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

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).

Glossary

Abba: An Aramaic word used as an affectionate term of address to someone’s father. Yeshua used it to refer to God as His Father, and believers in Jesus also use it today to address God as Father. In modern Hebrew, this common name means Dad, Daddy, or Papa (also see Mark 14:36 and Romans 8:15).

Adar: the twelfth month of the Jewish biblical calendar.

Adonai: literally, my Lord, a word the TaNaKh uses to refer to God.

ADONAI: The Tetragrammaton, meaning the four-letter name of YHVH. Since its pronunciation is not known, and also out of respect for God’s name, Jews traditionally substitute the words ADONAI and Ha’Shem. ADONAI, however, is more of an affectionate name like daddy (also see Exodus 3:15; Jeremiah 1:9; Psalm 1:2; Matthew 1:22; Mark 5:19; Luke 1:5; John 1:23).

ADONAI Elohei-Tzva’ot: the LORD God of heaven’s angelic armies.

ADONAI Elohim: This is the Hebrew word for LORD God. This title links Isra’el’s God, the God of the Covenant, with God as Creator of the universe (also see Genesis 2:4; Isaiah 48:16; Psalm 72:18; Luke 1:32; Revelation 1:8).

ADONAI Nissi: the LORD my Banner (see Exodus 17:15; Psalm 20:1).

ADONAI Shalom: the LORD of Peace.

ADONAI Tzidkenu: the LORD our Righteousness.

ADONAI-Tzva’ot: The LORD of heaven’s angelic armies (see Joshua 5:13-15; Second Kings 19:31; Psalm 24:10; Second Corinthians 6:18).

Adversary, the: Satan, the devil, the prince of the power of the air, and the old dragon.

Afikomen: Literally, “That which comes after.” Piece of matzah that is hidden during the Seder, to be found and eaten after the third cup of redemption.

Amen: At the end of a prayer, this word means, “It is true,” or “Let it be so,” or “May it become true,” indicating that the readers or listeners agree with what has just been said. Although everything Yeshua said was true, “amen” adds special emphasis (also see Deuteronomy 27:25; Jeremiah 28:6; Psalm 41:14; Nehemiah 8:6; Matthew 5:26; Mark 10:15; Luke 23:43; John 10:1).

Anti-missionaries: Today they are Orthodox Jews who champion Jews for Judaism. They do not limit their mischief to harassing missionaries; any Jewish believer is a target. It is unfortunate that so many of these anti-missionaries feel their ends justify certain unethical means. In order to “protect” Judaism, they do or encourage others to do what Judaism condemns. In Paul’s day, they were the Judaizers who wanted Gentile believers to add obedience to the 613 commandments of Moshe, circumcision, and eating kosher to Paul’s salvation equals faith-plus-nothing gospel.

Ariel: lion of God, fireplace on God’s altar.

Aviv: the first month of the biblical year, corresponding to the modern Jewish month of Nisan.

Avraham: Abraham

Azazel: a scapegoat or goat demon sent out in the wilderness on Yom Kippur.

Ba’al: the chief male god of the Phoenicians and Canaanites. The word means lord or master.

Bar Mitzvah: Hebrew for “Son of the Commandment.” Although not specifically mentioned in the Bible, it is a Jewish coming of age ritual in which a young man, or Bat Mitzvah for a young woman, chooses to follow the commandments of their forefathers and takes responsibility for their own relationship with the God of Isra’el. This ceremony normally takes place at age 13 for boys or age 12 for girls. Afterwards, he/she is theoretically considered to be an adult, but in modern Judaism this is mostly symbolic, and a twelve-year-old is not treated like an adult.

Beit-Lechem: Bethlehem, the birthplace of David and Yeshua, meaning house of bread.

Bnei-Yisrael: The children of Israel.

B’rit Chadashah: Hebrew for the New Covenant. Gentiles commonly call it the New Testament.

Chesed: “mercy,” “lovingkindness,” and/or “covenant-loyalty.” It is a complex word that summarizes God’s complex and overwhelming love for His people, going beyond the concepts of love, mercy or kindness all together (also see Isaiah 63:7; Zechariah 7:1; Psalm 13:1; Psalm 86:1; Psalm 107:1; Psalm 118:1; Psalm 136:1).

Chuppah: In traditional Jewish weddings, it is a canopy under which the wedding takes place.

Cohen of Ha’Elyon: Priest of the God Most High.

Cohen Rosh Gadol: The Great High Priest who served as the head religious official, the only one to enter the Most Holy Place. Aaron, the brother of Moses, was the first man appointed as the Cohen Gadol. In later times, the Cohen Gadol was in charge of the Temple and its administration. The Cohen Gadol Caiaphas, played a key role in questioning Yeshua at His trial. The writer of Hebrews describes Messiah as our great Cohen Gadol, who gives us access to God’s throne in the heavenly sanctuary (also see Leviticus 21:10; Haggai 1:14; Nehemiah 3:1; Matthew 26:57ff; Mark 14:61ff; John 18:19ff; Hebrews 4:14ff and 10:19-22).

Cohen: A priest, a man who offered sacrifices and performed other religious rituals at the Temple in Jerusalem.

Cohanim: The Cohanim were descended from Aaron, the brother of Moses. The Sadducees were from the priestly sect of Judaism.

