#38- What Gods Grace Inspires?
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(English Standard Version)
2Cor 1 - Greeting - God of All Comfort - Paul’s Change of Plans
2Cor 2 - Forgive the Sinner - Triumph in Christ
2Cor 3 - Ministers of a New Covenant
2Cor 4 - The Light of the Gospel - Treasurers in Jars of Clay
2Cor 5 - Our Heavenly Dwelling - The Ministry of Reconciliation
2Cor 6 - The Temple of The Living God
2Cor 7 - Paul’s Joy
COMMENTS and QUESTIONS
by J Neil Evans:
Because of his understanding of God’s love for The Church, Paul never gave up on them. We don’t know how many letters Paul wrote to local churches or to individuals. We only have the writings that God sovereignly preserved as Scripture. If we needed to know what else Paul wrote God would have preserved it for us. At any rate, Paul’s heart was connected to the saints in Corinth, and God has saved it for us to read.
One of the main objections to the validity of the Bible is the claim that it is full of contradictions. Things like seemingly different versions of creation and apparently opposing descriptions of Jesus’ life, are claimed to prove the unreliability of the Bible. Leaving aside that discussion for another time, (these claimed contradictions are actually quite easily answered) consider the fact that there are many contradictions of another kind in the Bible. Things that seem true and real to our natural human instincts are often contradicted by the things God says and does in the Bible. For instance, when Adam and Eve clearly disobeyed God in the Garden it does seem right that they were warned and thus deserve the consequences of their attitudes and actions. But the great contradiction is that God would be the one to solve the problem by paying the penalty Himself. There are many such contradictions in the Bible when we really think about it.
Coming to 2 Corinthians there are more contradictions. Paul again calls the Corinthian Christians “saints” while recalling their unsaintly behaviors. Now that is a contradiction to our normal ways of thinking. Perhaps the Bible uses “saints” differently than we are used to. Perhaps “unsaintly behavior” is different than we tend to think. Perhaps we have a lot to learn. One clue is that he refers to all the Christians of Achaia (the region around Corinth) as “saints.”
Paul’s greeting is another seeming contradiction. Just before he talks about the “afflictions we experienced in Asia”, where they “despaired of life itself”, he says: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” It seems as though Paul is asking for grace and peace that he himself was missing. But again, perhaps we misunderstand God’s Grace and Peace. Remember when Jesus Himself told His followers: “Peace I leave with you, My Peace I give to you. Not as the world gives…” (John 14:27) We must remember that Jesus Himself did not have the kind of life that the world would describe as “peaceful”.
Evidently the “Grace and Peace” God can give, and Paul wants us to have is related more to our relationship with God than it is to our temporary circumstances. Paul’s life-threatening experiences in Asia, and the heartaches of the Corinthian Christians were temporary and indeed followed by “comfort” from God and each other. And the “comfort” was not necessarily replacing life’s hardships with ease, no troubles, and tranquility. Both Paul and the Corinthians went on to have what most of us would describe as very difficult lives. Life is messy, much of it our own doing, and it is probably normal for most of us. So what did Paul, and Jesus, mean by “Grace to you and Peace from God”?
What was Paul’s answer in 1 Corinthians? And what does he describe again in this second letter? To put it briefly, “The Gospel”. Paul described The Gospel so simply and so profoundly: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4)
The very thing that the Corinthians were abusing (in their Lord’s Supper) was the remembrance of this Gospel. And the thing Paul uses in 2 Corinthians to encourage them is this same Gospel.
The Gospel is not about what people can do to impress God, but about what God has done to save and give us LIFE. The Lord’s Supper is not a time to remember or renew our commitments to God, but to remember and focus on the New Covenant God has made with us. The Lord’s Supper is a time to remember the great contradiction between what we deserve from God and what He Graciously gives.
The gulf between what we can make of ourselves and what God can make of us is beyond understanding. Paul describes, and urges us to ponder the amazing and wonderful privilege to “have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” 2 Corinthians 4:7–11
Paul goes on to further describe these Corinthian “saints” as a “new creation”. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself…” (2 Corinthians 5:17,18)
The Bible calls Christians “saints” not because of any righteous accomplishments on our part, but because of what the death and resurrection of Jesus has accomplished for us. Forgetting this amazing truth is what leads to unsaintly behaviors and missing the Grace and Peace that God gives to those knowing and trusting Him, regardless of their circumstances. Remembering, pondering and living in the light of this Treasured Gospel not only gives us a growing understanding and appreciation of God’s Grace and Peace but also gives us the Wonderful Privilege (because we are God’s New Creation) of: “… the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-21)
God’s “saints” do not work at being righteous, but they work at remembering that God, in Christ, has given us His righteousness. The good works that “saints” do are inspired and empowered by pondering this “Gospel” of God’s Grace and Peace which they demonstrate and enjoy.
