FRAMEWORKS:
2 Corinthians 1
In
this ‘Framework' we use our usual text PLUS comment style to enable
you, as simply as possible, to catch the sense of his writing.
FRAMEWORKS:
2
Cor 1: Explanations and Apologies
v.1-2
Greetings
v.3-11
Life-threatening Trials & God's Comfort
v.12-24
Paul's Change of Plans
[Chapter
Synopsis: The
whole tone of chapter 1 is explanatory and apologetic. In explanation
he speaks about the trials they have experienced which brought
them to the end of themselves. The apology (for that is what it
really is) is for not having come when he had said he would in
the last letter. Part of the reason may be the trials they experienced
but part of it was that he held back from coming with strong discipline
to deal with the issues he had heard about there.]
v.1-2
Greetings
v.1
(Paul
& Timothy to the church at Corinth) Paul,
an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our
brother, to the church of God in Corinth, together with all his
holy people throughout Achaia:
v.2
(grace
and peace be yours) Grace
and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
[Passage
Synopsis: Unlike
the first letter there aren't clues here of what is on Paul's
mind.]
v.3-11
Life-threatening Trials & God's Comfort
v.3,4
(we
praise God, the Father of Compassion and Comforter) Praise
be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all
our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with
the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
v.5
(having
suffered for Christ, He has comforted us) For
just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also
our comfort abounds through Christ.
v.6
(any
distress we experienced was on your behalf and when He comforted
us it was to encourage you in your sufferings) If
we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we
are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient
endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.
v.7
(we
are confident of you as you share these things) And
our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share
in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
v.8
(we
want you to know of the awful troubles we experienced) We
do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about
the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under
great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired
of life itself.
v.9
(we
thought we would die but it was so we would utterly trust God
who raises the dead) Indeed,
we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened
that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the
dead.
v.10,11
(He
it was who delivered us and we trust in Him for our future, as
you pray for us and are able to be among those who thank Him for
saving us.) He
has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver
us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to
deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give
thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer
to the prayers of many.
[Passage
Synopsis: It
isn't clear quite what happened in the province of Asia (v.8)
but whatever it was it brought Paul to the point of wondering
if he would survive. It is in the context of such a trauma that
he speaks of God being a comforter who had comforted them and
would comfort the Corinthians.]
v.12-24
Paul's Change of Plans
v.12
(Paul
has a clear conscience as to their behaviour) Now
this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted
ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you,
with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not
on worldly wisdom but on God's grace.
v.13,14
(…
and he believes the Corinthians can rejoice in knowing him as
he does of them) For
we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And
I hope that, as you have understood us in part, you will come
to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast
of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.
v.15,16
(he
had wanted to come to them again, as he had said in his previous
letter [1 Cor 16:5-7]) Because
I was confident of this, I wanted to visit you first so that you
might benefit twice. I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia
and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send
me on my way to Judea.
v.17,18
(he
wasn't being casual in that desire [even if it hadn't come about])
Was
I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in
a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both “Yes, yes”
and “No, no”? But as surely as God is faithful, our message to
you is not “Yes” and “No.”
v.19,20
(everything
about the gospel and their preaching was a positive ‘yes' with
all the promises of God) For
the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by
me and Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it
has always been “Yes.” For no matter how many promises God has
made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen”
is spoken by us to the glory of God.
v.21,22
(everything
about our lives and ministry is from Him) Now
it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed
us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our
hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
v.23
(part
of the reason for not coming was that I held back because of the
negative things I heard about you) I
call God as my witness—and I stake my life on it—that it was in
order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth.
v.24
(we
want to bless you, not lord it over you in your faith) Not
that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your
joy, because it is by faith you stand firm.
[Passage
Synopsis: Paul
had previously wanted to come to them again but that hadn't happened.
The delay may be partly explained by the turmoils they experienced
in Macedonia, but also by his explanation that he hadn't wanted
to come with heavy discipline and so held back [perhaps waiting
for things to settle down]
Chapter
Brief Summary/Recap:
Ch.
1: Explanations and Apologies
•
he shares the life-threatening
difficulties they went through
•
also why they had not managed
to come to them again
Continue
to Chapter 2