Romans 1: 5-7
Through whom (Jesus Christ our Lord) we have received grace and apostleship
We have all received His grace, and Paul has also received the apostleship to lay the foundation of the church, which is Jesus Christ.
to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His Name's sake,
Paul's "job" was to share the Good News to all the non-Jews, that all who would listen and receive faith would become part of God's church; all those who would obey God's calling to believe.
among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ;
Paul is writing to the Christians who have already been called to have faith in Jesus as Savior.
to all who are the beloved of God in Rome, called as saints:
This letter is to the church in Rome, where Paul has yet to travel, but he is planning to go there, and this letter is preceding him.
Those who have become Christians there are greatly loved of God, and He calls them "saints," "holy ones."
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
This concludes Paul's introductory greeting, which we are discussing yesterday and today.
Paul was to lay the church's foundation among the Gentiles, as Peter was to lay it among Jewish, Israelite people (Galatians 2:7). God had made them both Apostles, foundation-layers, so that all people everywhere could hear the wonderful Good News and come to faith, all over the World, both Jews and Gentiles.
God is not willing for any to perish, any people anywhere, because He made Mankind to be His family. Even in ancient Israel, God blessed the Nation when they followed His Law, and peoples in other Nations could see how good God was, and want to worship Him, too.
But whenever God prospered Israel, instead of being thankful, they just got proud and figured that they'd got it for themselves, and forgot God. So He had to take it away from them, so that they would turn to Him again. We see this repeated over and over again in the book of Judges.
Now, today, the task is ours, the members of God's Universal Church, His children, to build on the foundation the Apostles laid, sharing with everyone how good our God is to Love us so much as to send His own Son to take our death, so we can live forever with Him.
It's up to us, Christians, brothers and sisters in the Lord!
Jesus said that,
This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the World for a witness unto all Nations; and then the end shall come (Matthew 24: 14).
That means we need to get off our duffs and get moving, to preach this wonderful Good News to everyone! Let everybody know, so they can each make their own decision whether to let God Love them or not.
Then when everyone who is alive has considered and made their choice, then the Last Trumpet will sound and the Lord will descend, and this Era of Mankind will be over! (See I Corinthians 15: 51-53 and I Thessalonians 4: 13-18.)
Tomorrow we will begin to peruse all that Paul had to say to these Roman Christians.
Until then, my dears, Grow in the Grace and Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (II Peter 3: 18), and look for God's blessings every day!
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
Romans 1: 1-4
Paul,
He always identified himself as the writer of his letters, so there would be no doubt as to the authority the letter held.
a bond-servant of Christ Jesus,
He knows that humanly he is nothing but just a slave, owned by Jesus Christ.
called as an apostle,
God called him, it was not his choice, he just obeyed God's calling.
set apart for the Gospel of God,
He was put aside from the rest of the brothers to be sent out into the World to share God's Good News to everyone he could. He had to leave home.
which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,
The Old Testament prophets wrote centuries beforehand what Messiah would do, so we could recognize Him.
concerning His Son,
This is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity who volunteered before anything was created, to take responsibility for this Mankind that they would make.
who was born a descendant of David according to the flesh,
Both Matthew and Luke record genealogies for Jesus, but they don't match. Why? Because Matthew is announcing that the King has been born, so he gives the genealogy of the royal line of kings of Israel, that would give this child the right and authority to claim David's throne. This is through His legal father, Joseph.
However, Luke presented Him as the genuine, human Man, so he gives us Jesus' actual human genealogy, through His mother Mary.
Both Joseph and Mary came through the line of David the king, Joseph through the Royal line through Solomon and Rehoboam and the rest of the kings of Israel, and Mary came through the line of David the king through Solomon's brother Nathan, still a royal line, but not claiming the throne.
God had cursed the last sitting king of Judah, Jehoiakim: Jeremiah pronounced,
Thus saith the Lord, of Jehoiakim king of Judah: he shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: ... I shall punish him and his seed ... (Jeremiah 36:30, 31).
So, since Joseph was of the royal seed coming through Jehoiakim, the curse prevented him from being able to claim David's throne, but since he was the legal but not physical father of Jesus, Jesus does have the right and authority to ascend to the royal throne of David, His ancestor, through both His mother and his legal father.
who was declared the Son of God with power by the Resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.
