PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Expositor's Bible: The Second Epistle to the Corinthians
Denney, James · 122,179 words · 161 reading sections
Fourth Series, 1890-1.
W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, M.A., LL.D. _Editor of "The Expositor"_ THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS =London= HODDER AND STOUGHTON 27, PATERNOSTER ROW _Crown 8vo, cloth, price 7s. 6d. each vol._ Colossians. By A. MACLAREN, D.D. St. Mark. By Very Rev. the Dean of Armagh. Genesis. By Prof. MARCUS DODS, D.D. 1…
250 wordsSECTION 2Introduction
The Psalms. By A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. I. 1 and 2 Thessalonians. By JAMES DENNEY, D.D. The Book of Job. By R. A. WATSON, D.D. Ephesians. By Prof. G. G. FINDLAY, B.A. The Gospel of St. John. By Prof. M. DODS, D.D. Vol. II. The Acts of the Apostles. By Prof. STOKES, D.D. Vol. II. 1 Kings. By Ven. Archdeacon F…
841 wordsSECTION 3Introduction
(2) If this view is accepted, it is natural and justifiable to explain the Second Epistle as far as possible out of the First. Thus the letter to which St. Paul refers in 2 Cor. ii. 4 and in 2 Cor. vii. 8, 12, will be our First Epistle to the Corinthians; the persons referred to in 2 Cor. vii. 12 as "he who did the wro…
813 wordsSECTION 4Introduction
(4) As for the letter, which is supposed to be referred to in 2 Cor. ii. 4, it also has been relieved of its hypothetical character by being identified with chaps. x. 1-xiii. 10 of our present Second Epistle. In the absence of the faintest external indication that the Epistle ever existed in any other than its present …
940 wordsSECTION 5_Suffering And Consolation_
(7) This is the point at which the Second Epistle to the Corinthians begins. It falls of itself into three clearly marked divisions. The first extends over chaps. i.-vii. In this the Apostle makes his peace, so to speak, with the Corinthians, and does everything in his power to remove any feeling of "soreness" which mi…
752 wordsSECTION 6_Suffering And Consolation_
The Apostle's greeting is usually followed by a thanksgiving, in which he recalls the conversion of those to whom he is writing, or surveys their progress in the new life, and the improvement of their gifts, gratefully acknowledging God as the author of all. Thus in the First Epistle to the Corinthians he thanks God fo…
889 wordsSECTION 7_Suffering And Consolation_
Few parts of Bible teaching are more recklessly applied than those about suffering and consolation. If all that men endured was of the character here described, if all their sufferings were sufferings of Christ, which came on them because they were walking in His steps and assailed by the forces which buffeted Him, con…
760 wordsSECTION 8_Suffering And Consolation_
Notice especially that the consolation is said to abound "through Christ." He is the mediator through whom it comes. To partake in His sufferings is to be united to _Him_; and to be united to Him is to partake in His _life_. The Apostle anticipates here a thought on which he enlarges in the fourth chapter: "Always bear…
700 wordsSECTION 9_Suffering And Consolation_
In the sixth verse the Apostle dwells on the interest of the Corinthians in his sufferings and his consolation. It is a practical illustration of the communion of the saints in Christ. "All that befalls _me_," says St. Paul, "has _your_ interest in view. If I am afflicted, it is in the interest of your comfort: when yo…
847 wordsSECTION 10_Faith Born Of Despair_
[2] The same view is strongly held by Schmiedel. He infers from chap. vi. 9 that Paul's sufferings had been interpreted at Corinth as a divine chastisement; in opposition to this the Apostle shows that they are divinely intended to profit the Corinthians. Hence the opening of the letter is not a simple outpouring of hi…
790 wordsSECTION 11_Faith Born Of Despair_
It is a melancholy reflection upon human nature that we have, as the Apostle expresses it elsewhere, to be "shut up" to all the mercies of God. If we could evade them, notwithstanding their freeness and their worth, we would. How do most of us attain to any faith in Providence? Is it not by proving, through numberless …
665 wordsSECTION 12_Faith Born Of Despair_
