What is the purpose of 2 Corinthians?
In general, the text of 2 Corinthians reveals several purposes of this letter: To express gratitude to and strengthen the Saints who had responded favorably to his previous letter. To warn of false teachers who corrupted the pure doctrines of Christ.
Strength in weakness. This is the central message of 2 Corinthians. Throughout the letter Paul turns upside down our natural expectations of the way life works. Contrary to the way the world and our own human hearts naturally function, God takes what is low, despised, and weak to accomplish his purposes.
Themes & Background. The central theme of 2 Corinthians is the relationship between suffering and the power of the Spirit in Paul's apostolic life, ministry, and message. In addition to calling into question Paul's motives in organizing a collection for believers in Judea (2 Cor. 8:20–21; cf.
The letter reminds the Corinthians to turn from their worldly ways and to think and live in ways that honor God. Likewise, Paul's letter encourages us to look at our own lives so we won't forget what really matters.
Summary of 2 Corinthians: “Second Corinthians is written to restore that broken relationship with the majority of the church and to challenge those who still question Paul's credentials as an apostle by calling them to repentance.”
Suffering, endurance, and comfort
In his discussion of general affliction (2 Corinthians 4:7-11) as well as his disclosure of a thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-10), Paul's words provide comfort to readers who are enduring suffering.
II Corinthians
The letter, which may have been written after an actual visit by Paul to Corinth, refers to an upheaval among the Christians there, during the course of which Paul had been insulted and his apostolic authority challenged. Because of this incident, Paul resolved not to go to Corinth again in person.
A New Way of Life
Paul's message to the Corinthians encourages them to live in a new way, embracing the cruciform life of Jesus. Through the cross and resurrection, Jesus' followers can live differently and model generosity, humility, and weakness.
Second Corinthians can be divided into three key sections, Paul's explanation and defense of his ministry (chapters 1-7), a petition for generous giving (chapters 8-9), and a reassertion of Paul's authority (chapters 10-13).
The overarching theological message of 2 Corinthians is this: in the new realm that was inaugurated when Jesus ascended and the Spirit descended, life and ministry are flipped upside down such that God's strength interlocks not with human strength and sufficiency but with human weakness and pain.
Why the book of Corinthians is so important?
First Corinthians contains a frank discussion of the church and the issues that impacted real people in the first century. The Corinthian church was corroded with sin on a variety of fronts, so Paul provided an important model for how the church should handle the problem of sin in its midst.
Paul writes 2 Corinthians, indicating his desire to visit the Corinthian church a third time (2 Cor 12:14, 2 Cor 13:1). The letter does not indicate where he is writing from, but it is usually dated after Paul left Ephesus for Macedonia (Acts 20), from either Philippi or Thessalonica in Macedonia.
In these two letters, Paul challenges the Corinthians to fight for unity and to embrace their identity as one body made of many different parts—a challenge still relevant to us today.
False teachers had infiltrated the Church there and were preying on the gullible for money. These teachers had accused Paul of taking money that was collected to assist the poverty-stricken Saints in Jerusalem. They had also challenged his authority as an Apostle.
NIV So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. NASB And he settled there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Second Corinthians 13 follows Paul's listing of two sets of sins he is concerned he will find among the Corinthians when he arrives. These are personal divisions and sexual immorality. He warns them once more that nobody will be spared from Christ's discipline if they remain in sin.
“Paul enumerates various immoral tendencies of the Corinthian Christians. He cautions them to condemn sexual immorality within the church. Membership in the community of the faithful, he teaches, means that the church faithful must adjudicate moral matters amongst themselves, chastising and expelling sinners.
1 Corinthians 13 1
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
According to Paul, the community's problems were the consequence of the Corinthians' mistaken belief that they had already been exalted. They failed to take seriously the power of evil; their behavior caused divisions in the church and led to a lack of concern for other members.
In 2 Corinthians Paul portrays Christ in lofty terms. He is the preexistent and incarnate redeemer who is the basis for and the example of generosity: “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (8:9).
What are the characteristics of Paul in 2 Corinthians?
Paul is adamant to defend his Apostleship because he is adamant to defend the gospel. If his gospel isn't true, then the Corinthians are still in their sins and without hope. Therefore, his defensiveness is more about his love for his readers than his concern for his own image.
Paul enumerates various immoral tendencies of the Corinthian Christians. He cautions them to condemn sexual immorality within the church. Membership in the community of the faithful, he teaches, means that the church faithful must adjudicate moral matters amongst themselves, chastising and expelling sinners.
Of note, Paul says that he will not compare himself to those who are boastful, and that, “He who boasts is to boast in the Lord.” We as Christians can learn from the example of the Apostle Paul. When somebody is boasting of worldly things, we are not to boast ourselves, unless it is boasting in the Lord.
Like 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians covers a myriad of issues in addressing a church that is beset by immorality, false teachers, sectarianism, and theological confusion. In this letter, the Apostle Paul's care and concern for the Corinthian church are palpable.
Phoebe is named as a Patron of Paul, meaning that she would have been financially contributing to Paul's mission. Junia is also mentioned. According to Bart Ehrman, Paul praises Junia as a prominent apostle who had been imprisoned for her labour. Junia is "the only female apostle named in the New Testament".
