Saint Paul at the beginning of this letter (The Second Epistle of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians) defends himself against the charges of inconstancy in the apostolate, of pride, and of selfish motives in his work. After a short appeal for a collection to help the poor in Jerusalem, he again refutes his enemies and vindicates his apostolic authority.
The Second Epistle of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians is of a pure content in terms of a source of spiritual insight, understanding, and wisdom!
As such it is presented verbatim in its entirety below with highlighted words and phrase that touch my heart, my soul or raised questions in my consciousness.
With gratitude that the Spirit of the Living God is in our hearts!
Greeting:
Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints that are in the whole of Achaia: grace be to you and peace from our God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Comfort in Trouble:
Persecution and Deliverance:
Paul’s Sincerity:
For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity—not in carnal wisdom, but in the grace of God—we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you. For we write nothing to you that you do not read and understand. Indeed, I hope you will always understand, even as you have understood us in part, that we are your boast, as you will also be ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul Replies to Charge of Being Fickle:
With this assurance I meant, in order that you might enjoy a double grace, to visit you first, and to pass through you into Macedonia, and from Macedonia to come again to you, and by you to be sent forward on my way to Judea. Now in this my intention, did I show fickleness? Or are my plans made according to the flesh, so with me it is now “Yes” and now “No”? God is my witness that our message to you is not both “Yes” and “No.” For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not now “Yes” and now “No,” but only “Yes” was in him. For all the promises of God find their “Yes” in him; and therefore through him also rises the “Amen” to God unto our glory. Now it is God who is warrant for us and for you in Christ, who has anointed us, who has also stamped us with his seal and has given us the Spirit as a pledge in our hearts.
The reason for his Change of Plan:
Now I call God to witness against my soul that it was to spare you that I did not again come to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but rather we are fellow-workers in your joy; for in faith you stand.
Paul’s Letter to Them (The Corinthians):
He Pardons the Offender:
Now if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but in a measure (not to be too severe) all of you. For such a one this punishment meted out by the many is sufficient. On the contrary, then, you should rather forgive and comfort him, lest perchance he be overwhelmed by too much sorrow. Therefore I exhort you to assure him of your love for him. For to this very end also did I write, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in all things. Whom you pardon anything, I also pardon. Indeed what I have forgiven—if I have forgiven anything—I have done for your sakes, in the person of Christ, that we may not be defeated by Satan; for we are not unaware of his devices.
Thanksgiving for Good News.
The Corinthians are his Commendation:
Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some do, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written on our hearts, which is known and read by all men; clearly you are a letter of Christ, composed by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on fleshly tablets of the heart.
Paul’s Assurance comes from Christ:
Superiority of the New Law over the Old (Law):
Now is the ministration of death, which was engraved in letters upon stones, was inaugurated in such glory that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly upon the face of Moses on account of the transient glory that shone upon it, shall not the ministration of the spirit be still more glorious? For it there is glory in the ministration that condemned, much more does the ministration that justifies abound in glory. For though the former ministration was glorifies, yet in this regard it is without glory, because of the surpassing glory of the latter. For if that which was transient was glorious, much more is that glorious which abides.
The Veil is Taken Away:
Having therefore such hope, we show great boldness. We do not act as Moses did, who used to put a veil over his face that the Israelites might not observe the glory of his countenance, which was to pass away. But their minds were darkened; for to this day, when the Old Testament is read to them, the selfsame veil remains, not being lifted to disclose the Christ in whom it is made void. Yes, down to this very day, when Moses is read, the veil covers their hearts; but when they turn in repentance to God, the veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is the spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all, with faces unveiled, reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into his very image from glory to glory, as through the Spirit of the Lord.
Amen! Al-le-lu-ia! The Spirit of the Living God is in our hearts!
Day 160: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; The Spirit of the living God in Our Hearts!
Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Second Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, Chapters 1-3.
Bible Notes:
Saint Paul at the beginning of this letter defends himself against the charges of inconstancy in the apostolate, of pride, and of selfish motives in his work. After a short appeal for a collection to help the poor in Jerusalem, he again refutes his enemies and vindicates his apostolic authority.
2 Corinthians Chapter 1: Greeting; Comfort in trouble; Persecution and deliverance; Paul’s sincerity; Paul replies to charge of being fickle; The reason for his change of plan.
Greeting:
Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints that are in the whole of Achaia: grace be to you and peace from our God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Comfort in Trouble:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions, that we also may be able to comfort those who are in any distress by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also through Christ does our comfort abound. For whether we are afflicted, it is for your instruction and salvation; or whether we are comforted, it is for your comfort; which shows its efficacy in the endurance of the selfsame sufferings that we also suffer. And our hope for you is steadfast, knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so will you also be of the comfort.
