We will take a pause in 2 Cor after this study. In this first part of 2 Corinthians, Paul has been addressing the suspicions and accusations that he is not a real apostle because of the suffering and afflictions that he has faced! Paul is laying out a defence of the apostles’ ministry to those who do not believe. He is trying to show them how he is truly legitmate.
(A) The Life of the Weak: Serving God with endurance by His means (2 Cor 6:3-8a)
In the immediate context in chapter 5 and in the opening verses of 2 Cor 6, Paul has just completed his exposition on reconciliation with God. Paul wants the Corinthians to be a part of that salvation. His exhortation is for the Corinthians to read and to understand this.
In 2 Cor 6:11, he concludes by saying that his heart is wide open. He bares his heart so that they will respond in repentance (c.f. 2 Cor 6:13). Paul speaks to them so gently and pastorally too, with their repentance as the intended goal. How does he plan on achieving this goal? He plans to do so by commending himself and defending his ministry in great detail. This is the context with which we read this passage. It is how we know that Paul’s ministry is legitimate, with the goal of the Corinthians’ repentance.
In 2 Cor 6:4b-8, Paul commends himself and the other “servants of God” in “every way”, and he lists it out.
“By great endurance” in suffering (2 Cor 6:4b-5)
Paul’s proof of his ministry is that he has endured “afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger”. He is commending himself and the apostles for their great enduring in suffering.
What is our attitude when we serve God? Is this our attitude — endurance through suffering — or do we shy away from hardship and discomfort? How do you respond when things get difficult when you serve? How do you respond to rejection or awkwardness? How do you respond when people in ministry get difficult?
Paul also uses his great endurance through suffering as proof of God at work. Do we suffer in any way for Christ? Have we had to give up anything in our life to follow Jesus? Do our hearts ache for the lost? Has becoming a Christian not changed anything?
“By great endurance” by spiritual fruit (2 Cor 6:6-7a)
Paul lists out spiritual fruit — “purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, power of God” (2 Cor 6:6-7). Paul is saying that the way he endures suffering is by spiritual fruit, and he attributes this spiritual fruit to the Holy Spirit. It is because of the Holy Spirit acting in his life that he is able to display these attributes. All these things show us that his endurance in suffering is not by his means. It is not by anything that he has done or has willed. It is simply the Holy Spirit working in his life that God gives.
Our desire for purity, the desire to understand him and even the understanding is from Him! All these evidence of fruit are grounded in God’s power through the Spirit! It means that we must also pray for fruit! And not just fruit in the lives of our friends. We must also pray for fruit in our own lives! Fruit in the life of others is not fruit in our own lives! Pray that He will increase the desire for holiness in our own hearts!
These verses also teach us that there is also an ungodly way of enduring. This looks like a self- righteous way of enduring where we are trying to prove our worth and our resolve. This is not what Paul is saying. Rather, it is a pure, genuine, loving, life-giving kind of enduring that acknowledges the brokenness and problems of life but also sees how God is at work even in the midst of the mess.
Spiritual fruit is therefore the way that we are to endure. As we seek holiness, we are better able to serve.
“By great endurance” with spiritual righteousness (2 Cor 6:7b)
He also endures with the weapons of righteousness of the left and right hand. This equipping could be for an attack and a defence. We are equipped to endure through suffering with everything we need in any situation that we would enter. This is an encouragement in our day when we feel like we need to defend the gospel or we are under attack.
We are not left to ourselves to endure. God equips us with everything we need. We must serve as our God has enabled us with utmost righteousness and with a clear conscience. If we are not serving with righteousness, what are we serving for and who are we really serving?
“By great endurance” through glory and shame (2 Cor 6:8a)
Paul endures in every scenario, even when there is slander instead of praise. What does it look like to endure through any circumstances? We must check our hearts as we serve! Do we serve for praise and higher honor? We endure through service through any scenario.
As we see Paul’s defence, it is helpful for us to compare our own lives and to compare it against his. As Christians we are called to live this way as well. How would this look in application to our own lives? Endurance is a mark of a Christian, but it is only possible through God’s enabling by the power of the Holy Spirit.
(B) The Paradox of the Weak: Weak, yet triumphant in Christ (2 Cor 6:8b-10)
Paul goes on to list out seven paradoxes describing his life and also the apostles’.
(1) Treated as imposters yet are true (2 Cor 6:8b)
People treated Paul as an imposter. However, Paul clings to his apostolic call as coming from God (c.f. 2 Cor 1:1). Like Paul, God’s call on our lives is real and true. The call is from God and by the will of Christ.
