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Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 6:1-13
Many teachers of the Bible treat 2 Corinthians 6 as if it were separate from chapter five. They do not point out how chapters five and six are connected. Actually, chapter six is an explanation of chapter five.
We have seen that in chapter five the apostles have received the ministry of reconciliation to bring God’s people, not only sinners, back into God Himself so that they may become the righteousness of God in Christ. The apostles had been commissioned with this ministry to bring God’s people into Him and to make them one with Him organically. When we are brought back into God in this way, we become the righteousness of God.
Since righteousness is an attribute of God, to become God’s righteousness in Christ is to become this divine attribute. In this sense, we become what God is. God is righteousness, and in Christ we become this righteousness of God, an attribute of what God Himself is. How marvelous! This is the purpose of God’s salvation and the goal of His economy. God’s economy in saving us is to make us the expression of God, even one of His attributes. This is revealed in chapter five of 2 Corinthians.
Paul realized that his description of reconciliation in chapter five involved something very deep. Thus, in chapter six he explains further that the reconciliation in chapter five is equal to full salvation. For this reason, in 6:2 he refers to reconciliation as salvation. The salvation here is not the salvation of sinners; it is the salvation of God’s half-reconciled people. Those who have been only partly reconciled to God need further reconciliation, further salvation.
We all can confidently declare that we have been saved. However, we may not yet be saved in full. Therefore, we need to humble ourselves before the Lord and pray, “O Lord, I thank You that by Your mercy and grace You have saved me. But, Lord, I still have not been fully saved. I need more of Your salvation.”
Some believers have been saved to a large degree. Others, however, have been saved only to a very small extent. In these messages I am burdened that we all would have a greater degree of salvation. I am concerned about the percentage of your salvation. To what degree, to what extent, have you been saved? Some who have been under this ministry for years still only have a very limited salvation. Furthermore, the percentage of their salvation is increasing slowly. My point here is that reconciliation and salvation are matters of degree. This is especially true of reconciliation. I am hoping that the degree of our reconciliation into God will increase rapidly.
What we have in chapter six is progress related to salvation. According to the context, to be saved (6:2) is simply to be reconciled to God.
As long as certain parts of us are not saved, in those parts of our being there is a discrepancy between us and God. A more accurate word to describe this condition is enmity. In Romans 8 Paul says the mind set on the flesh is enmity against God. But the mind set on the spirit is life and peace (Rom. 8:6). When we are in spirit, we have life and also peace. Peace is an indication of being reconciled to God. As long as there is something within us that is lacking in peace, some part of us is at enmity with God. This indicates that, at least in certain matters, we have not been reconciled to God, for in these matters there is no peace between us and God. To be sure, whenever there is no peace, there is enmity. But when peace comes, enmity disappears. We may also say that when enmity goes, peace comes. Whether or not we are at peace depends on our being reconciled to God.
In 6:1 Paul says to the Corinthians, “And working together with Him, we also entreat you that you do not receive the grace of God in vain.” Here Paul seems to be saying, “Believers at Corinth, don’t receive God’s grace in vain. God has graced you very much. He has bestowed grace upon grace on you. Since you have received so much of God’s grace, I beg you not to receive it in vain.” To receive the grace of God in vain means to receive grace without making any progress in the matter of being saved.
If we would be those who do not receive the grace of God in vain, we need more salvation. This is the reason Paul goes on to say in verse 2, “For He says, In an acceptable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I helped you; behold, now is a well-acceptable time; behold, now is a day of salvation.” Preachers often use this verse for the preaching of the gospel. In their gospel preaching they say something like this: “Now is the time, the day, of salvation. Don’t miss the opportunity to receive God’s grace.” In verse 1, however, Paul does not speak about receiving God’s grace; he warns about receiving God’s grace in vain. The Corinthians had already received the grace of God. Their need was to allow this grace to work in them. If they allowed the grace of God to work in them, they would not receive God’s grace in vain. This is to be reconciled to God in full and in every respect. Furthermore, this is to experience a present salvation. Today should be a day of further salvation, a day of progress in being reconciled to God through His grace.
