2 Corinthians 12-13: God’s Grace is Sufficient for Us

 

"They shall mount up with wings like eagles..." (Isaiah 40:31, ESV)

One of the great things about the world wide web is that it is world wide. I don’t want to make the mistake of acting like everyone who reads this is American like me. However, American is the framework from which I come. I hope that folks from other countries don’t have the problem I’m about to describe. I think we American Christians sometimes allow our American citizenship to dictate our approach to life more than we do God’s word.

 

In the good ol’ U S of A, we are taught to be independent. We are taught to pull ourselves up by our boot straps and make it through the tough times. If we are going to rely on God it is only for the really tough times when we just need Him to give us a little push to get us over the hump we just can’t seem to climb. I recall being in the family conference area in the emergency room of a local hospital where one of my dear sisters was grieving the loss of her husband. This was on top of several other life tragedies she and her family had faced in the past year. A friend and co-worker, who was also a Christian thought he was helping this sister by telling her, “Sister, you can do this. You’re strong enough. You can make it.” Then he prayed, “God, our sister is going through a tough time. She just needs a little help. Help her see she is strong enough to make it through this.”

I couldn’t contain myself. As soon as this well-intentioned brother left, I knelt beside my grieving sister and said, “I know this brother meant well. But he is wrong. You aren’t strong enough for this. We’re not strong enough for this. We can’t make it through this stuff. But we have a God that is strong enough to get you through.” And then I grabbed the little Bible they had on the side table and read II Corinthians 12:8-10.

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (ESV).

The reason so many American Christians struggle is because we have this idea that we are really strong enough for most things and that we only need to rely on God for a little nudge on the really tough stuff. The fact is, we need to recognize apart from God we can do nothing. I remember in a series I presented on prayer another well-meaning brother commenting that one of the problems we have in prayer is asking God to do things for us that we can do for ourselves. My question is which things are those? After all, it is through God that we live and move and have our very being (Acts 17:28). If our very life and ability to move comes from God, which thing is it that we can accomplish all on our very own? 

We need to get over this idea that we are strong enough for anything. We need to recognize that we are weak and powerless. The only way we can have any victory at all is to simply surrender ourselves to God and His will. We need to just throw ourselves on His grace because it is sufficient. 

Consider one great contrast–Moses. When Moses simply supposed that everyone would understand he was God’s chosen vessel to deliver the Israelites, he ran from Egypt in fear with his tail tucked between his legs. However, when he believed he was too weak and couldn’t possibly be the man to lead Israel, God brought great victory through Him. We have to realize we are only able to stand because of the legs God has given us and simply surrender to Him. His grace is sufficient, our strength isn’t.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

2 Corinthians 10-11: Slave Makers in Church

Throughout II Corinthians, Paul is repeatedly correcting problems. In II Corinthians 11, he is trying to get the Corinthians back into the right mindset about serving God according to the law of Christ and not by picking and choosing bits of the Old Covenant to bind on people. Judaizing teachers were constantly following Paul trying to bind circumcisions, Sabbaths, feasts and other aspects of that Old Law on these new Christians. 

Because the Corinthians had been influenced, they were turning their backs on Paul. Apparently, the Judaizers were making headway by ridiculing Paul’s physical presence and poor speaking ability. They must have been bragging about all the great things they had done, but were only arguing from a fleshly foundation. They were trying to make Paul look like a fool.

As is often the case, the proclaimer of truth has to defend himself against straw man arguments and fallacious reasoning. In this chapter, I can hear some of Paul’s frustration as he wrote: “For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves! For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face. To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that!” (II Corinthians 11:19-21, ESV). 

These Corinthians were being made slaves by the Judaizing teachers who were taking up the role of the Pharisees, laying heavy weights on the backs of people even though they were not willing to carry the weight themselves. They were enslaving them because they were pushing them back under a covenant that did not provide salvation but would only focus them on the flesh. They were being taken advantage of because many of these false teachers were only seeking dishonest gain.

