2 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER NINE - Verse-by-verse



2 CORINTHIANS chapter nine

JACK

Summary verses 1,2

1. PAUL REFERS TO THEIR MENTAL ATTITUDE EAGERNESS WHICH A YEAR AGO WAS PREPARED.

2. Paul was confident that their reversionistic aberration would correct itself.

3. He had seen their past response to challenges and maintained confidence in them in spite of their slump.

4. Paul used the example of their earlier zeal which stirred up the Macedonians. (Historically the two areas were rivals.)

5. The mental attitude of the believers of Achaia stirred up the Macedonians.

6. Now the example of the Macedonians (both mental attitude and overt expression) stirs up the Achaians to complete what they had begun.

Summary verses 3,4

1. SANCTIFIED BOASTING ON THE PART OF A PASTOR TOWARD HIS CONGREGATION IS LEGITIMATE.

2. Provided they have demonstrated, over the years, a zeal for Bible doctrine.

3. Such boasting serves to encourage them to new plateaus of service.

4. It is especially useful when individuals are failing the grace of God.

5. Paul gives them reasonable time to apply and puts them on the spot.

6. He is saying, “Are we going to be embarrassed before the Macedonians?”

Summary verses 5,6

1. PAUL NOW TEACHES THE BLESSINGS ASSOCIATED WITH GENEROUS GRACE GIVING.

2. He employs a metaphor from agriculture.

3. The physical law of sowing and reaping is also a law of the kingdom.

4. God, who established the law of sowing and reaping, blesses those who give (sow) with material remuneration.

5. To give is to sow; to reap is to be blessed materially.

6. Both at the temporal and eternal levels.

7. You, under grace, determine the degree of reaping.

8. The amount you give matters only as compared to what you have (i.e. the widow’s mite; MARK 12:41ff).

9. Not dollars and cents.

10. Proverbs 11:24,25 teaches the same doctrine.

11. This law of sowing and reaping extends to all areas of human endeavor (compare GALATIANS 6:7,8).

12. Those who help generously the poor will themselves be blessed.

13. This law applies even to unbelievers and reversionists (no SG3) and explains why some people who are otherwise negative prosper. (They adhere to a Divine principle.)

14. Christ taught this spiritual principle (the blessedness of giving) to the extent that even a glass of cold water will not remain unrewarded

(MATTHEW 10:42).

15. He taught this doctrine in LUKE 6:38.

16. Proverbs 19:17 says, “He who is gracious (Qal active participle of !n:x' chanan, to be compassionate) to a poor man (Ld; dal) lends to YHWH (the Hiphil participle of hw"l' lavah, to lend); and (introduces parallelism) He will repay him (Piel imperfect of ~l;v' shalam, to repay a debt) for his action (msn lWmg> gemul + 3ps suffix, retribution for an act, good or bad).

17. The individual who gives to meet the living grace need of another can rejoice in the knowledge that his deed will produce a harvest of blessing to him.

18. Hence the dictum “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Summary verse 7

1. GRACE GIVING INCLUDES THE PRIVACY OF ONE'S PRIESTHOOD.

2. You are free to determine the amount apart from any external standard like tithing.

3. As you engage in this purposing, you must:

a. Differentiate between the essential and non-essentials in your budget.

b. Take care of the essentials, then set aside for grace giving, then the non-essentials.

c. Also apply the formula of 1 Corinthians 16:2: “as God may prosper”.

d. Then check your mental attitude.

4. Giving demands some thought.

5. There is the weekly support of the local church and its pastor

(1 CORINTHIANS 9:7-11).

6. Beyond that, there are the living grace needs of others.

7. There is a freedom and latitude in the amount given (which refutes tithing) ranging from not giving at all to extreme liberality.

8. As a steward of what God has given you, it is God's will for all to give if only in the mental attitude. (But that is only in cases of extreme poverty.)

9. Some believers are in such financial straits that giving is merely a mental attitude. (These cases are rare.)

10. Most believers, however, can give something. (For example, the Macedonians.)

11. Often it is the believer who has little who gives much, comparatively.

12. Large amounts don’t always constitute the most generous giving.

13. If you so desire, you can be a generous grace giver regardless of your income.

14. What you decide will remain a matter of privacy.

15. You can place yourself at the level you choose under the law of verse six.

16. As you give, be sure to reexamine your mental attitude to avoid STA involvement.

17. “Grudgingly” involves giving with a mental attitude that doesn’t enjoy the experience.