Covenant: Theologically, it speaks of the contractual relationship between God and His people. The Hebrew term is b’rit. Also see B’rit Chadashah, Hebrew for New Covenant (see Genesis 6:18 and 17:2; Jeremiah 31:30; Nehemiah 9:32; Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 1:72).

Diaspora, the Dispersion: the scattering of the Jewish people in exile throughout the world. Today almost 7 million Jews live in Isra’el, and over 8 million more Jews live in the Diaspora (also see Isaiah 11:10; John 7:35).

Drash: A drash is a long d’var.

D’var: Is a short talk on topics relating to a parashah, the weekly Torah portion.

Echad: The Hebrew word for “one” or “unity.” Echad is used in the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4).

Elyon: A title for God, meaning the Most High God (see Luke 1:35 and 76; Acts 7:48). A longer form is El Elyon, God Most High (also see Deuteronomy 32:8; Isaiah 14:14; Psalm 91:1; Acts 16:17).

Elohim: “God” in general terms, or as Creator. Compared with ADONAI, God’s “covenant name” is used especially in His relationship to the Jewish people. Elohim is the plural form of El, also found in the Bible occasionally with the same meaning. Yeshua is sometimes called Ben-Elohim, the Son of God (also see Genesis 2:19; Isaiah 61:11; Matthew 4:3; Mark 1:1; Luke 1:35; John 11:4).

El Shaddai: God Almighty

Emissaries: Apostles

God-fearers: These were Gentiles who became convinced that ADONAI was the only true God, they abandoned their paganism and idolatry, but they did not choose to become a proselyte in any form, and hence there was no adoption of Jewish customs or practices (see the commentary on Acts, to see link click Bb – An Ethiopian Asks about Isaiah).

Goyim: Nations, non-Jews, Gentiles

Gehenna: The word for “hell,” the place of perpetual misery and suffering after this life. It comes from the Greek word Genna and the Hebrew word Gei-Hinnom, which means the valley of Hinnom. There was actually such a valley by that name south of the Temple in Jerusalem. It was used as a garbage dump, and fires were always burning there, making it a suitable picture of life in hell. In Jewish sources, the term is used as the opposite of Gan-Eden, or the Garden of Eden or Paradise (Matthew 23:33; Mark 9:43).

Gentiles: A term for individuals or groups who are not Jewish. In Hebrew a common word for Gentile is goy or goyim is the plural form (see Isaiah 8:23; Matthew 10:18; Mark 10:33).

Go’el: Literally, a redeemer, used both for God and of people. In the book of Ruth, go’el means the kinsman-redeemer, a close relative obligated to defend and protect his kin. The go’el could buy back (redeem) land or someone who sold himself into slavery, and could marry a widow in the family in order to protect her future. The human go’el is a picture of God the greater Go’el who protects and redeems us, the members of His family (see Ruth 3:9-12).

Grace: Receiving what we don’t deserve.

Hag ha’Matzah: The Feast of Unleavened Bread

Halakhah: are rules governing Jewish life and comes from the Hebrew root to walk. The rabbis used the term to refer to the legal way to walk out the commandments of the Torah. It can also refer to the Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law). A (one) halakhah is a specific ruling given regarding a particular issue, “the halakhah” being the ruling accepted and observed by the Jewish community.

Hametz or Chametz: The Hebrew word for leaven, or yeast, which makes bread rise. God commanded Isra’el not to eat hametz during Passover, Yeshua teaches that both good and evil spread, the same way hametz leavens the whole batch of dough (Also see 16:6-12; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1 Exodus 12:20; Leviticus 7:13; Amos 4:5; Matthew 13:33 and 13:21).

Hanukkah: Meaning dedication, the feast commemorating the victory of the Maccabees over the armies of Antiochus Epiphanes in 165 BC and the rebuilding and dedication of the Temple after its desecration by Syrian invaders.

Ha’Shem: The Tetragrammaton, meaning the four-letter name of YHVH. Since its pronunciation is not known, and also out of respect for God’s name, Jews traditionally substitute the words ADONAI and Ha’Shem. While ADONAI is more of an affectionate name like daddy, Ha’Shem is a more formal name like sir (also see Exodus 3:15; Jeremiah 1:9; Psalm 1:2, Matthew 1:22; Mark 5:19; Luke 1:5; John 1:23).

Hellenist: In the B’rit Chadashah, it refers to Jews who lived in the Diaspora, or had moved to Isra’el from the Diaspora, spoke Greek, and were more Greek in their culture, than traditional Jewish people brought up in Isra’el (Acts 6:1, 9:29, 11:20).

Immerse: To dip the whole body under water as an act of dedication to the LORD, or as a profession of faith in Yeshua. The word is often seen in other translations as “baptize.” The ceremony of dipping is called “immersion” or “baptism.” Yeshua’s cousin was known as John the Immerser (Matthew 3:1; Mark 6:14; Luke 7:20).

Imputation: To reckon or charge to one’s account. When the Spirit gives life (John 6:63a), that means that all the righteousness of Christ is transferred to your spiritual account at the moment of faith. What is true of Messiah is true of you, minus His deity.

Incarnation: The divine revelation (Hebrews 1:1-2) of YHVH becoming one with humanity as an ordinary human being in the person of Yeshua Messiah. He was one-hundred percent man and one-hundred present God. The Triune God knew that the Second Person would come to earth to be subject to numerous evils: hunger, ridicule, rejection, and death. He did this in order to negate sin, and therefore, its evil effects.

