"I'm Still That Guy pt. 2: By His Grace"

“The Silent Working of Grace”

If men make an illumination, we can hear the crackling of their fireworks over all the city. But when God illuminates the earth with the sun, the orb of day arises without a sound. The ancients talked of the chariot of the sun, but who ever heard the sound of wheels or the tramp of horses in the sky? The health-bearing wings of the morning cause no tumult in the air when they are spread abroad. “When morn her rosy steps in the eastern clime advancing, sows the earth with orient pearl,” her footfalls are not heard. True, the birds salute her coming with glad songs, but she herself steals onward without voice. Even in this way grace enters the soul, and not a whisper is breathed, yet the Lord sees the light. Light is its own advertisement, it needs no trumpet to announce it; and it is the same with grace.

Sermon in a Sentence

To dwell on our own excellence is dangerous because it causes us to turn our attention from God’s glory to our own and stokes the sinful desire to create a circle of admirers for ourselves rather than disciples for Christ.

2 Corinthians 12 in Context

Paul continues on his “rant” by rehearsing his resume to those who would denigrate and downplay the effectiveness of his ministry. He introduces a new topic of boasting, visions and revelations from the Lord. He describes a rapture to paradise that took place fourteen years ago (12:2-4) and then the nature of boasting in such an experience (12:5-7a). Next, he narrates the results of the vision, the thorn in the flesh and its persistence and purpose (12:7b-9a). He concludes this unity by formulating the theological significance of his weaknesses (12:9-10).

Embrace your Weaknesses

2 Corinthians 12:5–6 (ESV)

On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.

Again, Paul boasts as he speaks in third person, describing a glorious vision of paradise and the third heaven. Paul reminds the Corinthians yet again that boasting is not only foolish and unbecoming an apostle of Christ, but it is unprofitable for them. It proves nothing except that one is a fool and may mislead the audience into thinking that boasting is an appropriate exercise for Christians. It is worth restating: “To dwell on our own excellence is dangerous because it causes us to turn our attention from God’s glory to our own and stokes the sinful desire to create a circle of admirers for ourselves rather than disciples for Christ.” Boasting only bring “yes” people that feed the ego, providing a false sense of strength, while leaving your spirit wanting for God’s strength. The circle only surrounds you when you’re on, but it becomes a line when life takes an unexpected turn. So why boast if nothing is to be gained from it? Because much more could be lost if Paul does not somehow cancel out the seductive megalomania of his rivals. The rivals have set the agenda and have bedazzled some Corinthians with their boasts. Paul’s deft use of irony in his own boasting helps the Corinthians to see the foolishness of all boasting and will help them see their rivals for what they really are.

Paul will boast only of his weaknesses, like his craven flight from Damascus in which God delivered him from the hands of his enemies, so that the credit will be given to God and not to him. The word weaknesses here is astheneia, meaning incapacitated, a state of weakness or limitation. He argues, however, that if he did boast about the flight to paradise and the vision he received from God, it would not be the exaggerated boasting of the fool who cannot reliably asses his own merit before God. What happened in this transcendent vision was not his own doing but God’s. Consequently, he can speak of its effects, because they are true even if he cannot tell what exactly transpired or what he heard. Christianity cannot prevent people from experiencing weakness, so if we cannot avoid weakness, then we have to embrace those weakness before they weaken us. Paul says in Romans 12:3

Romans 12:3 ESV

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Validation as God’s minister does not come from one’s own self-endorsement or from otherworldly experiences. The problem is that the Corinthians do not understand him fully, and what they have seen of him they have misread. He needs to bring them to understand that the life and power of God pulse beneath his mask of death, weakness, and humiliation. What is important are not the transcendent moments when he has become spiritually airborne, but his obedience in the daily chore of preaching the gospel faithfully despite “weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties.

Trust the thorn’s purpose

2 Corinthians 12:7–9 (ESV)

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. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

As Paul continues his boasting of his weakness, Paul provides a moment of vulnerability by discussing his “thorn.” The word thorn here is skolopos, meaning bodily afflictions. The idea is not that of a stake to which the apostle is impaled, nor a barb of depression, e.g., at his failure to win the Jews to Christ, or in reaction from ectasy. Physical ill-treatment or a physical disability seems to be in view, but there can be no saying what it is. Although it hampers his work, God uses it to keep him from arrogance and to point him to his true strength. Paul pointed out three things the thorn did for him:

The thorn kept him from being conceited

The thorn has a spiritual origin and purpose

The thorn caused him to pray fervently

For Paul, the thorn was more of an irritant to Paul, but God used the “irritant” to inspire Paul’s confidence in God’s grace.

