What do Bill Gates & Mother Teresa have in common? Generosity. Being generous is a godly motive for ministry. In Corinth, False teachers were questioning Paul’s motives for ministry. Evidently they were suggesting that Paul was pocketing contributions earmarked for the poor believers in Jerusalem. Consequently the Corinthians, despite their announced willingness to help, had not donated to the cause (Radmacher, Earl D. ; Allen, Ronald Barclay ; House, H. Wayne: Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary. Nashville : T. Nelson Publishers, 1999, S. 2 Co 9:10).
Many residents of Jerusalem had undoubtedly lost their jobs in the waves of persecution that came after the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 8:1). However, the Corinthians had not yet suffered persecution and deprivation like the Macedonians; 8:1–4). They were wealthy enough to help meet the huge need with a generous monetary gift (MacArthur, John Jr: The MacArthur Study Bible. electronic ed. Nashville : Word Pub., 1997, c1997, S. 2 Co 9:12)
Given the other biblical commands to care for our families (1 Tim. 5:8) and the practical reality that giving everything we have would render us unable to continue to have a base capital to help others thereby causing us to be a self-made burden on others, how are we to have a giving spirit?
Paul presents four principles that are not directed to the Corinthian church as a whole but to individuals whose contributions will make up the church’s gift. First, he 1) Appeals to a proverb to make the point that bountiful giving leads to bountiful rewards; stingy giving leads to stingy rewards (9:6). Second, he 2) Cites Scripture to encourage giving generously and freely because God loves a cheerful giver (9:7). Third, he refers to 3) God’s readiness to provide all that is necessary for generosity (9:8–10). Paul reassures those who might worry that they do not have enough seed to sow to attain a rich harvest. God will provide all that they need. Fourth, he maintains that their 4) Generosity will bring a great harvest of thanksgiving to God (9:11).
1) The Proverb: 2 Corinthians 9:6
2 Corinthians 9:6 [6]The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. (ESV)
Paul’s first point draws on a well-known analogy from farming: those who sow sparingly will get a spare harvest/ reap sparingly, those who sow generously/ bountifully will get a generous harvest/ reap bountifully.
Proverbs 11:24 provides a biblical parallel
Proverbs 11:24-25 [24]One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. [25]Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. (ESV)
What does this mean? Dealing directly with the proverb: No farmer considers sowing as a loss of seed because the harvest will provide the seed for the next season. Consequently, no sower begrudges the seed he casts upon the ground or tries to scrimp by with sowing as little as possible. He willingly sows all that he can and trusts that God will bless the sowing with a bountiful harvest. If the farmer, for some reason, stints on the sowing, he will cheat himself of that harvest. The more he sows, the greater the harvest he will reap and the more he will have for sowing for the next harvest. Applying this analogy to giving means that plentiful giving will result in a plentiful harvest. But what kind of harvest is reaped by generosity?
North and east of ancient Corinth, fields led down to the coast each side of the isthmus connecting the mainland and the Peloponnese (Peter Naylor. 2 Corinthians. An EP Study Commentary. Evangelical Press. 2002.p.60).
• As we come into this harvest season the fields around us speak of this proverb.
The Greek expression ep eulogiais ordinarily translated “with blessings,” here has the sense of “freely.” While it does not suggest “undiscriminating” giving, it does denote “unrestrained” giving (KJV Bible Commentary. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1994, S. 2357).
• We still have responsibilities of stewardship in our giving.
But this verse must be interpreted in terms of what follows. Paul does not pass this principle off as a shrewd investment strategy on how to reap greater material blessings by giving a portion of it to others. If one gives in hopes of attaining greater material prosperity, then one will harvest only spiritual poverty. Paul makes clear in what follows that God rewards generosity with material abundance to make it possible for people to be even more generous.
Quote: An old English proverb warns, “He who serves God for money will serve the devil for better wages.”
