NOTES for Co2 1:13-15

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¹³For we write none other things unto you, than what ye read or acknowledge; and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end;

¹⁴As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁵And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit;

Judging by the first chapter of Paul's letter, his previous visits to the Corinthian church were by no means smooth. We can only guess what he means by the "griefs" caused to the Corinthian Christians during his previous visit to them. One thing is clear: the conversation was serious and, most likely, not very pleasant.

Paul nevertheless hastens to assure the Corinthian brothers that this by no means cancels or destroys the spiritual unity that binds them all as members of the one Church of Christ. The issue, of course, is not external, formal unity, but essential unity. The apostle expresses it this way: on the day of the Lord, as the first Christians called the day of the Savior's return, we, says the apostle of himself and his companions, will boast before God of you, and you of us.

And the point here is not only that Paul managed to make good Christians out of the Corinthians, whom he can present to Christ on the day of His return as evidence of the undoubted success of his earthly ministry. The point is that one can boast, in the sense in which the apostle uses this word, only of those with whom one abides in the fullness of communion. In spiritual unity.

But what about all the harsh and not very pleasant words, as one may think, spoken by Paul to the Corinthian Christians before? Evidently they did not destroy the unity mentioned above. The point is not only in the words, but also in how they are spoken: with love or with hatred. With the desire to help or with the desire to push away, assert oneself, and triumph over a defeated opponent.

The matter lies in the intention that stands behind the words, an intention positive or negative, constructive or destructive. And if words are spoken with love, they do not destroy relationships and do not violate spiritual unity, although they may cause not only discomfort but also pain. Without love, no words, even the most pleasant, create anything or establish any relationships. Therefore they are useless for the Kingdom as well: they simply do not reach it. For the Kingdom is an environment of love, and everything that has no relation to love therefore remains outside the Kingdom. With all the consequences that follow.

Other notes

For Co2 1:12-24

¹²For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.

¹³For we write none other things unto you, than what ye read or acknowledge; and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end;

¹⁴As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁵And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit;

¹⁶And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judaea.

¹⁷When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay?

¹⁸But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.

¹⁹For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.

²⁰For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

²¹Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;

²²Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

²³Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.

²⁴Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.

Addressing the Christians of Corinth, Paul turns from the theme of persecution and confession... Read more

Addressing the Christians of Corinth, Paul turns from the theme of persecution and confession to questions that, at first glance, have nothing in common with either of them. He shares his plans with the Corinthian church, evidently hoping for support from his fellow believers (vv. 15-16). But, on the other hand, the apostle does not accidentally remind the addressees of his letter of the definiteness and unambiguity of all his words and actions, calling as witness everyone who could have heard him (vv. 17-20). Such definiteness and unambiguity are possible only on the condition of the spiritual wholeness of the person, without which normal spiritual life is impossible, and ordinary life too. And then the connection becomes obvious between this theme, raised by the apostle in his letter, and the theme of persecution and confession that he touched on a little earlier. Indeed, a witness can remain a witness in a critical situation only if the spiritual wholeness of which Paul speaks was characteristic of him before as well, in ordinary life, and if his entire spiritual life in general proceeded normally and was what it ought to be in a Christian.

Confession and martyrdom are not heroic acts for which a brief emotional uplift is enough, but the culminating point of a Christian's whole life. Yet the point is not only readiness for such a culmination. After all, although every Christian is a witness of Christ and the Kingdom, not everyone is given to complete his witness by martyrdom. But every Christian is called to full life in the Kingdom, and that too cannot exist without the spiritual wholeness of which the apostle speaks. It is needed not only as an instrument of witness; it is necessary as the main, vitally important condition of abiding in the Kingdom. Vitally important in the literal sense: without it, living the life of the Kingdom is impossible. At best, a Christian who does not possess it will have to survive in the Kingdom rather than live there, breathing the breath of God with full lungs; he will breathe with difficulty, as a person breathes in thin air. At worst, the life of the Kingdom will remain for him only an abstraction or an unattainable dream. And then there can be no talk of salvation or of Christianity at all.

For Co2 1:12-20