2 CORINTHIANS

INTRODUCTION

All of us could name some famous person we’ve never met, but whom we greatly respect, admire, or even adore. At times, the admiration people have for great men and women can approach the level of worship, especially when we forget a basic rule of our doctrine of humanity: with only One extraordinary exception, every person who has ever lived has suffered from the frailties and failings of fallenness —even the martyrs who took a stand for Christ or contributed significantly to building up His church.

Let your mind wind backwards with me as we recall several of the people from our Christian past whose lofty peaks loom large on the broad plains and rolling hills of history: Billy Graham . . . Jonathan Edwards . . . John Wesley . . . John Calvin . . . Martin Luther . . . Thomas Aquinas . . . Anselm . . . Augustine . . . Athanasius, to name only a few. Yet, like snow-capped mountains that in the distance appear like majestic jewels touching the heavens, the closer we get to those spiritual giants of the past, the more we realize they, like us, are made of dirt.

HEAVENLY TREASURE IN AN EARTHEN VESSEL

The truth is that depravity is universal. Every great man or woman of God bears the marks of imperfect humanity. In some, those marks are more obvious than in others. Without fail, our too-high estimations of godly saints get cut down to size by reality.

I’ve thought often of the greatness of the apostle Paul. What a stunning résumé he had:

Perhaps none but Christ has left a greater impact on the Christian faith than this seemingly bigger-than-life figure, with his unparalleled gospel vision, missionary zeal, and passionate pursuit of holiness. But thanks to his second letter to the Corinthians, we can resist the temptation to elevate Paul to some deified status.

KEY TERMS IN 2 CORINTHIANS

aphrōn (ἄφρων) [878] “foolish,” “senseless,” “ridiculous”

Our English word “moron” derives from the Greek mōros [3474], “fool,” which always carries a negative connotation. Aphrōn is a milder term for “foolishness,” with the sense of “ridiculous” or “inane,” and is a closer equivalent to the mildness of our English “fool.” Paul applies this term to himself in 2 Corinthians as he fights folly with folly (11:16), foolishly bragging after the manner of his opponents. Paul’s boasting, however, was not completely “ridiculous,” because in contrast with his opponents, his claims were actually true (12:6).

diakonia (διακονία) [1248] “service, ministry” diakonos (διάκονος) [1249] “servant, minister”

The words “servant” and “service” both come from a Greek root that, in its most literal sense, refers to a table waiter. By extension, this family of terms carries the idea of serving obediently, willingly, and submissively from a heart of humility. In the New Testament, diakonos can mean a servant with a certain mission (Rom. 15:8); a personal assistant (Matt. 22:13); or a person in the office of “minister” in a local church (Phil. 1:1). Acts 6:1-6 recounts the appointment of the first deacons in the church. Paul uses these terms for “minister” and “ministry” in the general sense of a self-sacrificing servant in the kingdom of Christ.

kauchēsis (καύχησις) [2746] “a boasting” kauchaomai (καυχάομαι) [2744] “to boast, brag”

Depending on the context, the verb “to boast” can have either a positive or negative connotation. Most positively, we might render it “to glory in” things pertaining to God (so Rom. 15:17, NIV). In the natural realm, it could refer to a person who “takes pride in” the good of another (2 Cor. 7:4). In the most negative sense, boasting “according to the flesh” involves a self-centered pride resulting in exaggerated bragging (Rom. 3:27; 2 Cor. 11:18). In 2 Corinthians Paul is forced to “boast” of his own ministry accomplishments to put his bragging opponents in their places, though this negative use of boasting was intended for a positive rhetorical effect (11:18; 12:5).

Yes, Paul was an invaluable treasure to the Christian church, but like every other believer of every era, Paul was 100 percent human. He faced human challenges. He suffered human defeats. He experienced human temptations, and he battled his own human weaknesses. Thankfully, he also had a very human estimation of himself, acknowledging that he was “least of the apostles” (1 Cor. 15:9), “least of all saints,” (Eph. 3:8), and “foremost of all [sinners]” (1Tim. 1:15).

The apostle Paul was indeed a great man, but he was only a man.

