and God sustains us through each other's prayers and peace.

In Christ we have perfect resolution.

Praise God for calling us to be his. Praise Jesus for sharing with us his suffering and his victory. Praise the Holy Spirit for ministering comfort and peace to us.

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!


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