Paul’s point was that it was sad that a true proclaimer of the true saving Gospel is accused of being weak, foolish and arrogant, while those who were really like that were being lauded as God’s special people. It was sad that someone who really was taking advantage of people, devouring people and destroying the souls of people is praised as loving and caring and really spiritual, while the one with the truth is despised. This was especially sad because Paul knew these Corinthians would not get to stand before God and say, “It’s not my fault, it was these false teachers.” They were being devoured and they would pay the price.

But what really gets me is how this is happening today. Few teachers are trying to press circumcision, but there are erring teachers who are enslaving and devouring people just as much, yet they are being lauded as the truly spiritual. The modern push for entertainment based assemblies, social welfare based evangelism and “me” based spiritual walk is lauded as really spiritual. But they are enslaving people right and left to flesh based Christianity. How many teachers spend more time trying to collect a “seed of faith” (interpret that “money”) from their hearers than actually giving them the hard lessons from God’s word? How many spend so much time saying everyone is just alright, instead of challenging folks to be more like Christ? Somehow, these are the people that are lauded and that is so sad. Just as in Paul’s day, the folks who were really leading everyone astray were the ones people liked. The folks who teach the hard truths of Jesus’ saving gospel get repudiated. 

Let’s make sure we are really following the gospel and not being led into slavery. We can only do that by making sure what is being taught is really from the Bible and then living it. Let’s hold our teachers to higher standards than merely being passionate presenters. Let’s force them to teach us truth. To do that, of course, we have to be willing to be pricked and corrected. We need to understand, if we never walk away from a teacher thinking, “Wow, I need to change,” then the teacher is not setting us free through the gospel, he is enslaving us to something that won’t save.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

2 Corinthians 8-9: Blessed to be a Blessing

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times you may abound in every good work. As it is written, ‘He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’ He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.”

II Corinthians 9:8-12 (ESV)

God has not blessed me so I can hoard what I have been given. Certainly, as Ecclesiastes taught, I am allowed to enjoy my blessings. But, I must remember that the main reason for which God has blessed me is so I may be a blessing to others. 

This is not the health and wealth gospel that performs good deeds selfishly only to receive more. No. This is the true gospel that points out God entrusts more to those with whom He can actually trust more. So often, we want and want and do not have because we only want for ourselves. We will be amazed how much God will bless us if we simply become channels for blessings to others. 

Of course, when I am not selfishly concerned about what I have and only about how I can help others, if God is not blessing me with something, I’m still content. The question is not how much I have, but how am I helping others.

I know this is tough to remember when every newspaper and television show is warning us that the sky is about to fall in financially. But this is God’s will for us no matter what our nation’s economy.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

2 Corinthians 6-7: Today is the Day of Salvation

II Corinthians 6:2 drives it home: “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Christianity is not merely something to think about. It is not something to tinker with for a while to see if it fits you. Christianity is about freedom in Christ. It is about freedom from guilt and shame by His love and forgiveness. It is about freedom from the controlling power of sin by His strength and grace. 

However, if you are just kind of playing with Christianity, it won’t do you any good. Half-measures accomplish nothing. We need to whole-heartedly surrender to God and submit to Him. If you haven’t done that yet, do it today. Today is the day of salvation. Trust me, this is one of those issues that if you put it off for a year and you are actually still alive a year from now, you will wish you had started today. And, having added another year of pursuing the lusts of the flesh you will find it harder to start then. So just go ahead and start today.

Just surrender yourself today to the Lord and let Him cleanse you of your sins. Then rely on His word and His people to help you grow. Do exactly what the Corinthians did to surrender themselves to the Lord. 

Acts 18:8 says, “And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.” If you haven’t committed your life to Christ through faith in the working of God in baptism (immersion in water) for the remission of sins, do it today. Don’t wait. There is no other plan by which you may be set free from your sins and receive the salvation Jesus offers.

Don’t delay. Today is the day of salvation.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

2 Corinthians 4-5: Getting Past Discouragement

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”

II Corinthians 4:7-10 (ESV)

I need this attitude. How easily I get distracted and discouraged in my service to God because things in life aren’t easy. I get sick. Someone gets mad at me. Someone says something unkind. Somebody leaves the congregation. Somebody misunderstands me. These things happen and I get depressed and sometimes wonder why I keep trying. 

