A Time to Boast
1: 12-14

A time to boast DIG: What does your conscience have to do with who you are? In what does Paul boast? What was the basis for his integrity? How does a leader who uses his authority according to worldly wisdom differ from one who does so by the grace of ADONAI?

REFLECT: What is the relationship between your integrity and your willingness to recognize or accept your role in Kingdom work? What would be a greater source of pride for you – being a person of integrity or being recognized by others for the work you do? Explain.

If we boast at all, we should boast upholding the Name and accomplishments of ADONAI.

As a result of Paul’s change of travel plans (to see link click Al – A Change of Plans), there were some in Corinth who charged him with being insincere, deceptive, exploitative, unreliable, boastful and weak. But when people have a contentious attitude, they don’t need much excuse to find fault. Therefore, Paul was forced (2:11) to defend himself against these charges throughout this letter – always, as he painfully points out, for the twin purposes of benefitting the Corinthians and upholding the name of ADONAI. Never to puff himself up.³⁶ Later in his letter, Paul responded in detail to their lies about his character (see Bi – Do Not be Unequally Yoked with Unbelievers). But in the meantime, Paul was defenseless in the face of their false accusations. He had only one court of appeal – his clear conscience before God.

The testimony of Paul’s conscience (1:12): Paul answers the baseless charges against him in the only way possible – by appealing to the testimony of his own conscience and the Corinthians’ knowledge of his conduct. Paul’s letters were like his conduct: simple, sincere, not in worldly wisdom, but by the grace of ADONAI. He had no hidden meanings or ulterior motives in his correspondence with the Corinthians. He was above board and straightforward in person; and he was the same way in his letters.³⁷

For our boast (Greek: kauchesis, meaning the reason for boasting) is this (1:12a): It is a delicate situation. How do you boast inoffensively and in accordance with the gospel? Yet boasting is not always wrong. It all depends on the basis of the boasting. Boasting is related to confidence, and confidence is good if one places it in the right things. Paul’s understanding of boasting comes from Jeremiah, “The wise man should not boast of his wisdom, the powerful should not boast of his power, the wealthy should not boast of his wealth; instead, let the boaster boast about this: that he understands and knows me – that I am ADONAI, practicing grace, justice and righteousness in the land; for in these things I take pleasure,” says ADONAI (Jer 9:23-24). If one boasts in human achievements, then it is sinful. However, if someone boasts in what YHVH has done, then it is good.³⁸ For an audience like the Corinthians, who were too easily influenced by human pride and achievement, Paul’s endurance through suffering and trial (see Aj – Our God Who Delivers Us), and God’s faithfulness, were things that he could legitimately boast about.³⁹

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that we can boast about You. You are absolutely amazing and wonderful! It is so comforting to meditate on Your character. Each of Your traits are so loving and pure. What a joy to know that when we put our lives into Your hands, asking You to guide us – You always desire what is best for us, regardless of our choices in life. You never make a mistake and You always want what is best for us.

Your deep love and tender care are such a comfort when we are attacked by others or may make bad choices for ourselves. Through it all we can lift our heart up to You. The earthly pain fades and we feel Your tender love and mercy. 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).

God was watching and saw all the hard and unfair trials that David was going thru. God could have stepped in and rescued David and wiped out Sha’ul, but God had a purpose for the trials in David’s life – to prepare him for future leadership of the entire nation of Isra’el. Thank You that I can trust as you allow trials in my life that You will use to purify me and to glorify Your name. I love and delight in clinging to You in good and in hard times – for You are worthy of all of my love! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen.

That our conscience assures us that in our dealings with the world, and especially with you, we have conducted ourselves with sincerity and godly pureness of motive – not by worldly wisdom, but God-given grace (1:12). That was the true source of his planning and actions. Thus, Paul begins his defense with three verdicts from his conscience about his conduct.

First, he acted with sincerity (Greek: eilikrineia, meaning something held up to the light of the sun for inspection). It is a compound word of sunlight (eili) and to judge (krino). It pictures something held up to the sun for inspection. In Paul’s day, unscrupulous potters would fill the cracks in their pots with wax before selling them. But careful buyers would hold the pots up to the sun, and the light of the wax cracks would become clearly visible.

Second, with godly pureness of motive (Greek: hagiotes, meaning holiness). The writer to the Hebrews used hagiotes to describe the holiness of ADONAI (Hebrews 12:10). Paul’s pureness of motive confirmed in his own mind, contrasted sharply with the immorality and corruption of which he was wrongly accused. Paul’s sincerity and godly purity of motive should have been especially evident to the Corinthians. They had observed him firsthand during the eighteen months that he ministered in their city (Acts 18:11). The shining purity of his life was set against the dark, ugly backdrop of Corinth’s immorality. There was nothing in Paul’s life that would have confirmed any of the scandalous accusations against him.⁴⁰

Third, not with worldly wisdom, which is the opposite of true wisdom (Greek: sophia) which only comes from God (see the commentary on First Corinthians An – The Foolishness of Worldly Wisdom). Most people in the ancient world, as in ours today, regarded “wisdom” to be good no matter what form it took. Wisdom by definition was an understanding of what was true, right, or lasting and was manifest in behavior marked by common sense and good judgment. But Paul didn’t believe that Messiah simply offered a greater wisdom that could be added to the wisdom of this world. He thought the wisdom of Messiah invalidated the wisdom of this world. Messiah offered the only true wisdom, and the world offered only a false, worldly wisdom.⁴¹

Even though resumes are given in our society, many today take offense at Paul’s boasting and view his self-commendation as a sign of personal arrogance. Three factors must be kept in mind. First, Paul did not engage in boasting in order to make himself look good. He was pushed to do it by the Corinthians, who placed great importance in such things, and by the false apostles (see Af – The Problem of the False Apostles), who enjoyed flaunting their supposed apostolic authority (5:12 and 10:12). As he answered those outrageous lies, Paul’s primary concern was not to defend himself but to protect the people from the deceivers. Second, Paul’s credentials concerned his position as an apostle, not his person. It was as servants of Messiah and ministers of the gospel that he commended himself and his coworkers. And third, when Paul does boast, he doesn’t boast of his achievements and accomplishments, but in the hardships, struggles and trials of an itinerant ministry (6:4-5).⁴²

Paul’s appeal for understanding (1:13-14): In verse 12 Paul wrote a general statement about his integrity and that of his mission. Now he gets more specific with the Corinthians with a play on words. There are no hidden meanings in our letters other than what you can read (Greek: anaginoskein) and understand (epiginoskein) that is impossible to capture in English. It seems that some of the Corinthians were “reading between the lines” and reading motives into his messages, motives that were not there. Here, Paul countered, and said that his meaning, which lay on the surface, could be understood by simply reading what he said. They didn’t need to ask, “Do you really mean what you say!” He had no hidden agenda. The integrity of his letters flowed from the integrity of his life. He simply wrote in the same manner that he lived – straightforwardly. Understanding what he wrote should have been just as straightforward if the Corinthians would but give his writings a fair hearing. Thus, when Paul wrote: And my hope is that you will understand fully, he expressed a longing that the true nature of his ministry would come into full focus for the Corinthians (1:13).⁴³

