If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. (2 Corinthians 11:30-31)
Why is Paul even bothering to write this letter? He loves the Corinthian believers. He spent more than a year and a half of his life there giving birth to the church. He made friends. He poured into them. He loved them. Yet, the relationship has been very rocky.
Even in the mess of this rocky relationship with people he dearly loves, and whom Christ dearly loved, Paul writes to them in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” Paul desired to be for them an exemplary role mode, a picture of Christ that makes the heart, mind and ways of Christ visible and tangible. He lives out his life as a servant of God in every way—in good times and in very hard times.
While those influencing his Corinthian family are claiming to be “super-apostles,” they are actually deceivers, masquerading as servants of light but really being used as servants of Satan instead. Paul emerges as the truly Spirit-led apostle. He is the one following Christ.
If people are going to follow us, our primary task is to test whom we are following. We all follow somebody. If you are a Christ follower, the practice of following Him well may be one of the greatest tests of your character. Whom are you following?
Read 2 Corinthians 10:12-11:33, which includes verses from the last lesson. Ask the Lord Jesus to teach you through His Word.
[To print, follow this link (or for the NIV, this one). Use your own method (colored pencils, lines, shapes) to mark: 1) anything that grabs your attention and 2) words you want to understand. Feel free to develop your own method of marking up a passage. Put a star next to anything you think relates to dependent living.]
1. What grabbed your attention from these verses?
2. What verses or specific words do you want to understand better?
3. What topics are repeated in this passage or continue an earlier discussion in this letter?
4. What verses illustrate or help you understand what dependent living on God looks like?
Read 2 Corinthians 11:1-15. Ask the Lord Jesus to teach you through His Word.
5. Answer the questions below based on what is in the biblical text.
Paul’s jealousy was in line with God’s purposes. The false teachers were not only calling his apostolic authority into question. They were also leading the Corinthians astray from pure devotion to Christ. This was serious.
6. Contrast jealousy “of someone” with jealousy “for someone.”
Focus on the Meaning: There is a place for a spiritual father’s / mother’s passionate concern for the exclusive and pure devotion to Christ of their spiritual children, and also a place for anger at potential violators of that purity (11:29). (Dr. Constable’s Notes on 2 Corinthians 2017 Edition, p. 105)
Think About It: Leaders who can’t be questioned end up doing questionable things. (Jon Acuff)
7. Though not a trained speaker, what Paul said he had knowledge (v. 6)
Think About It: Paul didn’t pretend to be one of those dazzlers the Greeks valued. But, the listeners were stirred by his words and grew in their knowledge of and relationship with God because of his teaching. The world has plenty of dazzlers. What people are longing for is to meet someone with abiding spiritual wisdom and knowledge about what truly matters. It’s okay to have godly dazzlers pointing us to dependence on God as Paul did. That’s what matters.
8. One of the accusations against Paul centered around how he differed from the usual professional speakers who expected the listeners to pay for their “wisdom.” Such money given also gave the audience a measure of control over the speaker (permission) and the speaker control over the audience (influence). Keep in mind that Greek culture considered manual labor such as Paul’s tent making to be “lower class.”
Scriptural Insight: Paul’s principle was to preach and teach without charging those who benefited directly from his ministry. This is a good policy in church planting, but it is not normative for a settled pastoral ministry (1 Corinthians 9:14; 1 Timothy 5:17-18). (Dr. Constable’s Notes on 2 Corinthians 2017 Edition, p. 108)
9. Recognizing false teachers:
Scriptural Insight: They may have been genuine believers. Indeed they appear to have been (2 Cor. 11:23). Nevertheless in their conduct, they were following the example of Satan. They perverted the thinking of, and misdirected the affections of, the Corinthians. (Dr. Constable’s Notes on 2 Corinthians 2017 Edition, p. 109)
10. What else did you learn as you studied 2 Corinthians 11:1-15?
Paul was a successful church planter, a gifted teacher, and excellent writer. Yet, he gave all those strengths to the Lord and still depended on the Lord as he accomplished those tasks.
11. It’s okay to prepare and refine your skills and talents, especially as you want them to be used for God’s purposes. What would it look like for you to give your preparations to God and desire that the power of God will shine His light through you? A good question to ask yourself regarding your strengths is this, “Am I living in self-sufficiency or God-dependency?”
12. Even if you do everything right, that doesn’t stop people from trying to slander and discredit you. What have you learned from Paul’s letter that will help you deal with false information about you?
13. In what other ways can you apply this lesson to your life?
Read 2 Corinthians 11:16-21. Ask the Lord Jesus to teach you through His Word.
From the Greek: A “fool” in Hellenistic-Roman society was one who had lost the correct measure of himself and the world around them.
14. The Corinthians have been putting up with the teaching of fools, contrary to the solid, biblical truth that Paul taught them. The foolish teachers claimed to be God’s leaders but were more interested in their own position and power. Paul had no choice but to refute them for the sake of the church he loved. He creatively uses sarcasm to make the Corinthians recognize what was happening. He answered the fools “according to their folly” Proverbs 26:5)
Remember that the false teachers were masquerading as apostles of Christ and servants of righteousness. Judging by physical appearances, they mostly likely didn’t look like evil people (vv. 13-15). Their teaching and behavior betrayed their motives.
15. Bad teaching and dictatorial behavior (vv. 3-4, 19-20) lead to exploitation—what we might even call cultic behavior, including the kind of treatment listed. Who is vulnerable to that kind of exploitation? Why?
Think About It: According to 1 Corinthians 8:1, knowledge puffs up (makes proud, inflates ego). Depending on one’s own “wisdom” can lead to foolish choices and susceptibility to being ensnared by false teaching. The answer is to know Christ, embrace God’s grace and the truth of His Word, and live confidently in your identity. Then you can say “no” to such foolishness from bad teaching.
