The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 3

Paul defends his Ministry and the Gospel

Galatians 1:11-24

Despite Paul’s immediate rush to dive into the very meat of his message and his grief over the Churches in Galatia, notice the very first words from his lips here in this section “brethren”, why? Because Paul, knew from his witnessing the true gospel to these people and seeing their conversion out of darkness into the light of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were his brothers despite their gullibility or to be specific their tendency to believe too readily and therefore to be easily deceived. A sincere earthly Father or Mother does not abandoned or disown their son or daughter as theirs because they are persuaded or swayed by some of their friends or associates to cut school, or steal from the store, or fight in school or any number of things that are clearly wrong and not the Father and Mothers wish or desire for their child. Likewise, Paul despite his harsh language at the beginning of his letter still recognizes them as his brothers. What Paul does is again reaffirm to them the origin or the source of the Gospel message that he preached to them when he first came to them. Paul wants to remove every ounce of doubt that has been cultivated in their hearts and minds by the false teaching Judaizing men, so he reiterates once again what he said at the very top of his letter (Galatians 1:1) speaking there of himself and now he speaks the same of the source of his Gospel message.

Paul wants them to know that his Gospel is Holy Divine unlike the message being taught them by the Judaizing men. It is Paul’s sincere desire that he did not preach to them “in vain” (Galatians 4:11). This is why Paul wants them to be able to distinguish the false gospel of these men from the true Gospel of Christ that he received directly from our Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. Paul defends his own ministry by declaring his history to them before his encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wrote of his unworthiness and his being unsuitable without merit and value to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ and how he was a top flight Pharisee in the Jewish religion, but how our Lord Jesus Christ showed him unfathomable or impossible to come to understand or beyond human measure divine grace and mercy that proceeded from our Lord Jesus’ love for this persecutor of Him. Paul wrote of his wonder and gratitude to our Lord Jesus Christ in this manner to Timothy when he said, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” (1 Timothy 1:12-16).

Our Lord Jesus Christ not only saved the persecuting Pharisee (Saul) and made him a Christian through the new birth, but Christ also changed his name to Paul and made him the 12^th Apostle. Paul will be one of the Apostles our Lord Jesus referred to when He said, “You are those who have stood by Me in My trials; and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Luke 22:28-30). Paul’s entire aim was to proclaim the truth of the Gospel to every man’s conscience that men would be brought into the obedience of God and not of men and their man made religion or traditions. Paul’s defense of his ministry and the purity of the Gospel message he preaches is based on the fact that he was not looking for Christ, but instead Christ sought him out. It was God the Father who made Christ known to Paul on the Damascus Road and God the Holy Spirit “revealed” Christ and the power of His resurrection in Paul or the Greek word apokalupto which means to take off the cover or to disclose. The cover of spiritual darkness and blindness was removed from Paul’s heart as he declared to the Corinthian Church in this manner, “For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

The moment Christ was manifested or evident “in him” Paul needed not to get confirmation or authority to preach Christ from any human being (even the first Apostles, Peter, James, or John) in Jerusalem, but instead Paul was directed by God the Holy Spirit to go into Arabia for three years. Whether Paul was during this three year period receiving the revelations from Christ that would make up the rest of his writings and teachings or he was there only preaching the Gospel of Christ is not clear, but what Paul does make clear is that he was commissioned by the resurrected Christ and given the Gospel he declared to them. Paul was fully at peace that his calling was directly from God and that he did not need to take counsel from any of the prominent Apostles. Paul declares that he never even met the Apostle Peter until after he had spent his three years in Arabia.

Paul wants them to know that everything he has written to them thus far is the truth he declares before God and not just to them, for God knows it is the truth and that gives Paul comfort and assurance. Note: “Syria, in the narrower sense, of the district of which Antioch was the capital: not the whole Roman province of Syria, including Galilee and Judaea. This district was the scene of Paul’s first apostolic work among the Gentiles. Cilicia was the southeasterly province of Asia Minor, directly adjoining Syria, from which it was separated by Mt. Pierius and the range of Amanus. It was bordered by the Mediterranean on the south. It was Paul’s native province, and its capital was Tarsus, Paul’s birthplace.” (According to Vincent’s Word Studies). When Paul went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia he was unknown there by the believers “in Christ” but they had gotten wind of or gotten word of how this formerly vicious, malicious, and savage Jewish Pharisee was now converted to Christ and the faith he once was determined to destroy, he was now declaring as the truth to all. Therefore, in so doing they rendered all honor, majesty, and glory to God for Saul, now Paul’s miraculous transformation.

My own Personal Note: The fact that Paul needed to be blunt with his language in this epistle never dampened his great affection for these Churches despite his grief and even anger that they allowed false teachers to steer or direct them away from the path of simplicity “in Christ” as he declared also to the Corinthian Church with these words, “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3). For Paul it was all and only about devotion or feelings of strong and intense love for our Lord Jesus Christ and he so wanted the Galatians to be reawakened to this fact and reality.