Some Corinthians also presumed that Paul somehow veiled the gospel. However, it is not unclear or distorted. What makes the Good News obscure is Paul’s own suffering. Such affliction does not mesh well with a message that is supposed to be good news. Paul was unimpressive in person, which also makes his gospel unattractive to worldly people like the Corinthians. To this charge Paul responded vigorously later in his letter: Indeed, we refuse to make use of shameful underhanded methods, employing deception or distorting God’s message. On the contrary, by making very clear what the truth is, we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. So if indeed our Good News is veiled, it is veiled only to those in the process of being lost (4:2-3).⁴⁴

Paul wanted the Corinthians to gain an even-deeper understanding of God’s Word, and of himself and his motives. Then they would trust him and would not be swayed by the lies of the false apostles.⁴⁵ As you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully (Greek: telos, meaning until the end) that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Yeshua (1:14 NIV). Positive steps had been taken toward fellowship with them, yet further steps were needed for the relationship to be fully healthy. Was he filled with joy (7:7, 9, 13e,16)? Yet on a deeper level he remained troubled. While the majority had demonstrated a zeal for him by renouncing the offender (see Bl – The Effects of the Severe Letter), the false apostles and a minority remained unimpressed. This is why we seem to get mixed signals from Paul concerning his relationship with the Corinthians. Was he filled with joy, or still concerned to a certain degree? The answer is “yes” to both questions, depending on which group is under consideration at the moment. What Paul is after, therefore, is that the church would fully embrace him, his mission, and his gospel (see the commentary on Romans As – Paul’s Gospel). Their wavering between him and other voices competing for a following was distracting at best and destructive at worst.

When John Stott was rector of All Souls Church in London, Billy Graham preached a crusade in 1954 that filled Wembley Stadium night after night. Stott puzzled over why Graham was able to attract such crowds when the churches of that great city were half empty week after week. Stott reflected, “The answer I gave myself was this: I believe Billy Graham was the first transparently sincere preacher these people had ever heard.” We need preachers whose sermons are like thunder because their lives are like lightning! Certainly, Paul’s life and ministry shone with brilliant integrity, which undergirded all he did, including writing letters like Second Corinthians, and Paul wanted the Corinthians to grasp that fact. He was a man under orders and under the Truth (John 14:6).⁴⁶

A Change of Plans
1:12 to 2:13

Here the apostle begins by defending his travel plans. The question of why he did not come to Corinth as originally planned is discussed in three phases. First, Paul addresses a misguided view of why he had a change of plans: some thought he was wavering back-and-forth, demonstrating a confused or indecisive character that says both “yes” and “no” at the same time (to see link click An – God’s Seal of Approval). Rather, the apostle asserted that his character stood as rock-solid as the Gospel he preached.

The second phase of this section addresses the first of two reasons why Paul did not travel to Corinth as expected. Simply put, the trip would have caused even more pain to the Corinthians (1:23 and 2:1). In other words, the wound in their relationship, which was needed for the discipline and test (2:9) that the Corinthians needed at the time, was still open and the apostle didn’t want to rub spiritual salt in it. Paul’s mention of the sorrow caused by the painful visit (see Ao – Paul’s Painful Visit) and letter (see Bl – The Effects of the Severe Letter) gave rise to a discussion of a person who had evidently triggered much of the immediate friction between Paul and the church. The majority had played their part in discipling him and the apostle expressed his forgiveness and urged the Corinthians to offer comfort and forgiveness to the wrongdoer as well (see Ap – Forgiving the Offender).

Finally, Paul addressed a third reason why he changed his travel plans. He explains that when he traveled to Troas (see Aq – Paul’s Anxiety in Troas), he had an opportunity to go directly to Macedonia. Paul was restless in spirit because Titus did not meet him in Troas, and Paul evidently felt compelled to go and find Titus, which is what happened (7:5-7).³⁵

Paul Defends His Ministry
1:12 to 7:16

One reason Paul wrote this letter was to answer insinuations raised in Corinth about the authenticity of his apostleship, the decorum of his conduct, and the sincerity of his commitment to those believers in that worldly city. Later, Paul gave a defense of the genuineness of his apostolic authority (to see link click Br – Paul Defends His Apostolic Authority). Questions about the decorum of his conduct, especially as it related to the collection are addressed in Chapters 8 and 9 (see Bm – The Call to Complete the Collection). The burden of these preceding chapters (1:12 to 7:16) is an emotional statement by Paul of his sincere commitment to the ministry in general and to the Corinthians in particular.³⁴

Our God Who Delivers Us
1: 8-11

Our God who delivers us DIG: What causes you to be on the ropes? Can you identify recurring themes? Why is hope such a powerful thing? How is the hope described by Paul different than wishful thinking? What pressures do you suppose Paul was facing that caused him despair even of life? What reaction was Paul trying to get from the Corinthians?

REFLECT: Paul found that intense pressures led him to depend on God all the more. Who do you know that is under intense pressure now? How would Paul have you pray for them this week? Think about the last time you were discouraged in your faith. What led to that? What can you glean from Paul’s story that will help you handle it the next time it comes?

Problems force us to look to God and depend on Him rather than ourselves.

Paul was on the ropes. At the time of his writing Second Corinthians, he was up to his neck in spiritual warfare. The tone of this entire letter – particularly in the first two chapters – sounds understandably dire. The celebrated apostle found himself fighting on multiple fronts. The ministry in Ephesus was coming along. But any progress there came at quite a price. The situation in Corinth showed some signs of improvement. But cracks formed in the foundation of the church, its doctrine and unity, was coming apart. Fan clubs developed around various people in the church that threatened to undermine the only witness for Messiah in that sinful seaside city. Not only that, false apostles who claimed apostolic authority had infiltrated that infant church (to see link click Af – The Problem of the False Apostles), causing significant doubt in the minds of many of the members concerning Paul’s own apostolic authority.²³ But ADONAI has a purpose behind every problem. He uses circumstances to develop our character. In fact, He depends more on circumstances to make us like Yeshua than He depends on our reading the Bible. The reason is obvious: You face circumstances twenty-four hours a day.

Discouragement is no respecter of persons. Yeshua warned us that we would have trouble in this world (John 16:33). No one is immune to pain or insulated from suffering, and no one gets to skate through life trouble-free. Life is a series of trials. Every time you solve one, another is waiting to take its place. Not all of them are big, but all are significant in God’s growth process for you. Peter assures us that problems are normal, saying: Don’t be bewildered or surprised when you go through the fiery trials ahead, for this is not a strange, unusual thing that is going to happen to you (First Peter 4:12 LB).

