2 Corinthians
Author: Paul
Paul defends his ministry to Corinth after a painful visit and a severe letter, and he appeals for a reconciled church.
Outline
Comfort and a change of plans (1–2)
Affliction in Asia and a postponed visit are explained as care for the church, not fickleness.
The ministry of the new covenant (3–6)
Letters written on hearts, treasure in earthen vessels, and the appeal to be reconciled to God.
The collection (7–9)
Titus brings good news, and the churches of Macedonia become the pattern for Corinth’s gift.
Weakness and authority (10–13)
Paul answers those who boast in appearance and says his strength is made perfect in weakness.
Key verses
2 Corinthians 1:3–4
God is the Father of mercies, who comforts his people so they can comfort others in trouble.
2 Corinthians 5:17–19
Anyone in Christ is a new creation, and God has given the ministry of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 12:9
The Lord tells Paul that his grace is sufficient, and that strength is made perfect in weakness.
Second Corinthians is a more personal letter than the first, and it is harder to follow if the trouble behind it is ignored. Paul had planned to visit Corinth on the way to Macedonia and again on the way back. He changed the plan. Opponents in the church treated the change as proof that he said yes and no at once, and they compared his weighty letters with a weak presence. There had also been a painful visit and a letter written with many tears. Titus was the one who carried news back. When Paul met him in Macedonia, the news was better than he had feared. Much of this letter is relief, explanation, and a defense of a ministry that looks like failure if the cross is not the measure.
The opening blessing is the theme. Blessed be God, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, so that we may comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have received. Paul does not hide the pressure. In Asia he was pressed out of measure, above strength, so that he despaired even of life. The sentence of death was in himself, that he should not trust in himself but in God who raises the dead. The changed travel plan is then explained. He did not use lightness. The Son of God whom he preached was not yes and no. He stayed away to spare them. The man who had caused the pain, and who has now been punished by the many, should be forgiven and comforted, lest Satan get an advantage. The letter is already doing what the blessing said. Comfort is being passed on, and discipline is not the last word.
The defense of the ministry occupies the middle. Paul needs no letter of recommendation to Corinth. The church itself is his letter, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone but in fleshy tables of the heart. He contrasts the ministry of death, glorious as it was when Moses veiled his face, with the ministry of the Spirit, which remains. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Believers behold the glory of the Lord and are changed into the same image. The treasure is in earthen vessels, so that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of them. They are troubled, perplexed, persecuted, and cast down, and not crushed, not in despair, not forsaken, not destroyed. They bear about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. The outward man perishes. The inward man is renewed. The light affliction, which he does not pretend was light while it lasted, works a far more exceeding weight of glory. They walk by faith, not by sight. The love of Christ constrains them, because one died for all. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses, and has committed to Paul the word of reconciliation. He beseeches them, as though God did beseech them by him, to be reconciled to God. The defense of the apostle and the appeal to the church are the same paragraph.
The collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem is not a footnote. Paul wants the gift they promised a year ago to be ready. The churches of Macedonia, in deep poverty, gave beyond their power. Jesus Christ, though he was rich, became poor, that through his poverty they might be rich. Each is to give as he purposes in his heart, for God loves a cheerful giver.
The last chapters change tone. Paul begs them not to force him to be bold when he arrives. He fights with weapons that are not carnal. He knows the one who said appearances are weak and speech contemptible. Those they tolerate preach another Jesus. A thorn in the flesh was given him, a messenger of Satan to buffet him. He asked three times that it depart. The answer was, My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. He will gladly boast in his infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon him. He is coming a third time. Examine yourselves, whether you are in the faith. The letter closes with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost. Second Corinthians is the cost of the ministry First Corinthians had described, told by the man who had to defend it to the church that most needed to trust him again.