Priceless Treasure in Clay Jars
4: 7-15

Priceless treasures in clay jars DIG: Why is the picture of a clay jar a fitting one for describing believers in relation to their Lord? What qualities should we have as clay jars for God’s use? What is the treasure within the clay jar? What truths keep Paul going in spite of his hardships? Why does ADONAI call Paul to go through such hardships?

REFLECT: What does “death at work” and “life is in you” mean to you? Which is at work in your life? Why? How do these verses help you cope with your present difficulties and anxieties? How do these verses challenge the commonly held ideas of what makes a person a “success?” Is your jar broken? What price are you willing to suffer to follow the Messiah?

The ministry that costs nothing, accomplishes nothing.

The gospel is a treasure. This treasure has been entrusted to us, men and women who are nothing more than clay jars. God did this on purpose because, given our human weaknesses, the impact of the Gospel is not evidence of human power, but of the power of ADONAI.¹¹²

When Paul wrote this letter, he was under furious attack in Corinth. False apostles (to see link click Aj – The Problem of the False Apostles) had infiltrated the church there, assaulting Paul so as to create an environment for spreading legalistic false doctrine. To gain a hearing for their demonic lies, they first had to destroy Paul’s apostolic authority and spiritual credibility in the eyes of the Corinthian Church. To that end, they launched an all-out blitz on the apostle’s character and ministry. Their attack was merciless, relentless, and petty. They even stooped so low as to criticize Paul’s personal appearance (10:10). The false apostles claimed the reason so many had rejected his message was that he was an unimpressive, common man.

Those hurtful, hateful attacks, moving people’s loyalty from divine truth to satanic lies, demanded a response from Paul. He was not necessarily interested in defending himself for his own sake, but for the sake of the Gospel. Paul knew that if the false apostles could discredit him, they could replace him as the apostles with authority in Corinth. Then, they would be free to deceive the Corinthians with their false teaching.

The false apostles’ attacks on him put Paul between a rock and a hard place. If he defended himself against their slander, which he had to do to hold the church to the truth (written and accurate), he risked looking proud. And, in truth, no one was more acutely aware of his shortcomings than Paul himself. In his first letter to the Corinthians he confessed: For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God (First Corinthians 15:9 NIV). To Timothy he wrote: I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to His service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief (First Timothy 1:12-13 NIV).

How could Paul remove himself from such a dilemma? How was he able to defend himself and the gospel he preached without seeming proud? Rather than deny the false apostles’ accusations that he was weak and imperfect . . . Paul embraced them! The apostle declared the timeless truth of the gospel was held in a humble container. In fact, his weakness, far from being a reason to reject him, he used the analogy of a precious treasure in a clay jar. But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it will be evident that such overwhelming power comes from God and not from us (4:7).

Clay jars were commonplace in virtually every home in the ancient Middle East. They were inexpensive and easily broken. Unlike metal jars (which could be repaired) or glass ones (which could be melted down and reused), once broken, clay jars had to be thrown away.¹¹³ Yet, rather than being housed in a gilded box, God entrusts His treasure to these fragile containers . . . ordinary and disposable. However, the very weakness of the clay jars focuses attention on God’s extraordinary power. The redeemed of Messiah might not look too outwardly impressive at times (10:10), but inside we each contain the light and treasure of God.

The simile of the clay jars takes us back to the incident during the time of Gideon. In Judges 7 we read that Gideon took only three hundred men with him to free their land of innumerable Midianite invaders. Each man had a trumpet and a torch and an empty clay jar. They carried their torches in the clay jars so that the light couldn’t be seen from a distance. Then when they got among the Midianites, they broke their clay jars. It wasn’t until the clay jars were broken that the light could shine out. That is the thing which we need today. We need our jar to be broken. The apostle Paul was a man who knew what it was to be broken for Yeshua’s sake. With the “health-and-wealth” gospel that is so prevalent today, the trouble is that we don’t have enough who are willing to do that.¹¹⁴

Expanding upon his clay jar theme, Paul wrote one of his most transparent statements. Although Paul was a fragile clay pot of inferior quality, he was not broken. To illustrate this, he rehearses a list of hardships that he had endured as an apostle of Messiah. We have all kinds of troubles, but we are not crushed; we are perplexed, yet not in despair; persecuted, yet not abandoned; knocked down, yet not destroyed (4:8-9). On first reading, it may appear that the list presents Paul in stoic-like terms as someone who bravely endures the sufferings that his ministry brought. However, his statement: so that it will be evident that such overwhelming power comes from God and not from us (4:7), clearly indicates that his purpose is to show that his hardships paradoxically display the power of God.¹¹⁵

Most people of average devotion would have been broken by such adversity. Yet devotion did not sustain Paul; it was the power of God at work within Him. The task demanded all he could give. And when he had given his all, and even that wasn’t enough, God’s power carried him through. This truth prevented him from thinking that he could do it all by himself. He knew that God was working even through his limitations and failures. As one controlled by the love of Messiah, he dared to reach beyond his limits because he trusted in God’s power to redeem what he did. Paul had become the suffering apostle of the suffering Messiah.¹¹⁶

In contrast to the false apostles in Corinth, Paul could say that he may have been knocked down, so to speak, but he wasn’t knocked out. The false apostles did not suffer. Instead of winning lost souls, they stole converts from Paul’s churches. Instead of sacrificing for the people, they made the people sacrifice for them (11:20). The false apostles did not have treasure to share. All they had were some museum pieces from the TaNaKh, faded antiques without the life-giving Ruach Ha’Kosesh.¹¹⁷

The suffering that Paul and his companions were experiencing was merely a continuation of the suffering endured by Yeshua. We always carry in our bodies the dying of Yeshua, so that the life of Yeshua may be manifested in our bodies too (4:10). The word dying here does not translate thanatos, Paul’s usual word for death, but nekrosis. Thanatos speaks of death as a fact or a one-time event, while nekrosis describes the process of dying. It was not a matter of life after death or even life through death, but of death in the midst of life. What had been done to Messiah – the false accusations, the beatings, the mockery, His murder – was exactly what was being done to them. In that context, they felt privileged to suffer on their Lord’s behalf. As Paul wrote to the church in Colossae: Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Messiah’s afflictions, for the sake of His Body, which is the Church (Colossians 1:24). The ironic twist was this: Paul’s sufferings and eventual martyrdom at the hands of the enemies of Messiah (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Fl – John the Baptist is Beheaded) actually resulted in a great multitude (including the believers in Corinth) receiving eternal life.¹¹⁸

The next verse restates the basic assertions of the previous one: For we who are alive are always being handed over to death for Yeshua’s sake, so that Yeshua’s life also might be manifested in our mortal flesh (4:11). Handed over is from the Greek word paradidomi, the same verb used to describe Yeshua’s being handed over for crucifixion (Matthew 17:22; Acts 3:13; Romans 4:25). It’s as if Paul was saying, “facing death is part of life.” As Paul and his co-laborers proclaimed the Good News (in which the death of Messiah is primary), they suffer for it, sharing in the sufferings patterned after their Lord, as their story is patterned after His. Thus, on the one hand, Paul was daily subjected to death; but on the other hand, he was continually upheld, and made more than a conqueror by the experience of the risen Yeshua in his mortal body (Romans 8:35-39; Second Corinthians 1:8-10 and 2:14).¹¹⁹

Thus, death is at work in us but life in you, in other words, “We are dying, but you are living” (4:12). The apostle pointed out that his ministry was the reason the Corinthians had experienced the Good News of Yeshua Messiah. Paul’s suffering was not for himself, but for the building up of the Church. Like his Master, he came as a servant (Mark 10:45). He reminded the Philippians, “Indeed, even if my lifeblood is poured out as a drink offering over the sacrifice and service of your faith, I will still be glad and rejoice with you all (Philippians 2:17). To the Colossians he wrote: I rejoice in my present sufferings on your behalf (Colossians 1:24a). And he wrote to Timothy, “Why do I persevere through it all? For the sake of those who have been chosen, so that they too may obtain the deliverance that comes through Messiah Yeshua, with eternal glory (Second Timothy 2:10). It was Paul’s privilege to suffer in bringing the Gospel to others, who then became the fruit of his courageous endurance, an unbroken chain through the ages.

What enabled Paul to endure in the face of his suffering? The TaNaKh says: I trusted, therefore, I spoke. Paul identified with the righteous man who wrote Psalm 116:10. True witness for ADONAI is based on faith/trust/belief in ADONAI, and this comes from the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Paul could speak of his suffering and death because he was confident that YHVH would deliver him (1:9-10). This confidence was founded on the resurrection of Messiah, the Firstfruit of more to come for all those who place their faith for salvation in Him. Since we have that same Spirit who enables us to trust (1 Cor 15:35-52; Rom 8:17b-28), we also trust and therefore speak (4:13). Those who genuinely believe the truth cannot help but speak of that truth.

After citing Psalm 116:10, a hymn of praise for God’s deliverance of the psalmist’s soul from death, Paul asserted his unshakable confidence that even if they killed him, “Because we know that he who raised the Lord Yeshua will also raise us with Yeshua and bring us along with you into his presence” (4:14). Paul believed that with absolute confidence, he was able to speak on Messiah’s behalf with equal confidence. It’s as if he was saying to the Corinthians, “Hey, what’s the worst thing they can do to me? Kill me? Ha! Even if they do that, ADONAI will raise me from the dead and let me live with Him forever. So what have I got to lose?” His was truly an eternal perspective.¹²⁰

Clearly, Paul’s goal was never his own comfort, reputation, or popularity. All this is for your sake, so that as grace flows out to more and more people through the evangelistic efforts of both himself, as well as the Corinthian believers, it may cause thanksgiving to overflow and bring glory to God (4:15). In the words of Dani’el 12:3, “Those who can discern will shine like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. The astounding plan of ADONAI is to use common clay pots to carry the priceless treasure of the glorious gospel to needy sinners. As they humbly and faithfully serve Him, His power flows through them to others.¹²¹

Earlier Paul had said: But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it will be evident that such overwhelming power comes from God and not from us (4:7). But how do we do that? How do we live that way? We have to practice the presence of God when life hits us in the face. When the doctor across the table is talking about cancer and suddenly you realize she’s talking about you. When the phone rings and the police tell you that it’s your child . . . your spouse. When someone tells you they don’t love you anymore. They don’t want to live with you anymore. When the child that you’ve raised doesn’t believe what you’ve taught them; they believe what the world says. What do you do when life hits you in the face?

When Jacob was fleeing from Esau he reached a certain place he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which ADONAI spoke to him, reassuring him that He would be with him and gave Jacob many wonderful promises. When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it” because life hit me in the face (Genesis 28:16). What do you do when life hits you in the face . . . you practice the presence of God in your life because He is still on the throne and He still loves you and cares for you?

Dear Almighty Heavenly Father, Praise Your Almighty power and Your faithful love. They are such a comfort. Thank You for entrusting us with such a great treasure as your Good News. Even though we are merely clay jars, help us to rely on Your Spirit and not to back down to the false apostles of our day. Help us to care more about Your Word than we do about ourselves. Praise You that not only is Your power eternal, so also is Your faithful and enduring love. How marvelous that nothing can separate us from Your love (Romans 8:38)! What a great and double bonus to have, and to live for, an eternal home with Almighty Father who always loves me. That is worth suffering any criticism and shame for! Praise and love You always! In your holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Paul Describes His Apostolic Ministry
4:7 to 7:4

Now Paul turns to the paradoxical fact that the glory of the B’rit Chadashah Gospel moves out into the world via jars of clay, who are fragile and often suffer as they carry out their ministries (to see link click Az – Priceless Treasure in Clay Jars), Paul speaks of the troubles faced in ministry, but he insists that the suffering experienced by competent shepherds has a purpose: the advancement of the Gospel.

From a human perspective, it might seem that the intensity of suffering faced by Paul and his coworkers would be devastating. Yet, as Paul explains, rather than being destroyed, true shepherds experience renewal (4:16), and the suffering faced in ministry has a personal outcome: An everlasting glory whose weight is beyond description. Finally, the eternal glory brings to mind an eternal realm, on which true shepherds focus their attention (4:17-18).

Paul then explains the hope that competent shepherds have in the face of suffering and death. And he uses words such as house, tent, and building to talk about the contrast and relationship between the earthly body of suffering and the heavenly body that will be put on at the resurrection of the dead. Out of this discussion of death and resurrection, the apostle writes openly about his longing to be with Messiah and his desire to be pleasing to Him (5:1-10).¹¹¹

Paul then appeals to the Corinthians to be reconciled to God and to open their hearts to their apostle. He clears the ground for these appeals by declaring:

1. A New Creation – 5:11-17 (Bd)

2. The Ministry of Reconciliation – 5:18-20 (Be)

3. Fifteen Words of Hope – 5:21 (Bf)

4. Living as a Servant – 6:1-10 (Bg)

5. The Characteristics of Love – 6:11-13 and 7:2-4 (Bh)

6. Do Not be Unequally Yoked with Unbelievers – 6:11 to 7:1 (Bi)

Light out of Darkness
4: 1-6

Light out of darkness DIG: In a world obsessed with image, it can be difficult to remain authentic. Why is absolute honesty essential for those who serve God? What shameful and underhanded methods are Messianics and Christian missions accused of using? What are some of the ways the Devil blinds people to God’s truth? Why does Paul compare himself (and all believers) to jars of clay? What enabled Paul not to lose hope? How could Paul say that everything he had endured was for the Corinthian believers’ benefit?

REFLECT: What things do you do that keep you from losing heart? What is the treasure you have from God? What are you supposed to do with it? How does knowing that you possess this ultimate treasure allow you to view your trials and struggles in a different light – as Paul was able to do? In this passage, Paul makes a big deal about speaking for and about God. How much do you do this in your life? How could you do more? What are some of the things you can do right now to shine Messiah’s glory into the world?

If one truly wants to encounter the God of Isra’el, then this has to be done via the Messiah He has sent.

Therefore, points back to Paul’s defense of his ministry (to see link click Ak – Paul Defends His Ministry). Since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Paul had no reason to lose heart (Galatians 6:9). He had been saved on the road to Damascas by Yeshua Himself (see the commentary on Acts Bc – Sha’ul Turns from Murder to Messiah), and called to be an apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13, 15:16). He knew that he was running the race to win an eternal crown (First Corinthians 9:24). Even though it wasn’t an easy task, there was no reason to lose heart (4:1), no matter how much he was slandered by the false apostles back in Corinth (see Af – The Problem of the False Apostles).

