seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Corinthians 7:2 Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. 3 I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you. 4 I have spoken to you with great frankness; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.
5 For when we came into Macedonia, we had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever.
8 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— 9 yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 11 See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. 12 So even though I wrote to you, it was neither on account of the one who did the wrong nor on account of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are. 13 By all this we are encouraged.
In addition to our own encouragement, we were especially delighted to see how happy Titus was, because his spirit has been refreshed by all of you. 14 I had boasted to him about you, and you have not embarrassed me. But just as everything we said to you was true, so our boasting about you to Titus has proved to be true as well. 15 And his affection for you is all the greater when he remembers that you were all obedient, receiving him with fear and trembling. 16 I am glad I can have complete confidence in you.
There is one paragraph in the commentary that I was surprised to see.The Corinthian Christians believed many bad things about Paul — that God wasn’t using him, that he didn’t have the kind of image, authority, or power an apostle should have — but their problem was not an information problem. Their problem was with their hearts. Their hearts had been open to the world but not to Paul. In the “unequally yoked” passage, Paul told them to close their hearts to the world. Now it is time to open their hearts to him.
Here, all this time, I thought I was the only one who had a problem with Paul. I was getting pretty upset with myself for even uttering that I do not like him and do not like his long winded "woe is me" preaching. Turns out he wasn't well received in Corinth either! Now, he's going on to claim some credit for their "repentance". Yesterday I read that he expected Christians to become "perfect". Paul walked into a whore house and told them all to change everything about themselves. He told them they had to repent.... some were raised in that whore house... some knew no other way... some thought life was just that way for them.
I've spoken about the "church" on Water Street in Baltimore. On Sunday Morning, they would air the bar out, set up the chairs and "Reverend Jim" started to preach about "love". This same "Reverend" owned the bar and in fact had participated in an orgy the night before. He claimed to be a "Christian Pastor". He warped a lot of minds. However, in this same church, there was a young gay man who was looking for Christ. He told me the pastor used his desire to become a "Christian" as a tool to keep him "in the fold". The "Reverend" told him he would never be welcome in the "worldly" church because the young man was a gay man.
He preached "love". He told them the world would never accept them. He told them to just accept it. He preached "love one another, because no one else will love you". He told them they had to repent and love one another. He warped the message.
I think Paul warped the message too.... maybe that's why this letter he refers to is not in the Bible itself.
Jesus told us to Love God and Love One Another. Jesus didn't ask people about their sexual orientation; He already knew them.... like the woman at the well, every person He came in contact with was an open book to Jesus. He didn't run all the gays off before passing out the bread and the fish. He even called a tax collector, Matthew, one of the most hated people in town, to be His Apostle. Jesus didn't run all the tax collectors out before talking about the Kingdom.
Paul required a perfect resume and a big tithe.
The only thing Jesus requires is that we Believe.
Paul built his "poor me" message to collect the tithe... and then required everyone to become perfect. The lack of repentance couldn't be blamed on Paul, after all he led them to become like him. [Not become like Jesus.... become like Paul would have them believe Jesus to be]
Sorry Paul.... I'll never be perfect... that's why I need Jesus.
You don't have to change first. Jesus doesn't require perfection....
Human perfection is not required because....
Jesus is perfection.
