GIVING YOURSELF TO THE LORD

 II Cor. 8:5 ... "And this, not as we expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God."

      Paul undertook the project of raising a great contribution from the Gentile churches for the relief of poor Christians in Jerusalem and Judea. Not only was it right for disciples of Christ who prospered to try to assist those who suffered from want, but the apostle also hoped to ease the tension between the Jewish and Gentile segments of the church. Furthermore, he reasoned that the Jewish brethren who had shared spiritual wealth with the Gentiles deserved no less than to receive a material return when they so much needed it. As Paul visited churches in Asia Minor, Macedonia, and Achaia to collect these gifts, he expected there would be different degrees of cooperation. The brethren in Corinth seemed reluctant, perhaps even resistant, to participate in this aspect of fellowship. The apostle found it necessary to prod them rather strenuously in epistles he wrote to them to activate loving concern for suffering brethren so far away. This is the main thrust of his writing in chapters 8 and 9 of Second Corinthians.

      To encourage them to make up the requested contribution, Paul offered as example the way the Christians in Macedonia had responded. Although they had suffered persecution and were themselves rather poor, they had given gladly, willingly, and quite liberally. The Corinthians had been spared persecution and were materially prosperous, yet after a full year (v.10) they were far short of their goal. The effective difference between the two groups of disciples was that of attitude. The Corinthians were characterized by selfishness, while their Macedonian counterparts were characterized by selflessness. The Corinthians were yet "fleshly" (I Cor. 3:3) and clung to what they had for their own satisfaction and pleasure. But Paul says the Macedonians "first gave themselves to the Lord" and then "to us by the will of God." That is, they first surrendered their very lives to the service of the Lord. Then, when it came to the matter of the contribution to help His disciples in another place, they gladly, willingly and freely gave from their resources what they considered they had already dedicated to God.

      The primary challenge of the Christian life is the surrender of one's self to Jesus. In Mt. 16:24 He declared,"If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." Discipleship to Jesus begins only with self-denial, no matter what act or ritual one might perform to enter into such discipleship. That initial act is no more than a vain ritual when one's mind is not in the attitude of self-denial and ultimate surrender to Jesus. We are told in Rom. 12:1 that our "spiritual service" to God is to "present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice," for this is what is "acceptable to God." It is critical that every Christian consider these statements and  determine how he is meeting their challenge. What have you yet sacrificed to Christ? a part, or the whole, of your life? Do you give Jesus access to your time, resources, and energy only so long as it does not much infringe on your personal comfort, pleasure, and ambitions? Are there areas of your life into which you refuse to let the rule of Christ enter? Why do preachers and elders continually find it necessary to exhort brethren to be regular in attendance at worship assemblies? Why do they have to appeal repeatedly for brethren to give as they have been prospered in a spirit of good will? Is it not because we have reserved a part of our lives to ourselves for our own selfish disposition and told the Lord, in effect, "Sorry, Sir, but this belongs only to me! You cannot make any claims here." Such an attitude will, in the end, condemn our souls to eternal rejection from God's presence. The gospel makes it quite clear that the Lord will have all of a person or none of him, (see Mat. 6:24). He has not left it up to us to set the standard of discipleship.

SORROW THAT LEADS TO SALVATION

II Cor. 7:10 ... "Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death." (NKJV)

      After Paul had established a congregation of the Lord's church in Corinth, he stayed there a year and a half to build it up and strengthen it before going on to other fields of labor. It was not very long afterward, however, when he received reports that the young church was beset with many problems. So he wrote them a corrective epistle in which he warned them "not to associate with immoral people," (I Cor. 5:9), This epistle has not survived. Later, he received a report from the house of Chloe that "there are quarrels among you," (I Cor. 1:11). Paul responded with the epistle which has been preserved in the Bible as First Corinthians. Thereafter, something developed in the attitude of the Corinthians against Paul himself, perhaps involving slander against him as a true apostle. The strain was so great that he felt it best not to come to them in person lest a confrontation occur that might prevent a resolution to the problem. Therefore, he chose rather to write a third epistle, not preserved in the Bible, which is often called the "severe letter," (II Cor. 2:1-4). This he sent by Titus and then waited with great anxiety in Macedonia for his assistant to return with a report of its effect upon them. To his great relief and joy this severe letter had made a positive impression, thus reconciling the apostle and these rather difficult converts.

      Paul rejoiced, not that he had produced great sorrow in them, but that the sorrow had led them to repent. He distinguished between two kinds of sorrow, "godly sorrow" and the "sorrow of the world." The first one leads to repentance, which in turn leads to salvation. The second type of sorrow leads to "death." Godly sorrow translates a phrase that conveys the idea of sorrow with a view toward God. The Corinthians came to realize that their offense toward Paul went ultimately unto God as well, as indeed every sin does. When David cried in Psa, 51:4, "Against You, You only, I have sinned," he did not mean that he had not sinned against Uriah, Bathsheba, the child of their adulterous union, and the nation which he governed. He simply meant that he understood that his sins were ultimately against God. When one realizes that his sins always reflect upon the honor of God, no matter against whom they might have been directed on the human level, he will be led into the kind of sorrow that leads to repentance. Repentance then activates an immediate cessation of sinning and the concerted effort to undo or negate the effects of the sin to the extent that such is possible. It is for this repentance that God waits before He extends forgiveness to the sinner. That forgiveness is the offender's salvation.

      Worldly sorrow is nothing more than regret that one has been uncovered in deeds he has done that have resulted in pain to others. Worldly sorrow leads to death, not in the literal sense of the cessation of physical life, but rather in the sense of an alienation  from God that precludes future reconciliation with Him. Judas Iscariot is a striking case of one who suffered worldly sorrow due to the atrocious sin he committed. He "repented" (Mat. 27:3), but it was no more than deep remorse over the enormity of what he had done. He saw, too late, that he had made himself  the "son of perdition" (Jno. 17:12), alienated forever from God. In this vain sorrow he destroyed himself. Sin is too disastrous to react to it with sorrow that produces no more than embarrassment in being discovered or grief over the consequences it brings into your life. The only wise response is sorrow that confesses the offense against God, that produces thorough repentance, and that pleads the forgiveness of God. Such a person God will forgive and exalt to renewed, wholesome life, for there is the precious promise in Psa. 34:18, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are contrite in spirit."

NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION

 II Cor. 6:2 ... "Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

      Throughout the New Testament the announcement is emphatically made that a unique day is coming when God will summon all people before Him to give an account of the way they conducted their lives. The criterion of judgment will be the standard of God's will, which He revealed through selected men and commissioned to be taught to every person in every generation, (Mat. 28:19-20). This standard defines good and evil, educates people to distinguish between the two, and urges them to choose the good and reject the evil.  As humans we are, even at our wisest and strongest, still basically ignorant and weak creatures. We continually "sin and fall short of the glory of God," (Rom. 3:23); and "if we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us," (I Jno. 1:8). If we take this sin with us into death, it shall also come with us into the Judgment, where it shall bring down upon us the eternal punishment of God. 

      When a person has fallen through thin ice into a lake, it is too late for him to save himself from the dreadful results of drowning in freezing water. The time to be saved was before he walked out on the ice, when  he could have chosen a different path that would sustain him. When a motorist is plunging off a cliff after failing at high speed to negotiate a mountain curve, it is too late to save himself from the fiery impact at the bottom. The time to be saved was before he approached the curve, when he could have slowed down and kept traction on the road. When someone has engaged in promiscuous activity and contracted AIDS, it is too late to save himself from the terrible consequences of the disease. The time to be saved was before the AIDS virus entered his body, when he could have practiced abstinence.

      It is easy to understand situations like the three just described, where a person can take action soon enough to avert destruction of life and health. We count those foolish who disregard warning signals, continue heedlessly into a danger zone, and then pay the ultimate price. We are told in Pro. 22:3 (NIV) that "a prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it." If we transfer this concern into the spiritual dimension, the same conclusion follows. No one can bypass the "judgment seat of Christ." To appear there with the sins of your life upon your soul is no less foolish than the choices made in this life that lead to tragic death. To become a believer when you at last meet Christ (as indeed everyone will, Rom. 14:10b-12) is to meet Him too late! To confess the error of your lifestyle and wish to repent when Jesus as Judge pronounces you unfit to enter heaven is too late! To develop the fervent desire to worship God with all your might, when you are forced to conclude in His very Presence that this is "man's whole duty," (Ecl. 12:13), is again too late!

      The opportunity to face reality, to build faith, to turn away from sin, and to devote your life to living by God's standard (righteousness) is RIGHT NOW! The only hindrance is pride, which rebels at the thought of submitting your own will to the will of someone else, namely GOD. The person thrashing about in the freezing pond would gladly go back to the place before he stepped on the thin ice. The motorist hurtling into a ravine would immediately return to the quarter-mile before the curve, if he could. The person covered with sores and dying of AIDS would welcome the opportunity to undo his promiscuous conduct before he became infected. But the day of salvation is NEVER YESTERDAY, because no one can go back in time. At the Judgment, multitudes would gladly return to this present life to believe in God and serve Him diligently so that God would save him. It is only TODAY when you can make that critical, vital decision.

THE CHRISTIAN, A NEW CREATURE

II Cor. 5:17 ... "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

      In Rom. 3:1 Paul asks, "What advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?" In the next verse he answers, "Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God." There were great blessings involved in being a Jew. They were the people God chose to be His own possession; through them God made preparations to send the world a Redeemer; and for centuries God had revealed His will through them by inspired oracles. Paul's question may be taken and pointed toward another object more relevant to our modern situation: "What advantage has the Christian? Or what is the benefit of baptism?" We do not find the question phrased in these words anywhere in the New Testament. But if it were, there is little doubt the statement we find in II Cor. 5:17 would be its answer.

      To be in Christ is a Biblical phrase that means to be a Christian. Sometimes it is expressed as "in the Lord," since in New Testament vocabulary the Lord is Christ. As a person entered into a covenant with God as a Jew by circumcision, a person now becomes a Christian by being "baptized into Jesus Christ," (Rom. 6:3). With this initial act of obedience in response to faith, the advantages of being a Christian immediately begin.

      The first advantage is that the person becomes a "new creature." In Tit. 3:5 baptism is called "the washing of regeneration," that is, it is an act of spiritual cleansing by which a new creation is brought forth. If there is such a thing as a modern day miracle, it is the thing that occurs when a sinner is converted into a Christian. It was a miracle when God in the beginning created a man from earthly elements and then endowed him with a soul after God's own Image. Is it any the less a miracle when God today regenerates the sin-wasted soul of a person and brings forth a soul which is again pure and blameless? It is something only God can do, for creation requires a power that lies entirely within the province of God.

      The second advantage obtained when a person becomes a new creature in Christ, (a Christian), is that "old things (are) passed away." Gone are the wretched conditions that prevailed when sin ruled over the individual's life. These conditions are described in Ephesians 2. First, (v.3), "we all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."  Second, (v.12), "You were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." The former life of enslavement to lust, of enmity toward God, of alienation from divine favor, and of bleak hopelessness is gone. 

      With the dismissal of this terrible state of life comes the third advantage of being a Christian, which is expressed in the proclamation, "Behold! New things have come." As one enters into Christ, life takes on a whole new dimension.  It says in Rom. 6:4 that, as a person comes forth from baptism, he should "walk in newness of life." First, he becomes the son of a new Father, who is God, (Jno. 20:17). Before,  his father was his earthly, biological father. But now he is the son of the Creator of the universe and the omnipotent Ruler over all. Second, the Christian gains citizenship in a new kingdom, the Kingdom of God, (Col. 1:13). This is a kingdom that is eternal and will survive the destruction of the earth at the end of time. And third, the Christian receives a new hope, the hope that when this life is over and he must leave this world, he will be given eternal life in heaven, (Jno. 14:1-3).

OUTWARD DECLINE, INWARD RENEWAL

II Cor. 4:16 ... "Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day."

      The lives of the apostles and their assistants were hazardous. They were often publicly humiliated, threatened, arrested, imprisoned, beaten, stoned and expelled from cities where they were preaching. In Acts 7 Stephen was killed, and in Acts 12 James was beheaded. Beyond these external persecutions there was also the physical and mental strain that resulted from the intense labors of constant travel, of being poorly fed, clothed, and housed, and of spending long hours without rest in their daily ministries. As Christians today enjoy freedom of religion, worship in commodious buildings, and quick, easy, and comfortable mobility in fine automobiles, we have great difficulty in understanding or appreciating what these men of early Christianity had to endure. A little unexpected difficulty can easily discourage us from maintaining progress in serving Christ. For example, if the air conditioning malfunctions on a hot August Sunday, we might cut our worship service short in the morning and cancel it in the evening. Heavy rain on a Sunday nearly always diminishes the number of people who assemble for worship and Bible study. The constant and even severe opposition to the ministries of the apostles and their fellow workers offered great potential for paralyzing discouragement. This fourth chapter of II Corinthians deals with this great temptation, but throughout Paul gives reasons why in his case it did not bring him to a halt. In v.1 he reports that "since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart." 

      At this point the apostle makes an observation that has great meaning to every disciple of Jesus: "Though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day." The "outward man" is a code name that refers to one's physical body. No matter how hard we try to prevent it, as we grow older our physical body wears out, loses strength and energy, and gradually begins to malfunction in various ways. By the proper regimen of diet, rest, exercise, and temperate behavior we might delay this physical decline, but no one can prevent it. It happens to the most devout Christian as well as to the reprobate sinner. 

      But a human being is not constituted solely of a physical body. There is another part to our nature to which Paul applies another code name, the "inward man." This refers to the soul which is made in the image of God and which is eternal. It is not subject to wearing out and perishing like the body, but it can be abused, warped, and blighted by the action of sin. In Christ, however, we have the wonderful opportunity of having our souls "renewed day by day." We are informed in Eph. 3:16 that Christians are "strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man." Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is received at baptism and dwells within a Christian, (Acts 2:38), God supplies his soul with strength to prevent it from declining into weakness toward death as our bodies do. As we progress in the Christian experience, the Spirit develops "fruits" within us as we grow in "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control," (Gal. 5:22-23).

      As the body of a Christian wears out, his soul within has a reciprocal experience.  As his hair turns white, his body stoops, his eye dims and his hearing fades, his soul daily increases in spiritual strength, ability, and energy. His capacity to love grows and flourishes in deeper sincerity. The joy of  drawing closer to the Lord outweighs the sadness of losing his physical powers. He experiences more and more the "peace that passes understanding" and finds the ability to be patient in spite of every external disappointment. He is able to face each new day with more kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control. And if the Lord prolongs his life until his body is exhausted by the toil of living and the progress of disease, he is spiritually ready to leave it behind and gladly enter a new life with the Lord beyond death.

CHANGED INTO THE IMAGE OF CHRIST

II Cor. 3:18 ... "We all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit."

      When God created the universe, He made man the crown of His handiwork by endowing him with a character unique among all creatures. We are told in Gen. 1:27 that "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him." God is a Spirit (Jno. 4:24), so when He created man "in His own image," He enshrined in man's physical body a similar spirit (or soul)." No other living creature was thus honored.  All of them received nothing more than the gift of biological life. Because every human being has within him an image of God, each person owes respect to every other person. Thus, James (3:9) argues that no one should curse another since he is "made in the likeness of God." To abuse or exploit another human is, in a significant sense, to render such ill treatment to God. Although people nevertheless offend others, none of us violates anyone more than he violates his own character. This is the point made in Rom. 3:23 when it declares that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." God's glory is planted in each of us in the soul made in His own image. When we abuse our soul with sin, we violate that indwelling glory. Sin contaminates the soul with moral filth and deforms it to the place where it loses its original resemblance to God. Then we must cry out so pitifully with Isaiah of old, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips," (Isa. 6:5).

      How fortunate we are that God does not abandon us as we continue daily the destruction of our souls with sin. The psalmist proclaims that God "redeems your life from the pit" by "pardoning all your iniquities," (Psa. 103:3-4). The way by which He renews and recreates our souls is by the work of Christ, revealed and administered to us through the New Testament, (see II Cor. 3:6). This remarkable Book is like a perfectly clear mirror that portrays the living image of God's Holy Son.  With this capacity as a mirror, it contains a power like no other book ever written. The word in the lead text above that is translated "beholding" conveys both the idea of seeing a separate object and seeing the reflection of one's own image. Any ordinary mirror will reflect one's own image, but this unique mirror also projects the perfect image of Christ's nature. Not only that, but it also has a transforming power that operates upon those who will dare let it. When anyone looks into this mirror, he sees a hideous image of a life deformed, wasted and fouled by sin. But our text declares that by "beholding ... the glory of the Lord" contained therein, he is "transformed into the same image from glory to glory."

      At first, one sees a double image, the beautiful and perfect image of Christ and the sin-warped  image of himself. But as he continues to behold (the sense of the Greek present tense) his own image, it is "changed" gradually into the glorious image of Christ.  As the power of the gospel in the New Testament works its wonderful improvements in the life of the individual, the difference between the two images is decreased.  The word translated "transformed" is one that denotes a fundamental change in one's very nature rather than a mere superficial change. In other words, the "house" of one's character is not just remodeled, it is taken apart and built anew after the blueprint of Christ's. That this is not accomplished in a day is made clear by the phrase "from glory to glory." This means  from one stage of development to another as one progresses toward the fullness of the glory of Christ. Such perfection, in fact, is never accomplished in this life.  When Christ returns, however, it will be accomplished, for we are told in I Jno. 3:2-3 that "when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And every one who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."

THAT SATAN TAKE NO ADVANTAGE

 II Cor. 2:11 ... "That no advantage be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes."

      In his first extant letter to the Corinthians Paul rebuked them for proudly continuing to fellowship a man who was cohabiting with his step-mother. He ordered them to "deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus," (I Cor. 5:5). In other words, in a solemn convocation in the name of Christ they were to withdraw fellowship from this brother in the hope that it might induce him to repent and return to a life of Christian purity, (I Cor. 5:4). We learn here in this Second Epistle that, upon reading these instructions from the apostle, the Corinthians were overcome with shame and took the prescribed action against the wayward brother. The outcome was as hoped. The man repented and appealed to the church to be forgiven and then  reinstated in its fellowship.  Strangely, however, the people who had formerly protected the man in his sin were very reluctant to forgive him in his penitence. In the first ten verses of II Corinthians 2, Paul strongly urges the church to forgive the man and accept him with the fullness of Christian love. He then warns them, "That no advantage be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes."

      We must never forget that Satan lives in our midst here in this world and that he has a plan to turn every one of us away from God. How poignant is the warning in I Pet. 5:8, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." We should never take lightly the reality of Satan or the influence he exerts in our environment. The native Masai who roams freely and carelessly in the savannah in lion country may never return, but instead end up in the stomach of the king of the beasts. Vigilance and superior weapons are required daily to survive, for human strength is no match for that of the lion. Peter compares Satan to a hungry lion who constantly stalks humans as his prey. Martin Luther well expressed this reality in his hymn, Ein Feste Burg:  "For still our ancient foe / doth seek to work us woe. / His craft and power are great, / and armed with cruel hate, / on earth is not his equal. / Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, / were not the right man on our side, / the Man of God's own choosing." Our defense against Satan is also vigilance and superior weapons, not those of our own design, but those supplied to us by our Lord Jesus, (Eph. 6:10-18). The one who ignores these and ventures out into life on his own will sooner or later be "devoured" by Satan.

      Paul says that we not be "ignorant of his schemes." The Scriptures warn us that Satan has developed extremely effective "schemes" (strategies) by which he can overthrow the faith and righteousness of the unwary Christian. The word translated "advantage be taken" conveys the idea of deception, which is doubtless Satan's most successful "scheme." Later in this epistle, (11:14-15), Paul declares that "Satan disguises himself as an angel of light" and that "his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness." Through his agents, people who have submitted to him and are serving him, Satan tries to persuade us to call evil good and good evil, and to put light for darkness and darkness for light, sweet for bitter and bitter for sweet, (Isa. 5:20).  At first, he induced the Corinthians to protect a man in the open commission of fornication; then Satan induced them not to forgive him when he repented. Satan always tries to lead us to do the opposite of that which God wills. We must study his "schemes" and learn to spot them clearly when they are applied. Then we must take care not to give him "advantage of us" by ignoring him, trying to beat him at his own game, or foolishly facing him without the presence of our Lord Jesus, against whom Satan cannot stand, (Mat. 4:1-11).