The text of the words in which Paul tells of his deliverance can hardly be said to be quite certain, but the general meaning is plain. God delivered him from the awful death which was impending over him; he had his hope now firmly set on Him; he was sure that He would deliver him in the future also.[5] What the danger …
915 wordsSECTION 13_Faith Born Of Despair_
At this point (ver. 12) the key in which Paul writes begins to change. We are conscious of a slight discord the instant he speaks about the testimony of his conscience. Yet the transition is as unforced as any such transition can be. I may well take for granted, seems to be the thought in his mind, that you pray for me…
775 wordsSECTION 14_Faith Born Of Despair_
The immediate result of imputing motives, and putting a sinister interpretation on actions, is that mutual confidence is destroyed; and mutual confidence is the very element and atmosphere in which any spiritual good can be done. Unless a minister and his congregation recognise each other as in the main what they profe…
437 wordsSECTION 15_The Church'S One Foundation_
[4] Notice the perfect ἐσχήκαμεν. We _had_ this experience, and in its fruit--a newer and deeper faith in God--we _have_ it still. It is a permanent possession in this happy form. The same idea is expressed in the pft. ἠλπίκαμεν, ver. 10. [5] The doubtful words here are καὶ ῥύεται in ver. 10 of the Received Text, from…
886 wordsSECTION 16_The Church'S One Foundation_
The responsibility for the change of plan has already, in the emphatic ταύτῃ τῇ πεποιθήσει, been indirectly transferred to his accusers; but the Apostle stoops to answer them quite straightforwardly. His answer is indeed a challenge: "When I cherished that first wish to visit you, _was_ I--dare you say I was--guilty of…
670 wordsSECTION 17_The Church'S One Foundation_
To this argument there is, for the natural man, a ready answer. It by no means follows, he will say, that because the Gospel is devoid of ambiguity or inconsistency, equivocation and insincerity must be unknown to its preachers. A man may proclaim the true Gospel and in his other dealings be far from a true man. Experi…
789 wordsSECTION 18_The Church'S One Foundation_
There are two opposite ways of looking at the Old Testament with which this apostolic teaching is inconsistent, and which, by anticipation, it condemns. There is the opinion of those who say that God's promises to His people in the Old Testament have not been fulfilled, and never will be. That is the opinion held by m…
1,004 wordsSECTION 19_The Church'S One Foundation_
It is in this mood--with the consciousness, I mean, that in Jesus Christ the sure promises of God are inconceivably rich and good--that the Apostle adds: "wherefore also through Him is the Amen." It is not easy to put a prayer into words, whether of petition or thanksgiving, for men are not much in the habit of speakin…
433 wordsSECTION 20Footnotes:
[7] For χάριν, (benefit) א^C, B, L, P, have χαράν (joy.) Though Westcott and Hort put this in the text, and χάριν in the margin, most scholars are agreed that χάριν is the Apostle's word, and χαράν a slip or a correction. [8] Mention may be made here of another interpretation of ver. 17, modifications of which recur f…
254 wordsSECTION 21_Christian Mysteries_
"Now He that stablisheth us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God; who also sealed us, and gave _us_ the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts."--2 COR. i. 21, 22 (R.V.). It is not easy to show the precise connexion between these words and those which immediately precede. Possibly it is emotional, rather than lo…
754 wordsSECTION 22_Christian Mysteries_
All this, it may be said, is ideal; but in what sense is it so? Not in the sense that it is fanciful or unreal; but in the sense that the divine law of our life, and the divine action upon our life, are represented in it. It is our calling as Christian people to be stedfast in Christ. Such stedfastness God is ever seek…
931 wordsSECTION 23_Christian Mysteries_
But the seal is not baptism as a ceremonial act. It is neither immersion nor sprinkling nor any other mode of lustration which marks us out as God's. The seal by which "the Lord knoweth them that are His" is His Spirit; it is the impress of His Spirit upon them. When that impress can be traced upon our souls, by Him, o…
704 wordsSECTION 24_Christian Mysteries_
