Another Bible Commentary: 2 Corinthians

The response to 1 Corinthians was bad. The missing “severe letter” mentioned in 2 Corinthians 2:3-4 might be 2 Corinthians 10 through 2 Corinthians 13. We already mentioned a letter from Paul before 1 Corinthians, so 2 Corinthians may be the fourth letter from Paul in this exchange.

1:1 This letter is the step in which Paul told of his troubles with the rival ministers to the whole church (Matthew 18:17).

1:2 Again, we’ve got grace and shalom already before the letter even gets going.

1:4 To transmit God’s love to others, first be aware of receiving it. Some time alone with the Bible, listening to Christian music you like, or attending a good worship service are great ways to recharge.

1:5-7 God’s got this, and whatever is going on, He can use it to make you more Christlike (Romans 8:28-29).

1:8 The Acts 19 riot is one of many things that could have bummed out Paul.

1:9 “raises the dead” This is the kind of faith Abraham is praised for in Hebrews 11:19.

1:11 Notice how he nudged the audience into praying for him the way people prayed for Peter’s miraculous deliverance in Acts 12.

1:12 Paul’s opponents had cast him as a sham apostle who was perhaps dishonest with the collection for Jerusalem. They were trained orators/Sophists that knew how to influence religious folk.

1:13 See 2 Peter 3:15-16.

1:17 The answer is in verse 23.

1:20 See Romans 8:32 and say Amen to His glory.

1:21 God has the game rigged in our favor. See Romans 14:4, Philippians 1:6, Philippians 2:13, Hebrews 13:20-21, and Jude 24.

1:22 He owns us, He put His seal on us, He put His Spirit in our hearts, He made the down payment, He guarantees what’s coming, etc. See 2 Corinthians 5:5. Paul even said these things to the sexually freaky, idolatrous, contentious Corinthians that had basically fired him as a pastor. Do you feel secure yet?

2:5-8 This sounds more like the sex offender from 1 Corinthians 5 than the false apostles some say are described in these verses.

2:9 It seems that talk of temporary excommunication (1 Corinthians 5:3-5) was primarily a test of their loyalty.

2:10 “if there was anything to forgive” The sex offender may have disrespected Paul at some point in the proceedings.

2:11 “his schemes” include tempting you with thoughts that are not your own, then accusing you for having them, then heaping judgment on you as if Christ hadn’t already handled it, dividing Christians, the basic John 10:10 killing, stealing, destroying, etc.

2:12 “Troas” Troy.

2:14 like 1 Corinthians 4:9.

2:15 “we” smell like the Anointed One collectively; this is not individual pressure (Ephesians 4:11). See Psalm 45:8 and John 12. The various plant essences of the holy anointing oil of Exodus 30:23-35 (which vaguely resemble the scent of cinnamon rolls) suggest the Garden of Eden; the Anointed One and those in Him smell like Life.

2:16 To live in Him, we died first. See Matthew 16:25 and Galatians 2:20.

2:17 Paul the tentmaker hinted at the huckster “super-apostles” who were preaching for the purpose of getting paid (1 Timothy 6:5). See also 2 Peter 2:3. If a man with a television show that can already reach millions with the Gospel asks you for a G6 jet so the Word can travel in style…

3:1 Such letters were common then (1 Corinthians 16:3). Apollos had them legitimately in Acts 18:27.

3:2-3 Paul referenced the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:26-27).

3:4-5 Jesus did it all for us.

3:6 The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Paul frequently had to contend with Judaizers pushing the Law of Moses (Acts 15:24). All Christians are competent as ministers of the New Covenant, because it’s all about what Jesus did for us, not what we did, could, should, didn’t, and couldn’t produce for Him. Your own story is worth hearing. The man whom Jesus had healed in Mark 5:19 had no religious training to speak of for his mission, but he knew what Jesus had done for him.