Persecution and Deliverance:
For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of the affliction which came upon us in Asia. We were crushed beyond measure—beyond our strength, so that we were weary even of life. Yes, we have been carrying, within our very selves, our death sentence; in order that we may not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. He it is who delivered us, and will deliver us, from such great perils; and in him we have hope to be delivered yet again, though the help of your prayers for us. Thus, for the gift bestowed on us at the instance of many persons, thanks will be given by many on our behalf.
Paul’s Sincerity:
For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience that in simplicity and godly sincerity—not in carnal wisdom, but in the grace of God—we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you. For we write nothing to you that you do not read and understand. Indeed, I hope you will always understand, even as you have understood us in part, that we are your boast, as you will also be ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul Replies to Charge of Being Fickle:
With this assurance I meant, in order that you might enjoy a double grace, to visit you first, and to pass through you into Macedonia, and from Macedonia to come again to you, and by you to be sent forward on my way to Judea. Now in this my intention, did I show fickleness? Or are my plans made according to the flesh, so with me it is now “Yes” and now “No”? God is my witness that our message to you is not both “Yes” and “No.” For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not now “Yes” and now “No,” but only “Yes” was in him. For all the promises of God find their “Yes” in him; and therefore through him also rises the “Amen” to God unto our glory. Now it is God who is warrant for us and for you in Christ, who has anointed us, who has also stamped us with his seal and has given us the Spirit as a pledge in our hearts.
The reason for his Change of Plan:
Now I call God to witness against my soul that it was to spare you that I did not again come to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but rather we are fellow-workers in your joy; for in faith you stand.
2 Corinthians Chapter 2: Paul’s letter to them; He pardons the offender; Thanksgiving for good news.
Paul’s Letter to Them (The Corinthians):
But I made up my mind not to come to you again in sorrow. For if I made you sad, who can gladden me, save the very one that is grieved by me? And I wrote to you as I did, that when I come I may not have sorrow upon sorrow from those who ought to give me joy; for I trust in you all that my joy is the joy of you all. For I wrote to you in much affliction and anguish of the heart, with many tears, not that you might be grieved, but that you might know the great love I have for you.
He Pardons the Offender:
Now if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but in a measure (not to be too severe) all of you. For such a one this punishment meted out by the many is sufficient. On the contrary, then, you should rather forgive and comfort him, lest perchance he be overwhelmed by too much sorrow. Therefore I exhort you to assure him of your love for him. For to this very end also did I write, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in all things. Whom you pardon anything, I also pardon. Indeed what I have forgiven—if I have forgiven anything—I have done for your sakes, in the person of Christ, that we may not be defeated by Satan; for we are not unaware of his devices.
Thanksgiving for Good News.
Now when I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, though I had there a great opportunity in the Lord, I had no peace of mind, because I did not find Titus my brother. And so, bidding them farewell, I went on to Macedonia. But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ Jesus, manifesting through us the odor of his knowledge in every place. For we are the fragrance of Christ for God, alike as regards those who are saved and those who are lost; to these an odor that leads to death, but to those an odor that leads to life. And for such offices, who is sufficient? We, at least, are not, as many others, adulterating the word of God; but with sincerity, as coming from God, we preach in Christ in God’s Presence.
2 Corinthians Chapter 3: The Corinthians are his commendation; Paul’s assurance comes from Christ; Superiority of the new law over the old; The veil is taken away.
The Corinthians are his Commendation:
Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some do, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written on our hearts, which is known and read by all men; clearly you are a letter of Christ, composed by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on fleshly tablets of the heart.
Paul’s Assurance comes from Christ:
Such is the assurance I have through Christ towards God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything, as from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. He also it is who has made us fit ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.
Superiority of the New Law over the Old (Law):
Now is the ministration of death, which was engraved in letters upon stones, was inaugurated in such glory that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly upon the face of Moses on account of the transient glory that shone upon it, shall not the ministration of the spirit be still more glorious? For it there is glory in the ministration that condemned, much more does the ministration that justifies abound in glory. For though the former ministration was glorifies, yet in this regard it is without glory, because of the surpassing glory of the latter. For if that which was transient was glorious, much more is that glorious which abides.
Ministration—the act of ministering care, aid, religious service, etc; an instance of this.
The Veil is Taken Away:
Having therefore such hope, we show great boldness. We do not act as Moses did, who used to put a veil over his face that the Israelites might not observe the glory of his countenance, which was to pass away. But their minds were darkened; for to this day, when the Old Testament is read to them, the selfsame veil remains, not being lifted to disclose the Christ in whom it is made void. Yes, down to this very day, when Moses is read, the veil covers their hearts; but when they turn in repentance to God, the veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is the spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all, with faces unveiled, reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into his very image from glory to glory, as through the Spirit of the Lord.
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