(4) Side by side with "He sealed us," the Apostle writes, "He gave the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." After what has been said, it is obvious that this is another aspect of the same thing. We are sealed with the Spirit, and we get the earnest of the Spirit. In other words, the Spirit is viewed in two characters:…
966 wordsSECTION 25Footnotes:
We cannot study these words without becoming conscious of the immense enlargement which the Christian religion has brought to the human mind, of the vast expansion of hope which is due to the Gospel, and at the same time of the moral soundness and sobriety with which that hope is conceived. The promises of God were fir…
439 wordsSECTION 26_A Pastor'S Heart_
"But I call God for a witness upon my soul, that to spare you I forbare to come unto Corinth. Not that we have lordship over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand. But I determined this for myself, that I would not come again to you with sorrow. For if I make you sorry, who then is he that …
823 wordsSECTION 27_A Pastor'S Heart_
This passage shows us one of the inconveniences. The newly enfranchised are mightily sensible of their freedom, and it is extremely difficult to tell them of their faults. At the very mention of authority all that is bad in them, as well as all that is good, is on the alert; and spiritual independence and the liberty o…
1,041 wordsSECTION 28_A Pastor'S Heart_
After this little digression on the freedom of the faith, and on joy as the element of the Christian life, Paul returns to his defence. "To spare you I forbore to come; for I made up my own mind on this, not to come to you a second time in sorrow." Why was he so determined about this? He explains in the second verse. I…
932 wordsSECTION 29_A Pastor'S Heart_
Putting these details aside, as of mainly historical interest, let us look rather at the spirit of this passage. It reveals, more clearly perhaps than any passage in the New Testament, the essential qualification of the Christian minister--a heart pledged to his brethren in the love of Christ. That is the only possible…
921 wordsSECTION 30Footnotes:
It is worth dwelling upon this, because it is so fundamental, and yet so slowly learned. Even Christian ministers, who ought to know the mind of Christ, almost universally, at least in the beginning of their work, when they preach about evil, lapse into the scolding tone. It is of no use whatever in the pulpit, and of …
278 wordsSECTION 31_Church Discipline_
"But if any hath caused sorrow, he hath caused sorrow, not to me, but in part (that I press not too heavily) to you all. Sufficient to such a one is this punishment which was _inflicted_ by the many; so that contrariwise ye should rather forgive him and comfort him, lest by any means such a one should be swallowed …
840 wordsSECTION 32_Church Discipline_
This whole passage is of interest from the light which it throws upon the discipline of the Church; or, to use less technical and more correct language, the Christian treatment of the erring. It shows us, for one thing, the aim of all discipline: it is, in the last resort, the restoration of the fallen. The Church has…
1,257 wordsSECTION 33_Church Discipline_
In vv. 9-11, the same subject is continued, but with a slightly different aspect exposed. Paul had obviously taken the initiative in this matter, though the bulk of the Church, at his prompting, had acted in a right spirit. Their conduct was in harmony with his motive in writing to them,[17] which had really been to ma…
773 wordsSECTION 34_Church Discipline_
(1) A scandal in the Church gives the devil an opportunity. When one who has named the name of Jesus, and vowed loyal obedience to Him, falls into open sin, it is a chance offered to the enemy which he is not slow to improve. He uses it to discredit the very name of Christ: to turn that which ought to be to the world t…
575 wordsSECTION 35Footnotes:
[14] On the identity of the person referred to, see Introduction, p. 2 f. [15] This meaning of ἐπιβαρεῖν, taken as intransitive, is rather vague, but I believe substantially correct. If the word is to be taken as virtually transitive, the object must be the partisans of the offender. It would "bear hardly" on them, to…
289 wordsSECTION 36_Christ'S Captive_
