Paul begins Chapter 2 finishing the idea he had begun in Chapter 1, namely the reason that he didn't visit the Corinthian church when he had last planned to. He says that instead of the visit he wrote the letter, 1 Corinthians. He says that he had to write a letter that was grieving and distressing because as we saw in 1 Corinthians, he had to correct the church on many points. He wants them to know though that the letter was not to grieve them, but that it was written in love and with tears.
That is always a hard thing to communicate as a parent to children that discipline is done out of love. A parent does not normally enjoy disciplining a child, but does so because he/she knows that ultimately it is best for the child and he/she loves the child and wants what is best for them, even when it hurts for a short while. As Hebrews 12:11 says "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."
One of the items that he addressed in the first letter was a particular individual who was in sexual sin in an open an unrepentant way. Paul said to "expel the wicked man from among you" (1 Cor 5:13) and to "hand him over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord" (1 Cor 5:5). In this letter he says that "the punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he is not overwhelmed by excessive sorrow." (v 6-7). So apparantly the person had indeed repented and turned so now Paul was telling the people to welcome him back and forgive him.
This topic of church discipline is one that is rarely addressed in churches today. Often when there is open, unrepentant sin in the church, it goes on unaddressed by the leadership. This is not the instructions given to the church and it causes harm. As in this case, discipline is for good, though it is often seen as evil. When we do things God's way, it turns out best, as opposed to allowing our fears and current cultural thoughts and trends to dictate how we live and act.
Paul ends the chapter with a discussion of his travels and says that we (believers) are the "aroma of Christ among those who are saved and who are perishing" (v 15). This has always been an interesting metaphore to me. I've always taken this to mean that as we are around believers, we smell to them like the fragrance of life (v 16), and around unbelievers we smell to them like the fragrance of death (v. 16). This may be a correct understanding as it is saying that among believers we are to be a reminder of God's life and salvation through Jesus Christ, by way of encouragement, words and actions, and that to unbelievers, there is a reminder of judgement to come and death, thus causing and giving an urging to turn to Christ for life. The one thing that caught my eye as I read though is that it says "we are to God the aroma of Christ". So another way to read this is that as God smells the people of the world, we both good and bad, we provide the fragrance or "perfume" of Christ, presumably to make things smell better. This reading though doesn't follow though with the second part of being "to the one the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life". This goes back to being a smell to the individual. Perhaps even both of them are in play.
One thing that strikes me is that Paul is very humble in his approach: "who is equal to such a task?" (v 16). He doesn't lord things over others, but always comes back to a humility recognizing that God is the powerful and great one and not him. He has no inherant power nor ability, so when God has chosen to use us in some way, our response should not be one where we expect that this should happen and that we are worthy, but we should emulate Paul, who viewed himself in humility.
Lord help me to not view myself more highly than I ought!
He gives
I like how in verse 6, Paul instructs the church to forgive the man who was rebellious and comfort him, because forgiveness is a characteristic of God, and of God's people. In verse 11 he says it is important to forgive and comfort the repentant sinner "so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs." One of the designs of Satan is to promote hostility and bring division in the churches. As we submit to the Holy Spirit, God will work in us to love one another, and act in unity.
ReplyDeleteIn verse 12 Paul wrote, "even though a door was opened for me in the Lord," to preach the gospel, he did not continue to preach there because he did not find his brother Titus. Does this mean that even though he had an opportunity to speak, he was not obligated to do it?
In verse 15, it says that "we are the aroma." That means that the smell is a product of who we are, and even what God makes us. I think that's true that our sacrifices in the name of Jesus are a pleasing aroma to God, but I also think that God gives us a certain aroma or quality that is noticeable to others. Perhaps, to those who are being saved, the Lord causes his people to be more attractive, so that they will be drawn to the church. Then, to those who are perishing, the Lord causes his people to be repulsive, so that they will remove themselves from the church. He uses the terms "fragrance of life," and "fragrance of death." I think the smell of life would be a good thing and attractive to others, while the fragrance of death is a bad thing and repulsive.
What does Paul mean when he says, "we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word?" Is he referring to Bible salesmen? Does that mean Paul does not demand payment for his ministry?
Please pray for me to value the word of God, and to do all the work that I have as an assignment from the Lord. I don't want to take any of my tasks for granted, and I want my life and actions to be a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
It is very important that we forgive people are truly repentant. We do not want the Satan to gain a foothold and condemn someone for something they have shown Godly sorrow and repentance for. In this passage Paul gives the church authority to forgive the sinner as if he was the one saying it. It is important that the proper authority is the one who forgives, not just anyone can forgive the person being reconciled to the church. It must be an elder or leader that has the proper authority.
ReplyDeleteIn verse 12, speaking about Paul's decision to move on from the church to go to Macedonia even though God had opened an opportunity for Him where he was. I think God can give us opportunities, but like Paul we do not have to take them. There is however a huge difference between an opportunity and a command. Not taking the opportunity is not disobedience or rebellion while disregarding a command from God is.
We are the aroma to God and the individuals. In the same way our lives should be spiritual acts of worship, we should be a pleasing aroma to God. I still don't quite understand how or why we are the smell of death to anyone other than those that have rejected the one we represent and emulate.
My prayer is that I could be a pleasing aroma to God, and to have a heart of thankfulness that I can even be considered worthy to be aroma that could please God. And since it is impossible to please God without faith(Heb. 11), I would seek first to add to my faith.