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that You are the constant companion of everyone who loves You from their heart. Thank You! Nowadays it is easy to lose heart. It is no longer allowed to speak up for Your truth. When You love someone as much as I love You, it’s so natural to want to talk about how wonderful You are, and the wonderful things You say in Your Word, but today, much of Your truth is twisted and many who follow You are denied the right to talk of You. Praise You that You are still in control, always with me, watching over every detail that touches my life.  For You have said, “I will never leave you or abandon you” (Hebrews 13:5). Your presence and companionship is such a joy! No reason to lose heart when we can look into Your loving eyes and squeeze Daddy’s hand. Friends and family may not be nearby or they may fail us, but You are right by my side all the time! You are ever faithful! Love You so much, dear Daddy. In Your holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

As David Stern describes in his Jewish New Testament Commentary of Second Corinthians, like Paul, Messianic Jews and Christian missionaries to Jews are frequently accused of using unethical and underhanded means to “win converts.” As a rule, the charges lack evidence and are based on misunderstanding; but since they are often believed anyway, they deserve to be examined and refuted. At the same time, it is good for us who are B’rit Chadashah believers to be reminded of the standards we can legitimately be expected to observe.

Messianic Jews and Messianic Gentiles (I consider myself a Messianic Gentile) and Christian missions should refer to 4:2 both in defending against charges of unethical methods and in guiding their own behavior. On the one hand, there is no guarantee the people who call themselves Messianic or Christian will in face behave ethically; but on the other hand, there is no reason to put up with unsupported charges and rumors of ethical misconduct designed only to discredit Messianic Judaism, Christian missions, and most of all, the Gospel!

But first, the problem, which is that many official and self-appointed spokesmen for the Jewish community and for some streams of Christianity circulate reports intended to insulate the Jewish people against the gospel by creating the impression that Messianic Jews and Christian missions use shameful and underhanded methods employing deception or distorting God’s message. More specifically, such charges have included the following:

1. Enticement to convert: Messianic Jewish congregations and Christian missions are accused of supplying money, food, clothing, and services like schooling or child care, making their receipt conditional upon the recipients’ converting to abandoning their Jewish faith without making it clear that the recipients (especially minors) will be exposed to hearing the Gospel and being encouraged to convert. The charge is so widely believed in Isra’el that from time to time Israelis will show up at the missions expecting help in emigrating to America in exchange for converting to Christianity. It produces such widespread fear of conversion that the unscrupulous can use it as a threat by saying something like, “Unless you [the Israeli authorities] do what I want [give me a house, a loan or a car] I will convert to Christianity.”

The Good News commands hospitality and kindness; therefore, believers can be expected to be friendly and give generously. But the friendliness and the giving are to be without expecting anything in return (Matthew 5:42 and 46-47), least of all anything so intangible as trusting in God and His Messiah. Only the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, not believers, can move an unbeliever to undergo this radical change of heart. Besides, it demeans the gospel to force it on anyone – the Good News either commends itself or it doesn’t (4:3-6).

2. Preying on the disadvantaged: Messianic Jewish congregations and Christian missions are accused of concentrating upon the disadvantaged – the young, the old, the poor, the physically handicapped, and the psychologically distressed – and tailor their techniques to them, rather than presenting their case openly and frankly in a rational manner that can either be accepted or rejected by an adult in full possession of their intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and financial powers.

When the Pharisees asked why Yeshua ate with “sinners” (the disadvantaged of their day), He answered: The ones who need a doctor aren’t the healthy but the sick (Matthew 9:12). The Good News is for everyone, including the disadvantaged. The real reason for this charge, then, is to discredit the gospel in the eyes of the very people likely to respond to it, namely, people who have come to the end of themselves. It is reasonable to proclaim the gospel to people likely to accept it. Accordingly, the Jews likely to accept it are students (because they are questioning their values), the elderly (because death is more of a reality for them and they want to be right with God before it happens), the poor (because the gospel can make them spiritually rich) and the depressed (because the gospel offers everlasting joy). In addition, there is no shortage of rational appeals to be made on behalf of the gospel. Messiah doesn’t ask anyone to check their brains at the door when following Him.

3. Deceptive misuse of Jewish sacred things and terms: Messianic congregations and Christian missions are accused of misusing Jewish sacred things such as kippah (yarmulke or skullcap), tallit (prayer shawl), phylacteries, Shabbat candles, Torah scrolls, Passover materials, and Jewish liturgies, in order to create a “false” impression that these groups are Jewish and not Christian, with the intention of luring Jewish people under the impression that they are not converting and believing in Yeshua Messiah as their Lord and Savior.

Messianic Jews are Jews also, and have as much right to use Jewish sacred things as non-Messianic Jews do. The latter do not have a patent on them. As far as deception goes, it is the responsibility of believers to inform inquirers that the gospel is the gospel. Messianic believers often use “Messianic” instead of “Christian,” “Yeshua” instead of “Jesus,” “congregation or synagogue” instead of “church,” “B’rit Chadashah” instead of “New Testament,” “TaNaKh” instead of “Old Testament,” and “Messiah” instead of “Christ.” The purpose is to steer clear of the negative connotations due to history. Not to the B’rit Chadashah.

4. Insincere Christian conversion to Judaism: A special case of deception is when Gentiles dress like Jews or even “convert” to Judaism while secretly remaining Christians with missionary intentions.

It is possible for a Gentile Christian to have, like Ruth, such a strong identification with the Jewish people that she wishes to be one of them, and for her to identify in this way despite the non-Messianic rejection to Yeshua. She could convert in all honesty if she makes known the fact that she continues to believe that Yeshua is the Messiah. Some have done that. But others have withheld that critical piece of information, and in doing so, have crossed the ethical barrier. Where conversion to Judaism is commonly allowed for such casual reasons as outward legitimization of marriage between a Jew and a Gentile, or, as in Isra’el, making it possible for a person to participate in the life of the State as a Jewish citizen, and the conversion process itself makes no demand that the convert deny Yeshua, then one is tempted to say that it is less critical for a Gentile Christian to volunteer that he remains faithful to Yeshua. Against this, it is up to the believer to uphold the highest ethical standards, regardless of how the world around him operates.

5. Distortion of the TaNaKh: Messianic Jewish congregations and Christian missions are accused of distorting the TaNaKh, the Christian Old Testament, by quoting verses out of context and even mis-translating or changing the text, in order to “prove” that Yeshua is the Messiah and that the Church is the New Isra’el.

It is important to understand that Paul was the target of the same accusations: he was said to be huckstering God’s message for a fee (2:17), being filled with pride (3:1a), that he lacked the proper official letters of commendation (3:1b), corrupting people and taking advantage of them (7:2), and misleading them with trickery (12:16). His answer to these charges was that God has shown us such mercy by changing us into His image (3:18) that we do not lose courage to conduct ourselves in an ethical manner as we do the work which ADONAI has given us, despite the accusations, temptations and adverse conditions. Therefore, Paul writes: Indeed, we refuse to make use of shameful underhanded methods, employing deception or distorting God’s message. On the contrary, we avoid unethical behavior we can hold our heads high in proclaiming the gospel, confident, like Paul, we can say: By making very clear what the truth is, we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God (Second Corinthians 4:2; also see First Thessalonians 2:3-12 where Paul addresses similar accusations).¹⁰⁷

To those who criticized his preaching as irrelevant, offensive and ineffective, Paul replied: So, if indeed our Good News is veiled, it is veiled only to those in the process of being lost (4:3). Fallen, dead in their sins, and spiritually blinded, those who reject the Good News are headed for eternal doom (Second Corinthians 2:15; Luke 12:4-5; Romans 2:12; First Corinthians 1:18; Second Thessalonians 2:9-11). Therefore, the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are discerned through the Spirit (First Corinthians 2:14). They reject the gospel message because they love the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds are evil (John 3:19).

In addition to their own love of sin, unbelievers reject the Good News because Satan, who is the god of this world (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11; Ephesians 2:2; 2 Timothy 2:26; 1 John 5:19), has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe, and the veil remains (see Aw – Veiling and Unveiling) as long as they do not turn to ADONAI (4:4a). The Serpent of Old controls the ideologies, opinions, hopes, aims, goals and viewpoints currently in the world (10:3-5). He is behind the world’s faulty systems of philosophy, psychology, education, sociology, ethics, and economics. But perhaps his greatest influence is in the realm of false religion. Of course, the Adversary is not a god, but a created being (with a choice). He is called a god because his deluded followers serve him as if he were one. The Evil One is the archetype of all the false gods in all the false religions he has spawned (see the commentary on Revelation Dd – I Saw a Woman Holding a Golden Cup).

It is that massive and pervasive influence over society by which the Deceiver deludes the unregenerate so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Messiah, who is the exact likeness of God (4:4b NLT). Except in rare cases, the Ruler of this world and his demons do not directly indwell individuals. They don’t need to. The Old Serpent has created a system that panders to the depravity of unbelievers and drives them deeper into darkness. In addition to being dead in their sins and acts of disobedience (Ephesians 2:1); veiled from the truth (3:15); loved the darkness rather than the light (John 3:19-20); unbelievers follow the ways of this world and of the Prince of the Power of the Air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient . . . [living] in the lusts of the flesh, gratifying the cravings of [their] sinful nature and are by nature objects of wrath (Ephesians 2:2-3). They are of [their] father the devil, and [they] want to do the desires of [their] father (John 8:44). All the evil of the human heart – crime, hatred, bitterness, anger, injustice, immorality, and conflict between nations and individuals – is pandered to by the agenda of the Lawless One. The world system he has created inflames the evil desires of people, causing them to be willfully blind and to love their darkness.

The immeasurable privilege of proclaiming the glorious gospel of Yeshua Messiah might lead some to become proud and boastful. In fact, one of the slanderous accusations of the false apostles made against Paul was that he preached with selfish motives. They claimed that he was in the ministry for his own self-exaltation, self-promotion, self-aggrandizement, power, prestige, and prominence. But that could not have been further from the truth. By declaring: For what we are proclaiming is not ourselves, but the Messiah Yeshua as Lord, with ourselves as slaves for you because of Yeshua (4:5), Paul distinguished himself from the false apostles, who did, in fact, preach for themselves. Later in his letter he wrote: We don’t dare class or compare ourselves with some of the people who advertise themselves. In measuring themselves against each other and comparing themselves with each other, they are simply stupid (10:12). Thus, Paul’s disclaimer was both a denial of the false apostle’s charge and an indictment against them.

Far from being arrogant, proud, and self-assured, Paul ministered in Corinth in weakness and in fear, with much trembling (First Corinthians 2:3). Instead of boasting of his own abilities and successes, he wrote: On my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses . . . I would rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Messiah may dwell in me (12:5 and 9). Paul’s vision of the glory of Messiah dominated his life, and his love for Yeshua consumed the apostle.¹⁰⁸

Paul paraphrased Genesis 1:3, noting that God who once said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has done something additional in us through the gospel. Paul was making a connection between the creation and the recreation. Just as darkness covered the surface of the earth and God’s light overcame it, so also the darkness of sin covers our lives, but God overcame it. This had been Paul’s experience on the Damascus Road, when a light from heaven flashed around him (Acts 9:3). Confronted with the risen Lord, he became a new creation (5:17).¹⁰⁹ Therefore, Paul declared that through Yeshua Messiah, the light of the world (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Gr – I AM the Light of the World), ADONAI has made His light shine in our hearts. What is God’s illuminating work in our hearts? It is bringing the light of the knowledge of God’s glory shining in the face of the Messiah Yeshua (4:6).

You can get attention by being slick and flashy and by cultivating a certain image, but you’ll never have a deep impact on others that way. The most powerful and eternally significant people are those who, like Paul, realize they are merely clay jars who have been filled with priceless treasure (see Az – Priceless Treasure in Clay Jars). They realize God is the point, not them. The Bible teaches that we exist to bring glory to ADONAI, to shine for Him, and point others to Him. Like John the Baptist, we need to say, “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30). Today we need to focus on the substance of our lives more so than on mere style. Spiritual depth, authenticity, integrity, faithfulness – these are the qualities that honor the LORD and cause others to stop and stare.¹¹⁰

Veiling and Unveiling
3: 12-18

Veiling and unveiling DIG: The Spirit of ADONAI brings freedom (3:17). Freedom from what? Freedom to do what? What is the basis of the hope for Jewish or Gentile unbelievers? What are the practical results of the New Covenant for Isra’el?

REFLECT: How is your ministry to Jews (Romans 1:16) assisting in their unveiling? When and how was your veil lifted? Can you tell of your unveiling in two minutes or less? Your testimony is very valuable? How can you cooperate with the Spirit’s work of transformation?

Whenever someone turns to ADONAI, the veil is taken away.

The historical event (3:12-13): Recognizing the great transformation that takes place as the Spirit energizes the lives of those who receive Yeshua (to see link click Av – A Glory Transformed), Paul declares that a new reality had dawned. A new hope. His ministry and the ministry of his co-laborers is contrasted with previous servants of God like Moses who put a veil over his face so that the people of Isra’el would not see the fading brightness come to an end (3:12-13). And why did Moses have to wear this veil or barrier? We can think of Moshe’s veil functioning in a similar way to the veil or curtain in the Tabernacle. Just as the common Israelite could not enter the Most Holy Place to behold God’s glory, now they could not behold the glory of God reflected in Moses. That brightness on Moshe’s face was to indicate something of limited value – as it was fading away – and that the veil placed over his face represents a barrier to be removed because of the greater glory inaugurated by Messiah who was yet to come. Paul makes the point that with such a veil on Moshe’s face, the ancient Israelites were unable to clearly see the goal at which the Torah aims is the Messiah (Romans 10:4b), the permanent atonement they needed, and hence a greater glory that would not fade away (3:11b).

The national application (3:14-17): The sad observation that Paul made, in the First Century, was that it was not merely the ancient Israelites in the wilderness who could not see the Redeemer’s ultimate ministry coming. There was, and is, a persistent stubbornness in their descendants, the majority of Paul’s contemporaries. What is more, the minds of the unsaved Jewish people were made stonelike (Romans 11:7). As Deuteronomy 29:4 reminds us: To this day ADONAI has not given you a heart to understand, eyes to see or ears to hear! Isaiah 29:10 also speaks of the reality of how ADONAI has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes to the prophets and covered your heads to the seers. And Psalm 95:8 cries out: Do not harden your hearts, as you did at Meribah, as you did on that day at Massah in the desert. This condition can be seen where sin has been perpetuated, not merely erecting an obstacle between YHVH and His people, but where the people themselves become increasingly calloused toward God and His intended ways and purposes.

