2 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 10
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2Cor 10-1,2
(11l)
Servant >> Paul’s example of ministry – It would be fair to say that Paul was one of the
greatest men who ever lived, but many don’t see it that way. For example,
probably the reason people loved Peter more than Paul (such as Catholics) was that Peter was one of Jesus’
twelve closest disciples, whereas Paul never
personally met the Lord in the flesh. Usually, people
rely on other people’s favor to get where they want to go in life, but
Paul was blazing a trail in a divine work of God. However, it is fair to
say that Paul wasn’t a particularly likable fellow even before his
conversion. The best description of him is: a fanatic beyond reason. It
was part of his personality to be obsessive; in fact, he may have even had
Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Prior to his conversion he was a persecutor of
the Church,
but then he met the Lord on the road to Damascus. Fourteen years later he
approached the apostles, wanting a leadership role in the Church,
using his zeal of evangelism as his credentials. He soon rose as head
evangelist of the entire Church of God and head apostle of the churches he
founded, because of his courage to confront any town
with the gospel and tenaciously preached with the authority of Christ, often being
severely punished for it, but the more beatings he received the more
he preached, the more people listened to him and the more people
were getting saved, and so it was all worth it to Paul. See also:
Paul's conversion; 1Tim 2-7;
43c
(17l) Sin
>>
Unrighteous judgment >> Discerning by the
flesh >> Making distinctions between each
other -- These verses go with verses 10-12. The Corinthians accused Paul of walking in the
flesh, considering themselves to be spiritual, but a
person can only be as spiritual as they are faithful to Christ. They did not have an accurate
self-depiction; they struggled to obey Christ according to the letters of
Paul more than any of the other churches, yet they accused Paul of
being carnal, which is not surprising, since people tend to accuse others of the
very sins they practice themselves. They do this from a lack of objective
introspection, that is, an inability to accurately view themselves as others
see them, and more importantly as God sees them. Paul wrote of this in Rom
2-1, "Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things." Jesus warned us not to judge, knowing that those who do also do
most of the sinning. Sin creates a blind spot in a person’s
self-image, so they cannot see themselves in areas that have been
darkened by sin.
(84i) Thy kingdom come
>>
Words of your mouth >> Gossip >>
Attacking a person’s name -- These verses go with verses 10,11
(178e) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Hypocrisy of the Church is rebuked >> The Church
is rebuked for rebellion -- These verses go with verses 7-12
(181c) Works of the devil
>>
Practicing witchcraft >> Rebelling against God >> Rebelling against the
men of God -- These verses go with verses 7-11. The Corinthians thought of Paul as one who was
easily intimidated and afraid to confront them face-to-face, but based on his
accomplishments there was
no way Paul was timid. His greatest legacy was
that he did more than anyone to reach the entire known world with the gospel
of Christ, yet if they could locate his bones, they
probably wouldn’t be interested in building a cathedral over them with a
glass floor and line up to worship his remains like they do at Saint Peter's Basilica
in the
Vatican. This is partly due to the fact that Paul was not one of Jesus'
twelve closest disciples, and it is also due to Paul's personality, how
people thought of him in his day. He wasn’t well-liked, and the
Corinthians reflected this attitude, yet he was Christ’s right-hand man, and
Paul was satisfied with God's favor so much that he didn't crave man's favor
at all. They complained that he wrote weighty letters
but his personal presence was meek. Their criticisms were unfounded, and they misappropriated Paul's great
love for them. The Corinthians were pushing Paul into a position that, when
he was finally able to visit them, he couldn’t come in the meekness and
gentleness of Christ as he wanted, but with a rod of discipline. The Corinthians
were part of Paul’s legacy; they knew all about him, his
accomplishments and the beatings he took to make the gospel available to
them, yet they chose to make up stories about him, and it forced
Paul to set them straight, not because Paul was offended, but
because their wrong thinking was getting in the way of their walk with God.