“If he be a dangerous man in the Church who introduces Jewish or human ceremonies which God has not appointed, how much more is he to be dreaded who introduces any false doctrine, or who labors to undermine or lessen the influence of that which is true? And even he who does not faithfully and earnestly preach and inculcate the true doctrine is not a true pastor. It is not sufficient that a man preach no error; he must preach the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” Adam Clarke

“God often, if not always, has purposes in regard to people from their very birth. He designs them for some important field of labor, and endows them at their creation with talents adapted to that. It does not follow that because a young man has gone far astray; and has become even a blasphemer and a persecutor, that God has not destined him to some important and holy work in His service. How many people have been called, like Paul, and Newton, and Bunyan, and Augustine, from a life of sin to the service of God? God is often training up people in a remarkable manner for future usefulness. His eye is upon them, and He watches over them, until the time comes for their conversion.” Albert Barnes

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

 

 

 

 

The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 2

Paul warns the Galatians of believing a Perverted Gospel

Galatians 1:6-10 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. KJV

Paul does not spend any time commending these Galatians or thanking God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ for them at the beginning of his letter as he did with the Philippians and the Colossians (Philippians 1:1-11 & Colossians 1:1-12), but instead he rushes into the very heart of this entire epistle and that is the denunciation of anyone that would pervert or change the meaning of the Gospel of Christ in order to deceive and mislead others. Paul is very grieved over the Galatians giving credence to these Judaizing men by believing what they are teaching, but he is also angry with them because he cannot believe that they allowed this to happen so quickly upon hearing the Judaizing men teach. Paul is in wonder, amazement, and even shock that the Galatians were regarding the many spurious (that is plausible but false) teachings on what the Gospel of Christ truly was as handed down from the first Apostles who were eyewitnesses of our Lord Jesus Christ’ character and His Gospel He entrusted to them. This is no doubt why God the Holy Spirit anointed Dr. Luke to write his account at the opportune time he was inspired, in order that the apocryphal books of the New Testament be disputed as false accounts with a false gospel message.

Paul is here declaring the Galatians to be defectors from the true faith in Christ and it is his sincere desire with the entirety of this letter to “bring them back” from their defection. Paul saw them as being in the process of giving themselves over to complete apostasy. This is why he uses the English word “removed” translated from the Greek word metatithemi which means to pervert; to transfer or transport; to exchange or for one to change sides. Paul seeks not the good will or favor of men when it comes to his declaration by speaking or writing the truth of the Gospel and the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). Paul bore (within his heart and soul) great grief to those in the Galatian Churches who were being led away from the truth and at the very same time (as if with the very same breath of soul) he pours out vehement/violent indignation that was marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions against the instruments (Judaizing teachers) that were perverting the Gospel of Christ troubling these new believers “in Christ” and even in the process of leading them into their error as Korah’s rebellion caused the death of many (Numbers 16).

Korah and Dathan’s rebellion not only cost them their lives but that of their wives and children also. Likewise the sin of Achan cost the death of all his children (Joshua 7:16-26) and with the historical facts of both these judgments of God, Paul writes with deep conviction of mind very concerned that many in the Galatian Churches will fall prey to those in their congregations that give themselves over to this perverted teaching of salvation and be proven to be apostates. Paul wants them to understand the extreme severity of believing a false gospel. Therefore, he paints a picture that is impossible for them to misinterpret. Paul declares emphatically that there is “no other Gospel” but the one he preached to them from the beginning as he declared with these words to the Corinthians Church, “Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

Paul wants them to know soundly that anyone preaching anything that deviates or that is different in any way from what he preached to them, then that person (even an angel from heaven) is too accounted by God as accursed or clearly to mean, they are to be eternally damned to hell. This is why Paul was so quick to rush into the meat of his letter right off the top because of the severity of the consequences of any soul listening to and then (God Forbid) believing a perverted Gospel message. The true Gospel means “good news” while (as we see here with Paul’s declaration) a false gospel means “eternally bad news” for every one of its recipients. Paul even repeats this declaration of the damnation of those preaching a false gospel message, so that there will be no misunderstanding among the Galatians of his meaning. Paul’s complete and supreme confidence in making such a brash and bold statement comes from the fact that his life’s goal is to “please God” and not men. Paul uses here the English word “persuade” that comes from the Greek word peitho a primary verb which means as he uses it here in this discourse to pacify or conciliate by causing men to think good or well of him or to gain favor with men. Paul’s immediate response to his own question is of course not, he desires solely and only to please God. This English word “please” is translated from the Greek word aresko which means to be agreeable with. Paul’s only goal is to be “agreeable” with and to God the Father and not any man who perverts what God the Father declares to be truth. This is what made the Apostle Paul a true “bond-servant” or the Greek word doulas meaning voluntary slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

My own Personal Note: The Apostle Paul would not mince words or hold back the rumbling in his own soul, when he perceived those that he had been God’s instrument in bringing them the True Gospel of Christ and of Grace being led away or astray into apostasy because the consequences are dangerous, serious, and ultimately eternally life-threatening as declared by another Apostle with these words, “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties” (Jude 1:4-8).

