Search
Prayer: Lord, bring us all into Yourself. Lord, we are here with You, waiting on You. We believe that You are really with us. O Lord Jesus, open Yourself to us and open Your Word to us. Lord, help us to open ourselves to You, to Your Word, and to Your up-to-date revelation. We trust in You for Your speaking. Lord, do cover us and cleanse us. Once again, Lord, we take You as our sin offering and trespass offering that we may be accepted in You by God the Father. Lord, do anoint us. Amen.
I believe that all the saints can attain to the standard of the truth as presented here. I do not know how much the Lord will do and how far the Lord will go, but I believe that a number of new ones and young ones will be raised up among us who will be able to exceed us in knowing the truth. Those who follow after us will be excellent. I believe that this will bring in a new age among the Christians, an age of speaking the higher things and the deeper things. If we are faithful, after a few years all the truths that we present will become so common to many of the Lord’s children. All the saints will speak these truths very commonly, and they will never be so hidden or so hard to understand.
Now we will consider the crucial points of the truth in 2 Corinthians. Second Corinthians is much deeper than 1 Corinthians. For this reason, in this chapter we can consider only the most crucial points. The first crucial point is found at the end of chapter 1, in verses 21 and 22. These verses say, “The One who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God, He who has also sealed us and given the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.” This crucial point is the base of all the truths found in this book. The base of all the following truths is that we have been attached to Christ, the anointed One. The apostles, who preached Christ according to God’s promises and lived Christ according to their preaching, and the believers, who received Christ according to the apostles’ preaching, are attached, joined, to Christ, becoming one with Him. Christ, the anointed One, is full of ointment, full of anointing. Hallelujah, God attaches the apostles with all the believers to this anointed One! Because we have been attached to Him, the ointment flows in us. This point, as well as the other points of the truth presented here, have been covered in the Recovery Version footnotes and in the Life-study messages.
Another crucial point is found in 2:14-16. Verse 14 says, “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in the Christ and manifests the savor of the knowledge of Him through us in every place.” Verse 15 says, “For we are a fragrance of Christ to God in those who are being saved and in those who are perishing.” Here two figures of speech are used; one is the celebration of a victory, and the other is the scattering of the incense in the celebration. In the first figure of speech we are captive ones in the triumphal procession. In ancient times a procession, consisting mostly of captives, was used to celebrate the victory. We all are the captured ones. While Paul was traveling in his ministry, he was a minister. But as he was traveling in his ministry, he considered that he was a captive and that his ministry was a procession celebrating Christ’s victory. The gospel teams must consider themselves as captives in the procession celebrating Christ’s victory. Whenever you go to a campus, you go as captives in a procession. You may give a message to present this point to people. You can tell the students, “Friends, we are not preachers; we are captives. We are not merely in the ministry but rather in a procession to celebrate Christ’s victory. We hope that you would join us in this procession.”
Eventually, all the captives become incense-bearers. First, we are the captives in the procession celebrating Christ’s victory; then right away we become incense-bearers to scatter incense, or fragrance, the savor of the knowledge of Christ in His triumphant ministry. The apostles, being permeated with Christ, become a fragrance of Christ. They are not merely a sweet savor produced by Christ, but Christ Himself is the savor being exhaled in their life and work to God, both in those who are being saved, as a savor out of life unto life, and in those who are perishing, as a savor out of death unto death. The phrases unto death and unto life in 2:16 refer to the different effects of the apostles’ ministry upon different persons.
Second Corinthians 3:3 says, “You are being manifested that you are a letter of Christ ministered by us, inscribed not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone but in tablets of hearts of flesh.” We, the New Testament believers, are living letters of Christ. The believers are the fruit of the apostles’ labor, commending the apostles in their ministry to others. Thus, they have become the apostles’ living letter of commendation, written by the apostles with the indwelling Christ as the content in every part of their inner being. A letter of Christ is one composed of Christ as the content to convey and express Christ. All believers of Christ should be such a living letter of Christ so that others may read and know Christ in their being. In this living letter Christ is all the letters of the alphabet. He is every letter composing every word that composes every sentence. The Spirit of the living God, who is the living God Himself, is not an instrument, like a pen for writing, but the very element, like the ink, with which the apostles minister Christ as the content for the writing of living letters that convey Christ. The Spirit of the living God is the “ink,” the element, the essence, of the writing, conveying Christ as the alphabet, the sentences, and the words.