2Cor 10-1
(63j) Paradox
>>
Anomalies >> Sarcastic from being emotional >>
Angry – Paul
gives us a taste of his sarcasm, describing himself in terms of the
Corinthian's perception of him, and it
came off sarcastic. Paul used sarcasm as a tool when the Corinthians quit
listening to him, and so should we when our audience quits listening to us. Sarcasm is extremely effective in bringing across a
point; it
sharply rebukes our “listeners” and conveys to them that they don’t respect
our views. Sarcasm expresses many thoughts along with the
truth, usually in opposite format, such as in this case; Paul spoke opposite the truth when
his audience knew the
difference. We
don’t use sarcasm when our audience has little knowledge of a
subject, such as during the moon landing; the astronauts didn’t use sarcasm
when they hopped onto the moon’s surface and started explaining what they
saw, because people were open to their feedback and didn’t know what to expect. When
people
should already know the truth but have rejected it and have closed their
minds, sarcasm comes in handy to jolt them back into cognizance with our
views. The Corinthians knew enough to know he was being sarcastic, so that when he put their thoughts into
words, it sounded ridiculous.
(77n) Thy kingdom come
>>
God Ministers To People Through The Humble >>
Humility gives a blessing
(128h) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Gentleness >>
Jesus is gentle
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2Cor 10,2-6
(5b)
Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause
>>
Disciples are soldiers in God’s army
(6g) Responsibility
>>
Being spiritual >> Ministering to God by dying
to self –
Many Christians take this passage into outer space in attempt to explain what
they mean. They should not interpret these verses by ranting at the devil in
effort to make him leave. Rather, if we want to chase away the devil, it would behoove
us to repent of the sinful passions and desires
of our flesh.
(46a) Judgment >>
Spiritual warfare >> Subjecting your flesh >> Violent take it by force
>> Taking the kingdom by force –
What exactly is
spiritual warfare? It is resisting satanic forces of deception that nudge our thoughts and
influence our
views and perceptions in the direction they wants us to think. It gets scary when we realize the power Satan has over society to compile worldviews
and establish a single mindset within society that the majority believe. These
spiritual forces are adept at tricking people to believe that the
thoughts of demons are their own, and our natural incredulity to believe in
Jesus helps the devil by adopting his views and acting on them. If we don’t think spiritual warfare is real or don’t believe it’s relevant,
think of the dozens of wars raging around the globe at any one time, people
killing their fellow man based on ideology they think is their own,
when in fact they are being spoon-fed by demons. Most people are incapable of stepping from their
puny lives far enough to obtain a wider
perspective and realize they have been duped.
2Cor 10-2,3
(92a) Thy kingdom come
>>
The narrow way >> Trail of good works >>
The good works that He prepared for us
2Cor 10-2
(17m) Sin
>>
Unrighteous judgment >> Discerning by the flesh >>
Judging the sins of others that you practice
–
The Corinthians accused Paul of walking in the flesh. Paradoxically but
not surprisingly, his accusers were guilty of this very thing. Paul
said in Rom 2-1, “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on
someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning
yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.” The Corinthians
were guilty of this elementary principle: accusing others of the
very sins they practiced. They did this for the same
reason a person who wears purple sunglasses views the world as purple. It is a fascinating truth about our optical-to-brain
psychology that we
can put on a pair of amber sunglasses and everything looks amber for a little
while, but after about ten minutes our eyes adjust to the filter and
screen the tint from our perceptions to make the world look normal again;
i.e. after a few minutes the sky turns from gaudy green back to beautiful
blue. There is absolute proof of this; put the filter in front of a camera lens and
take a picture, and our eyes will not correct the colors in the photograph,
because we know it is not the actual sky but a mere copy of it.
This was happening to Paul’s accusers,
who passed judgment on him regarding the very sins they practiced: they had screened their sins from their
perceptions and projected them onto Paul. Yes, the field of psychology recognizes
this phenomenon,
calling it projection. Like a movie projector, they projected their sins onto Paul, assuming he was
guilty of the very sins they denied about themselves. Paul took
offense at them disrupting people’s faith, accusing their spiritual leaders
as frauds, attempting to destroy his reputation among the saints, hindering
them from listening to his teachings, so they could introduce heresy into the Church.
See also: Projection; 2Cor 10-5; 178b
(51c)
Judgment >> Judging the Church with the world
>> Warning of Wrath >>
God warns the Church
(84i) Thy kingdom come
>>
Words of your mouth >> Gossip >>
Attacking a person’s name -- This verse goes with verses 10&11
(121l) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Confidence >>
Confidence in God >> Confidence in God as you
fulfill your ministry
(178b) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism)
>> Presuming the facts about the circumstances >>
Presumption is not founded on facts -- This verse goes with verse 5
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2Cor 10,3-6
(8m)
Responsibility >> Responsible to defend God’s cause
>>
Laying the foundation of freedom –
Freedom is one of those terms that
gets interpreted in as many ways as the word is used. Taking one more stab at
it, freedom is a composite of two things: freedom
from… and freedom to…. "Freedom from" defines the fences
with which we surround ourselves to keep out whatever is challenging our
freedom;
the fence defines the boundaries where we can tread without being re-enslaved
to our addiction. "Freedom
to" defines our abilities we have won with our freedom within
the confines of the fence.