3:7-11 Let’s see, we’ve got Moses with his “glory glow” (Exodus 34:29) and a ministry of death engraved on stone tablets (Exodus 31:18)…Paul just called the Ten Commandments a ministry of death and condemnation. He said the rule about coveting brought death in Romans 7:10; that’s one of the Ten Commandments. Before anyone gets too excited, Jesus and the Holy Spirit don’t lead us to murder, commit adultery, etc. We’re not bad people looking at tablets to learn how to act like we’re not bad; we’re new, and the old is obsolete (Hebrews 7:12, Hebrews 8:13, Hebrews 10:9).

3:13 If Moses were trying to avoid scaring the Israelites, he would have hidden shiny mode. Instead, he showed it off whenever he got a fresh dose, then hid the fact that it wore off.

3:16 See Acts 9:18.

3:17 “freedom” See Isaiah 61:1-2.

3:18 “contemplate” can also be “reflect”. We are moons to His Sun. See John 17:22 and Romans 8:28-29; He gives us glory, and we become like Him.

4:2 Paul implied that this was what his opponents were doing.

4:3 Paradoxically, by Genesis 3:7. See also Romans 11:8-9.

4:4 See John 12:31 and Ephesians 2:2.

4:6 in Genesis 1:3. Remember Paul’s experience in Acts 9.

4:7-12 These verses are a unit about Paul. The “so then” tells us the point is coming, and the “us” and the “you” clear up his meaning.

4:9 Earworm alert: I get knocked down, but I get up again. You’re never gonna keep me down…

4:13 in Psalm 116:10.

4:15 “grace” rather than, say, obedience. Grace leads to thanksgiving; see 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 and Hebrews 13:15.

4:16 See Romans 12:2 and Colossians 3:10.

4:17 We’re not playing the game to earn salvation, but for more glory (1 Peter 1:7).

5:1-3 While our abode in Heaven will be awesome (John 14:3), this section is about the resurrection body as we saw in 1 Corinthians 15:35-58.

5:4 Paul, the tentmaker, referenced the story of Noah being found naked in his tent in Genesis 9. To be “unclothed” in this metaphor would mean lacking a body in the afterlife. The popular notion of eternity as a disembodied spirit is Platonist.

5:5-6 Again, in the past tense, you were made for this, and you have been given the Spirit, which is your guarantee (2 Corinthians 1:22). That sounds a lot like things He already accomplished and has handled, and not like something to earn or maintain. Paul said he was “always confident”, and you can be, too.

5:7-8 What you know is truer than what you experience. Good things are coming.

5:9 God is happy with believers as His children, and we don’t earn His affection. Paul’s goal was to please the Lord in his calling to evangelize, as we’ll see in the next few verses.

5:10-11 like Ezekiel 33:20. Don’t read verse 10 out of the context of the surrounding verses. The “all” is all humans. Christians are done being judged (John 5:24), and our Father sits on a throne of grace with regard to us (Hebrews 4:16). You’ll be as safe as Jesus is on Judgment Day (1 John 4:17). Anything that would be worth worrying about would be called “sins”, which Jesus took away (John 1:29, Hebrews 8:12, Hebrews 10:14). Unbelievers have no deeds worth celebrating (Isaiah 64:6, Philippians 2:13). Since all humans are judged, Paul (in his charge as an evangelist that he wanted to excel at – verse 9) tried to convert as many people as possible because of the wrath waiting for unbelievers (John 3:36). Paul’s identity (that he hoped was plain to their consciences as well) is a saint like us (1 Corinthians 1:2).

5:14-15 Christ died in our place; Christ died our death for us (Isaiah 53). He prayed to be one with us (John 17:20-23). He is risen, and so are we. Christ’s love compels us. The part about not living for yourself but for Him is a promise and not a hoop to jump through. See Romans 14:4, Philippians 1:6, Philippians 2:13, Hebrews 13:20-21, and Jude 24.