God uses trials to draw us closer to Himself. The Bible says: The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those who are crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18 NLT). Your most profound and intimate experiences of worship will likely be in your darkest days – when your heart is broken, when you feel abandoned, when you’re out of options, when the pain is great – and you turn to ADONAI alone. It’s during suffering that we learn to pray our most authentic, heartfelt, honest-to-God prayers. When we’re in pain, we don’t have the energy for superficial prayers.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that you are a powerful God, always near Your children especially in times of pain and trial. For God Himself has said: I will never leave you or abandon you (Hebrews 13:5c).   Thank You for giving us the excellent example of David as someone in a very hard and lonely situation – when King Sha’ul was seeking to kill him and he had to flee from family and friends – yet by focusing on Your steadfast love, he was encouraged and comforted. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. (Psalms 63:3 ESV).

We need to follow David’s example of not just throwing up a quick cry for help and then going our own way. His heart meditated on Your great power, and loved You all thru the night. David’s focus on You was not just a reading of Your Word and then forgetting what he had read, he meditated on how great Your power and love are in all situations. I meditate on You through the night watches (Psalms 63:7). May you guide us to meditate on You each night before we fall asleep and make it a point during the day to remember Your power and love.

May we learn, as David learned, where to go to get strengthened. His safe place was not in family or friends, but in You. His family had to be sent away to Mo’ab for their safety (First Samuel 22:3). The prophet Samuel was a wise person to flee to for help, but even there, King Sha’ul sent men to capture him (First Samuel 19:20). David found his refuge in You. Thank you dear Father, that when there is no place else to run to for refuge and safety – You are always there by us to comfort and help. We love and worship You in good and in hard times. In Your holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen.

YHVH could have kept Joseph out of prison (Genesis 39:20-22), kept Dani’el out of the lion’s den (Dani’el 6:16-23), kept Jeremiah from being thrown into a cistern (Jer 38:6), kept Paul from being beaten with rods three times (2 Cor 11:25), and kept the three Hebrew young men from being thrown into the blazing furnace (Dan 3:1-26). But He didn’t. He let those problems happen, and every one of those persons was drawn closer to ADONAI as a result. Problems force us to look to God and depend on Him rather than ourselves. Paul testified: In our hearts we felt we were under sentence of death. However, this was to get us to rely not on ourselves but on God (1:9). You will never know that God is all you need until God is all you’ve got.²⁴

Suffering causes us to focus on what really matters: For, brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed. This was a standard phrase that a writer in that day used to introduce new information, or, more probably in this case, a new perspective about the seriousness of the trials he and his coworkers had undergone in the province of Asia. That the event occurred recently seems to be indicated by the vividness of Paul’s description of divine deliverance. It was fresh in his mind. Although he gives no further details of the trials, Paul is most likely referring to the city-wide uprising in Ephesus that brought to an end his ministry there (see the commentary on Acts Ch – Idol-Makers Start a Riot in Ephesus). Given the well-known passion of the Ephesians for their goddess Artemis, it is likely that the Acts incident was extremely dangerous for Paul.²⁵

The burden laid on us was so far beyond what we could bear that we even despaired (Greek: exaporethenai, meaning no way of escape) of living through it (1:8). No stranger to extreme danger (11:23-27), the apostle here expresses his exceptionally dire circumstances. He stared death in the face and fully expected it to embrace him, a sentiment he repeats in 1:9a below. He was overpowered with despair. It was beyond his strength to endure, but not beyond ADONAI’s grace to deliver him. When a near-death event happens to us or a loved one and we or they survive, it really puts things into perspective. All the little, insignificant things that used to bother us just don’t matter anymore.

Suffering reminds us that ADONAI alone is the One who can deliver us: Following closely on his despair of life in the previous verse, Paul declares: In our hearts we felt we were under sentence of death (1:9a). Paul equated his position to be like a prisoner whose request for mercy had been denied and was condemned to die. So futile did the situation appear that when deliverance came it was tantamount to a resurrection: However, ADONAI, who raises the dead (1:9c) has delivered us (1:10)! The verb delivered denotes the LORD’s ability to preserve or keep in tact. The purpose of this near-death experience, Paul states, was to substitute dependence of God for reliance on self.²⁶

This was to get us to rely not on ourselves but on God (1:9b). From the TaNaKh, Deuteronomy 32:39 exclaims: See now that I, yes, I, am He; and there is no god beside Me. I put to death, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; no one saves anyone from My hand! First Samuel declares: ADONAI kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave, and He brings up. And Solomon adds: Trust in ADONAI with all your heart; do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him; and He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). For the believer, self-reliance is not only an inadequate resource for life that is to be pleasing to the LORD (Second Corinthians 5:9; Colossians 1:10; First Thessalonians 4:1); it is an affront to God on whom we are totally dependent for our physical life and spiritual well being.²⁷

There is a cliché that we often hear, but one that is simply not biblical. It goes like this, “God will never give us more than we can handle.” Do you really believe that? Does the Bible really teach that? When asked to give scriptural support for such a statement, they usually turn to First Corinthians 10:13, which says: No temptation has seized you beyond what people normally experience, and God can be trusted not to allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. On the contrary, along with the temptation He will also provide a way out, so that you will be able to endure. Now it is true that temptation can be translated into trial or testing. But this verse does not convey the idea that ADONAI will never give us more than we can handle. What it does say is that God will never give us more than He can handle. When we exhaust all of our own physical, mental, or emotional resources. He is the One who He delivers us from such deadly peril (1:10).²⁸ He is the One who will hold you by the hand and walk you through the trials of life.

Suffering causes us to realize that we need each other: YHVH came alongside us during our trials, so that we can come alongside others during their trials in their moment of need. The Ruach Ha’Kodesh inspired Paul to write that ADONAI is the God of all comfort Who comforts us in all our suffering so that we can comfort others in whatever trials they may be undergoing with the comfort we ourselves have received from God (1:4b). The question for believers is not why we suffer, but how we suffer. What do we do with it when it comes? Paul decided not to wallow in his suffering. Not to feel sorry for himself. He chose to channel his suffering in a positive direction by using his pain to comfort others.²⁹

Suffering causes us to become more thankful: He delivers us from such deadly peril (in Ephesus), and He will deliver us (from other deadly situations) again (from death)! Paul’s brush with death had caused him to trust in ADONAI even more fully than he had before. The apostle now reintroduces the note of hope in God (1:7). The one in whom we have placed our hope will indeed continue to deliver us (1:10). Since YHVH, who raises the dead, had delivered him in Asia, His servants may both rely on Him in the present and hope in Him in the future. And for this both Paul, and we, are most thankful.

