Paul's
Final Warnings to the Corinthian Church
(2nd
Corinthians chapter 12, verses 14-21; Chapter 13)
In
this week's study we will be finishing up 2nd
Corinthians as we continue our exhaustive study of the writings of
the apostle Paul. Taking up where we left off last week, we are
beginning at verse 14 of chapter 12, where Paul continues his train
of thought about his trials and tribulations, testifying that he was
only able to get through them all with the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God. He then expresses
his concern for the church at Corinth, wondering if they will be
strong enough to hold up under trials and persecution as he had.
“Now
I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a
burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you.
After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but
parents for their children. So I will be very glad to spend for you
everything that I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more,
will you love me less? Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to
you. Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery! Did I
exploit you with any of the men I sent you? I urged Titus to go to
you and I sent our brother with him. Titus did not exploit you, did
he? Did we not act in the same spirit and follow the same course?
Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending
ourselves to you? We have been speaking in the sight of God as those
in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends, is for your
strengthening. For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as
I want you to be, and that you may not find me as you want me to be.
I fear there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger,
factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. I am afraid that
when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be
grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of
their impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have been
involved.” (2nd Corinthians 12, verses 14-21, NIV)
Notice what Paul writes in the very first verse of
today's study, “ ...what I want is not your possessions but you”.
This is a clear reference to something he wrote in the previous
chapter (that would actually be two studies ago) when he criticized
various churches and factions for competing with each other for
membership and fund-raising, very similar to the majority of today's
churches. People can tithe their ten percent to the church for their
entire lives, but if any are counting on their generous gifts to get
them into heaven they are going to be disappointed at best – and
horrified at worst – when their time comes. Remember what Jesus
said in the four Gospels, “Those who exalt themselves will be
humbled, but those who humble themselves will be exalted”. God is
exactly the same as Paul wrote about. He couldn't care less about our
stuff. He wants us. Everything he, Titus and Timothy (“our
brother”) did was for the upholding and edification of the church.
They took no credit for themselves for their ministries, but gave all
the credit, praise, glory and honor to Almighty God through Jesus
Christ our Savior. Yet Paul expresses his concern by wondering if he
will find a unified church when he returns, or whether there will be
“factions” within the church, as Paul called them. If he finds
them at odds, or worse yet in competition, with each other then all
Paul's work would have been for nothing and he would be faced with
starting over again on a clean sheet of paper, so to speak. This was
apparently a significant worry to him. Bearing that in mind, let's
now continue at verse one of chapter thirteen.
“This
will be my third visit to you. 'Every matter must be established on
the testimony of two or three witnesses'. I already gave you a
warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while
absent: On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any
of the others, since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking
through me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among
you. For to be sure, He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by
God's power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God's power we will
live with him to serve you. Examine yourselves to see if you are in
the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is
in you – unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you
will discover that we have not failed the test. Now we pray to God
that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we
have passed the test but that you will do what is right even though
we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the
truth, but only for the truth. We are glad whenever we are weak but
you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection. This is why I
write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have
to be harsh in the use of my authority – the authority the Lord
gave me for building you up, not tearing you down.” (2 Corinthians
13, verses 1-10, NIV)
As you can see in verse 1, Paul has definite plans in
place to visit the Corinthian church for a third time. We now know
that this never did occur, as we discover in the book of Acts –
also called the Acts of the Apostles – but I think I'll save that
one until then so we can examine it in better context. For the
moment, Paul clearly warns them sternly not to stray from what he
taught them, and he wrote “our prayer is for your perfection”,
meaning a form of perfection that transcends humanity and
intellectual thought that can only be found in Christ. Jesus is the
only way we can achieve Spiritual perfection. There is no substitute
for Him, none at all. Finally, Paul reminds them that everything he
has said and done has been for their own good, and he chides them
about being too sensitive to criticism – an antique version of what
we would call “tough love” today. Discipline and the exercise of
authority, when done responsibly with love, can yield excellent
results, and that's want God wants us all to achieve in our walk with
Christ.
Never
give up, never give in, but keep on trying to become not just a
better person than what you are, but to become something more than
what you are. Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life, and
that you may have it in abundance”. He also said, “Ask and you
shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be
opened”. The point Jesus was making is that while God has given us
the ability and the freedom of choice to better ourselves, He not
only wants us to have as good a life as we possibly can, He also
expects us to do our part to help make good things happen. Like the
apostle Paul, Jesus would also give us some tough love – and
occasionally does as I have found out firsthand – because that's
how we become better Christians, better people, and better citizens
of the kingdom of God. And now, Paul closes out 2nd
Corinthians with this elegant goodbye.
“Finally,
brothers, good-bye. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of
one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with
you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints send their
greetings. May the peace and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you
all.”
(2
Corinthians 13, verses 11-14, NIV)
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