Introduction to Second Corinthians - Study 1/12/12
Introduction to 2 Corinthians
Happy New Year to all the saints of God. We embark on our continuing and new study of the second letter of Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. I am excited this new year of 2012 to study this precious Word of God. I hope you are equally excited and looking forward to the study.
We ended last year with the study of the first Letter to the Corinthians. The two letters are different in many ways. First Corinthians was written to address the problems in the Corinthian Church. Second Corinthians is devoted to the personal life and testimony of Paul. First Corinthians is a correction letter telling the Corinthians what they ought to be. Second Corinthians is personal testimony of Paul and what he is. First Corinthians was written to correct and strengthen the Church for greater usefulness for God. In Second Corinthians we see a man being strengthened through his weaknesses for greater usefulness for God.
In our today’s world, 2 Corinthians is like watching your pastor live out the Christian life at home with all the same struggles of life we all go through. I don’t know about you but I am tired of “talking heads” that talk smoothly in the pulpit but live a totally different live at home and outside. No wonder the world is longing for reality TV shows that try to mimic the everyday life of people.
Are you ready to be strengthened and stretched this year by the Holy Spirit for the glory of God? Welcome to the study of 2 Corinthians. I promise you and I will be transformed not by principles and doctrines but by the examples we see in Paul’s life. Paul had his share of problems and difficulties. We all have problems and difficulties. Life in general is full of problems and difficulties but that is just one side of the equation. The other side of the equation is the key theme of 2 Corinthians, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Let us be honest in 2012 and give our weaknesses to God to show forth His power and might on our behalf? Let us pray without ceasing in 2012 asking for our Father’s grace and mercy for He will always supply us.
There are three sections in the general outline of the Second Letter to the Corinthians. In section 1, Paul explains the reason for his change of itinerary for his planned visit to the Corinthians (chapters 1-7). In section 2, Paul encourages the Corinthians to complete the collection which was mentioned in the first Letter for the church in Jerusalem (chapters 8-9). Finally in the 3rd section, Paul stresses his coming; defends his apostleship against those false teachers and accusers and his willingness to exercise discipline if necessary.
Let’s dive in and study. Please read and re-read the entire 2nd Letter at a go. Just appreciate the flow and see the passion Paul displayed in the Letter. This is the most intimate Letter of Paul that tells us what the man was which was made possible by God’s grace.
As Paul wrote, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” in 2012 and as we study together. Lord may your Grace be sufficient for me today in all my circumstances! Amen.
2 Corinthians 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The God of All Comfort
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our[a] behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
Paul’s Change of Plans
12 Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace. 13 For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, 14 as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.
15 Because I was confident of this, I planned to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. 16 I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 When I planned this, did I do it lightly? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say, “Yes, yes” and “No, no”?
18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas[b] and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
23 I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. 24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.
Happy New Year to all the saints of God. We embark on our continuing and new study of the second letter of Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. I am excited this new year of 2012 to study this precious Word of God. I hope you are equally excited and looking forward to the study.
We ended last year with the study of the first Letter to the Corinthians. The two letters are different in many ways. First Corinthians was written to address the problems in the Corinthian Church. Second Corinthians is devoted to the personal life and testimony of Paul. First Corinthians is a correction letter telling the Corinthians what they ought to be. Second Corinthians is personal testimony of Paul and what he is. First Corinthians was written to correct and strengthen the Church for greater usefulness for God. In Second Corinthians we see a man being strengthened through his weaknesses for greater usefulness for God.
In our today’s world, 2 Corinthians is like watching your pastor live out the Christian life at home with all the same struggles of life we all go through. I don’t know about you but I am tired of “talking heads” that talk smoothly in the pulpit but live a totally different live at home and outside. No wonder the world is longing for reality TV shows that try to mimic the everyday life of people.
Are you ready to be strengthened and stretched this year by the Holy Spirit for the glory of God? Welcome to the study of 2 Corinthians. I promise you and I will be transformed not by principles and doctrines but by the examples we see in Paul’s life. Paul had his share of problems and difficulties. We all have problems and difficulties. Life in general is full of problems and difficulties but that is just one side of the equation. The other side of the equation is the key theme of 2 Corinthians, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Let us be honest in 2012 and give our weaknesses to God to show forth His power and might on our behalf? Let us pray without ceasing in 2012 asking for our Father’s grace and mercy for He will always supply us.
There are three sections in the general outline of the Second Letter to the Corinthians. In section 1, Paul explains the reason for his change of itinerary for his planned visit to the Corinthians (chapters 1-7). In section 2, Paul encourages the Corinthians to complete the collection which was mentioned in the first Letter for the church in Jerusalem (chapters 8-9). Finally in the 3rd section, Paul stresses his coming; defends his apostleship against those false teachers and accusers and his willingness to exercise discipline if necessary.
Let’s dive in and study. Please read and re-read the entire 2nd Letter at a go. Just appreciate the flow and see the passion Paul displayed in the Letter. This is the most intimate Letter of Paul that tells us what the man was which was made possible by God’s grace.
As Paul wrote, “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” in 2012 and as we study together. Lord may your Grace be sufficient for me today in all my circumstances! Amen.
2 Corinthians 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The God of All Comfort
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our[a] behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
Paul’s Change of Plans
12 Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace. 13 For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, 14 as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.
15 Because I was confident of this, I planned to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. 16 I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 When I planned this, did I do it lightly? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say, “Yes, yes” and “No, no”?
18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas[b] and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
23 I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. 24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.
Comments