2 Corinthians: Part 1 - Ch. 1-3

The Second Letter

As we move on to our next book, we now come to the second letter that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. In this letter, Paul is less disciplinary and more instructive on how Christian living should be fulfilled throughout the Corinthians. In fact, the first 3 chapters that we will be looking at today go over how we should live under the new covenant, how we should love and forgive sinners, and how the God we serve is a God that we can find comfort in. This sounds like a much more enjoyable letter to receive from Paul this time around. Still, regardless of how enjoyable Paul’s instructions are, we must understand that these instructions are from the Spirit of God Himself, so we are not to take anything mentioned lightly. Just as the Bible Project perfectly says, “In 2 Corinthians, Paul challenges followers of Jesus to see life through the paradox of the cross. Because of the cross and God’s Spirit, Jesus’ followers receive power to live transformed lives. They become equipped to take up Jesus’ cruciform life and make it their own.” Paul’s instructions in this letter, as we’ll see, are to encourage everyone to live the life that Christ made available to them through the cross. Jesus didn’t just purchase our salvation, He gave us His Spirit. This means that our lives aren’t just changed the moment we die; they are changed the moment we are saved. With this in mind, let’s see what Paul has to teach us through these first 3 chapters. 

A Comforting God

To start, Paul reminds everyone that despite what they may be going through, the God they serve is the God of all comfort. Not only this, but Paul goes further and states that we as the Body of Christ should comfort one another as other fellow believers endure hardship as well. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” Notice the title Paul gives to God here: ‘the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.’ This is a title that many may not be used to hearing describe God, especially after the last letter they received. However, Paul wants to make it clear that God is not just a disciplinary and just God, but He is also a loving and merciful God. The Church in this day and age must remember this as well. We don’t just need God when we need correcting, we need Him at all times. When we need someone to comfort us and keep us upright in life, our Lord is our comfort. What I love about this passage, as well, is that Paul doesn’t stop here. Paul goes even further and states that not only is God supposed to be comforting to us, but we are supposed to comfort others as well because of the comfort that God has given us. This is a beautiful passage that describes our Lord and is also a challenging passage that reveals to us how we are to live as Christians. Are we truly going to God for comfort when we go through hardship? What about seeking to comfort others when they experience hardship? God wants us to do both. May God’s Spirit lead us to not just find comfort in Him, but also lead others to this comfort as well. 

Furthermore, Paul dives into how we are to love and forgive sinners. This seems like a harsh contrast to his first letter, in which Paul said that church discipline should involve kicking members of the church in some cases. The difference here is that in the first case, Paul was discussing people who refused to repent and wanted to keep living in their sin. Those people we must discipline and not let come back to the church until they repent. This second instance Paul is talking about is when believers sin but immediately repent and seek forgiveness for what they have done. 2 Corinthians 2:10-11 states, “But one whom you forgive anything, I also forgive; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did so for your sakes in the presence of Christ, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.” I love how Paul states that a big reason we forgive others who seek forgiveness is for the sake of the Body of Christ. Just as he hit on so many times in his first letter to Corinth, the unity of the Church is a massive priority. Not only does Paul go back to the unity of the Church in this passage, but he also states the risks that are involved if we become divided. If we do not forgive our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, we give way to Satan’s ignorant schemes to invade the church and tear us apart. We must make sure that this does not happen. Either we must forgive those who seek forgiveness, or we must execute church discipline properly. What we can’t do, however, is ignore sin and hope it just goes away. Satan awaits for opportunities like these. 

The New Covenant

This is why Paul talks so much about how we are new creations in Christ who are under a new covenant. We no longer live like we used to under a Law that condemns us, but we live as a free people who are servants of Christ. To describe this new covenant, Paul discusses how Moses used to have to wear a veil over his face when in communication with God because God’s holiness would destroy such an imperfect being. With Christ making us a new creation, however, Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” This is the power of the gospel alive in our lives. We no longer need to fear being too close to our Lord because Christ has made us right in His eyes. God’s Spirit has led us to life in Christ through repentance and faith, and our lives are now changed forever. I hope and pray that you realize you have this same access to God. You no longer need to fear death when coming before God as a Christian. Jesus has paid the price for you. May you walk in hope and peace under this new covenant, remembering that God is a God who comforts us and that His Church is a Church of unity and forgiveness. 

Sources

[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/

[2] Book of 2 Corinthians Summary | Watch an overview video. (n.d.). https://bibleproject.com/videos/2-corinthians/