(English Standard Version)
2Cor 1 - Greeting - God of All Comfort - Paul’s Change of Plans
2Cor 2 - Forgive the Sinner - Triumph in Christ
2Cor 3 - Ministers of a New Covenant
2Cor 4 - The Light of the Gospel - Treasurers in Jars of Clay
2Cor 5 - Our Heavenly Dwelling - The Ministry of Reconciliation
2Cor 6 - The Temple of The Living God
2Cor 7 - Paul’s Joy
COMMENTS and QUESTIONS
by J Neil Evans:
Because of his understanding of God’s love for The Church, Paul never gave up on them. We don’t know how many letters Paul wrote to local churches or to individuals. We only have the writings that God sovereignly preserved as Scripture. If we needed to know what else Paul wrote God would have preserved it for us. At any rate, Paul’s heart was connected to the saints in Corinth, and God has saved it for us to read.
One of the main objections to the validity of the Bible is the claim that it is full of contradictions. Things like seemingly different versions of creation and apparently opposing descriptions of Jesus’ life, are claimed to prove the unreliability of the Bible. Leaving aside that discussion for another time, (these claimed contradictions are actually quite easily answered) consider the fact that there are many contradictions of another kind in the Bible. Things that seem true and real to our natural human instincts are often contradicted by the things God says and does in the Bible. For instance, when Adam and Eve clearly disobeyed God in the Garden it does seem right that they were warned and thus deserve the consequences of their attitudes and actions. But the great contradiction is that God would be the one to solve the problem by paying the penalty Himself. There are many such contradictions in the Bible when we really think about it.
Coming to 2 Corinthians there are more contradictions. Paul again calls the Corinthian Christians “saints” while recalling their unsaintly behaviors. Now that is a contradiction to our normal ways of thinking. Perhaps the Bible uses “saints” differently than we are used to. Perhaps “unsaintly behavior” is different than we tend to think. Perhaps we have a lot to learn. One clue is that he refers to all the Christians of Achaia (the region around Corinth) as “saints.”
Paul’s greeting is another seeming contradiction. Just before he talks about the “afflictions we experienced in Asia”, where they “despaired of life itself”, he says: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” It seems as though Paul is asking for grace and peace that he himself was missing. But again, perhaps we misunderstand God’s Grace and Peace. Remember when Jesus Himself told His followers: “Peace I leave with you, My Peace I give to you. Not as the world gives…” (John 14:27) We must remember that Jesus Himself did not have the kind of life that the world would describe as “peaceful”.
Evidently the “Grace and Peace” God can give, and Paul wants us to have is related more to our relationship with God than it is to our temporary circumstances. Paul’s life-threatening experiences in Asia, and the heartaches of the Corinthian Christians were temporary and indeed followed by “comfort” from God and each other. And the “comfort” was not necessarily replacing life’s hardships with ease, no troubles, and tranquility. Both Paul and the Corinthians went on to have what most of us would describe as very difficult lives. Life is messy, much of it our own doing, and it is probably normal for most of us. So what did Paul, and Jesus, mean by “Grace to you and Peace from God”?
What was Paul’s answer in 1 Corinthians? And what does he describe again in this second letter? To put it briefly, “The Gospel”. Paul described The Gospel so simply and so profoundly: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4)
The very thing that the Corinthians were abusing (in their Lord’s Supper) was the remembrance of this Gospel. And the thing Paul uses in 2 Corinthians to encourage them is this same Gospel.
The Gospel is not about what people can do to impress God, but about what God has done to save and give us LIFE. The Lord’s Supper is not a time to remember or renew our commitments to God, but to remember and focus on the New Covenant God has made with us. The Lord’s Supper is a time to remember the great contradiction between what we deserve from God and what He Graciously gives.
The gulf between what we can make of ourselves and what God can make of us is beyond understanding. Paul describes, and urges us to ponder the amazing and wonderful privilege to “have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. 8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” 2 Corinthians 4:7–11
Paul goes on to further describe these Corinthian “saints” as a “new creation”. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself…” (2 Corinthians 5:17,18)
The Bible calls Christians “saints” not because of any righteous accomplishments on our part, but because of what the death and resurrection of Jesus has accomplished for us. Forgetting this amazing truth is what leads to unsaintly behaviors and missing the Grace and Peace that God gives to those knowing and trusting Him, regardless of their circumstances. Remembering, pondering and living in the light of this Treasured Gospel not only gives us a growing understanding and appreciation of God’s Grace and Peace but also gives us the Wonderful Privilege (because we are God’s New Creation) of: “… the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-21)
God’s “saints” do not work at being righteous, but they work at remembering that God, in Christ, has given us His righteousness. The good works that “saints” do are inspired and empowered by pondering this “Gospel” of God’s Grace and Peace which they demonstrate and enjoy.
Check out these LINKS:
Watch Bible Project summary of 2Corinthians
Read "Bible Words to Ponder" related to this week study
Read "The Gospel"