Life Project Blog

2 Corinthians 7:2-16

As we all know by now, Paul has been defending his apostolic ministry since chapter three, and this passage is his conclusion; or maybe I should more accurately say the epilogue. When you come right down to it, the conclusion of the persuasive defense was in the last passage, for here we have more about the result of the matter than a final appeal.

Everyone was now happy.

First, let’s recap the events: Paul spent a significant amount of time in Corinth preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and working with the new believers there to build a church. After that he went to Ephesus where he remained for a long time. While in Ephesus he kept in touch with the church in Corinth and sent at least one letter there. Later, they sent a letter to Paul asking about a number of things they were having trouble with and Paul wrote back answering their questions and adding his thoughts on a few things they hadn’t asked about; we call that letter 1 Corinthians.  Pail had plans to return to Corinth for a visit…

Then, word reached Paul that a group had arisen, mostly from outside of the congregation, in opposition to Paul, apparently telling the people there that Paul had mis-taught the gospel, taken advantage of them and was apparently attempting to abuse their contributions made for the church in Jerusalem. I think we can infer that these allegations became rather personal: Paul went to Corinth to confront his accusers, and that confrontation wasn’t pretty; things were said, emotions rose… Paul went to Macedonia.

From Macedonia, Paul shot off another letter to Corinth, a letter containing some pointed comments. Paul, who had expected to meet up with Titus in Troas, was very grieved; Titus was not there or anywhere in Macedonia. The people in Corinth were also very grieved; what had they done?

Finally, Titus appears on the scene and he was able to report that the Corinthians had come to their senses, dealt with the troublemakers and repented entirely of their little rebellion against Paul. As a result, Paul is all the more impressed by the Corinthians, for they have come to see a mistake and they had rectified it themselves: Harmony was restored and everyone is happy again. Then, Paul sent another letter, we call it 2 Corinthians.

Reading though the text we have already seen quite a few lessons to apply to our own times. Yet there are a few more we should consider…

First, there are a lot of people who would like to sow chaos in the church, and we must not allow ourselves to be misled by them.

Second, Christians should not take church advice from non-Christians.

Third, we are all human, and even the best and most mature among us are susceptible to being carried away with emotion: Be careful what you say to people.

Fourth, when there is a real threat to the unity of the church, deal with it sooner, not later.

Fifth, when we realize that we have made a mistake, admit it, repent and move on in the Lord, don’t worry about saving face.

Sixth, always remember that in Christ, forgiveness is the default setting.

I’m sure I can come up with a few more, and by all means, feel free to chime in with your own thoughts if you’d care to. For me the bottom line is this: Even in the first century when churches had direct communication with the apostles, they had problems. People made mistakes, people said things they shouldn’t have, and had their feelings hurt. Yet they faced their issues, they repented when they needed to, and they forgave when they needed to; it was never perfect, it was never easy. Yet they persevered and built the Kingdom, and their legacy is with us to this very day, a legacy of purpose, of hope and of life, and we should thank God for them and follow their example as best we can in the Lord.

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.

2 Corinthians 6:14-16a

I have heard sermons in the past that used this text to teach that Christians should not marry unbelievers, but wouldn’t that be a funny thing for Paul to get into in a defense of his apostolic ministry? More to the point, wouldn’t there be a potential conflict with his instruction in 1 Corinthians 7:10-14 in which he told the people not to abandon their unbelieving spouses?

Hmm… What is old Paul up to here?

Paul’s wording is interesting: “yoked together”. There are similar references in two other places, Leviticus 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:10. In Leviticus, different kinds of animals aren’t to be mated together; in Deuteronomy, two different kinds of animals are not to be yoked together to plow a field. To me, particularly since Paul has not given any of his usual hints that he’s changing the subject, the Deuteronomy reference makes a lot more sense than understanding this as a new unit about marriage. Remember, this section began in chapter 3 with outsiders coming into the church to convince people of a host of accusations against Paul…

Oh yes, he is referring to two kinds of animals plowing a field…

So, Paul is going back to the situation that led to the whole problem that broke out in Corinth and nearly destroyed the whole church there, when non-Christians used lies and slanders to attack him, and by extension, Christianity, while in their midst. With this understanding, the rest of this chapter is easy to follow. In our verses above, he uses a series of contrasts to illustrate his point. I should mention that Belial is a name that appears nowhere else in Scripture but was used numerous times in Jewish non-Scriptural literature of the times as a direct reference to Satan.

