2 Corinthians: A Pentecostal Commentary

Copyright 2015 Dr. Matthew N. O. Sadiku.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

Unless otherwise stated, scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from the New King James Version.

Scripture quotations marked TLB are from The Living Bible.

Scripture quotations marked RSV are from the Revised Standard Version.

ISBN:

978-1-4907-5192-4 (sc)

ISBN:

978-1-4907-5191-7 (hc)

ISBN:

978-1-4907-5193-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014921356

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CONTENTS

Preface

Abbreviations

Introduction

1 Comfort In Crises

2 Paul’s Defense Of His Integrity – Part 1

3 Paul’s Defense Of His Integrity – Part 2

4 Church Discipline And Forgiveness

5 The Competent Ministers

6 The Glory Of The New Covenant

7 Christ Is The Theme Of Ministry

8 Our House In Heaven

9 Love And Reconciliation

10 Ministry That Commends

11 An Appeal For Reconciliation

12 Models For Christian Stewardship

13 Commendation Of Titus And Two Brothers

14 God Loves Cheerful Givers

15 Weapons Of Our Warfare

16 Paul And The False Apostles

17 Paul’s Foolish Boasting

18 Power In Weakness

19 Apostolic Authentication

20 Final Exhortations

Selected Bibliography

To

Late Samuel and Adedoyin Odusote

PREFACE

Earnest Christians are hungry for information that makes their Bible come alive. The Christian life can be described as getting to know God better every day. Every Christian should regularly—daily—read the Word of God. We should find time for quiet times or personal devotions. The reason we have so many bad days is that we do not spend time with God. We must spend time with God if we want His blessings on our lives and to hear from Him.

For over 20 years I have been using commentaries in my devotions. The blessings derived from the commentaries are overwhelming. I am writing this commentary to share some of those blessings and lessons I have learned over the years.

This commentary provides verse-by-verse exposition and application on First Corinthians. It is different from others in two respects. First, it is brief while some commentaries are wordy and verbose. This commentary does not delve into critical and exegetical details. Therefore, the limits of this commentary forbid that we consider all the views concerning any issue, but an attempt will be made to provide a brief, sound, yet scholarly view.

Second, it is Pentecostal in outlook. This implies that we generally adhere to the doctrine of biblical inerrancy and adopt a literalist approach to the interpretation of the Bible. Pentecostal doctrines include speaking in tongues, gifts of the Holy Spirit, signs and wonders, divine inspiration, divine healing, Christian prophets, apostles today, to mention but a few. The early church was basically Pentecostal in nature, i.e. it exercised considerable freedom is using the gifts of the Holy Spirit in her life and worship. Although the book is written from a Pentecostal perspective, I draw ideas from scholars from all denominations and hope that the book serves all Christians.

In order to provide a readable text, this commentary is based on the New International Version (NIV) translation. The commentary is for laymen, pastors, teachers, and all students of the Word. It is designed to enrich your quiet time or personal study by making the Word of God clear and simple. With your Bible in one hand and this commentary in the other, you will be able to unpack the deep truths of God’s Word. It is my prayer that this commentary brings you both delight and insight in understanding the Word of God.

No scholarly work is a solo operation. I owe a great deal to all who have written on 2 Corinthians before me. I must pay tribute to those to whom this book is dedicated—my father- and mother-in-law. I wish to record my thanks to Samuel Amoo and Stanley Ogbonda, for reviewing the manuscript. I owe special thanks to my wife for her support and prayer.

ABBREVIATIONS

INTRODUCTION

Second Corinthians was written to a congregation in an urban setting. It is easy to see that the letter could have been written to a young, struggling church in Houston, New York, Lagos, or London. The similarities between the church in Corinth and our modern Western culture are so striking that a pastor in California described Paul’s Corinthian letters as First and Second Californians.¹.

Before we start on our journey through this remarkable letter, we should first consider some preliminary matters—authorship, the recipient, the occasion, and the message—concerning this letter.