To this day (Paul’s day), but still true in the present day, the same veil remains over them so that when they read the TaNaKh in the synagogue they do not see that it points toward Yeshua the Messiah as its goal and fulfillment. It has not been unveiled, because only by the Messiah is the veil taken away (3:14). When the TaNaKh, the ministry of death (3:7) and condemnation (3:9a), would be read, they would not be convinced to turn to YHVH in repentance – much less turn to the Lord in repentance and receive Yeshua as their Messiah!

Yes, till today, whenever Moshe is read, a veil lies over their heart (3:15), singular, referring to the community as a whole, which resists being open to the truth of Yeshua and exerts social pressure against searching the Scriptures to see if these things are true (Acts 17:9), although throughout history individual Jews have been open to the Gospel and received it. Therefore, the issue here is not that Isra’el cannot understand the implications of her history and her resulting need for her Messiah. Rather, the problem is that she will not accept it as true for her. Isra’el’s stiff-necked condition continues to veil her response to Jeremiah’s B’rit Chadashah and subsequent new life in the Spirit.

Dear Great Heavenly Father, Praise You for Your wisdom and love. Your love is so wonderful! How awesome that You offer Your love to all who choose to love You back as their Lord and Savior. You open the door to all, male and female, rich and poor, all skin colors, all ages. For all of you who were immersed in Messiah have clothed yourselves with Messiah. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female – for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua (Galatians 3:27-28).

Praise you that Yeshua proclaimed a broad invitation spoken to the crowds: Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). How sad that though the invitation was given to a big crowd, yet only a few would choose the narrow path to love and follow Yeshua. Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and those who find it are few (Matthew 7:13-14).

Your invitation is so gracious. My heart is heavy for my family and friends who do not yet love you. Dear Father, please work mighty miracles in the lives of . . . and . . . May You guide even their sleep so that they see your great love and desire to respond back with their love for You. Please help them to realize that even if they will be laughed at for following You, it is well worth the great joy of living with you in heaven for all eternity. For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). Thank You and loving you deeply. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

This passage is aimed directly at the resistance to Yeshua from non-Messianic Judaism. There is no criticism here against Jews, either ethnically, racially, biologically, culturally, nationally as a people; least of all is there any implication that Jews with stonelike minds have less inherent mental ability. Rather, it is a spiritual veil, not a lack of intelligence that prevents unsaved Jewish people from seeing that the goal at which the Torah aims is the Messiah (Romans 10:4). Yeshua Himself made the same point to the religious leaders in Jerusalem of His day when He said: You keep examining the TaNaKh because you think that in it you have eternal life, and it keeps bearing witness to Me! Yet you don’t want to come to Me in order to have eternal life . . . But don’t think that I will be your accuser before the Father. Do you know who will accuse you? Moshe, the very one you have counted on! For if you really believed Moshe (that is, the Torah) you would believe in Me, because it was about Me that he wrote. But if don’t believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say (John 5:39-40 and 45-47)?¹⁰²

But there is hope. In fact, Paul uses a verse from the TaNaKh itself, from the very passage that speaks of Moses’ veil, to point to what that hope is. It is the same hope that Paul wrote about in Romans 10:11, where he quoted Joel 2:32, “Everyone who calls on the name of ADONAI will be saved.” The Hebrew of Exodus 34:34 reads: But when Moses went in before ADONAI to speak to Him, he took the veil off until he came out. So Paul’s midrash applied this verse to anyone seeking the LORD.

In verse 15 it is Messiah who takes away the veil, and one is reminded of Luke 24:25-27 and 44-45 where Yeshua Himself explained to His companions how prophecies in the TaNaKh applied to Him (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Mh – On the Road to Emmaus). Next we see that ADONAI is the cause of the veil’s removal. “But,” says the Torah, “Whenever someone turns to ADONAI, the veil is taken away” (3:16). Finally, we learn that “ADONAI” [in this text] also means the Spirit (3:17a). It is the Spirit who has the specific ministry of convicting of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:7-11). It is He who makes a Jew or a Gentile willing and able to see Yeshua in the Jewish Scriptures.¹⁰³ Thus, in the final analysis, it is the Trinity that takes away the veil.

When Moshe put the veil over his face, cutting off the Israelites from the glory manifested in His ministry, they were kept from perceiving God’s presence, and thus His glory. That would be the heart of the B’rit Chadashah, a covenant in which all of the covenant people would know the Lord and have their hearts transformed (see the commentary on Jeremiah Eo – I Will Make a New Covenant with the People of Isra’el), when all would be able to go boldly behind the inner veil of the Tabernacle (which also stands as a barrier) into the Most Holy Place of ADONAI because their sins have been forgiven forever (see the commentary on Hebrews Ch – Let Us Draw Near to God).¹⁰⁴

Where the Spirit of ADONAI is, there is freedom (3:17b). It is freedom from the condemnation arising from the inability to keep God’s Torah through the old sin nature (see the commentary on Romans Bz – Application to Believers in Yeshua). Furthermore, it is a Spirit-empowered freedom so that the requirement of the Torah might be fulfilled in us who do not run our lives according to what our old nature desires, but according to what the Spirit wants (Romans 8:4). The B’rit Chadashah as promised by the prophets was not a covenant of lawlessness, but a covenant under which people would be moved by the Spirit to follow God’s decrees and be careful to keep His mitzvot (Ezeki’el 36:27) and to have His Torah in their minds and written on their hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).¹⁰⁵

The personal application (3:18): The power of the B’rit Chadashah notably goes well beyond the Torah’s commandments being written on the heart, and even to the permanent peace believers have with YHVH. It enables the redeemed to fully see the Lord as any veil or barrier separating us from His presence, which existed over our hearts when we were unregenerate sinners is now gone! There is nothing between us and God, our faces unveiled, with open hearts, not stonelike, with the brightness of His face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Gb – Jesus went up a High Mountain and was Transfigured), our lives gradually being changed into his very image (Romans 8:29b), from one degree of glory to the next by ADONAI [who is] the Spirit (3:18). This is how the Spirit gives life.

Once we become part of God’s family, He wants us to grow into spiritual maturity. What does that look like? Spiritual maturity is becoming more like Yeshua in the way we think, feel and act. The more you develop a Messiahlike character, the more you will bring glory to God. ADONAI gave you a new life and a new nature when you accepted Messiah. Now, for the rest of your life on earth, God wants to continue the process of changing your character. The Bible says: May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation – those good things that are produced in your life by Yeshua Messiah – for this will bring much glory and praise to God (Philippians 1:11 NLT).¹⁰⁶

A Glory Transformed
3: 6b-11

A glory transformed DIG: What does Paul mean when he says, “the text brings death, but the Spirit gives life?” How does the written text bring death? In what four ways is the Torah an instrument of death? What distinction is being made here between the Torah and the Spirit? Is the Torah itself fading away and gone? How was its glory transformed?

REFLECT: Where does Paul say we can find the power to live as ADONAI expects? What have you been taught concerning the Torah? Is it “old and obsolete?” Only for Jews? Confusing? When was the last time your pastor taught through a book of the Torah? In what sense is the Torah still relevant? How is it a blueprint for living in your life?

The distinction Paul is making is between the Torah without the Spirit, and the Torah with the Spirit.

In these verses Paul is comparing and contrasting the Torah, which is a ministry of death (3:7) and declared people guilty (3:9a) to the ministry of the Spirit (3:8), which works to declare people innocent (3:9b). He pictures two different ministries, or modes of operation, as they involve the Torah of ADONAI in the life of an unredeemed person or a redeemed person. The Good News is to be personally received in a person’s life, which will result in forgiveness. But without the indwelling of the Spirit, then people are subject to their old sin nature which results in spiritual death and condemnation.

For the written text brings death, but the Spirit gives life (3:6b). This passage is often understood to teach that the B’rit Chadashah is more important than the Torah, implicitly giving the impression that the Torah in particular, and the TaNaKh in general are “old” and irrelevant. However, the Greek word for “law” or “Torah” or “nomos” is not used at all here or anywhere in Second Corinthians; so that if one is going to make such a statement about the Torah on the basis of this passage, one must limit the meaning of Torah to the elements given in the passage. And here Paul talks only about a written text which was engraved on stone tablets, a perversion of the Torah, or legalism, which is a ministry of death, declared people guilty, and came with temporary brightness that was already fading away.

To illustrate the Torah’s glory, Paul turned to a familiar event in Isra’el’s history – Moses receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai. Now if the perversion of the Torah, which is a ministry of death, by means of a written text engraved on stone tablets, following only legalism, came with glory – such glory that the people of Isra’el could not stand to look at Moshe’s face because of its brightness, even though that brightness was already fading away (3:7). It is clear that Paul found no fault with the Torah (Romans 7:12), but he knew from his own experience that without the power of the Spirit, the written text of the Torah provided no way to attain righteousness. The trouble lay with the old sin nature (see the commentary on Romans, to see link click Cc – The Reality of the Inner Conflict), which can turn the Torah into a ministry of death.⁹⁸

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for being so wise and wonderful. Praise You that our old sin nature is no match for You. You are so gracious to give Your holy righteousness to those who love You, then they are able to enter into Your holy heaven because of Your holiness.^. He made the One who knew no sin to become a sin offering on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (Second Corinthians 5:21). I praise and thank You for living within me to help and strengthen me to have the power to live for You. Yeshua answered and said to him: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him (John 14:23). What a joy it is to know that Your Holy Rauch lives within me and is always available to guide the situation and to show me how to respond in all situations. You and Your kingdom are a treasure – a very valuable pearl worth more than all else (Matthew 13:45-46). In Your holy Yeshua’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

It is this written text that Paul contrasts with the B’rit Chadashah, which is accompanied by the Spirit, who writes on human hearts. The B’rit Chadashah spoken of here is that of Jeremiah (see the commentary on Jeremiah Eo – I Will Make a New Covenant with the People of Isra’el), and the distinction Paul makes is exactly the same that Jeremiah makes when he says that the B’rit Chadashah would not be like the Covenant which God made with their fathers when He took them out of Egypt, but ADONAI would put His Torah within them and write it on their hearts (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 8:6-13). Therefore, Paul cannot be saying that the B’rit Chadashah is more glorious than the Torah, because the B’rit Chadashah includes the Torah which God puts within them and writes on their hearts. According to Hebrews 8:6, the B’rit Chadashah itself has been made Torah (Greek: nomotheteo, meaning to make law, to ordain by law). Paul speaks of the Torah as upheld by Messiah (literally, the Torah of Messiah) in Galatians 6:2, and makes a similar allusion in First Corinthians 9:21; therefore, the Torah is still relevant to us today because it has been written on our hearts. The distinction Paul is making is between the Torah without the Spirit and the Torah with the Spirit.

Nevertheless, what Paul does say is startling enough. Now if that which is a ministry of death, by means of a written text engraved on stone tablets, came with glory – such glory that the people of Isra’el could not stand to look at Moshe’s face because of its brightness, even though that brightness was already fading away (3:7). How is it that the Torah is a ministry of death? Since Paul himself calls the Torah holy (Romans 7:12), how can he say that it kills? He does not answer this question here, but assumes the Corinthians are already knowledgeable on the subject (First Corinthians 9:19-23 and 15:56). But elsewhere, he explains that the Torah can be said to be a ministry of death in at least four different reasons:

1. It demands death as the penalty for sin (Romans 5:12-21).

2. In defining transgressions it increases sin (Galatians 3:21-23), which leads to death.

3. It provides an opportunity for sinful people to pervert God’s holy Torah into legalism, that is, a dead system of rules intended to earn God’s favor even when followed without faith (Romans 3:19-31, 7:1-25, 9:30 to 10:10).

4 It does not have in itself, by the fact that it is written on stone tablets, the life-giving power of the Spirit which alone can make people righteous (Romans 8:1-11; Acts 13:38-39).

One must understand the shock a non-Messianic Jew must experience in hearing the Torah called a ministry of death, since in Jewish understanding the Torah is an instrument of life. In the Midrash Rabbah Rabbi L’vi is cited as saying, “God sat on high, engraving for them tablets which would give them life (Exodus Rabbah 41:1). The prayer recited every time the Torah scroll is returned to the ark after being read in the synagogues all over the world quotes Proverbs 3:18, “It is a tree of life for those who take hold of it.” Proverbs is speaking about wisdom; but since the Torah contains God’s wisdom, the Siddur applies those words to the Torah itself.

Here is Paul’s explanation of how the Torah, which is a ministry of death, can at the same time be a tree of life. But the Spirit, the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, the Holy Spirit of God, who lives in believers (see the commentary on Romans Ch – The Indwelling of the Ruach) gives life (3:6b) to sinners who are dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1 KJV). But for non-Messianic Jews it is critical to understand that only the Spirit of God gives life to the Torah itself, that is, to the written text. Or, more precisely, it is when the unredeemed are filled with the Ruach Ha’Kodesh given by Yeshua Messiah that the Torah becomes to them a tree of life and not a ministry of death.

Won’t the working of the Spirit be accompanied by even greater glory (3:8)? In these verses Paul defends his office as an apostle. He claims that as an apostle of Messiah, his ministry is more glorious than that of Moshe – and not only that, but more glorious than at the very moment of Moshe’s greatest glory, when his face shone so brightly as he descended from Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:29-30; compare to Matthew 17:2) after seeing God’s glory (Exodus 33:18 to 34:8), that he put a veil over his face (Exodus 34:33 and 35). However, if one acknowledges that the B’rit Chadashah has come, bringing with it the Messiah Himself and the very Ruach Ha’Kodesh, whose glory obviously exceeds that of stone tablets, then one should see that the ministry of its workers has greater glory than that of Moshe’s ministry.⁹⁹ Unlike the written text carved in letters on stone, which could not enable a person to fulfill its own demands, the Spirit, given according to the B’rit Chadashah, actually enables people to walk in the way of God’s mitzvot.

