A WHOLE MAN

5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless you fail the test. 2 Corinthians 13:5 You will recall from our intro to Second Corinthians that one of the major struggles of the Corinthian church was unity. They were divided on doctrine, leadership, and the ministry of Paul. These “super-apostles had sowed the seeds for this division and, to Paul’s disappointment, many of the Corinthians had accepted their critiques and were too challenging Paul. Some may have boldly demanded Paul to provide proof that Christ indeed was speaking through him. You can imagine emotions of betrayal and annoyance that he must feel needing to come for a third time to demonstrate the validity of his apostleship and ministry. This third visit, however, he warns will not be one marked with gentleness but of power (13:2-3). It could be that his leniency and mercy in dealing with wrongdoers were misinterprete...

3 For though we live in the body, we do not wage war in an unspiritual way, 4 since the weapons of our warfare are not worldly, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments 5 and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 The tenth-thirteenth chapters of 2 Corinthians details Paul’s defense of his apostleship, which is quite interesting given that, today, very few who would question the authenticity of Paul’s apostleship. But that was not necessarily the case in the first century for Paul, also known as Saul (He did not have a name change like Abram->Abraham or Jacob->Israel, Saul is his Hebrew name and Paul is his Roman name), was a persecutor and killer of Christians. With that in mind we might understand some would question his apostleship. Unfortunately, the challenge that we find in these chapters are posed by from false apostles w...

7 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.  2 Corinthians 7:1  At the time of this post, it would be the beginning of the 1st day of Holy Week 2019. It not only initiates the final week of Lent, but is a poignant reminder to the world of the real event of Christ’s death and resurrection. Resurrection Sunday, (Or Easter Sunday as many call it…Read here for details on the Origin of Easter ) is the oldest Christian holiday and the most venerable. The reason for this is quite simple for a few reasons. Firstly, it is the gospel message that we proclaim to the world and the only message which is the power of God unto salvation (Rom 1:16). Or as Paul put it, “3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance ...

21 I fear that when I come my God will again humiliate me in your presence, and I will grieve for many who sinned before and have not repented of the moral impurity, sexual immorality, and promiscuity they practiced.  2 Corinthians 12:21  May 23rd, 1618 marked the beginning of a period in history known as the Thirty Year’s War. It all began when Roman-Catholic officials in Bohemia prevented and stopped construction of Protestant chapels in violation of the Letter Majesty (1608 document by Emperor Rudolf II granting religious liberty to Catholics and Protestants). In response to this violation, the Protestant lords and the congregations who were affected gathered together in unity against the religious suppression. They were even willing to even lose their own lives in order to secure the liberty granted by the Letter of Majesty in order to assemble and worship God. Interestingly enough, it is from a letter read aloud in this assembly that we get the phrase, Unus pro om...