November 5, 2025 • 34 mins
In this episode of Wednesday in the Word, we confront a bold question: “How do you know you’re truly in the faith?” Drawing on Paul the Apostle’s letter to the church at Corinth (2 Corinthians 12–13), we explore how genuine faith is more than appearances, more than impressive speech or credentials. It’s about the living power of Christ at work in weakness and integrity in community.
In this week’s episode, we explore:
- Why Paul refused financial support from the Corinthians and what that taught about his motives and their spiritual health.
- How Paul responded to accusations of deceit and weakness—not by hiding, but by pointing to God’s power in human frailty.
- The challenge and invitation of Paul’s command to “examine yourselves” to see whether you are in the faith.
- The difference between outward appearances (strong, impressive, successful) and the reality of Christ’s power working through brokenness.
- How Paul’s ultimate aim was not his own reputation but the restoration, maturity and unity of the church.
After listening you’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of how the gospel changes the way you view strength and weakness. You’ll feel encouraged that authentic faith isn’t about putting on a show—it’s about letting Christ live through you in honesty, dependence, and love for others. You’ll be equipped to ask yourself healthy questions about your own walk with God and your community in light of what Paul lays out here.
Series: 2 Corinthians: When Church Hurts
Start Strong: A New Believer’s Guide to Christianity launches January 9. Pre-order your copy now or buy it on launch day. Visit StartStrongBook.org for more details.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Krisan Marotta (00:40):
Welcome to the Wednesday in the Word podcast.
I'm Krisan Marotta, and this ismy podcast about what the Bible
means and how we know.
Today is the 17th and last talkin my series on 2 Corinthians.
We will be studying 2Corinthians 12, verse 13 to the
end of the letter.
(01:01):
Why does Paul warn theCorinthians to examine
themselves to see if they'rereally believers?
And what does that mean for us?
We will find out in thisepisode, and along the way,
we'll learn why Christ's poweroften comes wrapped in weakness,
and how Paul's authority isaimed at building people up.
Thank you for making Wednesdayin the Word a part of your day.
(01:23):
I'm really glad you joined mein this series, and I'd love to
hear your thoughts.
You can email me through mywebsite, WednesdayInTheWord.com.
We are going to finish 2Corinthians today.
We are in the last section,which begins in chapter 10,
where Paul confronts his criticsdirectly.
(01:46):
Paul's critics have chargedthat Paul was bold in his
letters, but meek andunimpressive when he was there
in person.
And Paul responded, in part,when I come again, I plan to be
very bold toward those whoreject me.
Make no mistake, God is at workin my ministry, truth is on my
side, and I am ready to punishall disobedience.
(02:08):
Now remember, Paul is on hisway back to Corinth when he
writes this letter.
He has come as far asMacedonia.
He met Titus there, and Titusreported to Paul how the
Corinthians responded to hislast letter, and now he's
writing this new letter to them,sending it ahead of him, and he
will follow after it.
(02:28):
So they have an opportunity toread the letter and respond and
repent before he shows up.
And that's particularlyimportant in this last part
we're going to look at becausehe is preparing them for what
they may face when he comes.
His next visit has thepotential to be very difficult.
The relationship isn't great atthis point, and he's worried
(02:53):
that this next visit is going tobe a hard one.
He tells us in this sectionthat this is his third visit,
and that makes sense with thetimeline we've talked about at
the beginning of the letter.
I won't go through all thatagain.
I'll just remind you this isactually the fourth letter that
Paul wrote to Corinth, but weonly have two of them.
Now, in the last podcast, welooked at the beginning of
(03:16):
chapter 12.
Paul engaged in what he calledfoolish boasting.
His critics challenged him onfoolish issues, so he answered
them in kind.
Instead of defending hisministry with impressive
achievements, Paul chose toboast in his weakness.
What looked like failure to hiscritics, he said, is actually
(03:37):
proof that God is workingthrough him.
If he wanted to, Paul couldboast about being taken to
heaven and taught by revelation,and that far surpasses any
degrees that his critics mayboast in.
Yet he quickly shifted thefocus away from that revelation
to his thorn in the flesh.
Now we don't know what thatthorn was, but whatever it was,
(04:00):
it humbled Paul and kept himfrom getting puffed up about his
credentials.
Paul recognized that hishardships created the clearest
stage for God to display hisstrength.
Now, Paul has just made whatwas probably a painful rebuke to
them.
He says, I shouldn't have to betelling you this.
I shouldn't need to commendmyself to you.
(04:22):
You have every reason to trustme as an apostle, but instead
you're listening to my critics.
And that brings us to 12.
We're going to start in verses13 through 15.
For in what were you lessfavored than the rest of the
churches?
Except that I myself did notburden you.
Forgive me this wrong.
(04:43):
Here for the third time I amready to come to you, and I will
not be a burden, for I seek notwhat is yours, but you.
For children are not obligatedto save up for their parents,
but parents for their children.
I will most gladly spend and bespent for your souls.
If I love you more, am I to beloved less?
(05:04):
Now Paul returns to thisquestion of why he didn't take
money from them.
We've seen this before in theletter.
This is one of those issuesthat shouldn't be a problem.
He shouldn't need to explainit, but here he must.
The Corinthians had a problemwith the fact that Paul didn't
take money from them, and we'veseen this issue show up a few
(05:26):
times in the letter.
We talked about this a fewpodcasts ago, and we looked at
the various reasons why theymight have difficulty with this.
We have another clue here.
They seem to take issue withthe fact that Paul treats them
differently than the way hetreats the other churches.
He takes money from otherchurches.
For instance, we know he tookmoney from the Philippians, but
(05:48):
he won't take money fromCorinth.
And Paul responds to thissuggestion sarcastically, you
think you were treated badlybecause I didn't take your
money?
Oh, forgive me.
I think he's being a littlesarcastic.
He says, Did I treat youdifferently than the other
churches?
Did I teach you less?
No.
Did I spend less time with you?
(06:08):
No.
Did I love you less?
No.
The only difference is I wasnot a financial burden to you.
Oh, forgive me, such a wrong.
Now Paul tells us he wouldn'ttake their money because he
didn't want to be accused ofpeddling the gospel.
He's afraid they're going totake it wrong if he accepts
their money, but they take itwrong anyway.
(06:29):
They think that he's rejectingthem because maybe he doesn't
want to be beholden to them bytaking their money.
Paul tells them that he intendsto keep on refusing their
money.
When he arrives for his nextvisit, he will not burden them
even then.
He will not take support forthem for his financial needs.
(06:50):
Paul says they should recognizethat he's acting out of love
and he communicates this severalways.
He says, I'm not seeking whatis yours, but you.
I don't want your money.
I want your hearts.
He wants them to embrace thegospel and take it to heart.
He compares himself to a lovingparent.
In life, parents sacrificethemselves financially for the
(07:13):
sake of their children.
