September 3, 2022
TRUE PARTNERSHIP REQUIRES SAME FAITH Paul’s warning does not mean separatism. He is not advising that we avoid unbelievers. In the previous chapter, Paul had just written about being entrusted with the “message of reconciliation,” so this requires engaging with lost people. What he is warning against is being partners with them. This should inform
September 2, 2022
DOES YOUR WAY OF LIFE HELP OR HINDER YOUR WITNESS? Paul told the Corinthians that he and his ministry team were careful to live in such a way that wouldn’t cause people to stumble. He wanted his life to match his message. He reminded the Corinthians of this because they were so easily swayed by
August 31, 2022
LORD HASTE THE DAY WHEN OUR FAITH SHALL BE SIGHT Presently, we go through life believing in our risen Lord without actually seeing Him. Yet our faith is not without foundation. We believe because of at least three witnesses: 1) the witness of the Bible, 2) the witness of the saints who have passed the
August 30, 2022
STOP INVITING PEOPLE TO CHURCH Paul didn’t care what people thought of him as long as they heard him proclaim Christ as Lord. But the Corinthians were easily impressed by appearance and eloquent speech. Though Paul had been the one who had first preached the gospel to them, to which they believed and were saved,
August 29, 2022
NEITHER LEGALISM, NOR LICENSE, BUT LIBERTY In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he taught them that true liberty came not from legalism, nor license, but from the Spirit of the Lord. The law is external to man, written on stone tablets, it has no power to overcome the sin nature. It reveals man’s sinfulness,
August 28, 2022
PREACHING FOR GOD’S APPROVAL ALONE The apostle Paul contrasted the authenticity and authority of his preaching team with those who preach for personal profit. The wealthy church of Corinth was apparently susceptible to the hucksters of that day. Paul wanted to protect them from these false teachers, who invariably show up to steal sheep when
August 27, 2022
DON’T LET SATAN OUTSMART YOU Paul instructed the believers in Corinth to forgive the man who had received church discipline. He does not name the man, but he may be referring to the incestuous person of 1 Corinthians 5. At any rate, Paul is making it clear that church discipline is intended to be corrective,
September 13, 2021
A BEAUTIFUL BLESSING With this beautiful benediction, Paul closed his second letter to the Corinthians. Paul’s great trinitarian doxology bestowed three powerful blessings of the Godhead upon the believers at Corinth. These three blessings belong to all those who would believe and receive Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior: 1) The “grace” (Greek:
September 9, 2021
DON’T BE SWAYED FROM THE SIMPLE GOSPEL The gospel is simple. So simple that people nearly always want to complicate it. Just as the law of the garden was simple: “Don’t eat.” So the gospel is simple: “Take and eat” (Matt. 26:26). The apostle Paul had preached the simple gospel to the Corinthians. But false
September 8, 2021
THE WAR FOR OUR MINDS Paul used military language to describe his spiritual warfare against worldly arguments and philosophies that are raised against the knowledge of God. He rightly recognized that the flesh (especially pride), the world, and the devil were allies in the spiritual battle for the minds of humanity. So he fought a