Another crucial point is found in 3:7-11, concerning the New Testament ministry. The New Testament ministry here is called the ministry of the Spirit (v. 8), the ministry in glory (v. 8), and the ministry of righteousness (v. 9). This ministry is the apostolic ministry of the new covenant, a covenant of the living Spirit, who gives life. The glory here is the glory of God manifested in the face of Christ, which is God Himself shining forever in the hearts of the apostles (4:6), surpassing the glory of the Mosaic ministry of the old covenant (3:10). The ministry of the old covenant became one of death because the old covenant brought in condemnation unto death (Rom. 5:13, 18, 20-21) and death unto condemnation. Hence, it was also the ministry of condemnation. The ministry of the new covenant is one of the Spirit who gives life (6, 2 Cor. 3:8), because the new covenant brings in God’s righteousness unto life (Rom. 5:17, 21) and life brings forth righteousness. Hence, it is also the ministry of righteousness.
Verse 18 of chapter 3 says, “We all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.” When we with unveiled face are beholding and reflecting the glory of the Lord, He infuses us with the element of what He is and what He has done. Thus, we are being transformed metabolically to have His life shape by His life power with His life essence, mainly by the renewing of our mind (Rom. 12:2), into His image. Being transformed indicates that we are in the process of transformation. The same image means that we are being conformed to the resurrected and glorified Christ, being made the same as He is (8:29).
Thus far, four figures of speech have been used: captives, incense-bearers, letters, and mirrors. A fifth figure is used in 2 Corinthians 4:7, which says, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.” God’s shining in our hearts brings into us a treasure, the Christ of glory, who is the embodiment of God to be our life and our everything. But we who contain this treasure are earthen vessels, worthless and fragile. A priceless treasure is contained in the worthless vessels. This has made the worthless vessels ministers of the new covenant with a priceless ministry.
Verse 13 of chapter 4 says, “Having the same spirit of faith according to that which is written, ‘I believed, therefore I spoke,’ we also believe, therefore we also speak.” Speaking by the spirit of faith in our practical life is a great, crucial point. This very particular expression is used only once in the entire Bible. The spirit of faith is a mingling of the Holy Spirit with our spirit. The phrase spirit of faith places the spirit in apposition to faith. Faith is of the spirit. Therefore, the spirit of faith is faith. Our faith is just the mingled spirit. Furthermore, faith comes from hearing, and hearing comes from the preaching of the word (Rom. 10:14). The very source of faith is the word (v. 17). This is why we must get into the Word. The more we get into the Word, the more we will have faith, and this faith is the spirit. Now by such a spirit we may speak the Word that is the source of our faith. Here is a cycle. The Word produces faith, faith is the spirit, and by this spirit we speak the Word. Our speaking will become the source of faith in others. The faith in them then becomes the spirit by which they speak.
According to the context, the apostle’s speaking by the spirit of faith was related to the death and resurrection of Christ. Second Corinthians 4:11 and 12 say, “We who are alive are always being delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death operates in us, but life in you.” Paul spoke his experience of the death and resurrection of Christ.
A very crucial point, the ministry of reconciliation, is found in 2 Corinthians 5:16-21. Reconciliation is in two steps. These two steps of reconciliation are clearly portrayed by the two veils of the tabernacle. The first veil is called the screen (Exo. 26:37). A sinner was brought to God through the reconciliation of the propitiating blood to enter into the Holy Place by passing this screen. This typifies the first step of reconciliation. The second veil (vv. 31-35; Heb. 9:3) still separated him from God who is in the Holy of Holies. This veil needed to be rent that he might be brought to God in the Holy of Holies. This is the second step of reconciliation. First, we were sinners in the outer court. After being reconciled, passing through the first veil, we became saved persons. From this time we became a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). However, we may have continued to live in the natural life. At most we could be only in the Holy Place. The natural life in the flesh was still there separating us from the Holy of Holies. Therefore, we needed a second step, to be reconciled out of the natural life unto God.
In the first step of reconciliation, we were reconciled to God from sins. For this purpose Christ died for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3) that they might be forgiven by God. This is the objective aspect of Christ’s death. In this aspect He bore our sins upon Himself on the cross to be judged by God for us. In the second step, we as believers living in the natural life were reconciled to God from the flesh of sin. For this purpose Christ died for us — the persons — that we may live to Him in the resurrection life (2 Cor. 5:14-15). This is the subjective aspect of Christ’s death. In this aspect He was made sin for us to be judged and done away with by God that we may become the righteousness of God in Him. By the two aspects of His death He has fully reconciled God’s chosen people to God. This is not simply to be justified by God but to be made the righteousness of God in Christ. For Christ to become sin is higher than for Christ to bear our sins. Likewise, to be made the righteousness of God is deeper than justification.