As a human minister of the gospel, Paul faced the kinds of struggles and frustrations that every missionary or pastor has faced since. In 2 Corinthians —the most emotionally transparent of all his letters —Paul opens the doors of his personal life, freely expressing his feelings about himself and his ministry. The first chapter of 2 Corinthians gives us a sample of this transparency: “For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life” (1:8). Think about that! As a weak and fragile human, Paul coped with real-life emotions —anxiety, affliction, stress, and even the black hole of despair.

Yet because of God’s grace, Paul never lost himself in the perplexing events of life. He never reached a point when he felt devoid of hope or separated from God’s sustaining mercy. In the very midst of his struggles, he found strength in the presence of Christ:

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (4:7-11)

In the midst of his struggles, Paul could see beyond them and rest his abiding hope on his Savior. When Paul was at his weakest, Christ could shine forth His greatest strength (12:10).

HEAVEN’S TREASURES IN AN EARTHY EPISTLE

Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians is the least structured of all his letters. In it, Paul meanders even more than in the first letter he had sent to Corinth. That letter, addressing healthy church life, had been delivered, read, and taken by many as a slap in the face. In fact, so many disliked the corrections in 1 Corinthians that some began employing the age-old rhetorical strategy of ad hominem attack —that is, challenging the credibility, motives, and character of the author to avoid dealing with the writer’s confrontations. It became a classic case of mud-slinging in an attempt to diminish Paul’s reputation and heighten their own.

We can reconstruct the events that transpired after 1 Corinthians by piecing together clues from the book of Acts and from 2 Corinthians. After ministering in Corinth, Paul traveled to Ephesus, where he left Priscilla and Aquila when he returned to his home church in Antioch (Acts 18:21-22). After a time in Antioch, Paul slowly made his way back to Ephesus, encouraging the churches along the way —this was the beginning of his third missionary journey. Some time after he arrived again in Ephesus (AD 53–55), Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. His stay there, which included daily teaching in the “school of Tyrannus” (Acts 19:9), is described in Acts 19:1-20. At the end of his time in Ephesus, he determined in his heart to travel north through Macedonia, then to Achaia —the region of Corinth —and finally, to sail on to Jerusalem (Acts 19:21). He shared his plans to visit them (1 Cor. 4:19). And again, “But I will come to you after I go through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia” (1 Cor. 16:5). During this circuit he intended to visit several churches to collect the money they had pledged for support of the church in Jerusalem (1 Cor. 16:1-4). Prior to starting his itinerary, however, he sent Timothy and Erastus ahead through Macedonia (Acts 19:22). Paul likely referred to this sending of Timothy in 1 Corinthians 4:17; 16:10-11.

Before departing from Ephesus, Paul seems to have gotten wind of the Corinthians’ cool response to his first letter. Perhaps Timothy himself had returned and reported that the Corinthian chaos was spiraling toward a Corinthian catastrophe, despite Paul’s pleading. Delaying his departure to Achaia until things cooled down in Corinth, Paul wrote an interim letter mentioned in 2 Corinthians 2:3. This letter pulled no punches and seems to have dealt specifically with a single issue: their tolerance of sexual immorality.[107] Paul’s fellow worker Titus probably bore this interim letter to Corinth on the apostle’s behalf. This “tearful letter,” as it is often called, seems finally to have prodded the church to action.[108]

Paul himself stayed in Ephesus until a riot occurred over his controversial teachings (Acts 19:23-41). Paul then departed for Macedonia, as earlier planned, passing through the port city of Troas. Upon arriving in Troas on his way from Ephesus to Macedonia, Paul hoped to find Titus and hear about the state of the Corinthian church. But he was disappointed: “I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I went on to Macedonia” (2 Cor. 2:13). There he labored amongst conflicts and hardships (7:5), exhorting the churches (Acts 20:1-2). While he was in Macedonia, Titus finally arrived from his visit to Corinth, after which Paul wrote 2 Corinthians (AD 55–56). Paul writes: “But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more” (2 Cor. 7:6-7).