Authorship

The author identified himself as Paul both at the beginning and end of the epistle (1:1; 10:1). The fact that the apostle Paul is the author of 2 Corinthians has never been seriously questioned. This is one of the so-called undisputed Pauline letters. (Other undisputed letters are Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon.) Conservative scholarship is unanimous in its agreement that Paul wrote 2 Corinthians.

Paul was born in Tarsus of Cilicia by parents who were both Roman citizens (Acts 9:11; 22:3) In addition to his Hebrew training, he was also exposed to a Greek education. He may have been married at one point, as Jewish culture demanded, but he was single when he wrote this letter.

Before he became a Christian, Paul was a zealous Pharisee who studied under Gamaliel, a well respected teacher. He opposed any group threatening Judaism. On his way to Damascus to imprison Christians there, he had an encounter with Jesus that completely changed his life. He authored more books of the Bible than any other writer: Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.

Recipient

Paul addressed this letter to Christians who lived in Corinth. Today Corinth is a small town with little significance. But in NT times, the city of Corinth was an important cosmopolitan place in Greece.

The ancient city was destroyed by the Roman army in 146 B.C., but it was rebuilt in 46 B.C. by Julius Caesar, just weeks before he was assassinated. It quickly became the third most important city in the Roman empire, behind Rome and Alexandria. Corinth was located fifty miles west of Athens. It was the capital of Achaia, a Roman province. It had two seaports: Cenchrea to the east and Lechaeum to the west. It was a wealthy and populous city because of its maritime commerce. It was the center of the worship of Aphrodite, the goddess of sexual love. The city was filled with prostitutes, many of which were associated with temple worship. To call a woman a Corinthian girl was to imply she was an immoral person.

Corinth used to host the Isthmian games, which were second only in importance to the Olympic games. This athletic festival, held once in every two years, attracted large crowds to Corinth and generated some revenue for the city.

The congregation at Corinth gave Paul more problems than any other church.

Occasion

Paul founded the church at Corinth during his second missionary journey. He spent eighteen months in Corinth at that time (Acts 18:11). The eighteen months ran from the beginning of 50 to the early summer of 51. Paul’s preaching there was accompanied by a demonstration of the Spirit and power (1 Corinthians 2:4). Paul moved on to Ephesus. Paul wrote 2 Corinthians from Macedonia as he prepared for a visit to Corinth.

Second Corinthians is not really the second letter that Paul wrote to the Corinthians. There are four letters Paul wrote the Corinthians:²

1. The previous letter (1 Corinthians 5:9)

2. 1 Corinthians

3. The severe letter (2 Corinthians 2:4; 7:8-12)

4. 2 Corinthians

Thus, it seems that 2 Corinthians was the fourth correspondence that Paul sent to the city. While 1 Corinthians is practical and instructional, 2 Corinthians is personal and autobiographical. The tone of 1 Corinthians is less harsh than that of 2 Corinthians.

An exact date for 2 Corinthians is difficult to determine. It was probably written in A.D. 57.

Message

Some scholars have speculated that this epistle is a collection of writings rather than one single letter. They claim that 2 Corinthians is actually three or four letters placed together by an editor. This speculation is based on the change of tone in between chapters 1-9 and chapters 10-13 and some perceived inconsistencies. But there is no external evidence to support the claim that 2 Corinthians was ever more than one unit. So far no theory of either unity or partition has won a consensus among scholars.

Paul’s main purpose for writing the epistle was to win the church’s allegiance by gaining their complete confidence. In Paul’s absence…some intruding missionaries…gain a foothold in the congregation. This is one of the problems of pastoring at a distance.³

Second Corinthians has been described as the most autobiographical epistle Paul ever wrote. At Corinth, Paul’s ministry was under fire and he had to defend himself. Here we see Paul as Paul, hiding neither his affection, nor his anger, nor his agony. Here we see Paul’s love and care for the church he founded. While apologizing, he reveals much of himself in this letter.

NOTES

¹.   R. Kent Hughes, 2 Corinthians (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2006), p. 14.

².   Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), p. 29.

³.   Linda L. Belleville, 2 Corinthians (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), p. 33.

Map locating Corinth.

Source:

http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/CN092MAPS1.htm

CHAPTER 1

COMFORT IN CRISES