“These words were well calculated to startle the Galatians out of their levity. They are like a lightning-flash which shows one to be standing on the edge of a precipice. We see at once the infinite seriousness of the Judaic controversy, the profound gulf that lies between Paul and his opposers. He is for open war. He is in haste to fling his gage of defiance against these enemies of the cross. With all his tact and management, his readiness to consult the susceptibilities and accommodate the scruples of sincere consciences, the Apostle can find no room for conciliation here. He knows the sort of men he has to deal with. He perceives that the whole truth of the Gospel is at stake. Expositor’s Bible Commentary

“No heavier loss than this could be conceived for any human being. Nearest to our passage is the imprecation at the end of 1 Corinthians: ‘If any man love not the Lord, let him be anathema,’-a judgment proclaimed against cold and false hearts, knowing His love, bearing His name, but with no true love to Him.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

 

 

 

The True Gospel is Reaffirmed to the Galatians Volume 1

Paul’s Introduction

Galatians 1:1-5 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. KJV

Paul uncharacteristically does not begin his letter to these Churches with tender affection as he has so commonly done in his other letters, but instead here he begins immediately with a defense of his Apostleship. Somewhat similar is Paul’s emotional writing that began his first and second letters to the Corinthian believers. It’s almost as if you can hear with your physical ears (being transported back in the very moment Paul sat down to begin the construction of this letter) the loud tone exuding from his heart or inner man almost to the point of frustration with these Churches having to defend his authenticity to them and the true Gospel. Paul declares himself an Apostle not through or from any man’s authority, but directly from our Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father. Paul is saying here that no human counsel of the first Apostles came together to vote him in as they did with Matthias (Acts 1:26).

Paul was appointed to his position by virtue of his personal encounter with the Resurrected Christ on the Damascus Road as Dr. Luke declared with these words documented from our Lord Jesus spoken of Paul, “And the Lord said to him, ‘Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.’ But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your Name.’ But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My Name’s sake’” (Acts 9:11-16).

Our Lord Jesus commissioned Paul to go both to the Jews and the Gentiles to turn them from the power of Satan to the Power of God, from darkness to Light as our Lord Jesus spoke in this manner of Himself when he said, “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.’” (John 8:12). Paul wanted these Churches in Galatia to know who his authority came from, unlike these Judiazers who were troubling the Galatian believers (Galatians 1:7 & Galatians 5:12) with the false doctrine that Paul is going to dispel, disperse, and dissipate in this letter. Some Biblical Scholars believe that this epistle was written around the autumn of A.D. 57 or perhaps A. D. 58 which is also understood by many when he penned the letter to the Romans. We find that the theology expressed in this letter to the Galatians with such strong emotion is also found in the letter to the Romans in a larger manner but also with more calm, for example Paul uses the distinction of the children of Abraham in the flesh to the spiritual children of Abraham through faith in Jesus Christ in both letters.

Despite the major concern and worry Paul had with these Churches concerning their being turned away from the true Gospel, Paul still bids them grace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ and the subsequent peace that always comes from  the reception of God’s grace. Some historical facts concerning the people of this region or part of the world according to the Expositor’s Bible Commentary are as follows, “Galatian is equivalent to Gaul, or Kelt. This people was a detached fragment of the great Western-European race, which forms the basis of our own Irish and West-British populations, as well as of the French nationality. They had conquered for themselves a home in the north of Asia Minor during the Gaulish invasion that poured over Southeastern Europe and into the Asiatic peninsula some three and a half centuries before. Here the Gallic intruders stubbornly held their ground; and only succumbed to the irresistible power of Rome. Defeated by the Consul Manlius in 189 B.C., the Galatians retained their autonomy, under the rule of native princes, until in the year 25 B.C., on the death of Amyntas, the country was made a province of the Empire. The people maintained their distinctive character and speech despite these changes. At the same time they readily acquired Greek culture, and were by no means barbarians; indeed they were noted for their intelligence. In religion they seem to have largely imbibed the Phrygian idolatry of the earlier inhabitants.”

Paul concludes his introduction with what will be the entire theme of this epistle and that is that our salvation is completely and only because of what Jesus Christ (God in Human Flesh) did on the Cross of Calvary by dying for man’s sin. Paul’s entire epistle is drawn from the fact of these two verses Galatians 1:4-5 as we will see him unfold this truth disputing and then destroying every argument of adding anything to it. Paul declares that it is Christ sacrifice that delivers every born again believer from the guilt, penalty, and the power of sin right now in this present world, age, or the Greek word aion which means system or course of the world that is opposed to the glory of God because it is under the control of the Evil One. It is also the period of time that all human beings alive now reside in and then at the death of every true believer we will be delivered from the presence of all sin and evil all and only through receiving grace and faith from Christ Jesus our Lord as Paul will describe it in the next Chapter with these words, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly” (Galatians 2:20-21). Therefore, all the Glory for man’s salvation and redemption belongs to God alone, as Paul wrote in this manner to the Colossians, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).

