II Corinthians 2:1-17The Corinthians had written Paul about some issues in their church. In his first letter, Paul addressed their disunity. In this letter, he addresses the issue of RECONCILIATION (a bookkeeping term wherein one spreadsheet is “reconciled” with another…to make them agree).
In chapter two of II Corinthians, Paul deals with 3 things: 1) his continued desire to visit them; 2) forgiveness for the both the sinner and each other; and 3) the nature of ministers of the New Covenant.
The Old Covenant was the covenant of The Law, designed by God to prepare the hearts of mankind for the New Covenant.
The New Covenant represents a “new” idea about how to be a part of God’s Kingdom. Only it’s not new at all. It is exactly what the Old Covenant continually pointed to: salvation through, and only through, God’s Messiah (Jesus).
The Verses
1-4 Paul wants the members of First Baptist Church of Corinth to know that he is not angry with them, but that he loves them and wants the best for them. That is what God wants for our church today…the best. He is not talking about “professionalism,” but the state of our hearts.
5-11 When one of us causes grief in the church, the whole church is affected…even those who don’t know about the grief. We don’t function as individuals, but as a body. When one part hurts, the whole body hurts.
We must be a forgiving people.
We all have our peculiarities and short comings. In our dealings with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to keep that in mind. If we don’t, we allow Satan to gain a foothold and to cause dissension among us. Reconciliation begins with forgiveness. That is the way we were reconciled with God through Christ. That is the way we must reconcile and be reconciled with others.
12-17 Paul was having trouble catching up with Titus. But while he was stressed over that, he gave praise to God for being able to spread the gospel wherever he did get to go. His reference to the aroma of Christ points back to Hosea 14:6 – a prophecy of the coming Messiah. Paul points out that to the saved, Christ is like the aroma of life. For the unsaved, Christ has the aroma of death, because without Him, death is their eternal destination.
Paul is clear that the preaching of the gospel is NOT for the purpose of monetary gain (and here he is not saying ministers may not be paid, but that when they are paid, their pay must not be their motive for ministering).
Remember: The gospel is the good news that “…while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8).
11 comments:
The true gospel is about a lot more than just the fact that Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for our sins. That is only part of it. The true gospel is the good news of the coming kingdom of God, when Christ returns to this earth to set up a world-ruling government over all nations. Christ will the resurrected saints will rule the nations and bring peace and happiness and make salvation available, for the first time, to all mankind.
The gospel includes everything about that kingdom. Includes everything about Jesus Christ because He is the king of that kingdom. It is about salvation through Christ because that is how we can enter that kingdom. It is about the law of God, the Ten Commandments, because that will be the law of that kingdom. And it is about the prophecies of the kingdom of God that tell us what it will be like. All that is part of the "good news".
penman: I guess Paul didn't know what he was talking about when he said that the law kills...that the letter kills...that we must die to the law...that we are free from the law of sin and death...and Jesus didn't know what He was talking about when he said that He had fulfilled the law.
You should pay attention to what I am teaching. You may actually learn something about the gospel...not because of my brilliance, but because of the utter simplicity of the gospel.
Joe:
It seems you understand neither the Bible, the true gospel that Christ brought, or God's requirements for salvation, apparently because you do not believe God but rather you believe the traditions of men. You interpret God's word to fit what you already believe and want to believe according to the traditions of your church. Like millions of others, you take scriptures out of context and do not look at all of the scriptures on a particular subject.
Jesus made it clear that till heaven and earth pass away, the law would not pass away. Jesus also made it clear that obedience to God's commandments is required for eternal life. And James made it clear that if you break one of the ten commandments you become guilty of breaking all of them, showing the ten commandments were still in effect when James wrote. There are also many scriptures that show that Paul upheld the law as holy and good.
To understand the true gospel, you have to be willing to believe God, and you have to put all the scriptures together on a particular subject and read them with an open mind.
penan: "you do not believe God but rather you believe the traditions of men."
What an incredibly arrogant accusation!
Have you ever examined your own arrogance and seen how offensive it is to God?
"Jesus made it clear that till heaven and earth pass away, the law would not pass away."
I have NEVER suggested that the Law has passed away. I have stated that it was fulfilled in Christ. It's a good thing, too, for neither you nor I could fulfill it ourselves.
Its very purpose is repeated over and over again in the New Testament: to point out our sin...our inability to live up to its precepts, and to show us our need for a savior.
A good dose of Galatians, Ephesians, Romans and I & II Corinthians would help.
"Jesus also made it clear that obedience to God's commandments is required for eternal life."
No, He did not.
Given the context of the Bible as a whole, the context of Jesus' statements and His treatment of those who reveled in the practice of "obedience to the Law," coupled with the teachings of the apostle, Paul, it is abundantly clear that obedience to the Law is impossible for mankind.
We are saved by, and only by, repenting of sin (as revealed by the Law), trusting in, and only in, the finished work of Christ on the cross of Calvary (Golgatha), and believing that he has been raised from the dead.
Romans 3:21 "But now a righteourness from God, apart from law..." is one of dozens of passages that make clear that dependence on the Law will kill. "...for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (II Corinthians 3:6). "...written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts" (II Corinthians 3:3).
"...you have to put all the scriptures together on a particular subject and read them with an open mind."
