Nothing But the Truth

 DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

2 Cor 11:1-6

11:1 I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that. 2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. 5 But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those "super-apostles." 6 I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.

NIV

It is evident that there were others traveling around with a gospel that was not the true and sincere gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was sent to earth in the form of man, being conceived by the Spirit within a virgin and lived as fully man, who at the exact right moment gave his life as a ransom to redeem us from the penalty of sin, so that whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but will have eternal life. Some were perverting that truth somehow and we can only think it was for their personal gain in some way. This is still true today. There are those who would change up the truth of the gospel so as to gain such a following order they might have personal gain. They have that serpent’s cunning that deceived eve. There are two things we need to be careful of. First, that we make sure we are not deceived by any of those silver-tongued purveyors of a perverted gospel. Second, that we make sure that we always speak of the true gospel and always point people to the true Jesus Christ. We know what it is to not be a trained speaker. We know our weaknesses and inabilities. We know we cannot look as professional as those who make their abundant living by tickling the ears of people who words of deception. But we do have the knowledge, as Paul says he has. We know the gospel and we can explain it. We may not be able to use eloquent words, but we know that we speak the truth, and our goal is to lift up the lives of others, to point them to Jesus. We also know that we have in no way ever been as effective as Paul was in pointing people to Jesus. He was called by God to travel to the gentiles, those who served other gods to bring them to Jesus. We are certainly not that kind of an apostle, that kind of messenger, although all Christians have been called to go out into the world and spread the good news. Still, we may use other methods than traveling around as Paul did. But the fact remains that we must always be true to the gospel of Jesus Christ and not allow it to be perverted for personal benefit. Sayings, like, “God helps those who help themselves” are just an example of how the truth can get twisted. God helps those who put their trust in Him, who look to Him for their lives. We are responsible to God to convey the truth, nothing but the truth, so help us, God. 

Boasting

 DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

BOASTING

2 Cor 10:12-18

12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has assigned to us, a field that reaches even to you. 14 We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. 15 Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand, 16 so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in another man's territory. 17 But, "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."   18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

NIV

How in the world could we ever compare ourselves to ourselves? It would seem that we would have to commend ourselves, that is boast about our own works. This word commends in Greek carries the meaning of introducing ourselves, which is saying that we introduce how great we are, what degrees we have, how much we have done, all the service we have done for Jesus. It is one thing to boast about the field we are in, that is the calling that we have been given for that is all from the Lord. He calls each of us to the field, giving us the ability to serve where he has put us. It is like that old song, break me, melt me, form me, and fill me. Jesus made the point that we can do nothing without him. That he is the vine, and we are the branches, and he is the one who produces the fruit within us. So then how can we compare ourselves to ourselves? If we did, we have nothing to compare ourselves with because then we would be apart from Jesus, and we would be nothing. So then, we would be comparing nothing to nothing, and that surely is nothing to boast about. All we can boast about is Jesus. He has done everything for us and in us and is continuing to do his work through us. What is also interesting is that we should not even be interested in getting the commendation of men, especially ourselves, but we should only be interested in getting the approval of God. That sounds good in theory, but if we have the call to preach, in most, if not all, denominations, we must get the approval of men. That is the way of the church today and we need men’s approval to be certified or for them to verify that we meet their qualifications. So, in some sense they are comparing ourselves to themselves, using their standards, which are mostly the Lord’s standards. Nevertheless, that is how it works, and so be it, but the fact remains that we should not boast about ourselves, other than to boast about the Lord, and what he has done for us, in us, and through us. The Lord must always get all the praise for all things. So, it is alright to boast, if we are boasting about the Lord. 

Walk the Talk

 DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

WALK THE TALK

2 Cor 10:7-11

7 You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he. 8 For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it. 9 I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. 10 For some say, "His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing." 11 Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.