When Jesus was Resurrected from the dead, having died and been buried for three days; this proved that His Father really is God the Father, and that He really is the Lord God of the Universe. God the Father has made His Son Lord over all. He has put all of creation in His hand to rule.
I can imagine: Here is Father, Son, and Spirit, enjoying each others' fellowship and discussing, What shall we do now? Create? Okay, what shall we make? How will it work? What if we make sentient beings like Us and give them a choice? So what if they choose not to be reasonable and decide to harm themselves? Well, we can make them to live forever if they choose Life, but if they choose death, then they would need a Redeemer to rescue them. And the Son speaks up, and volunteers to take responsibility for this "Project" they are planning, and they go ahead and call into existence everything that is. And the Boss, the Lord in charge of it all, is the Son, who made good His determination to rescue us!
And He is our Lord God Almighty, who breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life, and Mankind became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). And the Lord God has directed all of our human history (His-story) calling and speaking and inspiring and giving Law and prophesies and blessing Mankind with the abundance He has placed in this Earth for us to enjoy, and allowing us to experience the consequences of our actions, whether good or bad.
He has been our Lord, our Boss, and we belong to Him by creation, because He made us. We belong to Him by purchase, because He fulfilled that sacrifice that He gave for the whole Nation (Leviticus 4: 13, 18), when His blood poured out at the foot of His Altar, the Cross, when the soldier pierced His side, to purchase all of us, all of creation, for judgment.
And those of us who have realized that we are the criminal who deserves execution, and Jesus took our place in death, belong to Him as His own family. He fulfilled the personal sacrifice (Leviticus 1: 2-13), that the individual person was to bring, when as the Lamb of God His precious Blood splattered the sides of His Altar, the Cross. This is the first sacrifice that the Levites were to teach the people. Jesus fulfilled this for each one of us individually to save us. That's why God saves people one by one.
And when every person in each Nation that wants to follow God has made the decision to let Jesus be his/her Savior, then God's wrath will fall on the rest of the whole Nation, all who have rejected His gracious offer.
God has chosen the Race of Man to be His own children, but He doesn't want robots or puppets. He gave us free choice, to choose to love Him back. He will not violate our will, so those who choose Him are His, and those who choose themselves or other than God, will exist forever without all that God is, because they chose it.
His wrath falls on only those whose punishment did not fall on Jesus, as their Savior. He is not willing that any would perish, but that all would come to repentance. God chooses no one for punishment or wrath, people choose it for themselves.
O my Father, thank You so much for Your wonderful Plan of the Ages, to choose us to be Your own family, and to work in each of us to grow us up into the very image of Your dear Son.
Thank You for who You are! For creating this Universe to be the environment for our Earth to dwell in, and for designing this Earth to be a perfect planet for Mankind to live on. Help us to take care of it.
Father, teach us how to love one another as You Love us! You know we are only dust, and frail and vulnerable. Strengthen us in Your Spirit to think Your thoughts, so we will have Your attitudes toward our surroundings, and so that we will respond to what happens around us as You would determine is best, for us and for those with us and around us in our World.
And You will receive all the glory, for You have done it all.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim that Jesus Christ is our Lord God Almighty, sovereign King of the Universe, to the glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever, Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
II Corinthians 13: 1-14
This is the third time I am coming to you.
Every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15).
I have previously said when present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that if I come again I will not spare anyone,
Paul quoted the stipulation of two or three witnesses to confirm an accusation, with reminding them that this will be his third visit. The issue was brought up during the second visit, and this letter is the second time the issue is addressed. So the third witness will be his third visit. So if it isn't resolved by then, that means it's time to take action.
since you are seeking for proof of the Christ who speaks in me, and who is not weak toward you, but mighty in you.
If the Corinthians are looking for the power and strength of Christ in Paul, then his third visit should prove it is there.
For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God.
Jesus appeared weak when He didn't retaliate or fight against His being taken, but meekly submitted to the torture and execution. But that time is past, and He now lives in the Power of the Holy Spirit.
For we also are weak in Him yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.
