II Corinthians 8:15

…they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. (v. 5b) Here Paul is speaking of the Macedonians’ contributions toward the financial relief of the Jerusalem church. I understand “giving themselves to the Lord” to mean that they prayed and sought the Lord’s will in their donations. That’s what David tells us on Ingathering Sunday, not to pledge or give out of guilt or some sense of responsibility, but to seek the Lord and give with a happy heart.

Understanding the geography and the chronology often helps us to fill in the gaps and understand Scripture better. That’s clearly the case with verse 6: Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. Paul had sent Titus from Ephesus to Corinth, with either I Corinthians or Paul’s “lost letter” in hand. Part of Titus’ mission while there was to encourage the Corinthians in their giving. Paul had earlier instructed them as to his wishes (I Corinthians 16:1-4). So Titus went to Corinth and stayed there a while, then headed to Macedonia to meet with Paul, who is in Macedonia writing II Corinthians. Now Paul has met Titus in Macedonia (with joy!) and now is sending Titus back to Corinth to get them to finish their Jerusalem collection before Paul, himself, goes to them as he leaves Macedonia. Yes, it gets confusing!

As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.” (v. 15) Paul is writing here about the manna in the wilderness. I had always imagined that verse to suggest that each person gathered exactly when he/she needed. But my Study Bible suggested that there was sharing of the manna among the people. Some gathered more than they could eat and gave their excess to those who had gathered too little. Such a nice thought; I had never considered that!

Slava Bohu!

II Corinthians 7:1-16

Today’s reading, in one word: JOY!! I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy. (v. 4b) And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. (v. 13) I rejoice, because I have complete confidence in you. (v. 16) In addition, the word “rejoice” appears also in verses 7 and 9 and the word “comfort” appears seven times, in verses 4, 6, 7, and 13.

Paul has joy and is comforted when Titus brings word of the Corinthians’ positive response to his (Titus’) visit and of their acceptance of Paul’s chastisement of them in one of his lost letters – that their grief and sorrow led to repentance and re-acceptance of Paul’s position in their lives. And Titus has joy at being so well received by the Corinthians as he was headed to them on the heels of Paul’s stern letter. They received him warmly – that alone would have made Titus joyful. But then when he heard them tell of their repentance, he was made even more joyful. So he left there in high spirits as he went north to meet Paul in Macedonia. And again, I imagine Titus’ personal joy in delivering the good news report of his time in Corinth. All in all, joy all around!!

But what does that say to us? First, there is joy in being well received by anyone on any occasion, whether previously known to us or not. So when we are receiving someone, our first response should be joy in their visitation. Second, there is joy in seeing hearts turned from wrongdoing to repentance. While it is not common that we very often will see the fruits of repentance in others’ lives, there will be joy in others’ hearts when we report of our own repentance. Third, there is joy in someone’s heart when he or she can be the bearer of good news. So let me be joyful in this moment – in case you have not heard, Samuel has accepted a position as senior Pastor in a Methodist church in Peru, Indiana. He and his family will be a couple hundred miles from us, but that’s only a three-hour drive. YAY, Samuel and Christianah, JOY!! Finally, there is joy in someone receiving good news. I trust that those of you reading this note are truly joyful at Samuel’s news, especially if you are hearing it for the first time. Again, JOY!!

There is bountiful JOY in the Lord, so long as we are seeking Him in our own lives and in all our interactions with others. GLORY!!

Slava Bohu!

II Corinthians 6:1-18

RTB 2020!! I was intrigued today in my NKJV Chronological Bible by their use of three different prepositions (in, by, as) for three sets of nouns:

• in great endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in calamities, in beatings, in imprisonments, in riots, in labors, in sleepless nights, in hunger;
• by purity, by knowledge, by patience, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by genuine love; by truthful speech, by the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; by honor and dishonor, by slander and praise.
• …as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. (vv. 4b-10)

I have copied the verses above from an online ESV translation to preserve the ESV nouns, then changed the prepositions in the ESV translation to the prepositions in the NKJV translations – in, by, and as. You can read along in an ESV translation to see how the prepositions have changed.

What intrigued me was how this NKJV translation separated the nouns. The “in” nouns reflect difficulties in Paul’s experiences. The “by” nouns reflect the graces that he has received as he has been doing his Kingdom work. Finally, the “as” nouns introduce sets of opposite feelings that Paul senses others may attribute to him as he ministers. Using these NKJV prepositions and separating the concepts accordingly allows us to more clearly see Paul’s ministry from his perspective. Yes, intriguing…!

