2 Cor. 6a

Intro

Verse 1

2 Corinthians 6:1 NKJV

We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

- Key questions:

a) Who does “we” refer to?

b) Working on what toward what?

c) With whom are we working (who doe the “with Him” refer to)?

d) In what sense can we be said to be “working together with him?”

-if your view of God’s sovereignty and predestination leads you to take a “hands-off” approach to evangelism, you have missed something important

f) What do we note in the language “plead with you”?

-contextually: mirrors 5:20

-it is not disinterested, unaffected, casual language

-it is urgent, important, passionate, imploring language!

g) In what sense might they receive the grace of God in vain?

-among the Corinthian church there may be many unregenerate

2 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.

-so there are likely some who have heard but have not responded in faith

-there also may be those whose sanctification is in jeopardy

-we are created by God to “walk in good works” but the Corinthian church was filled with unholy living.

2. Verse 2

Here Paul lays out the justification for his urgent pleading not to disregard the grace of God.

-The quotation is from (the context is deliverance from the Babylonian exile)

-Paul uses this quotation to signify that their is a greater deliverance from a more profound exile at hand.

a) We need to ask ourselves this question back in the end of ch. 5: what does the “ministry of reconciliation” mean and why must unbelievers be reconciled?

-in other words, what need did you and I have to be reconciled to God, and why must unbelievers be reconciled?

-the answer is our alienation

Ephesians 2:11–22 NKJV

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:11-

-so like Israel was a stranger in a foreign land exiled from the land of promise, so we are strangers and alienated from God while we live in the flesh.

b) What are the implications of Paul’s statement that “now is the appointed time” and “now is the day of salvation.”

-in the historical context

>Assyrian empire falls to Babylon

>Judah and Jersualem revolt, Bablyon destroys the temple and exiles the people

>Daniel lives in this time

>Then the Babylonian Empire is overthrown by the Persian ruler Cyrus

>Cyrus is favorably disposed toward Israel, allows them to return home

>So the Israelites look to as God’s deliverance from the exile

>But, this is one of the “servant songs” and messianic in nature—pointing to a far greater deliverance, which is what Paul latches onto

-In …Paul connects it to eternal salvation and reconciliation

- “Now” stated twice, and accepted time and day of salvation

-these are defined periods, with a beginning and end date (echoes Hebrews “while it is still today”)

-there is an urgency of eternal significance to Paul’s message

“O Sinner! Consider the fearful Danger you are in:

Tis a great Furnace of Wrath, a wide and bottomless

Pit, full of the Fire of Wrath, that you are held over

in the Hand of that God, whose Wrath is provoked

and incensed as much against you as against many of

the Damned in Hell: You hang by a slender Thread,

with the Flames of divine Wrath flashing about it, and

ready every Moment to singe it, and burn it asunder;

and you have no Interest in any Mediator, and nothing

to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep

off the Flames of Wrath, nothing of your own, nothing

that you ever have done, nothing that you can do,

to induce God to spare you one Moment.”

- Johnathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

“And now you have an extraordinary Opportunity,

a Day wherein Christ has flung the Door

of Mercy wide open, and stands in the Door calling

and crying with a loud Voice to poor Sinners; a

Day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing

into the Kingdom of God; many are daily coming

from the East, West, North and South; many

that were very lately in the same miserable Condition

that you are in, are in now an happy State,

with their Hearts filled with Love to Him that has

loved them and washed them for their Sins in his

own Blood, and rejoicing in Hope of the Glory

of God. How awful is it to be left behind at such

a Day! To see so many others feasting, while you

are pining and perishing! To see so many rejoicing

and singing for Joy of Heart, while you have Cause

to mourn for Sorrow of Heart, and howl for Vexation

of Spirit! How can you rest one Moment in

such a Condition?”

- Johnathan Edwards Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

What is our urgency level in reaching the lost?

When is the last time you had a gospel oriented conversation with an unbeliever, or have done something intentional to develop relationship toward gospel ministry?

Very practically—what are ways you can “break the ice” with coworkers or fellow students?

—>Thomas Jefferson is quoted as remarking “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.”

>Shouldn’t we tremble for our unsaved neighbor when we reflect that God is just and that His wrath will not sleep forever?

“When the author walks on to the stage the play is over...It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing; it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realised it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last for ever. We must take it or leave it.” -C.S. Lewis

3. Verse 3

-No “offense” or obstacle

-What kinds of obstacles do we put in the way of unbelievers?

-hypocrisy

-judgmental attitudes

-preferences we treat as priorities (music, dress, hairstyles, etc)

-poor uses of our liberty (both directions)

-lives that don’t reflect a hope within

4. Rest of passage—what we must do as humble ministers