Paul also dealt with these brothers in meekness and gentleness, which appears to be weak to the World. But the power of God that worked in these very believers shows that God was working through Paul on their behalf.
Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?
He's telling them to look at themselves, instead of Paul. They need to get their own house in order, before they listen to these detractors of Paul.
Anytime we are consistently focused on other's faults and ignoring our own failings, we probably need to take a reality test to make sure we're really trusting that Jesus took our place in death to wash us clean, and start acting like it.
But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves do not fail the test.
They know Paul. He's spent time with them, and they've gotten to know his character and personality and personal moral standard.
Now we pray to God that you do no wrong; not that we ourselves may appear approved, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear unapproved.
Even if our reputation is in tatters, you should still do what is right, for your own sake.
For we can do nothing against the Truth, but only for the Truth.
Paul is still focused on supporting God's Truth about how we are to live together as brothers and sisters in Christ.
For we rejoice when we ourselves are weak but you are strong; this we also pray for, that you be made complete.
Paul doesn't care how he looks, as long as these beloved brothers and sisters can grow up and become mature in Christ.
For this reason I am writing these things while absent, so that when present I need not use severity, in accordance with the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.
So he's writing this letter so they can get their stuff together before he comes and he won't need to be the stern disciplinarian when he comes, because the authority the Lord gave him as an Apostle is to build up and encourage, not to criticize and make demands.
Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace;
He sums up the whole letter here, briefly.
and the God of Love and peace will be with you.
When they succeed in these things, then they will be rewarded with the consequence of God being able to deal favorably with them. It will tear down the walls.
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
This is the local custom of the day when recognizing union and fellowship within the family of God, and may also be a sign of mutual forgiveness and reconciliation.
All the saints greet you.
These would be the church members in Philippi, Thessalonica, and/or Berea, where Paul had recently been.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.
Paul ends this epistle with the unity of Spirit of the Trinity, which leaves no room for any discord, self-assertiveness or self-seeking, or any quarreling or factions.
The order: Son, Father, Spirit, reflects our Christian experience: It is through the grace shown by Christ in living and dying for men that God the Father demonstrates His Love, and the Spirit creates fellowship among us, filling our spirits.
O my Father, I pray for Your Church Universal today. I pray that we, as Your children, would display Your grace unto one another, looking only to serve by helping one another. Let Your Love for each of us be given to each other, overlooking weaknesses and irritations, forgiving insults and offenses, making amends for wrongs done, and reconciling relationships.
Strengthen us to present a united front to the World, storming the gates of Hell to rescue the perishing, who have fallen prey to the enemy's lies and the World's deceptions.
Send out Your workers, Father, into Your fields, white to harvest. Lead us to find every lost lamb caught in some ravine or tangled up in briar, to carry them home to the safety and rest of Your One Fold with One Shepherd.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Christ, the Lord God Almighty, sovereign King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
II Corinthians 12: 11-21
I have been a fool!
Paul feels so foolish in recounting all these things about himself, when his focus really is on Christ, not himself.
You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you.
Because these Corinthians were listening to slanderous lies about him from people who may not even known him, he wanted them to know the truth, which they should know is true, because they did know him. So they should have been defending him against the lies.
For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.
Paul knew that God was speaking through him, so he wanted them to respect that, rather than look at outward appearances.
The signs of a true Apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works.
Paul had proved to them that he was appointed an Apostle by Christ, by all the signs he had performed when he first came to Corinth, which had convinced the seekers there to become believers.
For in what were you less favored than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!
He had taught them the same Truths and principles he taught all the churches, so they had every advantage that every other church had. The only difference was that he didn't ask them to pay his expenses there, he was supported by other churches. So he hadn't even taken this advantage of them. Did they consider this wrong?
Here for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you.
So now he preparing to come to them again, and he still won't charge them wages for his services. He's not after what they have, he only wants them to believe God's Truth.
For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children.
He considers himself their spiritual parent, and they are his spiritual children, having believed in Christ through his ministry to them.
I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?
Paul really has put himself into his ministering to these people who have become his brothers and sisters in the Lord, and he loves them deeply. It hurts him when they don't appreciate this and love him back.