For if there was glory in what worked to declare people guilty, how much more must the glory abound in the ministry that brings righteousness (3:9)! The Torah was never given for the purpose of salvation, for there is no salvation through works of righteousness. The Torah produces condemnation and is a mirror that reveals how dirty our faces really are. But we cannot wash our faces without the mirror. The ministry of the B’rit Chadashah produces righteousness and changes lives to the glory of God. Mankind’s greatest need is righteousness, and God’s greatest gift is righteousness through faith in Yeshua Messiah. For if the way in which one attains righteousness is through legalism, then Messiah’s death was pointless (Galatians 2:21b). The person who tries to live only by the written text of the Torah will find himself feeling more and more guilty, and this can produce a feeling of hopelessness. It is when we trust in Messiah, and live by faith in God’s grace, that we experience acceptance and joy.¹⁰⁰ Paul’s comparison of his ministry with Moses is mainly positive. His argument, in essence, is that one good thing was simply eclipsed by something better.

Given the transformative power of the working of the Spirit (3:8) or the works of righteousness (3:9), which supplies permanent atonement for and permanent forgiveness from sins, it is not a surprise for a figure like Paul to conclude: for even what was glorious is not glorious when compared to the glory that surpasses it (3:10 TLV). Ultimately, in view of what the B’rit Chadashah provides in terms of reconciliation, and the Spirit writing God’s Torah into a transformed person – there is no glory in seeing people condemned to death and ultimately exiled from the presence of YHVH, unless they are repentant.

The B’rit Chadashah, of which Paul was a minister, is something which has a permanence to it, which the previous ministry of condemnation does not have. For if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which is eternal (3:11 BSB). The Torah and its ministry belonged to a vanishing order that began to fade immediately after its inception, as was typified by the Divine glory on the face of Moses – a glory that began to fade away as soon as he left the Divine Presence. On the other hand, the B’rit Chadashah and its ministry will always be glorious because it constitutes God’s final word to mankind.

While it is entirely proper to acknowledge how Yeshua’s sacrifice for sinful humans has nullified the ministry of condemnation . . . He has canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:14 NLT), inaugurating the B’rit Chadashah with its permanent atonement and forgiveness. But too frequently what is overlooked here is what Paul actually describes as being brought to an end (ESV), in contrast to that which is permanent (ESV), is the ministry of death or condemnation apart from the indwelling of the Spirit. The standard of God’s holiness in the Torah is still with us.

To that end, it is important to recognize that Paul did not imply that the Torah itself was fading away. Torah as an expression of the will of YHVH for human conduct is still valid. It is our blueprint for living. It is the written text that Paul contrasts with the B’rit Chadashah, which is accompanied with the Spirit, who writes on human hearts, who gives life, who works to declare people innocent, and who lasts. A year later, Paul would write to the believers in Rome: Thus, my brothers, you have been made dead with regard to the Torah through the Messiah’s body, so that you may belong to someone else, namely, the One who has been raised from the dead, in order for us to bear fruit for God. For when we were living according to our old nature, the passions connected with sins worked through the Torah in our various parts, with the result that we bore fruit for death. But now we have been released from this aspect of the Torah, because we have died to that which had us in its clutches, so that we are serving in the new way provided by the Spirit and not in the old way of outwardly following the perversion of the Torah, or legalism (Romans 7:4-6). Therefore, Paul says the purpose of God in bringing the B’rit Chadashah of the Spirit was precisely that the righteous demands of the Torah might be fulfilled in those who walk by the Spirit (see the commentary on Romans Cg – The Walk with the Ruach).¹⁰¹

A Competent Shepherd
3: 1-6a

A competent shepherd DIG: How do we know that Paul was not commending himself? Who was the basis for his competence? What were the false apostles saying about Paul? How did Paul defend himself against such false accusations? How does the Spirit enable us to obey?

REFLECT: Why would it be encouraging to know that your competence comes not from yourself but from ADONAI? The false apostles said the Corinthians needed Messiah plus a set of rules to be fully acceptable to God. Where do you see this counterfeit gospel today?

The Spirit allows us to obey the teachings of the Torah which are written on our hearts.

A useful and competent shepherd of God’s people does not need to commend himself or depend on the secondhand testimony of others, because his virtuous, godly life is well-known. To defuse any allegation that he was commending himself, Paul made no overt claims in his own defense. Instead, he gently rebuked the Corinthians by asking them two questions, both of which demanded a negative answer from the Greek text.

The first question was: Does Paul’s apostolic authority exist because he says it does, that is, because he commends himself? Paul began by asking: Are we starting to commend ourselves again (3:1a NASB)? The apostle used the editorial we, because it is a less threatening, humbler, more gentle approach than using the singular “I.” What may have prompted Paul’s question were the accusations from the false apostles in Corinth (to see link click Af – The Problem of the False Apostles) that he was in fact commending himself in a proud manner. They may have pointed out the occasions in his first letter when Paul asserted his apostolic authority (First Corinthians 4:15-16, 11:1, 14:18 and 15:10). But in a letter filled with rebuke and correction, Paul’s appeals to his apostolic authority were necessary for the sake of God’s truth. In no way was the apostle motivated by self-exaltation – a truth he reiterates throughout Second Corinthians (5:12 and 10:12).

Paul’s disclaimers reveal that what he wrote was not designed to elevate himself in people’s eyes; it was simply to state the truth so as to protect the legitimacy of his being a competent shepherd. Even his bold claim of a clear conscience (1:12) was not a braggart’s declaration of self-vindication. In his first letter he wrote: I am not aware of anything against me, but this does not make me innocent. The One who is evaluating me is the Lord. So don’t pronounce judgment prematurely, before the Lord comes; for He will bring to light what is not hidden in darkness; He will expose the motives of people’s hearts; and then each will receive from God whatever praise he deserves (First Corinthians 4:4-5). Paul knew that the only commendation that meant anything is the one that comes from ADONAI, not from others, nor even one’s own conscience.

Though he was a humble man, Paul was fully aware of his vital importance to the Corinthians as both a preacher of the Good News supernaturally given to him by God (see the commentary on Galatians Ao – God Set Me Apart from Birth and Called Me Through His Grace) and an inspired writer of biblical revelation. Therefore, it was necessary for him to defend himself so that God’s truth would not be hindered. The sorrow and frustration of his heart over the Corinthians’ fickleness came through loud and clear when he wrote: Are we starting to commend ourselves again (3:1a NASB)? He was not trying to prompt the Corinthians to commend him, but to make them evaluate their attitude towards him. One meaning of commend (Greek: sunistano) is to introduce. After all they had gone through together, did Paul really need to reintroduce himself to the Corinthians? Did they not know him well enough by then? Was it really necessary for Paul to start all over again and prove to them what kind of man, what kind of shepherd he was? After all the time they had known him, after he had ministered among them for at least eighteen months (Acts 18:11), how could they believe the false apostles’ lies about him? Surely they knew him better than that after all the preaching, teaching, fellowship, prayers, love and tears they had personally experienced with him!

Paul drove home his point by asking a second question, also demanding a negative answer: Or do we, like some, need letters of commendation either to you or from you (3:1b NASB)? In their attempt to discredit Paul, the false apostles claimed that he lacked the proper official letters of commendation. Such letters were commonly used in the ancient world to introduce people to those who did not know them (Neh 2:7; Acts 9:2, 18:27, 22:5; Rom 16:1; 1 Cor 16:3). When the false apostles arrived in Corinth, they evidently produced deceptive letters of commendation, possibly purporting to have come from the Messianic community in Jerusalem (Acts 15:24). They used those letters to help them gain acceptance by the Corinthians.

Not only did the false apostles present letters of commendation to the Corinthians, but they also sought them from them. Because they were not saved, the false apostles’ lives were corrupt. As a result, they couldn’t remain very long in one location before being found out. But before moving on, they sought letters of commendation from those whom they had deceived. Then they used those letters to enhance their credibility with their next victims.

But Paul wasn’t like those false apostles. He didn’t need letters of commendation to prove his credibility to the Corinthians; they had first-hand knowledge of his righteous, godly, sincere life and powerful preaching. For the Corinthians to demand letters of commendation from Paul would have been ridiculous. That they could be so foolish and deceived as to doubt what they already knew was true about the beloved apostle was tragic. Paul’s blameless life and effective ministry was his letter of commendation.⁹³

Paul then answered the second question more specifically. His authenticity was evident not only from his blameless life, but also from his impact on the lives of the Corinthians. You yourselves are our letter of commendation, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. The only testimony Paul needed to verify the divine source of his labor was the reality that the Corinthians had been saved and were being sanctified through the truth he preached and taught. You make it clear that you are a letter from the Messiah placed in our care (3:2-3a). It’s as if Paul was saying, “You are the evidence that our ministry is genuine. Just look at your changed lives. When we came to you the first time, you received our message – the message of the cross of Messiah – and led by the Spirit of the living God, it did its work for you. Others have seen your changed lives. They have read in the letter of your lives the genuineness, authenticity, and sincerity of our ministry. You are all we need to establish the validity of our credentials.” That was Paul’s argument. A compelling argument indeed. Compelling because if anyone had reason to doubt Paul’s genuineness, all they had to do was look into the mirror.⁹⁴

Unlike the false apostles’ letters of commendation, Paul’s was not written with ink, silent, fading from a page, but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on human hearts (3:3b). The reference to being written on human hearts refers to the nature of the New Covenant. In contrast with the Torah written in stone (see Av – A Glory Transformed), the New Covenant is written on human hearts, literally, on tablets [which are] hearts made of flesh, the TaNaKh uses the same imagery in Proverbs 3:3, 7:3 and Jeremiah 31:33. The prophet Ezeki’el says that when ADONAI regathers the Jewish exiles at the Second Coming, He will take the stony heart out of their flesh and will give them a heart of flesh (Ezeki’el 11:19), and YHVH will put a new Spirit within them (Ezeki’el 36:26).⁹⁵

Paul was quick to give the glory to God and not himself. Such is the confidence we have through the Messiah toward God (3:4). The Spirit’s work in his ministry justified and explained his confidence as an apostle. It was not an illusory feeling of self-confidence based on his own abilities, strengths, or praise from others. Paul’s competence to fulfill his ministry assigned to him by YHVH (see the commentary on Acts Bc – Sha’ul Turns from Murder to the Messiah) came only by God’s grace through Messiah (First Corinthians 15:9-10). We see more clearly our human limitations when we come face-to-face with Divine omnipotence. But we also see more clearly the power of ADONAI that can work powerfully through human imperfections and frailties.

Dear Wise and Loving Heavenly Father, Praise and thank You for Your great wisdom and Your loving care for each of your children. It is such a comfort to know that You live within those who love You. Yeshua answered and said to him: If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him  (John 14:23). You are always right there whenever I need Your help or advice. You never get too sleepy, nor do you ever get too tired to think. You are always wise, alert and with me 24/7 – on dark days and on sunny days, on gloomy, busy days and on quiet days.

It is wonderful to live knowing of Your love. And it is a joy to share Your love with others. Sometimes we are not sure what to say or how to say it and sometimes situations come up unexpectedly before us and we don’t know what to think or how the situation can best be handled. Praise You that you are our competence. You guide us with the right words to use or the wisest action to take. We do not need to worry for the solution does not rest with us; for as we call on You, and You have promised to answer. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all without hesitation and without reproach; and it will be given to him (James 1:5). You are a wonderful and awesome Father and I always love to please You. In Your holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Lest anyone misunderstand him, Paul hastened to add the disclaimer: It is not that we are competent in ourselves to count anything as having come from us; on the contrary, our competence is from God (3:5). Ha’Shem had demolished Paul’s former confidence in himself as a Hebrew of Hebrews, a zealous Pharisee who was blameless when it came to righteousness under the Torah (Philippians 3:5-6). He no longer placed any trust in his own heritage, devotion, or natural powers. He knew the only resource from which he could draw was the infinite reservoir of grace provided by God’s empowering Spirit. In saying that believers do not have any competence in ourselves, Paul wasn’t resorting to false humility. He would argue that he was fully competent to carry out his ministry; yet, at the same time, he fully admitted that his competency came entirely from the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, who works in and through him.⁹⁶

He has even made us competent to be shepherds (Greek: diakonous, meaning servants) serving a B’rit Chadashah, the essence of which is not a written text but the Spirit (3:6a). Once Ezeki’el 36:25-26 and Jeremiah 31:31-34 are seen to be the keys in Paul’s thinking here, the meaning of the contrast between the written text of the Torah and the Spirit becomes easier to understand. The passages from Ezeki’el supply Paul’s references to the work of the Spirit in 3:3b, while the Jeremiah passage provides the focus on the obedience to the Torah and our transformation of the heart that makes that obedience to it possible. Evangelical Christianity, in the early decades of the Twenty-First Century, has suffered significantly from dismissing the Torah’s instruction as a blueprint for living and the witness of the TaNaKh in general. And sadly, when faced with the Ezeki’el 36:25-27 and Jeremiah 31:31-34 passages, that the B’rit Chadashah not only provides forgiveness from sins, but also the ability to obey the Torah of ADONAI, it can be seen how some will merely dismiss or ignore the biblical text.⁹⁷

A Sweet-Smelling Aroma
2: 14-17

A sweet-smelling aroma DIG: What seems to be the historical significance for the imagery used in verse 14? What does it mean that believers are the aroma of Messiah? What effect does this have on people? How can the same Good News be either the smell of death or the fragrance of life? Who enables us to be this sweet-smelling aroma? Where do we get it?

REFLECT: Paul was able to praise God in the midst of challenging circumstances. Do you praise God when things are tough? How can you become more able to genuinely praise God in all circumstances? What kind of aroma are you leaving in your life? Pleasing or offensive? How can you spread that aroma of Messiah in your home, neighborhood, or workplace?

For to God we are the aroma of the Messiah.

But thanks be to God, who in the Messiah constantly leads us in a triumphal procession (2:14a). The imagery Paul uses in this verse is taken from the Roman triumph. Polybius, the Greek historian of the Hellenistic period, says that the Senate could add glory to the successes of Roman generals by bringing their achievements before the eyes of the citizens through a “triumph.” This was the highest honor that could be conferred on a Roman. The best known triumph is the one commemorated by the Arch of Titus, which depicts the Roman victory over the Jews in 70 AD. In a Roman triumph, the victorious general entered the city on his chariot and rode through the streets among throngs of cheering Romans to Capitoline Hill, where he would make a solemn offering to Jupiter. As he drove through the streets filled with the aroma of burning incense, a man held a laurel wreath over his head and whispered in his ear, “Remember, you are only a man.”