It's not the other way around.
And Paul sees himself as a kindof father to the Corinthians.
So he says in an analogous sortof way, it's appropriate that
he sacrifice himself financiallyfor them rather than the other
way around.
He says he would most gladlyspend and be spent for their
(07:33):
souls.
That is, he's glad to sacrificehimself.
He's glad not to take theirmoney if it helps them in the
faith.
And then he asks the rather sadquestion: if I love you, the
more am I to be loved less.
Paul is sacrificing himself outof love for them, and yet they
insist on doubting him.
(07:54):
The more Paul sacrificeshimself out of love for them,
the less they seem to love himback.
And that brings us to thesecond set of clues about their
problem with Paul refusing theirmoney.
Let's look at 16 through 18,and here we see that the
Corinthians suspect that Paul issomehow cheating them, maybe
being a little devious behindtheir backs.
(08:15):
But granting that I myself didnot burden you, I was crafty,
you say, and got the better ofyou by deceit.
Did I take advantage of youthrough any of those whom I sent
to you?
I urged Titus to go and sentthe brother with him.
Did Titus take advantage ofyou?
Did we not act in the samespirit?
Did we not take the same steps?
(08:36):
Here we see that Paul is beingcharged with being deceitful.
His critics are saying, Well,you know, it looks like Paul's
not taking any money from us,but he's a crafty fellow.
He's fooled us into thinkingthat he isn't taking any money,
but he is.
His fellow travelers are takingmoney and they're giving it to
(08:57):
Paul.
So Paul insists, none of thepeople I sent you took any money
from you either.
They all acted in the samespirit as I did and treated you
with integrity.
Paul is challenging them.
What grounds do you have forsuspecting me?
Did anyone else that I sent youtake advantage of you?
(09:17):
No.
All of us acted with integrityand honestry.
So what reason do you have forthinking that I'm taking
advantage of you?
Again, this shouldn't be aproblem.
This shouldn't be comingbetween us.
I'm not taking money from youout of concern for you, and
that's all.
At this point, Paul sayssomething that doesn't sound
(09:39):
quite true at first.
Let's look at 1219.
Have you been thinking allalong that we have been
defending ourselves to you?
It is in the sight of God thatwe have been speaking in Christ
and all for your upbuilding,beloved.
Now it sounds strange at firstreading because you may think,
wait, Paul's been defendinghimself since chapter one.
(09:59):
And he has.
Paul has been defending himselfsince chapter one.
So what does he mean?
You may have been thinking thatI'm defending myself.
But if we think about itanother way, I think we can see
what Paul means.
When someone accuses us ofsomething, when they lie about
us or say something untrue andhurtful, our natural impulse is
(10:22):
self-protection.
When people lie about us, wewant to defend ourselves.
We set out to prove that ourdetractors are wrong and we want
to make them admit it.
And in that case, ourmotivation is largely to protect
ourselves.
We're not thinking about thegood of the other person.
We're thinking about how thisproblem is affecting us.
(10:44):
And we want to defend ourselvesbecause we want to stop the
hurt.
I think Paul's saying, that'snot my motive here.
That's not what I'm doing.
I'm not defending myselfbecause I want to make my life
easier.
He's perfectly willing to lethis reputation be trashed if
that's necessary.
Instead, his motivation is tobuild up the Corinthians.
(11:08):
Spiritually, it is dangerousfor them to listen to Paul's
critics.
If they reject Paul, they couldreject the gospel too, and that
would be spiritually fatal.
And they are in danger ofembracing the foolish values of
the world and rejecting thewisdom of the gospel.
So Paul's motive here, whathe's been doing, he's not trying
(11:30):
to polish his tarnishedreputation.
He's trying to get them to seethe truth, and he's concerned
for their souls.
And he makes this clear, let'slook at 20 and 21.
For I fear that perhaps when Icome I may find you not as I
wish, and that you may find menot as you wish, that perhaps
there may be quarreling,jealousy, anger, hostility,
(11:53):
slander, gossip, conceit, anddisorder.
I fear that when I come again,my God may humble me before you,
and I may have to mourn overmany of those who sinned earlier
and have not repented of theimpurity, sexual immorality, and
sensuality that they havepracticed.
So Paul is talking here aboutwhat sort of reception he's
(12:16):
going to get when he visitsnext.
And remember, he's sending thisletter in advance of his visit.
He's concerned that all theproblems in their relationship
will continue.
They may still be listening tohis critics, and Paul will find
a really bad situation.
And I think he's talking abouthis relationship with the
(12:45):
Corinthians.
He's afraid that when he getsthere, instead of being received
well, he's going to findstrife, jealousy, anger,
slander, gossip, and disorder.
He's also afraid that God willhumiliate him before the
Corinthians.
And I think he means there, hewould be humiliated if after all
(13:05):
the time and effort he spent onthem, they reject the gospel.
And he fears that might happen.
What's part of the evidencethat they have rejected the
gospel?
In particular, he's afraid he'sgoing to find people who have
refused to repent and refuse tolisten to him, particularly
concerning the issue of sexualimmorality.
Now we haven't seen a lot oftalk about sexuality in 2
(13:30):
Corinthians, but we did see alot about it in 1 Corinthians,
which I will remind you was notwritten all that long before 2
Corinthians.
There's not a great deal oftime between these letters.
In 1 Corinthians, opposition toPaul seemed to go hand in hand
with leading an immorallifestyle.
If people can dismiss Paul,then they don't have to listen
(13:53):
to what he says about moralityand they don't have to give up
their pagan ways.
And Paul warned them aboutthat.
He's afraid that when he getsthere, he's going to find they
have abandoned his teaching andthey are unrepentant and living
the same immoral lifestyle thatthey were before.
I think he's afraid that allthis criticism about his
(14:15):
unimpressive speaking style isreally just a smokescreen for
ignoring him and pursuing sexualimpurity.
And if that happens, it's goingto be a very difficult visit.
Which is what he talks aboutnext.
Let's look at 13, 1 through 4.
This is the third time I amcoming to you.
Every charge must beestablished by the evidence of
(14:37):
two or three witnesses.
I warned those who sinnedbefore and all the others, and I
warn them now while absent, asI did when present on my second
visit, that if I come again Iwill not spare them, since you
seek proof that Christ isspeaking in me.
He is not weak in dealing withyou, but is powerful among you,
for he was crucified inweakness, but lives by the power
(15:01):
of God, for we also are weak inhim, but in dealing with you we
will live with him by the powerof God.
Paul quotes from Deuteronomyhere the idea that every fact
has to be confirmed by thetestimony of two or three
witnesses.
And that sounds a littlestrange.
Why is he quoting Deuteronomy?
(15:21):
But if you stop and think aboutit, you can see what he's
doing.
It takes two or three witnessesto establish an accusation
against someone.