My own Personal Note: Paul begins this epistle differently because it was of utmost importance to him (for the true spiritual well-being of these Galatians) that he refute with extreme prejiduce the notion that was being taught by these Judiazers that led the Galatians to endeavor to go away from “walking in the Spirit” to operating “in the flesh” and performing rituals of the flesh (i.e. circumcision) to make themselves pleasing to God.

“We have received the Spirit of God, that we may know the things freely given us of God: sentences like these show us very clearly how the Apostle’s doctrine formed itself in his mind. His apprehension of Christ, above all of the cross, was the focus, the creative and governing centre, of all his thoughts concerning God and man, time and eternity.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

“Extreme diseases call for extreme remedies. The case with which our good Physician had to deal was a desperate one. The world was sick at heart; its moral nature rotten to the core. Human life was shattered to its foundation. If it was to be saved, if the race was to escape perdition, the fabric must be reconstructed upon another basis, on the ground of a new righteousness, outside ourselves and yet akin to us, near enough to take hold of us and grow into us, which should draw to itself the broken elements of human life, and as a vital organic force refashion them, ‘creating men anew in Christ Jesus’-a righteousness availing before God, and in its depth and width sufficient to bear a world’s weight.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

“In pity and in sorrow was that gift bestowed; in deep humility and sorrow must it be accepted. It is a very humbling thing to ‘receive the atonement,’ to be made righteous on such terms as these. A man who has done well can with satisfaction accept the help given him to do better. But to know that one has done very ill, to stand in the sight of God and truth condemned, marked with the disgrace that the crucifixion of the Son of God has branded on our human nature, with every stain of sin in ourselves revealed in the light of His sacrifice, is a sore abasement. When one has been compelled to cry out, ‘Lord, save; or I perish!’ he has not much left to plume himself upon. There was Saul himself, a perfect moralist, ‘blameless in the righteousness of the law.’ Yet he must confess, ‘How to perform that which is good I find not. In me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. Wretch that I am, who shall deliver me?’ Was not this mortifying to the proud young Pharisee, the man of strict conscience and high-souled moral endeavour? It was like death. And whoever has with sincerity made the same attempt to attain in the strength of his will to a true virtue, has tasted of this bitterness.” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

“This, however, is what many cannot understand. The proud heart says, ‘No; I will not stoop to that. I have my faults, my defects and errors, not a few. But as for what you call sin, as for guilt and inborn depravity, I am not going to tax myself with anything of the kind. Leave me a little self-respect.’ So with the whole herd of the self-complacent, half-religious Laodiceans. Once a week they confess themselves ‘miserable sinners,’ but their sins against God never yet cost them one half hour of misery. And Paul’s ‘gospel is hid to them.’ If they read this Epistle, they cannot tell what it is all about; why Paul makes so much ado, why these, thunderings of judgment, these cries of indignation, these beseechings and protestings and redoubled arguments, -all because a parcel of foolish Galatians wanted to play at being Jews! They are inclined to think with Festus, that this good Paul was a little beside himself. Alas! to such men, content with the world’s good opinion and their own, the death of Christ is made of none effect. Its moral grandeur, its infinite pathos, is lost upon them. They pay it a conventional respect, but as for believing in it, as for making it their own, and dying with Christ to live in Him-they have no idea what it means. That, they will tell you, is ‘mysticism,’ and they are practical men of the world. They have never gone out of themselves, never discovered their moral insufficiency. These are they of whom Jesus said, ‘The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.’ It is our human independence, our moral self-conceit, that robs us of the Divine bounty. How should God give His righteousness to men so well furnished with their own? ‘Blessed’ then ‘are the poor in spirit’; blessed are the broken in heart-poor enough, broken enough, bankrupt enough to stoop to a Saviour ‘who gave Himself for our sins.’” Expositor’s Bible Commentary

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

 

 

 

The Truth comes to Corinth Part 2 Volume 47

Paul prays for them and closes his Letter

2 Corinthians 13:7-14 Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates. For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection. Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you. Greet one another with an holy kiss. All the saints salute you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. KJV

Paul declares that it is the truth of the gospel manifested in their lives which he desires to be a witness to and not to use his apostolic authority to punish transgressors. Paul has always been more concerned with the spiritual maturity and authenticity of those whom he brought the gospel to as he testified with these words to them in Chapter 11 when he wrote, “Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.” (2 Corinthians 11:24-28).

