seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Corinthians 8:1 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us. 6 So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7 But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you[a]—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
10 And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. 11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.
13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, 15 as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”[b]
16 Thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. 17 For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. 18 And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. 19 What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. 20 We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. 21 For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man.
22 In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and co-worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ. 24 Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it.
a. 2 Corinthians 8:7 Some manuscripts and in your love for us
b. 2 Corinthians 8:15 Exodus 16:18
This is from the easy English site.
Paul now tells them how he would organise the gift. Titus was coming to receive it. He really cared for the Christians at Corinth. He was quite willing to go to them. Paul was also sending a friend whom the Macedonian Christians had chosen. Paul does not say who this person was. Many people think that it was Luke. We think that Paul wrote this letter from Philippi. We know that Luke was with him there. (In Acts 16:12, ‘we’ includes the author of Acts, who was Luke.)
The Christians praised this friend because he taught the good news. They actually chose him to go with Paul. Paul organised this journey to bring glory to God. He showed something of God’s generosity. He also showed how eager they were to help other Christians.
Paul included in his group people whom other Christians had chosen. Then nobody could say that he was not honest with the money. He was careful to do things that were right. Both God and people would see this. He expected the gift to be a large and generous one. Paul also sent another friend whom the Christians recommended. This man also was very eager to help. Paul explained that Titus was acting on his behalf. He encouraged the Christians at Corinth to show these men the proof of their love. They would do this by the gifts that they gave. That would be the reason why he was proud of them. If they did that, then all the Christians would know about it too.
These outtakes are from the blueletterbible.org site.
The churches of Macedonia: The northern part of Greece was called Macedonia. The southern part was called Achaia, and the city of Corinth was in the region of Achaia. Paul is writing about the example he sees in the churches of Macedonia. The churches of Macedonia were in cities such as Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea.
So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well: Paul's associate Titus, as the bearer of this letter, was to encourage the Corinthian Christians to actually give him the collection to give to Paul. He was supposed to make certain that they did in fact follow through on what they had intended to do earlier.
We might imagine that the Corinthian Christians were willing to take up a collection for the saints in Jerusalem, and giving that money to Paul to take with him to Jerusalem. But when things became difficult between Paul and the Corinthian Christians, they may have been less willing to take up the collection and put it in Paul's hands. One reason Titus was sent with this letter was to complete this grace in the Corinthian Christians, and make certain they followed through on their original intent.
I speak not by commandment: Paul isn't commanding the Corinthian Christians to give. Paul knew that giving from commandment isn't giving at all; we call that kind of giving taxation!
I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others: Paul makes two important points here. First, giving can measure the sincerity of your love. Second, Paul openly compared the giving of the Corinthian Christians to the giving of the Macedonian Christians (testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others).
Good morning. When I opened the search for commentary on today's chapter.... there were videos available.... preachers with arms up and mouths wide open.... they looked like they were preaching up a storm.... and immediately... I knew this was going to be a plea for something.
Ok... here's what I see going on here. Paul is dictating [or writing... who really knows] a letter to the Christians who are meeting in the room at the temple of Aphrodite. The Christians in Jerusalem are in a sad state. They need financial assistance.... the people in Corinth had the money to give. Now the Christians at the church in Macedonia heard about the assistance the church in Corinth was offering.... and they wanted to help too. Paul said they didn't really have the financial fitness to do this.... but they scraped together a nice offering and they were sending it to the church in Corinth to be added to the pot for the Christians in Jerusalem. Paul is apparently handling the logistics of getting this large offering to Jerusalem.
Back in the last few chapters.... Paul has been defending himself to the Christians at Corinth. He was taking a lot of grief because he was an unpaid preacher, he compromised about circumcision of gentiles and on top of all that he told the Messianic Jews that they didn't have to eat the meat sold by the gentiles. So Paul was not really popular with the Christians at Corinth.. He wouldn't take a paycheck.... but he wanted them to load up a trailer with all the gold in the vault for him and his buddies to take back to Jerusalem..... oh yeah.... like those street smart male and female hookers wouldn't have a problem with that.
Paul told the people in Corinth that they should give because they have..... He showed them that the people in Macedonia didn't have as much as the people in Corinth but they had insisted in helping. Paul said the goal was equality.... every Christian should have what they need..... and this would help the Christians in Jerusalem who were really oppressed because after all... they kept talking about Jesus walking out of the tomb after being executed on the cross. So they were hunted.... they couldn't earn money since they were either busy spreading the gospel or hiding because they were being hunted.
Now the pictures I saw when I was opening the commentary this morning..... those preachers are talking about giving.... and no doubt they are talking about giving so that it will be returned..... even though it isn't in this chapter..... that's how I see this going in most churches. There are a lot of good churches sending funding for missions all over the world.... not just Jerusalem now.... but NYC and Atlanta..... Spokane and San Diego..... London and even Cairo. This was just the first funding of the missions around the world.
When my kids come to me with their financial woes.... I ask them if they have prayed about it. I am heartbroken when the response is not what I know for a fact that God supplies all the needs in the universe. There is actually a bug that grows in the outflow of the volcanoes.... to lure the birds.... who poop the seeds digested somewhere else..... so a plant will grow..... so the birds will have new places to rest and sing. My God has a master plan that ever includes a bug on volcanic rock creating a tree..... so I know my needs will be met.
Don't worry.... even if there are people who believe they are superior..... we are all humans.... sculpted individually.... even the hairs on our heads are counted.... they may be different than us.... they have 2000 freckles instead of one beauty mark.... and they may have different color eyes or hair.... but they are all humans. God will care for us..... it's in the plan.
The goal is to get everyone to be a child of God..... the goal is equality.
