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Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 2 * PART 3 * BOOK 30
2 CORINTHIANS 1:1-3:18
Here in II Corinthians we are realizing that Paul is now following up his first letter which was a letter of reproof and correction. Now verse 9:
II Corinthians 2:9
Now verse 10:
II Corinthians 2:10
"To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: (Paul had that much confidence in them that if they had the mind of forgiveness he could go along with it.) for if I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ:"
Now Paul had absolutely no power of forgiving sin and we know that. To keep Satan from getting the upper hand! Now verse 11:
II Corinthians 2:11
A lot of people go through life thinking something is in The Book because they heard it some place. But listen, you've got to search the Scriptures and if it's not taught in Scripture run from it like a plague. So Paul says in verse 11:
II Corinthians 2:11b
Now Paul is going to bring in his own past experience when seemingly Satan had almost beaten him down in despair.
If you can picture in your mind the Mediterranean Sea and Turkey as it winds out to the West. Also remember Paul's early ministry was there in that western half of present day Turkey which was called Asia Minor. Then you have the Aegean Sea between Turkey and the mainland of Europe which is Macedonia or northern Greece, and Athens in southern Greece. Evidently Paul had made arrangement with Titus, his fellow worker there in Asia Minor, to meet him at Troas. Now look at what Paul says:
II Corinthians 2:12,13a
When Paul couldn't find Titus, his brother in The Lord, can you imagine what that must have felt like? Why isn't he at Troas at the appointed time? Now let's look at that in the Book of Acts Chapter 16 and here Paul has been ministering in western Turkey which was then Asia Minor So we find him at Troas. Now verse 6:
Now verse 13 again:
II Corinthians 2:13
So what does Paul do? In spite of the fact that he had lost track of Titus, he is obedient to The Lord's call now to go across the Aegean Sea and begin his ministry in Macedonia. Now verse 14:
II Corinthians 2:14a
"Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph..."
II Corinthians 2:14,15
Now verse 16:
II Corinthians 2:16
"To the one we are savour of death unto death; (in other words if they didn't respond, then spiritual death was their end results) and to the other (the ones who did respond) the savour of life unto life. II Corinthians 2:17a
"For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God:...'
What does Paul mean when he says corrupting the Word of God? Well the Greek word here is `kapeleuo.' Now that Greek word is just Greek to us isn't it? Whenever Jesus would quote from the Old Testament, if He didn't quote it from the Hebrew then He would quote it from the Septuagint Greek. That's where a lot of our Greek scholars put the Greek language together for our benefit.
Isaiah 1:21
What's Isaiah talking about? The city of Jerusalem. At one time it had been a righteous city and the Jewish people were obedient to the Mosaic Law, and the system. Now verse 22:
Isaiah 1:22
Now here is a word translated corrupt in II Corinthians 2:17) thy wine mixed with water:"
Paul says, "I didn't come unto you with wine watered down with water. All of that is wrapped up in that one word "corrupt." Now coming back to II Corinthians Chapter 2. For Paul says:
II Corinthians 2:17
"For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: ( a lot of people do hock an adulterated product of the spiritual.) but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ."
Now I'm also thinking about another verse that corresponds. Let's go back to the Book of Jude for a moment. Now look what The Bible says concerning false teachers. Now verse 8. Jude 1:8,10
"Likewise also these filthy dreamers (he's talking about false teacher who are hocking an adulterated product. Now verse 11:
Jude 1:11a,12
"Woe unto them!..." Jude 1:13
II Corinthians 2:17
"For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ."
Paul didn't come to these Corinthians with fickle language, or half truths, but everything that Paul spoke was prompted by the Holy Spirit, and he was here because of his love for Christ as we will see in Chapter 5. The love of Christ is what constrained Paul. So Paul was able to suffer all the privations that he will list a little later in this letter. Instead of the false teacher being bombarded, it's those with the truth who come under attack.

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