INTRODUCTION
TO SECOND CORINTHIANS
The second Letter to the Church at Corinth is the supplement
of the first. It is due to the same circumstances which called out the first,
and to the effects that were produced in the church at Corinth by the receipt
of the first letter. We can almost be thankful for the disorders which
occasioned these two letters, not only on account of the rich fund of practical
instruction which they contain, but on account of the picture which they
present of a Gentile Church, composed of those who had so recently been
heathen, in the first century of Christianity. They recall us to the immorality
which had to be overcome, the obstacles in the way of a Christian life, and the
mighty triumph which the gospel achieved over human nature itself in
establishing the spiritual reign of Christ where the sensuality of heathen
worship had before prevailed.
The first letter was written at Ephesus in the spring of a.d. 57; the second was written a few
months later at some point in Macedonia where Paul had journeyed to visit the
churches of that province before extending his tour to Corinth. We learn from
the nineteenth and twentieth chapters of Acts that not long after the first
letter was written, Demetrius and his fellow-craftsman aroused the terrible
riot at Ephesus in which Paul so nearly lost his life (2 Cor. 1:8–10), and
that immediately after, at the urgency of the brethren, he started on his long
contemplated journey to visit the churches of Europe. He had expected to meet
Titus at Troas with word from Corinth concerning the effect of his first letter
and was greatly disappointed when he did not find him there (2 Cor. 2:13).
Hence, although a fine opening for planting the gospel was presented, he
pressed on to Macedonia. Here he met Titus, who was on his way to him, and was
greatly rejoiced when he learned that his letter had been well received and his
commands obeyed (2 Cor. 7:5–7). Still the circumstances required another
letter before his coming and the second letter was written, not only to express
his joy over the better state of things in the church, but in order to convey
further counsels.
This Epistle naturally divides itself into three parts. In
the first part, embracing chapters 1–7, the Apostle portrays his
feelings over the condition of matters in Corinth, his anxiety, and his relief
after the coming of Titus; in chapters 8, 9, the second part, he takes
up the great collection of the Gentile churches for the poor at Jerusalem on
which he had so deeply set his heart; in the third part, chapters
10–13, he repels the insinuations of Judaizing teachers who were seeking, not
only in Corinth but everywhere, to destroy Paul’s influence so as to bring the
churches under the bondage of the Jewish law. In this section he presents those
wonderful details concerning what his service of Christ had cost him in earthly
sufferings. The whole letter is written in the expectation of soon being at
Corinth, an expectation which we know from Acts, chapter 20 was realized.
Excerpt from:
The People's New Testament
by Barton
Warren Johnson
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