8:1ffPaul, writing from Macedonia, hoped that news of the generosity of these churches would encourage the Corinthian believers and motivate them to soive their problems and unite in fellowship.
Life Application Study Bible2 CorinthiansChapter 8
2 Corinthians 8
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1970, 1971, 1972
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82 Corinthians 8
1how proud I was of you—and you didn't disappoint me. I have always told you the truth, and 7:15 |. now my boasting to Titus has also proved true! *Now he cares for you more than ever when ne; he remembers the way all of you obeyed him and welcomed him with such fear and deep 2Cor 2:3 respect. 161 am very happy now because I have complete confidence in you. al Ay 3. Paul defends the collection
A Call to Generous Giving
Now want you to know, dear brothers and sisters,* what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. @They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. 3For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. 4They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. 5They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the LORD and to us, just as God wanted them to do. 6So we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to finish this ministry of giving. 7Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us*— I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving.
8I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by com-paring it with the eagerness of the other churches.You know the generous grace of our LORD Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for yoursakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.7:13 Greek his spirit. 8:1 Greek brothers. 8:7 Some manuscripts read your love for us.outside your city, either through your church or through a Chris-tian organization. By joining with other believers to do God'swork, you increase Christian unity and help the Kingdom grow.8:7, 8 The Corinthian believers excelled in everything—theyhad faith, gifted speakers, knowledge, enthusiasm, and love.Paul encouraged them to also excel in the grace of giving. Toooften, stewardship of money is given a different status than otheraspects of discipleship. Most believers would not want growthin faith, knowledge, or tove to stop at a certain level. Yet manydecide a fixed percentage of their money to give and stay therefor life. True discipleship includes growing in the mature useof all resources, so giving should expand as well. God can giveyou the desire and enable you to increase your capacity to give.Don’t miss this opportunity for growth.
‘Here is my advice: It would be good for you to finish what you started a year ago. Last year you were the first who wanted to give, and you were the first to begin doing it. 10Now you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving. Give in proportion to what you have. 12Whatever you give is acceptable if you give it eagerly. And give according to what you have, not what you don’t have. 'SOf course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. 14Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal.
15As the Scriptures say,“Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over,and those who gathered only a little had enough.”*
Titus and His Companions
1616But thank God! He has given Titus the same enthusiasm for you that I have. 17Titus welcomed our request that he visit you again. In fact, he himself was very eager to go and see you. 18We are also sending another brother with Titus. All the churches praise him as a preacher of the Good News. 19He was appointed by the churches to accompany us as we take the offering to Jerusalem*—a service that glorifies the LORD and shows our eagerness to help. 20We are traveling together to guard against any criticism for the way we are handling this generous gift. 21We are careful to be honorable before the LORD, but we also want everyone else to see that we are honorable. 22We are also sending with them another of our brothers who has proven himself many times and has shown on many occasions how eager he is. He is now even more enthusiastic because of his great confidence in you. 23If anyone asks about Titus, say that he is my partner who works with me to help you. And the brothers with him have been sent by the churches,* and they bring honor to Christ. 24So show them your love, and prove to all the churches that our boasting about you is justified.
Textual footnotes
- first-century Palestinians; rather, Jesus became poor by giving
- up his rights as God and becoming human. In his incarnation,
- God voluntarily became man—the person Jesus of Nazareth.
- As a man, Jesus was subject to place, time, and other human
- limitations. He did not give up his eternal power when he
- became human, but he did set aside his glory and his rights
- (see the note on Philippians 2:5-7). In response to the Father's
- will, he limited his power and knowledge. Christ became “poor”
- when he became human because he set aside so much. Yet by
- doing so, he made us “rich” because we received salvation and
- eternal life.
- What made Jesus’ humanity unique was his freedom from
- sin. In Jesus we can see every attribute of God’s character. The
- Incarnation is explained further in these Bible passages: John
- 4:1-14; Romans 1:2-5: Philippians 2:6-11; 1 Timothy 3:16;
- Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 1:1-3.
- 8:9 There is no evidence that Jesus was any poorer than most
- 8:15 Exod 16:18.
- 8:19 See 1 Cor 16:3-4.
- 8:23 Greek are aposties of the churches.
Life Application Notes 6 notes
8:2-5During his third missionary journey, Paul had collected money for the impoverished believers in Jerusalem. The churches in Macedonia—Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea— had given money even though they were poor, and they had sacrificially given more than Paul expected. Although they were poor themselves, they wanted to help. The amount we give is not as important as why and how we give. God does not want us to give grudgingly. Instead, he wants us to give as these churches did—cout of dedication to Christ, love for fellow believers, the joy of helping those in need, as well as the fact that it was simply the good and right thing to do. How well does your giving measure up to the standards set by the Macedonian churches?
8:3-6The Kingdom of God spreads through believers’ concern and eagerness to help others. Here we see several churches joining to he!p others beyond their own circle of friends and their own city. Explore ways that you might link up with a ministry
8:10-15The Christians in the Corinthian church had money, and apparently they had planned to collect money for the Jerusalem church a year previously (see also 9:2). Paul challenges them to act on their plans. Four principles of giving emerge here: (1) Your willingness to give enthusiastically is more important than the amount you give; (2) you should strive to fulfill your financial commitments; (3) if you give to others in need, they will, in turn, help you when you are in need; (4) you should give as a response to Christ, not for anything you can get out of it. How you give leflects your devotion to Christ.
8:12How do you decide how much to give? What about differences in the financial resources Christians have? Paut gives the Corinthian church several principles to follow: (1) Each person should follow through on previous promises (8:10, 11; 9:3): (2) each person should give as much as he or she is able (8:12; 9:6); (3) each person must make up his or her own mind how Much to give (9:7); and (4) each person should give in proportion ‘to what God has given him or her (9:10). God gives to us so that We can give to others. $812 Paul says that we should give of what we have, not what we don't have. Sacrificial giving must be responsible. Paul wants believers to give generously, but not to the extent that those who depend on the givers (their families, for example) must go without having their basic needs met. Give until it hurts, but don’t give so that it hurts your family and/or relatives who need your financial support.
8:18-21“Another brother” was traveling with Paul and Titus, aman who was elected by the churches to also take the large financial gift to Jerusalem. Pau! explained that by traveling together there could be no suspicion and people would know that the gift was being handled honestly. The church did not need to worry that the bearers of the collection would misuse the money. Paul used every safeguard te maintain integrity in the collection of money for the Jerusalem church. Those outside the church can view skeptically the way believers handle money in the church. Financial scandals among high-profile ministries have alerted the non-believing world to the unethical gimmicks that some Christians use. It is possible to avoid mismanagement of God’s resources. Does your church or organization have a system of checks and balances that prevent wrongful behavior? Are there financial practices in your ministry that need to be reviewed? Christians must have the highest standard of financial responsibility.
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Study feature · page 1971
PRINCIPLES OF CONFRON- TATION IN 2 CORINTHIANS
Follow up after the confrontation...... 66... cece cece Be gentle after being firm 2... 0... cece cece ees Speak words that reflect Christ's message, not your own ideas........ Use discipline only when all else fails............. 0.....0..0005 7:13; 12:14 7:15; 13:11-13 10:3; 10:12, 13; 12:19
Sometimes rebuke is necessary, but it must be used with caution. The purpose of any rebuke, confrontation, or discipline is to help people, not hurt them.
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