Paul listed some of the most horrific things that could happen to any human being (speaking of himself), but in verse 28 he says that those “external things” that happened to his physical body were not more troublesome (to him) than the pressure he felt “internally” for the spiritual condition of every Church he planted. Paul’s prayer for those believers in Corinth (and all of us today wherever we are) is that they would not live their lives in the continuous practice of evil, knowing that if they or we do so, then that would testify of their inauthenticity, which is exactly why he just told them to “examine themselves” in verse 5. Paul knows that it is not the desire of any truly regenerated, redeemed, and resurrected child by the Blood of Christ to want to continue in evil doing. The Apostle John wrote practically the same thing in his first epistle using these words, “Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.” (1 John 3:7-10).

This very same doctrine and truth is what Paul was now praying for them to come to realize as he declared to them that “Jesus Christ is in you” and just as the Apostle John writes in 1 John 3:7-10, so has Paul told these Corinthian believers that “Jesus Christ in you” will not allow you to “practice sin” as your way of life or lifestyle, it is impossible. To practice sin or evil means to make it your customary way of operation or behavior and as the Apostle John declared above only the devil’s children do that. It is their spiritual authenticity that Paul is praying for and he cares not whether others see him as disapproved or not, for he has the witness of the Spirit in his own heart (Romans 8:9-16) and he wants them to be conscious of that same witness which their deliberate unrepentant sin will block. Paul knows that all who walk or live according to the truth of the gospel preached to them by him can only serve as a witness before God of their sincerity.

Paul wanted to be among them in weakness because their conduct was becoming of the Gospel of Christ and if that meant that he was considered unapproved by God because their good conduct and behavior only made him manifest weakness, then so be it, for this was his prayer to God the Father for them. It was Paul’s prayer and desire that they would be mighty or strong in faith and the fruit and gifts of the Holy Spirit, then his appearing weak and disapproved among them was tolerable. Now when Paul says that he desires their “perfection”, he does not mean or is he speaking here of “sinless perfection” while they are still down here on the earth, for as we have documented earlier Paul sees continually the sin in his own heart (Romans 7:18), but the English word he uses is from the the Greek words katartisis and katartizo which means thorough equipment or to complete thoroughly or to repair; literally or figuratively to adjust; to fit, mend, frame, restore, and to make perfectly joined together.

Paul is saying he wants to see them be sincere in their faith joined with one another in the truth of the Gospel and not in disunity, disagreement, and disharmony. Paul declares that their fellowship was like a man walking around with a dislocated shoulder saying to himself everything is alright, when his arm is dangling free from the joint with no strength or power at all in it, so was the case with the Corinthian Church out of order, wayward in morals, and with no power or influence in their city for Christ. Therefore, their “perfection” would be like the man with the dislocated shoulder going to a physician and getting it put back in place, so is his prayer for them to go to the “Great Physician, Jesus Christ” in repentance that He would put their fellowship back in place for His Glory and their good. Paul then bids them farewell until he sees their faces again and reiterates all the things he is praying to God the Father for them, which will open up God the Father through God the Holy Spirit to work in each of them peace, comfort, and love when they are all of the same mind “in truth” and free from all the filth he listed earlier in 2 Corinthians 12:20-21.

My own Personal Note: Paul was ever praying for and desiring to see the people he preached the Gospel of Grace to, to walk or live in the truth of it and that their consciences would be ever sensitive to the admonitions and warnings that God the Holy Spirit spoke through him for their spiritual edification, enlightenment, and education, with the only goal in mind as he wrote in this manner to the Ephesians, “And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:17-22).

“As we are the apostles of God, we cannot bring to you any false doctrine; and, as we profess to be under the influence of God’s Spirit, we cannot do anything that is opposed to that truth, or which might be prejudicial to it. On the contrary, what we say and do is for that truth, to propagate and establish it. The Gospel of Jesus is truth; and my testimony concerning it is truth also. In my coming, and in my rod, you have nothing to fear, if you retain and abide in this truth.” Adam Clarke

“This was the great end of his writing this epistle, and that freedom he used with them by writing these things (those friendly admonitions and warnings), being absent, that so, being present, he should not use sharpness (2 Corinthians 13:10), that is, not proceed to the utmost extremity in the exercise of the power which the Lord had given him as an apostle, to revenge all disobedience, (2 Corinthians 10:6). Matthew Henry

“Be perfect - Aspire to the highest degree of holiness. Be of good comfort - Filled with divine consolation. Be of one mind - Desire, labour, pray for it, to the utmost degree that is possible.” John Wesley

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

                                                                                         

 

 

The Truth comes to Corinth Part 2 Volume 46

Paul tells them to Examine Themselves, not Him

2 Corinthians 13:1-6 This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare: Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you. For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. KJV

Paul, after he has warned them thoroughly in the last Chapter that he will not spare those who are unwilling to repent of sin, but he will use the rod of correction as is his authority as Christ’s Apostle and their spiritual Father. He writes that this is the third time he is coming to them. Paul wants to make it clear that just as Christ Jesus our Lord humbled Himself by entering into a weak human body (for our sakes) and temporarily suspended the use of all His Divine Power, so has he (Paul) temporarily suspended his use of all of his Apostolic Authority given him from Christ to punish obstinate and willful unrepentant sinners in the Church who stubbornly are persistent in wrongdoing and resist the guidance and direction he (Paul) has given them through his first two letters. These first two letters could be what Paul declares to be “the mouth of two or three witnesses” (2 Corinthians 13:1 & Deuteronomy 19:15) as the testimony of the truth being declared to them and they being left with no excuses for their continual strife, envy, backbiting, and fornication.