How God's heart must hurt, for Loving us so much that He has done everything possible and impossible to draw us to Himself, yet so many refuse His care. And even His own children who know Him still rely on themselves instead of His great strength.
But granting that I myself did not burden you, I was crafty, you say, and got the better of you by deceit.
These false teachers cannot find anything to accuse Paul of, so they're saying that he must be really sly and deceitful to take some kind of advantage of them without them knowing it!
This sounds a lot like some political situations, where some want more power but cannot pin anything on the ones standing in their way. (Let the aware understand this.)
Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you?
I urged Titus to go, and sent the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?
When I sent Titus and the brother to you, did they act any differently that I did when I was with you? Did either of them take any kind of advantage of you or insult or harm you in any way?
Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you?
Do you think that all this time I've only been defending myself?
It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved.
I've only been trying to encourage you by sharing how strong and compassionate and present our God is with us and with you, and just as He brought me through all those troubles, He will also be with you to help you, too. I, Paul, love you dearly, and Christ loves you even more!
For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish--that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.
Paul wants these believers to face the Truth, turn around from how they have gotten off-track, and do right. He wants them to change their minds from negativity to seeing the positive instead. Otherwise there could be selfishness and self-centeredness among them causing all kinds of disputes.
Then he will have to put them right again, as a disciplining parent, instead of rejoicing with them as brothers and sisters in the Lord.
I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.
He is hoping against hope that they would have come to their senses by the time he gets there; otherwise, if they're still clinging to their sins, then he may be humiliated because he'd bragged to others of their following the Lord.
And living in a sexually immoral lifestyle is rebelling against the Lord, not following Him. If they're still caught in these harmful activities that they practiced before they knew that the Lord bought them, then they need to think again, and consider how much our Lord Jesus suffered for these sins.
O my Father, I pray for the people today who see themselves as Christians, yet live lives caught in the snares of the World. I pray that You would impress upon them, in their minds and hearts and spirits, how much You Love them, and sent Your Son to suffer Your wrath that they deserve, so that You could break them free from these harmful lifestyles.
Father, when You showed me Jesus on the Cross, and let me know that He took my place there in death, You immediately broke me out of the addiction I had to relationships, because You Love me!
I pray for the others who want to seek You, that You would find them, and rescue them, and lift their feet out of the mire onto that Solid Rock.
O Father, I know that You are compassionate and just and generous. I know that You are not willing that any would perish, because You made Mankind to be Your own children. You want everyone to realize that they need You, because they can't do anything of themselves. You want all of us to want You, and to turn our thinking around to think Your ways, to see Your Truth in all You have made and done, and to turn to You.
How Your heart must ache for all those who are rebellious against you, being deceived by the World, the enemy, and their own flesh. Father, please send Your workers out into Your vast fields, white to harvest, to reap Your abundant crops! Chase down those who are running from you, and find every wayward lamb who has been trapped in a ravine or entangled in brambles.
Father, fill Your house with all Your children, that every place at Your great Banquet Table will be filled, and we will all revel and rejoice in Your joy!
And every eye will see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is our Lord God Almighty, sovereign King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever, Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
II Corinthians 12: 7-10
So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
The quality and depth of the revelations that were given to Paul, being able to see Heaven (yesterday's blog), were to keep him on track with all the details he would be writing in his epistles.
But God didn't want that to distract him from his purpose, so He allowed him to suffer some malady that is not identified specifically. Some think it may have been some kind of eye problem, because he wrote the church in Galatia that, If it were possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me (Galatians 4:15).
Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.
After
three times, Paul didn't ask any more. After three times, Jesus didn't
ask any more, either, in the Garden. So I suppose that's a good limit
for how many times we should ask God for what we are praying for.
But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness."
This is a very good principle we all need to learn, that it's when we know that we are not strong that we're ready to lean on God.
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Paul would much rather talk about where he is weak and insufficient, instead of how much God had honored him by revealing so much to him. That way, Christ would get the credit, not Paul. Paul didn't want credit for all God had done for him.
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul was much more comfortable talking about all the horrible things that happened to him, that he had no control over. That's when he leaned on the power of Christ to live through them. Then Christ gets the credit.