Slava Bohu!

II Corinthians 5:11-21

I keep seeing verses in II Corinthians that are so well known to me – and I suspect, to others:

• …one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. (vv. 14b-15)
• Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (v. 17)
• …God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them… (v. 19a)
• Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ… (v. 20a)
• He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (v. 21)

I wonder where Paul stands among the most quoted writers of all time…??

Slava Bohu!

II Corinthians 5:1-10

My Study Bible regularly makes the point that we are saved by grace, not by works. Today is one of those examples, in its comment on today’s last two verses: So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (vv. 9-10) My Study Bible says, “This accounting has nothing to do with justification, which is credited to the Christian fully and forever through faith in Christ; instead, it refers to what we have done with our lives as Christians.”

I doubt that I had ever considered the concept of “justification by faith” before my born-again years. I think there was a sense in my upbringing and in many Catholics and “nominal” Christians today that we must work our way to heaven. That is, we need to be “good” to gain entrance into heaven. This belief does not discard the notion that Jesus died for our sins and that we come to heaven through Him. It’s more a mixing to these two theologies – we believe in Jesus and we must be good.

But there is an opposite perspective among those people who mix these two theologies – that a “once saved, always saved” theology is equally unrealistic. You pray a onetime “sinner’s prayer” and you are forever guaranteed entrance into heaven. Then you go back to doing whatever you choose – you’re saved! That never made sense to me either. Of course the counter argument from those “once saved, always saved” folks was that this “sinner” never was sincere in his/her prayer, so s/he did not fall into that “forever saved” category.

So, my belief today…? Ephesians 2:8-10, For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. …especially verse 10! Don’t quote me Ephesians 2:8-9 and leave off Ephesians 2:10!

Slava Bohu!

II Corinthians 4:1-18

There are some really great, memorable verses in today’s reading. Here’s the first: We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; (vv. 8-9) In each case the former word reflects Paul’s difficulties and the latter word/phrase reflects God’s partial or full deliverance. I certainly do not know your particular life circumstances for each of you, but I doubt that any of us is being persecuted as Paul was, especially not for the sake of the Gospel. But I do know that we have personal difficulties in our lives, items that trouble us constantly or irregularly, and for which we consistently are asking for full or partial deliverance. For these times Paul has a second, really great, memorable verse: For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison… (v. 17) Paul says that we simply cannot dwell on these earthly difficulties; we have eternal joy to look forward to!

Verse 11 can be somewhat confusing when we try to apply it to ourselves: For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. We can imagine Paul writing this about himself. After all, he is writing from Macedonia where he was beaten and jailed in Philippi and run out of town in Thessalonica. So yes, in Macedonia he was constantly being “given over to death for Jesus’ sake”. But how do we apply it to our lives today? I think the answer lies in the phrase, “dying to self”. It’s such a difficult concept for us to apply in our lives – setting aside our personal goals and aspirations and instead seeking what God would have us do. But it’s where we really need to be. What does God want for me? Today! Tomorrow! Next week! Always!!

Most of you know Mark Bruner. He and Tommie are wrestling with this question right now! He just finished his Masters at ATS. Now what? It’s not the end for him, it’s a new beginning. But where? And what? Carol and I got a four-page letter from him yesterday, ruminating on where he has been and where he might be headed. They are seriously in need of prayer right now! Please join us.

Slava Bohu!

II Corinthians 3:7-18

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. (v. 18) Is this true? That there are degrees of glory and that we are being transformed from one degree to another…? If it’s Scriptural, then I can’t imagine it’s not true. But then the question comes, what brings about this movement from one degree of glory to another? How do we progress? How do we know where we stand? And are we advancing or receding? A strange concept…??!!

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (v. 17) I’m not much on music, but don’t we have the second half of this verse in a song that we sing? But beyond that, I sense that there are too many Christians who take this verse too literally, that we have freedom to do what we want, so long as we are not violating Scriptural standards. That is, in the immediate, we can congregate as a church in spite of government restrictions because we serve a Higher Power. I am thankful that our Archbishop follows CDC guidelines and that our church body holds to his guidelines and to state mandates. Still, however, I do look forward to some members of our congregation (not us!) getting back together next week. If all we can do is enjoy their gathering, then we will enjoy their gathering! And hopefully with a Hallelujah!!

Slava Bohu!