If one person charged anotherperson with a crime, that wasn't
enough evidence for the chargeto hold in Jewish court.
You had to have two or threewitnesses who all agreed to make
(15:42):
a charge stick.
Well, I think Paul is takingoff from that principle and
treating each of his visits asif it was a witness.
So first he came and lived withthem for a year and he can bear
witness to the problems he sawthere.
Then he came a second time forthe painful visit, and he can
bear witness a second time theproblem was still there.
(16:05):
And now he's coming for thethird time, and if that problem
still exists, this is like thatthird witness that the problem
is real.
So I think he's just taking offfrom this principle in
Deuteronomy that it takes two orthree witnesses to establish a
fact, and he's saying, Well, Ihave two or three visits now to
(16:25):
establish this fact.
Part of the charge that he ismeek in person seems to be
fueled by the fact that hedidn't deal with this problem
during the painful visit.
He left and he wrote them aletter instead.
But now he tells us that duringthat painful visit, he warned
them if he had to come back anddeal with this again, he would
(16:46):
be strict.
And now in this letter, he'srepeating that warning.
He's writing this letter toprepare them for the fact that
he is coming again.
And when he comes again, thiswill be the third time he's
warned them, he's seen thisproblem, and if he sees it
again, he's going to deal withit.
And I think he's somewhatsarcastically saying, you know,
(17:09):
well, this is what you wanted,right?
You you wanted proof thatChrist is the one who speaks in
me.
My critics have charged me,Paul, with being meek and
unimpressive and contemptible inspeech.
And you say you want me to actpowerfully, well, get ready,
because that's what's going tohappen.
That's how I'm going to respondif I find the same problem
(17:31):
again.
Now, as Paul has done in otherplaces, he has this discussion
of about weakness and power, andI would, it's kind of
confusing, but this is how Iwould paraphrase that section.
He says, in my paraphrase,you're seeking proof of the
Christ who speaks in me.
(17:51):
I know that you think of me asweak, but Christ who speaks in
me is not weak, but has beenworking mightily among you
through the gospel that I taughtyou.
You would call dying on thecross weak, and yet the power of
God raised him to life again.
Well, that's like what'shappening with me, power working
through weakness.
(18:12):
True, I am a weak man, but thepower of God is directed toward
you through my ministry.
And ultimately, just as Christlives, so I will live because of
that same power.
You've seen my understanding ofthe gospel.
You've seen the impact of thegospel on sinners like
yourselves.
So if you want to talk aboutpower, well, you've seen it.
(18:35):
It's the power of the gospelthat I taught you.
But the other kind of power iswisdom and strength and
integrity to stand for what isright in the face of opposition,
and that kind of power I, Paul,will show you when I visit you
next.
Now Paul is turning the tableson them in five and six.
(18:56):
He says, Examine yourselves tosee whether you are in the
faith.
Test yourselves, or do you notrealize this about yourselves,
that Jesus Christ is in you,unless indeed you fail to meet
the test?
I hope you will find out thatwe have not failed the test.
The Corinthians want Paul toprove that he speaks for Christ
(19:19):
and Christ is working throughhim.
They want Paul to proveessentially that he's really an
apostle.
Instead, Paul turns the tablesand he says the real issue is
whether Christ is working in youCorinthians.
Now, I would like to pause andhighlight what I think Paul is
not saying here.
Paul is not saying to theaverage believer, make sure that
(19:42):
you're not kidding yourselfabout being a believer.
If we don't pay attention tothe rest of the letter, it is
easy to read this as generaladvice to the average Christian.
We might be tempted to thinkthat Paul is telling us to live
a life of constantself-examination.
You believe the gospel, you tryto live it out as best you can,
(20:04):
but you have to keep puttingyourself under a microscope and
asking, do I really believe?
That's not what he's saying.
When you look at where thiscomes in the letter, I think
it's pretty clear that's not hispurpose.
Paul is not suggesting that thenormal Christian should spend
every moment of their life or agood chunk of it questioning
(20:26):
whether they're a believer ornot.
Remember the context, thesituation.
Paul is talking to people whoeither have rejected him or are
in danger of rejecting him.
They don't want to listen tohim because he's not an
impressive speaker.
They don't want to listen tohim because they don't want to
repent of their sexually immorallifestyle.
(20:48):
They see themselves as superiorto Paul because they look
better by worldly standards.
And Paul looks at that evidenceand says, Are you believers at
all?
They have challenged Paul as towhether he's really an apostle
from Jesus Christ, and he'sturning it back on them and
saying, What about you?
(21:09):
Do you really believe inChrist?
You reject his apostle.
What does that say about you?
That's the kind ofself-examination he has in mind.
They need to ask themselves, doI actually believe the gospel
Paul taught me?
And am I willing to live mylife as if that's true?
The gospel gives a very clearway of looking at the world, but
(21:32):
if they reject it and theywon't repent, then in what sense
can they call themselvesbelievers?
And that's what Paul's askingthem to think about.
Why are you rejecting me?
The fact that they so easilyand contentedly embrace the
world's values and reject anapostle chosen by God indicates
(21:53):
there may be something seriouslywrong about their claim to
faith.
So Paul is not saying to theaverage Christian, you better
examine yourself.
He's talking to people who arewillfully in danger of rejecting
the gospel and saying, youbetter examine yourself.
Then he adds, Whatever may betrue about you, I can
confidently say that I ampreaching the gospel God gave
(22:16):
me, and I believe that gospel.
You should have confidence thatI, Paul, am an apostle, and I
taught you the real gospel.
The question is, do you believeit?
Now, as we get to the very endof the letter, Paul repeats this
idea that he is not concernedfor his own reputation.
Let's look at seven throughten.
(22:37):
But we pray to God that you maynot do wrong, not that we may
appear to have met the test, butthat you may do what is right,
though we may seem to havefailed.
For we cannot do anythingagainst the truth, but only for
the truth.
For we are glad when we areweak and you are strong.
Your restoration is what wepray for.
(22:58):
For this reason I write thesethings while I am away from you,
that when I come, I may nothave to be severe in my use of
the authority that the Lord hasgiven me for building up and not
for tearing down.
Now again, let me remind youone last time that Paul
frequently speaks of himself inthe first person plural, and
(23:18):
that's what we're seeing here.
You'll notice he switchesbetween we and I, and he has not
changed the subject.
He is talking about himself inthe first person plural.
Now, what do we can't what doeshe add here?
If Paul was concerned solelyfor his reputation, this would
be a great time for him to comeinto Corinth and start throwing
(23:41):
his weight around.
But Paul hopes that theCorinthians will respond to this
letter.
He's sending this letter beforehis arrival, hoping they will
listen and repent, so when hegets there, he won't need to be
severe.
He's prepared to be severe ifhe has to, but he wants them to
do what is right more than hecares about how he looks.
