2 Corinthians 1

I thought that I'd take the time to share some of the things from the Bible Study I'm doing with the Set Free church. We'll be going through the book of 2 Corinthians, one of my absolute favorites!

When Paul wrote the letter, the situation at Corinth was a mess. A small group of people were slandering Paul for "breaking promises" dealing with travel plans. They were saying that all his sufferings proved that Paul was not approved by God. So Paul wrote back his most rhetorically amazing letter. In it, Paul seeks to prove his qualifications as an apostle. The big question of the letter is found in 2:16, "who is qualified/adequate/sufficient for these things?" What are "these things"? We'll find out as we go.

The most important part of a biblical letter is the blessing/thanksgiving at the beginning. Paul begins by blessing the "God of all comfort." It's important to note here that comfort is a result of suffering, and not just any suffering, but suffering for the sake of the Gospel: persecution. And this comfort is God's blessing to us to bless others with. It is not merely ours to keep. There is a community for us to share testimonies of God's faithfulness and grace in times of hardship, to encourage others to persevere under pressure. "Patient endurance" is the outward sign of this comfort (v.6).

Then Paul gives a weird promise in verse 7. He says that the sufferings of the Corinthian church are a guarantee of God's comfort to come. Think about that: suffering guarantees comfort.

So what does this mean for you?

1) When you suffer, experience hardship, or are wrongly accused, you're in good company: the apostles, saints in history, the present church, even our Lord Jesus endured suffering, and we can too, because we're not alone.
2) The comfort and consolation and patience you receive through these trials is meant to be passed on to others. God's pattern from Gen 12:2 on has always been to bless one person who will then pass on that blessing to others, and so on, and so on.....
3) Endurance and patience are not passive resignation to the unchangeable, but rather, an active bearing up under hardship, in the confidence that God will absolutely deliver you from this (even if that means through death, like it eventually meant for Paul).
4) Two of the most prominent marks of a true believer in the New Testament are: a) experiencing trials and hardships, and b) patiently enduring them. Do these describe you? If not, why not?

I'll pick up with verse 8 next time. I'm trying to keep these reasonably short.