2 Corinthains 11

2 Corinthians 11:15

Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.

A little while ago, a news item popped up in my feed about the Methodist church and their disagreements on alternate gender and sexual identities.  Their governing body very narrowly voted to maintain Biblical standards, but it was very close, and there are many parts of the church that disagree and have already said they will not comply.

These people have been led astray by Satan and his servants, under the guide of righteousness.  They've allowed their feelings and what they think should be right to override God's instruction.  I'd like to sit with my head held high, but I do the same, just on slightly different issues; I've only recently come to realize how wrong I was, even though I could construct an almost-valid reasoning for it all.  But my reasoning is just excuses, and sin is still sin, no matter what I think.

2 Corinthians 10

2 Corinthians 10:6

and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.

Most believers know the verse before, about taking every thought captive.  But I read this and my eyebrows rose.  What do they mean, punishing all disobedience?

Is it saying that they will become aggressive against nonbelievers, or against those in the church who sin?  And when does he mean that their obedience is complete?  Is this in reference to some time here on Earth, or is it only once Christ has returned and we return without sin?  If the former, since we'll never be completely obedient, when will it occur?  Or if the latter, who will be we punishing?

This sentence leaves me rather confused.  I'm going to poke open a commentary or two, and see what they think, because I'm not at all sure.

2 Corinthians 9

2 Corinthians 9:7

Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Sometimes I've felt like this verse was being used as a club, when somebody's cause wasn't being supported enough.  I remember an old comic when I was a kid, where a guy is sitting with a scowl on his face in the pew and this verse is in the background.  In the next frame, he puts a big smile on his face as he drops money in the offering plate, then goes back to scowling in the final frame.

I honestly can't say that I'm a cheerful giver, just a regular one.  I do most of my giving automatically, and impersonally where I can.  While I have chosen to give to the thing I do give to, I can't say that it's cheerfully, but it is the almost always purposefully, not out of obligation or guilt.

2 Corinthians 8

2 Corinthians 8:8

I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also.

I tend to get nervous when someone starts talking this way.  I've seen too many occasions where some leader starts telling the congregation to be generous for some worthy cause, only to it to be revealed that the cause wasn't so worthy.  My hackles automatically go up when someone tells me I'm supposed to be generous.

However, this of course wasn't the case here, as Paul is completely legit.  The suggestion is that there has been a famine in Jerusalem, and the donations are for the believers there to get by.  However I may be aware of that and accept it, it always seems like Paul's buttering the bread quite a bit, trying to ego-stroke them into helping rather than trusting that they will be moved by the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 7

2 Corinthians 7:10

For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

God will use different tools to reach people, depending on their resistance or openness to him.  One of those tools can be sorrow, a long-term sadness.  This is designed to make us think, and realize that our sorrow is due to the lack of trust in God that He works all things for what in the end will be good for His people.

If we do not draw this lesson, sorrow can increase to the point of death.  Either you will carry the sorrow with you until you die, or perhaps you fall into depression and cause your own death.  I fear that I've taken the wrong path on some things in my life, and turned to sorrow instead of to God.

2 Corinthians 6

2 Corinthians 6:14

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?

I always get a bit uncomfortable when verses like this come up.  I have a friend who's dating a non-believer.  I expect them to get engaged sometime soon, and that leaves me in a quandry.

He has told me that he does intend to marry her, even knowing she doesn't believe.  But how am I supposed to respond when the day comes?  I can't approve of the marriage, but he's one of my closest friends, and I like her.  So how do I thread the line between speaking Biblical truth, and giving offense that could turn her further from salvation?

2 Corinthians 5

2 Corinthians 5:9

Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.

I read this verse, and had to pause.  I know I can say things like this, and probably do more than I can recall right now.  But do I really mean it?

Ambition is "a strong desire to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work"  according to Google.  While I want to do what's right by God, I don't really feel like it's a strong desire; more that it's a goal that seems perpetually out of reach.  And I don't really feel like I'm working very hard to get to wherever that place may be; come to think of it, it seems in several parts of my life I don't know where the goal is, either, only that it's over the horizon in a certain general direction.