Judaizers: Jewish false teachers, who taught that obedience to the 613 commandments of the Torah were necessary to have a relationship with God, and opposed Paul at every turn. Everywhere Paul went, the Judaizers were sure to follow. Once Paul established a church in Galatia, as soon as he left, they would come in and distort the gospel of Messiah (see the commentary on Galatians Ag – Who Were the Judaizers).

Justification: The act of God whereby, negatively, He forgives the sins of believers and, positively, He declares them righteous by imputing the obedience and righteousness of Messiah to them through faith (Luke 18:9-14). It is not a reward for anything good we have done. It is not something we cooperate with God in (in other words, it is not sanctification). It is an utterly undeserved free gift of the mercy of ADONAI (Romans 3:24; Titus 3:7). It is entirely accomplished by God, once and for all, at the moment of salvation. It results in good deeds (James 2:14-26) and sanctification over our lifetime.

Kadosh: The Hebrew word for ‘holy.” This term describes the people set apart for God. ADONAI Himself is kodosh (Leviticus 19:1-2). Many letters to Christ’s newly formed communities (churches) address Yeshua’s followers as the Kedoshim (also see Jeremiah 2:3; Nehemiah 8:10; First Corinthians 1:2; Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2).

Kedoshim: The holy ones

Ketubah: In traditional Jewish weddings it is the legally binding marriage contract or covenant.

Korban: A sacrifice or offering dedicated to God, especially to fulfill a vow. If something was to be dedicated to God, it generally could not be used for other purposes. Some Pharisees and teachers of the law wrongly used this as an excuse not to provide for their parents in their old age, even though Jewish teaching insisted that the commandment to honor one’s father and mother extended to providing for their physical needs (see Mark 7:11).

Kosher: Kosher foods are those that conform to the Jewish dietary regulations of kashrut, primarily derived from Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Food that may be consumed according to halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér, meaning “fit”.

Levite: Descendants of the tribe of Levi, who served in the Tabernacle and Temple as gatekeepers, musicians, teachers, and assistants to the priests. The scribes, or Torah-teachers, originally came only from among the Levites and were the forerunners of the Pharisees. The Pharisees later expanded to include members who were from all tribes, with no affiliation with Levi required. (Also see Exodus 4:14; Ezeki’el 48:12; Ezra 1:5; John 1:19).

LORD: When the translators of the King James Bible in the 1600’s came to the Hebrew word YHVH, they needed to distinguish it from the word Lord, meaning master. So, they capitalized it. Therefore, LORD is actually the Tetragrammaton, meaning the four-letter name of YHVH.

LXX (Septuagint): The “official” Greek translation of the TaNaKh, dating from the third century BC through the fourth century AD. The original translation was of the Torah (the five books of Moshe), which the Letter of Aristeas records was allegedly made by seventy Jewish scholars in Alexandria (Egypt) from which it gained its name (Septuaginta). It is commonly referred to by the abbreviation, LXX (70).

Malki-Tzedek: Melchizedek.

Mashiach (Hebrew): Messiah, the Anointed One (Matthew 26:63; Mark 1:1; John 20:31).

Matzah (singular) or Matzot (plural): Unleavened bread, which is made without yeast, eaten especially during the feast of Passover. Also see hametz (also see Exodus 13:6; Leviticus 2:5; Ezeki’el 45:21; Matthew 26:17; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19; John 13:26).

Masoretic Text: The official text of the TaNaKh edited by the Massoretes, or Jewish grammarians, during the sixth to tenth centuries AD. This text is “pointed” with various vowel signs and accents which were lacking in the previous texts.

M’chitzah, the: The middle wall of separation (see the commentary on Acts Cn – Paul’s Advice from Jacob and the Elders at Jerusalem).

Megillah (singular) or Megillot (plural): The five books in the Writings used for special readings during the holidays: Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther.

Menorah (singular) or Menorot (plural): The seven branched lampstand(s) designed and commanded by God for service in the Tabernacle/Temple (Exodus 25:32; First Kings 7:49; Zechariah 4:2).

Mercy: Not getting what we deserve.

Messiah (Greek): Christ, the Anointed One, often used in speaking of a Redeemer sent from God to free His people from exile and oppression (also see Matthew 1:16; Mark 8:29; Luke 2:11 and John 1:41).

Midrash (singular) or Midrashim (plural): allegorical interpretation or application of a text. The listener is expected to understand that the writer of the midrash is not expounding the plain meaning of the text, but introducing his own ideas.

Mikveh: a bath or pool with a flow of fresh water; used in Orthodox Judaism to this day for ritual purification or ceremonial cleansing, performed at various times in a person’s life (see Matthew 3:13 and Titus 3:5).

Mitzvah (singular) or mitzvot (plural): A commandment from God. Another, more modern, meaning is “a good deed,” more broadly, a general principle for living (Deuteronomy 11:22; Second Kings 17:37; Proverbs 6:20; Matthew 26:10; Mark 14:6).

Moshe: Moses.

Olam haba: “The age to come,” or “the world to come.” It describes a time after the world is perfected under the rulership of Messiah. This term also refers to the afterlife, where the soul passes after death. It can be contrasted with olam ha-zeh, “this world” (Matthew 12:32; Mark 10:30; Luke 18:30 and 20:35; Ephesians 1:21; Hebrews 6:5; Revelation 20-21).

