2 Corinthians 1

1. From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle because that is what God wanted. Also from Timothy our brother in Christ. To the church of God in Corinth, and to all of God’s people in the whole country of Southern Greece.

We can say that being an apostle was Paul's job. You can say that you work at your job by the will of God.

2 – 4

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is the Father who is full of mercy. And He is the God of all comfort.

He comforts us every time we have trouble, so that we can comfort others when they have trouble. We can comfort them with the same comfort that God gives us.

You cannot show someone how to escape from some place if you have not been to that place yourself. God may allow us to go through something very hard and then bring us out of it so that later we can help someone else.

They will say, “You do not know how bad it was so you cannot help me!” We can say, “Yes, I had the same thing happen to me and let me show you the way out!”

5 – 7

We share in the many sufferings of Christ. In the same way, much comfort comes to us through Christ.  If we have troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we have comfort, then you also have comfort.

This helps you to accept patiently the same sufferings that we have. Our hope for you is strong. We know that you share in our sufferings. So we know that you also share in the comfort we receive.

The more trouble you have escaped from means you can help more people to escape than you could before.

My suffering was good for me, because it taught me to pay attention to Your Words. Psalm 119:71

I used to wander off until You taught me; but now I closely follow Your word. Psalm 119:67

8. Brothers, we want you to know about the trouble we suffered in [Ephesus]. We had great burdens there that were more than we could handle. We even gave up hope for life.

You can read about this trouble in Acts 19:23–41. Only a strong Christian will say that he cannot go any further without help from God and other Christians.

Some of us are called to lose everything in this world and then be brought back after the world is completely dead to us. As we live through this we may lose friends, jobs, reputation or health. The devil tells us that God is not hearing our prayers and that He is punishing us.

These things will pass and God will show us that we can live even if He is all that we have left. We will not allow the devil to take God’s love away from us. We take our hands off of our own lives and say, “Father, if there is a way out of this, it is going to have to be You doing it because I am not able to make it any further living this way.”

9. Truly, in our own hearts we believed that we would die. But this happened so that we would not trust in ourselves. It happened so that we would trust in God, who raises people from death.

Paul can still hear the devil telling him that there is no hope but he takes these thoughts as prisoners and sends them away. It gives us strength to think of Moses at the Red Sea where there was no other way.

Later Moses said, “Father, I cannot do this anymore!” Read the history of men who have gone this way before you like Jacob or David. God does not love them more than you. He helped them and He will help you. Cry out to Him and wait to see what He does!

10. God saved us from these great dangers of death. And He will continue to save us. We have put our hope in Him, and He will save us again.

God reminds you that He has saved you before and He keeps on saving you and will do it again!

11. And you can help us with your prayers. Then many people will give thanks for us—that God blessed us because of their many prayers.

Paul is saying that he believes that the prayers of the Corinthians saved him from death. The original language gives the idea that Paul could see their faces looking up into heaven as each day their prayers were stored up for God to use.

12. This is what we are proud of, and I can say with all my heart that it is true: In all the things we have done in the world, we have done everything with an honest and pure heart from God.

And this is even more true in what we have done with you. We did this by God’s grace, not by the kind of wisdom the world has.

When you love someone you do not pick apart everything they do. You believe the best about them.

13 – 14

For we write to you only what you can read and understand. And I hope that as you have understood some things about us, you may come to know everything about us.

Then you can be proud of us, as we will be proud of you on the day our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.

Paul is asking them to go back and read his first letter to them. They will see that there is nothing he was trying to hide from them.

15 – 16

I was very sure of all this. That is why I made plans to visit you first. Then you could be blessed twice. I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia. Then I planned to visit you again on my way back. I wanted to get help from you for my trip to Judea.

Paul’s enemies said that he lied about coming back to visit them and that he would never come back again.

17 – 19

Do you think I was joking? Or maybe you think I make plans as the world does, so that I say “Yes, yes,” and at the same time “No, no.” But since you can believe God, then you can believe that what we tell you is never both “Yes” and “No.”

The Son of God, Jesus Christ, that Silas and Timothy and I preached to you, was not “Yes” and “No.” In Christ it has always been “Yes.”

Paul is saying, “When I say something, I mean what I say!”

20. The “Yes” to all of God’s promises is in Christ. And that is why we say “Amen” through Christ to the glory of God.

Everything that God has promised us [peace, forgiveness, power to live] comes because of Jesus.

21 – 22

And God is the One who makes you and us strong in Christ. God [has anointed us]. He put His mark on us to show that we are His. And He put His Spirit in our hearts to be a guarantee for all He has promised.

Your spirit knows the difference between what is wrong and what is right.

As for you, the anointing which you received from Him stays in you, and you have no need for anyone to tell you [what is right]; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you stay in Him. 1 John 2:27

23. I tell you this, and I ask God to be my witness that this is true: The reason I did not come back to Corinth was that I did not want to punish or hurt you.

Paul gave them time to read his first letter and change their minds.  It is a good idea to plant a seed and let God water it.  Do not push people and then you can know God is working in their hearts, and it is not because of your wisdom.

24. I do not mean that we are trying to control your faith. You are strong in faith. But we are workers with you for your own happiness.

There is something called “The Shepherding Movement” which teaches people that they have to follow their leaders as if they were kings. These leaders control the church’s money and sometimes say that the people must give their bank account information to the church so that the leaders can tell them how much to give.

Your spirit should tell you that these people are not teaching these ideas from any words in the Bible. People who do not read their Bibles are easy to lie to.