Reading for December 5th

 Read 2 Corinthians 6.1-13. In 6.1-13: Working together with God. In verse 1: 1 Cor 3.9 confirms with him as a correct rendering of the Greek. In verse 2: Isa 49.8. In verse 3: This echoes the defensive tone of chs. 10-13. In verse 4: Servants of God: ("theou diakonoi") should be rendered "ministers of God" for consistency. In verses 4-10: Paul's lists of commendations includes hardships (vv. 4b-5) and virtuous behavior (vv. 6-7) lived out among life's contradictions and puzzles (vv. 8-10). Many elements of this self-portrait are confirmed in Acts 13-28, as well as Paul's other descriptions of his ministry (1 Thess 2). The paradoxes of vv. 8-10 specify the ways he has embodied the dying and rising of Christ (4.10-12). In verses 11-12: This final appeal indicates experienced (11.1-6). It continues in 7.2-4. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 4th

 Read 2 Corinthians 5.11-21. In 5.11-21: The ministry of reconciliation. In verse 11: Well known: Nothing is hidden in ministry as defined in 4.2. In verses 12-13: The tone is defensive. Commending himself and being beside himself echo his opponents' criticisms (4.5; 10.12; 11.16). In verses 14-15: Love of  Christ: Christ's love is meant (Rom 8.35; Gal 2.20), though love for Christ results. Died for all: Christ's death is a sacrifice with universal benefit (Rom 18-19). All have died: We might expect,"All can live." But v. 15 explains No longer to live for oneself is death to the self (Gal2.20). In verse 16: Human point of view: What it means to see Christ this way is disputed: knowing merely the historical facts about Jesus?trying to understand Christ without seeing God's bigger story? failing to see Christ as the funnel of God's spirit? In verse 17: Christ is the sphere of God's new creation (4.5-6); to enter Christ is to experience old becoming new. In verses 18-20: God as the prime mover continues an earlier theme (2.14; 4.1; 5.5). Reconciliation makes enemies friends (Rom 5.10). Ministry of reconciliation continues God's work (6.1). In verse 21: Rom 8.3 Gal 3.13. Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 3rd

 Read 2 Corinthians 5.1-10. In 5.1-10: Looking tot he future with confidence. The perishable body is compared to an earthly tent in Wis 9.15. Building from God may recall Mk 14.58, where Jesus' resurrected body is envisioned as a reconstructed temple not made with hands. Christ's resurrection gives the believer hope of inhabiting a similar dwelling. In verses 2-4: Mixing the image of inhabiting a building with putting on new clothing is awkward, but intelligible. Taken off: this reading makes more sense than the alternative. Dying is like shedding a tent. Burden recalls the affliction in the list of hardships (4.8-9). Resurrection life swallows up mortal existence (1  Cor 15.42-57). In verses 5-6: God's raising Christ begins the preparation (4.14; 1.21-22) and establishes confidence (4.1). In verse 7: Faith in Christ's resurrection changes the way we "see" (4.13-15, 18). In verses 8-9: Phil 1,.23-24. In verse 10: Resurrection faith establishes a time of accountability (Rom 14.10; 1 Cor 15.32-34). Comments or Questions...

Reading for December 2nd

 Read 2 Corinthians 4.1-18. In verses 1-6: Ministering under God's light. These remarks develop 2.17. To stand in God's presence can cause one to lose heart. In verse 2: Paul's language recalls ancient descriptions of false philosophers. Ministry carried out before God in public view requires higher standards than those found among religious impostors. In verse 3: Veiled: Paul admits his teaching can be difficult to understand (2 Pet 3.15-16). In verse 4: God of this world likely describes Satan (2.11; Jn 12.31). Image of God: As God's image, Christ reflects God's dazzling brilliance (3.18; Heb 1.3). In verse 5: The gospel is the message, ministers the messengers (Rom 10.9). In verse 6: The quotation draws on Gen 1.3 and Ps 112.4. Creation has been reenacted in Christ (5.17). In verses 7-12: Embodying Jesus' death and life in ministry. In verse 7: Treasure refers to the gospel (4.3-4). Its source of power is God (Rom 1.16-17). In verses 8-9: This list of hardships echoes the opening prayer (1.3-7; 1 Cor 4.9-13). In verses 10-11: Paul's apostolic lifestyle models the message he preaches: He dies and rises with Christ (Rom 6.8). In verse 12: Paul's experience with death enables him to transmit life to his churches. In verses 13-18: Ministering in the spirit of faith. In verse 13: Ps 115.1 in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures). Spirit of faith is the capacity to believe. In verse 14: What Christ experienced in his resurrection, ministers will experience along with their churches (Rom 8.11). In verse 15: Grace is spread by those who speak the faith they believe (v. 13). In verse 16: Outer nature and inner nature correspond to body and spirit (1 Cor 5.3; 7.34). Christ's spirit renews the believer's spirit (3.18). In verse 17; Eternal weight of glory is the fullness of God's glory already revealed in Christ (3.18). In verse 18: This aptly summarizes Paul's understanding of hope (Rom 8.24-25; Heb 11.1-3). Comments or Questions..

