INTRODUCTION

The fundamental difference between Paul and the false apostles he was combating is that he surrendered to a standard from outside the world, and they submitted to a standard that arose from within. And when I use a word like standard, we are referring to both law and gospel. What is the standard for evaluating appropriate behavior? And what is the standard to telling men how they might be saved?

THE TEXT

“Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s. For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed: That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters. For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible  . . . But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth” (2 Corinthians 10:7–18).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul is preparing to mount an attack on the apostles of the superficial (v. 7). If any of these men think they belong to Christ, Paul also does (v. 7). Paul is gearing up for some ironical boasting in the next chapter, and here he says that if he boasted of his authority, he would not be ashamed. And why? Because his authority gave, and did not grab (v. 8). The point was not to be a literary terrorist (v. 9). He is here referring to the charge that he writes a hot letter, but his pulpit presence is weak, and his eloquence is well beneath the standard (v. 10). Paul has already indicated this next point, but he says it again. On the next visit, the letters and the actions will match (v. 11). Paul has a standard outside himself. Those who measure their yardstick with another yardstick are not wise (v. 12). Or even worse, they are not wise who measure a yardstick by holding it up to a mirror. Paul says that he uses the measure granted by God to him, and to them as well (v. 13). Paul is not getting outside his lane by dealing with the Corinthians, because he was the one who had first shared the gospel with them (v. 14). Paul refuses to encroach on another man’s ministry, but is of course open to mutual edification (v. 15). He is certainly open to having the Corinthians help him in the task of preaching the gospel in regions beyond them (v. 16). The one who glories should do so in the Lord (v. 17). Self-congratulation establishes nothing—only God’s commendation counts for anything (v. 18).

THE PROBLEM OF HYPOCRISY

We live in a subjective age, and so many people are not ashamed to say that their standard is provided by the guidance of their own heart. But the Scriptures reject this as truly foolish.

“He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: But whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered” (Proverbs 28:26).

But there are two kinds of fools. There are those who trust in their own hearts, and say that this is what they are doing. Here the folly is out in the middle of the table. The second kind is the one who trusts in his own subjective understanding, but clothes it in the more orthodox language of objective truth. We can see this in the parable Jesus told about the conceited Pharisee who went down to the Temple to pray. Jesus spoke the parable against those who “trusted in themselves” (Luke 18:9). But the language the Pharisee used was good, solid Reformed stuff. “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are . . .” (Luke 18:11). “Lord, all the credit for me being so wonderful goes to You, and only to You.” Something is still off. And beware. How many of us read that parable and thank God that we are not like that Pharisee?

In this passage, Paul was genuinely submitting the whole thing to God. When we pray, we should talk like we mean it.

THE POSSIBILITY OF FAILURE

One of the best ways to tell if you are using a subjective or objective biblical metric is by whether or not there is any possible scenario where you would receive correction. How good are you are removing the beam from your own eye (Matt. 7:1-5)? How good are you at considering yourself, lest you also be tempted (Gal. 6:1)? How good are you at not judging others with a standard that would also flunk you (Rom. 2:1-3).

Suppose the existence of an invisible recording device hung around every neck that only recorded moral judgments leveled against others. “She ought not . . . I can’t believe he . . . Those people are awful . . . Did you see what . . .” Suppose God distilled an ethical code from all of those statements, and then judged each person in strict accordance with thatstandard. All of us would be condemned. We would be in the position of David talking to Nathan about Bathsheba, before he knew they were talking about Bathsheba.

By way of contrast, we know that Paul was the real deal because of statements like this.

“For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God” (1 Corinthians 4:4–5).

BOASTING IN THE LORD

This is a matter that requires real spiritual wisdom. The occasions for boasting in the Lord will arise when people think that you had something to do with it. God is being very good to us here in this Moscow project, and there is no way to talk about it without referring to it. But I still wince inside whenever I hear it referred to this way. Even when I refer to it this way. And why? Because we should boast in the Lord.

But we have to look at it from the other side as well. We cannot boast in the Lord, who dwells in the highest heaven, and does nothing in particular. It is not boasting in the Lord to talk about the attributes of God in a way that is detached from all human history. God reveals Himself in His great and wonderful works. Miriam was not dancing beside the sea because she had just finished reading a chapter in a theological tome on the divine aseity. She was dancing because Jehovah had bared His strong right arm, and “Pharaoh’s army got drownded.”

And when we ask what this external objective standard is, we must immediately correct ourselves. The question is not what the standard is, but rather who the standard is. And the answer to that question is the Lord Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. The central message from Christ is not “go over there and do those good deeds.” The central message is “come, follow me.”

