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Paul’s Second Letter To The Corinthians

by Chris Simmons

Life is not about perfection. The inspired apostle Paul wrote that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Life is about what we do about our mistakes and our shortcomings – our sin. Cain, Saul, David, Judas and Peter all illustrate the varying responses man can have to his sin which can include selfish anger, denial, confession, cowardice, and the true fruit of repentance. Paul had challenged, rebuked and reproved the brethren in the church in Corinth and he was terribly concerned with how his message would be received and how the brethren there would respond. After writing the first letter, Paul eagerly sought to find out what their reaction and response was to it. He stated in this second letter regarding the first letter, “for to this end also I wrote that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things” (II Corinthians 2:9). How would the brethren in Corinth respond?

Paul’s concern for the brethren in all the churches where he worked and labored was ever present. After being nearly stoned to death in Lystra and leaving to preach in Derbe, his love for his brethren compelled him to return not only to Iconium and Antioch, but also to Lystra to “strengthen the souls of the disciples” and “encourage them to continue in the faith” (Acts 14:22). After returning from the first missionary journey, Paul expressed the desire to “return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are” (Acts 15:36). This prompted his second missionary journey on which he established the church in Corinth. Paul then wrote the first letter to the Corinthians on his third missionary journey, while in the city of Ephesus, after he had received a letter and other reports of problems in the church there. His love for the brethren necessitated the first letter he sent. After sending the letter, his concern for their spiritual wellbeing only grew and now he was focused on the impact the first letter had on them.

These are the circumstances which prompted the writing of the second letter. Paul had left Ephesus where the successful results of his preaching efforts were seen at first but things did not end well. We read in Acts 19:23-41 of “no small disturbance” that had arisen “concerning the Way.” When the “uproar had ceased,” Paul left Ephesus and “departed to go to Macedonia” (Acts 20:1). This was not a high point in Paul’s life and in fact in this second epistle, Paul noted about this time, “For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within” (II Corinthians 7:5). Beset by tribulation and concern for the brethren, Paul noted that before he heard of the response from Corinth that he was “depressed” (literally “brought low”) (II Corinthians 7:6) by the afflictions “on every side.” Paul had sent Titus ahead to Corinth specifically for the purpose of finding out how his first letter was received. The fact that Paul was not able to find Titus when he came to Troas provided “no rest for (his) spirit” and he therefore pressed on to Macedonia. There, he finally found Titus who reported to him the positive impact his first letter had had. Paul noted that, “God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more” (II Corinthians 7:5-7). Paul well understood the proverb “Like cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a distant land” (Proverbs 25:25). Comforted and refreshed by this good news (II Corinthians 7:13), Paul sent Titus back to Corinth with the second letter with work that yet needed to be accomplished in Corinth.

One of the key points addressed in this second letter concerned the brother identified in 1 Corinthians chapter five who had committed fornication. Paul had instructed the church to “clean out the old leaven” and “not to associate with fornicators” (ASV), for the purpose “that his spirit might be saved.” Following his visit to Corinth, Titus evidently had reported to Paul upon their meeting that the congregation in Corinth had followed Paul’s command (II Corinthians 2:6) and that the discipline had its intended result in that the brother had in fact repented. Although Paul was impressed by the genuine nature and fruit of the repentance (II Corinthians 7:7-11), the concern was that they would reaffirm their love and their fellowship for him lest he “be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow” (II Corinthians 2:5-11). We need to be as ready and eager to extend forgiveness to those who have genuinely repented as our Heavenly Father is (Matthew 6:12-15; 18:21-35; Luke 17:3-4).

Another theme of his second letter is the contrast of the temporal and the eternal. Paul knew that those who remained faithful to the Lord would have to endure the same persecution and affliction that he was experiencing. Paul spoke of being “afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (II Corinthians 4:8-9). How is that possible? It’s possible when we are able to properly focus our hearts and minds on the eternal rather than the temporal. “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (II Corinthians 4:16-5:1). We must learn to live life by not “looking at things as they are outwardly” (II Corinthians 10:7). Paul focuses their heart and ours on the things above and on the time in which we will all stand before the “judgment seat of Christ” (II Corinthians 5:10), proclaiming the persuading “word of reconciliation” (II Corinthians 5:20-21) that we might become “a new creature in Christ” (II Corinthians 5:17).

Paul also addressed their continual need to distance themselves from the sin, wickedness, error and corruption of the environment they lived in. His exhortations to not “be bound together with unbelievers,” to “come out from their midst and be separate,” and to “cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” are as needful today as they were to the brethren in Corinth (II Corinthians 6:14-7:1).

Another key point of this letter was to focus the brethren on the benevolent needs of the brethren in Jerusalem. In his first visit to Corinth, he addressed the need “upon the first day of the week” to “lay by him in store” (ASV, KJV) to address the sustaining needs of the saints in Jerusalem (I Corinthians 16:1; cf. Romans 15:26-27). They had begun this work (II Corinthians 8:10) and Paul had sent Titus back to them to help them finish this important work (II Corinthians 8:6-12) so that Paul’s boasting on their behalf about their contribution (II Corinthians 8:23-10:5) might not be in vain.

Finally, Paul had heard reports that there were some in Corinth who sought to discredit his standing as an apostle of Jesus Christ and were challenging his authority to speak for the Lord (II Corinthians 13:3-4). In chapter 11, Paul acknowledges that he might not be the most skilled speaker in the world, but in terms of his knowledge of God’s will that was imparted to him, no one could surpass him (verse 6). Paul argued that he was to be considered “not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles” (verse 5). He argued on the basis of desire to not be a burden to them by having other churches support him in his preaching of the gospel in Corinth (II Corinthians 11:7-8). He argued on the basis of what he was willing to endure for the sake of the gospel and the souls of men who so desperately needed it. He asked if any of the false teachers who were discrediting him had endured what he had. II Corinthians 11:22-28, “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as if insane) I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure upon me of concern for all the churches.” No one had seen the visions that Paul had seen (II Corinthians 12:1-6). No one had performed the “signs of a true apostle among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles” (II Corinthians 12:12) like Paul had. No one was willing to “gladly spend and be expended for your souls” (II Corinthians 12:15) like Paul was. No one was as willing and determined to work with the brethren in Corinth and continue to impart nothing but the truth, through the good and the bad like Paul was (II Corinthians 12:20-13:1).

Other than the Lord Jesus Christ, no one sought the joy, maturity, comfort, unity, peace and love for the brethren there like the apostle Paul. II Corinthians 13:11-12, “Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.”

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