2 Corinthians 4

2 Corinthians 4:2

but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

Shame is a powerful emotion; I've only recently been learning about how powerful it is in my own life.  Shame has caused an emotional loop in my life for years, doing things I know are wrong because I don't feel worthy of doing what's right.  It's caused me to hide a lot of things, and find ways to sneak them in where no one notices.

However, the solution is scarier than the problem to me.  The idea of opening myself up to someone else terrifies me, as there's no one I currently trust enough to consider doing that.  The idea that seems to be stated here, to make everything completely public to all believers make me want to run the other way, and I'd frankly rather leave my church and go do it somewhere new with a bunch of relative strangers than where I am now.

2 Corinthians 3

2 Corinthians 3:5

Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God,

We like to think of ourselves as smart, reasonable, able to figure out anything.  We look at something that we have figured out, and declare how clever we are.  Given time and resources, we think we can learn everything there is to know.

However, God is beyond our understanding.  He exists on a level we cannot even perceive on our own.  As such, nothing we do will ever let us understand Him, and therefore we have no way of ever being worthy of Him.  Only He can accept us and make us worthy in any way.

2 Corinthians 2

2 Corinthians 2:11

so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

This verse is in the context of forgiveness.  Paul appears to be saying that one reason we should forgive is to prevent Satan from using the hostility that comes from a lack of forgiveness.  We know he is dangerous and scheming to take us all down with him.

When we do not forgive, other emotions build up, like anger or resentment.  If we allow these to fester, we can't show the love Christ commands of us.  Therefore, we must forgive if we are to be the people God wants us to be, and not the ones Satan does.

I'll admit I've always had trouble figuring the line between forgiveness and disassociation.  Right now there are people I feel have done me wrong over a lot of time, and I want to forgive them.  But at the same time, I feel like I need to distance myself from them for my own good, but if I do that, does it mean I haven't really forgiven them?

2 Corinthians 1

2 Corinthians 1:4

who comforts us in all our afflictions so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

I'll admit, this one is hard for me to read right now.  I can't say I feel much comfort these days.  I've had this hurt for so long, which I've been medicating it in all the wrong ways.  Now that I'm trying to find the right way to heal, it's opened up a lot of pain again, which has really put me in a bad place emotionally.

With all this going on, I don't feel like I'm all that capable of giving comfort.  Certainly there could be things I could still do, like if someone died and I could help.  But I feel like right now the best I could do for many would be hollow platitudes, because that peace we're supposed to have is escaping me.

1 Corinthians 16

1 Corinthians 16:9

for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

Most people would not equate effective service with many adversaries.  The only people I can think of who would are military, and Paul wasn't speaking in tactical terms that I can tell.  So, why would he believe that having many adversaries equates to effectiveness?

My first thought is that he saw the adversaries as a sign that he was being effective, because Satan was bringing major forces to bear against him.  Another possibility is that he saw the many opponents as an opportunity to save more, as they would be paying attention to him.  Or, it could be that he knew God would provide what he needed, and therefore the size of the opposition would only result in greater glory when the work was done.

1 Corinthians 15

1 Corinthians 15:14

and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is vain.

The pivot point of Christianity is whether Jesus not only died on the cross, but was raised.  If He did not die, then the whole thing is just a fairy tale that we've foolishly bought into.  If He died then was not raised, then we've built our lives upon a lie.

If that were a lie, then we have done all this for exactly nothing.  There would be no hope, no true basis for our faith.  What's more, we've convinced others that it's true, and sent them down the wrong path as well.

1 Corinthians 14

1 Corinthians 14:14

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

You hear of people who speak in tongues, and how others sometimes translate from a language the first doesn't even know.  Some people treat these stories with reverence, believing they show the power of God.  Other times they lead people to Christ, speaking to them in their obscure native language.

However, I've never heard one of these stories where the speaker had a clue what he was saying.  It always just comes out, and he is only a relay.  However, we have to remember that in speaking tongues, the person speaking gains nothing from speaking, because it makes no more sense to him than most of the rest of us.