There are a number of points in chapters 6 through 10, but these points should not be considered as crucial. In considering the crucial points in Paul’s Epistles, our standard is very high. When we use the Life-study messages, it is not necessary to use every message and every part of the messages. When the messages were given as a study of a particular book, every verse was covered. However, we should focus on the crucial points in the central line of the book. These are the things that are neglected and overlooked by many of the saints.
In 2 Corinthians 11:2 Paul says, “I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” Verse 4 says, “If indeed he who comes preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit, which you have not received, or a different gospel, which you have not accepted, you bear well with him.” In verse 5 Paul refers to the super-apostles. Super-apostles is an ironic term. Besides Paul and his co-workers, there were others who taught differently. Paul considered that all those different teachings were replacements of the unique Husband. The unique Husband is Christ in His unique revelation. Other teachers came in pretending to be even higher than the apostles. However, Paul says that they were “super,” not higher, and that what they taught may become another husband to the Corinthians. To take their teachings is to take another husband.
The enemy is very subtle. Throughout the centuries many fundamental and scriptural teachings have been used by the enemy to replace Christ and the revelation concerning Christ. These teachings are more subtle than the Judaic teachings. The Judaic teachings of the Old Testament law and genealogy are not so fundamental as so many of the teachings given in past centuries, especially since the Reformation. Many good, fundamental, and spiritual teachings all became replacements for the proper revelation of Christ. According to Paul, these are other husbands. When the super-apostles taught, they also used the name Jesus and the term gospel. Otherwise, Paul would not have referred to another Jesus and another gospel. This was very subtle. This point is very crucial and impresses us with a principle — anything that distracts people from the central line and from the focus of God’s New Testament economy, even though it may be quite fundamental and scriptural, is a replacement of Christ and of the revelation of Christ. If it is a replacement, it is another husband to us as the pure virgins.
Chapter 12 covers two very crucial points. In verse 2 Paul says, “I know a man in Christ,” and in verse 9 he says, “And He has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you.” At least to some degree Paul considered these points together in the writing of this chapter. The man in Christ has a particular characteristic in that he always shows his weakness. Although his weakness is not actually great, he still prefers to display it. In this respect he takes the Lord Jesus as his pattern. We know that the Lord Jesus was not weak; rather, He was powerful. However, when He was arrested, brought to the cross, and nailed there, Christ appeared to be weak. When Judas brought the officers from the temple to arrest Christ, Christ did not struggle. In the eyes of the arresting ones Christ was very weak. If He were not weak, surely He would have fought back, not tolerating their arresting. He did not struggle. He did not have any reaction. That was His display of weakness. When He was brought the long distance from Gethsemane to Golgotha, He did not resist. That was a sign of His weakness. To nail a living person on a cross is not easy. Even an animal resists being slaughtered. The Lord Jesus, however, apparently had no strength to struggle. In this He showed His weakness.
Paul, as a man in Christ, was just like Christ. In the preceding chapters Paul reminds the Corinthians of the many ways in which they had wronged him. However, Paul never reacted to them. He always showed them his weakness. Even when they accused him of manipulating them for the sake of money, he did not fight back or react (vv. 16-19). Instead, he displayed his weakness. In verse 5 Paul says, “On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on behalf of myself I will not boast, except in my weaknesses.” The weakness here does not refer to the actual weakness of Paul. Rather, it is like that of the Lord Jesus who, when He was arrested, brought to Golgotha, and put on the cross, did not do anything to resist. Apparently, He was weak, not doing anything. If while one is suffering persecution, he reacts and struggles against it, he is not under the cross. Rather, he is quite strong. No strong person could ever be crucified. Every crucified one must first be a subdued one. Only when one is subdued can he be put on the cross. Being subdued is a sign of weakness. Throughout His whole life Christ was subdued. He was subdued by His opposers, and He was subdued by His environment. Paul followed the Lord to be subdued. The Corinthians did many unfair and unrighteous things to him. Yet Paul remained subdued, showing his weakness. The sign of a man in Christ is weakness. This is opposite to our natural feeling. We may consider that the sign of a man in Christ would be his power and his strength. It seems that such a man should be very great. But Paul, as a man in Christ, appeared to be so small.
In verse 9 Paul comes to the matter of the Lord’s sufficient grace. However, when he comes to this point, he comes in the way of weakness. In verses 7 and 8 he tells us that there was a thorn in his flesh. Although he entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from him, the Lord would not answer him. The thorn remained there, and Paul was eventually subdued by it.