No, you have to put all the scriptures together...period and read them with an eye for their total teaching.
God bless you.
I hope you find the unmittigated joy of your freedom in Christ.
penman: With reference to "No, you have to put all the scriptures together...period..."
See, the Bible is God's revelation of His character, His love of His creation and His plan for its redemption.
It is that from Genesis to the Revelation...every verse, story and statement.
That is the context in which all interpretation MUST be done to be right. Any other approach will ALWAYS result in misinterpretation.
I suggest that you give it a try.
"...you believe the traditions of men."
I am probably the least traditional interpreter of Scripture you will EVER find. But I follow my own advice and use the above statements to interpret everything I read in Scripture.
Joe, you quote me saying, "Jesus also made it clear that obedience to God's commandments is required for eternal life", and you reply, "No, He did not."
Jesus was asked and answered a question about the New Covenant. "Now behold, one came and said to Him, 'Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?' So He said to him, 'Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments' " (Matthew 19:16-17). We can know this question was about the New Covenant, not the Old Covenant, because the Old Covenant never offered eternal life.
penman: "...But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments' "
In the context of the Bible as God's revelation of His character, His love for His creation and His plan for its redemption, that can only be interpreted as a challenge...one which cannot be met...that is: a challenge to the concept of pleasing God enough for salvation by keeping the Law.
If we can be saved by keeping the Law, Jesus wasted His time, your time and my time at calvary.
The Old Testament is about, and only about, eternal life; ie: building a relationship with God by trusting in the coming Messiah.
The answer Jesus gave, "if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments", might be just a challenge, except for the fact that it was an answer to the question, "what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?" The man asking the question wasn't asking for a challenge, and he wasn't asking about what he should try to do if he was going to have eternal life, he was asking what the CONDITION was for inheriting eternal life. Jesus's answer would not be an honest answer if obedience to the commands was not a requirement and condition for salvation.
"If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell" (Matthew 5:29-30).
"You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only" (James 2:24).
"Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12).
"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
You say we are not saved by keeping the law, and that is correct, because salvation is a free gift, but obedience to God's law is a condition for receiving that free gift, as is faith. Both faith and obedience are required, and then God gives us the gift of salvation. Jesus did not waste His time because without His sacrifice we would have to die for our past sins because there would be no forgiveness. Nevertheless, we must turn from sin and strive to obey God's commandments. This includes all of the Ten Commandments including the fourth commandment to rest on the seventh-day Sabbath. A person who refuses to obey God's law will not be given eternal life because that person has not repented of his sins.
Matthew 27:5 And he (Judas) cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
Luke 10: 37b "Go, and do thou likewise."
John 13:27b "That thou doest, do quickly."
I can make the Bible say anything I want it to say by picking and choosing.
Thousands of false cults take the same approach more subtley.
The context of the whole is the ONLY context that matters.
Whoever taught you Biblical interpretation taught you wrongly.
The Bible is clear from beginning to end that God requires obedience.
This does not mean that we never slip and make mistakes. No one obeys perfectly because we are human. But we must try with all our might to obey all of God's commandments, and if that is our attitude, God will forgive our occasional slipups and sins upon continued repentance. When we sin and break one of God's commandments, we must repent, ask for forgiveness, and try hard not to repeat the mistake. When we do that, and when we also forgive others when they sin against us, God will apply the sacrifice of Christ to pay the penalty for our sin and He will forgive us. Over time, God helps us to overcome our sinful nature and our sins and we can be more and more obedient to all of God's commandments.
But the person who doesn't make the effort to obey God's commandments has simply proven that he never fulfilled one of the requirements for salvation and for receiving God's gift of the Holy Spirit: Repentance. If someone says, "I don't have to obey the Ten Commandments. I can steal, I can commit adultery, I can break the Sabbath by working or doing my own pleasure on the seventh day of the week, because I am saved by faith and by grace," that person is NOT saved, is not converted, does not have God's Holy Spirit, and is still in his sins. He is not a Christian at all. His lack of repentance and willingness to do what God says shows that He does not believe God. He does not have living faith in God and God's word. His mind is in a state of enmity towards God's law. God will not give that person eternal life in His kingdom until he learns to have living faith and repentance towards God. And eventually, if that person never repents, either in this life or the second resurrection to the white throne judgment (Ezekiel 37), he will be destroyed in the lake of fire and lose out on salvation forever.
Not only that, but Bible prophecy shows that there is coming a great punishment from God upon the United States and other English-speaking countries in the next few years, as I point out in my blog, and during that punishment about 90% or more of our people will die and the rest will suffer in captivity, and this punishment will come, not because people do not think that Jesus died to save them, but because they refuse to keep the commandments of God, including the commandment to observe God's sabbaths, both weekly and annual.
penman: We are to be led by the Holy Spirit, not by the Law (Read Romans). Should we do what is right always? Certainly! Can we do what is right always? Never!
If we break any part of the Law we have broken it all and we are doomed.
But praise God the shed blood of Jesus has covered our transgressions like a carpet...never to be counted against us again.
Our attitude, we are told, should be that of Christ Jesus, Himself.
Why would a born again believer, who truely understands what God did to effect his salvation at the cross, even WANT to do anything that would displease such a great and loving Savior?
But we do. And He's got it covered, and THAT'S the good news.
Post a Comment