2 CORINTHIANS
(Answers)

 

(Updated 02/2024)

 

CHAPTER 1

  1. As the people saw or learned of Paul's afflictions and how God consoled or comforted him their own faith would grow so that they too could remain strong during times of affliction.
  2. Paul knew people were praying for him.
  3. We plan with inconsistencies and have to make changes. Letting God lead us we complete the task He gives us.
  4. The Spirit is a pledge of God to help us to salvation. We are prodded by the Spirit in the knowledge of God, which we use to live by and to help others in the faith.
  5. Paul delayed coming to the Corinthians to spare them his criticism and discipline for all the disorder that was there as he wrote to them in his first letter (1 Cor 4:20,21).

CHAPTER 2

  1. The people should forgive the one who was punished and love him back into the will of God.
  2. The one who had sinned could hopelessly fall further away from God. Satan could also turn the church into an instrument for His use.
  3. Titus was to give Paul an account of the Corinthians since his first letter to them but Paul could not find him. Paul worried about the church’s spiritual health.
  4. To those being saved Paul had the words of life. He was like Christ bringing the word of God. However, to those who resisted the word he only brought news of death for their soul.
  5. When we spread the gospel and word of God to others we carry on the work of Christ.
  6. Some were false teachers or false apostles working only for what they could gain from it, not sincere about the souls of those they taught.

CHAPTER 3

  1. The people he had ministered to were proof of his authority to teach.
  2. The law made us aware of sin to death. The Spirit makes us aware of forgiveness and righteousness leading to life. The law had to be repeated; the Spirit was once and forever.
  3. The presence of God was before one man, Moses or the high priest, while the presence of God by the Spirit is in all believers.
  4. Moses' face shone brightly and the people were afraid.
  5. The Jews still had not accepted Christ even though He was prophesied in their reading of the Old Testament.
  6. When we turn to Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we receive God's Holy Spirit and open our hearts to God’s word and will for our lives.
  7. We are not under the bondage of sacrifices any longer nor do we fear death.

CHAPTER 4

  1. Paul walked the walk that he taught the people. He did not corrupt the gospel in any way for personal gain.
  2. The light of the message of the gospel has been entrusted to us but is empowered by the working of God.
  3. Paul walked in the steps of Jesus and as He sacrificed all Paul too was willing to sacrifice all to show Jesus to the world.
  4. As we live our body is perishing but we are growing closer spiritually to the Lord.
  5. The suffering, hardship, and sacrifice we have now are temporary. The life to come will be much greater, more wonderful, and forever.

CHAPTER 5

  1. a. Paul desired to be clothed with the spiritual body that will never die. b. We will be clothed with the spiritual body when Jesus returns to gather us to heaven.
  2. If we are not reconciled to God through Christ we will be found without the righteous garments because of our sins.
  3. (Pleasing means acceptable) “We labor to become acceptable to Him whether present or absent”. We aim to be pleasing or acceptable here so we that we will be accepted at the return of Jesus.
  4. Knowing the terror of the judgment of the Lord to come, Paul urged the people to be well pleasing to the Lord here so they would be accepted at the judgment.
  5. We are not to regard the outward appearance of man but what is in his heart with God.
  6. We are a new creation by leaving behind our old self and sins to begin a new righteous walk that serves the will of God. We have a new name, new tendencies, new heart and nature. Old thoughts, principles, and practices are done away.
  7. In us we have the Spirit of God working through us to reconcile others to Him.
  8. We are reconciled to God by forgiveness of sins through Jesus' death.

CHAPTER 6

  1. If we do not become reconciled to God through Jesus and by not complying fully with the Word of God and all that it entails we take the grace of God in vain.
  2. Do not be yoked with any kind of evil, darkness, or unrighteousness with unbelievers. We must not live like them or partner with them in any unrighteous endeavor. We should be the influence or witness to an unbeliever and seek to reconcile them to God.