Omer: Meaning “sheaf,” the bundle of barley used in the Firstfruits offering. After the Temple period it came to be identified with Sefirat ha’Omer, or the counting of the omer, the counting of the days from Firstfruits to Shavu’ot.

Pesach: Passover. The Jewish festival commemorating deliverance from Egyptian bondage. In Biblical times Jews used to journey to the Temple, sacrifice lambs there, and eat a special meal commemorating the departure of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. It was one of the three “pilgrimage festivals” that all able-bodied Jews were expected to celebrate before YHVH in Yerushalayim. Today, Passover is celebrated at home with a special meal called a seder. Yeshua celebrated Passover with His apostles (Matthew 26:18; Mark 14:12; Luke 22:7; John 13:1).

Pharisees: One of the sects of Judaism in the first century. The Pharisees had their own views of how exactly to keep Torah. They were especially concerned with ritual impurity and (unlike the Sadducees) they believed in the resurrection of the dead. While the Sadducees were more involved with the Temple, the Pharisees were concerned more with home and synagogue life.

Propitiation: The averting of God’s wrath by means of the substitutionary and efficacious (producing the desired effect) sacrifice (death) of Yeshua Messiah (the atonement). It is the work of Messiah that satisfies every claim of God’s holiness and justice so that Ha’Shem is free to act on behalf of sinners.

Proselytes at the Gate: There were three levels of Gentile relationship to Judaism. After God-fearers and proselytes of the Gate were the second level. The Gate was the middle wall of separation (Ephesians 2:14) in the Temple compound that Gentiles were not allowed to go beyond under penalty of death (see the commentary on Acts Bb – An Ethiopian Asks about Isaiah 53). These were Gentiles who adopted many Jewish practices like celebrating Shabbat and the feast of Isra’el, but did not become a full proselyte. Most of these were men because it didn’t require circumcision.

Proselytes of the Covenant: In the third level of Gentile relationship to Judaism (see above), there were proselytes of the Covenant. They entered into the Covenant of Sinai as a full Jew, so to speak. Most of these were women because this level required circumcision.

Purim: Meaning “lots,” is the holiday based on the story of Esther.

Qumran: The documents which were discovered at Khirbet Qumran on the Dead Sea and frequently known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. These texts include partial copies and fragments of most of the biblical books (the only whole copy is Isaiah), apocryphal writings such as Enoch, and texts produced by the community itself (the manual of Discipline and the Thanksgiving Hymns). The texts are referred to according to the number of the cave in which they were discovered (for example, 1Qs [Community Rule], 11Q Temp [Temple Scroll]).

Rasheet: One of several names for the Festival of First Fruits.

Redeemed: Setting free from slavery, buying back something lost, for a price.

Righteous of the TaNaKh: Old Testament believers.

Rosh Ha’Shanah: Hebrew for “Head of the Year.” Known as the Jewish New Year, or the Feast of Trumpets.

Ruach: The Hebrew word for “spirit,” “breath,” or “wind.” Yeshua explains wind and Spirit to Nicodemus in John 3:5-8. Scripture frequently refers to the Ruach ha-Kodesh, the Holy Spirit (Exodus 35:31; Numbers 11:25; Malachi 2:15; Acts 2:2 and 10:44; Romans 8:4-17).

Ruach Ha’Kodesh: The Hebrew name for the Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 63:11; Psalm 51:13; Matthew 1:20; Mark 1:8; Luke 1:16; John 14:26).

Sadducees: One of the sects of Judaism in the first century. From the Sadducees came the leading priests who managed the affairs of the Temple. In contrast to the Pharisees, they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead (Matthew 16:12; Mark 12:18; Luke 20:27).

Sanhedrin: Literally, the gathering of the seated, like being a judge seated on a bench – a legal term for an officiating judge. This was the Supreme Court of ancient Isra’el. It exercised legislative and judicial authority (Matthew 26:59; Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66; John 11:47).

Sanctification: To be set apart, specifically, to the holy use and purposes of God. It is a process that takes a whole lifetime. It is the work of God in which you cooperate (Romans 12:1-2; First Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 12:3-4; First Peter 5:8-9); and is a process Ephesians 4:11-16), trusting in God, apart from whom we can do nothing (John 15:5; Ephesians 3:16; Colossians 1:11; Hebrews 2:18 and 4:14). He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6).

Septuagint: The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures and was presumable made for the Jewish community in Egypt when Greek was the common language throughout the region. It is also called the translation of the Seventy because tradition states that the Septuagint was translated by seventy rabbis. In academia, the Septuagint is often abbreviated as LXX (the Roman numeral for seventy) in honor os this translation.

Shabbat: The Sabbath Day, the seventh day of the week, when work ceases. On this day God’s people are beckoned to rest and renew our relationship with our Creator, who also rested on the seventh day. Shabbat begins on Friday evening at sundown and ends Saturday evening after three stars appear (Exodus 20:10; Nehemiah 9:14; Matthew 12:10; Mark 1:21; Luke 23:56; John 9:14).

Shaddai: A common name for God in the TaNaKh, usually translated as Almighty. The name is often used in a combination such as El Shaddai, or God Almighty (Genesis 17:1; Ezeki’el 1:24; Job 11:7).