(11b) Servant
>>
Standard for being a servant >> A Spirit-filled
life – Only spirit-filled people can participate in spiritual
warfare, since it is hinged on the obedience of faith and not merely on
our status of salvation. Spiritual warfare is conducted through a
combination of knowledge, obedience, faith and prayer.
(79b) Thy kingdom come
>>
Renewing your mind >> Satan will control your
mind if you don’t
(80c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Know the word in spiritual warfare >> To fight
in the Spirit – These are some of the most pertinent verses
in the Bible pertaining to spiritual warfare. Paul associates it with the mind using
three words: speculations, knowledge and thoughts. Based
on these words, the battleground of Spiritual warfare clearly is in the mind.
He describes the persuasive powers of the devil as lofty, meaning this
in two ways: his influence on our mind haughtily opposes God’s word, and he
dresses his thoughts in persuasive argument, similar to the way he
approached Eve in the garden. God is waging war in our mind against satanic forces of wickedness that have its own brand of truth in mind, a truth that will one day become obsolete, but God’s truth will remain
forever. Spiritual warfare pertains to our interpretation of circumstances and
Scripture. Spiritual warfare is in our self-perceptions
and behavior and in the way we perceive our own walk with God. Spiritual
warfare is in the presumptions we make. In every case “interpretation” and
“perception” are involved. That is, the truth gets lost in translation,
and the devil is there to make sure of it.
(83j) Thy kingdom come
>>
We have the ministry of intercession >> Church
prepares itself to meet Jesus
(94n)
Thy kingdom come >> Perspective is your personal
reality >> How you interpret your point of view – The Corinthians fell short of doing
spiritual battle with dark forces, and as a result their theology was
corrupted.
Spiritual warfare pertains to determining
our worldview; how we perceive the truth is our reality.
Meanwhile, Jesus is truth, so the closer our perceptions of reality come to
incorporating the tenets of Scripture, the more confidence we have in the
truth. The earth refers to
this planet, but the world refers to the collective mindset of society as an arbitrary depiction of reality.
One day God will throw this world,
including Satan and his demons into
hell, and God’s kingdom will replace the world and
reign on the earth for a thousand years.
Eternity will one day be reestablished, and we will belong to a kingdom that
will never end. This is God’s reality; it is God’s truth, and He wants us to
be a part of it.
(99n) Thy kingdom come
>>
Perseverance (Working to keep in motion)
>> Persevere in faith
(104a) Thy kingdom come
>>
Purifying process >> Purified by circumstances >>
Purified through judgment
(111g) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Word and the power
(meaning) of God >> Circumstances cannot evade
the voice of the Spirit
(116d) Thy kingdom come
>> Faith >>
Working the grace of God >> Through worship >>
Through His authority
(119j) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Curse of sin is
broken >> Bondage of Satan is broken
2Cor 10-4
(159l) Works of the devil
>>
Essential characteristics >>
Counterfeit God >> Counterfeit anointing >>
Anointing of the flesh
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2Cor 10-5,6
(87j) Thy kingdom come
>>
Obedience >> Being a slave to obedience
2Cor 10-5
(4k)
Responsibility >> The choices you
make >> Accountable for your thoughts –
This
verse, of all the Scriptures that allude to the mind, best paints a
picture of the war that is raging against the truth, and everyone who lives
according to the truth is engaged in this war. We may have
a mental comprehension of the Bible, yet without willingness to go to war in
battle for the mind, invariably very little of what we believe correlates with
God's truth. We live in Satan’s world, and
he has a say in everything that happens here, except what God does. Therefore,
we must let God perform His work in us and work with Him to fight the
battle of the mind.