"Now when I came to Troas for the Gospel of Christ, and when a door was opened unto me in the Lord, I had no relief for my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went forth into Macedonia. But thanks be unto God, which always leadeth us in triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest…
654 wordsSECTION 37_Christ'S Captive_
When Paul could bear the suspense no longer, he said good-bye to the people of Troas, crossed the Thracian Sea, and advanced into Macedonia to meet Titus. He did meet him, and heard from him a full report of the state of matters at Corinth (chap. vii. 5 ff.); but here he does not take time to say so. He breaks out into…
947 wordsSECTION 38_Christ'S Captive_
Further, the true meaning of the word, and the true connexion of ideas just explained, remind us that the only triumphs we can ever have, deserving the name, must begin with God's triumph over us. This is the one possible source of joy untroubled. We may be as selfish as we please, and as successful in our selfishness;…
773 wordsSECTION 39_Christ'S Captive_
The very word "savour," in connexion with the "knowledge" of God in Christ, is full of meaning. It has its most direct application, of course, to preaching. When we proclaim the Gospel, do we always succeed in manifesting it as a savour? Or is not the savour--the sweetness, the winsomeness, the charm and attractiveness…
666 wordsSECTION 40_Christ'S Captive_
There is considerable difficulty in the sixteenth verse, partly dogmatic, partly textual. Commentators so opposite in their bias as Chrysostom and Calvin have pondered and remarked upon the opposite effects here ascribed to the Gospel. It is easy to find analogies to these in nature. The same heat which hardens clay me…
768 wordsSECTION 41_Christ'S Captive_
The question that rises to the Apostle's lips as he confronts the solemn situation created by the Gospel is not directly answered. "Who is sufficient for these things? Who? I say. For we are not as the many,[22] who corrupt the Word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ." P…
708 wordsSECTION 42_Living Epistles_
[19] The perfect ἔσχηκα seems at first sight out of place, but it is more expressive than the aorist. It suggests the _continuous_ expectation of relief which was always anew disappointed. [20] See Grimm's Lexicon _s.v._, or Lightfoot on Col. ii. 15. [21] In τὴν ὀσμὴν τῆς γνώσεως, γνώσεως is gen. of apposition: the ὀ…
731 wordsSECTION 43_Living Epistles_
From the serious tone the Apostle passes suddenly to the ironical. "Or need we, as do some, epistles of commendation to you or from you?" The "some" of this verse are probably the same as "the many" of chap. ii. 17. Persons had come to Corinth in the character of Christian teachers, bringing with them recommendatory le…
785 wordsSECTION 44_Living Epistles_
Paul has been serious, and ironical, in the first verse; in ver. 2 he becomes serious again, and remains so. "_You_," he says, answering his ironical question, "_you_ are our epistle." Epistle, of course, is to be taken in the sense of the preceding verse. "_You_ are the commendatory letter which _I_ show, when I am as…
683 wordsSECTION 45_Living Epistles_
The conversion and new life of the Corinthians were Paul's certificate as an apostle. They were a certificate known, he says, and read by all men. Often there is a certain awkwardness in the presenting of credentials. It embarrasses a man when he has to put his hand into his breast pocket, and take out his character, a…
886 wordsSECTION 46_Living Epistles_
This idea of the "epistle" has taken such a hold of the Apostle's mind, and he finds it so suggestive whichever way he turns it, that he really tries to say too much about it in one sentence. The crowding of his ideas is confusing. One learned critic enumerates three points in which the figure becomes inconsistent with…
755 wordsSECTION 47Footnote:
Amid all these details let us take care not to lose the one great lesson of the passage. Christian people owe a testimony to Christ. His name has been pronounced over them, and all who look at them ought to see His nature. We should discern in the heart and in the behaviour of Christians the handwriting, let us say the…
335 wordsSECTION 48_The Two Covenants_
"And such confidence have we through Christ to God-ward: not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God; who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth li…
697 wordsSECTION 49_The Two Covenants_
