2Cor 10:8 | KingComments | STEP | . We all easily fall into the same error in which the Corinthians fell: to look at what is before our eyes or to observe things as they are outwardly. Someone who is able to keep up appearances, flexible, accommodative and smooth-tongued impresses us more than a puny little man who moves stiffly and has a simple message. The false apostles knew how to cash in on the human weakness of the Corinthians and find an entry among them. Paul did not have an impressive appearance. He makes clear to them that if these people claim that they belong to Christ, he also can in all respects. They must know it for certain. . He could boast of the authority the Lord has given him. The false apostles could not claim that. This authority was not purposed to destroy but to build them up. Paul always saw his ministry and authority in view of the welfare of the church and did not use it for his own pleasure. Also in this he followed his Lord. The Lord Jesus never used His authority to defend Himself. He always used it to stand up for the honor of His Father. If Paul used his authority to destroy, then that happened in his love for the Corinthians. He destroyed in them the things and thoughts that did not agree with the thoughts of God. In that way they would again be able to accept the apostle’s edifying instructions. There was no need for him to be ashamed of his authority. He did not abuse it as it occasionally happens today with spiritual leaders. . Paul was accused that he was trying to terrify the Corinthians by his letters. According to some opinions he used in his letters a threatening language in the sense of: ‘If you do not listen to what I say you will reap the consequences.’ But threatening is something different from warning. Warning means that you make another aware of certain hazards and help him avoid such dangers. He will be grateful for it. To threaten is to instill fear. Warning happens out of concern. . Paul warned not to be misled by people who said that he was an unbalanced person. They said that he has a big mouth in his letters but as a person he is meaningless. To put it in modern terms: he had no charisma. You cannot pull down a person better than by making people to talk about him like that. Tell around that he is moody; he talks one thing one time and another at another time and then the confidence in him is gone. . Well, Paul clearly says that someone who talks like that is missing the mark considerably. There was no difference between his letters and his appearance. Whoever drew this conclusion from his humble demeanor that he had no courage to sort out the misunderstanding with the Corinthians was wrong. In chapter 1 Paul says why he had not gone to Corinth: it was to spare them ( ). That is something different from not daring. In his letters as well as in his appearance he shows clearly what he is about. Misunderstanding is ruled out. From this you can learn that it is important that others know what you are and that you do not behave differently on different occasions. . In this verse the irony sounds again. Paul did not dare to be counted one with the false apostles nor compare himself with them. Of course he never wanted that. They were people who recommended themselves. Never believe people who are self-satisfied. They cannot stop talking about all of their fabulous performances and capabilities. It is amazing how many fall for it over and again. In times of political elections the top candidates of a party flaunt the most impressive feats of their party to convince voters that their party deserves the support of the voters. They all recommend themselves. In professing Christianity also spiritual leaders boast of their qualities and achievements just to get more followers. They are not like the Lord Jesus even a little bit. They compare themselves with themselves and not with Him, Who is the only standard around which all else revolves. Paul calls them “not wise”. To him they disqualified themselves. Of course it is an embarrassment to the people who boasted in their understanding. . Paul was not thinking about himself. His thought was about the Lord and His work. For this work the Lord had given him a sphere. He had no say in this. You also have your own sphere of activity. This is your residential area. Let your light shine there in front of the people who live there. Do not work in an area where you know that there are other believers working for the Lord. Respect their work. You also would not be happy to find others work in your area in a competitive way. Such activities do not build up but destroy. . Corinth lay in the area which God allocated to Paul. So it was the Lord Who brought the Corinthians in contact with Paul and it was he who preached the gospel to them. Would they now turn away from him and listen to people who had infiltrated into his area? . These people wanted to adorn themselves with the results of the work that Paul had done among them. It was a clever method which Paul did not approve. He would not enter an area where others had already begun their work for the Lord. He did not want to decorate himself with borrowed plumes. What he was hoping was that they would grow in their faith. Now their growth in faith has come to a standstill through the influence of the false apostles. If you begin listening to the insinuations of false apostles against a true servant of God, that would be a major obstacle to your spiritual growth. If their faith must again start growing – and this could happen only if they condemned the negative influences – then Paul would enjoy more esteem than he had. The way will then be free again to instruct them further in the truth. . The way would also be free to travel to other areas where Christ had not been preached. But Paul was prevented from going further with the work, for the Corinthians, his ‘problem children’, had to be dealt with first. Even now it can still happen that a servant of the Lord must devote all his time and energy to deal with all kinds of problems among believers and that he finds no time to preach the gospel to the unbelievers. If Paul will be able to go to other regions where other workers had already brought the gospel it was not to take credit. . Besides, he is not at all concerned to boast in himself. He says again what he wrote in his first letter ( ) that one should boast only in the Lord, for He is the One Who produces results. . The best yardstick to assess a servant of the Lord is to see if he recommends himself by speaking of himself, or whether he is recommended by the Lord and is his service all about the Lord Jesus Christ. That makes clear if someone is a tried and tested servant. Now read 2 Corinthians 10:7-18 again. Reflection: What is the sphere God has assigned to you?

