2 Corinthians 2:1-17

God shows his Power when we are Weak

2 Corinthians

Philip Smith

Chapter 2

Ch1v23 God is my witness. I did not return to Corinth in order to save you from a difficult situation. v24 We are not trying to control what you believe. We want to work with you so that you will have joy. What you believe helps you to stand firm. Ch2v1 I decided not to make another unhappy visit to you. v2 If I make you sad, only you can cheer me again. v3 That is why I wrote that letter to you. I did not want you to make me sad because of my visit. Instead, I wanted you to make me glad. I was sure that you would all share my joy. v4 But when I wrote, my mind was full of deep *sorrow and pain. I wrote to you with many tears. I did not want to make you sad. I wanted to tell you how much I loved you.

(Verses 23 to 24 really belong to chapter 2. The original writers of the Bible did not divide it into Chapter s and verses. Other people did this much later on. These divisions do not always help us to understand the Bible.)

Paul did not change his plans because he was afraid of the Christians at Corinth. He did so to avoid another painful visit. (See Introduction: Paul and the church at Corinth.) The words mean that he could have come to punish them. He did not want to do that. He was not there to rule over them (perhaps like the false teachers among them). Their trust was strong enough. Jesus was their *Lord. Paul was just someone who served them. He wanted to work with them so that they could all share each other’s joy. This would only happen when they all had the same purpose. The letter (verse 3) was the one that Paul sent after his visit. We do not think that we have that letter in the Bible. (But some people think that 2 Corinthians may actually be two letters. They think that 2 Corinthians Chapter s 10-13 is the ‘severe’ letter. There is no clear proof of this idea.) Although Paul wrote a severe letter he did so with tears and great *sorrow. He did not intend to make them sad. He wanted to show how much he loved them. He wanted the best for them.

v5 If someone has made somebody sad he has not only done it to me. He has made all of you rather sad. I do not want to be too severe! v6 You have punished him enough. v7 Now you should forgive him and comfort him. Then he will not feel that he has lost all hope. v8 So please tell him again that you love him. v9 I wrote that letter as a test. I wanted to see if you would obey my every command. v10 If you forgive anyone, I forgive that person as well. If there was anything to forgive, I have forgiven it. Christ knows that I have forgiven everything. I did this to help you because I love you. v11 We do not want *Satan to succeed. We know very well the way that he works.

Paul now writes about the person who has caused all the trouble. This man probably caused trouble when Paul made his unhappy visit. Perhaps this man upset Paul by his words. And this man also upset the whole church. Because of Paul’s severe letter, most of the people had punished this man. Perhaps they made him leave the church for a time. Some people wanted the punishment to be even more severe. Paul said that they had punished the man enough. Now they should forgive him and bring him back into the church. They should show their love for him. If they did not, the man might leave the church completely. Paul said that he wrote the letter as a test. It was to see if they would obey him.

Now that they had forgiven the man, Paul forgave him as well. Paul did not continue to dislike the man because of his actions in the past. Paul forgave the man by Christ, because he loved the Christians at Corinth. He wanted the man to come back into the church. He did not want *Satan to divide or to destroy the church. The devil’s method is to prevent unity.

v12 I arrived in *Troas to *preach the Good News about Christ. There I found that the *Lord had opened a way for the work there. v13 But I could not stay there because I could not find my Christian brother *Titus. Therefore, I said goodbye to the people there and I went on to Macedonia.

Paul continues the story that he started earlier (chapter 1 verses 15-16). He had arranged to meet *Titus at *Troas. He wanted to hear what the Christians at Corinth had done as a result of his severe letter. In *Troas, people had listened to him and some had become Christians. But *Titus was not there, and so he could not give Paul news about the Christians at Corinth. Therefore, Paul could not remain there for long. So, he said goodbye and went on to Macedonia. Paul was willing to show the Christians at Corinth how weak he was. Then they could see that he depended on the power of God.

v14 Thank God! He always leads us in Christ’s *victory procession. By us, he spreads the knowledge of Christ everywhere like a beautiful smell. v15 We are like the sweet smell of Christ that we are offering up to God. Those whom God is *saving smell it. Those who are becoming lost also smell it. v16 To one group, we are like the unpleasant smell of death. To the other group, we are like the pleasant smell of life. We would not be able to do this task without God’s help. v17 Unlike many other people, we do not teach the word of God in order to make money. Instead, we speak in front of God in a sincere way, because God has sent us.

Paul uses the description of a *Roman *victory procession. A *Roman general who had won a battle would lead a procession of soldiers and *prisoners. They would walk through the streets of the city. The priests carried *incense with them as they walked. To the *victors, the *incense meant that they would live. To the *prisoners it meant death. Paul was a *prisoner in Christ’s *victory procession. He was weak. He was not successful and strong. His *opponents said that they were strong.

Christians show that they belong to Christ. This is like the beautiful smell of *incense to other people. ‘Knowledge’ here means personal experience. To those who believed it, it smelt of life. To those who *rejected it, it smelt of death. Paul wondered who was able to do this work. He said that none of us could do it by ourselves. We all need the help of God. The false teachers only wanted to make money. The false teachers’ good news was not as good as Paul’s good news! Paul was sincere in what he *preached. He lived his life ‘in front of God’. He remembered that one day God would be his judge. God sent him when he made him an *apostle.

sorrow ~ when a person feels sad, they have sorrow.
Lord ~ a name that we call God or Jesus; we call God or Jesus Lord when we obey them.
Satan ~ the devil.
Troas ~ the main port for travellers from Asia to Macedonia, near the old city called Troy.
Asia ~ the area of Asia Minor similar to modern Turkey.
Macedonia ~ the northern part of modern Greece.
preach ~ speak in public, especially about religion.
Titus ~ one of Paul’s companions to whom he later wrote a letter. He tried to help the Christians at Corinth and he took some of Paul’s letters to them.'victor, victory ~ victory means success, for example in a war. The winner is called the victor.
save ~ when God frees a person from sin.
sin ~ an evil deed; or what is in us that causes us to do sins; to sin means to do evil deeds.
Roman ~ Rome was the capital city of the rulers at that time. That which belonged to Rome was Roman.
prisoner ~ a person who is in prison.
incense ~ a substance that people burn to make a sweet smell.'victor, victory ~ victory means success, for example in a war. The winner is called the victor.
opponent ~ someone who opposes you.
reject ~ to refuse to believe.
apostle ~ a person whom someone sends to do a special task. In the New Testament, an apostle was someone who had met the risen Jesus.

New Testament ~ the second part of the Bible with 27 books about the life of Jesus and the Christian message.

risen Jesus ~ Jesus, after he died and became alive again.