"Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith! Examine yourself! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?" (II Corinthians 13:5)
In last week's lesson, on II Corinthians 12:11-21, the apostle Paul wrote about how he planned to return to Corinth for the third time and that he "would not be a burden to them," by accepting support for his ministry, but like a father with his children he would "most gladly spend and be expended for their souls"! And he noted that neither Titus nor "the brother" who he had sent to them earlier had taken advantage of them either! His purpose, and theirs as well, was "in the sight of God to speak in Christ and build them up in the faith"! But he also expressed fear that he "might not find them again as he wished, and that they might not find him as they wished"! He was concerned that there might be "strife, jealousy, angry tempers, slanders, gossip, arrogance, and disturbances" when he came, and that "God might humiliate him in their presence, and that he might mourn over many of those who who had sinned in the past and not repented, of impurity, immorality, and sensuality which they practiced"! (MacArthur notes that "he didn't want to find them in the same sorry spiritual condition as on his last visit"--the so-called "painful visit"!)
And so, in last night's passage, Paul warned the Corinthians that in his third coming to them he would not show any leniency to those who had sinned and "not spare anyone," but deal with them biblically, in accordance with the Law of God which requires that "every fact be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses"--and especially since they were "seeking proof for the Christ who speaks through him, and is not weak toward them"!
Deuteronomy 19:15 states that, "A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed"! Jesus said, in Matthew 18:15-18: "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother! But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church, and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector!" (Interesting, as Jeremy noted last night, that the first act of church discipline is recorded in Acts 5:1-11, concerning the Ananias and Sapphira incident!)
The apostle Paul could be strong ("in the Lord"), if he had to be, in confronting believers living in sin, and not repenting! MacArthur notes that those Corinthians "seeking proof of his apostleship" would have it when he arrived in Corinth! They might, in fact, have gotten more than they bargained for--for Paul was going to use his apostolic authority and the power he had in Christ to deal with any sin and rebellion he found there! They would have first-hand proof of his divinely-given power!
In verse 5, Paul challenges the Corinthians to "test themselves to see if they were in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test"? This verse at first glance seems to be talking about gaining assurance of one's salvation, but that is not apparently what Paul had in mind! He was writing to genuine believers, and as Contable notes, was telling them to "examine their works to gain assurance that they were experiencing sanctification; that they were walking in obedience to the Lord"! Were they living out the Christian life? Just as he earlier wrote in I Corinthians 16:13:
Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men; be strong!"
In this same regard, James 2:14-20 says: "What use is it, my brethren, if some say he has faith but he has no works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothinga and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself! But someone may well say, 'You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works'! You believe God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder! But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is dead!" Wow!
Constable notes that Paul's argument is compelling! If the Corinthians wanted proof of whether Paul's ministry was from Christ, they must "look at themselves, not him, because Paul had ministered the gospel to them"!
Paul wrote in I Corinthians 2:1-5 that, "when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified! I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trempling and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God"! (MacArthur notes that "the genuineness of their salvation was the proof of the genuineness of Paul's apostleship"!)
Verse 7 is an interesting verse! "Now we pray to God that you do no wrong, not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear unapproved!" Paul's deepest longing was for his "spiritual children" to lead godly lives even if they persisted in doubting his apostleship! And then, in verse 9, where he adds: "For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak but you are strong; this we also pray for, that you may be made complete!" And we can't help but remember his shocking words in Romans 9:3, where he expressed "great sorrow and grief in his heart" for Israel's rejection of Chrst: "For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh...!" Are you kidding?
And he ends this section, in verse 10, with a one-sentence statement which, in essence, sums up why Paul was writing this entire espistle of II Corinthians! "For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present I need not use severity, in accordance with the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not tearing down!"
Wow! The heart of Paul! And the intensity of his love and concern for the people of God! Balancing truth and love! Willing to appear "unapproved"? Even "accursed"?
And we are asked to "imitate him, as he imitated Christ"!