Paul draws from this rich background here. God is the victorious General who leads us, His followers, in His triumph in Messiah. As believers, we share in His victory, resulting in the sweet-smelling aroma of His Person everywhere we go.⁸⁷ Then Paul chooses another metaphor in referring to the effects of His being paraded before others. And through us spreads everywhere the aroma of what it means to know Him (2:14b)! The aroma of the knowledge of God spreads everywhere. Just as perfume spreads everywhere into the atmosphere, so the Divine revelation spreads everywhere. But, as in Yeshua’s parable of the soils (see the commentary on The Life of Christ, to see link click Et – The Parable of the Soils), the sower scattered the seed widely, but the soils where it landed are not equally productive. In some soils the seed is destroyed before it can even begin to take root; in others it is eventually destroyed. In Paul’s metaphor, the gospel’s piquant aroma permeates everything so that people are forced to take notice. But what some find to be a sweet-smelling aroma, others regard as a stench.⁸⁸

For to God we are the aroma of the Messiah. The Good News is like a flower’s fragrance. If a sweet-smelling flower smells bad to someone, the fault is not with the flower. Rather, there must be something wrong with his nose. In the case of the gospel, the problem is called sin. So, if to God we who believe and proclaim the Good News are the sweet aroma of the Messiah, who lives in us, then among those being saved, we are the same sweet smell of life leading to more life. But among those in the process of being lost, we are the stinking smell of death, leading only to more death (2:15-16a). Those bent on sin, those in the process of eternally lost, cannot stand to hear the Good News and do not respond to it, except with redoubled antagonism or indifference, as seen in Revelation 16:9, 11 and 21; Romans 1:19-32; Acts 13:45, 14:4-5, 14:19, 16:20-24, 17:5-9, 32a, and 18:9a.

Who is equal to such a task of being a suitable channel for God to spread everywhere the fragrance of what it means to know Him (2:14)? In other words, what can make people competent to be workers proclaiming a New Covenant (3:6a) even more glorious than the one Moshe brought (3:6b-11)? The answer is that such competence is not produced by financial incentives (2:17), self-recommendation or letters to or from others (3:1), but is from God (3:5), through His Spirit (3:3, 6b, 8, 17-18). It is the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, the Spirit of God, who gives workers the confidence (3:4) to be sincere and open (3:12-13), who has the power to remove spiritual blindness (3:14-16), and who, in doing so, turns people into a living letter of recommendation from Messiah Himself, thus removing the need for the usual kind (2:16b-18)?⁸⁹

For we are not like a lot of folks who go about huckstering (Greek: kapeleuo, which is derived from the noun kapelos, meaning a con artist or street hawker who cleverly deceives unwary buyers into purchasing a cheap imitation of the real thing) God’s message for a fee. Paul specifically had in mind the false apostles in Corinth, who peddled a corrupt mixture of divine truth and Jewish legalism to the Corinthians.⁹⁰ On the contrary (2:17a), unlike those spiritual con men, Paul made the Good News available to the Corinthians free of charge (10:7, 11:7-12, 12:13; First Corinthians (First Corinthians 9:12b-19; Acts 18:2-3), even though he was entitled to material support (9:4-12a; Galatians 6:6). The Mishna expresses the same attitude toward teaching Torah, “Do not make of it a crown with which to advance yourself or a spade with which to dig” (Avot 4:5, cited more clearly in First Corinthians 9:4).⁹¹

ADONAI has given you a Life Message to share. When you became a believer, you also became God’s messenger. ADONAI wants to speak to the world through you. Paul said: We speak out of a sincere heart, as messengers of God, standing in God’s presence, living in union with the Messiah (2:17b). You might feel like you don’t have anything to share, but that’s the Adversary trying to keep you silent. You have a storehouse of experiences that the Lord wants to use to bring others into His family. The Bible says: Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony of God in them (First John 5:10a). Your Life Message has four parts:

Your Life Message includes your testimony: Your testimony is the story of how Yeshua has made a difference in your life. Peter tells us that we were chosen by God to do His work and speak out for Him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference He has made for you (First Peter 2:9). This is the essence of witnessing, simply sharing your personal experiences regarding the Lord. In a courtroom, a witness isn’t expected to argue the case, prove the truth, or press for a verdict; that is the job of the attorneys. Witnesses simply report what happened to them or what they saw. Yeshua said: You will be My witnesses (Acts 1:8). He wants you to share your story with others because it is unique. There is no other story like yours. You may not be a Bible scholar, but you are an authority on your life, and it’s hard to argue with personal experience. Actually, your personal testimony is more effective than a sermon, because unbelievers see pastors as professional salesmen, but they see you as a “satisfied customer,” so they give you more credibility.

Dear Wonderful Heavenly Father, Praise Your great love and care for each of Your children! Your love is so deep and satisfying that even in the midst of severe trials when life seems out of control – Your steadfast love is totally satisfying! Thank You for David’s example when jealous King Sha’ul was chasing David to kill him, David fled to the Judean wilderness. He had to say: “Good-bye” family, “Good-bye” friends and “Hello” those in distress, “Hello” those in debt, and “Hello” to those who were discontented (First Samuel 22:2). David could have focused on his being alone and on all the negative people and things around him, but instead as a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), he was satisfied for he chose to keep the eyes of his heart focused on Your great and steadfast love. Since Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You (Psalms 63:3). Please help me to follow David’s example of praising You and of meditating on You thru the night – which will help me to remember You during the day. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You through the night watches. For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy. (Psalms 63:6-7). In your holy Son’s Name and power of His resurrection. Amen

Your Life Message includes your life lessons: ADONAI has taught you from experiences with Him. David prayed: God, teach me lessons for living so I can stay the course (Psalm 119:33 The Message). Sadly, many people don’t learn anything from their life experiences, they keep making the same mistakes over and over again. You have probably met people like that. It is also important to learn life lessons from others (Proverbs 25:12). Mature people develop the habit of extracting lessons from everyday experiences. I urge you to make your own list and write them down. You haven’t really thought about them unless you have written them down. Here are a few questions to jog your memory and get you started. What has God taught me from failure? What has God taught me from a lack of money? What has God taught me from pain and sorrow or depression? What has God taught me through waiting? What has God taught me through illness? What has God taught me from disappointment? What have I learned from my family, church, relationships, and critics?

Your Life Message includes your godly passions: ADONAI is a passionate God. He passionately loves some things and passionately hates other things. As you grow closer to Him, He will give you a passion for something He cares about deeply so you can be a representative for Him in the world. Whatever it is, you feel compelled to speak up about it and do what you can to make a difference. God gives us passions so that everything He wants done in the world will get done. You cannot keep yourself from talking about what you care about most. Yeshua said: A person’s heart determines their speech (Matthew 12:34). David said: My passion for God and His work burns hot within me (Psalm 69:9). And Jeremiah said: Your message burns in my heart and bones, and I cannot keep silent (Jeremiah 20:9). But you should not expect everyone else to be passionate about your passion. Indeed, we must listen to and value each other’s life message. Never belittle someone else’s godly passion because it’s fine to be passionate, provided the purpose is good (Gal 4:18).

Your Life Message includes the Good News: What is the Good News? The Good news shows how God makes people right with Himself – that it begins and ends with faith (Romans 1:17 NCV). For God was in Messiah, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. This is the wonderful message He has given to us to tell others (Second Corinthians 5:19 NLT). The Good News is that when we trust God’s grace to save us through what Yeshua did, our sins are forgiven, we get a purpose for living, and we are promised a future home in heaven. What are you willing to do so that people you know will go to heaven? Don’t miss the opportunities God is giving you. Is anyone going to be in heaven because of you? Will anyone in heaven be able to say to you, “I want to thank you. I’m here because you cared enough to share the Good News with me?” Imagine the joy of greeting people in heaven whom you helped get there. The eternal salvation of a single soul is more important than anything else you will ever achieve in this life. Only people are going to last forever.⁹²

Today’s Messianic Movement
2:14 to 4:6

As J. K. McKee relates in his commentary on Second Corinthians, there are significant statements appearing in Second Corinthians Chapter 3, which bear understandable importance for today’s Messianic movement, as they involve Jewish evangelism and common Jewish resistance to the Good News of Yeshua Messiah. Second Corinthians 3:14 depicts the common predicament of Jewish people often being closed to the Gospel: Their minds were made stonelike; for to this day the same veil remains over them when they read the Old Covenant; it has not been unveiled, because only by the Messiah is the veil taken away. For the apostle Paul writing in the First Century, much of this was just the result of a stubbornness and close-mindedness which needed to be overcome. But for many today, both Gentiles and Messianic Jews, this close-minded obstinance has been compounded by a complicated history of relations between the Jewish Synagogue and a largely Gentile Christian Church that has often wanted little or nothing to do with its faith heritage and connections with Judaism. The Messianic community has emerged to resolve some of these problems.

While there are deep emotions and experiences which can be invoked, when today’s Messianic people approach Second Corinthians Chapter 3 – there are also significant theological discussions and debates that one will encounter, which many of today’s Messianic people, unfortunately, do not tend to handle very well. Many Christian readers of Second Corinthians Chapter 3 draw the conclusion that Paul teaches that the Old Covenant – widely classified to be the Torah – was a veil of condemnation and death that was abolished by the work of Jesus Christ. Consequently, any one purporting to be a believer in Jesus should not even consider following its commandments and instructions. However, when one pays close attention to the statements made within the text of Second Corinthians Chapter 3, a much different picture is presented than the one of the “Old Covenant law” needing to be superseded by “New Covenant grace.”

Even though it is common for one to hear a great deal of talk about the differences between the New Covenant and the Old Covenant, too frequently what “the Old Covenant” specifically composes or represents falls short of its real meaning. The term “ancient covenant” (Greek: tes palaias diathekes) only appears once in the entire Bible, in Second Corinthians 3:14. Most people who see Paul’s statement there, simply assume that “the reading of the ancient covenant” means “reading the Old Testament,” either the TaNaKh or perhaps just the Torah of Moses. Some might think that only those people who read these Scriptures cannot see the Messiah whose life is recorded in the New Covenant. But we need to remember that when Paul made this statement there was no “New Covenant” written (see the Commentary on Galatians, to see link click Ae – Dates of Books in the B’rit Chadashah).

While today’s Messianic Gentiles and Messianic Jews often use terms like Old and New Testament in a haphazard fashion because these are familiar terms used by scholars and laypersons alike. However, neither the TaNaKh nor the B’rit Chadashah make up a “covenant,” but are simply the inspired words of God delivered through His human vessels. Not only that, it cannot be overlooked that the terminology “ancient, or old covenant” is not used again until the late Second Century AD, in the writing of Melito of Sardis, a gap of around 140 years. Could it be that Paul had used “ancient covenant” to mean something a little different than merely what was written in the TaNaKh? We have to make a strong effort to understand what the “ancient covenant” is, as specifically defined by Paul. It is true that many contemporary non-believing Jews have hardened hearts and minds when they read the “ancient covenant,” meaning many contemporary non-believing Jews have some kind of inability to see the Messiah. Is “the Old Covenant” really the Torah? Or, in contrast to “the New Covenant” of permanent forgiveness and reconciliation, is “the Old Covenant” the ministry of death and condemnation?

Everyone who has come to faith in Yeshua Messiah, being cleansed of his or her sins and spiritually regenerated, has tasted of the New Covenant. This is a reality after the cross and is accessible to all those who cry out to the Lord. Indeed, it involves a permanent forgiveness and cleansing from sins and a supernatural writing of God’s Torah on the hearts of those who seek Him.Therefore, the Torah cannot be divorced from the B’rit Chadashah believer. The expressed intention of the New Covenant as prophesied and anticipated in the TaNaKh (see the commentary on Jeremiah Eo – I Will Make a New Covenant with the People of Isra’el) is that the Lord will put His Torah in their minds and write it on their hearts (Hebrews 8:10b), speaking of inscribing His Teaching onto the hearts of the saved by the power of the Ruach so that they would have the ability to obey and keep it! This in no way abolishes the Torah, but reemphasizes its importance for those who intend to be holy.

Therefore, in this commentary, I take the position that what Paul is describing from 2:14 to 4:6 is a comparison between the lives of the unredeemed and the lives of the redeemed. The ancient text (3:14) or the written text (3:7) depicts the ministry of death and condemnation. This is how the Torah functions for those who are not in Messiah, who have a veil lying over their hearts, and who fail to have God’s Spirit write His Instruction on their hearts. The ministry of the Spirit and righteousness is how the Torah functions for those who are in Messiah, who have had the veil over their hearts removed, and who live according to the freedom from condemnation (Romans 8:1) that they have in Him. Within Paul’s discussion in Second Corinthians, he will compare and contrast what he labels as the ministry of death (3:7) or condemnation (3:9a), with the ministry of the Spirit (3:8) or righteousness (3:9b). Those who are not spiritually regenerated and are condemned as sinners, are subject to the effects of the former; while born again believers, who have recognized Yeshua as the Messiah of Isra’el, are the obvious beneficiaries of the latter.

Much of the Torah’s Instruction undeniably regards what will happen to people who violate the mitzvot of ADONAI (see the commentary on Romans Bm – The Consequences of Adam). For many people who read the Torah, and realize that they stand as condemned sinners before a holy and righteous God, this causes them to turn toward Him, utterly broken because of their human failures, and claim the covering of Yeshua Messiah so that they can be reconciled and redeemed (see the commentary on Romans Ax – The Universal Solution: Justification). The veil, that is to be removed, is the barrier that exists between an unredeemed sinner and a Perfect God. Unfortunately for many people, be it “the religious Jew” (see the commentary on Romans At – The Religious Jew), or “the good person” (see the commentary on Romans Ao – The Good Person), they can be so stubborn that they remain unconvinced of their need for Yeshua Messiah in their lives, so that the ministry of death and condemnation can be nullified.⁸⁶

Paul Reflects on His Ministry
2:14 to 7:4

Buckle your seat belt, hold on to your hat, and get ready for a radical right turn. Paul makes such a dramatic shift in his content that it’s almost as if we’re pulling some serious “G’s” as we move from Paul’s lament over the situation in Corinth to his praise to ADONAI for the privileges of being His servant.⁸³ Here we step into the very heart of the letter. Indeed, this section grounds the whole of Second Corinthians, giving it its theological center of gravity.⁸⁴ His outpouring of thanks to God may anticipate his joy over the happy result from “the severe letter” and Titus’ visit (to see link click Bl – The Effects of the Severe Letter), but Paul specifically gives thanks for all that YHVH had done in his ministry. He thanks the LORD because His designs are wiser and more powerful than the Adversary’s and because, in spite of setbacks here-and-there, the knowledge of the Eternal One spreads everywhere through the apostolic preaching like a sweet-smelling aroma. The preaching generates different responses – both rejection which leads to death and acceptance which leads to life. The life-and-death impact of Paul’s apostolic ministry causes him to reflect, and ask who is adequate to shoulder the responsibility for proclaiming such a potent Word from the Most Holy One.⁸⁵

Paul’s Anxiety in Troas
2: 12-13

Paul’s anxiety in Troas DIG: Until Titus returned with good news, Paul “could not rest.” What does that reveal about Paul’s concern for his church? What does the phrase “a door had been opened” for him mean? What was the source of Paul’s anxiety? Where was he headed?

