2 Corinthians 10-13
God's Grace
is Power

David wasn't having one of his better days. According to the superscription, he's the anointed king, hiding out in a cave, hunted by Saul the insane. He calls out to the God he trusted against Goliath, and the lion, and bear. He doesn't just need physical protection, but emotional rescue as well. He's troubled, overwhelmed, in desperate need, and feels abandoned, imprisoned, and all alone. Yet he bases his prayer on the truth that God knows what's going on and is his refuge, and his possession in the land of the living. David expresses confidence that God will deliver him, and he will be able to praise God for His goodness in the congregation of the righteous. See Groaning in the Garden for how Jesus prayed when feeling overwhelmed.

Paul's detractors charged him to be bold when he writes and weak when in person. The reality was that Paul didn't want to use his authority to chasten them in person, hoping to have them learn at the lower volume. If he was bolder in person, they'd accuse him of that too. Paul recognizes that the battle is a spiritual one, and the weapons required for not being a casualty are spiritual. The carnal weapons of defamation, intimidation, misrepresentation, and outright lies are tools of Satan. The major weapon in God's arsenal is truth (Eph 6:14,17) which can demolish the satanic strongholds of lies, false thinking, and bogus argumentation of the agents of the evil one. The truth is what destroys every rival to the true knowledge of God, and brings every thought into the service of Christ. Incorrect thoughts (dark falsehoods) are dispelled by the light of truth. People go off the path of righteousness because of incorrect perceptions and thinking (which Satan encourages).

The defense is to not allow any of our thoughts to drift from the truth, but bring our purposes and aspirations into obedience to His will. See the Truthbase.net series: Spiritual Warfare: Defense Against the Dark Arts for learning how to become a spiritual ninja. Those who continued to serve the dark side would suffer judgment.

God gives authority/power for building others up, which is how Paul wants to use it toward them, but if they persist in doing the devil's work, he will judge them boldly when he comes.

Paul gives a great comment on the wisdom of comparing oneself to others as a measure of their worth. It's not wise. God's estimation of us is what matters, because He sees all and understands all. It looks like Paul's critics were complaining about his “right” to preach in Corinth, and might have been trying to take credit for Paul's work, which would have undermined his support in seeking to reach those beyond Corinth.

The sarcasm gets pretty thick as Paul speaks the language the Corinthians understand to move them back to the truth. His goal was to have them be a pure bride of Christ, but Satan and his agents were working overtime to try to thwart that endeavor. Satan twists and distort truth, like he did with Eve, to move people away from the light and God's blessing. The Corinthians were all to eager to accept and believe something new, from a smooth talker, rather than the truth. Paul defends his message as the truth, and his conduct towards them as love, and not exploitation. Within those who call themselves followers of Christ are Satan's agents, masquerading as apostles, ministers of righteousness. Satan himself dresses up as an angel of light. So how do you recognize the bad guys? If you don't know the answer to that you're probably already deceived. The noble minded Bereans had a great method for detecting the demonic, they daily searched and compared what was said to the truth in the Scriptures (Acts 17:10). Fortunately there weren't any theology books or commentaries written to cloud the issue.

Paul says that if they think he is a fool they could at least indulge him a little and listen to what he had to say. He gives a brief resume of his job as an apostle of Christ. This list is even more amazing when you realize that this is the miracle working apostle Paul, who could heal the sick and raise the dead. The fact that God let him experience such suffering was okay with him because it deepened his dependence upon God (as the next chapter will show), and Paul meant what he wrote in Romans 8:

Rom 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs --- heirs of God but co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we co-suffer with Him, that we may also be co-glorified together. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

In contrast to his descent over the city wall at the end of chapter 11, Paul describes his ascent (cf verse 7) up to heaven/Paradise. He doesn't know if it was an “in the body” physical transport, or an “out of the body” transcendent spiritual experience (like Ezekiel was “in the spirit” -Ezk 1:1). The vision of heaven was part of what made him so willing to endure the hardships described in the previous chapters. He could not speak of what he had seen and heard but appealed to the experience as a means of validating his words over those of his opponents. Because of this revelation, God also gave him a thorn in the flesh, a painful demonic messenger to torment him, so that he would not become haughty, but would be reminded of his humanity.

Three times Paul asked the Lord to have the demonic affliction removed from him. Jesus prayed three times in the Garden as well. Three is not the magic limit, for we should pray for whatever concerns us (Phil 4:6-7). If we're anxious about something, we should tell God about it, as often as we're anxious about it. When we're tempted to be independent of God, prayer is a good way to express our submission and dependence. On the other hand, we should also listen to what God has to say in response. Some folks think that they need to badger or nag God to get what they want. Their time would be better spent discerning God's will in an issue than seeking to impose their will on God. God knows about our needs before we ask Him. His hearing and memory are impeccable. In response to Paul's prayers, God said it's better if he keeps the problem, because His grace was sufficient for him. Rather than pout, Paul praised God that he would experience greater dependence upon God, and see His power at work in his life. Note the equation of grace and power. Paul goes beyond the praise, to taking pleasure in the things that cause a deeper experience of God's grace in his life. That supernatural dependence upon God is the mark of a true apostle, not the miracles described below which Satan can counterfeit.

Paul fears he has become foolish in boasting, but the questioning of his credentials made it necessary to state why they should pay more attention to him, than the agents of Satan. The authenticating signs of an apostle, signs, wonders, and miracles, healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, were done repeatedly in their sight. So why doubt? (If someone claims to be an apostle today, and doesn't demonstrate these things, try stoning them and see if they come back to life. A true apostle like Paul would thank you for it.) Paul thickly lays on the sarcasm concerning making them inferior to the other churches by not being a burden to them. But all he's done has been for their edification. But he fears that when he does make it to see them,  they will be the same carnal Corinthians they were when he met them, or worse. He would be humbled because his ministry had not helped them be victorious over their sin, and he would mourn for those who had not repented of their immorality. Review the list of sins and see if they are in your life and church. They shouldn't, but they frequently are among believers who have been deceived by Satan's agents, and refuse to seek and do God's will.

So Paul is planning to see them for the third time, and he will judge those who have not repented of their sin and are still causing the church problems. How exactly Paul would judge them isn't specified, but the threat is an incentive to obey. Christ was crucified in weakness but lives through the power of God. Paul is “weak” or dependent upon Christ, but the power of God is manifested through Paul toward the Corinthians. Paul exhorts them to examine and test themselves to see if they are “in the faith.” This does not mean to check that they've accepted Christ, but rather to see if they are abiding in Christ and drawing on His power, as He is in union with them. Then they would do His will, and walk in His way, not their own, nor Satan's. But Jesus the Messiah would not be in union with them if they are disqualified, rejected, unfit, not passing the test, due to their unholiness and sin.

Paul prays that they would “do no evil.” This is a higher standard than “Don't be evil;” you can do a lot of evil before it characterizes you as being evil. Paul is not so much concerned for how he appears, but for their goodness. He also prays for their perfecting, being equipped, mended or unified (only used here in the NT, although the verb is used in verse 11 and 1Cor 1:10). That's why he's writing the letter, that they be useable and blessable, in accord with the authority God gave him for building them up.

In concluding, Paul turns to some of the themes with which he opened 1Corinthians (especially 1:10 how they will glorify God). He wants them to have joy, to be unified/perfected, be encouraged together, and live in unity and peace. Then the God of love and peace will dwell with them. He reminds them again to greet one another with a holy kiss (see comments on 1Cor 16:20; cf Rom 16:16; 1Thess 5:26) as evidence of their brotherly love for each other. He closes with a wish for the blessing of the triune God to be upon them.