Nearly all of the great teachers of the Bible agree that the thorn in his flesh was a disease in his body. In Acts Paul performed mighty miracles. Even handkerchiefs carried away from him healed people (Acts 19:12). However, he himself could obtain no healing. This disease was a sign to him. A thorn is not a knife to kill you. A thorn is something that penetrates into your skin to bother you. Certain diseases do not kill you but instead bother you continually. As an old brother, I know what a thorn in the flesh is. How glad I would be if there were no thorn. However, I am subdued by the thorn. The thorn was assigned by the Lord to subdue Paul continually. Paul prayed three times. This indicates that he bargained with the Lord. Paul may have said, “Lord, why would You not take this away? You used me to do miracles in a mighty way. I could perform miracles of healing. But now I cannot.” Apparently, the great miracle worker could do nothing. Not only could Paul not heal himself, but he would not even heal his intimate spiritual son Timothy (1 Tim. 5:23). Some of today’s Pentecostals might pray on a handkerchief and mail it to the ailing co-worker. This has been done many times in this country. Instead, Paul returned to the practices of ancient medicine. In the ancient times, one with stomach trouble drank less water and took a little wine. It seems that Paul had forgotten his healing miracles and had returned to the natural way. In 2 Timothy 4:20 Paul says, “Trophimus I left at Miletus sick.” Although Paul cared for his co-worker, he had no way to heal him. This word is for those who seek after the Lord to be subdued, to learn how to be weak, that they may enjoy the sufficient grace of Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 12:5 Paul mentions his weaknesses, and in verse 9 he again says that he would rather boast in his weaknesses. This indicates that these two portions are related and should be combined together as one crucial point. Quite often we understand the sufficiency of grace not in the way related to the man in Christ. A real man in Christ is one who is not so strong in the physical, natural sense. Rather, he is always troubled. This means that he is subdued, unable to handle his situation. This kind of weakness affords a good opportunity for the sufficient grace of Christ. If we are not weak but are strong in any way, we do not need Christ’s sufficient grace. If I am a millionaire, I do not need your help. But if I am poor in every way, I need your sufficient help. If I were so strong and rich that I had the means to walk, act, and do everything, I would not need your help. I would be strong, weak in nothing, and poor in nothing. In such a case how could I be a man in Christ? If we are so strong, so rich, and so perfect in everything, then not only would we not need the grace of Christ, but we would not even need Christ Himself. We would be sufficient in ourselves.
The Lord, in order to train us as a man in Christ to enjoy Himself as the all-inclusive Christ, surely needs to subdue us. In the past I have seen some strong brothers, wise and capable in every way, nearly lacking nothing. I have seen such a one carefully select his wife from among the sisters. Eventually, his selection became the best thorn for him. Before their marriage no one knew that this sister would be such a thorn. But after their marriage she became a typical thorn, not to anyone else but to her husband. Throughout the following years that brother became fully subdued by that thorn. In one sense his situation was pitiful, but in another sense it was glorious, because under that thorn that brother experienced the sufficient grace of Christ.
The next crucial point is found in 13:4, which says, “Indeed He was crucified out of weakness, but He lives by the power of God.” Apparently, this portion of the Word is easy to understand. However, there is a difficult element here. Christ was crucified out of, or because of, weakness. If Christ had not been weak, He would never have been arrested. Weakness here is the weakness of the body, the same as in 10:10. For Himself Christ did not need to be weak in any way. But for accomplishing redemption on our behalf, He was willing to be weak in His body that He might be crucified. If He was not willing to be weak, how could He have been crucified? He was crucified out of weakness, but He lives by the power of God. Paul told the Corinthians that he followed Christ to be weak in Him for their sake. Verse 4 of chapter 13 continues, “For indeed we are weak in Him, but we will live together with Him by the power of God directed toward you.”
The crucial point in 13:5 is closely related to the previous point. Verse 5 says, “Test yourselves whether you are in the faith; prove yourselves. Or do you not realize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you are disapproved?” The crucial and difficult point here is the faith. What does it mean to test yourselves whether you are in the faith? Verses 6 and 7 continue, “But I hope that you will know that we are not disapproved. Now we pray to God that you do nothing wrong, not that we may appear approved, but that you yourselves may do what is good and we may be as if disapproved.” This is one of the hardest portions in the New Testament for New Testament readers to understand. The Corinthians altogether lived not only in the natural life but also in the flesh. They considered that Paul was not so strong, not so excellent as an apostle, and even unlearned. Most Bible teachers agree that Paul was a short man. Perhaps Peter may have been a taller man. In this sense Peter may have been more preferable than Paul. Also, Apollos may have seemed to be more learned than Paul. Among the Corinthians, some may have admired Peter as a giant, and others may have admired Apollos as a learned one. However, Paul may not have been admired among them.
