Dear Corinthians,
Blessed be God of all comfort, who comforts us is our affliction so that we may comfort those in any affliction with the comfort with which we are comforted by God. We share in Christ's sufferings; through Christ we share comfort also. If you suffer, it is for your salvation and comfort; if you are comforted, it is for your comfort.
I want you to be aware of what happened to us in Asia. We were burdened beyond our strength; we despaired of life itself; we felt we had received the sentence of death. But that was all to make us not rely on ourselves to but rely on God alone. He delivered us from deadly peril, and we hope that he will deliver us again.
I wanted to visit you on my way from Macedonia, but I have changed my mind.
If anyone has caused pain, he has caused it to all of you. This is punishment enough; you should forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Reaffirm your love for him.
I went to Troas and Titus wasn't there, so I left and went to Macedonia.
We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and those who are perishing; to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance of life to life. We are not peddlers of God's word, but men of sincerity commissioned by God.
Such is the confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who made us ministers of a new covenant. A covenant not of letters but of the spirit; the letter kills, the spirit gives life.
Now if the ministry of Death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face, will not the new ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? If there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it! If what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory!
We do not lose heart. We have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or tamper with God's word. If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of Christ!
This treasure, the light of the gospel, we have in jars of clay to show that the power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in our bodies the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus be manifested in our bodies.
So do not lose heart. Our outer self is wasting away, but out inner self is being renewed each day. This light affliction is preparing us for eternal glory beyond comparison. Look not to the things that are seen but to do the things unseen; seen things are transient; the unseen is eternal.
If our earthly home is to be destroyed, we have an eternal building waiting for us in the heavens. In our earthly home we groan, longing to be in our heavenly dwelling. We are of good courage. We would rather be away from this body and be with God. We must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
The love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: the one died for all, therefore all have died; he died for all so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but live for him who for their sake died and was raised. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old passed away; behold, the new has come! Through Christ God reconciled the world to himself, not counting their trespasses, and trusting us as his messengers! We are the ambassadors for Christ; God makes his appeal through us.
We put no fault in anyone's way, but commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech and the power of God; with weapons of righteousness; through honour and dishonour, through slander and praise. We are treated as imposters, but are true; as sorrowful, but are rejoicing; as poor, but making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of the body and spirit.
When we went to Macedonia, our hearts had no rest, but God comforted us through Titus. If my last letter made you grieve, I do not regret it (although I did regret it for a little while). Rejoice for you were grieved into repenting! You felt godly grief! Godly grief produces repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief leads to death. See what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you!
We rejoiced with Titus; his affection for you is greater than ours, for he remembers your obedience, how you received him with fear and trembling!
The churches of Macedonia were very generous. They gave according to and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging to take part in the relief of the saints. Now I know it is superfluous for me to write about being generous; I know your readiness, but I decided to send some brothers to you to make sure you're ready.
My point is: whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion; God loves a cheerful giver.
I beg that when I am with you again I will not have to show boldness as I must when dealing with those who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. We walk in the flesh, but we are not waging war according to the flesh. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
Bear with me in a little foolishness! I am afraid that as Eve was deceived by the serpent, your thoughts will be led away from Christ. If someone proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, you put up with it readily enough. I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these 'super-apostles', even if my public-speaking skills aren't as great. I make up for this with knowledge.
Maybe I committed a sin by preaching to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by accepting support from them. What I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claims of those who like to claim that they work on the same terms as us. Such men are false apostles, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ! And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. It is no surprise if his servants disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds!
Are they Hebrew? So am I.
Are they Israelite? So am I.
Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I.
Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one - I am talking like a madman! - with greater labours, more imprisonments, countless beatings, and often near death.
Five times I have received 39 lashes from the Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and day I was adrift at sea. On many journeys I was in danger from robbers, from my own people, from the gentiles. Danger in the city; danger in the wilderness; danger at sea; danger from false brothers. I've been through toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, often without food, hungry, thirsty, in the cold. And apart from all that, I am always anxious for the churches!
I boast of things that show my weakness. God knows I'm not lying. At Damascus, the governor was guarding the city in order to seize me, but I was down in a basket through a window and escaped!
I must go on boasting. I know a man who went up to Third Heaven fourteen years ago, whether in body or out of body I do not know, God knows. I know this man visited Paradise, and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I boast.
To keep me from becoming conceited because of the greatness of my revelations, a thorn was put in my flesh, a messenger of Satan harassed me. Three times I pleaded to God about this, but he said to me "My grace is sufficient for you, and my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will gladly boast of my weaknesses. For the sake of Christ, I am content with weakness, hardships, insults, persecutions, and calamities. When I am weak, I am strong.
Examine yourselves. Test yourselves. See whether you are in the faith. We cannot do anything against the truth, only for the truth. We are glad when we are weak and when we are strong.
Finally: rejoice; aim for restoration; comfort one another; agree with one another; live in peace; greet one another with a holy kiss.
Yours faithfully,
Paul & Timothy
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