2 Corinthians

Treasure in Earthen Vessels

Second Corinthians is Paul’s most personal letter. In it he talks about despairing of life, about tears, about a thorn in the flesh he begged God to remove, and about a list of beatings, shipwrecks, and sleepless nights. He is writing to a church he loved, where some had been persuaded by smooth, impressive teachers that Paul was weak, unimpressive, and not much of an apostle.

Paul’s answer is surprising. He does not try to prove that he is strong. He agrees that he is weak, and then shows that weakness is exactly where God’s power is seen. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (4:7). This letter has comforted suffering believers for two thousand years, and it includes a verse that gave this blog its name: “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (5:7).

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Authorship & Setting

Paul names himself and Timothy in the opening line, and the letter’s authorship has never been seriously questioned. The history behind it takes some piecing together. After writing 1 Corinthians, Paul made what he calls a visit “in heaviness” (2:1), a painful trip in which someone in the church openly opposed him. Afterward he wrote a severe letter “out of much affliction and anguish of heart… with many tears” (2:4). Some think that letter is 1 Corinthians. Many think it was a separate letter that has not survived.

Paul then left Ephesus, anxious to hear how the Corinthians had received his letter. He couldn’t find Titus in Troas, so he went on to Macedonia, where Titus finally met him with good news: most of the church had repented and still loved Paul (7:5–7). From Macedonia, around AD 55–56, Paul wrote this letter. He was preparing to visit them a third time (12:14; 13:1) and to collect their offering for the poor saints in Jerusalem.

The tone changes sharply at chapter 10, where Paul turns to confront a group he sarcastically calls “the very chiefest apostles” (11:5). Some scholars believe chapters 10–13 were originally a separate letter. Every manuscript we have presents the letter as one, and a pastor who has just been comforted by a repentant majority while a stubborn minority still opposes him might well write exactly like this.

Key Figures

• Paul — an apostle “by the will of God” (1:1), defending his ministry not by his strength but by his sufferings.
• Timothy — Paul’s son in the faith and co-sender of the letter.
• Titus — Paul’s coworker, who carried the severe letter, brought back good news, and was sent again to complete the collection (7:6–7; 8:6, 16–17).
• The disciplined offender — a man who had been punished by the church and had repented. Paul urges them to forgive and comfort him, “lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow” (2:7).
• The Macedonian churches — poor and persecuted believers who begged to give generously to the saints in Jerusalem (8:1–5).
• The false apostles — impressive outsiders who preached “another Jesus” (11:4), boasted in their credentials, and took advantage of the church (11:13–20).
• A man in Christ — caught up to the third heaven fourteen years earlier, which Paul tells in the third person and then makes clear was his own experience (12:1–7).

Greek Word Study

παράκλησις · paraklēsis

“Comfort,” “encouragement,” literally a calling alongside. In 1:3–7, the noun and its verb appear about ten times in five verses. It is related to Paraclete, the name Jesus gives the Holy Spirit in John 14. God comforts us, not just so we feel better, but so we can come alongside others with the same comfort.

καταλλαγή · katallagē

“Reconciliation,” a change from enmity to friendship. God “hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation” (5:18). Notice who moved first. We did not reconcile God to us. He reconciled us to Himself, then sent us to tell others.

χάρις · charis

“Grace,” undeserved favor. In chapters 8–9, Paul uses it again and again for the offering itself: the grace given to the Macedonians, the grace of giving. The model for it all is “the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (8:9). Giving is grace flowing through us.

ἀσθένεια · astheneia

“Weakness,” infirmity, lack of strength. The false apostles despised it. Paul boasted in it: “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (12:9). Weakness is not God’s obstacle. It is His opening.

Eight-Movement Outline

MOVEMENT ONE

The God of All Comfort (1:1–2:13)

“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble” (1:3–4). Paul tells them that in Asia he was pressed beyond his strength, “insomuch that we despaired even of life” (1:8), so that he would learn to trust “in God which raiseth the dead” (1:9). He explains why he changed his travel plans: not because he was fickle, but to spare them another painful visit. God is not fickle either: “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen” (1:20). He urges them to forgive the man who caused grief, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices” (2:11).

MOVEMENT TWO

Ministers of a New Covenant (2:14–3:18)

“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place” (2:14). Paul doesn’t need letters of recommendation. “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men” (3:2). He contrasts the old covenant, written on stone, with the new, written by the Spirit on hearts. Moses’ face shone so brightly after meeting God that he wore a veil, and Israel still reads the old covenant with a veil over their hearts. But when anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”(3:17). “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory” (3:18).

MOVEMENT THREE

Treasure in Clay Jars (4:1–18)

Paul does not use deception or tamper with God’s word. If the gospel is hidden, it is hidden from those whose minds the god of this world has blinded. “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (4:6). That treasure is carried in clay pots, so everyone can see the power is God’s. “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed” (4:8–9). “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (4:16). Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us “a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (4:17).

MOVEMENT FOUR

Walking by Faith (5:1–6:13)

Our earthly body is a tent that will be taken down, but we have a building from God, eternal in the heavens. Meanwhile, “we walk by faith, not by sight” (5:7), and would rather be “absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (5:8). We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. “For the love of Christ constraineth us” (5:14). “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (5:17). God has given us the ministry of reconciliation, so “we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (5:20–21). “Behold, now is the day of salvation” (6:2). Paul describes a ministry carried out “as having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (6:10).