NIV

There are always going to be those who look good, smell good, and have a silver tongue. This is what Paul is referring to here when he tells them they are only looking at the surface things. False preachers were in plenty during the time of Paul, and it has not changed over the course of history. Today we have our fair share of those who wear their thousand-dollar suits, flashy watches, and rings, with big smiles and fancy words that tickle the ears. However, one has to look beyond that surface appearance and dig deep into their theology and in doing so anyone would see the falsehoods and the fact these types are only interested in building themselves up and in the process tear others down. The fact is that our words and our life must match. That is what Paul is saying about himself. There are those who claim that he sounds good in this letter, but in real life, he is not so much to listen to. It may be true that some people are able to communicate better in the written form them in the oral format, but Paul is not one of them. We have too much evidence of his oral aptitude in his discussions, such as on Mars Hill, when he takes about the statue to the unknown God. Isn’t that our challenge as well? Should not our life match our words, both those we write and those we speak? Should not the words we write and those we speak match as well? True, not all of us are orators, or for that matter, great writers, but we all talk, and as of late, many seem to find some media outlet to express a view on some issue. That is not to say all do, but that only some do. We think is it important, from these words of Paul, that we make sure we speak the truth of the gospel in all situations. We are representatives of Christ and have been given the authority as His ambassadors to speak for our sovereign. So let us be consistent, whether we are with people or in our writings, such as these words here. The truth is the truth no matter how it is expressed, and our lives should reflect the same as our words. That is, we need to walk the talk instead of just talking the walk. 

World vs Divine

 DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

WORLD VS DIVINE

2 Cor 10:1-6

10:1 By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you — I, Paul, who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" when away! 2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

NIV

Once again, it is difficult to break up one of Paul’s thoughts that take up a whole lot of words. However, there is a truth that we can focus on that could apply to our lives. One of those is what he says about there are some of them who think that we live by the standards of this world. Some of them thought that Paul was living by the standards of the world seems bizarre, when they might be the ones who need correction regarding how to live. But the question is as to what kind of standards of the world were being thought of. Most likely this is about personal gain or being controlled by the weak and corrupt principles of human nature. They most likely thought he was not governed by high and holy principles but rather by the mere worldly policy that is guided by personal interests and worldly views of ambition or love of power, wealth, and popularity. This is something that could invade the way we think in this post-modern way of life. Although we are Christians and that should be our guiding light as to how we think and behave, we also have grown up in this world and have been taught by its principles most of our youth, and even into our adult lives. The idea of success is basic to life. We think we should work to gain as much wealth as possible and to store as much as we can for that golden time of retirement. We think that our success is tied to our education and our personal work ethics, showing ourselves to be worthy of promotions and further financial gain. It is just the way the world functions, and we live in this world, yet we are told to not be of the world. That is we do have to work for our own welfare, being able to buy food, clothing, housing, and some type of transportation. But is that what governors us, our outlook on life? We are supposed to be governed by the Spirit who dwells within, guiding us in the principles of God, leading us into all truth so that we can live by the divine power of God, and making our thoughts, how we think about everything, obedient to Christ. What does that look like in our daily walk? We think that the main issue is that all that we do, all that we say, in every aspect of our lives, where we work, live, worship, and play, we should be bringing glory to God and not to ourselves in any way. If we succeed in any way, God should be given the glory. Our lives should reflect His divine influence on our hearts and mind. If someone tells us that we are a good person, or how smart or intelligent we are, or that we are doing so many good things, they are liars, for no one is good except God, at least, that is what Jesus said. So, then we should not accept that kind of praise from men but live to receive praise from God. Still, if men must make those comments about us, we need to make sure that we point their praise to God. It is the Lord working in and through us, it is Him who should be praised for anything we say or do. Just as Jesus said that we cannot serve two masters, it is either the world or the divine. 

Indescribable Gift

 DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

INDESCRIBABLE GIFT

2 Cor 9:12-15

12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

NIV

Paul continues with this concept of their giving resulting in everything giving thanks to God, in fact, he says it is overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. The first thing that strikes a chord with us, is that whatever we do, whether that be giving money to meet the needs of others, or doing something else in some tangible way, God is the one who should be thanked. The point of being of any service to someone is so that God will be praised. We are also told that we should not do things for the praise of men, but for the praise from God. It is difficult not to accept praise from men, for that seems to be the natural state of the world. Even in the church, people tend to praise the pastor for how good his sermon was. It just seems that is what is expected and it is uncomfortable to accept praise for service to God. What Paul is saying is that in the prayers of people their hearts will go out to others because of the surpassing grace God has given them. That is when people see how God has bestowed his surpassing grace on someone, they cannot help but praise God. What does it mean to have the surpassing or exceeding grace of God, which does not do justice to the Greek? To be the recipient of the grace of God that goes beyond the usual mark is almost incomprehensible. Just to experience the grace of God is more than we deserve and yet Paul says it is possible to experience God grace beyond what we normally think, that is exceeding grace, and when we think of this Greek word used as grace, we cannot help to think it means God’s divine influence on our heart and mind, and how that exceeding amount of influence, in this case, is reflected in our life. Just his normal amount of influence would be more than enough, but to experience an exceeding amount of his influence is an indescribable, or unspeakable, gift. That is when we experience that much of his influence in our lives, it is beyond description, we cannot even find the words that would define it, or we would be speechless, unable to even talk about this surpassing grace of God. We are not even sure what the reflection in our lives would look like because of his grace that is far beyond normal. However, what we do know is that if and when God does bestow that much grace on us, we will know it, and what happens, as a result, will be evident, even if is it indescribable. 

