2 Corinthians Overview

Introduction

2 Corinthians is one of my favorite books

With so many verses worthy of our study and memorization

At the core of the letter is Paul challenging the value of the Corinthians (and us)

A successful life is not about the absence of trials or by material metrics

But God values humility and weakness because his love and power are made known through them

Ultimately in the death and resurrection of Jesus

Context

So Paul had started this Church (Acts 18)

He had left to continue his missionary work and in 1 Corinthians we see that things had gotten messy

If we remember from a month ago… what was the primary problem of the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians?

Spiritual Maturity

We talked about how there is a vital importance in our walks with Jesus to grow

And just like Paul, we won’t reach the goal or be perfected in this life

But we constantly strive to be perfected in Christ

Well since 1 Corinthians some other events had transpired (maybe cut this)

Apparently some people in Corinth rejected Paul’s teaching in this letter so Paul followed up in person in a “painful visit”

Paul wrote another letter “written with many tears and out of an extremely troubled and anguished heart”

And now the Corinthians are repentant of the way they treated Paul

And now Paul is writing this letter to them

Markers of Spiritual Maturity:

Suffering

Weakness

Humility

Suffering

I think naturally, we tend to think of the spiritually mature Christian as someone who is free from suffering

Someone who is always happy and serving others

Or like Job’s friends we think that because someone is suffering it must have been something they had done wrong

2 Corinthians 11:23–28 (CSB)

Are they servants of Christ? I’m talking like a madman—I’m a better one: with far more labors, many more imprisonments, far worse beatings, many times near death.

Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing. Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches.

But in this letter Paul talks about the necessity of suffering:

Do we want to be comforted?

Do you want to be a comfort to other people?

Do you want to actually grow in trust to God?

2 Corinthians 1:3–10 (CSB)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.

We don’t want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our affliction that took place in Asia. We were completely overwhelmed—beyond our strength—so that we even despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a terrible death, and he will deliver us. We have put our hope in him that he will deliver us again

Weakness

Not only suffering from the outside circumstances

But a mature believer is marked by weakness

We are not perfect

2 Corinthians 4:7–11 (CSB)

Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that Jesus’s life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh.

Our weaknesses show our strength—in God

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 (CSB)

especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself. Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.”

Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

We might have the same weakness for long periods of time—maybe our whole life

But like Paul says… so that we might rely on God

Humility

Finally, the mark of a mature Christian is humility

“Not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less”

2 Corinthians 3:4–6 (CSB)

Such is the confidence we have through Christ before God. It is not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God. He has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

What is your confidence in?

Your abilities?

Your performance?

The people you know?

2 Corinthians 12:19–20 CSB

Have you been thinking all along that we were defending ourselves to you? No, in the sight of God we are speaking in Christ, and everything, dear friends, is for building you up. For I fear that perhaps when I come I will not find you to be what I want, and you may not find me to be what you want. Perhaps there will be quarreling, jealousy, angry outbursts, selfish ambitions, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.

Who are you trying to please?

Friends

Family

Boyfriend/Girlfriend

Conclusion

Paul leaves the Corinthians with a strong charge

2 Corinthians 13:4–7 (CSB)

For he was crucified in weakness, but he lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by God’s power.

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you fail the test. And I hope you will recognize that we ourselves do not fail the test. But we pray to God that you do nothing wrong—not that we may appear to pass the test, but that you may do what is right, even though we may appear to fail.

This isn’t just for the sake of accepting hardships…

All of this points to the resurrection

Suffering

Weakness

Humility

Small Group Questions

Icebreaker: What is your favorite superhero? What is their greatest weakness?

How would you describe someone who is a mature believer?

What is the importance of weakness and suffering in the life of a believer?

What does true humility look like in a believer?

Prayer Requests