This is very encouraging. When I feel weak, when I am not sure of what I'm doing, or if I'm sick, or otherwise not up to what I need to be doing, then I know that Christ in me will be strong on my behalf to enable me to accomplish whatever it is that needs to be done. I know that Christ's strength will uphold me and enable me to do everything He has planned for me to do.
I never thought I could be faithful to maintain this blog, to be able to add a new entry every day. I've always been a good stater, but a poor finisher, and there was no chance that I would be able to be consistent. But I just determined that I would start, and trust God to keep me on track. And He has, for several years now! This is amazing to me!
So He can also enable you to do what He wants you to accomplish. When you talk to Him about it, just let Him know that you are weak in this area, but that you are leaning on Him to keep you consistent, or whatever you need to be, to get it done. And He will. Trust Him.
O my Father, thank You so much for Your attention to our every detail. You are God of the Great, and also God of the Small. You are immense, and nothing escapes Your attention.
Just as You were there for Paul, even in giving him a reminder of his weakness, so that he would remember to lean on You; You will also give each of us whatever we need to know how to lean on You for the strength and ability to do everything You have planned for us to do, for Your Kingdom and Your glory.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is sovereign King and Lord God Almighty, to the glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever, Amen.
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
II Corinthians 12: 1-6
Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.
Paul wanted only to boast of his weaknesses, but these people needed to know about how God honored him; so he puts this part into the third person.
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago--whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows--such a man was caught up to the third Heaven.
And I know how such a man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows--
was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.
This could have been when he was stoned and left for dead at Lystra, recorded in Acts 15:19.
He found himself in Glory, the "third Heaven," God's own home, where Jesus had carried Paradise out of Sheol with the saints who were there, in Abraham's bosom, after He had washed them clean with His blood.
(Note: the first Heaven is the atmosphere around our earth, the air we breathe. The second Heaven is the Universe, the environment, the neighborhood where our Earth lives. The third Heaven is the actual place where God lives.)
Paul can't figure out if he was actually in his body or not, but he was there. He'd died and gone to Heaven. And what he heard there cannot be pronounced by our mouths here on Earth.
Then God sent him back, and he was resuscitated and healed, because he got up, went back into the city, and was fit to travel the next day. God wasn't finished with him yet, He had a lot more work for him to do.
On behalf of such a man I will boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses.
So Paul will speak of this experience in the third person.
For if I do wish to boast I will not be foolish, for I will be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me.
Even if Paul owned up to personally experiencing this event, he would be telling the truth, without stretching it or minimizing it.
But Paul doesn't want anyone to think that he is any more important or valuable than any other child of God. We all will enter Heaven upon death, because Jesus' Blood has washed us clean. But I daresay that God doesn't bring many back after seeing Heaven. When we go, we'll stay there.
Paul doesn't say he had a choice of whether he wanted to stay or go back to life here, he just found himself there, then back here again, God's doing.
O my Father, You allowed Paul to die and go to Heaven, then come back to finish the work You planned for him to do, so now we have proof that Heaven really does exist!
Not only do we have the Old Testament prophets who were given visions of Heaven, now we have a contemporary, a New Testament saint, giving a personal eye-witness account of Heaven.
This is incredible! Father, You are an incredible God! Everything You do is good, and comes from Your Love! Every detail of every letter and missive and parchment and scroll and story is important, and lends more color and perspective to this Story of Mankind.
Today we have people who are denying that there is anything beyond this life, and that all those old stories were just their imaginations and dreams. Now we have also Paul's account, to give veracity to all the other stories.
Then You gave John the whole Revelation of Jesus Christ, describing everything that we need to expect and be ready for, and it ends with two whole chapters describing so many of the details of our next Realm after this Earth is no more.
Father God, You have told us our whole story, from before we were, until after we will be gone, as a guideline to teach us who we are, and who You are, and how You have taken care of everything for us, ahead of time.
Father, teach us how to hear Your still, quiet voice behind us, in our spirits, telling us, "This is the way, walk here." And strengthen us to obey You instantly, even when we don't understand why right away. Continue to grow us up in Your family, in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, molding us into His very image, His sterling character.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim in every Heavenly and Earthly language, that Jesus is our Christ and Lord God Almighty and King of the Universe, to the glory of Almighty God the Father!
