Corinth was a strategic city in the Roman empire. It was a seafaring port with a diverse, cosmopolitan crowd. Many in the city, and also the church, were probably used to riches and power. We’re going to look at this second letter to the Corinthians in this series. Why are we doing 2nd Corinthians? It is a book that we hope will be like a bowl of hearty, healthy broth that can reinvigorate our hearts, just as it did for the Corinthian church.
(A) We are simultaneously saints, sufferers, and struggling sinners (2 Cor 1:1b)
Before we begin, we will take a look at the context and history of the Corinthian church.
In AD 49-51, Paul preaches in Corinth, and the church is founded (Acts 18:1-11). A young church founded on the preaching and teaching of God’s word, and the personal pastoral care of Paul. This helps us to see that Paul, his ministry and the church were a part of historic reality. The church in Corinth did not exist before Paul arrived, and through his ministry, people came to faith. Paul stayed there 18 months in AD49-51 to teach among them (Acts 18:11), and we are also told that he worked a tentmaker during his stay (Acts 18:3). Paul comes back to this point in 1 Cor 9. Paul worked hard and also laboured to teach and preach! He didn’t want to burden them and worked to make his own keep.
In AD 53-55, Paul leaves for Ephesus, and writes 1 Cor, sending Timothy to care for them (Acts 19:22, 1 Cor 16:10-11). The book of 1 Corinthians was a letter sent to address questions and concerns that he has regarding the problems in the church. They were an immature church in need of spiritual fathering (1 Cor 4:14-17) and gospel focus, sincere in faith (1 Cor 1:4-9), but hurt by worldly beliefs and behaviour (1 Cor 5:1-2). They were Christians who have experienced saving faith, and have known right teaching and right doctrine but have felt much of the world’s pull on their souls and were hurt by worldly beliefs.
Some of the things they struggled with may not seem very different from us. They were people that still held on to the belief that might is right, and power is to be wielded for personal advancement. They were also people that paid attention to the appearance of religion. They looked to flashy spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues or eloquence as signs of spiritual maturity. This has practical implications for us too, especially in how we approach church. What are we hoping to achieve through our participation in church? Are we looking to elevate our pastors’ charms? Are we looking to build our social networks in church?
In 1 Cor 5:1-2, we also read of how this church sanctioned sin. They were arrogant and did not mourn in the face of sin, even incest, which those outside the church did not condone either. It is a terribly dangerous thing to allow yourself to drift in your behaviour and doctrine, and it often has far-reaching consequence, not only for the individual, but even for the community of believers. Look at the damage to the church. - Do you grieve for sin? Bible scholar and teacher D.A. Carson reminds us that people don’t magically become holy:
“People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”
If you drift from your beliefs, your behaviour soon follows. Where are you headed?
Thus, Paul sent Timothy, a close ministry worker whom he describes as his “dear son”, to care for them. In 2 Cor 1 too, we see mention of Timothy. Paul believed that their beliefs built their behaviour and their doctrine drove their devotion. This is why it was so important for Paul to address them and sent Timothy also.
In AD 55-56, Paul hears about the turmoil in Corinth, and travels to visit them. It was a painful visit, and Paul decided to suffer humiliation and leave (2 Cor 2:5-8, 11:4, 1:23-24). They were a rebellious church in need of correction and repentance.
What we see is that they were calling evil good and good evil. There were people called “super-apostles” who were very flashy in their appearances and preaching a different gospel. They accepted the new message these people were bringing rather than accepting the true message that Paul had given them. Beyond that they were rejecting the people and the purposes he had given them.
We usually shy away from people who hurt and humiliate us. But such was the affection of Paul who continued to reach out to them.
In AD 55/56, Paul sends Titus with a severe letter (now lost), and hears of their repentance (2 Cor 2:3-4, 7:8-16). Paul writes 2 Cor. They were a repentant church in the process of recovery, and in need of restoration and reconciliation. Notice how this took place over six years. This could be encouraging for some of us that are struggling with similar tensions and struggles in our churches today.