(178b) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism)
>> Presuming the facts about the circumstances >>
Presumption is not founded on facts -- This verse goes with verses
10-12. The Corinthians accused Paul of being in the
flesh, when it was they who lived and walked in the flesh. Accusing people of
the relics of their own guilt is a sign of being controlled by demons. It is a
recurring scenario that has played itself out throughout all human history, and
Paul wrote of it in Rom 2,1-8. It’s the reason Jesus said, “Do not judge,”
for those who do all the judging also do all the sinning. It is strange
how that works. Sin creates a blind spot in a person’s self-image, so
they cannot see the part of themselves that dwells in darkness. See also:
Projection; 2Cor 10-2; 17m
2Cor 10-6,7
(196e) Denying Christ
>>
Man exercises his will against God >> Immaturity >> Not mature enough to die to self
>>
Unable to obey God – The fact that Paul had to defend himself
against the Corinthian Church deeply offended him. He considered himself their father. He not only had
authority over them, he also had to be
the more mature one and love them through their barrage of insults. He adequately fulfilled his role, but the
Corinthians were too immature to respect Paul or give him the credit he
deserved, and they were too immature to learn from him or from the Scriptures.
2Cor 10-6
(7h)
Responsibility >> Defend God’s cause
>>
Protecting the Church
(44d) Judgment
>>
Satan destroyed >> Complete >>
Finish the course
(54n) Paradox
>>
Opposites >> Punish disobedience after you
desire to obey –
We don’t teach people to obey by disciplining them; rather, we teach them to
obey by modeling correct behavior. For this reason Paul didn’t discipline
the Corinthians; rather, he trained them to be mature, becoming a role model
for them of faith and loyalty toward God, and then he disciplined them, so
they might become more mature. There is no point in disciplining undisciplined
and immature Christians, because they are incapable of learning from it, since
their infrastructure of obedience is absent. No one disciplines babies
because they don’t know any better; even young children we allow certain
things that are normally unacceptable, because they are still in
training.
(137h) Temple
>>
Building the temple (with hands) >> Maturity >>
Maturing in Jesus is hard work >> Maturity comes
through discipline –
Until the Corinthians become complicit,
there was nothing Paul could do, for they were not yet in a position to
receive instruction. This is why it is important to maintain order in a
classroom. Proverbs 12-1 says, “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but he who hates reproof is stupid.” When we think about the expectations of
the classroom and the order that is required for learning, it resembles the
military. There are rules that must be followed and codes of behavior that are
the premise of learning. We must learn to behave before we can learn anything
else. Therefore, we say that attitude and behavior are the basis for all knowledge. When
we look at a rebellious person, he might know things, but he doesn’t know
what he ought to know (1Cor 8-2,3). Paul was saying that the moment
complicity is reached, they will be able to learn what God wants them to know,
but until then they are part of a feedback loop
where ignorance begets delinquency and delinquency begets ignorance. When
they are ready to learn, sitting at attention in their desks, back straight,
looking
ahead, pencils sharpened, books opened, hands to themselves, feet flat on the
floor, waiting for instruction, these can learn, but a classroom full of
monkeys shooting spit wads at each other, talking loudly and disrupting the
class, might know how to do that, but pitifully little else. God would call them fools, especially when we place this
scenario in the spiritual arena.
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2Cor 10,7-12
(17d) Sin
>>
Judging in the flesh >> Accusing God and
others of sin –
A changing reality is not
real; true reality is constant in the mind of God; He can see beyond our
times. Eternity is the mindset we need to fix in our mind as the first order of thinking like God,
though we
are bound to this
temporal reality. The ground beneath us is real; it is what we fear
when falling, killing us from the sudden stop, but in heaven there is no
death. That is the reality of heaven. Our present reality will one day
disappear, and once God establishes His kingdom, it will remain forever. So
which reality is real, the temporal or the eternal? Isn’t it the one that lasts the longest?
Nevertheless, people interpret reality in the present, but it leads them all
to the wrong conclusions. The Corinthian
Church hurled accusations at
Paul because of the things he said about their immaturity, being a common mistake
of Christians who want
to be spiritual without letting go of their earthly preoccupations. If we want to perceive God in
our life, we must look at the world as He sees
it, according to His word. We must learn to view this world as a
spiritual battleground between good and evil, and view ourselves as a
participant in this war, and fight for our
freedom to obey God through faith. As it is, most
Christians are too lazy and unbelieving to engage these forces, and
consequently they have adopted the world's perception of reality and "are looking at things as they are outwardly."