The qualification having been mentioned, the Apostle proceeds, as usual, to enlarge upon it. "Our sufficiency is of God; who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant; not of letter, but of spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." At the first glance, we see no reason why his thought sh…
894 wordsSECTION 50_The Two Covenants_
Among the Christians of the first age, no one so thoroughly appreciated the newness of Christianity, or was so immensely impressed by it, as St. Paul. The difference between the earlier dispensation and the later, between the religion of Moses' disciples and the religion of believers in Jesus Christ, was one that could…
925 wordsSECTION 51_The Two Covenants_
But the Apostle does not rest in generalities: he goes on to a more particular comparison of the old and the new dispensations, and especially to a demonstration that the new is the more glorious. He starts with a statement of their working, as dependent on their nature just described. One is letter; the other, spirit.…
1,054 wordsSECTION 52_The Two Covenants_
(3) A final superiority belongs to the new dispensation and its ministry as compared with the old--the superiority of permanence to transiency. "If that which passeth away _was_ with glory, much more that which remaineth _is_ in glory." The verbs here are supplied by the translators, but one may question whether the co…
852 wordsSECTION 53Footnotes:
[24] The true reading in Matt. xxvi. 28 omits "new," but the reference is unmistakable. [25] Grammatically, it is probable that γράμματος and πνεύματος in ver. 6 depend, not on διαθήκης, but on διακόνους; but the sense is all one. [26] The contrast of "letter" and "spirit" has, as is well known, been taken in various…
269 wordsSECTION 54_The Transfiguring Spirit_
"Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech, and _are_ not as Moses, _who_ put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel should not look stedfastly on the end of that which was passing away: but their minds were hardened: for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same…
1,127 wordsSECTION 55_The Transfiguring Spirit_
_Their minds were hardened._ This is stated historically, and seems to refer in the first instance to those who watched Moses put on the veil, and became insensible, as he did so, to the nature of the old covenant. But it is applicable to the Jewish race at all periods of their history; they never discovered the secret…
840 wordsSECTION 56_The Transfiguring Spirit_
This is the force of the seventeenth verse: "Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." The Lord, of course, is Christ, and the Spirit is that of which Paul has already spoken in the sixth verse. It is the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life under the new covenant. He who tu…
800 wordsSECTION 57_The Transfiguring Spirit_
The bearing of this passage on the religious blindness of the Jews ought not to hide from us its permanent application. The religious insensibility of his countrymen will cease, Paul says; their religious perplexities will be solved, when they turn to Christ. This is the beginning of all intelligence, of all freedom, o…
784 wordsSECTION 58_The Transfiguring Spirit_
Assuming, then, that "beholding as in a glass" is the right interpretation of this hard word, let us go on to what the Apostle says. "We all" probably means "all Christians," and not only "all Christian teachers." If there is a comparison implied, it is between the two dispensations, and the experiences open to those w…
1,003 wordsSECTION 59_The Transfiguring Spirit_
The Lord of glory, Paul teaches here, is the pattern and prophecy of a glory to be revealed in us; and as we contemplate Him in the mirror of the Gospel,[36] we are gradually transformed into the same image, even as by the Lord the Spirit. The transformation, these last words again teach, is not accomplished by beholdi…
429 wordsSECTION 60Footnotes:
[28] In the LXX. ἑλπίζω is often used as the rendering of בָּטַה _confidere_. [29] Attempts have been made to render πρὸς τὸ μὴ ἀτενίσαι otherwise: _e.g._, πρὸς has been taken as in Matt. xix. 8, which would give the meaning, "considering that the children of Israel did not look on," etc. Moses would thus veil himself…
338 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.