Shalom: Shalom speaks of the practical result of God’s grace in our lives. Peace is the usual Hebrew greeting. But the Hebrew shalom means more than “peace” does in English. It doesn’t necessarily mean the absence of strife, but the presence of positive blessings. It implies the prosperity of the whole person, especially his spiritual prosperity. Shalom transcends our circumstances and is anchored in our intimate relationship with ADONAI. That is God’s shalom, which passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7a). It is also a greeting used when meeting or departing (Genesis 26:31; First Samuel 16:4; Second Chronicles 18:16; Matthew 10:13; Mark 9:50; Luke 1:28; John 14:27).

Sh’khinah: The visual manifestation of the glory of God.

Shavu’ot: the festival of Weeks (Hebrew) or Pentecost (Greek), since it comes seven weeks after Pesach; also called Pentecost, from the Greek word for fifty because one counts fifty days after Passover. It is one of the three “pilgrimage festivals” that all able-bodied Jews were expected to celebrate before YHVH in Yerushalayim. It originally celebrated the harvest, but later commemorated the day God gave the Torah to Isra’el. After Yeshua’s resurrection, the disciples waited for God’s gift of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, which also came on Shavu’ot (Exodus 34:22; Second Chronicles 8:13; Acts 2:1 and 20:16; First Corinthians 16:8).

Sh’ol: The Hebrew equivalent of the Greek “Hades,” the place where the dead exist. It had two compartments, a place of torment and paradise, separated by a great divide (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Hx – The Rich Man and Lazarus). Paradise was emptied after Messiah preached to the tormented lost sometime during the three days that His body lay in the tomb, and then He led the righteous of the TaNaKh to heaven.

Shofar: A ram’s horn, used in the Bible for summoning armies, calling to repentance, and in other situations. Blasts of various lengths and numbers signified different instructions. Metal trumpets were also used for similar purposes, but exclusively by the cohanim. Today, the shofar is used on Rosh ha-Shanah of Yom Kippur, the Jewish High Holy Days. The shofar also ushers in the Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:9-10; Zechariah 9:14; Matthew 24:31; First Corinthians 15:52; First Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Sinai: the mountain in the desert between Egypt and the land of Isra’el.

Shuwb: turn, turning, and the big idea of Jeremiah.

Son of Man: A name that Yeshua commonly used to refer to Himself. It comes from Dani’el 7:13-14, in which the Son of Man is given all authority. This name sometimes emphasizes Yeshua’s humanity and sometimes His deity (Matthew 9:6; Mark 9:31; Luke 21:36; John 6:27).

Sukkot: the festival of Booths or Tabernacles, celebrating the forty years when the people of Isra’el lived in booths, tents, shacks, in the desert between Egypt and the land of Isra’el. The Hebrew word sukkah means booth and sukkot is the plural and means booths. Sukkot is one of the three “pilgrimage festivals” that all able-bodied Jews were expected to celebrate before YHVH in Yerushalayim (Leviticus 23:34; Zechariah 14:16; Second Chronicles 8:13; Matthew 17:4; Mark 9:5; Luke 9:33).

Synagogue: A place of assembly for Jews for hearing the Torah, praying and worshiping God. There were many synagogues throughout Isra’el and the Greco-Roman world (Matthew 4:23; Mark 5:22; Luke 4:16; John 9:22).

Tabernacle, the: A temporary dwelling, such as the booths constructed during Sukkot. It is also used in the TaNaKh of the tent in which God dwelt among the Jewish people, both in the wilderness and in the land of Isra’el. When the word is used as a verb, it refers to Yeshua coming to dwell among His people (John 1:14), reminding us of the wilderness Tabernacle and also of the Feast of Tabernacles (Exodus 25:9; First Chronicles 6:17; John 1:14 and 7:2).

Talmid (singular) or Talmudin (plural): Student or students.

Talmud: The codified body of Jewish Oral Law (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ei – The Oral Law); includes literary creations, legends, scriptural interpretations, comprised of the Mishnah and the Gemara.

TaNaKh: The Hebrew word TaNaKh is an acronym, based on the letters T for “Torah”, N for “Nevi’im” (Prophets), and K for “Ketuv’im” (Sacred Writings). It is a collection of the teachings of God to human beings in document form. This term is used instead of the phrase, “the Old Testament,” which sounds “old” and outdated.

Torah: Literally, this Hebrew word means teaching or instruction (Exodus 13:9; Isaiah 2:3; Psalm 1:2; Matthew 5:17; Mark 1:22; Luke 24:44; John 7:19; Romans 7:1ff; First Corinthians 9:20-21; Galatians 3:21). It can be used for the five books of Moshe, or more generally to God’s commandments, or the whole TaNaKh (John 10:34). Uncapitalized, torah can be understood generally as a law or principle (Romans 7:21-8:2).

Torah-Teacher: A Torah scribe engaged in interpreting and transmitting the Torah. They wrote Torah scrolls, bills of divorce, and other legal documents. The Hebrew term is sofer.

Tree of Life: The tree at the center of the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9, 3:24), the source of eternal life. Scripture points to a future in the B’rit Chadashah, with access to the Tree of Life. In the meantime, the Torah is like the Tree of Life to those who embrace her, and blessed will be all who hold firmly to her (Proverbs 3:18 also see Revelation 2:7, 22:2 and 14).

Tzitzit: A fringe that was put on a garment in accordance with Numbers 15:37-41.

Tziyon: Zion, Mount Zion, was originally the City of David, south of the modern Old City of Yerushalayim. Later the name Tziyon came to refer metaphorically to the Temple Mount, Jerusalem, or the people of Isra’el. The hill now called Mount Tziyon was given its name in the fourth century AD (Isaiah 1:27; Psalm 65:2; Matthew 21:5; John 12:15).