Paul was certainly not unlearned, but he did not behave in a way to display his learning. In these two books he told us that when he came to the Corinthians, he did not come with excellence of speech (1 Cor. 2:1; 2 Cor. 11:6). He had the proper knowledge, but he did not apply it in his speech. He had the adequate education, but he did not seem to use it. For this reason the Corinthians considered him as weak. Paul, standing on this point, told them that he was indeed weak. However, he charged the Corinthians to test themselves whether they were in the faith. In doing this Paul was wise. When he said this, he actually was asking them to test themselves whether they were in the faith related to knowing the apostles. Apparently, in 13:5 he did not ask the Corinthians to test themselves concerning knowing the apostles but concerning knowing themselves. However, if one is in the faith, he would not consider anyone, including himself, according to appearance. In chapter 5 Paul says that we know no one according to flesh (v. 16). We know persons not by what we can see but by what we cannot see.
Faith is the substantiating of things not seen. Paul asked the Corinthians to test themselves whether or not they were in the faith. If they were in the faith, they would not consider themselves by what they saw or by what they felt. Rather, they would consider themselves by faith. They needed to be in faith. If they would have considered themselves not by faith and not in faith, they may have said that Christ was not in them. They may not have felt it to be so, and even the more they could not have seen it to be so. They needed to be persons in faith. Just as they should have considered themselves in the faith, so also they should have done the same concerning the apostles. The apostles should be regarded not according to sight or appearance but rather in faith. Such a brother as Paul appeared to be weak. But if you would consider him by faith, you would realize that he is powerful, not in himself but in the One who is in him. To consider others in this way, you must first test yourself by considering yourself in the faith.
The Corinthians regarded Paul according to the outward appearance. They regarded others in this way because they had never considered themselves by faith rather than by sight. This is why Paul told them to test themselves not by appearance but by faith. If they would not have tested themselves in the way of faith, they would have concluded that they were in the flesh. It would have seemed to them that they were not in Christ, that they had nothing to do with Christ, and that Christ was not in them. They would have considered that only the flesh and the natural life were in them. However, the Corinthians did not consider themselves in this way. They considered that Christ was in them even though, according to their appearance, they were natural men in the flesh. But even though they would prefer to consider themselves not according to appearance, they still considered the apostle according to his appearance.
This is a very crucial point. We should always consider ourselves not by what we see or feel but in faith. When we would consider ourselves in faith, we would realize that we are a person in weakness and a person in the enjoyment of the sufficient grace of Christ. Chapter 13 of 2 Corinthians should be regarded as a continuation of chapter 12. Putting these two chapters together, we can see that we must be persons always considering ourselves as well as others not by sight or by appearance but in faith. In this state we will appear to be weak, but we will continually enjoy the sufficient grace of Christ. Whenever we feel that we are strong and see the signs of our strength, we are through with the enjoyment of the grace of Christ. This is a great lesson. If I would tell you of the lofty visions that I have received, you would all admire me. But if I would indicate to you that my vision is small, you may all put me aside. The Corinthians had almost entirely disregarded Paul. To them he was weak and was even as nothing. Therefore, Paul asked them to test themselves to see whether or not they were in the faith. If they would test themselves by faith, they would learn the lesson. Without the testing by faith, they themselves would appear even as nothing.
The final crucial point of this book is the so-called benediction, the blessing of 13:14. At the conclusion of the first book to the Corinthians the human spirit is mentioned. First Corinthians 16:18 says, “They refreshed my spirit and yours.” The second book ends in a marvelous, excellent way. Chapter 13, verse 14 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” This is surely a great, crucial point. This is the conclusion of all the crucial points covered in the preceding chapters. In chapter 1 we are attached to the anointed One. By being attached to the anointed One, we enjoy the anointing, the sealing, and the pledging. Our attachment to the anointed One is altogether due to the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Not only is this attachment due to this benediction, but this attachment issues in this benediction. The attachment becomes the cause for such a blessing. In chapter 2 there are the captives and the incense-bearers in the procession to celebrate Christ’s victory. To be such captives and incense-bearers, we must be in this divine benediction. If the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit are with us, then we can be such captives and incense-bearers. In chapter 3 are the letters and the mirrors to behold and reflect the glorious image of Christ that we may be transformed into His image. To be such a letter continually speaking Christ and to be such a mirror beholding Christ, we must be in this divine benediction. The treasure in chapter 4 and the second step of reconciliation in chapter 5, as well as all the other crucial points, are also related to this benediction. We must have the enjoyment of the processed and consummated Triune God as described in 2 Corinthians 13:14.