As we turn our eyes to our text in 2 Cor, what is the identity of this suffering and struggling church? Paul refers to them as saints, yet from this survey above, we know that they are far from perfect and are still struggling with sin. They are people that are saints, known and loved by God and set aside for His purposes, but it doesn’t man that their lives were devoid of suffering. Are you struggling with this tension in their identity? They are saints, but also struggling with sin. Take heart! If this is your struggle, this letter has a word of encouragement for you! We are saints and also sufferers at the same time.
(B) We find strength in weakness as we lean on Christ’s words (2 Cor 1:1a)
Paul saw himself as an “apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” (2 Cor 1:1a). As an apostle by the will of God, we see that he had credentials and spoke with authority. In 2 Cor, we will see how the people were questioning his credentials, whether he was really sent by God. But the church doubted his credentials because he didn’t look like what they expected. His life was marked by deep suffering, a life of weakness as the world perceives it to be. In 2 Cor 6:3-13, Paul described his life and the people must have struggled with a leader that seemed so weak.
But who was Paul a follower of? He was an apostle of Christ Jesus, who knew for himself what it meant to be rejected and despised by men. Paul was walking in the footsteps of His Saviour, Christ Jesus. The heart of this messenger would be something like the life of Jesus.A servant is not higher than our master. If Christ suffered, so will we. Our promise is not a suffering-free life but that God will be with us so that He will be glorified through it.
Thus, we see that Paul’s apostleship wasn’t just about brandishing credentials. He was also correcting their beliefs and ideas about what it means to be a Christian minister.
There are some implications of Paul’s apostleship for the Corinthian church and it is applicable for us today too. We see from passages like 1 Cor 14:37-38 and 1 Thess 2:13 that in rejecting Paul’s message, they were really rejecting Christ. Disregarding the words of the Bible is not just rejecting man, but rejecting Jesus. Jesus Himself said it to his disciples. Christ in His person, stands behind this message.
Yet if they accepted Paul’s message, they enjoy Christ. Often, the commands of Christ may seem like wearisome chains, but don’t let that lie seep into our hearts. We must accept Paul’s message so that we can enjoy Christ. Obedience to the words of Christ results in great joy for us. This is why we gather weekly on a Wednesday night to read God’s word together, even in a pandemic. We can find strength in weakness as we lean on Christ’s words.
(C) God builds the weak in fellowship, supplying grace and peace (2 Cor 1:2)
In 2 Cor 1:2, Paul writes of God’s grace and peace to the Corinthian church. This wasn’t just a template greeting. This is a church that has rebelled against God’s word, and what they needed wasn’t Paul or Timothy’s forgiveness. Neither did they need a plan for improvement. They needed to hear that grace and peace was available to them in Christ.
So it is with us too. No matter what we struggle with now, what we all need the most is restoration and reconciliation from and with God. Our biggest problem is not jobs, xenophobia etc. Our biggest problem is that in our sin, we have been separated from God and our lives and loves are disordered and misplaced. But now we can enjoy grace and peace from God and restored with this sovereign God whose cares transcend our situation now. How is
How is it that a God that is so holy, so majestic in power, could give grace and peace to something as broken and battered as the Corinthian church?
As we read Paul’s letter, we read see that the basis of this grace and peace is the cross of Christ in 2 Cor 5:18-21. The crucial element is Christ and His cross. He took on our sins and has given us His righteousness. 2 Cor will give us useful and practical things, but at the centre of this letter, and the true life-giving force is the cross of Christ.
We often sing these wonderful words in the hymn, “It is well with my soul”:
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the lord, O my soul
Christ extends to us His grace and peace! Will you not turn away from your sin and place the weight of it at the foot of the cross? Cast yourselves upon Him. Place the weight of your lives of Christ. And in Him, we will find life.