MOVEMENT FIVE

Come Out From Among Them (6:14–7:16)

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (6:14). Light and darkness, Christ and Belial, the temple of God and idols have nothing in common. “For ye are the temple of the living God” (6:16). “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord”(6:17). Paul then opens his heart: when he came into Macedonia, he had fightings without and fears within, but God comforted him by the coming of Titus. He does not regret the severe letter, because it led them to real repentance. “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death” (7:10).

MOVEMENT SIX

The Grace of Giving (8:1–9:15)

The Macedonian churches, in “a great trial of affliction… and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality” (8:2). They begged to be included, because they “first gave their own selves to the Lord” (8:5). Paul points to the example of Christ, who became poor so that we might be rich, and to the manna in the wilderness: “He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack” (8:15). “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully” (9:6). “For God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you” (9:7–8). It all ends in worship: “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift” (9:15).

MOVEMENT SEVEN

Weapons Not Carnal (10:1–11:33)

Paul’s opponents said his letters were weighty but in person he was weak and his speech contemptible (10:10). He answers that his warfare is not fought the world’s way: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds… and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (10:4–5). He is jealous over them “with godly jealousy” (11:2), because they are tolerating false apostles. “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light”(11:14). Then, as a “fool,” Paul boasts, but not in his credentials. He boasts in his sufferings: five times thirty-nine lashes, three beatings with rods, a stoning, three shipwrecks, a night and a day in the deep, hunger, cold, and “the care of all the churches” (11:28). He ends the list with the most humiliating moment of all, being let down in a basket over the Damascus wall to escape.

MOVEMENT EIGHT

Strength Made Perfect in Weakness (12:1–13:14)

Paul tells of a man caught up to paradise who heard unspeakable words. Then he tells what came after: “there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure” (12:7). Three times he begged the Lord to take it away. The answer was no, and something better: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (12:9). “For when I am weak, then am I strong” (12:10). Paul is coming a third time, and he tells them to get ready: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith” (13:5). He closes with a benediction that names the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost together: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen” (13:14).

Christ Typology

The Veil Taken Away. When Moses came down from Sinai, his face shone, and he put a veil over it (Exodus 34:29–35). Paul says the glory of the old covenant was real but fading, and that a veil still lies over the heart when the old covenant is read. “Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away” (3:16). In Christ, believers behold God’s glory with unveiled faces and are changed into His image. Moses saw the glory and reflected it for a while. We see it in the face of Jesus Christ, and it keeps transforming us.

Gideon’s Pitchers. Many have noticed the echo between 2 Corinthians 4 and Judges 7. Gideon’s three hundred men carried lamps hidden inside clay pitchers. At the signal, they broke the pitchers, the light blazed out, and God won the battle. Paul writes that God has shined light into our hearts and that we carry this treasure in earthen vessels. When the clay is cracked, the light gets out, and everyone can see the victory is God’s.

Made Sin for Us. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (5:21). On the Day of Atonement, the high priest laid his hands on the scapegoat and confessed Israel’s sins over it, and it carried them away (Leviticus 16:21–22). Isaiah said the Servant would make “his soul an offering for sin” (Isaiah 53:10). The sinless One took our sin, and we receive His righteousness. It is the great exchange.

The Manna Principle. Paul quotes Exodus 16:18 about the manna, where those who gathered much had nothing left over and those who gathered little had no lack. God gave His people bread from heaven, enough for everyone, and they shared it. Jesus is the true bread from heaven, and those who have received Him give in the same way: generously, trusting the God who supplies daily bread.

The Rich One Who Became Poor. Second Corinthians 8:9 is a whole gospel in one verse. The eternal Son, rich in the glory He had with the Father, became poor: born in a stable, raised in Nazareth, with nowhere to lay His head, and dying naked on a cross. He did it so that we could become rich in Him. This is why Paul calls the gift “unspeakable”(9:15).

Personal Application

Your comfort is meant to be passed on. Paul says God comforts us in all our tribulation so that we can comfort others in theirs. Whatever God has carried you through is not just your story. It is equipment. Someone else is in the place you used to be, and the comfort you received is meant for them too.

Walk by faith, not by sight. What you can see right now is not the whole picture. Paul’s outward man was wearing out, his circumstances were hard, and his reputation was under attack. But he looked at the things which are not seen, because those are eternal. Faith is not pretending the troubles aren’t real. It is trusting that they are light and momentary compared to what God is preparing.

You are a new creature. If any man be in Christ, the old has passed away. Your past sins, your old reputation, and the labels other people put on you do not define you. God does not see you through your history. He sees you in His Son.

Take every thought captive. Strongholds are not usually built in a day. They are built one thought at a time: a lie believed, a fear rehearsed, a grudge replayed. Paul’s weapons are not carnal. Answer the lies with the truth of God’s word, and bring those thoughts back under Christ’s authority, again and again.

God’s grace is sufficient. Paul prayed three times for the thorn to go, and God said no. Sometimes the answer to our prayer is not removal but grace to carry on. If you are living with a thorn that has not gone away, it may be the very place where Christ’s power rests on you. When you are weak, then you are strong.

TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY · MARANATHA

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