Thanksgiving to God

 DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

THANKSGIVING TO GOD

2 Cor 9:9-11

9 As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."  

10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

NIV

Paul is continuing to talk about this giving and what the Corinthians are supposed to have given and how generous their giving was for the needs of others. But now he includes the work of God in response to their giving. This is a godly principle that it has been said that even non-believers have been subject to. This we cannot say we have witnessed, but only that we have it said God blesses anyone that gives. However, we would have to think his principle would only apply to giving that is done in his name. We would have to believe God would not make someone rich in every way because they generously gave to planned parenthood who performs hundreds upon hundreds of abortions each year. No, what Paul is making clear is that God will bless those who give in His name. God increases our harvest of righteousness which definitely implies this is holy giving which Paul is speaking about. In addition, giving should bring thanksgiving to God. Again, this is holy giving which is what Paul is talking about. Thus, we have to believe that God's principle only applies to believers who give to the needs of others who will be thanking God for the generous gift they received. We also think that being made rich by God is for the purpose of being about to give rather than store up for self-gratification. There have been many well-known people who have either preached or written books about not being able to out-give God. Although they are right, and maybe they give a lot because they have been made rich, it seems they have spent much of their wealth in self-gratification as well. The point is not to give so we can get. The point is simply to give from a cheerful heart, and if in the process, God blesses us, then everyone will be filled with thanksgiving to God. It might also be good to understand that we are not just to give to everyone, for there are people who would take advantage of those who give, and are not interested in thanking God, but just want to be given. It has also been said there are shakers and takers. This may be the reason for bringing our gifts into the storehouse, or to some credible organization, allowing those with the gift of discernment and administration to direct the funds to the appropriate needs. Nevertheless, everything should result in thanksgiving to God. 

A Cheerful Heart

 DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

A CHEERFUL HEART

2 Cor 9:6-8

6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

NIV

Paul is continuing with his comments about giving and he has come to the point of the work of God. Yes, we have the part of giving, but God has the part of rewarding the giving in accordance with the way in which we give. Paul uses the farmer as a metaphor to give us this picture. It would make perfect sense that if a farmer only put a few seeds in the ground his harvest would be sparse. However, if he put a large quantity of seed in the ground his harvest would be plentiful. But this is totally up to the farmer as to how much seed he puts in the ground. That is how we are to see our giving. If we only give a little, God will bless us a little, but if we give more, God will bless us more, for he only blesses what we give.  At least, that is the principle Paul is laying out here. It seems right, however, it also seems that we are limited God the limit of our giving. How does that work? Can we put limits on God’s blessings? Perhaps the idea here has more to do with the attitude of our giving rather than the amount. We certainly have the control as to how much we give and we should not feel as though we are forced to give, as may be the style of some of these false preachers. We have witnessed some of the most created methods to fleece the flock as much as possible. Certainly, the people did not decide in their hearts without compulsion. But here we are in the everyday church, and it is up to us as to how much we give, and it is all about our attitude. We should not think that our tithe is our duty, or is required of us, because we have become a member of a particular denominational church. Again, simply tithing is somewhat of giving within a limit, however, it is in line with giving in accordance with our income. If that is what we have decided to do, fine, that is what is in our heart, and we want to five that tithe, we enjoy giving it. Sheer mathematics should tell us that we can more than live comfortably on ninety percent of our income, but the fact is God can make that ninety or less be more than enough to live quite nicely, in fact, Paul says all grace will abound to us if we give with a cheerful heart. That is the central core issue, a cheerful heart.