‏ 2 Corinthians 10:8

To Everyone a Sphere

2Cor 10:7. We all easily fall into the same error in which the Corinthians fell: to look at what is before our eyes or to observe things as they are outwardly. Someone who is able to keep up appearances, flexible, accommodative and smooth-tongued impresses us more than a puny little man who moves stiffly and has a simple message. The false apostles knew how to cash in on the human weakness of the Corinthians and find an entry among them.

Paul did not have an impressive appearance. He makes clear to them that if these people claim that they belong to Christ, he also can in all respects. They must know it for certain.

2Cor 10:8. He could boast of the authority the Lord has given him. The false apostles could not claim that. This authority was not purposed to destroy but to build them up. Paul always saw his ministry and authority in view of the welfare of the church and did not use it for his own pleasure. Also in this he followed his Lord. The Lord Jesus never used His authority to defend Himself. He always used it to stand up for the honor of His Father.

If Paul used his authority to destroy, then that happened in his love for the Corinthians. He destroyed in them the things and thoughts that did not agree with the thoughts of God. In that way they would again be able to accept the apostle’s edifying instructions. There was no need for him to be ashamed of his authority. He did not abuse it as it occasionally happens today with spiritual leaders.

2Cor 10:9. Paul was accused that he was trying to terrify the Corinthians by his letters. According to some opinions he used in his letters a threatening language in the sense of: ‘If you do not listen to what I say you will reap the consequences.’ But threatening is something different from warning. Warning means that you make another aware of certain hazards and help him avoid such dangers. He will be grateful for it. To threaten is to instill fear. Warning happens out of concern.

2Cor 10:10. Paul warned not to be misled by people who said that he was an unbalanced person. They said that he has a big mouth in his letters but as a person he is meaningless. To put it in modern terms: he had no charisma. You cannot pull down a person better than by making people to talk about him like that. Tell around that he is moody; he talks one thing one time and another at another time and then the confidence in him is gone.

2Cor 10:11. Well, Paul clearly says that someone who talks like that is missing the mark considerably. There was no difference between his letters and his appearance. Whoever drew this conclusion from his humble demeanor that he had no courage to sort out the misunderstanding with the Corinthians was wrong. In chapter 1 Paul says why he had not gone to Corinth: it was to spare them (2Cor 1:23). That is something different from not daring. In his letters as well as in his appearance he shows clearly what he is about. Misunderstanding is ruled out. From this you can learn that it is important that others know what you are and that you do not behave differently on different occasions.

2Cor 10:12. In this verse the irony sounds again. Paul did not dare to be counted one with the false apostles nor compare himself with them. Of course he never wanted that. They were people who recommended themselves. Never believe people who are self-satisfied. They cannot stop talking about all of their fabulous performances and capabilities. It is amazing how many fall for it over and again. In times of political elections the top candidates of a party flaunt the most impressive feats of their party to convince voters that their party deserves the support of the voters. They all recommend themselves.

In professing Christianity also spiritual leaders boast of their qualities and achievements just to get more followers. They are not like the Lord Jesus even a little bit. They compare themselves with themselves and not with Him, Who is the only standard around which all else revolves. Paul calls them “not wise”. To him they disqualified themselves. Of course it is an embarrassment to the people who boasted in their understanding.

2Cor 10:13. Paul was not thinking about himself. His thought was about the Lord and His work. For this work the Lord had given him a sphere. He had no say in this.

You also have your own sphere of activity. This is your residential area. Let your light shine there in front of the people who live there. Do not work in an area where you know that there are other believers working for the Lord. Respect their work. You also would not be happy to find others work in your area in a competitive way. Such activities do not build up but destroy.

2Cor 10:14. Corinth lay in the area which God allocated to Paul. So it was the Lord Who brought the Corinthians in contact with Paul and it was he who preached the gospel to them. Would they now turn away from him and listen to people who had infiltrated into his area?

2Cor 10:15. These people wanted to adorn themselves with the results of the work that Paul had done among them. It was a clever method which Paul did not approve. He would not enter an area where others had already begun their work for the Lord. He did not want to decorate himself with borrowed plumes. What he was hoping was that they would grow in their faith. Now their growth in faith has come to a standstill through the influence of the false apostles. If you begin listening to the insinuations of false apostles against a true servant of God, that would be a major obstacle to your spiritual growth.

If their faith must again start growing – and this could happen only if they condemned the negative influences – then Paul would enjoy more esteem than he had. The way will then be free again to instruct them further in the truth.

2Cor 10:16. The way would also be free to travel to other areas where Christ had not been preached. But Paul was prevented from going further with the work, for the Corinthians, his ‘problem children’, had to be dealt with first. Even now it can still happen that a servant of the Lord must devote all his time and energy to deal with all kinds of problems among believers and that he finds no time to preach the gospel to the unbelievers. If Paul will be able to go to other regions where other workers had already brought the gospel it was not to take credit.

2Cor 10:17. Besides, he is not at all concerned to boast in himself. He says again what he wrote in his first letter (1Cor 1:31) that one should boast only in the Lord, for He is the One Who produces results.

2Cor 10:18. The best yardstick to assess a servant of the Lord is to see if he recommends himself by speaking of himself, or whether he is recommended by the Lord and is his service all about the Lord Jesus Christ. That makes clear if someone is a tried and tested servant.

Now read 2 Corinthians 10:7-18 again.

Reflection: What is the sphere God has assigned to you?