Suffering motivates us to pray: A request for prayer usually appears in the closing section of Paul’s letters. The fact that he departs from his usual practice and includes it here should get our attention. His request for prayer highlights what is probably a sore spot in his relationship with the Corinthians, namely, a lack of reciprocity. As Paul would say later: We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us (6:12). There had been a cooling of the Corinthians’ affection for Paul. So Paul seeks at the start of his letter to rekindle that affection and concern by sharing with them how close he came to dying and how his very well-being depended on their taking a personal interest in his affairs. Perhaps he is even suggesting that his encounter with death was due to the fact that they had stopped praying for him.³⁰

And you must add your help by praying for us; for the more people there are praying, the more people there will be to give thanks when their prayer for us is answered (1:11). Paul does not hide behind the façade of a superman who pretends that he can survive quite well on his own without help from anyone else. He has no qualms about expressing his desperate need for prayers. Paul is firmly convinced of the power of prayer because he knows that YHVH listens, responds, and delivers.³¹

One of the great mysteries of spiritual warfare is the role of our intercessory prayer in the midst of the battle. You might remember the Ephesians 6:11 passage in which Paul encourages the believers in Ephesus to put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand against the deceptive tactics of the Adversary. After listing the primary pieces of armor, Paul then made a most thought-provoking request. He flat-out asked the Ephesian believers to continue to pray at all times, with all kinds of prayers and requests, in the Spirit, vigilantly and persistently, for all of God’s people . . . and for me too (Eph 6:18-19a). When do we pray? Always! How do we pray? As the Ruach Ha’Kodesh prompts our hearts to pray! What should characterize our prayers? Perseverance! We never stop praying. For whom do we pray? For all of God’s people!³²

Suffering allows us to be conformed in the pattern of Messiah: Because ADONAI is sovereign and in control, trials are merely His good plan for you. For every day of your life was written on God’s calendar before you were born (Psalm 139:16). Everything that happens to you has spiritual significance. Romans 8:28-29a explains why: Furthermore, we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called in accordance with His purpose; because those whom he knew in advance, He also determined in advance would be conformed to the pattern of his Son.

This is one of the most misquoted and misunderstood passages in the Bible. It doesn’t say, “God causes everything to work out the way I want it to.” Obviously that isn’t true. It also doesn’t say, “God causes everything to work out to have a happy ending in my life.” That isn’t true either. There are many unhappy endings in this life. We live in a fallen world. Only in heaven is everything done perfectly the way God intends. That is why we are to pray: May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10b). To fully understand Romans 8:28-29 we must consider it phrase by phrase.

We know: Our hope in difficult times is not based on positive thinking, wishful thinking, or natural optimism. It is certainly based on the truth that ADONAI is in complete control of our universe and that He loves us. Hope based in favorable circumstances will always disappoint, but when based on the love of God and our proven character, we will never be disappointed.

that God causes: There is a Grand Designer behind everything. Your life is not a result of random chance, fate, or luck. There is a master plan. History is His story. YHVH is pulling the strings. We make mistakes, but God never does. The LORD cannot make a mistake – because He is God.

everything: Ha’Shem’s plan for your life involves all that happens to you – including your mistakes, your sins, and your hurts. It includes illness, debt, disasters, divorce, and the death of loved ones. He did it on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:2).

to work together: Not separately or independently. The events in your life work together in God’s plan. They are not isolated events, but interdependent parts of the same process to mold you like Messiah. To bake a cake you must use flour, salt, raw eggs, sugar, and oil. Eaten individually, each is pretty distasteful or even bitter. But bake them together and they become delicious. If you will give ADONAI all of your distasteful, unpleasant experiences, he will blend them together for your good.

for the good: God does not promise to make a bad thing good, that everything would turn out exactly as we would like, nor has He assured us that He will keep bad things from happening to us. Much of what happens in our world is evil and bad, but YHVH specializes in bringing good out of it. In the official family tree of Yeshua Messiah, four women are listed: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. Tamar seduced her father-in-law Judah to get pregnant. Rahab was a prostitute. Ruth was not even Jewish and broke the Torah by marrying a Jewish man. And Bathsheba committed adultery with David, which resulted in her husband’s murder. These were not exactly spotless reputations, but Ha’Shem brought good out of bad, and Yeshua came through their lineage. God’s purpose is greater than our problems, our pain, or even our sin.

of those who love God and are called: Nothing more characterizes the true believer than genuine love for God, are sensitive to His will, loves the things that He loves, hates the things that He hates, and is obedient to His Word. It is through the content of His Word, specifically the truth of the Good News, and through the power of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, that ADONAI brings people to Himself. Therefore, this promise is only for God’s children. It is not for everyone. All things don’t work for those living in opposition to the LORD and insist on having their own way.

according to His purpose: What is the purpose? It is that we be conformed to the pattern of his Son. Everything God allows to happen in your life is permitted for that purpose!³³ The question we need to be asking is not why we suffer, but what does God want me to learn from my suffering. ADONAI will cause your suffering to work for your good if you will trust Him.

That’s your choice.

Our God Who Comforts Us
1: 1-7

Our God who comforts us DIG: Why was Paul feeling so vulnerable when he wrote this letter? What other person in the TaNaKh might Paul’s sufferings be compared to? How does Paul describe God in this passage? How would you describe the difference between hope and comfort? Paul provides a window into his emotional state during his trials. What are some of the key words and phrases he uses? What is Paul’s perspective on the trials that he faced? Why does he believe that he was allowed to endure them?

REFLECT: Many people become negative and complain in the midst of their trials. But Paul was able to praise God in the midst of challenging circumstances. How does a person’s attitude when facing suffering influence others? Do you praise God when things get really tough in your life? How can you become more able to genuinely praise God in all circumstances? Where does God reveal Himself to you in your suffering? What evidence has God provided that He delivers His children from trials? How does God comfort you?

God is the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our troubles, so we can comfort others.

All of us go through them – periods of intense, unexpected, unwelcomed suffering. No one lived a more dedicated, disciplined, God-pleasing life than the apostle Paul. Yet, Paul’s life, like that of Job, of whom it was said: Job was a blameless and upright man who fears God and shuns evil (Job 1:8b), reads like a case study in suffering. Paul could relate. He wrote from his prison cell: I have suffered the loss of all things and one who longed to know Messiah and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings (Philippians 3:8 and 10 NKJV).⁹ Our ADONAI is a God who meets us and comforts us, and Paul mentions comfort nine times as he opens his second letter to the Corinthians.

From: Sha’ul, by God’s will an apostle of the Messiah Yeshua, and brother Timothy. From the very first sentence Paul keeps his overall purpose for writing Second Corinthians in mind, establishing the basis for the remainder of his letter. Namely, unlike the false apostles who claimed apostolic authority (to see link click Af – The Problem of the False Apostles), Paul paid a hefty personal price for following Yeshua as one of His true apostles. He let his readers know right from the start that his apostolic credentials were written in his blood. But rather than grumble about how unfairly he had been treated, or complain about the injustices he was forced to endure, Paul gloried in the fact that ADONAI had faithfully comforted him in his suffering, so that Paul could be a comfort to others in their suffering.¹⁰

Dear Great Father God, Praise You that You are not some sugar daddy who spoils his child; but rather You are like the perfect Coach – lovingly training and guiding each of Your children so we may win many heavenly eternal rewards thru suffering and trials. You gifted the Corinthians, but You also sent Paul to help guide them in the pride of their gifts, to give the glory to You – rather than be proud of themselves. You bless and gift Your children so that we give You the praise and glory – not pat ourselves on the back. The reason we have to experience various trials is so the true genuineness of our faith, which is far more valuable than gold, will be judged worthy of praise, glory and honor at the revealing of Yeshua the Messiah (First Peter 1:6c-7).