Yeshua: The Hebrew name for our Messiah, known in English as Jesus, and is a masculine form, and a word play on yeshu’ah (salvation) (Matthew 1:21; Mark 6:14; Luke 2:21; John 19:19).

Yerushalayim: Jerusalem.

Y’hudah: Judah.

YHVH: The Tetragrammaton, meaning the Name, the four-letter name of God. Therefore, God does not have many names, He has only one name – YHVH (Yud Hay Vav Hay). All the other names in the Bible describe His characteristics and His attributes.

Yisra’el: Isra’el.

Yochanan: John.

Yom ha’Bikkurim: One of several names for The Feast of Firstfruits.

Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement, the close of the High Holy Days, and considered the holiest day of the year in traditional Judaism.

Second Corinthians
from a Messianic Jewish Perspective

To John and Jasmine Kumar, faithful servants of the Lord in America and in India. Their great sacrifice for the advancement of the Gospel, their enthusiasm for task at hand and their gracious spirit are a blessing to us all.

At a school in a small village, there was one girl who came early. She helped the teacher prepare the room for the day. The same girl would stay late – cleaning the board and dusting the erasers. During class, she was attentive. She sat close to the teacher, absorbing the lessons. One day when the other children were unruly and inattentive, the teacher used the girl as an example. “Why can’t you be like her? She listens. She works. She comes early. She stays late.” A boy blurted out from the rear of the room, “It isn’t fair for us to be like her.” The teacher thought that was strange and she wondered why. The boy was uncomfortable, wishing he hadn’t spoken. “She has an advantage,” he shrugged. “She is an orphan,” he almost whispered. The boy was right. The girl had an advantage. An advantage of knowing that school, as tedious as it was, was better than the orphanage. She knew that, and she appreciated what the others took for granted.

We, too, are orphans. Alone.

No name. No future. No hope.

Were it not for our adoption by God into His family, as His children, we would have no place to belong.
We sometimes forget that.

The Corinthians forgot that.

They had grown puffy in their achievements and divisive in their fellowship. They argued over different leaders, what were the greater gifts. They rebelled against Paul’s leadership. They were indifferent to sin and insensitive in worship. Paul defended his ministry and cautioned the Corinthians to remember to whom they belonged. Examine yourselves (13:5), Paul said: If anyone is united with Messiah, he is a new creation – the old has passed; look, what has come is fresh and new (5:17)!

Good reminder.

Not just for the Corinthians, but for us as well. For if we forget, we too will be like the students who did just enough to get by and never enough to show their thanks.¹

Second Corinthians is the most personally revealing of all Paul’s letters. At the same time, it is perhaps the least familiar of all his inspired writings, often overlooked by individual believers, pastors and Messianic rabbis alike. The neglect of this wonderful letter is a huge loss to the Church, for it has much to offer. No one in ministry should ignore the riches of these insights. Paul’s godly character shines through as he interacts with the most troubled of his congregations. Its thirteen chapters reveal his humility; he described himself as a lowly clay pot (4:7), stressed by human weakness and inadequacy (3:5, 11:30, 12:5 and 9-10), and was reluctant to defend himself when attacked (11:1, 16-17 and 21, 12:11). Second Corinthians also reveals Paul’s passionate concern for his flock, both for their spiritual growth (3:18 and 7:1), and for their spiritual safety (11:2-4 and 29). His declaration: For what we are proclaiming is not ourselves, but the Messiah as Lord, with ourselves as slaves for you because of Yeshua (4:5), sums up his selfless concern for them.

Though it is an intensely intimate look at Paul, Second Corinthians nonetheless contains rich theological truth. Here the B’rit Chadashah receives its most complete account outside of the book of Romans. Paul presents important teaching on what happens to believers when we die (5:1-11). He discusses the doctrine of reconciliation, culminating in the fifteen Greek words of 5:21. Those words provide the most concise, yet profound summary of the substitutionary atonement of Yeshua Messiah to be found anywhere in Scripture. Similarly, 8:9 is a brief theological gem regarding Messiah that is of immense value to every believer.

Second Corinthians also has much to teach regarding the practical aspects of living the life of a believer. Paul discusses the principle of separating from unbelievers in dating and marriage (to see link click Bi – Do Not be Unequally Yoked with Unbelievers). Chapters 8 and 9 provide the most detailed teaching on giving in the B’rit Chadashah; Chapter 11 gives instruction on how to distinguish true servants of God from false apostles (11:7-15 and 20); and Chapter 12 reveals how God uses suffering in the lives of His children (12:5-10). This letter closes with a look at several important elements of the sanctification process (12:20 to 13:14).²

Historical Background: For information about the city of Corinth and Paul’s founding of the church there, see the commentary on First Corinthians Ag – Founding of the Church at Corinth.

Authorship: That Paul wrote this letter, as he twice claims (1:1 and 10:1), is almost universally accepted, even by critical scholars who deny that Paul wrote other B’rit Chadashah books attributed to him. It is impossible to imagine a motive for someone to forge such an emotional and highly personal letter. The vocabulary that is used is very similar to that of First Corinthians, and the correlation of the evidence from the book of Acts also proves Paul’s authorship. The external evidence also confirms that Paul wrote this letter. The Church father Polycarp quotes from it early in the second century, while later in that same century it was included in the Muratorian Canon, the oldest known list of the books of the B’rit Chadashah. Church fathers Clement of Alexandria, Iranaeus, and Tertullian also quote from Second Corinthians.

