2 Corinthians 5

There are several verses in this passage today which stand out, but two in particular are very riveting.  The first is verse 9 which states, “Therefore whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to Him!”  When I contemplate this logic of Paul shouldn't this be our motive for life as well.  This simple statement sums up the way we should approach life and in so doing we will fulfill the greatest and second greatest commandment of all.  (Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.) 

If our ambition is to please God in all things and in all ways, we should be compelled to do so out of love.  That is what Paul said in the second verse I find riveting from chapter 5.  He stated in verse, "For Christ's love compels us."  I recognize I just said we should be compelled to please God out of love but you must remember that scripture says we can only love because He first loved us.(1 Jn. 4:19)  You see we do not know how to love. We do not know what love is.  And we are not capable of true love alone.  Therefore, God's love shows us the way and literally compels us to move forward to serve Him wholeheartedly out of a reciprocal love.  All we can do is emulate the Father in loving Him and others.

So the question is, "How well are you doing in making your ambition to please God, compelled by His love?  How are you doing in living for Him and loving Him?  How well are you doing in loving one another, not just the loveable but even the unlovable?  We cannot expect to have a strong relationship with God if we do not have a strong relationship with His children and His creation!

I remember hearing a preacher use this illustration one time.  Suppose I walked up to your front door to ask a favor of you and along the way your child came up to me and tried to talk with me.  However, I was annoyed and yelled at the child, even pushing the child aside.  All the while you had been observing this from your front window.  How likely would you be to oblige to the favor knowing I had treated your child this way?  Then why do we expect God to oblige our requests when we treat His children with disrespect and disdain?

Takeaways:

1.  Christ's love is our compelling factor for all we do to please Him.

2.  Our ambition should be to please God in all we do.

2 Corinthians 4

Whenever I have a person approach me asking for direction regarding whether God is calling that individual into the ministry I always remember the words given to me thirty years ago by my pastor.  He said, “Make sure you know that God is calling you into this ministry.  Write it down!  There will be days when you feel as though giving up.  However, if you know without a doubt that God has called you to the ministry then you will never be able to give up that calling.”  What my pastor was saying is you will have days when things are tough and you want to give up.  However, you will not be happy doing anything but what God has called you to do.

I wonder if this is what Paul is going through as he writes chapter 4.  In the first verse he writes, “Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not give up.”  He cannot give up on the High Calling of Christ Jesus on his life because of the calling but also because of the great mercy given unto him.  Each of us has a calling from God; some are called to vocational ministry and others to lay ministry.  However, the calling is still on our lives as children of God and we cannot abandon this call or our lives will be unfulfilled and miserable.  Are you fulfilling your calling?  Are you serving God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength?  Are you giving unto God your best in all things?  Winston Churchill told the Harrow School on October 29, 1941, “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force. Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”  This quote is very apropos for what Paul is stating in chapter 4, especially as he moves into the next section dealing with the treasures in clay jars.

We see Paul giving a detail to which many fellow believers could probably relate; "We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed." maybe you have had one of those days where you feel as though you have been pressured from all sides. Maybe you have felt as though you have been beaten up everywhere you turn. Remember our Lord promised us that if we served Him we would be enemies to the world which would hate and persecute us. What a privilege that we could and should bear the persecution and hardships for being a servant of God! Remember the words of Paul in v. 16-17, "Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.".

Takeaways
1. Our afflictions and hardships should be a badge of honor for serving our Lord.
2. Our afflictions and hardships are but temporary.
3. Never quit or give up!

2 Corinthians 3

Paul is once again battling a problem that will not go away, his credibility.  Apparently there were a group of individuals in the church who carried letters of approval and recommendation for their services, speaking, and character.  They insisted that Paul must not be qualified to conduct the ministry. (I find that extremely humorous especially since we have no record of these others.)  However Paul makes a defense again regarding his competence and his ministry, even among the people of Corinth.  Paul even makes a statement that appears to place a dagger in the hearts of his accusers. In verses 5-6 Paul says, "But our competence is from God. He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter from men."  In other words, I don't need the approval of men to carry out the ministry assigned by God.  While this statement must be seasoned and we must not take it to an extreme and become boastful, Paul is saying I can walk in confidence knowing that God has given me my assignment, my agenda, and my ability. 

Too often we can become enamored with the praise, or lack of, from mankind regarding our efforts and work for God.  We have not been called to please mankind but to bring honor to God.  Our mentality has become distorted to believe that because we live in a democratic society, that we must allow everything to be based on the consensus of mankind.  However, at the end of time on earth we will stand before our Creator to give an account for the way we conducted ourselves regarding His directives.  At that point, it will not matter if we made everyone happy or not.  All that will matter is that we were obedient and walked in complete confidence that we sought to honor Him above all things.

Paul closes the chapter dealing with the transition from the Old Law to the New Law.  This transition was not easy then just as change is difficult now.  However, Paul reminds the reader that the New Law is not a temporal or condemning issue.  Instead the new law brings freedom and life to all who accept it.  Paul reminds the Corinthians that those who hold to the Old Law do so with a limited scope of what God offers and are bound to a law.  However, through Christ, the New Law offers liberty and life to all who will accept it.  He even makes the statement of the supremacy of the New Law by stating, "For if what was fading away was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious." 

I want to hold to the glory and greatness of God in the present not living in the past.  God offers us each day an opportunity of abundant life.  Unfortunately we too often hold onto the days of long ago and remember the "When" rather than experiencing the "Win" of now!

Takeways:
1.  Our confidence and competence lies in God not man.
2.  Our God offers us a life of freedom if we are willing to follow after Him.
3.  Live in the Present not the Past!