REFLECT: When has the Lord brought you full circle back to the place you started ministering so you could finish what you started? When was the last time you couldn’t rest because of a ministry opportunity? What opposition to your ministry are you facing now?

ADONAI does not guarantee emotional peace in our ministry.

With these two verses we now come full circle in Paul’s explanation concerning his change of travel plans (to see link click Al – A Change of Plans). Moreover, these verses also form a wonderfully crafted transition that both opens the way for what follows (2:14-17), and yet anticipates the resumption of the travel narrative (7: 5-16), which both make reference to the apostle coming from Macedonia, to him not having rest, and to Titus. It also addresses his many troubles which have caused some of the Corinthians to question his suitability and qualifications as an apostle.⁷⁹

Now when I went to Troas to proclaim the Good News of the Messiah (2:12a). The full name of Troas was Alexandria the Troas, which distinguished it from other cities named Alexandria. It was located in the province of Mysia near the mouth of the Dardanelles. It was about ten miles from the famous city of Troy, for which it was named. Troas was founded in 300 BC, and Emperor Agustus had granted it the coveted status of a Roman colony. “The Troad” with the definite article may refer to the region of the Troad and not just the city of Troas itself; but since the city was a seaport on the Aegean Sea, it would have been the most likely rendezvous point for Paul to wait for the return of Titus.

And then a door of opportunity had been opened for me [in Macedonia] by the Lord (2:12b). The word and (Greek: kai) can be considered a conjunction, as communicating a consecutive event. Read this way, the open door came following Paul’s arrival in Troas. The apostle commonly used that phrase to describe ministry opportunities. In First Corinthians 16:8-9 Paul spoke of an open door at Ephesus, “But I will remain in Ephesus until Shavu’ot, because a great and important door has been opened for my work, and there are many people opposing me.” After returning to their home church at Antioch after their First Missionary Journey, Paul and Barnabas reported what God had done through them, that He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles (Acts 14:27). Paul urged the Colossians to pray that God may open a door for us to proclaim the message about the Messiah (Colossians 4:3).⁸⁰

Paul candidly shared his anxiety: I could not rest because of the opportunity in Macedonia, and because I failed to find my brother Titus (2:13a). Titus had been an important traveling companion and associate of Paul’s, first mentioned in the Jerusalem meeting of Galatians 2:1-3, and as a Greek doubtlessly aided Paul in his many encounters in the Mediterranean world. The apostle was burdened because he didn’t know how the Corinthians had responded to his “severe letter,” and that anxiety was compounded when the days passed with no word from Titus. Could the unexpected delay signal that all had not gone well at Corinth? Had his worst fears been realized and the situation gotten much worse? He didn’t know. Therefore, he was beside himself. We learn later in the letter that the plans of ADONAI overruled, and Paul’s anxiety was transformed into joy (see Bl – The Effects of the Severe Letter).

We do not know why Titus had been delayed in his travel, but it seems obvious that Paul had expected his younger fellow minister, and was disturbed when he did not show up on time. In any case, the apostle’s statement that he could not rest is telling and adds to the overall picture of Paul being anxious over the situation in Corinth. However, it may also be that he was anxious because of the great opportunity to preach the gospel in Macedonia, as suggested by the glowing report of the churches there (see Bn – A Biblical Model for Giving). The opportunity, however, coincided with all kinds of troubles – altercations without and apprehensions within (7:5), as ministry opportunity often does.⁸¹

It is important to understand that the leadership of the Lord and the purposefulness of the gospel ministry are not guarantees of emotional peace. Paul was anxious when Titus did not show up in Troas, and his initial experiences in Macedonia were anything but peaceful (7:5). ADONAI encouraged the apostle when Titus finally showed up, but Second Corinthians shows us a great deal of anxiety on Paul’s part (1:8-9 and 11:27-28 for example). He was not debilitated by it, but he was affected, and driven to deeper dependence on the Lord. Therefore, we should not read a lack of emotional peace as an indication that YHVH has not led us in our ministries. We are sometimes led to difficult places for the sake of the gospel. Anxiety may simply be a normal part of life in such places.⁸²

So Paul left the fellow believers in Troas (Acts 16:8-11) and went on to Macedonia (2:13b). Travel was greatly affected by the seasons of the year. Perhaps winter had set in and closed the seas to travel by ship. Paul knew that if Titus had not arrived by that point, he would need to travel overland. So Paul moved north to Macedonia. Hopefully, the Corinthians would understand why.

As mentioned earlier, Second Corinthians is the most personally revealing of all Paul’s letters, and here is a great example. Paul wasn’t worrying about himself. He was anxious that the Corinthians would not be taken advantage of by the Adversary (2:11-12)! Humanly speaking, it looked like the end of the battle, with the Evil One as the victor. When speaking of his open door in Ephesus, he added: And there are many people opposing me (16:9b). Now that doesn’t fit what most of us think. We believe that when ADONAI opens the door for ministry it’s going to be just smooth sailing. And if we do have any problems or opposition, that must not be God’s will or plan. But Scripture teaches us just the opposite. When ADONAI is at work . . . the Adversary is at work. So when you face opposition from the Evil One in your ministry, know that you are on the right track because you are a threat to him.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that You go with us in all our trials. For God Himself has said: I will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Thank You that when we have no idea where to turn from the opposition – You have it all figured out. Though You are all knowing and can wipe out anything in Your path – You sometimes allow trials, for it is often thru trials that You receive the greatest glory. Trials are an opportunity for You to show Your wisdom and mighty hand and glorify Your name as the trial is turned into a victory. Yes, you yourselves planned evil against me. God planned it for good (Genesis 50:20).

Though it is hard when we are trying to serve You and injustice comes against us, yet we can still hold tight to Your hand that is holding us and trust You. For You have been my help, My soul clings to You . . . Your right hand upholds me (Psalms 63:8a-9). When David had been anointed king of Isra’el and Sha’ul was trying to kill him, David could have complained, but instead he looked up lovingly to You and chose to focus on his relationship with You as being the source of his joy. Since Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You (Psalms 63:3). Please remind us of the eternal nature of Your loving relationship and that trials soon will be over.  For I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the coming glory to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18).

Thank You for the joy of sharing your eternal love with others. Though some may not listen, with eternity on the line, the problems and trials we encounter while sharing about you – are nothing compared to the joy of pleasing such a wonderful and loving Heavenly Father! Your Spirit can use the words we speak to remind and convict sinners so they repent, turn from their sins and have deep peace in loving and serving the Great King of kings! It is a joy to serve You – even in times of trials. In your holy Son’s name and power of resurrection Amen.

Forgiving the Offender
2: 5-11

The blessings of forgiveness DIG: Who was offended besides Paul? Why was it important for the Corinthian church to forgive and restore the repentant believer? What does this teach us about how we should respond to those who hurt us? How can spiritual leaders benefit from Paul’s example? How does this passage apply to church discipline today?

REFLECT: Is there someone you need to forgive and comfort? Or would you just rather have an uneasy peace? Is it ok for a believer to be depressed? How much has Messiah forgiven you? What is the difference between forgiveness and trust? Is there someone whom you need to show mercy to? What is the four-step process that Satan uses to tempt you?

We all agree that forgiveness is a beautiful idea until we have to practice it.

Paul’s “severe letter” proved to be effective in that the Corinthians did take strong disciplinary action against the offender. Having heard of the strong action taken, Paul was both relieved (to see link click Bl – The Effects of the Severe Letter) and concerned.⁶⁸ The Corinthians obviously do not need Paul to tell them what happened, and dredging up the unhappy details might awaken the old feelings of anger again. The wounds were still healing, and rehearsing the events that caused them served no purpose. The anonymous person had repented.

Now if someone has been a cause of pain, it is not I whom he has pained, but, in some measure – I don’t want to overstate it – all of you (2:5). The church as a whole, as well as Paul, had been affected. He had most likely rejected Paul’s authority as an apostle, influenced greatly by the false apostles (see Af – The Problem of the False Apostles). When Paul learned about the offense, he protested loudly. His protest inflamed the offender and made him resentful, and he, in turn, protested against Paul. Loudly. When Paul arrived in person on his brief, unscheduled visit (see Ae – Events Between First Corinthians and Second Corinthians), the offender took the initiative to make his feeling known publicly to try to shame Paul in some way. The dispute, therefore, reached the boiling point with this public confrontation. It was either going to get better or go very, very badly, which might permanently destroy Paul’s relationship with the church. Paul had no intention of forcing the Corinthians to fall in line because that would defeat his purpose of developing churches capable of standing on their own-two-feet and making mature decisions for themselves without constant supervision. So to keep the situation from blowing up, Paul left and went back to Ephesus. But he had no intention of sacrificing his core values for the sake of an uneasy peace. Nor would he ever give up on the church. Therefore, a stinging letter was the best solution because it gave him the opportunity to lay out the issues calmly. The ultimate goal was to bring about a peaceful resolution, not an unholy compromise.⁶⁹

Turning from the injury done, Paul declared: The punishment that had already been imposed on him by the church was sufficient (2:6a). He had suffered enough, and it was time to show him mercy, and restore him to fellowship. Punishment (Greek: epitimia) appears only here in the B’rit Chadashah. Both its use in extra biblical Greek writings and the context of this passage suggest epitimia refers to an official disciplinary act by the majority: excommunication or disfellowshipping. The B’rit Chadashah teaches that the Church is to discipline sinning believers (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Gi – If Brother or Sister Sins, Go and Point Out Their Fault). Paul had earlier dealt with another sinning member (see the commentary on First Corinthians Ba – Failure to Discipline an Immoral Brother).

But here, the Corinthian congregation had officially acted and put the sinning individual out of the church. Apparently that discipline had had its desired effect and the man repented. So it was time to forgive and restore him. In Galatians 6:1 Paul commanded: Brothers, suppose someone is caught doing something wrong. You who have the Spirit should set him right, but in a spirit of humility, keeping an eye on yourselves so that you won’t be tempted also. He encouraged the Ephesians: Be kind to each other, tenderhearted; and forgive each other, just as in the Messiah God has also forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32). In Colossians 3:13 he wrote that believers are to be characterized by bearing with one another; if anyone has a complaint against someone else, forgive him. Indeed, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive. We are never more like ADONAI than when we show forgiving mercy to a repentant sinner.⁷⁰

Sorrowfully, confessing his tragic sin with Bathsheba, David acknowledged the sad reality that sin steals joy. He begged ADONAI, “Restore my joy in your salvation, and rescue me from the guilt of shedding blood, God, God of my salvation! Then my tongue will sing about your righteousness” (Psalm 51:12 and 14). Confession and repentance restores the joy that God desires all believers to have (John 15:11, 16:24, 17:12; Second John 12; Galatians 5:22).

Some of the Corinthians believed that the person who had offended Paul needed to suffer further before being restored. But Paul disagreed, he knew what it was to be depressed (1:8-9a and 4:8-10a) and he didn’t want to inflict that on anyone else unnecessarily. So Paul insisted that now they should do the opposite – forgive him, encourage him, comfort him (2:6b). His pain had brought him to repentance, and now it was time to restore his joy. The church cannot set arbitrary limits on grace and mercy; it cannot reject a truly repentant person, no matter how serious the sin. If the church had failed to restore the repentant man, they would have sunk to the level of those who caused the problems in the first place. They would have been perpetuating a spirit of contention and division within the church.

Otherwise, Paul feared, “such a person might be overwhelmed with depression” (2:7). This suggests that Titus, who had recently returned from Corinth, had probably observed that very real possibility and reported it to Paul. The word overwhelmed (Greek: katapino) is also used of animals who “devour” their prey, and of waves of water that “swallow up” people. Paul was afraid that the offender, if not forgiven, would drown in his sorrow.⁷² Sinners must pass through a period of despair, but the danger comes when they become permanently mired in gloom and lose all hope of forgiveness. Feeling that there is no way out can present an even worse danger to the soul.⁷³ Once again Paul’s pastoral concern emerges as he showed deep concern for the offender’s welfare. He wasn’t interested in revenge, all he wanted was restoration.

Fellowship is a place of grace, where mistakes aren’t rubbed in but rubbed out. Fellowship happens when mercy wins over justice. We all need mercy, because we all stumble and fall and require help getting back on track. We need to offer mercy to each other and be willing to receive it from each other. You can’t fellowship without forgiveness. ADONAI warns: Never hold grudges (Colossians 3:13 LB) because bitterness and resentment always destroy fellowship. Because we’re imperfect, sinful people, we inevitably hurt each other when we’re together for a long enough time. Sometimes we hurt each other intentionally and sometimes unintentionally, but either way, it takes massive amounts of mercy and grace to create and maintain fellowship. You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others (Philippians 2:3-4 NCV).