We have seen 1) The Proverb: 2 Corinthians 9:6 and now:
2) The Word: 2 Corinthians 9:7
2 Corinthians 9:7 [7]Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (ESV)
The issue here is of personal decision: as he has decided in his heart. The apostle does not have a minimum quota, nor yet a minimum percentage figure in mind. For each individual it is an amount to be determined before the Lord (KJV Bible Commentary. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1994, S. 2357)
Please turn to Deuteronomy 15
In the Old Testament, giving reluctantly or under compulsion is portrayed as canceling out any benefit that could be received from the gift while giving with a glad heart promises reward from God:
Deuteronomy 15:7-11 [7]"If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, [8]but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. [9]Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ’The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin. [10]You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. [11]For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ’You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’ (ESV)
Scripture assumes that what is crucial is the attitude of the one who gives, not the amount. God, who knows and appraises our hearts, values only those gifts that come as a free expression of the deepest part of our souls. Gifts given under some sense of external compulsion will always be halfhearted at best. That is why the amount makes no difference if it is given with a glad heart (8:12). But if it is given resentfully with a gloomy expression, that attitude cancels any merit the gift might have no matter its amount.
Quote: A rabbinic tradition list four types of almsgivers:
1) “he that is minded to give but not that others should give—he begrudges what belongs to others;
2) he that is minded that others should give but not that he should give—he begrudges what belongs to himself;
3) he that is minded to give and also that others should give—he is a saintly man;
4) he that is minded not to give himself and that others should not give—he is a wicked man” (m. ʾAbot 5:13).
Paul underscores this point with a line from Prov 22:8 (LXX) that is absent from the Hebrew text, “for God loves a cheerful giver.” The LXX/ Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, has God “blesses” a cheerful giver The Greek term hilaron from which the English term “hilarious” derives, is best rendered as the AV suggests, “cheerful.” Giving is not a joke; it is serious business, but it is also a delightful experience (KJV Bible Commentary. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1994, S. 2357).
Does God really need our money? No, the cattle on a thousand hills belong to Him, and if He needed anything, He would not tell us (Psalm 50:10–12).
Quote: God loves a cheerful giver because, as Jowett says:
Cheerful giving is born of love, and therefore it is a lover loving a lover and rejoicing in the communion. Giving is the language of loving; indeed, it has no other speech. “God so loved that He gave!” Love finds its very life in giving itself away. Its only pride in possession is the joy of surrender. If love has all things, it yet possesses nothing (Jowett, Life in the Heights, p. 78.).
The Hebrew text reflects the idea of blessing in Prov 22:9, “A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.” It is not that God does not love the one who gives grudgingly or not at all but that God loves, in the sense of “approves,” the one who is delighted to give to others. God loves a cheerful giver because that is precisely what God is, a cheerful giver.
Quote: Horrell reflects on how this verse can be twisted to mean something other than Paul intended:
The comfortable rich who wish to remain so may interpret this to mean that if they can only give a little cheerfully, and would resent giving more, then God would rather they give only a little. Paul, it is clear, puts things rather differently: where the grace of God abounds, there people of their own free-will abound in good deeds (9:8), like the righteous one whom the scripture describes as scattering gifts freely to the poor (9:9). (Horrell, “Paul’s Collection,” 79.)
We have seen 1) The Proverb: 2 Corinthians 9:6; 2) The Word: 2 Corinthians 9:7 and now:
3) The Provision: 2 Corinthians 9:8-10
2 Corinthians 9:8-10 [8]And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. [9]As it is written, "He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." [10]He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. (ESV)
The third reason for giving is that God is lavishly generous and abundantly supplies us with everything necessary to have enough for our own needs and to be generous with others. The phrase “all grace” is quite broad in scope, covering the material blessings and the spiritual motivation to share them. Most people become miserly in their giving because they worry that they will not have enough for themselves. Paul assures them that God will supply them with plenty for their needs at all times and uses alliterative repetition to carry his point.
Reluctance to sow generously, then, reflects a refusal to trust that God is all sufficient and all gracious. It also assumes that we can only give when we are prospering and have something extra that we will not need for ourselves. Paul says that at all times God provides us with all that we need so there is never any time when we cannot be generous.
In 9:8 the word “having all sufficiency/all you need” translates autarkeia, a word that Greek authors used to mean “self-sufficiency” or “contentment.” The Cynics and Stoics of Paul’s day understood self sufficiency to be related “to freedom from external circumstances and other people.” In this tradition one developed this self-sufficiency by disengaging oneself from human needs and from other humans. Paul does not use this term in a philosophical sense but in an economic sense. Having enough does not simply mean reducing one’s craving for material goods and becoming independent from everyone. It means reducing what one wants for oneself so that one has enough to share with others and create an interdependence with them. Having what is sufficient helps Christians “to relate more effectively to other people, not to withdraw from them.”