(178e) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Hypocrisy >>
Hypocrisy of the Church is rebuked >> The Church is rebuked for rebellion -- These verses go with verses
1&2. Paul assures the Corinthians that
though he was hard on them, it was for the purpose of building them up and not
for tearing them down, always for their benefit. He
wanted the Corinthians to know that when he rebuked them, he did it not from spite, hatred or
anger but from concern, edification and love. He wanted to come to
them in the meekness and gentleness of Christ, but he couldn’t because
they would have misinterpreted his kindness as weakness. They thought they
were following Christ, though largely they were merely deceiving themselves,
evidenced their perceptions of Paul's timidity, as though he were incapable of
personally defending himself against their insolence. He had reached so many
milestones, and he also received many beatings for his accomplishments, yet he continued to speak the word with boldness and accepted the
consequences, knowing that serving Christ was worth the suffering. How could
they possibly consider Paul to be timid? Why would he be afraid of them when
he wasn’t afraid of kings and magistrates, authorities and rulers,
and his greatest enemy of all the Jews, of whom he himself was one, perhaps
being the reason the Jews hated him more than the other apostles, because he
defected from their religion; for that they mercilessly beat him times without number.
(198a) Denying Christ
>>
Man exercises his will against God >> Man
withers when he is in control >> Unteachable >>
Resisting the knowledge of God
2Cor 10,7-11
(181c) Works of the devil
>>
Practicing witchcraft >> Rebelling against God >> Rebelling against the
men of God -- These verses go with verses 1,2. Paul
was defending himself in this and in many other cases
throughout both his letters to the Corinthians. They had made up accusations against him
after he had dedicated his life to them, sacrificing everything for their
sakes. Had they appreciated the love and commitment Paul had for them, it
would have been the beginning of an endearing relationship that would have translated directly
to their relationship with God, their knowledge blossomed and their ears
unplugged to hear the Holy Spirit.
As it was, they looked for excuses to justify their
disobedience. They blamed Paul for their own faults; he was a convenient
target. If they could talk Him into their baloney, it would have taken the emphasis
off their waywardness, and they could have argued with Him and each other and continued
in their fleshly ways, believing they were
worshipping God, but Paul rebuked them saying, “You are looking at things as
they are outwardly.” They were actually claiming to be better Christians
than Paul. The truth was just the opposite; the truth is always opposite when
we walk in the flesh.
2Cor 10-7
(97c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Having a negative attitude about yourself >>
Having a worldly attitude -- This verse goes with verses 10-12. Had
the Corinthians known the insult Paul wrote to them when he said, “You are
looking at things as they are outwardly,” they would have repented in
sackcloth and ashes. This is how the world views reality; they see
everything at face value, not seeing the spiritual side of creation. For
this reason many worldly people don’t believe God even exists. So when
Paul told the Corinthians they had an outward viewpoint, he was saying they
view their lives as atheists do, for the world’s great claim to truth and
reality goes by what they can detect with their
five senses, and what they can’t see they don’t believe. God has placed
man in a situation where we must believe that He exists and that he is a
rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Heb 11-6). God wants us to believe in Him, for he equates faith with
perfection. God created the heavens and the earth by faith; He spoke all
things into existence by His word, so obviously He has strong
convictions about faith, and He wants us to believe in Him, that we might
become His children. Consequently, For the
Corinthians to view things as they are outwardly is just the opposite of
God. Paul was telling them that they don’t believe anything. They had a
secular mindset, being worse than pagans, who at least claimed to believe in
things beyond the visual spectrum. See also: Faith (Confidence in God); Mat 6-14; 156da
(122e) Thy kingdom come
>>
Manifestations of faith >> Confidence in
yourself as you die to sin >> Confident in
your salvation
(167e) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >>
Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world)
>>
The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Walking
outside the realm of faith
– Paul is not quite done talking about the
subject of spiritual warfare until he addressed secularism, defined tongue-in-cheek as, “Reality that needs no interpretation.”
We wake up in the morning without asking any questions; we get dressed and make
the coffee; it’s all part of the physical world. There needs no
interpretation. If we need to interpret secularism, then it is not secular
in the purest sense. Secularism is all the things we assume, and it’s
presumption that gets us in trouble. There are huge
chunks of our lives that we think need no interpretation, but in fact they
do.
(171k) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Outward
appearance >> Outward appearance is not
important – We need to stop looking at things as
they are outwardly and start looking at our future with eternity in mind,
and we need to start placing
the thoughts of God in our heart. We look in the mirror and walk away, and immediately
we have forgotten what sort of person we saw in our reflection. We need to keep our minds
renewed in the word of God and prayer and view ourselves the way God sees us. This is
the essence of spiritual warfare. As we do these things, it guarantees a
confrontation with satanic forces of wickedness in high places that are underfoot.