God’s mercy to us is the motivation for showing mercy to others. Remember, you will never be asked to forgive someone else more than Ha’Shem has already forgiven you. Whenever you are hurt by someone, you have a choice to make: Will I use my energy and emotions for revenge or restoration? You can’t do both. Many people are reluctant to show mercy because they don’t understand the difference between trust and forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past. Trust has to do with future behavior. Forgiveness is immediate, whether or not a person asks for it. Trust must be built over time. Trust requires a track record. If someone hurts you repeatedly, you are commanded by God to forgive them instantly, but you are not expected to continue allowing them to hurt you. They must prove they have changed over time. The best place to restore trust is within the supporting context of a small group that offers encouragement and accountability.⁷⁴

So I urge you to show that you really do love him (2:8). The centrality of love in the life of believers emerges in this context. Paul wrote his earlier letter to the Corinthians that they might know his love for them (2:4). Now he encourages them to show their love to this man who had wronged Paul, and whom Paul had forgiven. This practical, all-too-human situation provided an opportunity for all parties: apostle and people, to display love, the most important fruit (see the commentary on Galatians Bw – The Fruit of the Ruach is Love), the way of excellence, which is the mark of the believer and the fulfillment of the “new commandment” of Yeshua, fulfilling the Torah’s true meaning (John 13:34-35; First Corinthians 9:21; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:14 and 6:2).⁷⁵

Paul now shifts his attention from the offender to the Corinthians themselves. While it was true that “the severe letter’s” purpose was to demand disciplinary action against the offender, this demand was also intended to test the Corinthians’ obedience. The reason I wrote you was to see if you would pass the test, to see if you would fully obey me (2:9). What Paul expected was not obedience to him personally, but obedience to the gospel and its implications. It is significant that throughout his letters Paul consistently bases his ethical demands first on the principles of the gospel, not upon his personal authority. It was to the gospel and its implications that believers must be obedient.⁷⁶

Paul then called upon his readers to forgive the offender. Paul’s agreement with the majority’s decision to forgive the offender demonstrated his humility. He did not agree with the “Paul party” who wanted the man to suffer more. Indeed, Paul had already forgiven him if, he added, there has been anything to forgive. Once again, the apostle downplayed the offense against him. His primary concern was for the fellowship to be restored and for there to be unity in the Corinthian church. Therefore, reinforcing the solidarity between the apostle and the Corinthians, Paul declared: Anyone you forgive, I forgive too (2:10a).

Paul lived his whole life in the presence of the Messiah (2:10b), aware that the Lord knew his every thought, word, and deed. Later in this chapter he reminded the Corinthians that he spoke standing in God’s presence (2:17). He declared that he didn’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. He emphasized to the Corinthians that he told the truth before God, and all who are honest knew that (4:2 NLT). To Timothy he wrote: I solemnly charge you before God and the Messiah Yeshua, who will judge the living and the dead when he appears and establishes his Kingdom: proclaim the Word! Be on hand with it whether the time seems right or not. Convict, censure and exhort with unfailing patience and with teaching (Second Timothy 4:1-2). Paul eagerly forgave the one who had offended him because Messiah, in whose presence he constantly lived, had fully forgiven him.⁷⁷

Finally, to withhold forgiveness when the man was repentant was to play right into the hands of the master strategist, Satan. So that we will not be taken advantage of by the Adversary. It helps to know that he is entirely predictable. He has used the same strategy and old tricks since the Creation. All temptations follow the same pattern. That’s why Paul said: For we are quite aware of his schemes (2:11-12)! From the Bible we learn that temptation follows a four-step process, which the Lawless One used on both Adam and Eve and on Yeshua.

In step one, the Dragon identifies a desire inside of you. It may be a sinful desire, like the desire to get revenge or to control others, or it may be a legitimate, normal desire, like the desire to be loved or valued or to feel pleasure. Temptation starts when the Tempter suggests (with a thought) that you give in to an evil desire, or that you fulfill a legitimate desire in a wrong way or at the wrong time. Always be aware of shortcuts. They are often temptations! The Evil One whispers, “You deserve it! You should have it now! It will be exciting . . . comforting . . . or make you feel better!” We think that temptation lies outside of us, but ADONAI says it begins within us. If you didn’t have the internal desire, the temptation could not attract you. Temptation always starts in your mind, not in your circumstances. Yeshua said: For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within (Mark 7:21-23 NLT). And James tells us that there is a whole army of evil desires within you (James 4:1 LB).

Step two is doubt. The Deceiver tries to get you to doubt what YHVH has said about sin: Is it really wrong? Did God really say not to do it? Didn’t God mean not to do this for someone else or some other time? Doesn’t God want me to be happy? But the Bible warns: Watch out! Don’t let evil thoughts or doubts make any of you turn from the living God (Hebrews 3:12 CEV).

Step three is deception. The Wicked One is incapable of telling the truth and is called the father of lies (John 8:44). Anything he tells you will be untrue or just half-true. The old Serpent offers his lie to replace what YHVH has already said in His Word. The Angel of Light says, “You will not die. You are more wise than God. You can get away with it. No one will ever know. It will solve all your problems. Besides, everyone else is doing it. It’s only a little sin.” But a little sin is like being a little pregnant. It will eventually show itself!

Step four is disobedience. You finally act on the thought you’ve been toying with in your mind. What began as an idea got birthed into behavior. You give in to whatever got your attention. You believe the lies of the Enemy and fall into the trap that James warns us about: We are tempted when we are drawn away and trapped by our own evil desires. Then our evil desires conceive and give birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my dear friends (James 1:14-16 TEV)!

It’s not a sin to be tempted. Yeshua was tempted, yet He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). Temptation only becomes a sin when you give in to it. Martin Luther (1483-1546), the German theologian who started the Protestant Reformation, said, “You can’t keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” You can’t keep the Devil from suggesting thoughts, but you can choose not to dwell or act on them.⁷⁸

Paul’s Painful Visit
1:23 to 2:4

Paul’s painful visit DIG: What caused Paul to change his travel plans? What was “the severe letter?” Why did Paul write it? What evidence of Paul’s compassion and love do you see here? What type of leadership did Paul display? What was Paul’s basic reaction to the most severe troubles that beset him? What is “the glue” that holds a congregation together?

REFLECT: What ministry team are you a part of? Think of the last time you felt discouraged in your ministry? What led to that season of discouragement? What can you take from Paul’s account to help you better handle discouragement the next time it comes? Is your desire for unity greater than your desire for holiness and purity? Do you think team? Why? Why not?

When we keep our eyes on Yeshua we can accomplish everything that ADONAI has for us.

Because of the arrival of false apostles who claimed apostolic authority (to see link click Af – The Problem of the False Apostles) from Judea, Paul ended up making a second brief, unscheduled visit directly across the Aegean Sea from Ephesus to Corinth in 55 AD, but one that was unsuccessful in reducing the level of opposition against him, especially from one particular individual (2:1 and 13:2). During this visit Paul was personally attacked (2:5 and 7:12). It was a painful visit for both Paul and his spiritual children in Corinth. But Paul was still hopeful that he could communicate in such a way that would finalize a reconciliation between him and the church that he founded.⁵⁹

Stating the purity of his motives, Paul declared: I call upon God as my witness (1:23a). First, in Paul’s eyes ADONAI, the Supreme Judge of all, who knows all the nooks-and-crannies of a person’s heart, whose discerning Spirit probes all motives and sorts out all intentions, was his ultimate, incomparable as a witness – a witness who puts to rest the need for any other. Second, the phrase translated as my witness could more literally be rendered about my life, or even against my life, suggesting that Paul was submitting himself before God as Judge, and therefore, going so far as to be putting his own life on the line if he was lying.⁶⁰

To call upon (Greek: epikaloumai) is a common legal term in the TaNaKh for summoning witnesses to a trial – equivalent to our subpoena today. Under Jewish law any matter had to be verified by two or three witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15). Since there were no human witnesses who could testify about the intentions of his heart, Paul called on God as his sole witness to testify to the fact that it was to spare the Corinthians that he did not pay them a return visit. It was the heart of a shepherd, not indecisiveness, that caused him to change his travel plans.⁶¹

Paul declared: God knows what my life is like – that the reason I held back from coming to Corinth was out of consideration for you (1:23b)! Despite the dark thoughts that some of the Corinthians held against him, Paul mercifully wanted to give them time to correct the problems he wrote of in First Corinthians. Also, some in Corinth were guilty of being led into mutiny, which prompted “the severe letter” of 2:4. He wanted to give those who had been led astray by the false apostles time to repent. The apostle was also hoping for a good report from Titus about the Corinthians’ repenting and rejecting the false apostles in favor of him before visiting them. Much to his relief, after a time, that report was a positive one (see Bl – The Effects of the Severe Letter).⁶²

Ever sensitive to avoid provoking unnecessary conflict, Paul quickly added a very positive disclaimer. We are not trying to dictate how you must live out your trust in the Messiah (1:24a). The apostle was obligated to serve his converts, not to dominate them. Peter would later write to all those in leadership: Shepherd the flock of God that is in your care, exercising oversight not out of constraint, but willingly, as God wants; and not out of a desire for dishonest gain, but with enthusiasm, also not as doers domineering over those in your care, but as people who become examples to the flock (First Peter 5:2-3). Paul never abused his apostolic authority to gain prestige, power, or to further his own selfish aims. It was his privilege to work with them. And his goal, even in disciplining some of the unruly Corinthians, was the joy that their obedience to the Lord would bring to them.

Paul was confident that in their trust (their salvation) the Corinthians were standing firm (1:24b). It was true that they had come to faith through Paul’s ministry, but their belief in Yeshua was their own, and rested on the power of God (First Corinthians 2:5; 15:1-11). As a result, their belief in Yeshua was a private matter between them and God (Romans 5:1-2, 11:20), and in this respect, they were subject to no one else (Romans 14:4).⁶³ And obviously, this has also been true down through the ages and is true for us today.

Continuing this thought, Paul reasoned: Rather, we are working with you for your own joy (1:24c). Looking back on his ministry in Corinth, Paul reminded them of what he had said earlier: We are God’s co-workers with you (First Corinthians 3:9a). The apostle viewed the body of Messiah as a team, working together. Thus, Paul’s apostolic “team” sought the joy of the community, a joy that had been disturbed by the arrival of the false apostles, who had turned some away from Paul. Such joy is integral to the Good News that they preached because it came from the Ruach Ha’Kodesh (Romans 14:17; Galatians 5:22; First Thessalonians 1:6) and from ADONAI (Romans 15:13). This is why Paul could say unashamedly that his joy was their joy (2:3); for he was speaking not of a merely human emotion, but the joy that comes from God’s Spirit.⁶⁴

So I made up my mind that I would not pay you another painful visit (2:1). He was openly attacked (2:5-8 and 10, 7:12) and the Corinthians did not defend him. But by giving the Corinthians time to repent, Paul hoped to avoid another painful encounter with them. So his change in travel plans was not motivated by being double-minded or unreliable as the false apostles had evidently claimed, but by Paul’s sensitivity toward his beloved church.⁶⁵ Paul’s other proposed visit (First Corinthians 16:1-8) never came to pass. What seemingly changed his mind was the fact that the second visit was so painful, that he needed to be certain that things had calmed down before he dared to come again – and it was left to Titus to bring the whole situation under control (Second Corinthians 2;12-13, 7:5-7, 13b-16).

Paul faced a dilemma. To come to Corinth might intensify the problem and the pain; however, to stay away would allow the problems to fester and make reconciliation more difficult. Not only that, to inflict pain on the Corinthians at that time would have effectively dried up the very source of his own joy – the Corinthians themselves! If by merely showing up I would put you in an embarrassingly painful position, how would you then be free to encourage and refresh me (2:2 The Message)? Paul’s solution to his dilemma was to write a painfully severe letter of rebuke. Unlike many in the Church today, Paul did not place church unity above truth and holiness. He was willing to confront unrepentant sin, even at the cost of his own joy. There could be no joy in his relationship with the Corinthians until the offender (2:5) had been brought to repentance and restored to fellowship (see Ap – Forgiving the Offender).

Indeed, this is why I wrote “the severe letter” as I did – so that when I came, I would not have to be pained by those who ought to give me the greatest joy. Paul expected his letter to cause his readers to take the necessary steps to remove the source of the friction which existed between them and their apostle. During the painful visit Paul had endured much pain by the offender, while the Corinthians, who should have made Paul rejoice, apparently stood by and did nothing. “The severe letter” was intended to ensure that this would not happen again. That reconciliation with them would bring as much joy to them as it would for Paul because they were all one in joy as well as in sorrow. For I had enough confidence in all of you that you would share my joy (2:3). Paul could tackle the thorny problem of the discipline of the one who caused pain, confident of the basic goodwill of the Corinthians towards him at this point.⁶⁶

Paul was not stoic about the pain the dispute had caused him, but expressed the depth of his own feelings on the matter. He wrote “the severe letter” to the Corinthians with a greatly distressed, anguished heart, and with many tears, not in order to cause them pain, but to get them to realize how very much he loved them (2:4). His greatest desire was that they would obey the Word, discipline the offender, and bring purity and peace to the congregation. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful (Proverbs 27:6). On the one hand, Paul knew that his words would wound those he loved, and this brought him much pain. But, on the other hand, he also knew (as every loving parent knows) that there is a big difference between hurting someone and harming them. Sometimes those who love us must hurt us in order to keep us from harming ourselves.⁶⁷

When we have conflicts, when we stop working together, what holds us together is love for God, love for His Word, love for the body of Messiah, and love for each other. That was the solution to the division between those in Corinth, and for us today. So how do we do that? By keeping our eyes on Yeshua, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2 HCSB). When we keep our eyes on Yeshua, when conflict comes (and it will), we will endure. When we deal with difficulties, we will make it through. We shouldn’t fight each other for control, but work together as a part of the body of Messiah. When we do that, we can accomplish everything that ADONAI has for us.

God’s Seal of Approval
1: 15-22

God’s seal of approval DIG: What was Paul being accused of? Who led the charge against him? What does ADONAI guarantee through the Ruach Ha’Kodesh? What is His seal of approval? Why is that important? What does Paul mean when he says the God’s promises are “Yes” in Messiah? Corinth was the commercial center of the Roman Empire. What do the metaphors in 1:22 indicate what Yeshua has done for believers?

REFLECT: What does Paul’s example mean to you in terms of how you relate to others? What does it mean that Yeshua is the “Yes” of God’s promises to you? What have you promised to God? What has He promised to you? Can you keep all the promises you make to God or other people? Can God keep all of His promises to you? How would you paraphrase the “business deal” of 1:22 into today’s terms? How have you experienced this type of spiritual “new deal.”

ADONAI has set His seal of approval upon us,
and given us His Spirit in our hearts guaranteeing everything He has promised us.

