Verses 1-3 Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. 2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
The Apostle Paul loved the people of the churches he established, and the Corinthian church was no exception. His desire was to keep them from going astray through false doctrine spread by men who were jealous of his ministry and who wanted to have personal glory and power by pretending to be servants of Jesus Christ and by subverting the truth of the Gospel. Often, because the Gospel message is so simple, mankind wants to make it complicated, and so people tend to gravitate to those who teach and preach a more complex doctrine.
Application: Mankind loves ritual. This is why the institution of Catholicism and organizations like the Church of England have come to exist and to survive centuries because their structures are massive and ornate, full of secrecy and symbolism the average man or woman does not understand, and the clergy perform religious rituals and preach a “works” doctrine which is counter to the Gospel. No one can perform good works for the purpose of getting into Heaven. Access to Heaven is because of what Jesus did on the cross and because of people forsaking sin and following Him. Once a child of the LORD, the good works follow and are the result of becoming like Christ, and not a way to earn points to gain eternity in Heaven.
Verse 4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
If it sounds good, it must be good. So the Apostle Paul was dealing with deceivers who would come into the churches he had established and pervert the truth of the Gospel in increments, and because they were good at their deception, the people were at risk of following after them and their doctrines rather than standing on the doctrine and truth preached to them by the apostles. Satan or his co-working fallen angels never come into a church and attack in a very visible manner. They infiltrate the thinking of different members and present small changes to the Gospel message over time so that most people are unaware they are compromising their Faith and their walk with Jesus.
Application: Religious institutions calling themselves “Christian” today abound in every town and city. Unfortunately, they preach a little truth savored with a lot of lies and they present a different Jesus than the one revealed in the King James Bible. Their Jesus is not all-powerful but is relying on men to bring righteousness to a fallen world. Their Jesus does not heal. Their Jesus is basically an evil spirit in disguise who uses deception and distraction to lead the members of the congregation into spiritual idleness. So a different Jesus is being preached today by deceivers in the pulpits and professors in the seminaries just as was being done in the days of the Apostle Paul.
Verses 5-7 For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. 6 But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things. 7 Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?
In these verses the Apostle Paul continues to promote his humble spirit by saying that although he is a nobody (not a whit) and behind the other apostles, (presumably Peter, James, and John who lived and ministered with Jesus for 3 1/2 years), and although he is not a great orator, he has great knowledge of God and of His Word and therefore he has done everything he could to share that knowledge and the wisdom that accompanies it so that they too can understand and receive the Gospel and become born again believers in Jesus Christ. He asks them to tell him what he has done wrong by not taking the position of a superior in the Church and by lowering himself in humility before them.
Application: The simplest way to emulate the Apostle Paul’s method of ministering to others is to be a nobody who just wants to tell everybody about Jesus.
Verses 8-9 I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service. 9 And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.
Here the Apostle Paul states that he has never charged the Corinthian church in any way (money, food, lodging, and so forth) while he was with them for his ministering and for his upkeep. In fact, he took gifts and funds from other churches which sustained him so that he could remain with them in Corinth. Furthermore, other Christians from Macedonia also supplied his physical needs so that he was never supported in any way by the Corinthian believers.
Verses 10-12 As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia. 11 Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth. 12 But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.
The Apostle Paul goes on to say that what he says and does is the truth as Jesus Christ lives in him and therefore he will not change what he has been doing or saying just to please others who are critical of him or just to stop false religious men from lying about him. By his remaining true to the LORD and to the Gospel message, he would be undermining the work of the false apostles that were infiltrating the churches.
Verses 13-15 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
The false apostles were preaching and pretending to be the ministers of Jesus Christ for profit. They were “fleecing the flock” so to speak. And the Apostle Paul was not surprised by this as they were working at the behest of Satan. And since Satan can appear as an angel of light and fool people, so his servants can appear as ministers of light and fool people.
Application: Satan is a deceiver, and his servants or ministers are also deceivers. Caution must always be applied when watching on television or the Internet or listening on the radio to any evangelist or pastor calling themselves Christian. If what they are saying does not line up with Scripture 100 % of the time, they are false and are servants of Satan. Therefore, Christian believers need to know what is in the King James Bible (if a speaker of English) so that they can discern lies and deception.
Verses 16-20 I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little. 17 That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. 18 Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I will glory also. 19 For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise. 20 For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.
Since the false apostles were boasting about their accomplishments and their abilities and false ministries and apparently fooling the people of God, the Apostle Paul boasts about his ministry, but his boasting is not after the flesh for approval by the Corinthians, but is in his weakness and in the sufferings he has endured in order to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Verses 21-23 I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also. 22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
In these verses the Apostle Paul starts to compare his ministry with those of the false apostles. They apparently were presenting to the people of Corinth their “credentials” based on their race and heritage as Hebrews and descendants of Abraham. However, the Apostle Paul was equal with them in this regard as he was also Hebrew, a descendant of Abraham, and a Roman citizen. But were these false apostles dedicating their lives to the ministry of the Gospel, were they persecuted with physical beatings, were they often thrown in prison, and were their lives threatened regularly?
Verses 24-27 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
These verses contain the short list of the things the Apostle Paul endured while ministering the Gospel throughout the geographical regions to which the Holy Ghost/Spirit sent him. All these things were “without” or those things that affected his physical body and threatened his life. Most healthy men had difficulty surviving a beating of forty stripes save one, much less five beatings. The Romans had a “lictor” or an officer whose job was to carry out sentences requiring punishment by flogging. This flogging was done with a whip that had bone or stone or metal objects embedded in it and a talented lictor could lay that whip where he wanted it to go on the back of his victim and it would tear the flesh off and could penetrate down to the bone. By law the lictor could only administer 39 lashes with the whip.
The Apostle Paul was stoned by the Jews as recorded in the book of Acts and was presumed to be dead. Most likely he was dead, but Jesus raised him up again as his ministry was not completed.
The book of Acts also records shipwrecks which the Apostle Paul miraculously survived. And the persecution from the Jews never ceased, being so vicious that the Jews would follow the Apostle Paul around the countryside and then vilify him to the people he was trying to reach for the LORD Jesus Christ. His life was one of physical and emotional pain, of being in prison, of lacking the necessities of life such as food and shelter, and was fraught with danger every day, all day.
Application: In most westernized nations, Christian believers live their faith in a closet where no one can see it. There seems to be a fear that the act of sharing their faith in Jesus and their testimony to unbelievers will cause offense to those being witnessed to. Perhaps that is why most western nations have fallen away from the truth of the Gospel and why most people in these nations mock and refuse the gift of salvation offered to them by the LORD. If the Apostle Paul and his fellow workers had allowed themselves to be restrained because of fear or because they may not be liked by the unbelievers to whom they were sharing the Gospel message, the Church would not be here today. Plain and simple. The truth is always offensive to those who are sinning and rebelling against God. Jesus was an offense to the Jews and to those people serving Satan, and so will His servants be an offense. But believers are called to be like Jesus.
Verses 28-33 Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? 30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. 31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not. 32 In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me: 33 And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands. (2 Corinthians 11)
The Apostle Paul continues to share that not only was he persecuted and physically harmed because of the ministry of sharing the Gospel, but he had an added burden of caring for all the various churches that were established as a result of his preaching/teaching. He cared for people and he wanted people to receive salvation and the promise of eternal life in Heaven. Any criticism of his work for the LORD Jesus Christ was not justified and in this he was not lying. Through all the suffering, he had the testimony of the miracles he received from the LORD and he had the results of his ministry as proof that he was indeed a chosen vessel for the LORD Jesus Christ.