2Cor 9:11-12 | KingComments | STEP | . Paul is not exhausted by using persuasive arguments to motivate the Corinthians to giving in the right way. His arguments place ‘giving’ in Divine light. It’s not about money-making. It is about an incredible privilege to which special blessings are attached. You have to do with a mighty God. Do you want to be a cheerful giver? God is able to give you in a mighty way what you need. Not a little, but in abundance. Note these words in : “all”, “always”, “all”, “everything”, “every”. Do they not speak of a great abundance? Does it mean that God will give you much money? This is possible if need be. In any case He makes “all grace abound to you”. This is what you need first because giving starts with this. Giving begins with the attitude of your heart and then comes the doing of your hand. He gives “all sufficiency” not to buy nice things for yourself (although sometimes you can buy nice things), but that you may “have an abundance for every good deed”. In 1 Timothy 6 you read that God gives us all things richly to enjoy. But this is immediately followed by the way you may enjoy and that is “to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share” ( ). Can it be clearer? A Christian enjoys giving. Hudson Taylor, the man who founded a great missionary work in China, once said: ‘My experience has been that the more I give to others, my soul is all the more filled with happiness and blessings.’ . This verse is a quote from Psalm 112 ( ). There some characteristics of a Godly man are cited. One of this is giving to the poor. God gives you certain resources which when you pass on to others you show that you are God-fearing. Whatever you scatter abroad and give to the poor is not lost. God sees it as “righteousness”, because it is a righteous act whose worth remains till eternity. . Again there is a comparison to the sower, as in , but with a different application. In you saw that you cannot expect a great harvest if you sow sparingly. What you reap is dependent on the quantity you sow. Here the lesson is that God gives you earthly possessions in the first place that you might distribute it and after that God provides what you need for a living. First He gives seed and then bread for food. It is about the order in which you deal with your property and your money. Sow and reap. Give first and then take for yourself. Practically you can do this by first laying aside something from your income and then consider your own needs. God gives both seed and bread. Only His way of calculating is a bit different from the way we often calculate. He gives that we might first give away, and then we take something for ourselves. Often we do it the other way around. First we take for ourselves and then we look if anything is left over for God. Speaking of calculation, God also multiplies. You get back not only the seed you scattered. You get a lot more so that you can give more in turn. The fruits of such righteous deeds always increase. . It creates new wealth with which new deeds of love can be performed. What emerges from this is thanksgiving to God. By this you go a step higher. The closer we come to the end of the chapter the more cheering is the tone. In the previous verses the scene of action is more the earth with its needs. But in the verses following it terminates in heaven where God is and where grateful hearts praise Him until finally in the last verse God Himself is the object of admiration and adoration. What a splendid result of a ministry that ‘only’ satisfies the practical needs of the believers. This service not only alleviates suffering but also leads to a heart overflowing with thanksgiving to God. . The beneficiaries lift up their hearts to God and glorify Him. They do so because they see in the gift the giver’s commitment to the gospel of Christ. Their confession is not simply lip service but a service done with their hand. Do you see here that a joyful giving is connected with the obedience to the gospel of Christ? You thought perhaps that the gospel is meant only for the lost sinners. Of course it has primarily to do with them. A sinner who recognizes that he is guilty before God and sees that he can be saved only by the Lord Jesus from sin and hell will gladly submit to the gospel. But here you must see that as believers the submission should be a permanent attitude and the determining factor in all things pertaining to life. Who wants to be free from sin and judgment only and then have nothing more to do with the gospel for the rest of his life? The one who argues thus does not give the impression that he is truly converted. Subjection to the gospel with heart and soul also means a joyful submission to the good news (the meaning of the word ‘gospel’) when it comes to your money. . Apart from the fact that God returns what you gave to Him and to His own – and He always gives more than what you gave to Him and to His own, for He never will be anyone’s debtor – there is yet another beautiful result by the recipients of the gift. They will pray for you. It is of immeasurable value that people pray for you and you must appreciate this more than anything else. A special bond is formed through the gift. The receivers of the gift perceive the surpassing grace of God in you. It is not about praising you and telling you what a great guy you are. When you give, you take part in what is called the “surpassing grace of God”. You notice how Paul is searching for words to let them know what great value giving has. . Inevitably he ends up with God as the great Giver. God has given the greatest and absolutely incomparable gift that has ever been given. God could not give a greater proof that He is the Giver than in the gift of His Son. God gave His own, only beloved Son. God did not give Him impulsively in a fit of emotion. God knew what would happen to His Son, how people would mistreat Him and in the end kill Him by letting Him die the vilest, the ugliest form of all deaths. But God gave . God knew that this ’seed’ would bring an enormous fruit. The Lord Jesus Himself said in John 12 when He spoke of His death: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” ( ). The Lord Jesus died as a grain of wheat and you and I and all believers are the fruit thereof. What fruit! “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” Now read 2 Corinthians 9:8-15 again. Reflection: Get on your knees and thank God as the Giver of His Gift and submit yourself to the gospel of Christ by giving.