(213i) Sovereignty
>>
God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >>
His will becomes our will >> We are God’s
property
(222l) Kingdom of God
>>
The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Conceit >>
Thinking you are superior to others >>
Treating people with contempt -- This verse goes with verses 10-12
(240h) Kingdom of God
>>
Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >>
Hindering the kingdom >> Natural disadvantage >>
Natural disadvantage of the world
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2Cor 10-8
(68b) Authority
>>
Doing God’s work under His authority >>
Natural Ministry of helps
(72a) Authority >>
Ordained by God >>
We are ordained to walk in His authority
(73b) Authority
>>
Respect your leaders >> Those in charge of the
word –
Paul rebuked the Corinthians because they refused to give him the credit that
he deserved. Paul told them they were not putting into words their
appreciation for the things he had done for them. Nobody else was remotely
committed to the Corinthians like Paul. He boasted about his authority as an
apostle over them regarding the tremendous anointing God had given him to preach the word of
God, and there were few epistles to read until
Paul wrote them to the Corinthians and other churches, which became the word of God. Therefore, how
much authority did Paul have as a writer of Scripture? He was just as
important to the New Testament as the ancient prophets were to the the Old Testament! For centuries
they meticulously preserved their writings, transcribing the documents from
generation to generation. When they finished transcribing a document, such as
the book of Isaiah, they would start over and do it again, making multiple
copies for people to read and memorize. Each manuscript
took months to finish; they did the same thing to Paul's epistles; they didn’t hurry, but wrote one letter at a time.
This is how valuable their writings were to them, and Paul’s epistles are
just as valuable to us and even to the Corinthians at the time. This is the
authority that Paul had; he was like a new covenant Moses. He used his
authority only for building up the Corinthians and not for destroying them.
(84d) Thy kingdom come
>>
Words of your mouth >> Boasting >>
It needs to be said and no one is saying it >>
Boasting of my accomplishments in Christ -- This verse goes with verses
13-18. Paul
devoted this entire chapter to boasting, putting the disobedient Corinthians between a rock and a hard
spot, delivering one of the most painful blows to them through his pen when he boasted about his
accomplishments in Christ. His
point was that these things needed to be said and no one was saying them. This
work He had been doing was unmentioned and the silence was deafening, like the
best-kept secret. Good news travel slow. They didn’t want to give Paul the
credit he deserved, risking his life to bring the gospel to them. He
didn’t accomplish this feat unscathed; in the next chapter he itemizes the
physical punishments he endured. Three times he was beaten with rods; he
was stoned to death, and God raised him from the dead (Act 14-19,20). Many
other things happened to him, which was the price he paid to be God’s
evangelist to the world. Most people would have died from Paul’s
wounds; their first flogging would have been their last, taking the advice of
their torturers to quit preaching the gospel, but Paul continued undeterred. He
didn’t have a choice; he was hopelessly addicted to Jesus Christ,
willing to suffer anything to continue doing the will of God. To be killed a
dozen times meant nothing to him; a hundred times worse would have been to abandon his
post and leave his ministry unfinished. Sitting in a
rocking chair would have been worse than receiving five times from the
Jews thirty-nine lashes. As was done to Jesus, they used a cat-o-nine-tails
to flog Paul, which cut him to ribbons, illustrating the multi-layered brand marks on
his back (Gal 6-17).
(139g) Temple
>>
Building the temple (with hands) >> We build the
temple through Christ –
Paul was a master builder of the Church, and God was with him making sure
the work was done right, converting Paul’s work into a spiritual product
that God would ultimately plant in the hearts of His people. God calls us to do a work for Him, which
He promises to bless and increase, just as Paul worked with the grace of God to build the Church, a human effort transformed
into a divine enterprise.
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2Cor 10,10-12
(17l) Sin
>>
Unrighteous judgment >> Discerning by the
flesh >> Making distinctions between each
other -- These verses go with verses 1&2.
This principle of Scripture
many people
incessantly violate and pay the penalty with a stunted faith in God. This
passage could lead certain people from the foolishness of their
imaginations into a clearer view of the truth if they internalized what Paul
was saying here. We are not standards for each
other, though many people regularly use each other as such, measuring
themselves by other people and measuring other people by themselves as a
standard, resulting in a skewed
understanding of God. This form
of unrighteous judgment is childish and exposes the cause of their negative spiritual growth.