5:16-17 Seeing Christ in them is why Paul could call those Corinthians saints with a straight face. Regarding the new creation: You have a new heart, a new spirit, the Holy Spirit living in you, and a new body in the mail so to speak. Your identity is now in Christ. God gave Christ for you, Christ chose to die for you, so your value is off the charts.

5:18-20 He was already not counting our sins against us because of His plan for Christ, and He definitely isn’t now (Hebrews 9:28).

5:21 He who had no sin (John 8:46) became sin for us (Isaiah 53:6) for the purpose of making us the righteousness of God. The Lord is our righteousness (Jeremiah 33:16) apart from our actions.

6:1-2 Think about the last few verses. This is an evangelistic appeal warning people against hearing Paul’s message (“receive God’s grace”) and not accepting freely given grace (“in vain”), like we saw in 1 Corinthians 15:34. They were looking to the Judaizing false apostles and the pagan compromisers. Paul quoted Isaiah 49:8.

6:3 Again, a big motivation for the behavior instructions is giving Christianity a good public face.

6:8-9 Paul’s “super-apostle” opponents attacked his credentials. These were not the true apostles that we saw him working with in Acts.

The next verses make sense as they are in the text, but since 2 Corinthians 6:13 and 2 Corinthians 7:2 are so similar, some people say that 2 Corinthians 6:14 through 2 Corinthians 7:1 are/are similar to an earlier letter or fragment thereof:

6:14 See Deuteronomy 7:3-4 and Deuteronomy 22:10. This is about marrying unbelievers (or joining the ministries of Paul’s opponents); 1 Corinthians 7:12-16 covers the practicalities of already being married to an unbeliever, like if a new convert has a spouse that is still pagan.

6:15 “Belial” – Worthless or Wicked One. The “sons of worthlessness” were the troublemakers in Deuteronomy 13:13 promoting idols. See also Judges 19:22 and 2 Chronicles 19:2.

6:16 in Leviticus 26:12, Jeremiah 32:38, and Ezekiel 37:27.

6:17 See Genesis 19:22, Isaiah 52:11, and Ezekiel 20:34,41. Paul telling them to “come out from them” at some point may have influenced them to divorce unbelieving spouses, which may have led to some of the discussion in 1 Corinthians 7.

6:18 See Hosea 1:10.

7:1 If this were the earlier letter or a fragment thereof, it could explain why Paul had to clarify about not divorcing unbelievers in 1 Corinthians 7. Plus, Paul has been known to say things to the Corinthians just to see how far they’d go, like with the excommunicated man from 1 Corinthians 5. As for purifying ourselves, Jesus already did the heavy lifting (1 Corinthians 6:11, Hebrews 10:10,14) and we’re under construction until He returns (Philippians 1:6). Behave because a) you’ll be miserable if you don’t, since you’ve been changed at the core of your being and b) to keep from giving the Gospel a black eye.

7:2 “corrupted…exploited” I bet Paul’s opponents slandered him by saying that he said to go commit a bunch of sins so God’s grace will get as big as possible (like we saw that he had been accused of in Romans 3:8) and that his collection for Jerusalem wasn’t on the up and up. They probably wanted the flock’s money and foreskins, as we’ll see in Galatians.

7:6 God comforts the downcast.

7:7-14 “harmed…salvation…death” Paul doesn’t always use “salvation” as the fancy theological concept of obtaining the good afterlife. Here, it seems to be deliverance (as in Philippians 1:19). In this instance it was deliverance from the death of the relationship between them and Paul. 2 Corinthians 7:10 can be understood between the bookends of verse 7 and verse 12. In the big picture, the good kind of sorrow does lead to changed lives through accepting Christ and also to better behavior going forward for always-totally-forgiven believers, and the bad kind does just lead to despair; compare Peter and Judas after they messed up.

7:15 “obedient” to Titus as a spiritual leader, which they would not have been had they come to regard Paul as a fraud.

7:16 Paul said this before pivoting to asking for money.