(2) Treated as unknown yet are well-known (2 Cor 6:9a)
Instead on focussing earthly fame, Paul focused on the truth that they are known by God (c.f. 1 Cor 8:3). This is all that we were designed for, to be known by God and to live in a relationship with him. Even if the apostles were mistreated by society, they endured through the knowledge that they were well known by their creator God. The same is true for us. If we love God, we are known by him.
(3) Treated as dying yet we live (2 Cor 6:9b)
It is like what Eph 2:5-6 says! We have a fuller life and are more alive in Christ!
(4) Treated as punished yet we are not killed (2 Cor 6:9c)
He is not dead and is pressing on while being sustained by God (c.f. Ps 118:18, 2 Cor 1:3-11)! Our lives as relatively comfortable compared to this! And if God sustained Paul through these difficulties, what more us. We can live radically and be sustained by God!
(5) Treated as sorrowful yet always rejoicing (2 Cor 6:10a)
The Psalm and Philippians speak about rejoicing (c.f. Ps 13:5, Phi 3:1, 4:4)! There is an inward rejoicing because of what we have received in Christ! What is the manner of our hearts as we serve and live our lives as Christians? Are we tired and bitter and are our hearts even hardened by all the rejection, disappointments and pain?
(6) Treated as poor yet making many rich (2 Cor 6:10b)
Though they did not seem rich according to earthly standards, they could make many rich in Christ as they steward the gospel. Paul and the apostles are stewards of the mysteries of God and were responsible for the handling of the teaching and passing on of the good news of Christ (c.f. 1 Cor 4:1, 2 Tim 2:2). We are r recipients of this good news and are likewise called to steward the treasure of the gospel we have received, so that we may share its riches with those who have not received it yet.
(7) Treated as having nothing yet possessing everything (2 Cor 6:10c)
We cannot even believe to imagine what it would be like to have nothing. However for Paul who literally has nothing to his name, he is able to assert that he possesses everything (c.f. 1 Cor 3:21-22, Phi 3:8). Paul sees that he possesses everything when he has God! Because we have placed our faith in Jesus, we have everything!
These paradoxes seem to be based on some upside-down logic. Paul clearly understands something that not everybody understands. The gospel logic is different from our natural way of thinking. This reconciliation is God’s design and He designed for it to happen in this way. In that Christ who knew no sin was made by God to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. It is that we who were fully deserving of death received righteousness through Christ. He took our sin away by dying on the cross and paying the price for our sins. This leads Paul to plead with them to be reconciled to God without delay in 2 Cor 6:1-2.
This is the message of the gospel. If this is your first time, will you respond? And if you’ve heard it for a millionth time, do you realise that this is the Christian life that you have been called to? This is the kind of endurance that we are called to. This is the triumphant truth — that Jesus is more and better than all the things of this world — is to be what we‘re clinging on to.
(C) The Fellowship of the Weak: A call to respond in faith with widened hearts (2 Cor 6:11-13)
Paul addresses the Corinthians as his children in 2 Cor 6:13. It demonstrates the love he has for them to grow well and to know their true father. It shows us the intimate, loving, self-giving relationship he has with them. He tells them that he has written with his heart open.
Paul’s call to them is to be unrestricted in their affections (2 Cor 6:12). The year 2020 has revealed our affections. It has revealed what and who we love, and do not love. As we reflect on our own hearts and affections, it reveals to us that these affections which are not God are restrictive. Paul’s call is for us to examine our lives, and to break free of the restrictions of our earthly affections. He calls us not to let these affections delay us from responding to God’s call for reconciliation.
2 Cor 6:13 is a tender word for the Corinthians. Paul’s heart is for the Corinthians to be like the apostles. What would that look like for us to be like Paul who has widened his heart? It would mean enduring suffering and also bearing fruit, but still persevering in service and loving God’s people, as we have seen in the earlier sections. It would look like responding in repentance and faith everyday, believing that our faith in Jesus Christ has reconciled us to a Holy and almighty God. It looks like daily obedience through suffering, enduring through the fruit that he has given us in our life. It looks like praying for such fruit and a desire to be changed. This is what it looks like for our heart to be widened.
What will it mean to apply today’s passage and it’s call in our unique life stage and circumstances? The picture of the life of a disciple is one of weakness. How are we to deal with this today? What encouragement does Paul offer?