2 Corinthians Lesson 3 2 Corinthians 2:12-3:18 Written about 65 AD

Transcription

1 2 Corinthians Lesson 3 2 Corinthians 2:12-3:18 Written about 65 AD In lesson 2, we saw the introduction to the letter Paul had written to the Corinthians. He was evidently writing from Macedonia, after having ministered in the Roman Province of Asia. He informed the Corinthians of the great trials and dangers he and his companions were under daily, but assured them that God had been able to comfort and deliver them. He told them that one of his boasts was the character of the ministry that he had with them. He then explained to them the reason he had changed his current ministry itinerary from visiting them twice, both on the way to Macedonia, and on the way out. Evidently, one of the Corinthians, when Paul had announced his original plan had objected that Paul, who was a fugitive from a Roman warrant, would be endangering the Corinthians by coming to visit. Paul had cancelled his first visit while he sent Titus to enquire about their feelings. Titus evidently found that it was just one person who felt this way, and Paul thus maintained his plan to visit them on the way out of Macedonia. Evidently, when the rest of the Corinthians found that the one person had told Paul not to come, they shunned him. Paul told them to forgive him. He closed with these words: 2 Corinthians 2:10-11 If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven if there was anything to forgive I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. With that review, we can open this lesson, where Paul turns to the subject of the travel itinerary he took instead of going directly to Corinth. 2 Corinthians 2:12 Now when I went to Troas [a] to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, Instead of going directly across the Aegean Sea to Corinth, Paul had followed his old route of travelling up to the Hellespont and Troas (Troy) before crossing over into Macedonia. Paul was demonstrating to the Corinthians how God worked everything out for good. His original itinerary, to go to Corinth before Macedonia, would not have included Troas (Troy). However, when Paul arrived in Troas, he found that God had opened a door for him there. 1 / 10

2 2 Corinthians 2:13 I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So But I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia. From 2 Corinthians 7, we will discover that Titus had been sent originally to Corinth, evidently with instructions to meet Paul in Troas after he had discovered the true state of their mind. However, when Titus didn t show up in Troas, Paul finally went on to Macedonia worried about what had happened to Titus, and still uncertain about the Corinthians. I have changed the NIV translation of so to but. The Greek word here is "88" {alla} which means but, not so. I dislike the translation so because it tends to convey the idea that because Paul didn t find Titus, he ignored the open door in Troas because he was upset about the missing Titus. He would have eventually moved on because the Macedonians expected him. 2 Corinthians 2:14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. But Paul remembered here with thanksgiving how that although they were in constant peril, God had led them to Troas which had given them an opportunity to share the triumph of Christ and leave behind them the fragrance of Christ. The phrase calls to my mind the altar of incense in the Temple which spoke of the righteous life of Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. This was to remind them that we are the ambassadors of Christ on this earth. We are to live with the fragrance of His righteousness on our life. That will have an impact on both segments of the human race. 2 Corinthians 2:16a To the one we are the smell of death; 2 / 10

3 To those who reject the grace of God, the aroma of Christ is the smell of their own condemnation. 2 Corinthians 2:16b to the other, the fragrance of life. To those who accept the grace of God, the aroma of Christ is the fragrance of life and God s love. 2 Corinthians 2:16c And who is equal to sufficient for [b] such a task? Paul understood that in our own flesh, we are not equal to such a task. That can only be empowered by the Holy Spirit and the word of God in our hearts. 2 Corinthians 2:17a Unlike so many, we do not peddle for profit the word of God. [c] The Greek word which is translated peddle for profit is καπηλεύω {kä-pā-lyü'-ō} which referred to a huckster. In other words, this refers to the kind of vendor who would try to sell you a Rolex on the street. He was not only in it for profit, but would also try to cheat you by selling you a counterfeited or adulterated product. 2 Corinthians 2:17b On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God. Paul transitions here from the challenge of imitating Christ to the resources he had given them to do so. In contrast to so many of the huckster teachers that the churches were falling for, He had always given them the pure word of God without gimmicks or adulteration. 2 Corinthians 3:1-2 Are we beginning to commend introduce ourselves again? Or do we 3 / 10

4 need, like some people, letters of recommendation introduction to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. The word translated commend here is the Greek word συνίστημι {sün-ē'-stā-mē} which means commend in the sense of a presentation or introduction. Unfortunately commend in English has come to mean praise rather than presentation. The commend here is related to the letter of recommendation at the end of the verse. Paul here catches himself and notices that he sounds like he is writing a letter of introduction for himself and his team. Paul stops and says in effect You don t need a letter of introduction from us. After all you are our letter of introduction. Paul is not rebuking the Corinthians but fondly recalling the link between him and them. They are his letter. This is critical to the interpretation of 2 Corinthians, which is written in a primarily fond and loving tone. Even the suggestion here that Paul is thinking about a letter of introduction speaks to the later date of writing of 65 AD, which was seven years after his last visit, and twelve years after his founding of the Corinthian Church. 2 Corinthians 3:3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Paul was proud of the Corinthian church. They were fulfilling the function of all believers, to be a living letter from Christ. That writing was by means of the Holy Spirit who had put the truth of God s love in their hearts. Truth in the heart had always been God s plan: Proverbs 3:3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Minus the truth, the reverse would be true: Jeremiah 17:1 Judah s sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars. 4 / 10