If we would be fully reconciled to God, fully saved, we need to be enlarged in our heart. Paul appealed to the Corinthians to be enlarged: “You are not straitened in us, but you are straitened in your inward parts; now for a recompense in kind, I speak as to children, you also be enlarged” (6:12-13). As we have pointed out, to be enlarged requires the aspects of the all-fitting life covered in 6:3-10. It requires the eighteen items beginning with “in”: in endurance, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings, in pureness, in knowledge, in longsuffering, in kindness, in a holy spirit, in unfeigned love, in the word of truth, in the power of God. It also requires the three pairs starting with “through”: through the weapons of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, through glory and dishonor, through evil report and good report. Finally, it requires all the seven pairs beginning with “as”: as deceivers and yet true, as unknown and well known, as dying and behold we live, as being disciplined and not being put to death, as made sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet enriching many, as having nothing and possessing all things. If we have all these characteristics of the all-fitting life, all the items with “in,” “through,” and “as,” we have truly been enlarged.
In the past fifty years I have known many dear and precious brothers who were elders and co-workers. A good number of these brothers were very strict and straight. Regarding the Lord’s word in Matthew 10:16 to be “prudent as serpents,” these straight ones could not at all be “as serpents.” Neither could they be “as deceivers, yet true.” To be true here means to be straight. The brothers to whom I am referring were not only strict; they were extremely straight. For example, one such brother might say, “Oh, that person shouldn’t be in the church. Cast him out! How can we possibly accept him? Oh, that sister is awful. She should be condemned.” Many times we tried our best to convince these straight brothers to be more flexible. We might say, “This one is a real brother in the Lord. No doubt, he is wrong in certain things. But we still must embrace him by forgiving him and by giving him an opportunity to improve.” Nevertheless, sometimes a straight brother would respond by saying, “No! That is not the biblical way!” This attitude is a clear indication that those who are strict and straight in this way need to be enlarged.
We need to be straight and strict. However, we should be strict with ourselves, not with others. In order to be strict with ourselves and not with others, we need to be enlarged. Those who are very straight are usually narrow as well. They need to have their hearts enlarged.
When we become enlarged in our heart, we should not become loose. Rather, we should continue to be strict and straight concerning ourselves, but we should not apply this principle to others. If the Lord has done such a work in us, we have been enlarged.
I would ask you to consider once again all the matters covered by Paul in 6:3-10. If we have all these characteristics and qualifications, we shall have a large heart. We may be outwardly very small, but our heart will be like an ocean. But if we do not have these qualifications, we shall have a very small heart. We may be great in our own eyes, yet our heart may be extremely narrow. For example, our attitude may be that if a certain one makes a mistake, we should have nothing to do with him unless he repents. This is a sign of narrowness. It is also an indication that we are not able to reconcile others to God, for we ourselves have not been fully reconciled to Him. Our narrowness is a strong indication that we have been reconciled to God only partially and that the percentage of our salvation is quite low. How large our heart is depends on the degree of our reconciliation to God.
Often when I attend a wedding meeting, I am urged to give a word. However, I am reluctant to speak at weddings. The problem is not that I do not have anything to say. It is that what I really desire to say may be too frank and honest for the occasion. I strongly dislike the kind of nice, pleasant talk common at weddings, because it usually is far from the truth. If I were to speak at a wedding meeting, I would like to tell the truth, especially concerning the difficulty husbands and wives have in forgiving each other.
Once a certain brother has been offended by his wife, he may never forget that offense and never forgive his wife for causing it. Of course, many wives are the same way. What I would like to say to a newly married brother and sister is this: “Sister, try your best to avoid offending your husband. If you offend him, it may take him many years to forgive you. Brother, don’t think that your wife is an angel. She certainly is not an angel. Furthermore, you must love her always. If you fail to express your love for her, she may be offended and remember your failure for a long time.” I use this as another illustration of narrowness of heart.
All married brothers and sisters need to be enlarged in heart. Brothers, has your wife offended you? I urge you to forget it. If you are able to forgive an offense and forget it, that is a sign that you have become an enlarged person, a person with a large heart.
When you are offended by someone, are you willing to forgive that person? To forgive actually is to forget. Perhaps instead of talking about forgiving, we should speak of forgetting. Then a husband would say to his wife, “Dear, let us both forget that offense.” Forgetting is true forgiving.
Both in your family life and in the church life you probably have been offended many times. Have you kept a record of all the offenses? Do you remember how your husband or wife offended you, or how you were offended by a certain elder? Do you remember all the offenses caused by the saints? We need to forgive and forget all offenses. We may forgive, but it may be harder for us to forget. This difficulty with forgiving and forgetting is caused by a heart that has not been adequately enlarged. Thus, we see once again that we need our hearts to be enlarged. To be fully reconciled and saved will cause us truly to be enlarged in our hearts.