When you think about the criticisms that had been leveled at Paul in Corinth, they seem quite trivial. First, they picked at him for changing his travel plans (to see link click Al – Change of Plans). In his first letter he had mentioned that it was his plan to come by land through Macedonia and then to visit them. Evidently they had understood that he was coming to them first, and were upset at what seemed to them a change of plans. In their childlike behavior they had completely forgotten that Paul had qualified his plans with the words: I am hoping to spend some time with you if he Lord allows it (First Corinthians 16:7).⁴⁷

The subject of Paul’s visits is taken up intermittently throughout his letter – here, 2:1-2 and 12-13, 7:5-7, 8:16-24, 12:14 and 13:1. More than any other of his letters, he does not progress straight from one subject to next, but constantly moves back and forth in his writing between distance and presence, past and future, advice and praise, comfort and warning, abstraction and detail, theology and practice, reverence and irony, a firm hand and kid gloves. The effect is to create a many-layered texture of humanness.⁴⁸

Paul begins by outlining the travel plans he had intended to follow before his plans changed, as well as his motivation for those initial plans. At the time of the writing of First Corinthians, during the previous calendar year, Paul outlined his plans for a visit to Corinth, which would coincide with the Corinthians’ finalization of the collection for the poor Jews in Jerusalem. He would leave Ephesus after Shavu’ot (in the spring), travel through Macedonia during the summer and fall, and arrive in Corinth, where he would spend the winter before being sent on his way to Jerusalem (First Corinthians 17:5-6).

As things turned out, however, he made an unscheduled visit to Corinth beforehand, which resulted in pain for both him and the Corinthians (see Ao – Paul’s Painful Visit). It was probably during this visit that he changed his plans, confident of the Corinthians’ understanding of him. At the time he felt the Corinthians would give him the benefit of the doubt on such a change, especially since it would involve the benefit of two visits instead of one. Reflecting on his original plans, he now writes: So sure was I of this that I had planned to come and see you, so that you might have the benefit of a second visit. I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, visit you again on my way back from Macedonia, and then have you send me on my way to Y’hudah (1:15-16). The implication being that the second visit would be more pleasant, and for a longer period of time than his brief and painful visit.⁴⁹

But Paul enemies, led by the false apostles (see Af – The Problem of the False Apostles), pounced on this minor change in travel plans and accused him of not being trustworthy and being double-minded. They ridiculously, but apparently with some success, argued that if Paul’s statements about his travel plans were untrustworthy, why should the Corinthians believe anything that came out of his mouth. However, Paul was not two-faced. His circumstances had changed, but not his heart attitude. Here Paul affirms that he is loyal to his flock.⁵⁰ His travel plans had been overruled by ADONAI, whom he followed without hesitation.

Paul categorially deines that his change of travel plans was due to any flaw in his character. His plans were made for their benefit (1:15); therefore, they were not made lightly. Did I make these plans lightly? Or do I make plans the way a worldly man does, ready to say, “Yes, yes,” and “No, no,” in the same breath (1:17)? He did say one thing and do another, but that didn’t mean he was indifferent to them, that he made his plans without thinking, or that he was irresponsible. He goes on to explain that his shift in plans was made after the painful visit, with them in mind. The apostle simply didn’t want to cause them any more sorrow. Nevertheless, at least some of the Corinthians denounced him for lacking integrity.

Paul then strategically begins to shift the focus from his own trustworthiness to the trustworthiness of ADONAI. As surely as God is trustworthy, we don’t say “Yes” when we mean “No” (1:18)! The apostle uses these same words at two other places in the Corinthian correspondence (First Corinthians 1:9 and 10:13). It’s as if Paul is saying, “With God as my witness,” thus appealing strongly to YHVH as the One before whom he lives with integrity, pointing to Him as the ultimate witness of his motives and actions. Therefore, Paul does not respond to doubts about his character by saying, “Trust me! I know what I’m doing and it’s for your own good.” Rather, he says in effect, “Trust God, His promises have been fulfilled in Messiah, and our trustworthiness in dealing with you has been guaranteed by our preaching Messiah to you.”⁵¹

So Paul confidently asserted: For the Son of God, the Messiah Yeshua, who was proclaimed among you through us – that is, through the preaching of me and Sila (Silas, Silvanus in Acts 15:22) and Timothy during Paul’s Second Missionary Journey (see the commentary on Acts Cc – Many Respond to the Good News in Corinth). This Word of the gospel was not filled with contradictions or wracked with uncertainty, with God giving a promise one minute and taking it back in the next. Rather, the word of promise, that word of which Yeshua is the heart, the Author, the content, the subject, the perfecter and the relational goal, has been answered with Him a resounding “Yes!” It is always “Yes” with Him. That is why it is through Him that we say the “Amen,” in effect our “Yes,” when we give glory to God (1:19-20b)!⁵²

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that Your promises are all one-hundred percent trustworthy. You never get too busy to forget a promise. You are never too sick or too tired to help. Your love is always operating at one hundred percent all the time, and is matched by Your perfect omniscience – knowing all about the problem and all about the best way to solve it. You are a God who desires to bless and to guide me. Your promise to always be with me – in good and in hard times, during the day, and all night long, is so comforting to me. For God Himself has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

Praise You that any where in the world that I go, You are always right there with me. If I go up to heaven, You are there, and if I make my bed in Sheol, look, You are there too. If I take the wings of the dawn and settle on the other side of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me (Psalms 139:8-10). It is such a comfort that when it is dark and I don’t know where to go or what to do, You see with the light of the future because nothing is dark to You. If I say, “Surely darkness covers me, night keeps light at a distance from me,” even darkness is not dark for You, and night is as bright as day – darkness and light are alike (Psalms 139:11-12). Your “Yes” is trustworthy! I love to trust, worship and obey You. Thank You for being my promise-keeping, wonderful heavenly Father! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

For however many promises God has made, they all find their “Yes” in connection with Yeshua (1:20a). Sometimes He fulfills them in His own Person, “He has become wisdom for us” (First Corinthians 1:30); He is the last Adam, so that His resurrection is guaranteed (First Corinthians 15; Romans 5:12-21). More than that, YHVH fulfills all His other promises through Him, because He embodies the fulness of the Trinity (Colossians 2:9), YHVH accomplishes everything through Him (John 1:1-5; Colossians 1:16-18; Heb 1:1-3).

Replacement theologians, who teach the traditional but mistaken doctrine that the Church has replaced the Jews as God’s people, misuse this verse. They say that since God’s promises find their “Yes” in connection with Yeshua, and Yeshua came two thousand years ago, “all the Old Testament promises have, in some mystical sense, already been fulfilled in Messiah, so that none remain for the Jews.” But the verse doesn’t say or mean that all the promises have already been fulfilled in, through, or by Yeshua. He is the instrument through whom God the Father has fulfilled, is fulfilling, and will fulfill every promise He has ever made to the Jewish people – including the promise that they will return from the diaspora to possess and live in the Land of Isra’el, the promise that the Kingdom will be restored, with the Son of David, Yeshua Ha’Meshiach, on the throne ruling and reigning from Jerusalem. Therefore, this verse, quite the opposite of saying that the Church has replaced the Jews in God’s future plans, assures us that YHVH wil fulfill every single one of His promises to the Jews (see the commentary on Romans Cn – The Centrality of Isra’el in the plan of ADONAI), and must not be turned into a pretext for cancelling them! Because, in the view of Replacement theologians, all the promises of YHVH made in the TaNaKh to the Jews have already found their “Yes” in Yeshua, they must necessarily regard as a fluke the existence of the State of Isra’el and the fact that a third of the Jews in the world now live there. For them this is a mere coincidence that no connection with prophecy fulfillment! ⁵³

Next we can see why Paul introduced the idea of the trustworthiness of Messiah, the One in whom ADONAI promises find their “Yes.” For it is in trustworthy Messiah that Paul and his co-workers have been established and anointed by YHVH as messengers of the gospel, and it was through Messiah that the Corinthians had received the seal of the Ruach. Simply put, Paul’s answer to those who said he was wishy-washy because of the change in his travel plans, is that God’s work in his life guaranteed the trustworthiness of what he said. So to explain the nature of this work of Ha’Shem in his life, Paul introduces us to four important words.

First, moreover, it is God who establishes (Greek: bebaioo, meaning to establish, to confirm, or to walk where it is fully reliable) believers in Messiah at salvation (1:21a). This is the saving grace that puts believers into a firm union with the Messiah (Romans 8:1, 16:11-3; First Corinthians 1:30, 3:1, 7:22; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 5:8; Colossians 1:2 and 28, 4:7) and with each other. Paul’s truthfulness could not be separated from that of the Corinthians, and to deny it was to deny the reality of their own spiritual life. Because they were fellow members of the body of Messiah, by attacking Paul’s truthfulness, the Corinthians ripped the fabric of the church’s spiritual unity. As their spiritual father (First Corinthians 4:15), to deny his truthfulness was, figuratively, to saw off the branch on which they were sitting.⁵⁴

Second, He has anointed (Greek: chrio, meaning to commission them for service) us (1:21b). Chiro is found in four other places in the B’rit Chadashsh, once in Hebrews 1:9, “O God, Your God has set You [Messiah] above Your companions [the angels] by anointing You with the oil [the Ruach Ha’Kodesh] of joy (Hebrews 1:8-9 quoting Psalm 45:6-7 CJB). And three times in the writings of Luke (Luke 4:18; Acts 4:27 and 10:38), where he uses it twice quite explicitly with respect to the anointing of the Ruach, and arguably it is implied in the third. Given the emphasis on the Spirit in the present context it is best to see here a reference to Paul and his collogues having been anointed by the Ruach, recognizing that their commission is intimately bound up with that. The related noun chrisma describes the anointing of all believers at the moment of faith into one body (First Corinthians 12:13).⁵⁵

Third, He has put His seal upon us (Greek: sphragizo, which signifies ownership and the full authority of its owner). In commercial documents it is the sealing of letters and sacks so the nobody could tamper with the contents. Used figuratively, to seal means to keep secret or stamp with a mark of identification (see the commentary on Revelation Cr – Then I Heard the Number of Those Who Were Sealed, 144,000 from all the Tribes of Isra’el). In Ephesians 1:13b-14a, Paul would say, “You were sealed with the promised Ruach Ha’Kodesh who guarantees our future inheritance.” Here, as in Ephesians 4:30 and Second Timothy 2:19, it refers believers’, stamped with God’s seal of approval, receiving the indwelling Ruach (Romans 8:9), whose presence identifies them as ADONAI’s true and eternal possession, whom He will protect and keep.⁵⁶

Fourth, and He has given us His Spirit in our hearts guaranteeing (Greek: arrabon, meaning a down payment or a deposit, the first installment) everything He has promised us (1:22), even eternal life (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer). Paul develops this idea in Ephesians 5:25-27, where the Church is portrayed as the bride-to-be and Messiah as the expected bridegroom. On His return they will be married. Meanwhile, the Church is in the process of being cleansed through the Word, so that she might be presented to Messiah as a radiant bride without spot or blemish.⁵⁷

Some people think that ADONAI is like a cosmic killjoy whose favorite word is “No!” But nothing could be further from the truth. God’s favorite word is “Yes.” Now, it doesn’t mean He condones sinful behavior, but He greatest desire is to say “Yes” to us. YHVH has made over eight thousand promises to you in the Bible and every one of those promises is “Yes.” Here are five promises that every believer should claim. We all claim different promises at different times in our lives. That’s human nature as we go through different circumstances. There is a promise for whatever you are going through in God’s Word.

God loves you unconditionally. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angles nor other heavenly rulers, neither what exits nor what is coming, neither powers above nor powers below, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which comes to us through the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord (Romans 8:38-39). How do we know that God loves us unconditionally, because First John 4:16 says: God is love. How do we know? Because the Bible says: For God so loved the world that He gave His only and unique Son, so that everyone who trusts in Him may have eternal life (John 3:16). But how do we really know? Because God’s Word says that God demonstrates His own love for us in that Messiah died on our behalf while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).

God loves you unconditionally, just the way you are. You don’t have to clean yourself up. You don’t have to fix yourself. You don’t have to get new clothes, you don’t have to get your tattoo removed. He loves you just as you are. But here is the other side of the coin. But God loves you too much to leave you like you are. When you come to Him, He is going to mold you into His image. He is going to transform you into the likeness of Messiah. He is going to make you a little more like Yeshua each and every day.

Since you have trusted in Yeshua, you are eternally secure in Him. Everyone who calls on the name of ADONAI will be saved (Romans 10:13). ADONAI is not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (Second Peter 3:9). How do I know that? Because God’s Word promises it. If I raise my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come? My help comes from ADONAI,the maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip – your Guardian is not asleep. No, the Guardian of Isra’el never slumbers or sleeps. ADONAI is your Guardian; at your right hand ADONAI provides you with shade – the sun can’t strike you during the day or even the moon at night. ADONAI will guard you against all harm; He will guard your life. ADONAI will guard your coming and going from now on and forever (Psalm 121:1-8). How do I know that? Because First John 5:11 says: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Those who have the Son have the life (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer).

God formed you intentionally and He knows you intimately. For you formed my inmost being, You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I thank You because I am awesomely made, wonderfully; Your works are wonders – I know this very well. My bones were not hidden from You when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes could see me as an embryo, but in Your book all my days were already written; my days had been shaped before any of them existed (Psalm 139:13-16). God formed you in His image and intentionally made you to have a relationship with Him. And He knows you imtimately: Examine me, God, and know my heart; test me, and know my thoughts. See if there is in me any hurtful way, and lead me along the eternal way (Psalm 139:23-24). You need to know something about God. There is not public life and private life with Him. He knows everything about you. He knows your thoughts. He not only knows what you do, He knows why you did it. There is not anything that you can tell God about what you’re going through and what you’re feeling that He doesn’t already know. So be honest with Him.

God has a plan for your life. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). The original context of this passage is from Jeremiah to the exiles in Babylon after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC (see the commentary on Jeremiah Ej – A Letter to the Exiles). But we can make an application to us today because the Bible says that our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20) and we are strangers, in effect, aliens and temporary residents on the earth (Hebrews 11:13b; First Peter 2:11a). God has formed you with a purpose. When you call to me and pray to Me, I will listen to you. When you seek Me, you will find Me, when you search for Me with all of your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).

You can do all things through Messiah. We are all human and there are times when we feel weak and don’t think that you can put one foot in front of the other. But God’s promise is that you can do all things through Messiah who gives you strength (Philippians 4:13). What then are we to say to these things? Think of all the profound questions to which God says “Yes.” Do you love me? Am I forgiven? Am I secure in Your love? Is there any purpose for my life? Is there life beyond the grave? To all these questions and more, God answers with an everlasting “Yes!” For if God is for us, who can be against us (Romans 5:31)?⁵⁸