2 Corinthians Overview

I. The Political History of Corinth

The first aspect of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians that will help us set the stage for our study is the political history and context of the city of Corinth. Over the past few months if we have not learned it before we have seen that the government and politics of the land can have a major impact on the life of the church. Throughout this pandemic we have seen the government restrict churches while they protect abortion mills, weed dispensaries, liquor stores, and rioters. Even this week I spoke with a pastor friend of mine from North Carolina, they are still meeting outside for worship. The political context of a city, state, or country can and does have a positive or negative impact on the local church.

Therefore was we consider the life of the Corinthians and the church in Corinth their political situation will provide us with some needed insight into the problems of the church.

First lets consider the,

A. Destruction and Rebuilding of Corinth

The City of Corinth was destroyed in 146 B.C. by the Roman Counsul Lucius Mummius. At this time the majority of the Greek males were killed and the women and children were sold into slavery. The city was basically in ruins.

It was not until 44 B.C. over one hundred years later that Julius Caesar decided to rebuild the city and establish a Roman colony there. The city was at a prime port location which was advantageous for commerce and trade. Which as we all have learned will influence the city and the church. Along with the influence of a thriving economy came the influence of Rome on the culture since they had rebuilt the city.

David Garland writes, “the city’s status as a Roman colony made it dependent on Rome’s power and goodwill.” (Garland pg. 22)

As we all know this can have a detrimental impact on the church if not checked against the Scriptures. One last comment on the physical make up of Corinth was it’s many pagan temples, with the Temple of Aphrodite standing above them all. Thus, the city was a haven for idol worship and pagan worship practices.

The second aspect of Corinth’s political history to consider is the,

B. Population and People of Corinth

In Corinth there was a vast difference in the social classes. Garland notes that 1/3 of the population was made up of slaves and the slave trade was prolific in Corinth. On the other hand you had the wealthy and those that desired to be wealthy. The wealthy were known for their debauchery and excess, the middle class was covetous of the rich and were socially ambitious and then you had the poor who were just in misery.

I want to once again point to a a couple citations made from Garland, because I think it will drive home the problem with the people’s desire for wealth, status, and popularity.

“Socially ambitious Corinthians could seize the opportunity to advance themselves. As a result, there was an even greater preoccupation with symbols of social status in the city.” This created “people impressed with material splendour and intent on raising their standing in the world.”

Does this sound familiar? Relevant? Like it could cause problems within church?

Secondly let’s look at,

II. Paul's Mission in Corinth

We must recognize,

A. Paul’s Gospel Centered Mission

We see the gospel centeredness of Paul’s mission in that,

1. The economic make up of the city made it ripe for evangelism.

With the bustling economy there were plenty of places and people with which to share the gospel. Think of the best place to proclaim the gospel, it is typically where there are the most people in need of God’s saving grace. It is in city centers, in nearby neighborhoods, where there will be a lot of ears to hear. This was the make up of Corinth, there were lots of lost people concentrated in the city.

2. The city provided Paul with an opportunity to make a living as he ministered the gospel.

Remember Paul has a trade, he was not a hireling, he made tents in order to support his own ministry. Corinth was a great place for him to be able to use is vocational skills to provide for his own needs and not be a burden on the growing church.

1 Thessalonians 2:9 ESV

For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

3. The city of Corinth was a great launching point for the great commission.

The travelers and immigrants that came through Corinth made this another strategic location for the gospel to be preached, people to be saved and sent back to their homeland that they might carry the message of the gospel. It was a great location for disciple making and sending.

4. The population of Jews in Corinth offered Paul a place to start teaching the truth.

Paul began his ministry in Corinth where? In the synagogue seeking to convince the Jews of the truth of Jesus as the Messiah.

Acts 18:1–8 ESV

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

What I love about this passage personally, is, when Silas and Timothy arrived they found Paul occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus!

This ought to be all of our testimony, we ought to all be known as people who are occupied with the Word of God and are constantly pointing people to the truth of Jesus as the Messiah!

Finally lets consider the,

III. Chronology of Events

2 Corinthians continues the account of Paul’s ministry to the Corinthians. Since we have just finished 1 Corinthians we will pick up here to consider the order of events that seemed to have motivated Paul to pen this letter and the Holy Spirit to preserve this letter.

Notice first,

A. The Need for the Letter

It seems as if when Paul left Corinth the spiritual immaturity of the church began to show. Their immaturity was revealed in their divisiveness, their sinfulness, worship practices and their lack of doctrinal fidelity. They were being swayed by the sinful, selfish desires, and being lead away by false teachers.

1 Corinthians 4:15 ESV

For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

If you want to see the true maturity of the church watch what happens when their pastor leaves for whatever reason. More often than not when the sheep are left without a shepherd and they begin to seek a new Pastor often derision follows. Each one or each group begin to seek their own desires instead of what the Scriptures plainly teach. This is a different message for a different day, but that is another reason why a plurality of elders is vital to the health of the church.

There also seems to be a letter between 1 and 2 Corinthians that was not preserved. This letter was sent in effort to correct some of the errors that Timothy had been sent to Corinth to straighten out.

Because of Timothy’s return to Paul with a message that the church at Corinth refused to be corrected Paul changed his plans to come to Corinth when he could stay longer to I am coming now out of necessity.

2 Corinthians 1:15–16 ESV

Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea.

This visit turned out to be painful not pleasant.

2 Corinthians 1:23 ESV

But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth.

2 Corinthians 2:1 ESV

For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you.

Evidently he had come for a quick trip of correction and it did not turn out so well. They attacked Paul’s character and ministry and no one in Corinth had his back.

Paul then wrote this painful, sorrowful letter to the Corinthian church and sent it by the way of Titus. Titus more than likely stayed in Corinth in order to pastor the church through this time of rebuke, repentance and restoration. Paul was confident in the power of the gospel to bring repentance of the Corinthians and Titus’ shepherding to restore them.

2 Corinthians 7:14 ESV

For whatever boasts I made to him about you, I was not put to shame. But just as everything we said to you was true, so also our boasting before Titus has proved true.

B. The Effectiveness of the Letter

Titus returns to let Paul know that the church was receptive to his painful letter, repentant of their sins and in an ongoing state of reformation.

During this time is when Paul wrote 2 Corinthians to encourage the Corinthians to continue in their repentance, restoration, and rejection of “super apostle’s”.

Garland explains, “Throughout his correspondence with them Paul asserts repeatedly that glory, ease, and exaltation were yet to come. Now was the time for self-emptying, not self-exaltation, suffering, not contentment, humiliation, not advancement.”

In other words, he wants the Corinthian church and the church at Pray’s Mill to understand, stop trying to attain the your best life now. The glory to come is far beyond anything we will experience in this life. Therefore, we are to seek the good of others through gospel proclamation, God-centered worship, and Christ exalting lives. This means we must put down our own selfish desires and seek to insure that others are able to hear of this glory to come for those who are in Christ.

I will close with Paul’s words of thanksgiving and commendation to the church at Corinth.

2 Corinthians 2:14–17 ESV

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.