2 Corinthians 6:1-18

God shows his Power when we are Weak

2 Corinthians

Philip Smith

Chapter 6

v1 As people who work with God, we ask you this again and again. ‘Do not receive God’s kindness in such a way that it does not affect you.’ v2 God says this: ‘When the time came for me to show my *favour, I heard you. When the day came for me to rescue you, I helped you.’

Listen! This is the time of God’s *favour. Today is the day when he can rescue you. v3 We do not want anybody to think that our work is not good. Therefore, we try not to put anything in anybody’s way. v4 Everything that happens to us shows that we are true servants of God. We suffer troubles but we do not complain. We lack the things that are necessary for life. We have great *sorrow. v5 People hit us as a punishment. They put us in prison. There are *violent protests against us. We work hard. We have nights without sleep. We suffer hunger. v6 We are pure. We have knowledge, patience and kindness. We have the *Holy Spirit. We have real love. v7 We speak the truth and we have the power of God. We have *righteousness like a *weapon in both hands. v8 People respect us and people hate us. People praise us and people blame us. We are honest. But people behave as if we tell lies. v9 People know us. However, they act as if nobody knows us. People think that we are dying. But we are still alive. They beat us, but they do not kill us. v10 We have great *sorrow but we are always full of joy. We are poor but we make many people rich. We have nothing but really, we possess everything.

God had given Paul and all Christians the special right to work with him. Paul warns the Christians at Corinth. God’s kindness is a free gift. So they must not try to do something to get *salvation. This was what the other teachers told them to do. But such behaviour is not the way that God wants his people to live. Paul repeats Isaiah 49:8. He says, ‘God’s day of *salvation is now.’ The Christians at Corinth must not waste their chance. Another day might be too late. Paul did not want anything in his life to turn people away from God. Although Paul had to suffer, he did not complain. He writes a list of the things that tested him. There were troubles, lack of the basic needs of life, and great *sorrow. Then there were difficulties that other people caused. They hit him as a punishment (11:24). They put him in prison (Acts 16:23). They protested against him (Acts 13:50). Then there were personal difficulties. He had these when he tried to spread the good news. These were *overwork, lack of sleep and hunger. Paul tried to live in a way that showed God’s nature to other people. Paul’s moral life was pure. And Paul knew by experience the truth of Jesus. So Paul was patient and kind. He had the gift of the *Holy Spirit. He had a real love for people. He had the right *weapons for the *spiritual battle. Then he writes a list of the things that his enemies said about him. But Paul says what he was really like.

v11 Dear Christians at Corinth, we have spoken in a frank way to you. We are sincere. v12 We do not control you. But you are controlling your own feelings. v13 So be fair! (I am speaking to you as if you were my children.) Be sincere!

v14 Do not try to work together with *unbelievers. Goodness and *sin are opposites. Darkness cannot exist where there is light. v15 The devil is Christ’s enemy. So a *believer should not work with an *unbeliever. v16 *Idols must not share the house of God. We are the place where the living God lives. God said, ‘I will live with them and walk with them. I will be their God and they will be my people.’ v17 So the *Lord says, ‘Leave them! Separate yourselves! Stay away from unholy things. Then I will accept you. v18 I will be your father. You will be my sons and daughters’, says the *Lord who can do anything. Ch7v1 Dear friends, we have these promises. Let us avoid everything that makes body or *soul unholy. We will make ourselves really *holy because we respect God.

Paul writes to the Christians at Corinth as a father writes to his children. He loved them as a father loves his child. The Christians at Corinth did not love him in the same way. They welcomed those who brought a false message. They did not welcome Paul himself. He asks them to show love to him because of all that he had done for them.

He then talks about their *relationship with people who do not believe. He says that they cannot work together with them. He is referring to Deuteronomy 22:10. ‘Do not plough with ox and ass together.’ (The ox and the ass are different farm animals.)

But Christians should not separate from other Christians just because they do not agree about everything. Nor should they separate completely from people who do not believe. He writes about this in 1 Corinthians 5:9-11. If they tried to do that, they would have to leave the world! But he means that they could not have close friendship with *unbelievers. All the *cultural activities of the Greek people centred round the *worship of *idols. Some people would invite them to a meal to give honour to a false god. During the meal, people would pray to the false god. Christians must not do this.

Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 10:21 that Christians should not join in *worship with *unbelievers. ‘You cannot drink the cup of the *Lord and the cup of wicked *spirits.’ Christians could not praise *idols or practise magic. This meant that they might not be able to join in many of the *cultural activities. Because of God’s promises, *believers should make themselves *holy. They should make every effort to respect God.

These verses are also important in relation to marriage. Christians should not marry *unbelievers. But if someone is already married to an *unbeliever, they should not separate. Instead, the Christian should try to help the *unbeliever to understand God’s message.

favour ~ kindness that is very generous.
sorrow ~ when a person feels sad, they have sorrow.
violent ~ when a person uses physical force to hurt or kill someone.
holy ~ all good with no bad in it; separate from sin; suitable for God.
sin ~ an evil deed; or what is in us that causes us to do sins; to sin means to do evil deeds.'righteous, righteousness ~ behaviour that is morally right.
weapon ~ a weapon usually means something like a sword, that causes physical injury. But Paul’s battle was not a physical battle. It was a spiritual battle. And Paul needed spiritual weapons in order to oppose wrong ideas and to defeat the devil.
spiritual ~ about the spirit, not physical things.
salvation ~ when God frees a person’s spirit from sin.
sin ~ an evil deed; or what is in us that causes us to do sins; to sin means to do evil deeds.
overwork ~ to work too hard or for too long.
spiritual ~ about the spirit, not physical things.
unbelievers ~ people who do not believe in Jesus.
sin ~ an evil deed; or what is in us that causes us to do sins; to sin means to do evil deeds.
believer ~ someone who believes. That is, a genuine Christian.
idols ~ stone or wooden images of false gods.
Lord ~ a name that we call God or Jesus; we call God or Jesus Lord when we obey them.
soul ~ the spiritual part of a person.
spiritual ~ about the spirit, not physical things.
holy ~ all good with no bad in it; separate from sin; suitable for God.
sin ~ an evil deed; or what is in us that causes us to do sins; to sin means to do evil deeds.
relationship ~ a link between people; or, between God and people.
cultural ~ something that belongs to the customs, arts, or social habits of a particular society or time.
worship ~ to give honour or to praise someone, usually God or a false god.
idols ~ stone or wooden images of false gods.
spirit ~ spirits are alive, but we cannot see them. There are good spirits usually called angels. Jesus promised to send God’s Holy Spirit to all who know him as the Son of God. Bad spirits (also called evil spirits, or demons) live in the air round us. The devil (God’s enemy) is their leader.
angel ~ a messenger or servant of God, from heaven.
holy ~ all good with no bad in it; separate from sin; suitable for God.
messenger ~ someone who takes a message to someone else.
sin ~ an evil deed; or what is in us that causes us to do sins; to sin means to do evil deeds.