8:1-5 As we saw in Acts 18:5, money from the Philippians (Philippians 4:15) in Macedonia financed the ministry in Corinth.

8:6 “he had earlier made a beginning” Titus had first encouraged their giving.

8:7 Paul transparently used flattery to open their wallets, but he clarified how giving works under the new covenant throughout the next chapters. The enemy can give Christians feelings of obligation and guilt as well as the notion that blessings can be bought by giving, like using a divine slot machine.

8:8 Paul encouraged them in friendly competition with other churches (to get them to take some of the burden off of the poor Macedonians), but he did not command them nor did he collect copies of their W-2 forms to calculate their “tithe” for them.

8:9 “become rich” Spiritually, but also with money (2 Corinthians 9:8), but money to offset the giving rather than a religious get rich quick scheme. Have you ever wanted to see two of the gold couch guys donate everything to each other’s ministries to see if they’d each really get a hundredfold richer because of it? That being said, there is no poverty in Heaven, and it’s not His will for you here or there (John 10:10). The poor in spirit are blessed because they lack the means to avoid looking to God who wants to give us the Kingdom. Abe, David, etc., were loaded.

8:12 We give freely as new creations as the Spirit leads us. He gives us the will and ability to like doing good. He is known for doing more with less; compare the feeding of the five thousand in Matthew 14:13-21 with the feeding of the four thousand in Matthew 15:29-39. Paul told the Romans to owe no debt but to love (Romans 13:8), so don’t neglect to prepare for your financial future.

8:13-14 Your extra can be someone else’s everything. The “equality” is in participation in carrying the burdens of pressing needs among believers (John 13:34-35) rather than a utopian equality of outcomes.

8:15 As in Exodus 16:18, human works mean little in the equation when God is handing out manna or blessing ministries. “Matchin’ Grant”, the Ministry-Supportin’ Angel, has been known to show up (Hebrews 1:14).

8:16-17 Titus was coming to them again. See 2 Corinthians 12:18, in which Titus and one brother went.

8:18 “along with him the brother” Brother 1.

8:22 “with them our brother” Brother 2.

8:23 Note Titus and the two brothers; the personnel on each trip can help us keep the timeline straight.

9:1 Regarding the famine predicted in Acts 11.

9:2-5 See 1 Corinthians 16.

9:6 “reap” for more good works. The true Gospel does contain material blessings, but 2 Corinthians 8:13-15’s suggestion of future needs doesn’t sound like the guarantees of yachts offered by the “Prosperity Gospel” people.

9:7 You are free in Christ. You are not under the Law. The “tithe” is a matter of Law that Christians are dead to. We are free to give from the heart as the Spirit leads without pressure or percentages. See Leviticus 27:30 (The tithe was an agricultural tax in ancient Israel not applicable to all jobs…), Deuteronomy 14:22-29 (...that was used to party as well as to share with Levites and the less fortunate), and Numbers 18:21-24 (Levites did not have cars, jets, podcasts, investments, and book deals like modern pastors). Pastors, while entitled to enough to survive on (1 Corinthians 9:3-6, 14) for their service, can have day jobs (Paul was a tentmaker). God owns everything already (Psalm 50:8-13) and is not served by human hands (Acts 17:25) as if He needed anything; the Law was a test to fail – we’re under God’s grace now. Matthew 17:24-26 says that we children of God don’t pay taxes to our Father like subjects do. Tithing for Christians was a 19th century invention. It was the crops and not the seed that was taxed, so combining everything into a nebulous substance called “money” has believers giving away what they need to save for retirement (Romans 13:8, 1 Corinthians 7:21). For readers in America, since the USA ostensibly began as a Christian nation (“The Mayflower Compact”), and our tax-funded programs for illness and poverty are equivalent to the community poor chest the Israelites had, the average 3% post-tax donation believers are led to donate by the Spirit pretty much lines up with what the ancient Israelites shouldered. Philippians 2:13 is an amazing realization. Moreover, Malachi was talking to/about the Old Covenant priests; if you’d like a refresher, see the Malachi 3:3, Malachi 3:8-9, and Malachi 3:10 notes.

