10:1 Now I Paul, myself, entreat you by the humility and gentleness
of
Christ;
I who in your presence am lowly among you, but being absent am of
good
courage toward you.
10:2 Yes, I beg you that I may not, when present,
show courage with the confidence with which I intend to be bold
against
some,
who consider us to be walking according to the flesh.
10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we don't wage war according to
the flesh;
10:4 for the weapon are not of the flesh,
but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds,
10:5 throwing down imaginations and every high thing
that is exalted against the knowledge of God,
and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of
Christ;
10:6 and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience,
when your obedience will be made full.
10:7 Do you look at things only as they appear in front of your
face?
If anyone trusts in himself that he is Christ's, let him consider
this
again with himself,
that, even as he is Christ's, so also we are Christ's.
10:8 For though I should boast somewhat abundantly
concerning
our authority,
(which the Lord gave for building you up, and not for casting you
down)
I will not be disappointed,
10:9 that I may not seem as if I desire to terrify you by my
letters.
10:10 For, "His letters," they say, "are weighty and
strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is despised."
10:11 Let such a person consider this,
that what we are in word by letters when we are absent,
such are we also in deed when we are present.
10:12 For we are not bold to number or compare ourselves
with some of those who commend themselves.
But they themselves, measuring themselves by themselves,
and comparing themselves with themselves, are without understanding.
10:13 But we will not boast beyond proper limits,
but within the boundaries with which God appointed to us, which
reach
even to you.
10:14 For we don't stretch ourselves too much, as though we didn't
reach to you.
For we came even as far as to you with the gospel of Christ,
10:15 not boasting beyond proper limits in other men's labors,
but having hope that as your faith grows,
we will be abundantly enlarged by you in our sphere of influence,
10:16 so as to preach the gospel even to the parts beyond you,
not to boast in what someone else has already done.
10:17 But "he who boasts, let him boast in the
Lord."(Jer
9:23,24)
10:18 For it isn't he who commends himself who is approved,
but whom the Lord commends.
Discussion Questions
vs 1-2 In what ways is Paul's dealing with the Corinthians
like
parents dealing with children and in what ways did the Corinthians
behave
as children in these verses along with 9-11?
vs 3-5 What part does debating ideas have in the Christian
life?
In a practical sense, how do Christians wage war differently than
those
in the world?
vs 6 What does he mean about punishing every act of
disobedience
when their obedience is complete?
When is someone's obedience complete? And how would you know it is?
vs 7 How do you know you belong to Christ? (Extensively
covered
in 1John)
How my we misevaluate people on the surface and have you ever done
so?
vs 8 How did Paul's view of authority - even his own - differ
from that of the world?
vs 12 If we are not to compare ourselves against one another,
then upon what standard are we to evaluate ourselves?
vs 13-18 In what ways might Christians wrongly take credit
for
the work of others, or for work they have not done?
What is your realm of responsibility? (And therefore of your
authority)
Comments
A
Meek
Appeal
2Cor 10:1,2 By the meekness and gentleness of
Christ, I appeal to you— I, Paul, who am "timid" when face to face
with
you, but "bold" when away! I beg you that when I come I may not
have to
be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we
live
by the standards of this world.
"timid" here is the world "lowly" or "humble" used for example in Mt
11:29"Take my yoke
upon
you and learn from me, for I am gentle and
humblein heart,
and you will find rest for your souls." But Paul was not
being
duplicitous anymore that Jesus was. For while Jesus was lowly, he
was
so with regards to the teachable. But notice even how Jesus
responded
to the hypocrisy of the religious elite in Matthew 23 and to those
who
were practicing greed and coveteousness in the temple.
"live by the standards of this
world"
is a correct interpretation but is literally, "as if we walked according to the
flesh.", a phrase he uses in Romans chapter 8 verses 1 and
4. "There is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to
the
flesh, but according to the Spirit."Rom 8:1 and Peter also writes, "the Lord knows how to deliver the
godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under
punishment for
the day of judgment, and especially
those
who
walk
according
to
the
flesh in the lust of uncleanness
and despise authority"2Peter
2:9-10a
In many cases walking according to the flesh is the same as living
by
the standards of the world with regards to its desires. "For everything in the world— the
cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of
what
he has and does— comes not from the Father but from the world. The
world and its desires pass away"1John 2:16-17a
In this case, much as in the book of Galatians, some reckoned Paul
to
be walking in the flesh with regards to pleasing man. But in
Galatians
he writes, "If anybody is
preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be
eternally condemned! Am I now trying to win the approval of men,
or of
God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to
please
men, I would not be a servant of Christ." Gal 1:9,10
While are those ministers who pander to the flesh so to gain
popularity, Paul was not one of them.
