“2 Corinthians 9:10-15”

Thursday, June 14, 2018

"Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God. Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all, while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"

---End of Scripture---

Here we have another agricultural metaphor to illustrate the principles behind divinely-approved and divinely-pleasing giving. Paul articulates that God is Chief Benefactor to Christians and lavishly provides for our needs. Having that assurance, the Corinthians (and us!) should use their (our) multiplied resources to produce fruit in blessings for the poor. In this particular context, it seems that there are four stages in the benevolence/grace process: God’s supplying, the Corinthians’ giving, the realization of more resources and devotion to further benevolent work, and God’s reward of numerous blessings. Verse 10 seems to allude to Isaiah 55:10; Hosea 10:12; Amos 6:12. It can also be seen to convey the memorable principle of Matthew 6:33.

Verses 11-15 provide the third context for linking the themes of grace and thanksgiving (compare 1:11; 4:15; 9:8-11). Verse 11 reveals that God enriched them (and us!) unto all liberality (i.e. without ulterior motives) to help others (8:2; 9:13). Because of this overflow of liberality, thanksgivings are multiplied for abundance and for givers (cf. 4:15; 8:2, 7, 14; 9:8, 12).

Paul identifies the collection for the saints as a service (Greek: diakonia) in 8:4; 9:1, 13. In this context, Paul uses a different Greek word - leitourgia (cf. Rom. 15:27) - which has a rich secular and biblical background and usage (e.g. Philippians 2:17, 25, 30; Romans 15:16). Not only are the participants helping relieve the want of the saints in supplying what the poor need, they are also resulting in thanksgivings to God. The ultimate result of all giving should be God’s glory!

To this point, Paul has been nudging the Corinthians along. At verse 13, he presumes their faithful obedience and observes that this ministration would cause them to pass the test (cf. 2:9; 8:24). Paul pictures the response to the gift as jubilance and expresses even now that the Jewish brethren desire to verify this gift and commend the Gentile Christians for their steadfast love. In fact, when Paul and the brethren arrive, this is the exact response they receive (Acts 21:18-20). The grammatical use of the present tense participle with "glorify" indicates that the Jerusalem Christians were already rejoicing at the thought of a contribution being gathered.

This gift was a liberal distribution to all. "All" could refer to all Jewish Christians or all Christians in general. By using this general term, Paul is subtly condemning sectarianism once more (1 Corinthians 14:36). While their gift was to Christians collectively, they (and we) must remember that we are called as individuals to help EVERYONE in need, Christian or not (Galatians 6:10; Luke 10:25-37). As Gareth Reese astutely remarks in his commentary, “Paul expected the Corinthians to be personally involved in any situation where participation together in the cause of Christ was at stake. Christians are to have the same care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:25, 26).”

We get a glimpse in verse 14 of the continual outpouring of praise and thanksgiving for what the Corinthians would soon perform as promised. The Jewish brethren yearned after their Corinthian brethren by their prayer. This was because of the exceeding grace of God in the Corinthians. Paul never gave up on the Corinthians and he maintains his full assurance of their ability to perfect that which they had pledged.

Verse 15 is fundamental truth undergirding and providing meaning to this entire section and to every contribution that has ever taken place in the Lord's church. God has given an indescribable gift! But what exactly is the object of the divine benevolence in this particular section? Well, there are three basic ways of understanding this verse: 1) Jesus is the gift (cf. 8:9; Romans 8:32); 2) The collection is the gift; 3) The situation of the collection is a means of solidifying the grace of God’s reconciliation amongst Gentiles and Jews is the gift of God.

So what was the end of it all? Can we know what happened at Corinth? Can we know if Paul's inspired letter was profitable or was it all an exercise in futility? Thankfully, we can and do know what their response was. Inspired (Romans 15:26) and uninspired sources (1 Clement ii.1) testify that Corinth gave in abundance just as Paul expected and just as they had promised.

So what can we learn from 2 Corinthians 8-9? We learn that God has high expectations for us and yet those high expectations are infinitely lesser than what He has yielded unto us. We learn that God enables us to give through His grace. We learn that we must give cheerfully, truthfully, and compassionately to all, but especially to the household of faith. May all of us show foresight, grace, and benevolent spirits in our giving and may God bless us in it.

We hope this study of 2 Corinthians 8-9 on giving has helped you.

Please read 2 Corinthians 10:1-6 for tomorrow!

- By Eric Parker

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