For Paul, having all you need means having enough for every good work. Paul’s point is that “God will provide the means to be generous, that one can sow liberally (which also means freely and cheerfully, v. 7a) in the confidence that God will bestow a liberal harvest.” The more we give, the more we will be given by God to share with others. We may not have all the money that we want, but we will have all the money we need to be abundant in our giving to others.
When God gives resources, He gives us more than we need, not so that we can have more, but so that we can give more to others. God does not bestow material blessings so that one can hoard them for oneself or withdraw from others but so that they might be shared with others. The whole purpose Paul’s collection, therefore, is not to establish the independence of the Gentile Christians from the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem but to deepen their interdependence.
Please turn to Philippians 4
“Self-sufficiency” is a misnomer, since it is sufficiency that comes from God not from the self. Paul testified:
Philippians 4:11-13 [11]Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. [12]I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. [13]I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (ESV)
In 2 Cor. 9:8 Paul assumes in this verse that the most valuable thing about money is that we can use it for every good work. He avoids the plural “works,” which he tends to connect with “works of law” and the ritual acts of piety, such as circumcision, and observing food laws. “Every good work” here refers to acts of love (see 1 Cor 15:58) and is little different from what James says about supplying the needs of the brother or sister who is naked and lacks daily food (Jas 2:14–17). To abound in every good work comes from abounding in God’s grace. Every good work does not earn grace; grace, already received, generates the good work.
Please turn to Psalm 111
In 2 Cor. 9:9 Paul again resorts to Scripture to make his point, citing Ps 111:9 (LXX, Hb. text 112:9):
Ps 111:9 [9]He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is his name!
In 2 Corinthians 9:9 the word “poor” (penēs), meaning “one who is destitute,” appears only here in the New Testament. The Greco-Roman culture assumed that it was pointless to give anything to a pauper. The only repayment he could make was with his praise, which was worthless. The biblical concern for those in abject poverty differs markedly from this view. Showing benevolence to the poor and needy is a sign of righteousness in the Old Testament.
“His righteousness” may therefore refer to the moral uprightness of the pious man, as in the psalm. Giving to the poor is a sign of a right relation with God (see Dan 4:27). As God’s righteousness is demonstrated by mighty deeds, so human righteousness is demonstrated by actions—particularly in giving to the poor. The word “righteousness” takes on a meaning that is closer to what one finds in Matthew. Righteousness is something one does; and here, as in Matt 6:1–4, it involves giving alms to the poor and showing mercy to the oppressed. But how does the righteousness of a humane and compassionate person endures/abide forever? It may simply mean that the righteous “will be remembered forever” by God (Ps 112:6).
In Ps 111:3, however, it refers to God’s righteousness enduring forever. It is more likely that Paul understands “his righteousness” in the citation to refer to divine righteousness. God is the subject of the previous verse, “God is able to make all grace abound to you” (9:8), and Paul’s interpretation of the psalm in the next verse (9:10) assumes that the subject of the psalm is God. The Lord is gracious and merciful to provide all that we need and shows his righteousness in scattered abroad /scattering gifts to the poor. The charitable acts of Christians, then, are all “part of that larger righteousness of God by which they themselves live and in which they will remain forever (v. 9).
In 2 Cor. 9:10 God is the one who provides, scatters, and multiplies. God is the source of the seed (Isa 55:10–11), which is likened to righteousness (Hos 10:12), and God produces the crop. Paul’s interpretation of the psalm is drawn from his observation of the farming process. The seed planted provides a harvest and enough seed to plant next year’s harvest. But this statement also reflects the basic confession of Judaism that God graciously provides all of the bounty of nature.
Paul’s statement that he planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth (1 Cor 3:6) shows that he shares this basic presupposition that all harvests come from God, not from the farmers. The one who is generous acts on the assured faith that God bountifully supplies bread for the sower and multiplies the seed corn for future harvests.