(24:03):
He wants them to embrace thetruth.
He says, If I look weak, butyou Corinthians end up being
strong in the faith, I wouldrejoice at that.
That is the very thing I'mpraying for you.
God gave Paul authority, that'strue, but it's not an authority
to build himself up and makehimself look significant and
(24:23):
gain all the power in the room.
It's an authority to build upthe people of God, and that's
what Paul wants to do.
He's hoping he won't have to besevere, but if he has to, he
will.
He would rather they respond tothis letter and repent, even if
he loses the opportunity to bethe big, powerful, authoritative
(24:44):
apostle when he comes.
Now our letter ends Finally,brothers, rejoice, aim for
restoration, comfort oneanother, agree with one another,
live in peace, and the God oflove and peace will be with you.
Greet one another with a holykiss.
All the saints greet you.
The grace of the Lord JesusChrist and the love of God and
(25:07):
the fellowship of the HolySpirit be with you all.
Now that's a striking way toend this letter because it's a
very typical ending for Paul'sletters, but it's tacked on to
the end of this reallycontentious and somewhat fierce
letter.
He has great fears about whathe's going to find when he
finally arrives in Corinth.
(25:29):
And his final admonition isbasically believe the gospel and
live it out.
And that's what this string ofverbs is.
He says, rejoice.
Well, the reason you rejoice isbecause of the hope of the
gospel.
And you can see that when yougo through Paul's letters.
When he talks about rejoicing,he's getting at the gospel.
(25:49):
Let the gospel mean somethingto you.
Let the hope promised in thegospel be so strong for you that
you rejoice no matter whatcomes your way in life.
He says, aim for restoration.
That is, be made complete.
Grow into a matureunderstanding of the gospel in
your life.
(26:09):
Let its implications reach intoall areas of your life and
teach you the truth and changeyou.
Comfort one another, or betteryet, encourage one another,
which he's talked about in thisletter.
I think there the idea is letthe truth of the gospel help you
stand strong and firm in themidst of whatever difficulties
(26:30):
you face.
Be encouraged, be strengthenedby your beliefs and your hope
and understanding of the powerof the gospel.
He says, be like-minded.
That is, may you all come toembrace the same gospel and live
life from that sameperspective.
That's what he's getting at.
He's not just saying agree onanything, it doesn't matter
(26:52):
what, just agree on something.
No, he wants them to all agreeon the gospel.
He wants them to come togetheraround this shared vision of
life.
And then live in peace.
Treat each other as brothersand sisters united in a common
belief and seeking a commondestiny.
Paul never argues for gettingalong merely for the sake of
(27:13):
getting along.
It's always rooted in gettingalong because you see the world
the same way, because all of youbelieve the gospel is true and
you're striving to live like it.
So what happened when Paulvisited for the third time?
Well, we know from Acts 20 thatwhen Paul visited Corinth this
(27:34):
third time, he stayed threemonths.
That's all Acts tells us.
But three months indicates thathe was probably able to deal
with the situation enough thathe was welcomed and he stayed
and they worked something out.
So I think they found a happyending.
Well, let me sum up how Paulends his letter here.
(27:55):
He reminds the Corinthians thathe's coming to visit them soon.
Once again, he won't rely ontheir financial support for his
living expenses, but the factthat he doesn't take their money
does not mean that he caresabout him less, and he is not
taking money from them by otherdevious means.
They have no reason to believethat.
(28:17):
He won't take their moneybecause he cares about them.
Paul's worried about what hewill find when he gets to
Corinth.
He's afraid that he will bereceived with fighting and
gossip and arrogance andslander.
He's afraid that he'll findpeople who refuse to repent.
And if that's what he finds,then he will deal with that
(28:37):
severely.
He's been accused of being weakand ineffective, but he has
argued the power of God has beenat work in his ministry, and
they can see that by the changesin their own lives.
He's not concerned about hisown personal reputation.
He's not going there to makethem acknowledge how great he
(28:58):
is.
He just hopes they repent andhe doesn't care whether he looks
bad or good in the process.
But one way or another, it istime for the Corinthians to face
reality.
They need to test themselvesand see what they really
believe.
In the end, it doesn't matterwhat they think about Paul, it
matters what they think aboutthe gospel he taught them.
(29:20):
So, in many ways, this letteris about weakness and power.
Paul's opponents don't see himas a powerful man.
He doesn't attract peoplethrough the power and style of
his rhetoric or his personality.
He is meek, unimpressive inperson, even when dealing with
people who oppose him, and sothey say, well, he can't be
(29:43):
someone to take seriously.
But Paul has a different ideaabout power and authority.
He freely admits that he isjust an ordinary man with many
weaknesses.
But the power of God is at workthrough his ministry, and that
gives him a real authority.
By the power of God, Paul hasbeen given a profound
(30:05):
understanding of the gospel.
He knows what God is doing, heknows the way to eternal life,
and he knows how we should livein light of the truth of the
gospel.
That is a real power whichgives Paul real authority.
Not just the appearance ofauthority, but the real thing.
Because Paul has the unshakableauthority that goes with
(30:27):
knowing the truth.
We should listen to him becausehe's right.
He knows what God is doingbecause God taught him that.
Now Paul understands that hisauthority is for.
For building up others in thefaith so he doesn't throw his
weight around.
He's not concerned over how helooks.
He can deal with error becausehe knows the truth.
(30:50):
Now I think this issue ofappearance versus reality is
something we ought to reallythink about.
Paul doesn't have theappearance of authority, but he
has real authority because Godgave him an understanding of the
truth.
The Corinthians had to sort outthis issue of appearance versus
reality.
The false teachers who cameamong them looked more
(31:13):
impressive than Paul.
But they had to ask, impressiveby what standard?
What are they really interestedin?
What in the end do they wantfrom their teachers?
And they were impressed by thewrong standards.
And they had to face this issueof appearance versus reality
when they looked at themselves.
They claimed to be believers,but they didn't live like it.
(31:36):
And Paul calls them to examinethemselves and say, What do you
really believe?
Who are you really listeningto?
And ask whether this claim tofaith that you made is real.
This issue of appearance versusreality is one we all have to
face.
By the world's standards, thegospel doesn't look good.
(31:57):
Paul didn't look good.
The world and its heroes canseem to offer things that are
more appealing, more compelling,more entertaining, easier, that
kind of thing.
And we have to face the samedecision the Corinthians faced.
What are we going to do withthis gospel preached by Paul,
(32:18):
the weak apostle to theGentiles?
Well, Paul claimed that thepower of God was behind him and
his gospel.
He was a weak man serving apowerful God, and we would do
well to listen to him.
Thank you for listening toWednesday in the Word, the
(32:38):
podcast that explains not onlywhat a passage means, but also
shows you how to figure it out.
The blog version of thispodcast is on
Wednesdayintheword.com slash 2Corinthians 1.7.
