May 2015

The Epistles of Paul - 2 Corinthians Part 12: Christian Transcendentalism

Since the middle of 2 Corinthians chapter 10 Paul has been defending himself and his ministry against those in Corinth who were also attempting to undermine and corrupt the Christian assemblies there. Therefore he found it necessary to discuss some of the trials and challenges which he had faced in the conduct of his ministry. He considered his having to do that as boasting, even if he is simply found to be reiterating plain facts. This too should stand as an example to Christians as to what constitutes boasting.

As Paul began defending himself, he laid forth another sound principle: that the Word of God is the measure which Christians must use in order to estimate the value of those who are administering the Gospel of Christ. Therefore, if one comes to you preaching a Gospel other than the Gospel of Christ, or who claims to have some sort of esoteric knowledge which is not consistent with the Word of God, that person must be rejected as a false apostle, a treacherous worker, and is perhaps even a minister of Satan.

The Epistles of Paul - 2 Corinthians Part 11: Ministers of Satan

From the early portion of 2 Corinthians chapter 10, from verse 7, Paul of Tarsus has been discussing those men in Corinth who had been causing disturbances within the Christian assembly, boasting and inflating themselves during the troubles that the Corinthians had in relation to the fornicator whom Paul discussed in 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Doing so, Paul had told the Corinthians that they “must look at things according to appearance”, asserting that even if his adversaries were of Christ, he was also of Christ, and that the fruits of his ministry according to the standards of the Word of God are the proof of its legitimacy, while those in Corinth who were opposed to him were only exalting themselves according to their own standards. One aspect of the standards of which he speaks and which he expected his readers to notice is the edification of the Body of Christ which had come by his ministry, where he suggests that his adversaries sought the destruction of that same body. He also asserted that his ministry edified and magnified the Body of Christ through knowledge of the Gospel, while his adversaries took to “boasting in others' troubles” whereby they magnified themselves.

In the opening verses of 2 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul of Tarsus had asked that the Corinthians abide with him in a little foolishness. It shall become evident later in the chapter that Paul had considered that foolishness to be his having to boast in the fleshly aspects of his own ministry, including both how he had conducted himself in Corinth, and the trials which he had suffered in order to perform his ministry, in contrast with those who were opposing him.

The Epistles of Paul - 2 Corinthians Part 10: Judging by Appearances

We have already summarized the theme of the earlier chapters of Paul's second epistle to the Corinthians, but we shall do so once more here. Over the first five chapters of this epistle, Paul had expounded at length upon the affliction and the encouragement which the children of Israel have in the Gospel of Reconciliation to Yahweh their God, and Yahweh's plan of mercy for Israel in that reconciliation. Then in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 Paul illustrated the responsibility which the children of Israel have as recipients of that Gospel and of that mercy, which requires those who are turning to Christ to separate themselves from all of the sinners and from all of the unclean of the other races, and then Yahweh their God shall receive them and dwell with them. Then in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 Paul had turned to express his gratitude that the Corinthians, being grieved, had chosen to repent from the problems which Paul had addressed in his first epistle to them, and the joy which Titus had transmitted to him on account of their repentance and their abiding in Christ. In the eighth and ninth chapters of this epistle, Paul had turned to discuss the collections he had been taking on behalf of the poor of the saints in Jerusalem. However this is also a part of the Christian obligation which Paul had begun to discuss in chapter 6 of this epistle.

Therefore we can determine that outside of a few short digressions, Paul's purpose so far in this epistle has been to present two great themes in a series of smaller discussions. While sometimes the themes are interwoven one with the other, the first theme dominates the context of the first part of the epistle, and likewise for the second theme. The first theme is the Gospel of Reconciliation and the mercy of God for the children of Israel. The second theme is the obligation of the children of Israel upon accepting that offer of reconciliation to God, which is through Yahshua Christ. The first theme dominated the first five chapters, and the second through verse 6 of this tenth chapter, where Paul had attested that the children of Israel would have a part in avenging all disobedience once their own obedience had been fulfilled.

The opening remarks are found here at the Christogenea Forum: The purpose of the Friday evening podcasts at Christogenea

The Epistles of Paul - 2 Corinthians Part 9: Fulfilling Obedience

In 2 Corinthians chapter 8 Paul turned his conversation from a rather expansive explanation of the Gospel of Reconciliation to discuss the collection which he had undertaken for the poor in Jerusalem, in which he had assurances that the Corinthians would participate. The apparent need for such a collection was never discussed, however that such a need indeed existed can indeed be determined from history in the records of Josephus and from the Book of Acts. We see in Acts chapters 4 and 5 that the apostles had founded an independent and self-sufficient Christian community. However we see in Acts chapters 6 and 7 that their community was persecuted and scattered, and that the apostles were being oppressed. When Paul had made his first trip to Antioch as it is recorded in Acts chapter 15, as he had explained in his epistle to the Galatians, that was 14 years after his conversion to Christ on the road to Damascus, and we had established in our commentary on Acts chapter 9, that the year was either 48 or 49 AD. As Paul seems to explain in Galatians chapter 2, this is where his promise to “remember the poor” had originally been made. Since the records in Acts and in what remains of Paul's epistles are quite incomplete, we can only piece together parts of some of these things, as there is no complete record of any of them.