The word conceited in Greek is hyperaio, meaning to become puffed up with pride, with the probable implication of being disparaging towards others. To prevent such spiritual pride from welling up in Paul, he was giving a thorn in the flesh. The passive voice implies that God gave it to him. Paul’s thorn was an effective cure for any mistaken euphoria that visions might evoke. God wanted Paul to remain humble and fully aware of his own weakness. The thorn punctured any pride that might surge within him because of his grand entry into heaven, and the result was that he dealt with others with the meekness and gentleness of Christ rather than with the arrogant puffery of Satan.

The exact nature of this “thorn in the flesh” has prompted much speculation. Paul does not go into any detail in describing it because the Corinthians apparently were well familiar with what he meant. Some of their number or his competitors may have made it the object of their derision. The word translated “thorn” (skolops) occurs only here in the New Testament. It refers to something pointed such as a stake for impaling, a medical instrument, or a thorn. “Stake” would be a better translation, though “thorn” has dominated English renderings of the word. The metaphor carries “the notion of something sharp and painful which sticks deeply in the flesh and in the will of God defies extracting.”

Since Paul prays so fervently to have the stake removed, it was probably something that he felt interfered with his ministry. Marshall identifies it as a “socially debilitating disease or disfigurement which was made the subject of ridicule and invidious comparison.” Paul’s speech has been the subject of the Corinthians’ criticism (10:10), and the stake could have been something that led to some kind of a speech handicap. The “angel of Satan” could allude to the story of Balaam (Num 22:22–34) where the angel of the Lord gets in his way three times to prevent him from speaking and cursing the nation of Israel, against God’s will. In the end we must accept the fact that we will never know for certain what Paul’s stake in the flesh was. We can only be certain that initially it caused him considerable annoyance.

The ambiguity about what Paul’s stake in the flesh might be allows others to identify their own personal “thorns” with Paul’s and to appropriate the theological lesson. Stakes in the flesh are not good, but they also are not bad because they may convey a word from God if we are attuned to hear it. What is important to Paul is the theological word-to-the-wise that his stake in the flesh provided him. It was a constant reminder of God’s grace and God’s power working through him.

The phrase “angel of Satan” is in apposition to the stake. Satan comes to bedevil him as an agent of testing. The verb “to torment” (kolaphizein, “abuse,” “batter”) implies humiliating violence—being slapped around; and the present tense suggests that it was persistent—something that happens over and over again. The same word is used for the abuse of Jesus in his passion (Mark 14:65; Matt 26:67), and by choosing this word Paul might connect his sufferings as an apostle with those of Christ.

Satan comes as God’s adversary to lure people away from God’s rule, or he comes as God’s proxy to implement trials God authorizes. The story of Job provides the foremost example of the latter. Does this Satanic angel try to hinder the advance of the gospel in some way (see 1 Thess 2:18)? If so, Satan’s purposes are thwarted (see 2:11). What is sent to torment Paul is transformed by God into a means of proclaiming Christ’s power and grace. This surprising twist reflects the paradoxical way God defeats Satan. God permits Satan to strike the apostle, but God turns the stricken Paul into an even greater instrument of his power. A proud, arrogant Paul would have only hindered the gospel’s advance. A humiliated, frail Paul, lead as a captive in God’s triumph, has accelerated the gospel’s progress so that the fragrance of knowing God spreads everywhere (see 2:14).

Trust God’s Strength

2 Corinthians 12:10 ESV

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.

What did Paul learn from Christ? Paul draws the conclusion that Christ’s power is made perfect in weakness, Paul responds and concludes that he will take pleasure in weakness. The Lord’s answer provides the reason for Paul’s spirituality of the cross. It is connected to the thought of 12:7; Paul has not fallen into pride and conceit and the thorn has brought its intended benefit to him. Because weaknesses give occasion for Christ’s power to be displayed, Paul will take pleasure in them.

It is in the context of helplessness and vulnerability that Paul cries out to Christ, who is able through his resurrection power to give grace and power to those who ask. Paul has spiritual strength when he acknowledges how much he needs Christ. When he loses his own strength he is able to have Christ’s strength. God’s power working in Paul is mostly clearly seen when Paul appears weak. When Paul is weak it can be seen that the power at work is power in a kingdom and not power in a man. God strengthens those who feel and acknowledge their weakness. Weaknesses give opportunity for the display of Christ’s power. When he is weak, Christ’s power can become more effective in his apostolic service. When believers humble themselves and acknowledge their weakness, Christ’s power flows through them. In his distressing weakness he would never lack grace to be more than a conqueror.