Flee Intellectual Arrogance; 2 Cor 11:6

It seems that the "super-apostles" who were leading the Corinthians astray were doing by parading their intellectual credentials to be considered trustworthy leaders. They were commending themselves to thne Corinthians for their "wisdom" (10:12), their trained speaking ability (11:6) and their heritage (11:22ff). In response Paul could perfectly well have advanced his own education as evidence of his own qualification for leadership, but he doesn't. He advances his sufferings in the service of Christ (11:23ff), his weakness (12:5), divine revelation (12:1ff) and apostolic miracles (12:12ff).

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Stealing The Fruit of Mission; 2 Cor 10:12-12:13

Never, ever, ever boast that you have done something for the Lord that was, in fact, done by someone else. Never muscle in and try and take over another person's ministry or try to build your own by taking credit for their work. Don't sheep-steal. It's ungodly and it reveals you to be a deceitful workman (11:13). That's the claim of Paul in this passage.

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You Are Two-Faced; 2 Cor 10:1-11

The hardest thing of all for any Christian leader is to work hard for the sake of Jesus being formed in others, and then have those others turn round and impugn your integrity. That is what happened to Paul . He responds in 2 Cor 10, a chapter which almost makes your eyes water with the vehemence that was clearly being directed against the godly father of the church.

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Why Giving Enriches Us; 2 Cor 9:6-13

Giving enriches us. v13 says that people will praise God for the obedience that accompanies the Corinthians' faith. And v14 says that their hearts will be expanded in prayer for them because God has given them surpassing grace in order to be able to grace others. They are becoming like him. Their instincts for gracious generosity are being modelled after his. Their desire to bless is starting to look like his. Their hearts are being enlarged to expect more gracious provision from God, and educated to know how to pass it on when he gives it. They are growing out of that selfishness that marks out spiritual immaturity.

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Fabulous Generosity; 2 Cor 8

One way to discern the extent to which we are experiencing the grace of God is to see whether we are becoming channels of it to others. One very practical way is generosity. We could almost (but not quite) substitute the word "generosity" when talking about God's grace. He has lavished immeasureable goodness on us freely. He is incredibly generous in his kindness. Therefore for people to claim to be recipients of grace but not to start to be like this themselves raises a big question mark. Do they really know the grace of God? Then why aren't they starting to mirror it in a small way themselves?

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Godly Sorrow and Worldly Sorrow; 2 Cor 7:10

There are few things I find more annoying than automated apology messages. "We apologise for the late running of this train" jibbers the computer. Ensuring that no actual, real person actually, really has to be sorry or apologise. Automated apologies are no apologies at all. One of the few even more annoying things is the oft-heard blanket phrase from public figures who have either been caught doing something they shouldn't, (or something they should but that was - horror! - unpopular): "I apologise if people think I have done anything wrong." Which, similarly, admits to nothing and is certainly not an apology. In fact its an insult disguised as an apology. That is what 2 Cor 7:10 describes as worldly sorrow that leads to death.

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How to Receive Grace in Vain; 2 Cor 6

People who identify as Christians but who have no wish to be changed by God, who have no desire to be any different to all the unbelievers around about them - who don't want to live their whole lives for Jesus, who simply don't care much about living in the light and spreading the light of the good news - probably aren't believers. They are maybe God-fearers or people who enjoy the environment and care created by Christians, or people who want a "spiritual bit" in their lives or some kind of divine insurance policy for when they die. But probably they are not believers. And there are loads of them in churches.

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