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).
Read moreStealing 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.
Read moreYou 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.
Read moreWhy 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.
Read moreFabulous 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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