Paul’s first two letters will stand and serve as a witness against them to the truth of the Word of God they are discounting, dismissing, and disregarding that they might continue in these unfruitful behaviors continually refusing to acknowledge God’s Truth declared to them by this Apostle, who was Christ’s instrument in bringing the Gospel to them. Because everything he wrote to them in his first letter was written for their admonition/firm rebuke to lead them ultimately into correction. Paul wanted to see or witness Christ Resurrection Life being manifested in each one of them, which would remove or clear up all the envy, strife, backbiting, immorality, and taking one another to the courts of unbelievers to settle their disputes. Paul was certain that it is only when we allow God the Holy Spirit to motivate our choices and decisions that we can and will show evidence of Christ “in us the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).  

Therefore, Paul tells them to examine, inspect, and test themselves to investigate thoroughly to see if they were truly made new (2 Corinthians 5:17) by our Lord Jesus Christ, instead of desiring that he proves himself to them. The closing temperament of these words testify that Paul’s patience is drawing to a close with those in the fellowship that persist in causing all of the turmoil he describes in (2 Corinthians 12:20-21). Paul’s direction for them to take a self-examination (each person individually, and the body collectively) was because there was no need at all for them to examine him for this reason he declared in this manner in the previous Chapter, “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles” (2 Corinthians 12:12). Paul wants them to recall in their own hearts and minds what God the Father through God the Son by the Power of God the Holy Spirit did “in them” when they first believed the Gospel and how they came behind no other Church in the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:7).

Many of the Corinthian believers appeared to forget what God did through His instrument Paul and therefore, it was imperative that they give heed or pay close attention to Paul’s words to them right now because Paul was worried and concerned that many of them may have believed “in vain” as he wrote to them in (2 Corinthians 6:1) and as he wrote to the Galatian Church in (Galatians 4:11) and finally to the Thessalonian Church in (1 Thessalonians 3:5). It is Christ’s patience that these impenitent Corinthian believers try and test by belittling or minimizing Paul’s authority over them. By questioning Paul’s authenticity (which compelled Paul to boast of himself in this letter) they were committing the same error that the children of Israel committed as Moses documented in (Exodus 17:1-7). Paul writes that upon your self-examinations, you will affirm Christ “in you” or you will affirm yourselves reprobates. The English word reprobate is from the Greek word adokimos which means someone that is rejected, unapproved, fruitless, a castaway, useless, and morally worthless.

The imagery Paul uses here is akin to what the Prophet Jeremiah declared when he spoke of the destruction that would come to Jerusalem at the end of Chapter 6 with these words, “O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth And roll in ashes; Mourn as for an only son, A lamentation most bitter. For suddenly the destroyer Will come upon us.‘I have made you an assayer and a tester among My people, That you may know and assay their way.’All of them are stubbornly rebellious, Going about as a talebearer. They are bronze and iron; They, all of them, are corrupt. The bellows blow fiercely, The lead is consumed by the fire; In vain the refining goes on, But the wicked are not separated. They call them rejected silver, Because the LORD has rejected them.” (Jeremiah 6:26-30). The seriousness of the matter or of their spiritual condition dictated the use of the word adokimos because Paul feared that according to the reports he had received that some of them would not stand in the truth or would be found failing when tested. Paul concludes this exhortation by declaring to them emphatically with these words “But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates” (2 Corinthians 13:6). Paul uses two little English words “I trust” which is translated by the one Greek word elpizo which means to expect or regard as probable or likely; to confide. Paul was certain that after their own self-examinations that they would determine that he and everyone he sent to them are approved by our Lord Jesus Christ no matter whether they failed or passed the test.

My own Personal Note: Those of you who drink coffee regularly or periodically; Do you notice how easy and seemingly quickly your coffee goes from piping hot to lukewarm? It takes simply letting it sit still, so goes our walk “in the Spirit”, if we allow our spirit man or woman to sit still long enough, then we become lukewarm living continually by the dictates of our soul (mind, emotions, and human will) and this is what surely happened in Corinth and in the hearts and lives of many of us who truly love our Lord Jesus Christ.