Upon his arrival, Titus shared with Paul a new twist in the Corinthian quagmire: under the spell of Paul’s opponents, who claimed to be apostles and who challenged Paul’s apostolic authority, a minority of rebels had fortified their positions and refused to leave. Instead, they were working to soften the Corinthians’ allegiance to Paul and sever ties with him. As Paul wrote his response to this new turn of events in the drama of the Corinthian church, he unleashed his emotions like never before, finding himself in an awkward position. He had to further defend his authority as an authentic apostle against an influential faction of Judaizers who were still attempting to undermine his ministry and hijack the Christian community in Corinth for themselves. In response to this mutiny in progress, Paul launched 2 Corinthians. We can describe Paul’s letter as a treatise on the stuff of authentic ministry —in all its earthiness and harsh, human realities. This vivid picture of raw but real ministry sheds a stark light on the inferior motives, methods, and messages of false ministers. For those engaged in the nuts and bolts of ministry today, this is one remarkable letter.

OVERVIEW OF 2 CORINTHIANS

I’ve divided 2 Corinthians into five basic sections that relate to various facets of authentic Christian ministry.

The Crucial Concerns of Ministry (1:1–3:18). Paul begins his letter with a strong affirmation of God’s comfort even in the midst of great affliction (1:1-11). Yet Paul immediately moves into a defensive mode, defending the integrity of his ministry and explaining the reasons for his strategic ministry decisions (1:12–2:4). He then addresses a few urgent issues facing the Corinthians: the need to forgive a repentant brother in Christ (2:5-11), the need to preach the Word with sincerity regardless of the hearers’ responses (2:12-17), and the need to stand boldly for the ministry of glory found in the gospel of Jesus Christ (3:1-18).

The Ministry of Reconciliation (4:1–5:21). Like earthen vessels fashioned from clay but used to hold priceless treasures (4:7-12), frail humans can be filled with the eternal Spirit of God to carry out the glorious ministry of reconciliation (4:13-18). Because of our heavenly ministry, we also look forward to an eternal —not temporal —reward. We labor hard while in our mortal bodies as we anticipate with hope our immortal dwellings (5:1-10). Therefore, regardless of the personal cost, God’s authentic minister strives to persuade others to reconcile with God (5:11-21).

The Realistic Picture of Ministry (6:1–7:16). Beginning with a realistic description of the hardships of Christian ministry (6:1-11), Paul urges the Corinthians to a life of personal and corporate holiness (6:12–7:1). He recounts the anguish he felt on the Corinthians’ behalf when he heard of their difficult reception of his earlier letter, which turned to comfort when he learned that they had repented (7:2-13). The fact of their willingness to turn from wickedness and wrongdoing continues to give Paul confidence that they will persist on the path of righteousness (7:13-16).

The Self-Sacrificial Ministry (8:1–9:15). Part of the path of righteousness expected of the Corinthians was the fulfillment of their pledge to provide material assistance for their suffering brothers and sisters in Jerusalem (8:1-15). This leads to a rich discussion on the principles of giving, in which Paul emphasizes the need to be a “cheerful giver” (9:7), sacrificially giving resources  —financial and otherwise —for ministry to others (9:1-15).

The True Apostolic Ministry (10:1–13:14). Finally, Paul defends the authenticity of his ministry as an apostle against those in the midst of the Corinthian church who had doubted and ridiculed his God-given authority (10:1-18). Fearful that they had fallen to deception by false teachers (11:1-6), Paul challenges the teaching and motives of his opponents (11:7-15). He “boasts” in the manner of his adversaries, setting forth his superior qualifications as an apostle of God (11:16–12:21), concluding that his authority comes just as much from his suffering in weakness as from his astonishing revelations and miracles. Warning that he will be coming to visit them soon, Paul’s letter serves as a final call to offer their allegiances to the authentic ministers of the gospel and to return to a path of purity and righteousness (13:1-14).

A timeline of the New Testament from AD 26 to AD 68, with 2 Corinthians highlighted at AD 55
A timeline of the New Testament from AD 68 to AD 106
Map of Paul's Third Missionary Journey.

Paul’s Third Missionary Journey. Paul and his companions set out once again from Antioch and journeyed across Asia and Greece to Corinth. In Luke’s account of this journey in Acts 18:23–20:2, Paul concentrates his time in Ephesus, but it seems that he also made a trip to Corinth (2 Cor. 12:14; 13:1).

The Book of 2 Corinthians at a Glance chart, left side
The Book of 2 Corinthians at a Glance chart, right side