Even so, come soon, Lord Jesus!
II Corinthians 11: 7-33
Did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the Gospel of God to you without charge?
I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you;
and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren come from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.
As the Truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia.
Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
Paul is asking them if he insulted them by not charging them for sharing God's Good News with them, for not making them pay for his services. He let other churches pay him for working in Corinth, and when he had a shortage, the brothers from Macedonia came and supplied everything he needed, so he didn't ask the Corinthians for anything in return. And he still won't.
Did he give everything to them for free because he didn't value them or love them? Of course not, he just didn't want anything to get in the way of their being able to hear and receive the wonderful Love of God!
But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting.
Paul will continue to preach for free in Corinth, so as not to give these men who are taking advantage of them, who are presenting themselves as equal to Paul, any way to accuse him of taking advantage of them in any way.
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
These guys are lying to you, Corinthians. Don't fall for their slick stories, leading you down a slippery slope.
No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
Therefore it's not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
Satan was the original angel of light, Lucifer, until he decided to take the worship that belongs to God for himself, and became Satan, who accuses the brethren before God the Father. So he knows how to appear as he used to be.
So it's no surprise when his minions also lie and wear the garb of "righteousness" to spew their lies and deceptions.
And their end will come to them, if they don't turn to the Lord, separated from Him forever.
Again I say, let no man think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little.
What I am saying, I am not saying as the Lord would, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.
Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also.
Paul says that, since these Corinthians are listening to all these guys who have all these credentials, well Paul also has very high credentials, if they want to compare.
For you tolerate it if anyone enslaves you, anyone devours you, anyone takes advantage of you, anyone exalts himself, anyone hits you in the face.
To my shame I must say that we have been weak by comparison.
The Corinthians are letting these guys take such extreme advantage of them that they are allowing them to walk all over them, and even to get physical in attacking them.
So Paul says that since he is meek and gentle, that he must look weak, since he won't exert his authority in physical ways.
But in whatever respect anyone else is bold--I speak in foolishness--I am just as bold myself.
So if they want to boast and compare, then I will play their foolish little game for a while.
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
I have just as good a pedigree as they have.
Are they servants of Christ?--I speak as if insane--I more so;
I must be out of my mind to be so focused on myself to spout off all these things I have suffered because of following Christ:
in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death.
Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.
I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren;
I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
These are just the things that happened to me.
Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.
Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?
If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness.
What's even worse is the daily concern I have for all my brothers and sisters in all the churches I founded who are exposed to all the spiritual attacks. I love these people, and when they hurt, I hurt, too.
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
You know I'm telling the truth here, not stretching it in any way, just the facts. And here's one more thing:
In Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me,
and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and so escaped his hands.
Can you imagine all the stress that Paul was under, with everywhere he went and all he went through; as well as all the concern he had for all the people he won to the Lord, who he felt responsible for.
Paul was a man who lived his life bigger-than-life. There are few people who can do this, and I admire the strength they have to endure and triumph over all the pressure and stress that is put on them, physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually.
Our God is such a great God, and He can give us His immense strength to gain the victory over every attack, every pressure, every stress, that our enemy, this World, and our own flesh can put on us. Anyone who is as sold-out as Paul was will also be able to live his or her life bigger-than-life, as Paul did.
O my Father, I pray that You would only give me the strength to face the pressures and sorrows and attacks that are against me this day.
Help me to face one day at a time, as this is what You are giving me. Let me not fret over the past, nor worry about the future. Just let me focus on this day I am living right now, and lean on You for strength.
Help me, Father, to gain the victory over the concerns I have today. Strengthen me to face the challenges, and to glorify You with every thought, every idea, every word, every action, and every contact I have with myself and others today.
Father, continue to prepare me for all the bountiful blessings You want to lavish on me, so that I will be equipped to enlarge and magnify Your great Kingdom. To glorify Your magnificent Name. To have an abundant treasure to cast at the feet of my Lord and Savior.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is our Lord God Almighty, our sovereign King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever, Amen!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly!