You can hear all the episodesin this series on my website,
WednesdayInTheWord.com.
(32:59):
There is no charge, no spam,and no end.
Just free resources to help yougrow in your understanding of
scripture and learn how to studyit for yourself.
If you've been blessed by thispodcast, please follow it and
review it on your favoritepodcast platform.
But most importantly, tell afriend what you learned and
(33:20):
encourage them with it.
And if you can, tell them whereyou learned it.
Our theme music is graciouslyprovided by my friend and
favorite musician Reggie Coates.
You can find Reggie's music onheartfeltmusic.org.
Thank you for joining me today.
I'm Krissan Morata, and I'llsee you again at Wednesday in
(33:41):
the Word.
Welcome to the Wednesday in the Word podcast.
I'm Krisan Marotta, and this ismy podcast about what the Bible
means and how we know.
Today is the 17th and last talkin my series on 2 Corinthians.
We will be studying 2Corinthians 12, verse 13 to the
end of the letter.
(01:01):
Why does Paul warn theCorinthians to examine
themselves to see if they'rereally believers?
And what does that mean for us?
We will find out in thisepisode, and along the way,
we'll learn why Christ's poweroften comes wrapped in weakness,
and how Paul's authority isaimed at building people up.
Thank you for making Wednesdayin the Word a part of your day.
(01:23):
I'm really glad you joined mein this series, and I'd love to
hear your thoughts.
You can email me through mywebsite, WednesdayInTheWord.com.
We are going to finish 2Corinthians today.
We are in the last section,which begins in chapter 10,
where Paul confronts his criticsdirectly.
(01:46):
Paul's critics have chargedthat Paul was bold in his
letters, but meek andunimpressive when he was there
in person.
And Paul responded, in part,when I come again, I plan to be
very bold toward those whoreject me.
Make no mistake, God is at workin my ministry, truth is on my
side, and I am ready to punishall disobedience.
(02:08):
Now remember, Paul is on hisway back to Corinth when he
writes this letter.
He has come as far asMacedonia.
He met Titus there, and Titusreported to Paul how the
Corinthians responded to hislast letter, and now he's
writing this new letter to them,sending it ahead of him, and he
will follow after it.
(02:28):
So they have an opportunity toread the letter and respond and
repent before he shows up.
And that's particularlyimportant in this last part
we're going to look at becausehe is preparing them for what
they may face when he comes.
His next visit has thepotential to be very difficult.
The relationship isn't great atthis point, and he's worried
(02:53):
that this next visit is going tobe a hard one.
He tells us in this sectionthat this is his third visit,
and that makes sense with thetimeline we've talked about at
the beginning of the letter.
I won't go through all thatagain.
I'll just remind you this isactually the fourth letter that
Paul wrote to Corinth, but weonly have two of them.
Now, in the last podcast, welooked at the beginning of
(03:16):
chapter 12.
Paul engaged in what he calledfoolish boasting.
His critics challenged him onfoolish issues, so he answered
them in kind.
Instead of defending hisministry with impressive
achievements, Paul chose toboast in his weakness.
What looked like failure to hiscritics, he said, is actually
(03:37):
proof that God is workingthrough him.
If he wanted to, Paul couldboast about being taken to
heaven and taught by revelation,and that far surpasses any
degrees that his critics mayboast in.
Yet he quickly shifted thefocus away from that revelation
to his thorn in the flesh.
Now we don't know what thatthorn was, but whatever it was,
(04:00):
it humbled Paul and kept himfrom getting puffed up about his
credentials.
Paul recognized that hishardships created the clearest
stage for God to display hisstrength.
Now, Paul has just made whatwas probably a painful rebuke to
them.
He says, I shouldn't have to betelling you this.
I shouldn't need to commendmyself to you.
(04:22):
You have every reason to trustme as an apostle, but instead
you're listening to my critics.
And that brings us to 12.
We're going to start in verses13 through 15.
For in what were you lessfavored than the rest of the
churches?
Except that I myself did notburden you.
Forgive me this wrong.
(04:43):
Here for the third time I amready to come to you, and I will
not be a burden, for I seek notwhat is yours, but you.
For children are not obligatedto save up for their parents,
but parents for their children.
I will most gladly spend and bespent for your souls.
If I love you more, am I to beloved less?
(05:04):
Now Paul returns to thisquestion of why he didn't take
money from them.
We've seen this before in theletter.
This is one of those issuesthat shouldn't be a problem.
He shouldn't need to explainit, but here he must.
The Corinthians had a problemwith the fact that Paul didn't
take money from them, and we'veseen this issue show up a few
(05:26):
times in the letter.
We talked about this a fewpodcasts ago, and we looked at
the various reasons why theymight have difficulty with this.
We have another clue here.
They seem to take issue withthe fact that Paul treats them
differently than the way hetreats the other churches.
He takes money from otherchurches.
For instance, we know he tookmoney from the Philippians, but
(05:48):
he won't take money fromCorinth.
And Paul responds to thissuggestion sarcastically, you
think you were treated badlybecause I didn't take your
money?
Oh, forgive me.
I think he's being a littlesarcastic.
He says, Did I treat youdifferently than the other
churches?
Did I teach you less?
No.
Did I spend less time with you?
(06:08):
No.
Did I love you less?
No.
The only difference is I wasnot a financial burden to you.
Oh, forgive me, such a wrong.
Now Paul tells us he wouldn'ttake their money because he
didn't want to be accused ofpeddling the gospel.
He's afraid they're going totake it wrong if he accepts
their money, but they take itwrong anyway.
(06:29):
They think that he's rejectingthem because maybe he doesn't
want to be beholden to them bytaking their money.
Paul tells them that he intendsto keep on refusing their
money.
When he arrives for his nextvisit, he will not burden them
even then.
He will not take support forthem for his financial needs.
(06:50):
Paul says they should recognizethat he's acting out of love
and he communicates this severalways.
He says, I'm not seeking whatis yours, but you.
I don't want your money.
I want your hearts.
He wants them to embrace thegospel and take it to heart.
He compares himself to a lovingparent.
In life, parents sacrificethemselves financially for the
(07:13):
sake of their children.
It's not the other way around.
And Paul sees himself as a kindof father to the Corinthians.
So he says in an analogous sortof way, it's appropriate that
he sacrifice himself financiallyfor them rather than the other
way around.
He says he would most gladlyspend and be spent for their
(07:33):
souls.
That is, he's glad to sacrificehimself.
He's glad not to take theirmoney if it helps them in the
faith.
And then he asks the rather sadquestion: if I love you, the
more am I to be loved less.
Paul is sacrificing himself outof love for them, and yet they
insist on doubting him.
(07:54):
The more Paul sacrificeshimself out of love for them,
the less they seem to love himback.
And that brings us to thesecond set of clues about their
problem with Paul refusing theirmoney.