“‘I trust that’ your own Christianity will be recognized by you (observe, ‘ye shall know,’ answers to ‘know your own selves,’ (2 Corinthians 13:5) as sufficient ‘proof’ that ye are not reprobates, but that ‘Christ speaks in me,’ without needing a proof from me more trying to yourselves. If ye doubt my apostleship, ye must doubt your own Christianity, for ye are the fruits of my apostleship.” JFB Commentary

“He was crucified through weakness - Through the impotence of human nature. We also are weak with Him - We appear weak and despicable by partaking of the same sufferings for His sake. But we shall live with Him - Being raised from the dead. By the power of God in you - By that divine energy which is now in every believer, (2 Corinthians 13:5).” John Wesley

“Such a testing of themselves will give them full knowledge that Paul is not reprobate (adokimos). The best way for vacillating Christians to stop it is to draw close to Christ.” Robertson’s Word Pictures

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

 

The Truth comes to Corinth Part 2 Volume 45

Paul speaks to them as their Spiritual Father Part 2

2 Corinthians 12:16-21 But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile. Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you? I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps? Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in Christ: but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying. For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:  And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed. KJV

Paul continues his appeal to them as their spiritual Father, but he now speaks with words of irony by using his detractor’s declaration of him being a man of deceit and deception. Paul knew that there was no guile in his heart toward them and their resources, but he wants to make the point to them clearly and emphatically how absurd the accusation against him in this matter was because even the men Paul sent to them (on his behalf) did not take anything from them, except the offering for the persecuted believers in Jerusalem. He asked them to recall (in their own minds) if Titus or the other brothers took money from them to live while they stayed in their city and Church fellowship. Paul knew that if they were honest with themselves they would have to know how wrong they were to believe that he would ever steal from them to pad his own wallet, and the irony or implication of his words here are that this was actually and exactly what these Judiazers were doing to them.

The very thing they had accused Paul’s motives to be was the actual thing being done to them by these false apostles, all while they claimed to come in the authority and approval of the Lord Jesus Christ. The truth was that Titus and the other brother Paul sent to them acted and lived by the very same spirit as Paul, in that they provided for their own living and took no money at all from this new Church in Corinth. Perhaps Paul wanted to do this in the midst of this Church because of the history of such deep pagan worship in the city for centuries or just because he felt it would be a greater witness to them of his genuine love for them and not for what they had as he just declared was his intent in verse 14 of this same Chapter. Paul wants them to know without ambiguity that everything he has done was for their edification and not their harm and this is why he was careful to send men who believed as he did and who would walk and live just as he did when he was with them for 18 months (Acts 18:11).

Paul knows that God knows the motives or the reason for the actions of all men (whether they be good or evil) and it is before Him that he writes these words to them declaring the truth. Paul had already declared to them in his first letter that by virtue of his office as an Apostle of Christ that he was entitled to or qualified for by right according to law (God’s Law) to live from the preaching or declaration of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 9:8-18). It is probable that part pf Paul’s reason for writing his first letter and addressing all the divisions within their congregation was because he wanted them to have a clear view of the truth and he sent Titus and others to them first to give them time to repent of all the factions, sects, and dissenting cliques that had formed among them that caused strife and jealousy in their midst.

Paul was reluctant to use the authority of his Apostolic office to dispense judgment on the offenders same as the Prophet Isaiah declared of God the Father with these words when he spoke to the tribe of Judah, “For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, His strange work; and bring to pass His act, His strange act.” (Isaiah 28:21). It is not the will of God that any human souls perish because of unwillingness to repent and turn to Him (2 Peter 3:9) because hell was not prepared for human souls, but for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41) and with all of this word in Paul’s heart and mind he wanted to give them time to repent of their sin and rebellion against God the Father being more disposed to show mercy rather than judgement. Paul had the heart and mind of Christ on this matter and was unwilling to us his rod and this is what brought about his fear and made him grieve, that they would force his hand on the matter because they refused to repent of all the things he wrote to them in his first letter in (1 Corinthians 5 and 1 Corinthians 6).

My own Personal Note: Paul knew completely and understood completely his role and responsibility as an Apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, he knew it was the members of Christ Body that were responsible to dispense discipline on sinning members of the Body that did not repent of their sexual sins before God the Father and the members of the Body, even removing said person or persons from the fellowship as he declared with these words to them in his first letter, “But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler--not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.” (1 Corinthians 5:11-13).