The phrase “the harvest of your righteousness” now applies “righteousness” to humans. The harvest of righteous deeds, like the harvest of the field, does not come from us, but from God. The righteousness that we become through Christ’s sacrificial death (5:21) works itself out in our sacrificial generosity to others. A lack of generosity calls into question whether or not we have truly received the righteousness of God. Paul’s point is that God makes us righteous through Christ and gives us seed money for a harvest of generosity. The more we sow, the greater the harvest; and the greater the harvest now, the greater the harvest will be in the future. Because liberal sowing leads to a liberal harvest (cf. v. 6), one may expect progressively larger harvests as there is ever more seed available for sowing in the next season. If the Corinthians will contribute generously to the collection, they will see how God can multiply their resources for yet more generous giving”
The principle Paul lays out is similar to the crass economic principle that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Except here, the generous get richer; the miserly grow poorer—a truth memorably captured in secular literature by the characters of Ebenezer Scrooge and Silas Marner. But growing richer may not mean wealth the way the world measures wealth. They are spiritually richer and regard whatever material resources they may possess as providing enough for themselves (see 1 Tim 6:8) and enough to give to others who have nothing. The problem with being tight-fisted is that the closed fist prevents us from receiving anything more from God. When we are open handed with others, our hands are also open to receive more from God.
Quote: Martin Luther said: I have had many things in my hands that I lost; the things that I placed in the hands of God I still possess.
We have seen 1) The Proverb: 2 Corinthians 9:6; 2) The Word: 2 Corinthians 9:7;
3) The Provision: 2 Corinthians 9:8-10 and finally:
4) The Harvest: 2 Corinthians 9:11-15
2 Corinthians 9:11-15 [11]You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. [12]For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. [13]By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, [14]while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. [15]Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! (ESV)
The first half of verse 11 summarizes Paul’s point in the previous verses: God will provide the means for them to be generous. God blesses the cheerful giver with riches in (various ways): materially, economically, spiritually, intellectually, socially, temporally, and eternally. His blessings are imparted to the giver in various forms and often at different times (Simon J. Kistemaker. Baker New Testament Commentary. Baker Publishing Group. 1997. p. 317).
People will not be enriched so that they can become like the rich fool who sits back in comfort and says to himself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry” (Luke 12:19). They are enriched solely to give them every opportunity to be generous with others. God is generous in giving people wealth so that they may be generous with others. What we do with our money, then, becomes a litmus test for our relationship to God. If we try to hoard it or to spend it all on ourselves, that should set off alarm bells that our relationship with God is out of balance or worse, nonexistent. The rich fool with his bulging barns and bumper crop wondered where he could store all his good things to preserve them all for himself. It apparently never crossed his mind that he had plenty of storage in the mouths of the needy. Those who are decisive and resourceful in trying to find ways to use God’s bounty to help others, as the rich fool was decisive and resourceful in finding ways to feather his own luxuriant nest, are those who are righteous in God’s eyes (see 8:2) and who live out God’s righteousness.
In the middle of outlining the principles explaining why the Corinthians should be generous, Paul reminds them that he is not talking about generosity in general. He wants them to be generous for this particular project that is “being worked through us.” Paul is the agent who initiated the undertaking that will allow their generosity not only to issue in a harvest of righteousness but also to produce a worldwide impact on Christ’s church.
The second half of the verse introduces the theme of thanksgiving by those who receive their gifts, and this idea is developed in the next verse (see 1:11; 4:15). Giving to others becomes a kind of thank-offering to God that multiplies itself. We thank God for what we have received; others thank God for what they have received from us.
In 9:12 Paul now explains why “generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” “The ministry of this service /this service that you perform” (hē diakonia tēs leitourgias tautēs) is the same word used in the “service for the saints” (8:4; 9:1), but here it refers to the rendering or execution of something. The word translated “service” (leitourgia) was used in Paul’s day for public service, such as the contributions of money or services for a specific cause by the wealthier residents of the city-state. The rich were expected to spend a portion of their wealth to promote the common good. They received honors in return, such as public praise and honorific inscriptions lauding their service and preserving their honor after death.
In Scripture, this “service” (leitourgia) was also used for priestly ceremonies (see Num 8:22). Paul used the word in the sense of public service (Phil 2:30) and in the sense of religious sacrifice (Phil 2:17; 4:18). Paul combines the two meanings in this verse. The rendering of their service is an act of benevolence for the common good and a spiritual offering to God.
• That is why whatever we do for others, Jesus explained we do unto Him (Mt. 25:40).
The purpose of the collection that Paul gives here is twofold, material and spiritual. It supplies the needs of the saints and abounds in thanksgivings offered to God. Their gift is not just a service for the poor, it is a service to God because of the thanksgiving that will redound to God’s glory. The recipients of their gifts cannot help but lift their voices in thanksgiving to God.