II Corinthians 2:12-3:6

There is a phrase in our vernacular, “…the letter of the law vs. the spirit of the law…”. I wonder if that phrase comes from today’s reading: …our sufficiency is from God, Who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (vv. 5b-6) When Paul speaks of “the letter”, I suspect that he is speaking of the Law, the Old Testament scriptures, the “old covenant”. He has spoken earlier in our readings about the Law being useful in bringing us to the realization of our sin and of our need for a savior. So here he presents the old and new covenants side by side, in direct contrast one with the other.

I was initially confused by the following two verses: For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. (vv. 15-16) Often when we write two sets of two phrases each, the first phrase in the first set corresponds to the first phrase in the second set and the same for the second phrase in each set. For clarity, we write, “respectively”. Here Paul could have written, “not respectively”, because the first phrase (those who are being saved) corresponds to the second (from life to life) and the second to the first. Or, “to the latter” and “to the former” instead of “to one” and “to the other”, respectively.

Another seriously confusing verse, depending on the translation… The ESV has When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was opened for me in the Lord… I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia. (v. 12, 13b) while the NASB has Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord… taking my leave of them, I went on to Macedonia. The ESV has “even though” while the NASB has “and when”. For the ESV it sounds like Paul is abandoning his preaching possibilities in Troas while the NASB seems to indicate that his preaching time there was over. The differences in translations…! Since we have so few verses in our readings this year, I would seriously recommend that each of you read two or three translations. I daresay it will help your understanding – although sometimes it will confuse you more!!

Slava Bohu!

II Corinthians 2:1-11

So, is there a lost letter or a lost visit? I’ve chatted around this topic the past few days. I sense that the majority of scholars tend to believe that yes, there is a lost letter and an unreported visit. There is clear evidence for an unreported visit later in II Corinthians, at II Cor 12:14 and I Cor 13:1, where Paul mentions visiting them for a third time. The only reports that we have of his visits to Corinth are when he first visited during his second missionary journey (Acts 18:1, ff, which we read before we read I Corinthians) and on his third missionary journey (Acts 20:2-3), which we have not yet read. So there does appear to be a missing trip by Paul to Corinth. As to when that occurs, most speculation centers on a short visit from Ephesus during his three-year ministry there, between his writing of the two Corinthian letters.

As to that lost letter… There is some evidence of a missing letter in today’s reading: And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain… (v. 3a) and For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears… (v. 4a) I don’t see anything that we read in I Corinthians that would have been painful for Paul to write. Much of the letter was about Paul answering questions that the Corinthians had asked. The chapter 5 incident (a man living with his father’s wife) was a rebuke of one person’s behavior. So I see Paul writing that first letter calmly, much like a teacher counseling a student. I don’t see the harshness that would have caused pain for either Paul or the Corinthians.

Finally, a quick word on the bulk of today’s reading, II Cor. 2:5-11. It appears that someone within the Corinthian church was guilty of some serious sin – perhaps the man I mentioned above from I Corinthians 5. However, whatever this person had done, he had been punished by the church to the point where he was repentant and remorseful, such that Paul’s advice was to receive him back into the body with love and full forgiveness. It’s hard to imagine such a person ever being universally fully received, but I suspect that Paul may have had himself in mind, in that he persecuted the church mightily until the Lord met him on the road to Damascus. And if everyone at St. Andrew’s knew our deepest sins… Ouch.

Slava Bohu!

II Corinthians 1:12-24

I have a lot of difficulty weighing through Paul’s difficulties with the Corinthians. There are a lot of references to letters that Paul might have written to the Corinthians that have been lost and of visits to them that are not recorded. So it’s difficult to follow his relationship with them when the critical evidence may have been lost. For now, as I said yesterday, scholars believe that Paul wrote this letter from Macedonia, having determined (in the Spirit) not to visit them immediately. And it’s probably good that he did not visit them; he has some harsh words and feelings that he shares. I will point out two. First, he appears very defensive when he says Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? (v. 17) He wants the Corinthians to believe him when he speaks, but he is not sure that he has their confidence.

Second, he uses powerful language in verse 23: But I call God to witness against me… Again, it looks like he is thinking that the Corinthians do not trust him, that he thinks that they think that he may be lying to them. These verses make this section of II Corinthians very difficult to follow.

I don’t know what to make of these thoughts – in one sense it’s true that face-to-face conversation is far better than letter writing (or texting or e-mail notes!). In addition, it appears that the Corinthians themselves, have some serious problems within themselves. But, don’t we all…??!!

Slava Bohu!