Lesson for August 16, 2023
The Book of II Corinthians
Chapter 6:1-18
Verses 1-3
“And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain— for He says, ‘At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you.’ Behold, now is ‘the acceptable time,’ behold, now is ‘the day of salvation’— giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited.”
Working together with Him means that as believers we have many things in common and if we are all advancing toward the same goal of spiritual maturity then we are, in fact, working together for the common goal of glorifying Christ and resolving the Angelic Conflict.
This is what the quote from the Old Testament in Isaiah 49:8 means. Not only does God want to save us and give us eternal life, but He also wants us to represent Him on earth. He wants us to execute the Protocol Plan of God, increase our capacity so that He can bless us and so that He can be glorified in us. Paul was encouraging these believers in Corinth to realize that the time for advancing in their spiritual lives was right that moment, they should not delay.
Verses 4-10
“But in everything commending ourselves as servants of God in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true;as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.”
In verses 4-10 we have demonstrations of how to commend (receive approval for) yourself to God both in adversity and in prosperity.
Afflictions is the Greek word “thlipsis,” which means mental pressure from distressing circumstances of life. Hardships is the Greek word “ananke,” which means to be forced into a course of action by another or compelled to do something. Distresses is the Greek word “stenochoria,” which means anguish or to be pressed into a narrow place (mentally). Beatings is the Greek word “plege,” whichmeans wounds, blows, or bruises. Imprisonments is the Greek word “phulake,” which means a cage, to guard, or to incarcerate. Tumults is the Greek word “akatastasia,” which means disturbance or anarchy. Labors is the Greek word “kopos,” which means toil resulting in weariness, to cause trouble, or to disturb.
Sleeplessness is the Greek word “agrupnia,” which means suffering from being deprived of sleep. Hunger is the Greek word “nesteia,” which means suffering from being involuntarily deprived of food.
Purity is the Greek word “agnotes,” which means purity of lifestyle, including thought. Knowledge is the Greek word “gnosis,” which means academic knowledge. Patience is the Greek word “makrothumia,” which means perseverance. Kindness is the Greek word “chrestotes,” which means goodness of heart or gentleness. The Holy Spirit refers to the filling of the Holy Spirit. Genuine love is the Greek word “anupokritos,” which means virtue-love.
The word of truth is the Greek word “aletheia” for truth referring to Bible doctrine. The power of Godis the Greek word “dunamis,” for the divine power of the Holy Spirit. The weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left refer to putting on the armor of God. Glory and dishonor are the Greek words “doxa” for glory and “atimia” for dishonor, referring to how you are treated by others.
Evil report and good report. The Greek word for evil report is “dusphemia,” meaning defamation of character. Regarded as deceivers, and yet true. The Greek word for deceivers is “planos,” meaning sometimes you will be falsely accused of being a deceiver of truth, while being truthful. Regarded as unknown, and yet well-known. The Greek word for unknown is “agnoeo” meaning to be obscure instead of well-known by others. You may be unknown to others, but you’re known to God. Regarded as dying, yet behold, we live means being under the threat of death and yet still alive. Regarded as punished yet not put to death. The Greek word for punished is “paideuo,” meaning chastened. Some will assume suffering for blessing is divine discipline. Regarded as sorrowful yet always rejoicing. The Greek word for sorrowful is “lupeo,” meaning to have grief. Even in the midst of sorrow we can rejoice. Regarded as poor yet making many rich.
The Greek word for poor is “ptochos,” meaning that you may be poor by the world’s standards, but you are not by God’s standards. Regarded as having nothing yet possessing all things means having no material possessions but having everything because of your relationship with Jesus Christ.
Verses 6:11-18
“Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians, our heart is opened wide. You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections. Now in a like exchange—I speak as to children—open wide to us also. Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ ‘Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. ‘And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,’ Says the Lord Almighty.”
Paul and his ministry team had openly and freely taught the Corinthians Bible doctrine. They had opened their heart, which was full of doctrine to these believers by teaching them the Word of God. However, there was a group of these believers who had been deceived by false teachers and had finally recovered from their reversionism. Paul reminded them that it was their own emotions, not the teaching of Paul and the apostles, that caused them to get distracted by false doctrine and slide into reversionism.
The Greek word for restrained is “stenochoreo,” meaning a narrow space. The Greek word for affections is “splanchnon,” which means passions. They had become passionate about false doctrine through their emotions. The Corinthians rejected Bible doctrine in favor of emotions as the controlling factor of their lives.
Now in a like exchange—I speak as to children—open wide to us also. Just as the Corinthians had given themselves over to their emotions, Paul challenged them to now give themselves over to Bible doctrine. In other words, just like you exchanged Bible doctrine for emotion, change back from emotion to Bible doctrine as the rule of your spiritual life.
Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? Paul then addressed the doctrine of separation. The problem in the church of Corinth that caused them to be led astray into false doctrine was their association with false teachers, who they should have avoided. The principle of separation does not exclude contact with unbelievers, but the principle demands that such contact should in no way compromise doctrine, that it should in no way hinder the function of your spiritual life. (II Thessalonians 3:6,14,15) The questions that Paul posed were to illustrate the doctrine of separation.
For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ ‘Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. ‘And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,’ says the Lord Almighty.
The Holy of Holies within the Temple was where the Shekinah Glory, Jehovah (Jesus Christ) resided. In the Church Age the Temple of God is the body of every believer and is the place where the Shekinah Glory resides. Since the Shekinah Glory of Christ resides in our bodies, a separation exists between righteousness and lawlessness, light and darkness, Christ and Belial (Satan, the Wicked One), a believer and an unbeliever and the temple of God and idols. (Leviticus 26:12; Isaiah 52:11; II Samuel 7:14)
The command of separation means separation from religion, from all satanic thought, and from those who would influence you to reject accurate Bible doctrine. Separation from these things can be accomplished only by a life of consistent study and application of accurate Bible doctrine. You can’t simply separate from something without the knowledge of how to do it. This is what the knowledge of doctrine does for a believer. The “unclean thing” could be anything that distracts you from your spiritual life. In other words, we are given the ability to know from what to separate and we are, as it were, embraced by the Lord.