 

CHAPTER 7

  1. We should fear the judgment of God. To receive the promise of God (eternal life) and His blessings, we must pursue and perfect holiness in us (see He. 12:14).
  2. Paul's first letter produced sorrow within the church and then their conviction led to their repentance.
  3. a. Sorrow toward God is the understanding that you have sinned against God and have displeased Him. b. Godly sorrow will lead to true repentance for your sin and then to the salvation of your soul.
  4. Paul boasted to Titus his confidence in the church to correct their shortcomings and exemplify the will of God.
  5. The church feared Titus would find them lacking in the will of God.

CHAPTER 8

  1. The church gave while in poverty and even beyond their ability.
  2. We must first dedicate our hearts to the will of God then we will be open to what He shows us to do.
  3. The ministry for the saints in Jerusalem was a test of their sincerity because they had previously promised that they would help the saints.
  4. We must give in equality. The abundance of one will supply the lack of another.
  5. Titus and another brother were well trusted by the church. This deterred any negative impression or accusation against Paul as to the proper handling and distribution of the gift.

CHAPTER 9

  1. Paul's boasting would be in vain if the church was not ready with their gift they had promised. He wanted the church to be ready early to show their generosity and sincerity instead of giving grudgingly.
  2. How much we give is proportional to how many people we can help and reach for God.
  3. God is able to supply all our needs so that we will have sufficiency in all things to do the work He needs us to do.

CHAPTER 10

  1. Our weapons are spiritual weapons; the Word of God, the Holy Spirit, and God's presence will be our weapons against all strongholds and darkness.
  2. We are to cast down every false argument and thought and bring them into obedience acceptable to Christ.
  3. Paul was ready to admonish and discipline any disobedience because the church should know and abide in the truth. (i.e. 1 Co 5).
  4. Paul brought to light the church’s shortcomings. He condemned and shamed them. Therefore, his speech was contemptible to them.
  5. We should compare ourselves to God’s standard, not by the carnal and worldly standards of the people.

CHAPTER 11

  1. Paul labored to present the believers pure, committed, and focused on the one true God and ready for Christ.
  2. Paul was afraid the Corinthians might believe false doctrines, condone idolatry, and still try to enforce the Law of Moses (as in circumcision).
  3. Satan’s ministers can seem to be ministers of Christ but are really false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ looking to benefit and esteem themselves.
  4. Paul could boast about all the beatings, imprisonment, facing death, the shipwrecks, and being sleepless and hungry while spreading the gospel and concerned for all the churches.
  5. Once in Damascus the governor was seeking Paul’s arrest and death but he was saved by going through a window in a basket and let down the wall of the city.

CHAPTER 12

  1. Paul did not want the people to regard him more highly than they should because of the visions he received.
  2. a. Paul’s thorn in the flesh was the worker of Satan who was always there to oppose Paul's spreading of the Gospel. There was constant peril, opposition, reproaches, and sufferings for Paul. b. Suffering makes one dependant on God. God always brought Paul through all the resistance and opposition he faced. This kept Paul humble and determined in spreading the gospel.
  3. Paul should have been commended by the Corinthians as an apostle of Christ but was having to commend himself.
  4. This seems to refer to the gift that was given for the poor saints. Paul had Titus and others that he knew they trusted to secure and distribute the gift. This eliminated the false accusations they may have against him concerning the gift.
  5. The church had received the best in signs, wonders, miracles, and teachings but they had not contributed to the financial or material needs of Paul.
  6. Paul spent much time and gave the church much knowledge of the Lord. If they would be found still in sins this would make Paul look inadequate and cause him humiliation, sadness, and shame before God.

CHAPTER 13

  1. Paul and the apostles submitted to the will of God through Christ. They suffered for His sake.
  2. If they could prove on their own that they were of Christ then it would be proof of Paul’s authority in Christ and that Christ spoke through him because it was of Paul’s ministry that they believed.
  3. If the gospel is in our heart and we are living all that it entails we are of the faith. Ask yourself are we weak for Christ, are we suffering or sacrificing for the sake of the gospel, are we feeling or hearing the Spirit in our heart and mind, and are we obeying the will of the Father or doing our own will?
  4. If the church were strong in their faith then Paul would be weak by not having to enforce any discipline or correction.