Let's look at 16 through 18,and here we see that the
Corinthians suspect that Paul issomehow cheating them, maybe
being a little devious behindtheir backs.
(08:15):
But granting that I myself didnot burden you, I was crafty,
you say, and got the better ofyou by deceit.
Did I take advantage of youthrough any of those whom I sent
to you?
I urged Titus to go and sentthe brother with him.
Did Titus take advantage ofyou?
Did we not act in the samespirit?
Did we not take the same steps?
(08:36):
Here we see that Paul is beingcharged with being deceitful.
His critics are saying, Well,you know, it looks like Paul's
not taking any money from us,but he's a crafty fellow.
He's fooled us into thinkingthat he isn't taking any money,
but he is.
His fellow travelers are takingmoney and they're giving it to
(08:57):
Paul.
So Paul insists, none of thepeople I sent you took any money
from you either.
They all acted in the samespirit as I did and treated you
with integrity.
Paul is challenging them.
What grounds do you have forsuspecting me?
Did anyone else that I sent youtake advantage of you?
(09:17):
No.
All of us acted with integrityand honestry.
So what reason do you have forthinking that I'm taking
advantage of you?
Again, this shouldn't be aproblem.
This shouldn't be comingbetween us.
I'm not taking money from youout of concern for you, and
that's all.
At this point, Paul sayssomething that doesn't sound
(09:39):
quite true at first.
Let's look at 1219.
Have you been thinking allalong that we have been
defending ourselves to you?
It is in the sight of God thatwe have been speaking in Christ
and all for your upbuilding,beloved.
Now it sounds strange at firstreading because you may think,
wait, Paul's been defendinghimself since chapter one.
(09:59):
And he has.
Paul has been defending himselfsince chapter one.
So what does he mean?
You may have been thinking thatI'm defending myself.
But if we think about itanother way, I think we can see
what Paul means.
When someone accuses us ofsomething, when they lie about
us or say something untrue andhurtful, our natural impulse is
(10:22):
self-protection.
When people lie about us, wewant to defend ourselves.
We set out to prove that ourdetractors are wrong and we want
to make them admit it.
And in that case, ourmotivation is largely to protect
ourselves.
We're not thinking about thegood of the other person.
We're thinking about how thisproblem is affecting us.
(10:44):
And we want to defend ourselvesbecause we want to stop the
hurt.
I think Paul's saying, that'snot my motive here.
That's not what I'm doing.
I'm not defending myselfbecause I want to make my life
easier.
He's perfectly willing to lethis reputation be trashed if
that's necessary.
Instead, his motivation is tobuild up the Corinthians.
(11:08):
Spiritually, it is dangerousfor them to listen to Paul's
critics.
If they reject Paul, they couldreject the gospel too, and that
would be spiritually fatal.
And they are in danger ofembracing the foolish values of
the world and rejecting thewisdom of the gospel.
So Paul's motive here, whathe's been doing, he's not trying
(11:30):
to polish his tarnishedreputation.
He's trying to get them to seethe truth, and he's concerned
for their souls.
And he makes this clear, let'slook at 20 and 21.
For I fear that perhaps when Icome I may find you not as I
wish, and that you may find menot as you wish, that perhaps
there may be quarreling,jealousy, anger, hostility,
(11:53):
slander, gossip, conceit, anddisorder.
I fear that when I come again,my God may humble me before you,
and I may have to mourn overmany of those who sinned earlier
and have not repented of theimpurity, sexual immorality, and
sensuality that they havepracticed.
So Paul is talking here aboutwhat sort of reception he's
(12:16):
going to get when he visitsnext.
And remember, he's sending thisletter in advance of his visit.
He's concerned that all theproblems in their relationship
will continue.
They may still be listening tohis critics, and Paul will find
a really bad situation.
And I think he's talking abouthis relationship with the
(12:45):
Corinthians.
He's afraid that when he getsthere, instead of being received
well, he's going to findstrife, jealousy, anger,
slander, gossip, and disorder.
He's also afraid that God willhumiliate him before the
Corinthians.
And I think he means there, hewould be humiliated if after all
(13:05):
the time and effort he spent onthem, they reject the gospel.
And he fears that might happen.
What's part of the evidencethat they have rejected the
gospel?
In particular, he's afraid he'sgoing to find people who have
refused to repent and refuse tolisten to him, particularly
concerning the issue of sexualimmorality.
Now we haven't seen a lot oftalk about sexuality in 2
(13:30):
Corinthians, but we did see alot about it in 1 Corinthians,
which I will remind you was notwritten all that long before 2
Corinthians.
There's not a great deal oftime between these letters.
In 1 Corinthians, opposition toPaul seemed to go hand in hand
with leading an immorallifestyle.
If people can dismiss Paul,then they don't have to listen
(13:53):
to what he says about moralityand they don't have to give up
their pagan ways.
And Paul warned them aboutthat.
He's afraid that when he getsthere, he's going to find they
have abandoned his teaching andthey are unrepentant and living
the same immoral lifestyle thatthey were before.
I think he's afraid that allthis criticism about his
(14:15):
unimpressive speaking style isreally just a smokescreen for
ignoring him and pursuing sexualimpurity.
And if that happens, it's goingto be a very difficult visit.
Which is what he talks aboutnext.
Let's look at 13, 1 through 4.
This is the third time I amcoming to you.
Every charge must beestablished by the evidence of
(14:37):
two or three witnesses.
I warned those who sinnedbefore and all the others, and I
warn them now while absent, asI did when present on my second
visit, that if I come again Iwill not spare them, since you
seek proof that Christ isspeaking in me.
He is not weak in dealing withyou, but is powerful among you,
for he was crucified inweakness, but lives by the power
(15:01):
of God, for we also are weak inhim, but in dealing with you we
will live with him by the powerof God.
Paul quotes from Deuteronomyhere the idea that every fact
has to be confirmed by thetestimony of two or three
witnesses.
And that sounds a littlestrange.
Why is he quoting Deuteronomy?
(15:21):
But if you stop and think aboutit, you can see what he's
doing.
It takes two or three witnessesto establish an accusation
against someone.
If one person charged anotherperson with a crime, that wasn't
enough evidence for the chargeto hold in Jewish court.
You had to have two or threewitnesses who all agreed to make
(15:42):
a charge stick.
Well, I think Paul is takingoff from that principle and
treating each of his visits asif it was a witness.
So first he came and lived withthem for a year and he can bear
witness to the problems he sawthere.
Then he came a second time forthe painful visit, and he can
bear witness a second time theproblem was still there.
(16:05):
And now he's coming for thethird time, and if that problem
still exists, this is like thatthird witness that the problem
is real.
So I think he's just taking offfrom this principle in
Deuteronomy that it takes two orthree witnesses to establish a
fact, and he's saying, Well, Ihave two or three visits now to
(16:25):
establish this fact.