9:8 See Deuteronomy 15:10. Notice that here you get what you need, and that it’s for the purpose of abounding in good works (Proverbs 11:24-25, Proverbs 22:9). God answers prayers and God blesses people, but don’t get discouraged with Christianity if the fallen world gets in the way of the promises from the man with the Rolex on television. Jesus didn’t tell the widow to throw her sandals into the collection box with her last two coins so they would multiply into hundreds of pairs of sandals for her (I have seen ministries blessed supernaturally beyond what the sum of their small donations could have done alone, but it’s not like the boy who gave away his lunch got to keep everything that was intended for feeding the five thousand), nor did He put his own sandals in there, either.

9:9 See Psalm 112:9 about “righteousness” tzedakah, charity; the gifts for the poor. This and Proverbs 11:4-8 are the source of the alms righteousness or “treasure in Heaven” further developed in Tobit 4 and Sirach 29 on its way to Jesus’ teachings about the Law. Only Jesus gave enough, and only Jesus had anything worth giving. We’re under the New Covenant; our righteousness endures (2 Corinthians 5:21), so we give as a result of being righteous (Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 2:13).

9:10 Seed and bread are differentiated; investing for the future is okay. Worrying about tomorrow or being overconfident in plans that lack an acknowledgment like “God willing” are distinct from being responsible.

9:11-12 Saying that you will be given what you need to help others for the purpose of God’s glory isn’t a guarantee that “believing for” a luxury car when you have something dependable already will work out for you (1 Timothy 6:5).

9:13 Praise and sharing are offerings, and sharing leads to praise in this scenario.

9:14-15 Notice that the grace has been given (past tense), and that it is free (a gift).

Some people say that Chapter 10 through Chapter 13 may be the content of the other letter mentioned earlier because of the shift in topic, tone, etc. Comparing 2 Corinthians 12:8 with 2 Corinthians 8:6 and 2 Corinthians 8:16-24 concerning when Titus went and with whom can help you make up your own mind.

10:1-3 Paul was sent by Christ to introduce Christianity to them, making Paul their apostle (1 Corinthians 9:1-2), but Paul’s motives had been called into question by trained public speakers who were using the flock for financial gain (2 Corinthians 11:5, 2 Corinthians 2:17, 2 Corinthians 11:4).

10:4-5 As admirable as it sounds to try to “take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ” in your own life like attempting Deuteronomy 6:5, know that in context Paul is talking about having an answer for every heresy he had to contend with in his ministry. You don’t have to be an expert on every wrong theology out there, just know your Bible well enough and the verses to answer them will pop right out thanks to the Spirit. Bankers don’t have to be familiar with every counterfeit; they just have to know the real thing to notice something fishy.

10:6 Or, in other words, Paul would deal with the super-apostle faction once the Corinthians put him back in charge.

10:7 See 1 Corinthians 1:12.

10:8-10 Notice how timid Paul the Apostle seems compared to Saul (Acts 9:1-2). The fruit of the Spirit is soft (Galatians 5:22-23).

10:17 in Jeremiah 9:24.

11:2-3 versus a different version of Jesus (verse 4). The concept of marrying Jesus carries over from passages like Isaiah 62:4-5 and Hosea 2:19-20.

11:4 much like Galatians 1:6-9, in reference to people abandoning the “easy believism” of grace in favor of trying to keep the Law of Moses.

11:5-6 The legitimate apostles, including Paul, all got along for the most part (except for things like disagreeing about Mark when he quit that trip early). The slick “superapostles” weren’t the former commercial fishermen and such that had followed Jesus on Earth or others that are commended in Acts like Apollos, but trained speakers/Sophists and skilled manipulators. Paul’s opponents were frequently Judaizers (Acts 15:24).