2 Corinthians 2

2 Corinthians 2

There are two words we could use to characterize chapter two:  forgiveness and fragrance.  Paul speaks very clearly to the church regarding the individual who had committed grave immorality addressed in 1 Corinthians.  This immorality, if you do not recall, was sleeping with his step-mother, a sin even the pagan world denounced.  In the beginning Paul had stated to disassociate with the individual who had created such a stir and committed this sin.  The reason was two-fold:  not allow him to influence others to sin and secondly to hopefully encourage the fallen believer to repent and return to a rightful walk with God.  Apparently this had been the case because now Paul says offer forgiveness to the man.  He writes in verses 7-8
"...So now you should forgive and comfort him instead; otherwise, this one may be overwhelmed by excessive grief. Therefore I urge you to confirm your love to him." 

Who is there in your life to which you need to offer for forgiveness?  Maybe the person has wronged you?  They may not even know they have wronged you?  Maybe it is someone, like the individual in the Corinthian church which has sinned against the church.  Paul encourages us to offer forgiveness for the complete healing in our lives and the restoration of the fallen believer.  Someone once said that when we offer forgiveness, even if it is not requested, we act more like Christ than any other time.  Be that person today.

The second word, fragrance, really is a sweet aroma of forgiveness.  Paul uses an interesting analogy of our being the sweet fragrance of Christ to those being saved.  However, he also states that we are the scent of death to those who reject the Gospel.  We must understand that when we bear the Spirit of Christ we are either joy or heartache to other people. The great question is, “Are you aromatic of God? Do you bear the aroma of Jesus or are you just stinking up His kingdom? Just a thought!

Takeaways

1. When we are wronged we must forgive!
2. When someone has wronged the church we must forgive them as well!
3. We are the aroma of Christ when we offer forgiveness and bear His image.

2 Corinthians 1

The key word for 2 Corinthians according to several commentators is "encouragement."  Paul had received word that the church had received his first letter and had taken the necessary measures to deal with the issues which he addressed in the first letter.  In the opening chapter we find this theme of encouragement to be addressed during the customary salutation and greeting.  Paul specifically addresses the issues of discomfort in life while finding comfort in God.  As he addresses the cold hard facts of life, Paul gives specific examples in his own life of where he has faced hardships, trials, tribulations, and afflictions.  In verse 8 Paul states, "For we don't want you to be unaware, brothers, of our affliction that took place in the province of Asia: we were completely overwhelmed—beyond our strength—so that we even despaired of life."  While he does not go into the complete details at this point, there is speculation as to whether he references a particular uprising, the incident where Jews sought to ambush and kill him, or a person who was working against him.  We do realize the incident was severe enough in nature that Paul wrote "we despaired of life." 

How many times in our own life have we felt as though we faced situations beyond our ability?  Were there times when you felt as though the perilous times were abounding so great that the waves which surrounded you seemed destined to drown you?  Maybe you are in such a time now.  Paul gives great words of encouragement for the Corinthians and us. In verses 3-4a Paul states, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in our entire affliction..."  But doesn't stop at that point he goes on to say there is more than one reason I bring you comfort.  First, everything God does is to bring glory to His name.  Secondly He is our Father and thus wants to relieve our suffering.  But in addition He offers us comfort "so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God."  I am a firm believer that to whoever comfort has been given, he then better knows how to comfort others.  When we have gone through adversity and trials we have a better perspective to offer to those in pain.

Takeaways:
1.  The Bible does not promise that afflictions and hardships will disappear when we trust in Christ, but God does promise to comfort and strengthen us in such times.
2.  God offers relief and comfort to His children when they face hardships in life for His name.
3.  We are expected to offer comfort to others after having received it ourselves.

New Blog

The next blog will begin Monday, June 6. We will be reading through 2 Corinthians. Join us for the continuation of these Pauline Epistles.

1 Corinthians 16

As we look at the last chapter of 1 Corinthians we see much of the normal concluding statements of Paul. He talks about housekeeping matters and his plans to visit the church in the near future.  However, in the midst of all of these formalities Paul gives us a nugget of advice and wisdom.  In verses 13-14 we read where Paul states, “Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be brave and strong.  Your every action must be done in love." Paul wants the church to understand that their hopes for salvation are not found in anyone such as Apollos or Paul but instead they rest in their response to the work of Jesus Christ.  This is the reason for his exhortation to be alert and stand firm in the faith.  He also says, to put it in the modern vernacular, "Man up!"  Apparently Paul is tired of seeing these church members be less than bold in Christ. He alludes to the fact that they are acting effeminate so he challenges them to be strong.  Adam Clark says, the church has many enemies thus she must be on guard and watch out for the destructiveness they can afford.  However, he is also urging the church to be alert to opportunities of ministry.  Clark also effectively states that  we must "Let love to God, to man, and to one another, be the motive of all our conduct."

The question we must answer today is how do we stand in relation to this command?  Are we alert to the enemies tactics in leading us astray, no matter how subtle?  Are we approaching each day with an opportunistic eye to ways to share God's love both verbally and actively? Do we seek to resist the tendency to speak out in harshness and with unkind words?  We are to remember out of the overflow of the heart do our words speak!  I must reprint the words of verse 14 for it must become our mantra for living each day!  "Your every action must be done with love." If we allow this to be our overriding motive for life then we can become more attune to living as Christ and honoring His commands "To love your neighbor as yourself."

Takeaway:

1.  Let love be the overarching principle for live.

2.  Look for opportunities to lovingly serve one another.

3.  Lookout for the enemy seeks to take us down from serving our God.