To support his position, Paul cites three Old Testament passages, and then concludes:

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

2 Corinthians 7:1

To be holy means to be “set apart”. For the church be holy, it must be set apart for God; that is what it means to live in holiness. Being set apart is not to be better than everyone or to be self-righteous and speaking harshly about other people. Rather, we are supposed to love our neighbor as ourselves. However, it does mean that the church should not allow itself to be led astray or heavily influenced by non-believers. I have no doubt that the Corinthians who received this letter would happily testify to the disaster that this error caused in their midst.

As we continue, Paul will express his great joy that the Corinthians have repented of the mistake, the mistake he has just been talking about.

2 Corinthians 6:3-13

As Paul continues his defense of his apostolic ministry, he moves from the discussion of the ministry of reconciliation, to which we have all been called, into a discussion of faithfulness through hardships. He begins with a double negative, depending on your point of view, it could even be taken as a triple negative:

We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.

Strictly speaking, a double negative isn’t the clearest way to communicate one’s thoughts; they lead to confusion. It would have been clearer if Paul had simply said, “We have done nothing to discredit our ministry”. In any case, that is precisely the point he is making in this passage. At first glance we might get the impression that Paul is complaining a bit; there’s a note of unfairness on display here. Yet I don’t think that was his intention; I certainly hope not, for that would surely undo his point. Instead, I see a little shaming here− take a close look at this:

He begins with … Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses then in verse 5 he cites 6 hardships: in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger. He follows these 6 hardships with his responses to them in 6-7: in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;” notice the contrast between his hardship and his attitude through the experiences.

Then he continues by citing his experiences in contrast with his condition:

through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. (6:8-10)

Finally, in 6:11-13 he brings the discussion home to the Corinthians:

We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.

Looking at this passage in its entirety, it’s fair to conclude that Paul is lodging a complaint. He has served the Corinthians faithfully and lovingly, yet they haven’t always been fair with him in return. They have listened to those who would lie about him, they have been eager to find fault with him and though he has been faithful in his service to them, they have not been faithful in return. Yet there isn’t an accusatory tone in what Paul has presented here, for you see, Paul has given us an example of resolving personal disputes in love.

Yes, he has mentioned the facts of the situation, but in doing so, his tone has been one of conciliation, not condemnation. I think we can learn from this, don’t you?

2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2

Paul moves into this topic by referring to his critics who apparently have claimed that he was out of his mind for believing that Christ died for our sins and then rose again from the dead. Come to think of it, nothing much has changed; people today say that we are “deluded” in our beliefs along these lines. Yet for Paul, and hopefully for us as well, it was a great deal more than just a belief in Christ, for that belief brings with it far reaching implications:

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (5:14-15)

We don’t simply believe the historical fact that Jesus died for our sins on the cross, was buried, and then rose again from the dead; now, what’s for lunch? Instead, when we accept this set of facts, we are compelled by His great demonstration of love for us, to make changes in our lives, not because He forces us to, but because we want to. When this transformation takes hold, people say we’re crazy. Paul sums up the changes this way:

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (5:16-17)

In verses 18-19 Paul restates his message of Christ’s ministry on the cross and its result, and then says…

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (5:20-21)

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are His ambassadors in this world, which is no longer our home; everything has changed. God is making His great appeal to all humanity to be reconciled to Him through Christ, and His great appeal is being made through us. Just think for a moment, God’s eternal plan to redeem humanity, the plan that was hidden for ages is now underway. We have been reconciled to Him, and now we have a part to play in achieving God’s ultimate purpose, which is that we would not keep His grace only for ourselves, but that we would share it with everyone we come into contact with, and by putting His grace into practice, we would become His righteousness in a world where true righteousness is in short supply. Notice that this righteousness is not about keeping rules, but instead, is all about sharing God’s love.

With a message like this, we are faced with a question: What will I do today to bring His message of reconciliation to someone who needs it?