In 9:13 “The approval of this service /proof of this ministry” (“this service by which you have proved yourselves,” NIV) recalls Paul’s description of the Macedonians in 8:2. They proved themselves in severe affliction. God does not always test us through affliction. Some of the most difficult tests come when we must prove ourselves obedient to God in times of relative prosperity. If the Corinthians follow through generously on their commitment to this ministry, they will have passed this test. Their obedience will also bring glory to God from the recipients as they praise God for it.
Their sharing with fellow Christians means that the dividing lines of race and national heritage have indeed been broken down in Christ. It also accomplishes what Paul believes is God’s will in this matter: a concrete gesture of love that signifies the unity of the churches. The gift is also part of their confession of the gospel of Christ. The “submission flowing from your confession /obedience of your confession” shows how confession is to be more than the mouthing of pious clichés; it should lead to actions that speak louder than words.
Please turn to Romans 15
Bestowing gifts on others was expected to win thanks, but in 2 Cor. 9:14, Paul assumes that the recipients of their aid will respond with thanks to God and intercessory prayers for them. They will recognize that the grace manifested in their giving comes from the surpassing grace of God working in their lives.
On the eve of his departure for Jerusalem with the offering for the saints, he asks the Romans to pray that it will be accepted by them in the spirit that it was given.
Romans 15:25-31 [25]At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. [26]For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. [27]For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. [28]When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. [29]I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. [30]I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, [31]that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, (ESV)
If the Corinthians’ love is genuine, it is the need of the saints in Jerusalem, not the expectation of their grateful response, that motivates their generosity. Paul, however, envisages that they will receive this sacrificial gift gratefully with an outpouring of thanks to God. Paul knows that some Jewish Christians in Jerusalem still harbor prejudice against uncircumcized Gentiles. Yet he hopes that this gift will help break down that bias as they recognize that God’s grace is being poured out “even on the Gentiles” (see Acts 10:45). Gift giving was the primary way friendship was established in the ancient world, and Paul anticipates that the gift will create a bond between Jewish and Gentile Christians. Their hearts will go out to you (lit., “long for you”), and they will offer up intercessory prayers in your behalf.
A similar scenario is repeated time and again even today. When we as Christians in the west bring offerings to support other Christians in mission fields around the world, it is a way by which we express our fellowship in Christ with them. And they recognize that. More often than we might think, the hearts of our fellow Christians in Central Africa or Southeast Asia or South America go out to their brothers and sisters in the west. They thank God for the surpassing grace he has given them, which has moved them to be so generous with their offerings. Offerings and missionaries for missions are not simply money flowing from here to there.
They are love, Christian love, in action. They are expressions of Christian fellowship extending from one continent to another, helping to bind even more closely together those whom the Spirit through the gospel has already made one (Valleskey, David J.: 2 Corinthians. Milwaukee, Wis. : Northwestern Pub. House, 1992 (The People’s Bible), S. 171).
In 9:15 Paul concludes this section on a note of confidence that the Corinthians will indeed comply, and so he offers thanks (charis) to God. The thanks is not offered to the Corinthians for being well-disposed to Paul’s grand scheme and opening their purses to others. It is instead directed to God, who is the author of all perfect gifts. Paul gives thanks here specifically for the “indescribable” (inexpressible) gift The word ἀνεκδιήγητος (“indescribable,” “inexpressible”) appears only here in the NT. This may refer to a number of things that are all connected together: the gift of salvation, the gift of God’s Son, the gift of God’s grace (8:1, 4, 6, 7, 16, 19; 9:8). Most likely it refers to 8:9, “the primary gift of God which has established the whole framework of Christian life and fellowship within which Paul’s preaching and collection alike stand.”(Barrett, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 241.)
These words of thanksgiving conclude Paul’s appeal to the Corinthians to renew their devotion for the undertaking and to fulfill their promise. They reveal that “all Christian giving is carried out in the light of God’s inexpressible gift.” Remembering thankfully Christ’s sacrifice (8:9) and God’s grace, which human words fail to capture fully, should cause them to finish the preparations for their gifts diligently, unselfishly, and cheerfully. Their gift models the kind of inexpressible gift that God has given to them.
(Format Note: Outline & some base commentary from Garland, David E.: 2 Corinthians. electronic ed. Nashville : Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001, c1999 (Logos Library System; The New American Commentary 29), S. 404)