Part of the charge that he ismeek in person seems to be
fueled by the fact that hedidn't deal with this problem
during the painful visit.
He left and he wrote them aletter instead.
But now he tells us that duringthat painful visit, he warned
them if he had to come back anddeal with this again, he would
(16:46):
be strict.
And now in this letter, he'srepeating that warning.
He's writing this letter toprepare them for the fact that
he is coming again.
And when he comes again, thiswill be the third time he's
warned them, he's seen thisproblem, and if he sees it
again, he's going to deal withit.
And I think he's somewhatsarcastically saying, you know,
(17:09):
well, this is what you wanted,right?
You you wanted proof thatChrist is the one who speaks in
me.
My critics have charged me,Paul, with being meek and
unimpressive and contemptible inspeech.
And you say you want me to actpowerfully, well, get ready,
because that's what's going tohappen.
That's how I'm going to respondif I find the same problem
(17:31):
again.
Now, as Paul has done in otherplaces, he has this discussion
of about weakness and power, andI would, it's kind of
confusing, but this is how Iwould paraphrase that section.
He says, in my paraphrase,you're seeking proof of the
Christ who speaks in me.
(17:51):
I know that you think of me asweak, but Christ who speaks in
me is not weak, but has beenworking mightily among you
through the gospel that I taughtyou.
You would call dying on thecross weak, and yet the power of
God raised him to life again.
Well, that's like what'shappening with me, power working
through weakness.
(18:12):
True, I am a weak man, but thepower of God is directed toward
you through my ministry.
And ultimately, just as Christlives, so I will live because of
that same power.
You've seen my understanding ofthe gospel.
You've seen the impact of thegospel on sinners like
yourselves.
So if you want to talk aboutpower, well, you've seen it.
(18:35):
It's the power of the gospelthat I taught you.
But the other kind of power iswisdom and strength and
integrity to stand for what isright in the face of opposition,
and that kind of power I, Paul,will show you when I visit you
next.
Now Paul is turning the tableson them in five and six.
(18:56):
He says, Examine yourselves tosee whether you are in the
faith.
Test yourselves, or do you notrealize this about yourselves,
that Jesus Christ is in you,unless indeed you fail to meet
the test?
I hope you will find out thatwe have not failed the test.
The Corinthians want Paul toprove that he speaks for Christ
(19:19):
and Christ is working throughhim.
They want Paul to proveessentially that he's really an
apostle.
Instead, Paul turns the tablesand he says the real issue is
whether Christ is working in youCorinthians.
Now, I would like to pause andhighlight what I think Paul is
not saying here.
Paul is not saying to theaverage believer, make sure that
(19:42):
you're not kidding yourselfabout being a believer.
If we don't pay attention tothe rest of the letter, it is
easy to read this as generaladvice to the average Christian.
We might be tempted to thinkthat Paul is telling us to live
a life of constantself-examination.
You believe the gospel, you tryto live it out as best you can,
(20:04):
but you have to keep puttingyourself under a microscope and
asking, do I really believe?
That's not what he's saying.
When you look at where thiscomes in the letter, I think
it's pretty clear that's not hispurpose.
Paul is not suggesting that thenormal Christian should spend
every moment of their life or agood chunk of it questioning
(20:26):
whether they're a believer ornot.
Remember the context, thesituation.
Paul is talking to people whoeither have rejected him or are
in danger of rejecting him.
They don't want to listen tohim because he's not an
impressive speaker.
They don't want to listen tohim because they don't want to
repent of their sexually immorallifestyle.
(20:48):
They see themselves as superiorto Paul because they look
better by worldly standards.
And Paul looks at that evidenceand says, Are you believers at
all?
They have challenged Paul as towhether he's really an apostle
from Jesus Christ, and he'sturning it back on them and
saying, What about you?
(21:09):
Do you really believe inChrist?
You reject his apostle.
What does that say about you?
That's the kind ofself-examination he has in mind.
They need to ask themselves, doI actually believe the gospel
Paul taught me?
And am I willing to live mylife as if that's true?
The gospel gives a very clearway of looking at the world, but
(21:32):
if they reject it and theywon't repent, then in what sense
can they call themselvesbelievers?
And that's what Paul's askingthem to think about.
Why are you rejecting me?
The fact that they so easilyand contentedly embrace the
world's values and reject anapostle chosen by God indicates
(21:53):
there may be something seriouslywrong about their claim to
faith.
So Paul is not saying to theaverage Christian, you better
examine yourself.
He's talking to people who arewillfully in danger of rejecting
the gospel and saying, youbetter examine yourself.
Then he adds, Whatever may betrue about you, I can
confidently say that I ampreaching the gospel God gave
(22:16):
me, and I believe that gospel.
You should have confidence thatI, Paul, am an apostle, and I
taught you the real gospel.
The question is, do you believeit?
Now, as we get to the very endof the letter, Paul repeats this
idea that he is not concernedfor his own reputation.
Let's look at seven throughten.
(22:37):
But we pray to God that you maynot do wrong, not that we may
appear to have met the test, butthat you may do what is right,
though we may seem to havefailed.
For we cannot do anythingagainst the truth, but only for
the truth.
For we are glad when we areweak and you are strong.
Your restoration is what wepray for.
(22:58):
For this reason I write thesethings while I am away from you,
that when I come, I may nothave to be severe in my use of
the authority that the Lord hasgiven me for building up and not
for tearing down.
Now again, let me remind youone last time that Paul
frequently speaks of himself inthe first person plural, and
(23:18):
that's what we're seeing here.
You'll notice he switchesbetween we and I, and he has not
changed the subject.
He is talking about himself inthe first person plural.
Now, what do we can't what doeshe add here?
If Paul was concerned solelyfor his reputation, this would
be a great time for him to comeinto Corinth and start throwing
(23:41):
his weight around.
But Paul hopes that theCorinthians will respond to this
letter.
He's sending this letter beforehis arrival, hoping they will
listen and repent, so when hegets there, he won't need to be
severe.
He's prepared to be severe ifhe has to, but he wants them to
do what is right more than hecares about how he looks.
(24:03):
He wants them to embrace thetruth.
He says, If I look weak, butyou Corinthians end up being
strong in the faith, I wouldrejoice at that.
That is the very thing I'mpraying for you.
God gave Paul authority, that'strue, but it's not an authority
to build himself up and makehimself look significant and
(24:23):
gain all the power in the room.
It's an authority to build upthe people of God, and that's
what Paul wants to do.
He's hoping he won't have to besevere, but if he has to, he
will.
He would rather they respond tothis letter and repent, even if
he loses the opportunity to bethe big, powerful, authoritative
(24:44):
apostle when he comes.
Now our letter ends Finally,brothers, rejoice, aim for
restoration, comfort oneanother, agree with one another,
live in peace, and the God oflove and peace will be with you.
