2 Corinthians Series: Smooches, The End Series

2 CORINTHIANS SERIES

SMOOCHES, THE END

2 CORINTHIANS 13:1-14

2corandmore

PERSON FROM CONGREGATION READS 2 CORINTHIANS 13:1-14 (ESV)

This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 2 I warned those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again I will not spare them— 3 since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. 4 For He was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, but in dealing with you we will live with Him by the power of God. 5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! 6 I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. 7 But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. 8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. 9 For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. 10 For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down. 11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All the saints greet you. 14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

INTRODUCTION

Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart wrote a fantastic book called “How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth.” It is a wonderful book I read in Bible college many many years ago and the book is so impactful and so good that as far as I can tell it is in its 4th edition. The book gives clear and practical explanations of the purpose of the different kinds of literature found in the Old and New Testaments and how to read the Bible properly. In one of the sections, they cover the New Testament epistles. An “epistle” is a fancy word for “letter.” We have been in 2 Corinthians for the past 12 weeks and this week is our final week in 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians is one of those letters.

Here are a couple truths they share in their book:

First, the epistles are "occasional" documents which means the letters were written to address specific situations or “occasions” in the lives of the people who received the letters. They are not theological textbooks or general essays, but they are real letters to real people dealing with real particular problems, questions, or circumstances in the early church. To interpret them correctly, we must try to understand the original situation that prompted the letter.

For example, with 2 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul had a contentious relationship with the Corinthian church. He is sending the letter to them to iron out some details and some angst so that when he arrives, they have a good visit. This letter precedes him before he visits them for a third time. We have seen him try to do that as we have talked over 2 Corinthians all these weeks.

Second, the epistles are both practical and theological. We are going to see this played out as we dig into 2 Corinthians 13:11-14 this morning. The letters are occasional, but they are also deeply theological, applying Christian truth to real-life issues. Paul is not the only one who wrote this way. Peter and James do as well. They all apply gospel truths to behavior, church life, relationships, and faith. As we read, we are to pray and seek the timeless theological principle behind each passage. We are to “discover what the text meant to the original audience and then to apply that same meaning to our own situations today.”

Third, they share with us that the reader is reading someone else’s mail. We are “overhearing” one side of a conversation. I have tried to mention this several times over the past weeks… that we are getting only a small amount of context from the visits and letters Paul has with the Corinthians. Since we often don’t have full context, we must be careful as we read. There is danger for us because we might misapply a specific instruction that was meant for a unique situation.