16. How was Paul’s approach to ministry with the Corinthians different from that of the false teachers? What Christ-like characteristics did Paul display? Use what you’ve learned so far in 2 Corinthians to get your answer.
17. What else did you learn as you studied 2 Corinthians 11:16-21?
From the Greek: Back in 2 Corinthians 4:2, Paul said that he did not use deception or distort the Word of God like those who masqueraded as servants of righteousness were doing. The Greek word from which we get “distort” primarily signifies “to ensnare,” especially by mingling the truth of the Word of God with false doctrines or notions, and so handling it “deceitfully.” (Kelly Minter, All Things New, p. 55)
Distortion of God’s Word plays out in many ways. It is especially done to justify some behavior that the false teachers want to engage in themselves. Or, it can happen when a spiritual leader uses a verse to shame, manipulate, or condemn you for something already forgiven by Christ.
18. You may be wondering how you can tell if someone exercising authority over you is a true servant of the Lord Jesus and not someone masquerading as a servant of righteousness and exploiting you.
19. Have you fallen victim to a “distortion of the Word of God” in the past? What was taught, and how did you get freed from that?
Scriptural Insight: A common false teaching says that women are more easily deceived than men because of what happened in Genesis 3. That is NOT a biblical truth. Dr. Sandra Glahn, gender studies professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, explains it this way, “What is significant about the man and woman in [Genesis 3] is that they both rebelled. … Being seduced by evil is a human thing, not a woman thing—as Paul mentions when warning the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 11:3). The Bible does not teach that because Eve was deceived, all women are more easily deceived than men. Nor does the Scripture teach that all women excel at seducing and deceiving (these ideas are contradictions, anyway—one cannot be a master of deception while also being easily duped).” (Sandra Glahn, “Biblical Womanhood”: What is a Woman? accessed online at Bible.org)
20. In what other ways can you apply this lesson to your life?
Read 2 Corinthians 11:21-33. Ask the Lord Jesus to teach you through His Word.
Paul’s approach to ministry was to promote Christ, not himself. Because of the false apostles claiming to be servants of Christ yet denying Paul’s authority, Paul felt pressed to talk about his own life choices and experiences, especially hardships. These are evidences of the Lord Jesus’s commendation of his work and vindication of him as an apostle (2 Corinthians 10:18). As you study this passage, recognize that many of these challenges can happen to anyone, not just those being persecuted for their faith.
21. Complete the following statements based on what you see in the biblical text. Put a star next to challenges that any servant of Christ may face in life, including what you might have already experienced.
Historical Insight: Because Paul’s writing of 2 Corinthians fits into Luke’s chronology of his life at Acts 20:2, everything that Paul described here occurred before Acts 20:2 and, therefore, before the end of his third missionary journey, arrest and transport to Rome. Many of these experiences are not even mentioned in Acts.
22. Read 1 Corinthians 4:1, 9-13. What does God put his apostles through to test them?
23. As a servant of Christ,
24. Review 2 Corinthians 11:12, 18, and 21. Paul said that since many were boasting according to the flesh, he would do that, too.
Think About It: Instead of citing successes that he had experienced in his ministry and any accolades he had received from others, Paul listed what some would consider defeats and speaks of these as victories! They were victories because he depended on God, and God had supernaturally sustained His servant through every hardship he experienced. What he listed was, therefore, the greatest possible proof and vindication that Paul was an apostle.
25. Was Paul a fool to serve Christ so relentlessly? Why or why not?
Dependent Living: According to 11:33, Paul was dependent on God to rescue him. God used people to do His work. Paul could do nothing on his own except get in the basket, be quiet, and trust the rope holders. See Acts 9:24-25. God helps those who trust in Him. He uses people as His helpers. You might be that basket provider or the rope holder for someone.
26. What else did you learn as you studied 2 Corinthians 11:21-33?
Think About It: The Christian life is impossible to live without 2 Corinthians. This letter calms us into settled assurance that it is in the adversities of life in this fallen world, not by avoiding adversity, that life with God blossoms. Ease of life results in frothiness of life. The most substantial, radiant men and women we meet are those who bear scars, who have endured dark valleys. … we all walk through pain. In different ways, for different reasons, at different seasons of life, hardship washes over us. How could we possibly remain sane and cheerful without God’s insistence throughout this letter that his deepest consolations are mediated to us in, not after, sorrow? … The way to joy is actually Christ Himself, walking with Him day by day. And the enjoyment of this Friend tends to rise as circumstances around us fall. (Dane C. Ortlund, Why Study the Book of 2 Corinthians? posted online August 2, 2016)
27. When it comes to the troubles and difficulties of life, how can we more consciously focus on what Jesus can do or has done for us rather than focusing on what He hasn’t done?
28. Paul faced daily pressures of responsibility. What pressures come upon you daily? What is your usual response to them? Based on what you have learned from Paul’s example, how can you handle daily pressures as a servant of Christ should?
29. In what other ways can you apply this lesson to your life?
30. Review the passage for this lesson in “Day One Study.” Add reasons why God wants us to depend on Him more than on ourselves to the chart below. I’ve given a few prompts.
Verse(s) |
Reasons why God wants us to depend on Him more than on ourselves |
11:3 |
To keep us from being led astray by false teaching |
11:4-5 |
To help us recognize error in teaching |
11:6 |
To know the truth about God |
11:7-9 |
For financial support that enables us to share Christ and disciple others |
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Dependent Living: As His child, God transforms your life by teaching you to live dependently on Him in weakness and in strength.