Reading for December 1st

 Read 2 Corinthians 3.4-18. In 3.4-18: Ministers of the new covenant. Christ inaugurates the new covenant promised by Jeremiah (31.31-34; 1 Cor 11.25). It replaces the Mosaic law, which was written on tablets of stone (v. 3; Ex 31.18). For Paul, letter symbolizes this written law code, which he experienced as death; he found it suffocating (vv. 6, 7; Rom 7.9-10). By contrast, he experienced Christ's life-giving spirit in the new covenant (v. 6; 1.21-22; 1 Cor 15.45). Thus its symbol was spirit ("pneuma"). Paul thinks of each covenant as a ministry ("diakonia") in which one serves. The old covenant of Moses (v. 14) is described negatively: death (v. 7), condemnation (v. 9), fading glory (v. 10), temporary (vv. 7, 11). The new covenant under Christ, by contrast, has positive features: Spirit (v. 8), justification (v. 9), greater glory (v. 10), permanent (v. 11). Paul's discussion draws on Ex 34.29-35, where God gives Moses the law at Sinai. Glory refers to he brightness of Moses' face (Ex 34.30) and throughout the section could be translated "radiance." But Paul experienced Christ as a more dazzling light, a greater glory (v. 10; 4.4, 6). For Paul, the veil that hid the face of Moses from the Israelites at Sinai now hides Moses' meaning when thy read scripture (vv. 14-15). The death of Christ, however, removed the veil, thereby providing a clear view of God (v. 14). Turning to Christ in conversion (v. 16) gives one freedom-unobstructed access to God. Those who view God with unveiled faces gradually acquire God's glory as a gift of the Spirit (v. 18). Comments or Questions..

Reading for November 30th

Read 2 Corinthians 2.14-3.3. In 2.14-6.13: Paul's understanding of ministry. In 2.14-17: Minister's sent from God. The image is a victory march where the conquering general, along with his chief officers, leads his army in triumphal procession, the air filled with his burning incense (1 Cor 4.9). The aroma signifies life to the victors, death to the conquered. In verse 17: Peddlers of God's word: Teachers traveling around the Roman world were frequently accused of being in it for the money (4.2). Persons of sincerity are people with pure motives (1.12). In 3.1-3: Letters written on the heart.  Letters of recommendation: Acts 18.27. A letter of Christ: Christ whose Spirit lives within human hearts is the content of the letter (1.21-22). The image of God's message written on the heart is drawn from Jer 31.33. Paul's best recommendation is the church itself. Comments or Questions.

Reading for November 29th

 Read 2 Corinthians 1.23-2.13. In 1.23-2.13: Painful visit recalled. This visit apparently caused Paul to change the plans mentioned in 1.16. Instead of going from Ephesus to Corinth, he must have gone north to Troas, then on to Macedonia, where he is now writing (2.12-23). In 2.2: this person's identity is not known, but clearly the confrontation was painful for everyone involved-Paul, the person, the whole church (2.5-8). In verses 3, 4, 9: this letter better describes chs. 10-13 than 1 Corinthians, which does not reflect such distress, anguish, and tears. it was apparently written from Ephesus after Paul returned from the painful visit to Corinth. In verses 6-11: How the unnamed person was punished by the majority is not clear. Perhaps the church excluded him from it presence or simply reprimanded him. Paul's call for love and forgiveness and his remarks in v. 9 suggest that the church sided with Paul. In verse 11: Paul sees Satan as an active opponent (11.4; 12.7). In verse 12-13:Troas was located on the northwestern coast of Asia Minor. Titus probably delivered the "tearful letter" to Corinth. Comments or Questions...