They are babes in Christ who compare themselves with other people instead of
using Christ as their standard. Everyone does this occasionally, but some actually believe
they achieve an accurate measure. False judgment is a common trait of witchcraft;
those who use themselves and others as their standard of measurement need to
grow-up and renew their mind in the word of God and prayer.
(97c) Thy kingdom come
>>
Having a negative attitude about yourself >>
Having a worldly attitude -- These verses go with verse
7. The
Psalms poetically spoke about gratitude and thankfulness with a heart of
worship, glorifying the Lord for His loving-kindness and salvation. The
Corinthians disheartened Paul from a lack of gratitude and appreciation for his
ministry toward them. He was hoping they would reciprocate his love, that
he might enjoy their fellowship and bask in their spiritual affection, but
he got insults instead. Coming into the Church from the world should feel
like a protective harbor from a wild storm that is raging in a sea of
people. Although Paul needed the Corinthian’s spiritual affection, he also
needed them for their own sake to practice love. There
was no better way for Paul to know how well they were doing than
for them to treat him in a godly manner, showing their respect to him. He couldn’t just give
and give to the Corinthians without getting anything in return, because it
would have done neither of them any good. He earnestly desired them to
aptly respond to him, and by their progress
grow in faith. We cannot be more spiritual than we
behave. We can read the Bible and pray, but if it doesn't affect our
obedience, we are just spinning our wheels, going nowhere. Disobedience lacks
gratitude and ingratitude is a sign of spiritual immaturity.
(178b) Works of the devil
>>
The religion of witchcraft >> Presumption (Hinduism)
>> Presuming the facts about the circumstances >>
Presumption is not founded on facts -- These verses go with verse 2
(196g) Denying Christ
>>
Man exercises his will against God >>
Immaturity >> Not mature enough to seek God >>
Unable to make sound judgments –
Paul didn’t quit serving the Corinthians because they were ungrateful; he
had a heart of compassion for them. Without gratitude, there is no
solution; ingratitude comes from immaturity, and there’s no solution to
immaturity, except to mature, and that takes commitment, dedication and
vision; and if we don’t have these things, then how do we begin? We can
talk some people into growing-up, but other people simply refuse, and they
will pay the penalty for the rest of their lives for remaining children in
their conduct and thinking, and Paul was trying to help the Corinthians avoid this
fate. On a spiritual level it usually leads to apostasy and
losing their faith and ultimately their souls, which they will never be able to
retrieve. Spiritual immaturity is absolutely devastating; it can lead to
eternal consequences, as the apostle Peter warned, “It would be better for
them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to
turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them” (2Pet 2-21).
Paul struggled and argued with them and was patient; he did everything
he knew to show them through the compassion of the Spirit the ways of God,
so they might learn by example the true meaning of Christianity and grow in
the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2Pet 3-18).
(222l) Kingdom of God
>>
The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Conceit >>
Thinking you are superior to others >>
Treating people with contempt -- These verses go with verse 7
2Cor 10-10,11
(84i) Thy kingdom come
>>
Words of your mouth >> Gossip >>
Attacking a person’s name -- These verses go with verses 1,2. Paul
intended to reprove certain people in the Corinthian Church who had been
speaking against him and attacking his good name. He was not about to stand
for their behavior since he regularly got ill-treated by the world when he
conveyed the gospel, enduring intense mental anguish and physical torture, and he wasn’t about to
accept similar treatment from the Corinthians. He wanted his experience
with them to be edifying and comforting, since they claimed to love the Lord. Paul was committed to
leading them into a deeper and fuller faith in Christ, and it seemed all
the Corinthians could do was gossip about him and devise stories to malign his
reputation. Supposedly, their complaint was that his letters were
weighty but his personal presence apprehensive, complaining that
he preferred writing to avoid personal confrontation. However, heavy and weighty his letters, his presence
could be even heavier when incited to anger.
(92j) Thy kingdom come
>>
The narrow way connects you to God >> It
demonstrates your faith in Him
2Cor 10-12
(11i) Servant
>>
We are not a standard for each other -- This is a classical error
of which an incredibly large population of the world is guilty. Apparently,
the temptation
to use other people as a standard of conduct is for some a temptation too irresistible
to avoid. It is inherently a bad idea, simply because it is inaccurate. For one
thing, God’s expectations for us are far higher than what menial
accomplishments our neighbor may or may not have achieved, so using
him/her as a standard is moot. Also, trying to keep up with the
Joneses when God has allotted each person different gifts and abilities is
unfair to ourselves.