Greet one another with a holykiss.
All the saints greet you.
The grace of the Lord JesusChrist and the love of God and
(25:07):
the fellowship of the HolySpirit be with you all.
Now that's a striking way toend this letter because it's a
very typical ending for Paul'sletters, but it's tacked on to
the end of this reallycontentious and somewhat fierce
letter.
He has great fears about whathe's going to find when he
finally arrives in Corinth.
(25:29):
And his final admonition isbasically believe the gospel and
live it out.
And that's what this string ofverbs is.
He says, rejoice.
Well, the reason you rejoice isbecause of the hope of the
gospel.
And you can see that when yougo through Paul's letters.
When he talks about rejoicing,he's getting at the gospel.
(25:49):
Let the gospel mean somethingto you.
Let the hope promised in thegospel be so strong for you that
you rejoice no matter whatcomes your way in life.
He says, aim for restoration.
That is, be made complete.
Grow into a matureunderstanding of the gospel in
your life.
(26:09):
Let its implications reach intoall areas of your life and
teach you the truth and changeyou.
Comfort one another, or betteryet, encourage one another,
which he's talked about in thisletter.
I think there the idea is letthe truth of the gospel help you
stand strong and firm in themidst of whatever difficulties
(26:30):
you face.
Be encouraged, be strengthenedby your beliefs and your hope
and understanding of the powerof the gospel.
He says, be like-minded.
That is, may you all come toembrace the same gospel and live
life from that sameperspective.
That's what he's getting at.
He's not just saying agree onanything, it doesn't matter
(26:52):
what, just agree on something.
No, he wants them to all agreeon the gospel.
He wants them to come togetheraround this shared vision of
life.
And then live in peace.
Treat each other as brothersand sisters united in a common
belief and seeking a commondestiny.
Paul never argues for gettingalong merely for the sake of
(27:13):
getting along.
It's always rooted in gettingalong because you see the world
the same way, because all of youbelieve the gospel is true and
you're striving to live like it.
So what happened when Paulvisited for the third time?
Well, we know from Acts 20 thatwhen Paul visited Corinth this
(27:34):
third time, he stayed threemonths.
That's all Acts tells us.
But three months indicates thathe was probably able to deal
with the situation enough thathe was welcomed and he stayed
and they worked something out.
So I think they found a happyending.
Well, let me sum up how Paulends his letter here.
(27:55):
He reminds the Corinthians thathe's coming to visit them soon.
Once again, he won't rely ontheir financial support for his
living expenses, but the factthat he doesn't take their money
does not mean that he caresabout him less, and he is not
taking money from them by otherdevious means.
They have no reason to believethat.
(28:17):
He won't take their moneybecause he cares about them.
Paul's worried about what hewill find when he gets to
Corinth.
He's afraid that he will bereceived with fighting and
gossip and arrogance andslander.
He's afraid that he'll findpeople who refuse to repent.
And if that's what he finds,then he will deal with that
(28:37):
severely.
He's been accused of being weakand ineffective, but he has
argued the power of God has beenat work in his ministry, and
they can see that by the changesin their own lives.
He's not concerned about hisown personal reputation.
He's not going there to makethem acknowledge how great he
(28:58):
is.
He just hopes they repent andhe doesn't care whether he looks
bad or good in the process.
But one way or another, it istime for the Corinthians to face
reality.
They need to test themselvesand see what they really
believe.
In the end, it doesn't matterwhat they think about Paul, it
matters what they think aboutthe gospel he taught them.
(29:20):
So, in many ways, this letteris about weakness and power.
Paul's opponents don't see himas a powerful man.
He doesn't attract peoplethrough the power and style of
his rhetoric or his personality.
He is meek, unimpressive inperson, even when dealing with
people who oppose him, and sothey say, well, he can't be
(29:43):
someone to take seriously.
But Paul has a different ideaabout power and authority.
He freely admits that he isjust an ordinary man with many
weaknesses.
But the power of God is at workthrough his ministry, and that
gives him a real authority.
By the power of God, Paul hasbeen given a profound
(30:05):
understanding of the gospel.
He knows what God is doing, heknows the way to eternal life,
and he knows how we should livein light of the truth of the
gospel.
That is a real power whichgives Paul real authority.
Not just the appearance ofauthority, but the real thing.
Because Paul has the unshakableauthority that goes with
(30:27):
knowing the truth.
We should listen to him becausehe's right.
He knows what God is doingbecause God taught him that.
Now Paul understands that hisauthority is for.
For building up others in thefaith so he doesn't throw his
weight around.
He's not concerned over how helooks.
He can deal with error becausehe knows the truth.
(30:50):
Now I think this issue ofappearance versus reality is
something we ought to reallythink about.
Paul doesn't have theappearance of authority, but he
has real authority because Godgave him an understanding of the
truth.
The Corinthians had to sort outthis issue of appearance versus
reality.
The false teachers who cameamong them looked more
(31:13):
impressive than Paul.
But they had to ask, impressiveby what standard?
What are they really interestedin?
What in the end do they wantfrom their teachers?
And they were impressed by thewrong standards.
And they had to face this issueof appearance versus reality
when they looked at themselves.
They claimed to be believers,but they didn't live like it.
(31:36):
And Paul calls them to examinethemselves and say, What do you
really believe?
Who are you really listeningto?
And ask whether this claim tofaith that you made is real.
This issue of appearance versusreality is one we all have to
face.
By the world's standards, thegospel doesn't look good.
(31:57):
Paul didn't look good.
The world and its heroes canseem to offer things that are
more appealing, more compelling,more entertaining, easier, that
kind of thing.
And we have to face the samedecision the Corinthians faced.
What are we going to do withthis gospel preached by Paul,
(32:18):
the weak apostle to theGentiles?
Well, Paul claimed that thepower of God was behind him and
his gospel.
He was a weak man serving apowerful God, and we would do
well to listen to him.
Thank you for listening toWednesday in the Word, the
(32:38):
podcast that explains not onlywhat a passage means, but also
shows you how to figure it out.
The blog version of thispodcast is on
Wednesdayintheword.com slash 2Corinthians 1.7.
You can hear all the episodesin this series on my website,
WednesdayInTheWord.com.
(32:59):
There is no charge, no spam,and no end.
Just free resources to help yougrow in your understanding of
scripture and learn how to studyit for yourself.
If you've been blessed by thispodcast, please follow it and
review it on your favoritepodcast platform.
But most importantly, tell afriend what you learned and
(33:20):
encourage them with it.
And if you can, tell them whereyou learned it.
Our theme music is graciouslyprovided by my friend and
favorite musician Reggie Coates.
You can find Reggie's music onheartfeltmusic.org.
Thank you for joining me today.
I'm Krissan Morata, and I'llsee you again at Wednesday in
(33:41):
the Word.
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