The
War
of the Worlds
2Cor 10:3For
though
we
live
in
the
world,
we do not wage war as the world does.
"Live in the world" is
literally "walk in the flesh",
the
conjunction
being
"en",
which
is
not the same as the phrase in
verse 2 "walked according to
the
phrase", in which the conjunction is "kata" in Gk,
indicating
conformity. Thus Paul writes, "Do
not
conform any longer to the pattern of this world"Rom 12:2a
The world wages war by firstly playing upon one's fleshly desires -
one's prejudices, greed, covetousness. The world hates its enemies,
but
Christians are to love their enemies. Spiritual warfare is supposed
to
be beneficially to one's enemies, while the world wages war to
destroy
one's enemies. And secondly the weapons of warfare are of the flesh
bringing physical harm. And in fact there have been those in the
Christian community that wage war in the spiritual realm like
Islamic
terrorists, even burning at the stake those who oppose their
interpretation of the Bible. But Christian warfare is in the realm
of
ideas.
The
War
of Ideas
2Cor 10:4,5 The weapons we fight with are not
the
weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to
demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension
that
sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive
every
thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Note that Paul fought not in the physical realm, but in the realm of
ideas, taking every thought to the obedience of Christ. Words are
the
weapons of our warfare, the basis being "the sword of the Spirit, which is the
word of God." Eph 6:17b
But not in the sense of mindless indoctrination, as is the case in
Islam for example. Rather reason is involved in the Christian faith.
When one scruntizes ideas - comparing religions and philosophies,
Christianity wins out.
Paul argued with people. Acts 18:4"Every Sabbath he reasoned in
the
synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks." Though he
avoided foolish and stupid
arguments. (2Tim 2:23)
Likewise
Apollos "vigorously refuted the
Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was
the
Christ."Acts 18:28
We should have reasonable answers to the world's questions and
responses to worldly viewpoints. Maturity
invokes
Accountability
2Cor 10:6And we will be ready to punish
every
act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
Which is to say that once they've matured they will be subject to
greater scrutiny. And isn't that the case in life? James writes of
teachers, for example, saying,
"Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers,
because
you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." Jam 3:1 It's one thing for a
child
to misbehave, but it's a serious matter when an adult misbehaves as
they set themselves up as the model to follow.
Such punishment is part of loving others as it is written, "the Lord disciplines those he
loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son. Endure hardship as
discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not
disciplined by his father?"Heb
12:6,7
What would constitutes the kind of punishment Paul is alluding to?
One
example is given in 2Cor 2:6 "The punishment inflicted on him by
the
majority is sufficient for him.", alluding to the man in
1Cor
chapter 5 whom was handed over to Satan "so that the sinful nature may be
destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord." 1Cor 5:5 Look
Deeper
2Cor 10:7,8You are looking only on the
surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs
to
Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as
much
as he. For even if I boast somewhat freely about the
authority
the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down,
I
will not be ashamed of it.
There are those who allege to be Christians but who treat the Word
of
God as mere opinion. They view Paul's teachings as having no more
weight their their own feelings. They view his authority as only in
name. Today this is most revealing when alleged believers respond to
Paul's gender specific commands. Paul's word is scripture. And those
who don't like it either consider Paul to be wrong, or distort his
writings to conform to however they feel, as Peter writes, "Paul also wrote you with the
wisdom
that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters,
speaking
in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are
hard
to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they
do
the other Scriptures, to their own destruction."2Peter 3:15b-16 So Paul writings
are
classified as Scripture.
And as there were those who were competing with Paul for authority
over
the church, Paul invokes the status the Lord gave him as an apostle
to
disuade the church from putting their confidence in illegitimate
authorities who were trying to tear down the church. So in practice
we
scrutinize all teachings and all teachers in light of Paul writings,
along with the rest of scripture.
Scary
Letters
2Cor 10:9-11 I do not want to seem to be trying
to
frighten you with my letters. For some say, "His letters are
weighty
and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking
amounts
to nothing." Such people should realize that what we are in our
letters
when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.
Here you can see the contempt that some of the Corinthian
"Christians"
have for Paul. I was in a Bible study recently with alleged belivers
like that where there were those who heard what the Bible said, but
were unimpressed and reckoned what the Bible said amounted to
nothing.
But there are consequences to how we receive the Word of God.