Your love and presence is continually right there alongside each of Your children (Hebrews 13:5), both in every painful trial and circumstance and also in every proud moment of achievement. You so desire each of Your children to lean on You for wisdom, strength, and comfort. Thank You for being such a wonderful wise and loving Daddy who comforts us in our suffering and trials to bring both glory to Your name and joy and rewards to Your children. You are the best! In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen

To: The church of God in Corinth, along with all God’s people throughout Achaia (1:1). It is striking that Paul should address this divided church by such a phrase as the church of God in Corinth. The very phrase is laden with irony, intended or unintended. How could such a church of God be in such a godless city and be so divided? Nevertheless, Paul addressed them as God’s people, probably to encourage them to become what God graciously saw them to be.¹¹ It has been widely recognized how Paul combines the traditional Jewish and Greek greetings: Grace to you and shalom from God our Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah (1:2). God the Father and the Lord Yeshua the Messiah jointly form a single source of divine grace and shalom. The deity of Yeshua Messiah is clearly implied here.

ADONAI is the God of all comfort (1:3): If you really want to know God you must understand His character. One of the problems in our world today is that there are a lot of people who think they know God, but they don’t truly know God’s character. They see YHVH as vindictive, full of rage and wrath. But the fact is, if you say you believe in God, but you have a wrong understanding of who God is, you are not that much different from the world. You have to understand God’s character. And you go to God’s Word to find that out. And what does God’s Word say about Him? It says He is grace and love and kind and light and forgiving and full of mercy. But it also says that He is the God of all comfort. Praised be God, Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, compassionate Father, God of all comfort (1:3).

Compassionate means that God sees your pain and suffering. He knows what you are going through. This is a common theme in the TaNaKh (Ps 51:11, 86:5, 94:19; Lam 3:22; Isaiah 51:12, 63:7, 66:13; Dan 9:9). Psalm 103: 13 and 17 declares: Just as a father has compassion on his children, ADONAI has compassion on those who fear Him . . . But the mercy of ADONAI on those who fear Him is from eternity past to eternity future, and His righteousness extends to His children’s children. The love and mercy of ADONAI are usually praised in the traditional Jewish liturgy before the recitation of the Sh’ma (see the commentary on Deuteronomy, to see link click Bw – Sh’ma Isra’el): “Oh our Father, merciful Father, ever compassionate, have mercy upon us.”¹² ADONAI’s comfort is also seen in the B’rit Chadashah: For we do not have a High Priest unable to empathize with our weaknesses; since in every respect he was tempted just as we are, the only difference being that he did not sin (Heb 4:15). However, there is a difference between sympathy and empathy. It is one thing to feel someone else’s suffering, but it’s something else to do something about it. So the Bible says that Messiah not only feels your pain, but He does something about it. He is the God of all comfort.

Today the word “comfort” means emotional relief and a sense of well-being, physical ease, satisfaction, and freedom from pain and anxiety. Many in our culture worship the cult of “comfort” in a self-centered search for ease, but it lasts only for a moment and never fully satisfies. The comfort that Paul has in mind has nothing to do with a lazy feeling of contentment. It is not some tranquilizing dose of grace that only dulls pains, but a stiffening agent that strengthens one in heart, mind, and soul. Comfort relates to encouragement and help when the trials of life come. God’s comfort strengthens weak knees and sustains sagging spirits so that one faces the troubles of life with unbending resolve and unending assurance.¹³

In this life we will have suffering (1:4a): Who comforts us in all our suffering (Greek: thlipsi, meaning persecution, affliction, distress and tribulation) (1:4a). The example of the apostle Paul in the book of Acts is certainly that of someone who had to endure a great deal of suffering, sometimes facing death (Acts 9:23-25, 14:19-20, 16:19-20, 18:9-11). There is an authentic comfort, and there is a counterfeit comfort. People turn to all sorts of things for comfort. There is a whiskey called “Southern Comfort,” but that isn’t real comfort, which can only come from God. Paul understood that, and reminded the Corinthians of the same eternal truth: ADONAI is my Shepherd; I lack nothing. He has me lie down in grassy pastures, he leads me by quiet water. He restores my inner person. He guides me in the right paths for the sake of His own name. Even if I pass through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no disaster; for You are with me; Your rod, to protect me, and staff, to guide me, comfort me (Psalm 23).

It’s fascinating to note that Paul never attempted to answer the question of why we suffer. The Bible simply acknowledges that every person will suffer. In fact, the Bible promises that we will. In the world, you will have trials. But be brave! I have conquered the world (John 16:33)! Job’s “friend” Eliphaz observed that people are born for trouble as surely as sparks fly upward (Job 5:7). Likewise, Paul promised young pastor Timothy that all who want to live a godly life united with Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12).¹⁴

The Greek word for comfort is parakaleo, which means to call alongside of. The Ruach Ha’Kodesh is called the Parclete. He is called to our side. When the Lord promised to send the Spirit of God, He said: I will not leave you comfortless (John 14:18 KJV). And He said to His own apostles: It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I don’t go away, the comforting Counselor will not come to you. However, if I do go, I will send Him to you (John 16:7). What is the Comforter then? He is not someone who merely kisses your bruise and makes it alright. He comes to us as a helper, a strengthener, and an advocate. He is the One who can help us and strengthen us, to relieve our loneliness, ease the grief, and calm the fears. He means help for us in times of terrifying trouble. So we cry out: Hear me, ADONAI, and show me Your favor! ADONAI, be my helper (Psalm 30:10)! That is the cry of the soul who needs the Comforter, and ADONAI is the God of all comfort.¹⁵

Don’t waste your sorrows (1:4b): YHVH came alongside us during our trials, so that we can come alongside others during their trials in their moment of need. The Ruach Ha’Kodesh inspired Paul to write that ADONAI is the God of all comfort Who comforts us in all our suffering so that we can comfort others in whatever trials they may be undergoing with the comfort we ourselves have received from God (1:4b). The question for believers is not why we suffer, but how we suffer. What do we do with it when it comes? Paul decided not to wallow in his suffering. Not to feel sorry for himself. He chose to channel his suffering in a positive direction by using his pain to comfort others.¹⁶

ADONAI never wastes our suffering! In fact, your greatest ministry will most likely come out of your greatest trial. Who could better minister to the parents of a Down Syndrome child than another couple who have a child afflicted in the same way? Who could better help an alcoholic recover than someone who fought that disease and found freedom. Who could better come alongside those who have had their young son or daughter molested? Who could better comfort a wife whose husband has left her for another woman, than a woman who went through the same agony herself?

