Free Bible Commentary
“2 Corinthians 1:15-24”
Categories: 2 Corinthians“In this confidence I intended at first to come to you, so that you might twice receive a blessing; that is, to pass your way into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be helped on my journey to Judea. Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time? But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. For the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us — by me and Silvanus and Timothy — was not yes and no, but is yes in Him. For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. But I call God as witness to my soul, that to spare you I did not come again to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm.”
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Paul is essentially saying here that he was not the kind of person that talked out of both sides of his mouth. His yes meant yes and his no meant no. In other words, he meant exactly what he said. But when he had previously purposed to come to Corinth to see his brethren, he changed his plans in order “to spare” them (verse 23). He didn’t want to come to them with the heavy hand of discipline, so he gave them the opportunity to work out some of their problems, with the hope that his eventual visit would be one of joy and not sorrow.
Paul didn’t make his plans and promises in a whimsical way, nor should we. We should always strive to be people who mean what we say and say what we mean. Jesus said, “Let your statement be, 'Yes, yes ' or 'No , no'; anything beyond these is of evil” (Matthew 5:37). The Lord is teaching us here that if we are people of our word we will never have to swear about anything. But, inevitably, sometimes we must do things differently than what we originally intended. Paul’s change of plans was actually made in the best interests of the Corinthians, even though some of the brethren slandered him for it.
Quoting Eric Parker from his workbook again:
“One of the worst challenges we may face is slander. In fact, according to the U.S. judicial system, slander is a crime! The Apostles were not exempted from experiencing those ills. Paul’s undefiled conscience caused him to long to be with the brethren, but their response to him in the form of false allegations prevented him. Elsewhere, Paul and his companions were prevented from coming by the Spirit (e.g. Acts 16:6f) or by Satan (1 Thess. 2:18), but this was a deliberate choice made in an effort to ‘spare’ the brethren.
Please read 2 Corinthians 2:1-4 for tomorrow.
Have a great day!
