From Series: "Power In Weakness - 2 Corinthians 8-13"
This is the second letter from Paul to the Corinthians in the Bible. From the
text of the two letters, it seems that these were possibly letters 2 and 4 or 1
and 3 in a series of letters from the apostle to the troubled church in Corinth.
It’s apparent that Paul’s relationship with the church at Corinth is complex.
They were a young church but immature and unhappy that Paul had not
visited them. It seems that there are other ‘teachers’ in Corinth vying for their
affections by running Paul’s ministry down, saying something like, “How could
someone as weak and hopeless as Paul be the authentic apostle?”. The result
is that a big part of this letter is a defence of Paul’s apostolic ministry and an
associated defence of the gospel.
It is also clear that some in the church have been strikingly ungodly, which
was the occasion for Paul’s “Severe Letter”.
The second half of 2 Corinthians, which we are considering this term, is an
application of the Christian worldview to the issues of generosity and
Christian leadership. Among the churches of the new testament, Corinth is
almost certainly the closest in culture to that of our present western world. It
therefore has much to say to twenty-first century Christians by way of both
warning and encouragement. As Paul labours to win the hearts, minds and
souls of those at Corinth there will be much to learn about true and false
Christian leadership.