“Paul felt that his paternal relation to this church gave him the right to rebuke them, as a father rebukes his children. But he realized that they did not reciprocate his love, probably because they permitted the evil things enumerated in the closing verses. Often moral obliquity accounts for the decline and failure of love. Among other things, they had even accused him of getting money, if not directly, yet through Titus. But there were worse things still that needed to be dealt with, (2 Corinthians 12:20-21). Would that we were more often humbled to the dust by the sins of our brethren! F. B. Meyer

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…

           

 

The Truth comes to Corinth Part 2 Volume 44

Paul speaks to them as their Spiritual Father Part 1

2 Corinthians 12:11-15 I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing. Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds. For what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome to you? forgive me this wrong. Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. KJV

Paul again goes back to his idea or concept he wrote in (2 Corinthians 11:1) of being a fool or the Greek word aphron meaning egotistical or the displaying of a swollen-head in speaking about his own accomplishments for Christ and the physical sufferings he endured for Christ and the Gospel. However, Paul declares to them that his glorying or boasting or vaunting himself in this letter was due to their refusal to do it for him. Paul was saddened and disappointed that the Corinthian believers had allowed the Judaizers to slander his name and reputation before them and even the remaining unbelieving people in the city of Corinth by charging him falsely with malicious intent to the believers at Corinth and attacking his good name and reputation he had proven to have when he was with them for the 18 months teaching them God’s Word before his departure (Acts 18:11). It was during this period of 18 months that Paul took care of himself by working as a tentmaker and then receiving resources from the Churches in Macedonia rather than taking from the new Corinthian believers.

The English phrase Paul uses “ye have compelled me” is an imperfect active from the Greek words ōpheilon and opheilō, which means to be under obligation, and the tense here expresses an unfulfilled obligation about the present. Paul was grieved as an earthly Father would be of his children who showed no love and appreciation to him for his hard work to provide food, clothing, and shelter for them as was the case with the prodigal son our Lord Jesus spoke of in (Luke 15:12) when he demanded that his Father give to him the Father’s own money, as if he was saying to his Father, “I want out of here and I wish you were dead!” Paul was the Corinthian believers spiritual Father as he declared to them in his first letter he wrote to them with these words, “I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.” (1 Corinthians 4:14-16). Paul would have never written to them to “imitate him” if he were not only concerned with their spiritual prosperity and growth.

Paul now reiterates, restates, and repeats what he had already revealed to them of himself in his first letter when he said, “For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:9-10). Paul never wanted to be brought to boasting of himself because he knew and had seen the wretchedness of his own heart (Romans 7:18), but that it was only by God’s Grace that he even came to them preaching the Gospel in the very first place and in this he wanted his boast to be. It was by this very Grace of God that the authenticity of Paul’s Apostleship was demonstrated before them with miracles wrought by God the Father through Paul (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). Paul was given tremendous Power from God, even to inflict pain upon those who opposed him and the declaration of the Gospel of Christ as he did in this example, “When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, and said, ‘You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?  Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.’ And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.” (Acts 13:6-12), but instead here in Corinth Paul displayed the signs, wonders, and mighty deeds of God “in all patience” bearing with these false apostles in their midst.

Paul’s patience shown did in no way bring the Corinthian Church down, but he had already declared to them that they were in no way “inferior” or the Greek word hettao meaning made worse or rated lower than any of the other Churches Paul had planted during his missionary travels. Paul declared it this way to them in his first letter when he wrote this, “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:4-8). It is with sarcasm and satire that he asked for their forgiveness in not taking their money (2 Corinthians 11:5-7), as did the false apostles who did them no spiritual good, but instead brought them into subservient, submissive, and slavish Jewish ceremonial rules and rituals that did not benefit them spiritually. Paul did not desire things from the Gentiles converted to Christ in Corinth, but it was their spiritual prosperity and growth that he sought as we stated earlier, which was the complete opposite of what the Judiazers had done in their midst (2 Corinthians 11:20). Paul (their spiritual Father) like any good earthly Father wanted his children to receive from him and not him take from them. Paul also wanted them to know that he held nothing against them for their turning away from him to the false apostles, but on the contrary he would continue to pour out spiritually into their lives as evidence by these two letters deep with content and doctrine and with sincere love for them and to them, even though they did not at all times reciprocate it to him, all done for their preservation and comfort.

My own Personal Note: Paul wanted the Corinthian believers that he preached the Gospel of Christ to and witnessed their miraculous conversions, to receive him as their spiritual Father, one who had only the disposition to do them emotional, physical, and most importantly spiritual good, for that is all and only what he wanted for them.

“I will even act towards you with the most affectionate tenderness, though it happen to me, as it often does to loving fathers, that their disobedient children love them less, in proportion as their love to them is increased. Does it not frequently happen that the most disobedient child in the family is that one on which the parents’ tenderness is more especially placed? See the parable of the prodigal son. It is in the order of God that it should be so, else the case of every prodigal would be utterly deplorable. The shepherd feels more for the lost sheep than for the ninety-nine that have not gone astray.” Adam Clarke

“The apostle here suggests, and appeals to themselves for the truth of it, that in nothing they came short of other churches; that as he was not behind the very chiefest of the apostles, and so they had no reason to be ashamed of him and despise him; neither were they inferior in gifts, grace, and knowledge, to other churches, all which were through his ministry; wherefore they ought to have spoken well of him, and not to have taken the part of the false apostles against him; since all the honor and credit they were in as a church were owing to him as an instrument.” Dr. John Gill

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.

Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…