It's interesting that Paul in actuality was no different in letter
than
in presence, and likewise with Jesus. And yet the written word is
viewed as more weightier and forceful than the spoke word. I wonder
if
there's some principle there. I mean, afterall, God left us with the
written word - the scriptures. There's something about having
something
in writing which gives it greater weight. A person may share his
opinion in conversation, but if he makes it into a book, that
somehow
leaves a stronger impression.
But while writing is superior in expressing one's convictions, it
lacks
the interactive quality of sword sharpening sword conversations,
which,
as they didn't have email in those days, was limited to being there.
That would also make lectures, as practiced by most churches, to be
least effective, as they are spoken, but no feedback or discussion
is
allowed. And in fact that seems to be the case in my experience. In
other words, sermons may be more effective if they are simply
written
down and handed out to the congregation to read rather than spoken.
These issues of forms of communication are minor matters. But if one
really wants to unimpress people, they simply have to play the
hypocrite - saying one thing and yet doing the opposite, in which
case
your word will pretty much amount to nothing. And this is what some
alleged of Paul.
Don't
Make
More of Yourself Than You Should
2Cor 10:12-13We do not dare to classify or
compare
ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure
themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves,
they
are not wise. We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits,
but
will confine our boasting to the field God has assigned to us, a
field
that reaches even to you.
Comparing oneself with oneself is like shooting an arrow and then
drawing a target around whereever it lands. Why boast about hitting
a
target that you drew after you shot the arrow? Yet when asking the
theistic non-Christian as to what they think they must do to go to
heaven the response is often to live up to their own standards of
goodness. Seldom do any consider that God's standards may be
different
than their standards, or even let God have a say in answering the
question. And if an evil man feels that's he's morally better than
another evil man, what good is that? In response to a man calling
him
"good". "Why do you call me
good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good— except God alone."Lk 18:19 For "there is no one who does good, not
even one." Rom 3:12b
Yet there's a sort of elitism that characteristically infiltrates
the
ranks
of institutional Christianity as history has shown. An elitism which
is
also reflected in the gospels by the hypocrisy of the religious
elite
of Jesus' day. Humility is a lost virtue among such people. While a
celebrity at the time, John the Baptist said of Jesus, "He must become greater; I must
become
less."John 3:30
Yet
characteristically when one becomes a celebrity, whether in the
religious or secular realms, they lose their humilty. One way a
person
may regulate his pride is by restricting what he boasts of and the
degree to which he boasts of it.
First concerning the object of our boasting Jeremiah writes, "This is what the LORD says: "Let
not
the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his
strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who
boasts
boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the
LORD,
who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in
these I delight," declares the LORD." Jer 9;23,24
But concerning the regulation of our boasting, in his sermon on the
mount Jesus advocated such things as fasting, prayer, and charity be
done in secret, and that boasting of such results in some loss of
reward
for such service. Here Paul speaks of limiting his boasting to the
field God has assigned to them, which was namely his influence on
the
Corinthian Christians in this case.
What do you find yourself boasting about and what limits have you
placed on such boast so to regulate your pride inherent in your
sinful
nature?
Don't
Take
Credit for Other People's Work
2Cor 10:14-18 We are not going too far in our
boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we
did
get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. Neither do we go
beyond
our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that,
as
your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will
greatly expand, so that we can preach the gospel in the regions
beyond
you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in
another
man’s territory. But, "Let him who boasts boast in the
Lord." For
it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the
one
whom the Lord commends.
Taking credit for other people's work is a form of lying and
stealing.
In fact in Acts 5 God killed a Christian couple for boasting about
doing more for the church than they actually were doing. But you can
enter into other people's labor. Jesus said to his disciples, "I sent you to reap what you have
not
worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped
the
benefits of their labor."John
4:38 Yet often Christians boast of their leading someone to
Christ while ignoring the hard work others have done to that end.
But with regards to maturity, what is implied here is that spiritual
maturity will result is more participation. In fact that's a measure
of
maturity, as it is fruitfulness. Just as it is expected that when
people get older they get married and have kids, so also when
Christians mature they participate in ministry bearing fruit to God.
"So, my brothers, you also died
to the
law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another,
to
him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear
fruit to
God."Rom 7:4 So
stake
out some territory and get to work!
Again the quote in verse 17 is likely an allusion to Jer 9:23,24 which I mentioned
previously. He's mentioned it also in his first letter to them. "It is because of him that you are
in
Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God— that is, our
righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is
written:
"Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." 1Cor 1:30,31 And Paul sets the
example saying, "May I never
boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which
the
world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Gal 6:14
As for commending oneself, proverbs says, "Let another praise you, and not your
own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips." Prov 27:2