18. People give “grudgingly” even when there is no external pressure.

19. “Of necessity” involves external pressure exerted by the church: pledges, tithes, approbation, guilt, gimmicks, etc.

20. A grace ministry will avoid all forms of compulsion (begging in the name of letting the needs be made known).

21. Divine approbation is towards any who give correctly.

God provides the means to give

SUMMARY 8,9

1. GOD PROVIDES EACH OF US WITH THE WHEREWITHAL TO PARTICIPATE IN GRACE GIVING, SAYS VERSE EIGHT.

2. “All grace” refers to the resources to give in some capacity.

3. “Always” refers to each time.

4. “All sufficiency” means you will have some resource to contribute to the living grace needs of others.

5. “In everything” refers to each instance.

6. The result is an abundance—that is, resources over what you need for your needs so that you can participate in each opportunity.

7. Psalm 112:9 documents the truth of verse six.

8. He who gives liberally acts righteously and His righteous deeds abide forever in the form of SG3.

Summary verses 10,11

1. VERSE TEN CONTAINS THREE PROMISES WITH RESPECT TO GRACE GIVING:

a. God supplies seed for each of us to sow, multiplying that seed over the years.

b. God provides a harvest of blessing to the sower.

2. The seed that God supplies is that which should be sown over one's living grace needs.

3. The bread for food is the living grace gift to the needy.

4. God who supplies both seed and produce, supplies seed and multiplies that seed season after season to the one who faithfully sows.

5. God has given us seed, but it is up to us to sow.

6. The more we sow, the more seed is allotted to us to sow.

7. Just as a farmer sows more and more, so his enterprise expands and so does his personal wealth.

8. God promises to increase the harvest of blessing.

9. In form of first:

a. Temporal, since to multiply seed implies more to give.

b. SG3.

10. Verse eleven further says that you will be “made rich” for your grace generosity.

11. This enrichment is said to be “in everything” indicating wealth and prosperity takes various forms.

12. This doctrine, like all others, is subject to perversion.

13. As a result of the sacrifice of giving, there follows the sacrifice of thanks.

see fische for detailed exegesis of verse 12

SUMMARY VERSE 12

1. GIVING CONSTITUTES ONE OF THE SPIRITUAL SACRIFICE OF THE ROYAL PRIESTHOOD.

2. God has designed this ministry to fully care for needy saints.

3. One of the wonderful by-products of this ministry is thanksgiving.

Summary verses 13,14

1. PAUL WRITES AS IF THE CORINTHIAN GIFT WAS ALREADY DELIVERED.

2. Paul correctly anticipates their response to the gift.

3. The gift constitutes evidence of the genuineness of Gentile Christianity.

4. And so, these believing Jews will glorify God for:

a. The fact of Gentile salvation (of which the offering is evidence).

b. And for their Ph2 generosity, not just to them, but to all men.

5. This offering will also stimulate intercessory prayer on behalf of Gentile believers as never before.

6. We conclude that Hebrew Christians of that day came to long after those (i.e. Gentiles) they formerly tended to shun as a result of the Jerusalem relief fund.

7. Not the last phrase of verse fourteen: “because of the surpassing grace of God in you.”

8. That Paul's confidence in the Corinthians was not disappointed is apparent from Romans 15:25ff. (Romans was written from Corinth on his last visit there.)

9. The Jerusalem offering not only provided believers with living grace and the givers with blessing, it led to unity in the body of Christ.

the gift which inspires all gifts

SUMMARY VERSE 15

1. THIS IS A REFERENCE TO THE ULTIMATE GIFT TO MAN: GOD'S SON.

2. This gift is the pattern for all grace giving and the gift which inspires all gifts.

3. The gift of God's Son is such that it defies adequate description.

4. The greatness of it defies human description.

5. Human language is utterly inadequate to express it.

6. Romans 8:32 provides a fitting comment to verse fifteen: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?”

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