AUGUST 11 READING…2 CORINTHIANS 10
We will see an abrupt change in the tone of II Corinthians in Chapter 10. Paul had previously sent a stern and corrective letter to the Corinthian church. It seems that the majority of the church received it well, responded and repented. It was to these that the first nine chapters were addressed. Now, Paul turns his attention to the still rebellious minority.
Those who challenged Paul are saying that he writes big, but he is to weak to do anything about it. Paul reminds them that he is simply modeling the meekness of Christ. Simultaneously, he’s perfectly ready to prove that he’s not weak and to forcefully deal with those who are spreading slanderous lies about his character. We are reminded that we do have weapons for spiritual warfare. Along with prayer and scripture Paul provides a list of our weapons in Ephesians 6:10 – 18. With these weapons, we are to destroy all those things which stand against God. Paul reminds them that things are not always as they appear and that he does not want to be forced to boast of his qualifications as an apostle.
Paul always has in mind their edification, not trying to impress them with great oratory words of academic eloquence, but rather just the simple, plain, clear and understandable truth. Paul reminds them to look at his life and compare them with his words to see if he’s actually walking the walk vs. the false teachers who are only talking the talk. In defending himself against these false teachers and their accusations, Paul reminds them that he is a missionary and that he was the first to bring the gospel to Corinth and because of the love of Christ, he did not overextend himself in doing so. Once they are on stable ground, spiritually, he will then, with the Corinthians assistance, be able to expand his ministry even further into spiritually virgin territory. The chapter ends with a quote from Jeremiah 9:24 followed with a thinly veiled reference about the false teachers. Namely that commending ourselves is useless and worthless. Only what God thinks really matters.
Please share your thoughts from today’s reading.
TOMORROW’S READING…2 CORINTHIANS 11
Devotional written by Dan Peña
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