11:7-9 “robbed” only in the sense that Paul was entitled to financial support from the Corinthians but was instead propped up by the Macedonians. See the 2 Corinthians 8:1-5 note.

11:14 Satan tempts, but mostly he acts as the Accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10), trying to tell you you’re not holy enough. This keeps Christians ineffective, in full-time ministry to themselves trying to “stay right with God” instead of accepting the victory we already have in Christ and helping others.

11:17 This verse seems dangerously close to admitting lack of inspiration for the letters to the Corinthians. He walks it back in 2 Corinthians 12:6.

11:19-20 The church you should be involved with does not act like this.

11:23-28 Would Paul have tolerated all of that if he were not legitimate? See Acts 9:16. Paul’s opponents probably said that Paul’s sufferings were proof that God was against him. Also, we don’t earn salvation; even he or she that endures to the end (by fleeing) will be saved (Matthew 10:22-23), as we are all already martyrs (Galatians 2:20).

11:24 from Deuteronomy 25:3.

11:25 There was at least one more shipwreck (Acts 27) after this letter was written.

11:29 “sin” See 2 Corinthians 11:4 and John 16:9.

11:33 in Acts 9:23-25. Moses had also been rescued in a basket.

12:1 Paul said he was still acting foolishly (2 Corinthians 11:17) and therefore dangerously close to being uninspired, but he saves it in verse 6.

12:2 See 2 Chronicles 6:18. The “highest heavens” (that cannot contain God) in that verse in Hebrew are the “Heaven of Heavens”, so Paul mentioned a third heaven, God’s dwelling place, here.

12:5 It kinda seems like Paul did boast about that just now.

12:7 “thorn” There has been a lot of speculation about Paul’s thorn in his flesh. Eye problems, demons, the Judaizers interfering with his ministry, an ex-wife, etc., have all been offered as candidates.

12:9 Lack of healing, etc., does not mean you lack enough faith or that you’re stuck behind some sin barrier. There are times God changes your circumstances, there are times God brings you through it, and there are times when He’ll fix it later. Our best days are ahead of us in Heaven, and He will set all things right eventually.

12:12 in Acts 19:11-12.

12:14-15 Parents providing for children like this and in Luke 15’s Parable of the Prodigal Son was the natural state of affairs while they were able-bodied in that culture. 1 Timothy 5:4’s application of honoring parents is for those too elderly/infirm to manage their own affairs.

12:17 Presumably, when collecting for the needy in the Jerusalem Church.

12:18 Compare the people in this verse with 2 Corinthians 8:6 and 2 Corinthians 8:16-24 to determine whether you think Chapter 10 through Chapter 13 might be an earlier letter tacked onto the back of 2 Corinthians in the codex. Bible trivia is interesting, but our main focus is on the meaning, especially Jesus Christ and what He did for us.

12:21 Again, this is at the level of fathers and sons using the same temple prostitute publicly, etc.

13:1 in Deuteronomy 19:15.

13:5 Paul used the counterfactual to prove the legitimacy of Paul’s ministry. They are his letter of recommendation as an apostle (2 Corinthians 3:2-3), and he’s their “father” in the faith (1 Corinthians 4:15, 2 Corinthians 12:14-15). Christ in their hearts legitimizes Paul’s efforts, and their sins don’t reflect on Paul.

13:9,11 “restored” to relationship with each other instead of feuding factions, to right living, to relationship with Paul, to Christian maturity, etc.

13:10 Excommunication (also seen in 1 Timothy 1:20) was meant as a temporary measure to correct believers, like the man from 1 Corinthians 5 who repented and was restored in 2 Corinthians 2.

13:14 (or 13:13, if your translation numbers verses 12, 13, 14 differently from others) Here’s the Trinity again. Also, remember that the chapter and verse numbers, while helpful, were added by humans much later. This can create confusion; the Orthodox and the Protestants are sometimes a Psalm away from each other, etc.

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