English · CJB

Ambrosiaster

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 1,043 passages across 16 books

Commentary

381–400 of 1,043
2 Corinthians 9:3

Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that, as I said, ye may be ready:

Paul often reminds the Corinthians of his care for them by saying this kind of thing, so that they will not feel frustrated.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 9:4

Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me, and find you unprepared, we (that we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.

It is obvious that if Paul arrives and finds that the Corinthians are not what they have been expected to be, he will be chagrined and they will feel even more frustrated.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 9:5

Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.

Paul was not asking Titus and his colleagues to go to Corinth as if they were not willing to do so, but in order to prove his love for them. Titus and his friends wanted to go, and Paul is urging them to do so without delay.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 9:6

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

Paul is referring to misers when he talks about people who sow sparingly. He says this here because the Corinthians had promised to send something and had subsequently backtracked.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 9:7

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Paul is teaching them that if they give with a cheerful heart they will be storing up treasure for future use in heaven.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 9:8

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

Paul points out that the grace of God is present in them. Just as it has led their hearts to amend their faults and accept the truth of Christian teaching, so it will assist them, once they have begun, to abound in every good work.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 9:9

(As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.

If the righteousness of a man who gives to the poor endures forever, how much more will this be true of a man who gives to the saints. For the poor are obvious to all, but the saints are known only to those who can discern them, for they are servants of God who are constant in prayer and fasting and who lead a pure life.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 9:12

For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;

It is not only those who have been delivered from beggary to the service of God who rejoice but all those who see the want being supplied. Thus it is that what is given to a few redounds in praises given by the many to God.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 9:13

Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men;

By this service Paul and his companions are testing the Corinthians’ attitude and magnifying the Lord.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 10:1

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:

Paul is saying that he is the same person whether present or absent. He refers here to the meekness and gentleness of Christ because he does not want to appear to be harsher in person than in a letter. At the same time, he warns them that he can be severe with them if he has to be and that if they do not put things right in his absence, they may get an unpleasant surprise when he comes.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 10:2

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.

Paul is referring here to those who did not accept that his teaching was spiritual.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 10:3

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

This means that although we are living in the body we act in a spiritual way. Anyone who does what is pleasing to God is acting spiritually.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 10:4

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

All worldly things are corrupt, but Paul is strong because he is fighting with uncorrupted weapons.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 10:5

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;

Paul takes an intellect captive when he conquers it just as it is contradicting him by its reasonings, and he leads it, humbled and tame, to the Christian faith.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 10:6

And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Paul avenges disobedience when he condemns it through obedience, destroying it at the same time as he leads those who resist to the faith, in order that unbelief may be condemned by those who used to defend it.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 10:7

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.

Paul is criticizing those who in the inflated pride of their own presumption have a lower opinion of him than he deserved and who imagined that they had no need of his teaching.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 10:11

Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present.

Someone to whom power has not been given is capable of being bold when absent but when present he is put to shame. The apostle will not be put to shame when issuing his rebuke. He is doing this in bold reliance on his spiritual power.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 10:12

For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

People who commend themselves are those who wish to dominate, claiming authority for their own name. A person who is sent on a mission lays claim to power, not on his own behalf but on behalf of the one who sent him. Here Paul is saying that he has been chosen as a steward of the Lord. By not presuming to anything beyond what has been granted to him, he is not associating himself with those who preach without a commission. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.

2 Corinthians 10:13

But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.

Paul takes advantage of his authority only to the extent that he glories in the progress of believers, so that his power may be conducive to salvation and not self-aggrandizement. He did not boast beyond the power that was given to him, nor did he claim any authority in places where his preaching had not been heard.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

2 Corinthians 10:14

For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ:

Paul did not go too far in what he was doing but stayed within the limits set for his task by God. He makes this explicit here so that the Corinthians will know that God has sent him to them and so they ought to obey his warnings. Otherwise they might appear to be resisting God, by whom Paul was sent.

COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES

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