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INTRODUCTION

As we come to chapter 10 of this epistle, we need to be reminded again of who the players are. We have the majority of the Corinthian church, and they are on Paul’s side—even though a number of them had just recently been brought back to Paul’s side by means of his “severe letter.” In the opposite corner were the false teachers, who had instigated the rebellion in the first place. And then we likely have to budget for regular members of the church who were more entangled by the false teachers than others had been, and who were still not reconciled to Paul. The first nine chapters of this letter were directed to those on Paul’s side, and here at chapter 10, Paul moves to the necessity of church discipline. Something has to be done about those who are continuing to disrupt the unity of the congregation. It was now time to discipline those who refused to repent of their stubborn opposition.

THE TEXT

“Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled” (2 Corinthians 10:1–6).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul begins with a deeply ironic statement. He knew that his enemies said that he was no great shakes in his public speaking, and he acknowledges that this was true, but only in part. He pleads by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, knowing that he, an unpolished speaker, could still write a very tough letter (v. 1). In verse 2, he says “don’t make me come back there.” He pleads with them to make any personal boldness from him unnecessary. Because if that happens, he is going to unload on those who maintained that Paul walked “according to the flesh” (v. 2). He acknowledges that he has a physical body, but he doesn’t fight that way, he does not war “after the flesh” (v. 3). In contrast, his weapons are not carnal and earthly, but rather mighty through God for the toppling of citadels (v. 4). He has the ability to throw down “imaginations,” to throw down “high pride that is anti-God,” and to take “every thought” the prisoner of Christ (v. 5). And verse 6 makes it plain that he is talking about doing all of this at the upcoming congregational meeting (v. 6). When the Corinthian church submits, he will discipline any remaining outliers.

EXEGESIS AND APPLICATION

When we are studying Scripture, we must understand the difference between exegesis (what the original readers understood by it) and application (what we intend to do with it). There should be a great deal of overlap between the two, but they do not map on to one another perfectly. Here is an example. When Paul tells Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach and frequently ailments (1 Tim. 5:23), exegesis tells us that Timothy had frequent digestive ailments and that Paul told him that wine should help. One application could be a modern Christian taking a little wine for stomach trouble, which would be a great deal of overlap, but another application could be to quote this verse in a debate with a teetotaler. This would be a legitimate application, even if Paul had never imagined the existence of teetotalers.

We should learn this distinction because Paul’s language here in this passage is high rhetoric indeed, and hence can easily be applied to the cosmic forces of unbelief—Darwinism, postmodernism, atheism, relativism, and the universities that house them. And because we do encounter imaginations there, and high unbelief, and disobedience to Christ, it is a legitimate application. But the exegesis requires us to apply this language to a looming showdown with false teachers at Corinth.

WHEN FALSE TEACHERS STRUT

In the Greek world, any rhetorician worth his salt would be anything but humble. But Paul was following Christ, who was gentle and lowly of heart (Matt. 11:29), and this meant that his humility was one of his qualifications. The “some” of v. 2 are most likely the false apostles of (2 Cor. 11:5,13-15), and their carriage was magnificent, and their ability to command large honoraria was significant. Their spirit was measured by the size of the speaking fee they could draw down. Some things really haven’t changed. They were trained in public speaking, and were both confident and charismatic. They were polished, and knew just when to slap the thigh. They were splashy, and knew how to put on a show. Paul answered them with gospel—straight no chaser (2 Cor. 4:2-6).

STRAIGHT NO CHASER

The humility and weakness that was characteristic of Paul’s ministry is the kind of humility and weakness that will conquer the world. Blessed are the meek, for what? For they will inherit the earth (Ps. 37:11; Matt. 5:5). The foundation of this great spiritual cathedral will be anchored to the cornerstone of our Lord having been nailed naked to a pole, and there suffering the indignity of a criminal’s death. There was no doubt still dried spittle on His face. That is how God glorified the name of Christ (John 12:28), and by so doing glorified His own name.

Satan had shown the Lord the kingdoms of this world, and all their glory (Matt. 4:8), and the Lord turned away from it. He was not turning away from glory—He was turning away from that kind of petty glory. He was rejecting a tinsel glory. He was refusing the thin glory of gold foil. He was turning down the superficial honor that comes so easily to superficial apostles.

It is so easy for us to slip back into the respectable mentality that made these false apostles so attractive. The cross was one of the most excruciating instruments of torture ever devised, and we make it into fine silver jewelry. The jewelry is fine, so long as we don’t forget what it means. A cross on the steeple is something we are going to have, but may we never turn it into a sophisticated brand. We have many hymns that sentimentally refer to Calvary. But that name comes from the Latin word for skull, calvarium—because in English the Lord died on Skull Hill. Golgotha is the Aramaic name for the same thing, so no refuge for us there. And the glory is that the cross of the Lord Jesus was the tent peg of God, driven into Sisera’s head.

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