If you really desire to be used by God, you must understand a powerful truth: The very experiences that you have resented or regretted most in life – the one’s you’ve wanted to hide and forget – are the very experiences God wants to use to help others. They are your ministry! Therefore, for God to use your trials, you must be willing to share them. You have to stop covering them up, and you must honestly admit your faults, failures, and fears. People are always more encouraged when we share how God’s grace helped us in weakness than when we brag about our strengths. Paul understood this truth, so he was honest about his bouts with depression (see Aj – Our God Who Delivers Us). Only shared trials help others. What will you do with what you have been through?¹⁷

Paul offers an explanation of how he is able to comfort others through his suffering. For just as the Messiah’s sufferings overflow into our lives (see the commentary on Hebrews Cv – Faith Through Trials), so through the Messiah our comfort also overflows (1:5). The apostle probably had in mind the suffering he experienced in Asia which he referred to in 1:8. To be conformed into the image of Messiah (Romans 8:29) is to identify with the suffering that is an essential part of His earthly ministry. What Paul says here is, in essence, what Yeshua taught His disciples.¹⁸ He said if you want to follow Me, you must say “No” to yourself. He said: Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23). This clearly illustrates that Messiah’s Kingdom is exactly the opposite of most of our natural inclinations. In addition, to take up their cross means to identify with Messiah’’s rejection. A true disciple is one who will follow the suffering role of Messiah. Self-sacrifice is the hallmark of Yeshua and His followers. By submitting to Him, we are, in reality, merely giving back to Him what is rightfully His to begin with!

So if we undergo trials, it is for your comfort and salvation (1:6a). What does Paul mean when he says that his affliction is for their salvation? He certainly does not mean that he is the one who saves them. Rather, when they participate in the sufferings of Messiah as Paul does, then they will understand the paradoxical message of the gospel that God is at work in weakness (12:9). Therefore, Paul’s own example and preaching become an aroma of life for those being saved. If, however, they do not understand this, then the paradoxical Word of the gospel will become an aroma of death for them (2:15). The relationship between affliction and comfort, then, becomes yet another way for Paul to state the paradox of the gospel. For God, who condemns the wicked, is the same One who comforts the afflicted.¹⁹

Believers are in a partnership with each other and must never view their suffering in isolation. And if we are comforted, that should comfort you when you have to endure sufferings (Greek: hypomone, meaning steadfastness in the face of unpleasant circumstances) like those we are experiencing (1:6b). Therefore, the comfort received by the Corinthians as a result of Paul’s harsh circumstances parallels the comfort the Corinthians received while enduring the same kinds of suffering that Paul and his missionary team experienced. The only way the Corinthians could experience this type of comfort was through suffering. With reference to the suffering endured by the Corinthians, it may be that Paul, in part, has in mind the pressure put on those who stood firm with him against the false apostles who claimed apostolic authority, but that is not clearly indicated by the text.²⁰

Because of what Paul wrote in First Corinthians, we know all about the culture of compromise that was flourishing in the church at Corinth. This helps us to understand the incredible pressure that was placed on the people who were living godly lives within that congregation. Just try to imagine what it must have been like to maintain a consistent godly lifestyle with everything that was going on around them. When they went to church on Sunday morning in the hope of receiving much-needed instruction and inspiration to make it through another week, they were hit in the face with false teaching and a culture of compromise inside the church that mirrored everything going on outside the church. To these faithful believers, Paul offered these words of encouragement from one suffering believer to another: Moreover, our hope for you remains unwavering, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, you will also share in our comfort (1:7).²¹

A renowned psychiatrist was once asked how to overcome depression. His advice? “Get dressed, lock your home, go find someone who is in need, and serve that person.” In other words, get the focus off yourself and look for ways to help others. This others-centered mindset is to be the hallmark of every believer’s life. Yeshua constantly lived to serve others, and the apostle Paul did likewise. In a situation where lesser men would have decided to throw a major “pity-party,” licking their wounds and lamenting about their woeful condition, Paul turned to God for comfort. He then picked up a pen and determined to write a letter that would help the Corinthians think and live in ways that honored ADONAI.²²

Setting the Scene
1: 1-11

There is only one page separating First Corinthians from Second Corinthians in the Bible. But in reality, there was a vast separation of circumstances dividing one letter from the other. Times were tough on the apostle Paul. It’s safe to say that he wrote Second Corinthians with a heavy heart. He was in the middle of intense spiritual warfare on several fronts. And while he was in that troubled state, problems at his beloved church at Corinth hung over him like a dark cloud that would not go away.

Paul’s opening greeting sounds eerily similar to that of First Corinthians. One almost gets the feeling of “déjà vu all over again.” However, as we shall see, the tenor and tone of Second Corinthians are radically different from First Corinthians. Second Corinthians is perhaps the most introspective and self-revealing of all Paul’s letters. The apostle made himself remarkably vulnerable as he spoke of his lowly standing, human weaknesses, and his reluctance to defend himself in the face of an onslaught of false accusations. False apostles who claimed apostolic authority arrived in Corinth, infiltrated the church, cast doubt on Paul’s character and teaching, and led the church into doctrinal error (to see link click Af – The Problem of the False Apostles).

As soon as Paul received word of this new threat, he immediately left Ephesus and traveled straightaway to Corinth, a visit he would later characterize as painful (see Ao – Paul’s Painful Visit). Apparently someone in the church, probably one of the false apostles who claimed apostolic authority, went on the attack and caused Paul much grief. Upon his return to Ephesus, he sent a severe letter to them (not preserved for us). This is the letter Paul referred to when he wrote: I wrote to you with a greatly distressed and anguished heart, and with many tears, not in order to cause you pain, but to get you to realize how very much I love you (2:4). It was delivered by Titus and pleading with the Corinthians to change their behavior and to mend their relationship with him (2:3-9:13; 7:6-15; 8:6). Apparently, this letter was quite effective in producing repentance (see Bl – The Effects of the Severe Letter). Paul wrote Second Corinthians from Macedonia in 56 AD, a letter which vigorously defended his apostolic authority, and reminded the Corinthians of the continuing financial support needed for the poor believers in Jerusalem, and leveled his strongest rebuke yet of the church’s leaders tolerance of the false apostles in their midst. Nevertheless, Paul gave us a remarkable insight into his personal sufferings. Through the next several chapters, we will again and again get a glimpse into the soul of one of God’s greatest servants.⁸

The Unity of Second Corinthians

While the authorship of Second Corinthians has not been questioned, its unity has been the subject of much debate. In particular some scholars, without any reason other than their bent to discredit the integrity of Scripture, and deny the book’s unity. Noting the abrupt change in tone between Chapters 1-9 and 10-13, they argue that they were originally two separate letters that somehow became fused into one now known as Second Corinthians. At the outset it must be stated that such theories are entirely subjective, based on supposed internal evidence within the book itself. R. C. H. Lenski (1864-1936) wrote, “One fact in regard to Second Corinthians must be strongly emphasized at the very beginning that all, literally all textual evidence proves this letter is a unit. No abbreviated text has ever been discovered that might raise a question on this score, and no text that showed an omission or omissions has ever been found. This fact alone stands as a defense against the hypotheses that Second Corinthians was written by more than one author.”

Further, there is no evidence from early translations of the Bible, or from the writings of the church fathers that Second Corinthians ever existed as two or more separate letters. There is also no evidence as to who compiled those hypothetical letters into Second Corinthians, when they did it, or why they did it – only the conjecture on the part of critics. What happened to the conclusion of the first letter and the introduction of the second to allow the two to be joined is also unknown. The critics also often fail to take into account the physical difficulty involved in editing the scrolls on which ancient letters were written.