Date: For information about the date of Second Corinthians see Ae – Events Between First Corinthians and Second Corinthians.

The Use of the Complete Jewish Bible: Because I am writing this commentary on the book of Second Corinthians from a Jewish perspective, I will be using the Complete Jewish Bible unless otherwise indicated.

The use of ADONAI: Long before Yeshua’s day, the word ADONAI had, out of respect, been substituted in speaking and in reading aloud for God’s personal name, the four Hebrew letters yod-heh-vav-heh, variously written in English as YHVH. The Talmud (Pesachim 50a) made it a requirement not to pronounce the Tetragrammaton, meaning the four-letter name of the LORD, and this remains the rule in most modern Jewish settings. In deference to this tradition, which is unnecessary but harmless, I will be using ADONAI where YHVH is meant. In ancient times when the scribes were translating the Hebrew Scriptures, they revered the name of YHVH so much that they would use a quill to make one stroke of the name and then throw it away. Then they would make another stroke and throw that quill away until the name was completed. His name became so sacred to them that they started to substitute the phrase the Name, instead of writing or pronouncing His Name. Over centuries of doing this, the actual letters and pronunciation of His Name were lost. The closest we can come is YHVH, with no syllables. The pronunciation has been totally lost. Therefore, the name Yahweh is only a guess of what the original name sounded like. Both ADONAI and Ha’Shem are substitute names for YHVH. ADONAI is more of an affectionate name like daddy, while Ha’Shem is a more formal name like sir.

The use of TaNaKh: The Hebrew word TaNaKh is an acronym, based on the letters T (for “Torah”), N (for “Nevi’im,” the Prophets), and K (for “Ketuvim,” the Sacred Writings). It is the collection of the teachings of God to human beings in document form. The term “Old Covenant” implies that it is no longer valid, or at the very least outdated. Something old, to be either ignored or discarded. But Jesus Himself said: Don’t think I have come to abolish the Torah and the Prophets, I have not come to abolish but to complete (Matthew 5:17 CJB). I will be using the Hebrew acronym TaNaKh instead of the phrase the Old Testament, throughout this devotional commentary.

The Use of the phrase, “the righteous of the TaNaKh,” rather than using Old Testament saints: Messianic synagogues, and the Jewish messianic community in general, never use the phrase Old Testament saints. From a Jewish perspective, they prefer to use the phrase, “righteous of the TaNaKh.” Therefore, I will be using “the righteous of the TaNaKh,” rather than Old Testament saints throughout this devotional commentary.

Occasion and Purpose: At some point after the receipt of First Corinthians, conditions within the church deteriorated. They were a divided church to begin with (First Corinthians 1:12 and Second Corinthians 2:6-7), but the arrival of the false prophets (see Af – The Problem of the False Apostles) made it even more so. Therefore, Paul received the bad news, probably from Titus, that caused the apostle to make an unplanned visit back to Corinth to reinforce the effect of his first letter and prevent any further undermining of his authority through the subversive activities of those false prophets. But it was unsuccessful in reducing the level of opposition against him. During this visit Paul was personally attacked by one of the members (Second Corinthians 2:5 and 7:12). It was a painful visit for both Paul and his spiritual children in Corinth (see Ao – Paul’s Painful Visit).

To spare the Corinthians and himself from another painful visit, Paul wrote a “severe letter” (see Bl – The Effects of the Severe Letter) to them to arouse the discipline of the one who did the wrong. But it turned out that the majority of the Corinthian believers felt concern, remorse, and even apprehension over their behavior during the painful visit. They longed to see Paul again to assure him of their change of attitude. Therefore, when Titus arrived in Macedonia from Corinth in the summer of 56 AD with his welcomed report of the Corinthians responsiveness to the “severe letter.” 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).³

The Background of Isaiah 40-55: The key far eschatological text in the letter, Second Corinthians 6:2, is a quotation from the Septuagint (LXX), or the Greek TaNaKh, is an important passage within Isaiah 40-55, namely Isaiah 49:8-13. When examined in the LXX, the passage reveals a number of words – salvation, covenant, comfort, and lowly – that prove to be significant within the structure of Second Corinthians. Not only are individual words from this passage in Isaiah reproduced, but we also find some groupings of words in Second Corinthians: salvation and comfort in 1:6, and comfort and lowly in 7:6 and 10:1. This short passage in Isaiah LXX appears to have been the source of a number of ideas employed by the apostle in this letter.

The themes of a new creation and reconciliation, so prominent in Second Corinthians 5:17-21, appear to arise out of Isaiah’s twin themes of new creation and restoration. While there is no verbal equivalent to reconciliation in Isaiah, the prominent theme of restoration bears a similarity to it. Isra’el’s exile in Isaiah is similar to our own alienation from ADONAI. In Isaiah 43 the new creation and restoration are achieved by the ransom of people by a Kinsman Redeemer willing and able to pay the price of redemption (see the commentary on Isaiah Ht – I Have Created You, O Jacob: Fear Not, for I Have Redeemed You, You are Mine), by blotting out the sins of His people (see the commentary on Isaiah Hv – I Blot Out Your Transgressions for My Own Sake), themes that are expressed – as fulfilled in Yeshua Messiah – in Second Corinthians 5:17-21.

