2 Corinthians 1:12-24 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 2 Corinthians 1:12-24. There is a tremendous amount we can learn from this passage. Let’s go!
To understand verses 12-24, it’s important to understand the state of Paul’s relationship with the church in Corinth when Paul wrote 2 Corinthians. It seems that Paul was being heavily criticized by a number of Christians in Corinth. One reason they would criticize Paul was because they knew of the great difficulties that Paul experienced as he sought to spread the gospel wherever he went, including great persecutions, shipwrecks, imprisonment, and other life-threatening trials. Some of the Corinthians thought that Paul’s afflictions meant that Paul was not “blessed by God” and thus was not as great a leader as other individuals who were coming to the Corinthians and calling themselves “super apostles” who seemingly never had any problems. In reality, it could be that these “super apostles” were simply not telling the Corinthians about their difficulties, whereas Paul was open and transparent with the Corinthians about his problems. But instead of respecting Paul and being proud of Paul for being open with them about his trials and for persevering through those trials, the Corinthians would hold Paul’s trials against him, seeing them as a reason to be ashamed of Paul. Paul is admittedly hurt by the way he has been rejected and criticized by the Corinthian Christians, whom he loves. So Paul writes this letter in part to explain himself, to help the Corinthian Christians understand him more fully and also to understand the nature of life in Christ, which was never meant to be trouble free but is about experiencing God’s power in the midst of our troubles (John 16:33).
With this background in mind, we can better understand what Paul is talking about in the following verses.
2 Corinthians 1:12 (NIV)
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.
On verse 12: In verse 12 Paul says that instead of hiding his failures and pretending to be bigger than he is according to the ways of “worldly wisdom”, Paul and his team have done their best to conduct themselves with sincerity from God and with integrity, the way that God’s grace would dictate, especially when they were with the church in Corinth (v12).
What can we learn from this? Worldly wisdom is about denying your weaknesses and failures and pretending to be bigger than you are. Grace-filled wisdom from God is about accepting your weaknesses, acknowledging your failures and just being yourself, with sincerity and integrity.
2 Corinthians 1:13-14 (NIV)
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.
On verses 13-14: Paul says that the Corinthian Christians have only “understood [Paul]…in part” (v14). Now he hopes that by writing this letter they will fully understand Paul and be able to boast about him, i.e. be proud of him, instead of being ashamed of him.
What can we learn from this? When you hold someone close to your heart, as Paul did with the church in Corinth, you will hope that they understand you deeply and widely, and you will want them to be proud of you.
2 Corinthians 1:15-19 (NIV)
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 and Timothy, was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.”
On verses 15-19: Apparently Paul had originally planned to visit the church in Corinth twice, once on his way to Macedonia and once on his way back from Macedonia. However, Paul couldn’t go ahead with this plan for reasons largely beyond his control. Thus people were criticizing Paul for being fickle and undependable in his planning, and perhaps not caring for the Corinthian church. Paul explains that he does not make his plans lightly or change them for superficial reasons (v17). To help prove this, Paul cites how God, whom Paul aims to emulate, is not fickle and inconsistent but “faithful” (v18). Paul also cites how the message he preaches about Jesus is not a fickle, uncertain, indecisive message as if to unclearly say “Yes” and “No” at the same time (v18), but a clear, confident, resolute message about the “Yes” (i.e. the blessings, the hope and the promises) we have in Christ (v19-20) and how we can always depend on Jesus and His promises. Paul’s point is that if God is faithful, and if Paul wishes to emulate God in the way he lives, why would Paul go about making plans and changing them if it were not for an excellent and well thought out reason?
What can we learn from this?
1. Seek to understand before you criticize anything.
2. Seek to be thoughtful in your planning and faithful to your promises, just as God is.
2 Corinthians 1:20 (NIV)
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.
On verse 20: Verse 20 sounds great, but when Paul says no matter how many promises God has made they are “Yes” in Christ, what does he mean exactly? Keep this in mind: there are over 3,000 promises from God to us in the Bible — promises concerning our well being, our future, His presence, His provision. But so many of these promises are conditional: in other words, they require that we first perfectly obey God’s Word before we can experience the benefit of those promises. Take Deuteronomy 11:22-23 for example. So many of God’s promises are structured as “if…then”: “If we perfectly obey God, then God will bless us.” But the problem is this: who among us has perfectly obeyed all of God’s commands? None of us, except one: Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ perfectly obeyed all of God’s commands on our behalf, then he died on the cross, also on our behalf, to pay for our sins. So now, because of Christ’s perfect obedience on our behalf, we get the benefit of every promise God has made in Scripture.
Before God’s promises were all “If…then” (If I obey, then God will bless). But now, because of Jesus, there are no more if’s, then’s, or but’s when it comes to God’s promises. Instead, now all of God’s promises are “Yes” in Christ! And when we place our faith in Jesus and say “Amen” to God’s promises, all the benefits of God’s promises flow in our lives.
Praise God! It’s not because of your performance that you get God’s blessing, but because of God’s perfect performance and His love for you expressed in Jesus Christ. No matter how many promises God has made, they are all YES in Christ.
So whenever you hear God’s promises being spoken, say “Amen” and receive those promises by faith.
By the way, that’s why I encourage you to say a loud, faith-filled “Amen” often when you are praying with your brothers and sisters in Christ. By saying “Amen” to your brother or sister’s prayer:
…their prayer and the blessing that flows from it become yours too
…you support and encourage your brother or sister as they pray, strengthening each other’s faith
…God will use the unity among you to unleash heaven’s blessings on earth.
…God is glorified when His people are united.
Let’s build an atmosphere of faith every time we are together, especially when we pray together, and say “Amen!” to the promises of God, for the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (NIV)
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.
On verses 21-22: Paul builds common ground with his church in Corinth, reminding them that:
– the same God helps both he and them to stand firm in their faith in Christ; and
– the same God anointed them all, set His seal of ownership on them all and put His Spirit in their hearts as a deposit.
What can we learn from this?
1. When you’re not getting along with someone you love and are trying to reconcile, focus on what you have in common more than what separates you.
2. God puts His Holy Spirit in the heart of every Christian as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. In other words, the peace, the joy, the hope and the presence of God which we feel because of the Holy Spirit in our hearts today is like a foretaste of what is to come in heaven. Just as a buyer pays a deposit as a way to guarantee that an even greater amount is coming later, so the Holy Spirit is God’s deposit in our lives, guaranteeing even greater things to come later in heaven.
3. When Paul says that God “anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us”, that seal of ownership is also the Holy Spirit. In Paul’s time, when a person places their seal on a document, it showed that that document had the approval of that person. Similarly, the Holy Spirit is a seal from God, evidencing that we belong to God and are approved by Him.
2 Corinthians 1:23-24 (NIV)
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.
On verses 23-24: Whereas other “super apostles” may try to lord it over the Corinthian Christians and arrogantly throw their weight and authority around, Paul was gentle with the Corinthians Christians, wanting to work with them for their joy and for the strengthening of their faith rather than for Paul’s own glory or ego.
A good leader doesn’t just throw their weight around to boost their own ego. Rather, a good leader works with the people he or she is leading for their strengthening.
Thank You Father for all the tremendous lessons we can learn from Your Word today. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