Til we meet again!
Lowell
In last week's lesson, on II Corinthians 12:11-21, the apostle Paul wrote about how he planned to return to Corinth for the third time and that he "would not be a burden to them," by accepting support for his ministry, but like a father with his children he would "most gladly spend and be expended for their souls"! And he noted that neither Titus nor "the brother" who he had sent to them earlier had taken advantage of them either! His purpose, and theirs as well, was "in the sight of God to speak in Christ and build them up in the faith"! But he also expressed fear that he "might not find them again as he wished, and that they might not find him as they wished"! He was concerned that there might be "strife, jealousy, angry tempers, slanders, gossip, arrogance, and disturbances" when he came, and that "God might humiliate him in their presence, and that he might mourn over many of those who who had sinned in the past and not repented, of impurity, immorality, and sensuality which they practiced"! (MacArthur notes that "he didn't want to find them in the same sorry spiritual condition as on his last visit"--the so-called "painful visit"!)
And so, in last night's passage, Paul warned the Corinthians that in his third coming to them he would not show any leniency to those who had sinned and "not spare anyone," but deal with them biblically, in accordance with the Law of God which requires that "every fact be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses"--and especially since they were "seeking proof for the Christ who speaks through him, and is not weak toward them"!
Deuteronomy 19:15 states that, "A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed"! Jesus said, in Matthew 18:15-18: "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother! But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church, and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector!" (Interesting, as Jeremy noted last night, that the first act of church discipline is recorded in Acts 5:1-11, concerning the Ananias and Sapphira incident!)
The apostle Paul could be strong ("in the Lord"), if he had to be, in confronting believers living in sin, and not repenting! MacArthur notes that those Corinthians "seeking proof of his apostleship" would have it when he arrived in Corinth! They might, in fact, have gotten more than they bargained for--for Paul was going to use his apostolic authority and the power he had in Christ to deal with any sin and rebellion he found there! They would have first-hand proof of his divinely-given power!
In verse 5, Paul challenges the Corinthians to "test themselves to see if they were in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test"? This verse at first glance seems to be talking about gaining assurance of one's salvation, but that is not apparently what Paul had in mind! He was writing to genuine believers, and as Contable notes, was telling them to "examine their works to gain assurance that they were experiencing sanctification; that they were walking in obedience to the Lord"! Were they living out the Christian life? Just as he earlier wrote in I Corinthians 16:13:
Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men; be strong!"
In this same regard, James 2:14-20 says: "What use is it, my brethren, if some say he has faith but he has no works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothinga and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself! But someone may well say, 'You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works'! You believe God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder! But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is dead!" Wow!
Constable notes that Paul's argument is compelling! If the Corinthians wanted proof of whether Paul's ministry was from Christ, they must "look at themselves, not him, because Paul had ministered the gospel to them"!
Paul wrote in I Corinthians 2:1-5 that, "when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified! I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trempling and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God"! (MacArthur notes that "the genuineness of their salvation was the proof of the genuineness of Paul's apostleship"!)
Verse 7 is an interesting verse! "Now we pray to God that you do no wrong, not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear unapproved!" Paul's deepest longing was for his "spiritual children" to lead godly lives even if they persisted in doubting his apostleship! And then, in verse 9, where he adds: "For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak but you are strong; this we also pray for, that you may be made complete!" And we can't help but remember his shocking words in Romans 9:3, where he expressed "great sorrow and grief in his heart" for Israel's rejection of Chrst: "For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh...!" Are you kidding?
And he ends this section, in verse 10, with a one-sentence statement which, in essence, sums up why Paul was writing this entire espistle of II Corinthians! "For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present I need not use severity, in accordance with the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not tearing down!"
Wow! The heart of Paul! And the intensity of his love and concern for the people of God! Balancing truth and love! Willing to appear "unapproved"? Even "accursed"?
And we are asked to "imitate him, as he imitated Christ"!
Til we meet again!
Lowell
RSS Feed