(22m)
Sin >> Pride glorifies self >>
Comparing yourself with others –
We are not to compare ourselves with other people or compare others with ourselves,
for there is only one standard who is Christ. Of course He stands far above
us, so we cannot attain to Him, and for that reason He has condescended to us,
yet people don't seek Him for this very reason, because they don't want to be
beholden to Him. It is
important to have a true measure; we will always find ourselves short of the
mark, but those who abandon the standard of Christ in search of a false standard are seeking perfection in
all the wrong places. Perfection in Christ comes through faith, and perfection
among the brethren comes by using Christ as our standard, but it accomplishes
nothing to lie about our true condition. A man has hope when he realizes he is
a sinner, but the one who uses a
false standard attempts to deny this fact. They are self-righteous, and their self-righteousness
has blinded their eyes to God's view of them. Those who
compare themselves to others, do it most often when
people are sinning, thus admitting they are comparable to sinners, and being like
those sinners they are
without Christ indeed.
(164g) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> The world system >>
Satan’s system of authority >> His elementary
principles of the world
(166g) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Wisdom of the
world >> Nature Of Man’s Wisdom >>
Man’s wisdom contradicts itself
(167c) Works of the devil >>
Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (Mindset of the world) >>
(170a) Works of the devil
>>
Manifestations of the devil >> Seeking the glory
of man >> Stepping on people to get to the
bottom >> Those who seek glory from men discard
others
(181h) Works of the devil
>>
The origin of lawlessness >> Deception >>
Self deception >> Imaginary perception of self >>
Distorted perception of self
(198e) Denying Christ
>>
Man exercises his will against God >> Ordained
by man >> Men place themselves in positions of
authority >> Men raising up men -- This
verse goes with verse 18
(223c) Kingdom of God
>>
The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Conceit >>
Imposing your opinion of self on others >>
Cliques make people seek your acceptance
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2Cor 10,13-18
(84d) Thy kingdom come
>>
Words of your mouth >> Boasting >>
It needs to be said and no one is saying it >>
Boasting of my accomplishments in Christ -- These verses go with verse
8. Paul
spoke about the Corinthians as within his
jurisdiction in that he came to Corinth and preached the gospel to them, and
now he feels responsible for their souls. Like the Chinese philosophy when
someone saves another person from a tragic death, the one who saved him
is responsible for that person for the rest of his life. The other churches that
resulted from his ministry, many to whom he wrote in his epistles, were also
within his jurisdiction and he felt responsible for their spiritual welfare
too. The various apostles respected each other's ministries and didn't want to
influence someone else's churches with their teachings, but let each apostle
influence their own churches, creating unique emphases of faith in the
people's understanding of God and thereby establishing variation in the
overall body of Christ.
2Cor
10,13-16
(14a)
Servant >> Servants of God’s word
(226i) Kingdom of God
>>
Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of heaven >>
Levels of reward >> God rewards us to the
degree of our labors
2Cor 10-13
(44k) Judgment >>
Transformation process >> Fulfill your ministry
in evangelism >> Complete your mission
2Cor 10-18
(72a) Authority >>
Ordained by God >>
We are ordained to walk in His authority -- This verse goes with verse
8. It is good to be
commended by great people, but
it’s more important to seek God’s commendation; for if we have His, we
don’t need anyone else’s, but that is not to say we shouldn’t seek approval
from those we admire and want to emulate. When we seek the Lord and God reveals Himself to us, if
we confess our faith to others and they don't find it palatable, and if they don't
receive us, it doesn't matter, because they have no power to stop us from continuing
in the Lord. He will change us in ways they
may never experience or understand; but if it is possible, it is better to be
commended by the brethren, because it establishes unity. The more we agree with
each other, the more unity can grow and establish us together in
His word and the more influence we have in the world.
(167c) Works of the devil >>
Manifestations of the devil >> Carnality/Secularism (Mindset of the world) >>
The carnal mind is set on the flesh >> Wanting
authority without responsibility -- This verse goes with verse 12
(198e) Denying Christ
>>
Man exercises his will against God >> Ordained
by man >> Men place themselves in positions of
authority >> Men raising up men -- This
verse goes with verse 12
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