Some propose that Chapters 10-13 are actually the severe letter mentioned in 2:4, and hence written before Chapters 1-9. This theory, however, faces major difficulties, in addition to the lack of textual evidence already noted above.

First, the absence of any reference to the false apostles in Chapters 1-9 is puzzling if the Corinthians had already received Chapters 10-13. Even if they had rejected the false apostles before Paul wrote Chapters 1-9, he surely would have commended them for doing so. Yet, Chapters 1-9 don’t mention the conflict between Paul and the false apostles, only the single individual who defied him (2:5-11 and 7:12).

Second, Chapters 10-13 are silent regarding that individual. Yet, the severe letter was written to deal with the Corinthians refusal to discipline him (2:4-9). If Chapters 10-13 constitute the severe letter, how could they fail to refer to the offense that prompted its writing?

Third, Paul described the severe letter as one written with a greatly distressed and anguished heart, and with many tears (2:4a). That description does not seem to fit the contents of Chapters 10-13, with Paul’s biting irony and stern rebukes of the false apostles and their followers. Why would he regret (7:8) having so forcefully defended his apostleship, or relating his human weakness that proved God empowered his ministry?

Fourth, in 12:18 Paul spoke of Titus’ trip to Corinth in connection with the collection (8:6 and 16-24) as having already taken place. Since, as noted above, he brought the severe letter to Corinth on that trip, Chapters 10-13 obviously cannot be the severe letter. Titus could not have delivered a letter describing his bringing of that letter as having already happened.

Finally, Paul sent the severe letter to avoid visiting Corinth (2:1-4), but he wrote Chapters 10-13 to prepare for an upcoming visit (12:14 and 13:1).

Others, acknowledging those difficulties, argue that Chapters 10-13 were a separate letter but one that was written after Chapters 1-9.

Once again, it must be noted that there is no evidence that Chapters 10-13 ever circulated separately from Chapters 1-9. A variation of that view is that before Paul sent Chapters 1-9, he received word of further troubles in Corinth. He then wrote Chapters 10-13 and sent the entire letter. This faulty theory suggests that Paul’s busy life in ministry, traveling, and working to support himself may possibly have prevented him from writing Second Corinthians at one setting. But like I said, this is merely a theory. Nowhere in Chapters 10-13 does Paul mention receiving new information from Corinth.

The difference in tone between the two sections of the letter must not be overstated. In Chapters 1-9 Paul defended himself (1:17, 4:2, 5:12-13), and rebuked the false apostles (2:17); while in Chapters 10-13 he expressed his love and concern for the Corinthians (11:11, 12:14-15, 13:9). When the plan of the letter is taken into account the reason for Paul’s change in tone is perfectly understandable. Chapters 1-9 are addressed to the majority (2:6), who repented because of the severe letter, while Chapters 10-13 were intended for the unrepentant minority, who still clung to the false apostles, the same in 10:2, who still regarded Paul as if he was living in a worldly way.⁷

The Problem of the False Apostles

Arguably the most important problem reported by Titus to Paul after the delivery of the severe letter (7:8-12) relates to the newly arrived false apostles who claimed apostolic authority in Corinth. Closely linked is the question whether or not the false apostles (11:11-13) and the super apostles (11:5 and 12:11) are the same group or not. The view taken for my commentary is that the difference between the two is arbitrary. So, I will be using the term the false apostles throughout this commentary.

Their identity: Who, then, were these false apostles? It is evident that they were a group (many in 2:17, 11:18, 10:12) of men (probably) who had come to Corinth (11:4-5) from outside (letters of commendation in 3:1) and who had infiltrated Paul’s field of ministry (10:5-6), where they and their ministry had been received (11:4 and 20). Like Paul, these men were Hebrews and Israelites, physical descendants of Abraham (11:22-23a). They were Jews. That they had come to Greco-Roman metropolis Corinth makes it almost certain that they were Greek-speaking Jews, very well versed in Greek, with polished rhetorical skills.

But what of their interest in pagan ecstasy, visions, and revelations on which they depended, in part at least, for their acceptance in Corinth? Were those things compatible with Jews from Judea? Judea in the period from 44-66 AD was embroiled in political disintegration, revolutionary activism, and apocalyptic fervor expressed in prophetic inspiration and miraculous signs (see Josephus, Jewish Wars 2.258-59). It is quite possible that Judea at this time represented the kind of religious environment from which these false apostles, with their visions and revelations supposedly from God. Paul himself had pointed out earlier that Jews ask for signs and Greeks try to find wisdom (First Corinthians 1:22). Therefore, we must conclude that these were Greek speaking Judaizers.

Their origin: The false apostles were from Jerusalem and most likely spoke Greek well enough to lead the sophisticated Corinthians to believe in another Gospel (see the commentary on Galatians, to see link click Aj – No Other Gospel). It is now understood that Judea was Hellenized to such a degree that those false apostles may well have been capable of displaying the polished rhetorical skills of boasting and comparison that are mirrored by Paul’s rebuttals in 10:12. Paul would not concede inferiority to those men in the fundamentals of apostleship, but he does so in rhetorical skills (11:5-6).

Their mission: Paul referred to them as false apostles who claimed apostolic authority, telling lies about their work and masquerading as servants of righteousness, ministers of the Adversary, and apostles of the Messiah (11:13-15). As Judaizers, they claimed to follow Messiah, but still teaching that a Gentile had to be circumcised and follow the 613 commandments of the Torah in order to be saved; and that all believers, Jew and Gentile alike, had to continue to follow those 613 commandments in order to maintain their relationship with ADONAI. Their teaching not only corrupted the Gospel, but also the teaching of the Torah, in which a right standing before ADONAI had always been only by obedient faith. At no time in history has anyone been saved by their own merit. Both before and during the Dispensation of Torah, people were saved by faith alone. Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, the godly judges, kings, prophets, and all the righteous of the TaNaKh were saved only on the basis of faith. All of these people, whether man or woman, Jew or Gentile, pleased God because of their faith (see the commentary on Hebrews Cl – The Hall of Faith).

They also proclaimed that circumcision and Torah observance were required for a right standing before God. They perverted the simplicity of the Gospel by adding requirements to it (Revelation 22:18). Judaizers were therefore not teaching godly doctrine, but the lie from the pit of sh’ol, that a people, by their own goodness and works, can gain favor with YHVH. This is why Paul referred to the Judaizers as dogs . . . evil workers . . . the false circumcision (Philippians 3:2 NASB). False circumcision translates the Greek word katatome, which is used there in the B’rit Chadashah and refers to pagan sexual mutilation.

The Judaizers recognized Yeshua as the Messiah intellectually. But they had not crossed over the line from knowledge to faith (see Hebrews Al – How Shall We Escape If We Ignore So Great a Salvation). Therefore, because their view of the Messiah was corrupt, so was their view of Yeshua. They did not look at Messiah as the Lamb of God who would take away their sin, because they didn’t believe they had sin that demanded such a sacrifice in order to be forgiven. As circumcised, ceremonial Jews, they were convinced they already had the full favor of ADONAI and were spiritually and morally acceptable to Him as they were. That common Jewish view is reflected in the argument in the book of Hebrews, in which the writer goes to great lengths to persuade his Jewish readers that the Messiah is superior to the prophets, to the angels, and to Moshe (Hebrews 1:1 to 3:6). Jesus was not simply another great Jewish teacher. He was completely different than any anyone else who had ever lived, the very Son of God and Savior of the world, whose saving sacrifice was necessary for anyone to be right with the Father.⁵

Being crafty, like their father the serpent (Genesis 3:1), they did not go so far as to deny Paul’s apostleship. Rather, it was that they claimed apostolic authority (11:12); but even more so, that their supposed “apostleship” was superior to that of Paul’s (10:12 to 12:13).

