All for Your Upbuilding

2 Corinthians 12:19-21 ESV

“Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved. For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.”

What was the situation here? At the beginning of chapter 11 we learned that the church in Corinth overall, though perhaps not every individual, was turning to another Jesus and a different spirit and a different gospel from the one the NT apostles had proclaimed to them and that they had originally accepted and received. And so Paul was jealous for them with a godly jealousy that they would not stray from their pure devotion to Jesus Christ like a bride straying from her husband. He grieved over this situation.

Now, this wasn’t just about the church’s “marital infidelity” against her husband, Jesus Christ, but this was a rejection of Paul and of the other NT apostles and of their teaching and of their dedication to telling the people the truth of the gospel. So, in defense of the gospel, Paul also went on the defensive of himself and of his ministry, for the two went hand-in-hand. For if the people were convinced that he was the false teacher, and not the ones they were listening to, then they would stop listening to Paul.

And if they stopped listening to Paul, and they would continue listening to these charlatans who were tickling their itching ears with lies, then they would be lost for eternity, because they rejected the true Jesus of the Scriptures in favor of a different Jesus, one who favored Christ but who had his divine character altered in order to appease human flesh. So Paul was busy passionately defending both his ministry and the truth of the gospel in hopes that the people would listen and that they would turn back to God.

Now it appears to me what Paul was saying here in chapter 12, verses 19-21, indicated that the people must have thought that he was just bragging on himself and that it may have been for selfish motives, to lift himself up. And so Paul was letting them know that his motives were pure, and that what he was saying to them, or else what he had been teaching them, was for their upbuilding in Christ, for their walks of faith, and for their spiritual maturity and that none of it was from selfish motives to raise himself up.

For Paul didn’t just teach the people occasional Bible lessons and then go off on his merry way. His life was dedicated to teaching the truth of the gospel and to ministering to the saints of God and to those who professed the name of Jesus in hopes that they would follow Jesus with their lives and that they would not stray from their pure devotion to Christ to follow after the gods of this world. And Paul was committed to this task to the death and to enduring persecution after persecution for the salvation of human souls.

So, Paul was not lording it over the people. He was definitely a person who lived what he preached, in fact to the point to where he encouraged others to emulate him and his walk of faith. But he deeply loved these people so much that he was willing to give his life for them for their salvation and for them to have eternal life with God. And that is a true picture of what love is. For those who just tell you what makes you feel good, and who don’t tell you the truth, they are not those who truly love you. 

True love speaks the truth in love to one another. True love will confront sin and will call people to repentance and to obedience to Christ. True love will expose the lies which are turning people away from the Lord and will tell people the truth that many don’t want to hear, because when we love others with the love of Christ we are willing to be hated by them in order to tell them the truth that will save their lives from hell, even if we get rejected and get called all sorts of names.

So Paul spoke the truth in love to the people, and he called out their sins by name, at least the ones he had indicated were or might be going on in his absence. And so he mentioned quarreling, jealousy (not godly jealousy, so probably more like envy), and anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, disorder, impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality. His concern was that they were or might be doing some of these things and that they had not yet repented of (turned away from) them, which would grieve his heart.

Now, this is the kind of love for our fellow Christians that we should all have for one another. For it isn’t just preachers and pastors who are supposed to nurture and help the body of Christ to not walk in sin but to walk in holiness and in obedience to the Lord Jesus. God made this the responsibility of the entire body of Christ. We are all to be exhorting one another daily, so we are not hardened by sin’s deceitfulness, and be insisting that we must all walk in holiness and in obedience to our Lord and not in sin. The body needs us all.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

My Heart’s Desire  

An Original Work / June 29, 2013

Based off Rm. 10; Lu. 9:23-26; Ep. 4:20-24

Loved Ones, Oh, my heart’s desire

Is that you might come to Jesus.

Many appear zealous for God,

But they do not trust in Him.

They have not submitted to the One

Who saved them from their sins;

Not forsaken their sins,

Nor have they obeyed their King.

The word of the Lord is near you:

The word of faith we’re proclaiming:

That you must confess your faith

In Jesus as your Lord and King:

Believe in Him as your Lord, 

And follow Him where’er He leads.

Share the gospel; be a witness,

And meet others’ needs.

Beautiful are the feet of those

Who bring the good news of Jesus:

Anyone who would come to Him

Must deny himself today;

Die to sin and self, and

Let the Spirit transform you in heart;

Put on your new self in Jesus,

Yielding to the cross. 

https://vimeo.com/115643303