5 2 Corinthians 3:4 Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Paul was confident that Christ had used the power of His word to make this change in them. 2 Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are competent sufficient in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence sufficie ncy comes from God. Paul knew that the power did not come from himself, but from the word of God which he presented faithfully. 2 Corinthians 3:6 He has made us competent sufficient as ministers of a new covenant not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, [d] but the Spirit gives life. Paul revisited the key doctrine he had taught for all the years of his ministry. The letter (the Ten Commandments) could not save. It could only point out the need for a savior. It was only the Holy Spirit which could freely give life. It is the Holy Spirit which baptizes us into Christ when we believe in Him and accept His sacrifice. The dynamics of the life of the New Covenant had been prophesied in Jeremiah: Jeremiah 31:31-33 The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares the LORD. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the LORD. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 5 / 10

6 2 Corinthians 3:7-8 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses [e] because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? We should remember that the greatest attack on the Church at that time, particularly to the Jewish Christians, was the teaching of the Jewish legalists. They appealed to the glamour and tradition of the 1500 year old Tabernacle and Temple worship to lure believers away from the New Covenant back to their erroneous version of the Mosaic Covenant. Paul pointed out that the New Covenant ministry of the Holy Spirit which was written on their hearts had to be better than something they couldn t even look upon. 2 Corinthians 3:9 If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! The righteousness of the New Covenant is better than the condemnation of the Old. 2 Corinthians 3:10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. Even though the Mosaic Law was great in its day, it cannot begin to compare with the surpassing glory of God revealed in Jesus Christ! 2 Corinthians 3:11 And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts! 6 / 10

7 The purpose of the Law was only temporary. The purpose of the New Covenant is eternal. 2 Corinthians 3:12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. Because of that fact, Paul could be very bold in asserting the superiority of the New Covenant. 2 Corinthians 3:13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. This refers to the story of Moses on Mt. Sinai and then during the wandering in the wilderness from Exodus 34:28-35: Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant--the Ten Commandments. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD s presence (into the Tent of Meeting) to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD. What do we get from the story in Exodus? Moses had to speak the words of the Law to them unveiled in spite of how terrified they were of the glory of God reflected in His face. When he was finished speaking Moses would then put the veil over his face. Paul told the Corinthians he did this so they could be able to be around Moses while the glory was fading away. [f] This was not unlike the dilemma of the Israelites who were terrified by the appearance of the LORD with fire and thunder in all His power. That is why the LORD promised to come to them in the future as a prophet like Moses: Deuteronomy 18:15-19 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the LORD your 7 / 10

8 God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die. The LORD said to me: What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. 2 Corinthians 3:14a But their minds were made dull blinded, The Greek word here is πωρόω {pō-ro'-ō} which means hardened or thickened. The KJV translates this blinded. 2 Corinthians 3:14b for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. From the beginning, many in Israel were blind to the purpose of the Law. They failed to see that the purpose of the Law was to underline the sinfulness of man and to point to the glory of God who would himself be the redeemer. The whole Tabernacle worship - set down by the Law - spoke of the sinless redeemer who would come. It even indicated the day He would die. 2 Corinthians 3:14c It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. However, only in the light of Christ s life and work the glorious message of the Law become clear. 2 Corinthians 3:15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. The Corinthians were always under the attack of the legalistic Judaizers. The core of the Corinthian Church were converted out the Jewish synagogue that Paul preached in for probably over a month (Acts 18:4). Paul was pointing out that the Judaizers, who preached the supremacy of the Old Testament, only saw in it the Law which could not be kept, and was thus a ministry of death. They could not understand or see the true glory of the Old Testament. It is 8 / 10

9 not only a Law Giver, but like Moses himself, it foreshadows, in every book the coming of the the prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:18-19), the Law Keeper, Jesus Christ. It is only in the light of Jesus Christ, that the Law and the Old Testament could truly be understood. 2 Corinthians 3:16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Those who believe in Jesus Christ can begin to see what Jesus explained to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: Luke 24:27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he (Jesus ) explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. 2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. When they were in Christ they had His Spirit, and that spirit gave them freedom - Freedom from the slavery to the flesh and freedom to serve the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Because of the power of the truth of God written on their hearts by the Spirit, they could not only be the fragrance of life, but also reflect the Glory of the LORD and walk in His likeness. [a] In the account of Paul s trip from Ephesus to Macedonia in 57 AD (Acts 20:1), Luke just says that Paul crossed directly from Ephesus to Macedonia and does not mention a stop in Troas. Since Luke is very meticulous about covering all the particulars of Paul s sea voyages in Act, this is one of the reasons that I conclude that this voyage occurred after the end of the narrative in Acts and his first Roman imprisonment. 9 / 10

10 [b] This is the same word ἱκανός { hē-kä-no's} that appears in Corinthians 3:5 and 3:6. It should be translated uniformly. I think sufficient is the best translation. [c] I like the translation do not sell out the word of God. This verse also links to 2 Corinthians 4:2 where Paul is expands on the concept. [d] Clearly speaking about the Ten Commandments which were engraved on tablets of stone (next verse). No one but Jesus Christ could keep them. Everyone else failed and they were condemned by them. Other parts of the Mosaic Law revealed God s grace provision, but not the Ten Commandments. [e] See Exodus 34: [f] Exodus 33:11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. 10 / 10