Their attack on Paul: On arrival in Corinth, the false apostles attacked Paul’s teaching to the Corinthians on a number of matters, especially the truth of the Gospel (First Corinthians 15:3-4). The newcomers argued that Moshe’s undiminished glory (Exodus 34:29-35), as it was popularly believed to be among unbelieving Jews, was a sign of the continuation of the 613 commandments of Moses for salvation (for which it was never intended). In their view, Paul’s teaching that the Dispensation of Torah had been fulfilled (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Dg – The Completion of the Torah), was quite unacceptable to them. Moreover, Paul’s focus on Yeshua as a crucified Messiah effectively veiling (see Aw – Veiling and Unveiling) the Gospel from Jewish audiences, was likewise unimaginable to them (see The Life of Christ Er – That Same Day He Spoke to Them In Parables).

Their alliances and method: The false apostles were pleasantly surprised that when they arrived Paul was being much maligned by many of the Corinthians. Since they were Jews (11:22), it is almost certain that they stayed with other Jewish members of the congregation, possibly those who said: I am of Cephas (First Corinthians 1:12). Then the Hellenistic Jews living in Corinth would have been able to brief their guests both about the shortcomings of Paul and gush over the great rhetorical skills of their new found idols. The newcomers exploited to their advantage the low opinion of Paul at that time:

First, as men who accepted financial support (11:20) they appear to have forged an alliance against Paul with those Corinthians who criticized him for not accepting payment. But Paul would continue to reject the Corinthians’ financial assistance because by doing so he would remove the claim of those who then sought to preach in Corinth, that they did so on the same basis as Paul. It appears that the false apostles received support from the Corinthians, thus creating pressure on Paul to do likewise. But Paul’s determination to offer the Gospel “free of charge” was fundamental to his ministry as the apostle to the Gentiles (10:15-16).

Second, the false apostles also presented themselves as superior in public speaking and appearance, capitalizing on Paul’s perceived inferiority in those areas (First Corinthians 2:1-5; Second Corinthians 5:12, 10:10 and 11:5). Again, their mystic/ecstatic visions and revelations (12:1-4) may probably resonate with the ecstatic utterances of most of the Corinthians (see the commentary on First Corinthians Dn – Pagan Gibberish is Unproductive).

One thing was perfectly clear. For their part, the false apostles tried to discredit Paul by boasting of their supposed “achievements,” and by contrasting their “strengths” with his perceived “weaknesses.” They had letters of commendation from Jerusalem; whereas Paul had none. They were self-sufficient and triumphant figures; whereas Paul was an inadequate, sorry figure who limped from place to place in defeat (2:1 to 3:5, 4:1 and 16). They were men of divine power, who were caught up to Paradise, heard inexpressible things, where they saw visions and heard revelations that man is not permitted to tell (12:1-5 and 5:13); whereas he was mundane, an apostle without any power, worldly and weak (10:3-6, 1:12 and 17, 5:12-13). They carried out the marks of an apostle, performing signs, wonders and miracles (12:12): whereas Paul wasn’t even able to heal himself (12:7-9). They were powerful in speech and wisdom (11:5-6); whereas he was “unskilled” in speech and in general, a fool (11:1 to 12:13). In all things they were “supposedly” superior; whereas Paul was “supposedly” inferior.⁶

Events Between First Corinthians
and Second Corinthians

A chronological list of events that took place between the writing of the two Corinthian letters is most helpful. Many of the details will be more fully discussed in the commentary itself under Special Problems in Ac – Second Corinthians from a Messianic Jewish Perspective. No reconstruction of events, however, meets with universal agreement.

1. After they received First Corinthians, the believers at Corinth probably rectified most of the practical abuses for which Paul had reprimanded them in his letter, First Corinthians. For example, he says nothing further in Second Corinthians about the abuse of the Lord’s Supper (see the commentary on First Corinthians, to see link click Ca – The Problem: The Abuse of the Lord), or about litigation among believers (see the commentary on First Corinthians Bb – Failure to Resolve Personal Disputes).

2. Titus visited Corinth to help start the relief fund for the poor Messianic believers in Jerusalem (Second Corinthians 8:6a and 12:18), implementing the directions Paul had given him in First Corinthians 16:2. Paul outlined his plans for a visit to Corinth, which would coincide with the Corinthians’ finalization of the collection for the poor. 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).

3. However, because of the arrival of false prophets (see Af – The Problem of the False Apostles) from Judea, Paul ended up making a second brief, unscheduled visit directly a across the Aegean Sea to Corinth in 55 AD, but one that was unsuccessful in reducing the level of opposition against him, especially from one particular individual (Second Corinthians 2:1 and 13:2). During this visit Paul was personally attacked by one of the members (Second Corinthians 2:5-8 and 10, 7:12). It was a painful visit for both Paul and some of his spiritual children in Corinth (see Ao – Paul’s Painful Visit).

As a result of the continued division caused by the false apostles who claimed apostolic authority, Paul sent a severe letter to them (not preserved for us) written with many tears. It was delivered by Titus and pleading with the Corinthians to change their behavior and to mend their relationship with him (Second Corinthians 2:3-9:13; 7:6-15; 8:6). Apparently, this letter was quite effective in producing repentance from his rivals (Second Corinthians 7:8-13a). In addition, Paul probably instructed Titus to try to revive the collection, which had gone by default since the arrival of false apostles and had begun to divide their support from the Corinthian church (11:7-12 and 20, 12:14).

4. Paul’s other proposed visit from number 2 above (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 wanted to give the offender and his followers time to repent. 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).

5. Paul left Ephesus shortly after the Demetrius riot in the spring of 56 AD (see the commentary on Acts Ch – Idol-Makers Start a Riot in Ephesus), and began to evangelize in Troas (Second Corinthians 12-13), and then suffered hardships in the province of Asia (1:8).

6. Paul crossed over into Macedonia in the spring or summer of 56 AD (Second Corinthians 2:13 and 7:5) and engaged in pastoral activity (Acts 20:1-2) while organizing the collection in the Macedonian churches (Second Corinthians 8:1-4 and 9:2).

7. Titus arrived in Macedonia from Corinth in the summer of 56 AD with his welcomed report of the Corinthians responsiveness to the “severe letter” (see Bl – The Effects of the Severe Letter).

8. On returning to Macedonia, Paul wrote Second Corinthians and sent the letter to Corinth in the fall of 56 AD with Titus and two unnamed colleagues who would help to complete the collection (8:6b, 16-24, 9:3-5).