2 Corinthians chapter 1

vs 13

I don't get this, but for some reason the NIV has very slightly different verse numbering here than the NASB or the KJV, or even Marshall's greek.

Anyway, the verse is a good reminder to us that when the authors of Biblical books wrote them, they wrote them to a certain people at a certain time, and those people would have needed to have an understanding of what the letter meant to them.

vs 14

I think Paul is again talking about the legitimacy of his credentials, rather than encouraging them to boast about him being the person who started their church. Or else, he could be saying to them that their reason for even being Christians is only through Paul, just as Paul's work is legitimised through their witness.

vs 15-16

I am assuming by "first" he is referring to verse 16 where he indicates he was going to visit Corinth in two directions from his trip to Macedonia.Paul happily sees their ability to send him onward to Judea on his return journey as a blessing for them, and is therefore willing to state as much.

Imagine if a missionary came to your church and said "I am glad that I have come here, so that I can give you the blessing of sending me onward on my next missionary trip".

vs 17

It sounds like Paul didn't make it to Corinth. Which, when you consider how often he gets arrested, stoned, chased away etc, is probably not surprising. He hasn't said it yet, but already he is defending himself because of the fact that he didn't make it to Corinth even though he planned to.

vs 18-19

If someone else used this as an excuse for why they didn't come visit the church, or they missed a preaching engagement or something, I think we'd scoff at them. The Corinthians may well have scoffed a little anyway. It's an interesting logic - becausePaul, Silas and Timothy's gospel of Christ is a Christ that was always "yes", that is, always doing the will of the Father, the expectation should be that Paul would always be a "yes" person too.

I wonder if I'm reading that right. It's a hard call for a Christian if I am.

vs 20

God is always a "yes" God, in that any promise he makes, he keeps, and in fact has fulfilled in Christ. That's a great attribute of God - someone who always keeps their promises is very trustworthy. The very essence of trustworthiness in fact!

So Paul wants to tell them that he's a "yes" missionary - that he keeps the promises he makes.

vs 21

We cannot stand without God to make us stand. Even our response to God's great gift of grace has to come from him. We suck.

vs 22

It's God's work of anointing, sealing and guaranteeing that not only gives us our hope of what's to come, but which keeps us as members of his household. If we had to do something to stay under his roof, we'd be out on our asses. That's the extent to God keeping his promises to us - he does all the work.

vs 23

So Paul says that in the end, he decided that Corinth was better off if he didn't go there and bust some heads first. The idea that Paul 'spared' them is pretty powerful. I'm not sure quite how much time there is between 1 and 2 Corinthians, time for at least one more letter apparently, but probably not years and years. In which case, probably not good to have the Paul of 1 Corinthians fame come and kick butt just yet.

vs 24

Paul's not saying this to lord his position over them, or to make them feel bad, but to show them that he's got their best interests at heart, because he wants them to be full of the joy of the Lord. He wants them to stand firm in the faith. And he's asking them to trust him, that these are his motives.