‏ 2 Corinthians 9:11-12

Thank God for His Indescribable Gift

2Cor 9:8. Paul is not exhausted by using persuasive arguments to motivate the Corinthians to giving in the right way. His arguments place ‘giving’ in Divine light. It’s not about money-making. It is about an incredible privilege to which special blessings are attached.

You have to do with a mighty God. Do you want to be a cheerful giver? God is able to give you in a mighty way what you need. Not a little, but in abundance. Note these words in 2Cor 9:8: “all”, “always”, “all”, “everything”, “every”. Do they not speak of a great abundance?

Does it mean that God will give you much money? This is possible if need be. In any case He makes “all grace abound to you”. This is what you need first because giving starts with this. Giving begins with the attitude of your heart and then comes the doing of your hand.

He gives “all sufficiency” not to buy nice things for yourself (although sometimes you can buy nice things), but that you may “have an abundance for every good deed”. In 1 Timothy 6 you read that God gives us all things richly to enjoy. But this is immediately followed by the way you may enjoy and that is “to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share” (1Tim 6:17). Can it be clearer? A Christian enjoys giving. Hudson Taylor, the man who founded a great missionary work in China, once said: ‘My experience has been that the more I give to others, my soul is all the more filled with happiness and blessings.’

2Cor 9:9. This verse is a quote from Psalm 112 (Psa 112:9). There some characteristics of a Godly man are cited. One of this is giving to the poor. God gives you certain resources which when you pass on to others you show that you are God-fearing. Whatever you scatter abroad and give to the poor is not lost. God sees it as “righteousness”, because it is a righteous act whose worth remains till eternity.

2Cor 9:10. Again there is a comparison to the sower, as in 2Cor 9:6, but with a different application. In 2Cor 9:6 you saw that you cannot expect a great harvest if you sow sparingly. What you reap is dependent on the quantity you sow. Here the lesson is that God gives you earthly possessions in the first place that you might distribute it and after that God provides what you need for a living. First He gives seed and then bread for food. It is about the order in which you deal with your property and your money. Sow and reap. Give first and then take for yourself.

Practically you can do this by first laying aside something from your income and then consider your own needs. God gives both seed and bread. Only His way of calculating is a bit different from the way we often calculate. He gives that we might first give away, and then we take something for ourselves. Often we do it the other way around. First we take for ourselves and then we look if anything is left over for God.

Speaking of calculation, God also multiplies. You get back not only the seed you scattered. You get a lot more so that you can give more in turn. The fruits of such righteous deeds always increase.

2Cor 9:11-12. It creates new wealth with which new deeds of love can be performed. What emerges from this is thanksgiving to God. By this you go a step higher.

The closer we come to the end of the chapter the more cheering is the tone. In the previous verses the scene of action is more the earth with its needs. But in the verses following it terminates in heaven where God is and where grateful hearts praise Him until finally in the last verse God Himself is the object of admiration and adoration.

What a splendid result of a ministry that ‘only’ satisfies the practical needs of the believers. This service not only alleviates suffering but also leads to a heart overflowing with thanksgiving to God.

2Cor 9:13. The beneficiaries lift up their hearts to God and glorify Him. They do so because they see in the gift the giver’s commitment to the gospel of Christ. Their confession is not simply lip service but a service done with their hand. Do you see here that a joyful giving is connected with the obedience to the gospel of Christ?

You thought perhaps that the gospel is meant only for the lost sinners. Of course it has primarily to do with them. A sinner who recognizes that he is guilty before God and sees that he can be saved only by the Lord Jesus from sin and hell will gladly submit to the gospel. But here you must see that as believers the submission should be a permanent attitude and the determining factor in all things pertaining to life.

Who wants to be free from sin and judgment only and then have nothing more to do with the gospel for the rest of his life? The one who argues thus does not give the impression that he is truly converted. Subjection to the gospel with heart and soul also means a joyful submission to the good news (the meaning of the word ‘gospel’) when it comes to your money.

2Cor 9:14. Apart from the fact that God returns what you gave to Him and to His own – and He always gives more than what you gave to Him and to His own, for He never will be anyone’s debtor – there is yet another beautiful result by the recipients of the gift. They will pray for you. It is of immeasurable value that people pray for you and you must appreciate this more than anything else. A special bond is formed through the gift. The receivers of the gift perceive the surpassing grace of God in you.

It is not about praising you and telling you what a great guy you are. When you give, you take part in what is called the “surpassing grace of God”. You notice how Paul is searching for words to let them know what great value giving has.

2Cor 9:15. Inevitably he ends up with God as the great Giver. God has given the greatest and absolutely incomparable gift that has ever been given. God could not give a greater proof that He is the Giver than in the gift of His Son. God gave His own, only beloved Son. God did not give Him impulsively in a fit of emotion. God knew what would happen to His Son, how people would mistreat Him and in the end kill Him by letting Him die the vilest, the ugliest form of all deaths. But God gave.

God knew that this ’seed’ would bring an enormous fruit. The Lord Jesus Himself said in John 12 when He spoke of His death: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:24). The Lord Jesus died as a grain of wheat and you and I and all believers are the fruit thereof. What fruit! “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

Now read 2 Corinthians 9:8-15 again.

Reflection: Get on your knees and thank God as the Giver of His Gift and submit yourself to the gospel of Christ by giving.