But then I remember Paul. He went through real trouble. Shipwrecks, beatings, persecutions, imprisonments, attempts on his life, thorn in the flesh… He kept his head up. He kept on in faith because he could see the big picture. All these things happened, but none of them took salvation away. None of them took heaven away. None of them took the love of God away. 

Sure, bad things happened to him. But the worst thing didn’t happen. God did not forsake Him. God won’t forsake me. God won’t forsake you. 

I think too often we get bogged down about all the blessings we would like but haven’t received that we forget the great blessing we have received. Jesus died for us and washed our sins away. He has reserved a home in heaven for us who are protected by the power of God through faith. I’m not shopping for a car here. What more could I ask for to sweeten this deal any better? 

I just need to keep in mind that the life of Jesus is in me, if I stay in Him and don’t let Satan discourage me and get me to turn my back on my Savior.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC 

2 Corinthians 2-3: Comforting the Penitent

“For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.”

–II Corinthians 2:6-7 (ESV)

As best I can tell (and I think this is pretty consistently considered to be the case), Paul is referring to the man mentioned back in I Corinthians 5:1 who had been committing sexual immorality with his step-mother. I think most of us would admit that was a pretty vile thing going on there. Back when Paul wrote his first letter, the Corinthians were acting like it was not a big deal. He rebuked them and told them to discipline the man that he might have shame and repent. Apparently he did. 

However, as Paul writes his second letter, the Corinthians had gone to the opposite extreme. They now had a penitent man and they would not accept him back. Paul had to rebuke them again. They needed to forgive him and more than forgive him, they needed to comfort him. This, of course, demonstrated the true nature of his penitence. He needed comforting. He was mourning over his sin now. 

I know I have had to let my brothers and sisters know about my sins. Up to the moment I confessed, I feared rejection and isolation. But my brothers and sisters did not reject. I was mourning and fearful. They embraced me, drew me in closer and then lifted me up. What a wonderful experience that was. I can hardly imagine how awful it would have been if I had tried to overcome sin while believing my brothers and sisters hated me. I would likely have given up. Instead, they loved me and that made all the difference.

Now I have to remember that when I see others who are penitent and confessing. They may have committed extremely vile sins, sins at which even the Gentiles would blanch. But when my brothers or sisters repent, I should not hold them at arms length. I do not put them on trial to see if their penitence is real or if it will stick. I need to forgive. I need to comfort. I need to embrace, lift up and help forward. I need to see them as my equals in Christ, not my underlings because their sin has merely been admitted more recently than my own.

Certainly, we must not coddle sin. We must not let it slip in unnoticed. But at the same time, we must not ignore the penitent. Isn’t that all of us?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

1 Corinthians 16-2 Corinthians 1:Relying on the Lord who Raises the Dead

II Corinthians 1:9-10 jumped out at me today.

“Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.” (ESV)

Paul and his companions were close to death. No doubt it was because of persecution. Yet, he saw a different purpose. Being pushed to that point forced him to rely on God. He knew he could not deliver himself from death, he could only rely on God. 

How often does that happen to us and yet we can’t see the lessons God has for us. We get sick to remind us our health is not in our hands, but God’s. We lose jobs to remind us our security is not in our hands, but God’s. We lose loved ones to remind us that life is not in our hands, but Gods.

All this goes on around us reminding us to quit relying on ourselves but to rely on God instead. No matter where we are, He is there. No matter what we face, He can deliver. The longer we try to work harder to preserve ourselves, the longer we wait to truly have God’s blessings.

I’m not saying we sit on our backsides and wait for God to hand us our free lunch. It doesn’t work like that. Rather, we must seek first His kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33) and then He will add to us. Of course, God’s blessings are not merely the material and financial. Rather, He blesses us with contentment, peace and joy no matter what we face and He blesses us with a home in heaven.

Perhaps this struck me because I’m sick this week–strep throat. It has thrown major wrinkles in my plans. But maybe what I need to do is remember that God is in charge, not me.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC