Author: Jim Cantelon

Read 2 Corinthians 11

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 11:29 “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?”” Paul continues his boasting in verse 16-33. In so doing, he is reminding the Corinthians of his credentials (as compared to false teachers who are undermining Paul’s credibility). What does he boast about? He is a Jew (v.22). He is “more” than “a servant of Christ” in that he has “worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again” (v.23)....

Read 2 Corinthians 10

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 10:17 (NIV) “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” Generally speaking, most of us disapprove of boasting. We don’t like boasters because they seem either bent on putting us down by exalting themselves or, on the other hand, too hungry for our approval. In both cases it’s a pain. doubly obnoxious is the person who boasts about his spirituality — he’s not only better than you on the human plane, but he’s also achieved superior approval on the heavenly plane. Such arrogance! Paul talks about boasting in verses 12-18. The context:...

Read 2 Corinthians 9

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 9:6 “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” Before he became president of the USA. Woodrow Wilson was president of Princeton University. I read recently of an occasion when he spoke to a group of parents. “I get many letters form you parents about your children. You want to know why we people up here in Princeton can’t make more out of them and do more for them. Let me tell you the reason we can’t. It may shock you just a Little, but I am not trying to be rude. the reason...

Read 2 Corinthians 8

Key Verse: Corinthians 8:12 “For if there is a first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.” I think most of us have heard or read about ministries that “never ask for money”. Usually this observation is made with a muted condemnation of any ministry that does ask for money. The implied message is: if God approves of a ministry, He’ll supply the need without fundraising. That sounds impressive. But for most ministries, God expects us to labour in fundraising. Paul is a case in point. Chapter 8 is all...

Read 2 Corinthians 7

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 7:10 “For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” One day, while pastoring in Jerusalem, I was visited in my office e by a young man with a stricken conscience. He had done something very wrong and, in our Sunday evening service that week, had become very convinced of the wrongness of his action. As he spoke to me, his face was etched with sorrow, his eyes brimmed with tears and as we prayed his body shook with sobs. When he left he said, “Thank you, pastor , for praying with me...

Read 2 Corinthians 6

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18 “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” To fully appreciate any Scripture reference, it is vital to be aware of context. In the case of these key verses, there are at least two contextual considerations converging. One relates to the restoration of Israel in a future Messianic era, the other to the cultural realities of the city of Corinth. Let’s look at the second one first. Corinth...

Read 2 Corinthians 5

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” I call it “The New Year’s syndrome”. Every new year, people make resolutions. “I’m going to eat less”, or “I’m going to watch less television”, or “This year I’m joining that fitness club”, or “This is the year I read through the Bible”. The message is, “I don’t like what I’ve been doing. I’m going to change.” But we...

February 22, 2021

Photo by Doğukan Şahin on Unsplash We’ve passed the one year mark in the Covid era. Vaccinations and variants are vying for victory. Who will win? Seems that both may prevail. The experts are predicting that Covid is here to stay but vaccination will see a plague becoming some sort of ever present flu. Who knows? One thing we know is that predictions are just that. Our sense of vulnerability has not only been heightened but burned into our social, familial, and spiritual lives. We suffer and remember how it used to be. But that “new normal” we lightly referred to a year ago has become...

Read 2 Corinthians 4

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 4:2 “But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” Paul continues to defend his ministry. He speaks of the integrity and vulnerability to which he has committed himself. There’s nothing secret, shameful, or deceptive about his ministry. He doesn’t distort the Word of God for personal profit or popularity. He tells it like it is; and what you see is what you get. What...

Read 2 Corinthians 3

Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 3:6 “…who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” As I pointed out in the introduction to this letter, there is more than a little of self-justification on Paul’s part throughout. Perhaps the amount of time spent in this regard is directly proportionate to the vehemence of the reaction Paul received from his first letter to the Corinthians. They were exceedingly angry at his reference to their immorality, and it would appear that there were...