In Second Corinthians 5:20 to 6:2, Paul views himself (and, we presume, the other apostles) as Messiah’s ambassadors and God’s fellow-workers, encouraging the Corinthians to be reconciled to God, and, in the knowledge that this is the day of salvation, not to receive God’s grace in vain. But then, in a short space, Paul urges the Corinthians to be reconciled to him, and to open their hearts wide to him (6:11-13). Between 6:3-10 and 6:11-13, these two encouragements – the first related to God and the second related to himself – Paul applies to himself as a worker of God language that reminds us of the suffering Servant (see the commentary on Isaiah Hl – The Cone of Isaiah), found in Isaiah 40-55. As the apostle that the Corinthians are close to rejecting, Paul reminds them that he is the divinely “sent” messenger who announces that “now” is the day of salvation (see Bg – Living as a Servant) and that they must be reconciled to ADONAI through aligning themselves with the message brought by His apostle. The language of suffering as seen in an apostle (6:3-10) serves to legitimize Paul’s ministry because it was fulfilled in the vicarious sufferings of the true Servant of ADONAI, the Messiah, Yeshua (5:14-21).

It seems likely that Paul meditated on Isaiah 40-55 in the light of the crisis in Corinth and, as it were, prophesied from it, encouraging the Corinthians – in particular the rebellious factions – to align themselves with God’s day of salvation, which Paul had proclaimed.⁴

Outline of Second Corinthians

Second Corinthians from a Messianic Jewish Perspective (Ac)

Glossary (Ad)

Events Between First Corinthians and Second Corinthians(Ae)

The Problem of False Apostles (Af)

The Unity of Second Corinthians (Ag)

Setting the Scene – 1:1-11 (Ah)

Our God Who Comforts Us – 1:1-7 (Ai)

Our God Who Delivers Us – 1:8-11 (Aj)

1. Paul Defends His Ministry – 1:12 to 7:16 (Ak)
2. A Change of Plans – 1:12 to 2:13 (Al)
3. A Time to Boast – 1:12-14 (Am)
4. God’s Seal of Approval – 1:15-22 (An)
5. Paul’s Painful Visit – 1:23 to 2:4 (Ao)
6. Forgiving the Offender – 2:5-11 (Ap)
7. Paul’s Anxiety in Troas – 2:12-13 (Aq)
8. Paul Reflects on His Ministry – 2:14 to 7:4 (Ar)
9. Today’s Messianic Movement – 2:14 to 4:6 (As)
10. A Sweet-Smelling Aroma – 2:14-17 (At)
11. The Competent Shepherd – 3:1-6a (Au)
12. A Glory Transformed – 3:6b-11 (Av)
13. Veiling and Unveiling – 3:12-18 (Aw)
14. Light out of Darkness – 4:1-6 (Ax)
15. Paul Describes His Apostolic Ministry – 4:7 to 7:4 (Ay)
16. Priceless Treasure in Clay Jars – 4:7-15 (Az)
17. Renewed Day by Day – 4:16-18 (Ba)
18. Going Home – 5:1-8 (Bb)
19. For We Must All Appear Before the Bema Seat of Messiah – 5:9-10 (Bc)
20. A New Creation – 5:11-17 (Bd)
21. The Ministry of Reconciliation – 5:18-20 (Be)
22. Fifteen Words of Hope – 5:21 (Bf)
23. Living as a Servant – 6:1-10 (Bg)
24. The Characteristics of Love – 6:11-13 and 7:2-4 (Bh)
25. Do Not be Unequally Yoked with Unbelievers – 6:11 to 7:1 (Bi)
26. Can Believers be Demon-Possessed (Bj)
27. Titus Brings Good News from Corinth – 7:5 to 9:15 (Bk)
28. The Effects of the Severe Letter – 7:5-16 (Bl)
29. The Call to Complete the Collection – 8:1 to 9:15 (Bm)
30. A Biblical Model for Giving – 8:1-8 (Bn)
31. The Poverty That Made Us Rich – 8:9 (Bo)
32. Stewardship with Integrity – 8:10 to 9:5 (Bp)
33. The Path to Prosperity – 9:6-15 (Bq)
34. Paul Defends His Apostolic Authority – 10:1 to 12:21 (Br)
35. The Exercise of Apostolic Authority – 10:1-11 (Bs)
36. Winning the Spiritual War – 10:1-6 (Bt)
37. Building Up, Not Tearing Down – 10:7-11 (Bu)
38. Paul and the False Teachers – 10:12 to 12:21 (Bv)
39. A Misplaced Standard – 10:12-18 (Bw)
40. Angels of Light or Darkness – 11:1-15 and 20 (Bx)
41. Being Deceived – 11:1-6 (By)
42. Servants of Satan – 11:7-15 and 20 (Bz)
43. Foolish Boasting – 11:16-21a (Ca)
44. Paul’s Apostolic Credentials – 11:21b to 12:4 (Cb)
45. How God Uses Suffering – 12:5-10 (Cc)
46. Epilogue to the Fools Speech – 12:11-13 (Cd)
47. Paul’s Planned Third Visit – 12:14-21 (Ce)
48. A Stern Warning – 13:1-10 (Cf)
49. A Fond Farewell – 13:11-14 (Cg)

Endnotes (Ch)

Bibliography (Ci)