Bible Study Reader
2 Corinthians Overview 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

2 Corinthians

Introduction

Second Corinthians is a letter written by the apostle Paul, along with Timothy (2 Corinthians 1:1), probably around AD 55-56 from Macedonia to the church in Corinth. It is the most personally revealing of all Paul's letters. Between writing 1 Corinthians and this letter, a painful crisis had erupted: Paul made a brief, agonizing visit to Corinth that went badly (2 Corinthians 2:1), then wrote a severe letter "out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears" (2 Corinthians 2:4) — a letter that is now lost. He sent Titus to Corinth to assess the situation and waited anxiously in Macedonia until Titus returned with the good news that the majority of the church had repented and reaffirmed their loyalty to Paul (2 Corinthians 7:5-7). This letter is Paul's response to that reconciliation.

Yet the reconciliation was not complete. A group of outsiders — whom Paul sarcastically calls "super-apostles" (2 Corinthians 11:5) — had arrived in Corinth claiming superior credentials and undermining Paul's authority. As a result, 2 Corinthians is a letter of two moods: chapters 1-9 are largely warm and pastoral, celebrating reconciliation and urging the completion of a financial collection for the impoverished Jerusalem church, while chapters 10-13 shift abruptly to a fierce defense of Paul's apostleship. Throughout it all, the letter's great theological theme is that God's power is displayed through human weakness — that the treasure of the gospel is carried in "jars of clay" (2 Corinthians 4:7), and that Christ's strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Structure

Second Corinthians can be divided into three major sections, each with a distinct tone and purpose.

Part 1: Comfort, Reconciliation, and the New Covenant Ministry (Chapters 1-7)

Part 2: The Collection for Jerusalem (Chapters 8-9)

Part 3: Paul's Defense of His Apostleship (Chapters 10-13)

Chapter Summaries

  1. 1Paul greets the Corinthians, blesses God as the source of all comfort in affliction, recounts a deadly trial he endured in Asia, and begins explaining why he changed his travel plans to spare the church further pain.
  2. 2Paul urges the church to forgive and restore the repentant offender, describes his anxiety at not finding Titus in Troas, and transitions into a thanksgiving for God who always leads His people in triumphal procession in Christ.
  3. 3Paul contrasts the ministry of the old covenant written on stone tablets with the surpassing glory of the new covenant written on human hearts by the Spirit, and declares that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
  4. 4Paul affirms that he does not lose heart despite persecution, describing the gospel treasure as held in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God, and he fixes his eyes on the unseen eternal realities rather than on visible, temporary afflictions.
  5. 5Paul teaches that believers groan in their earthly tents, longing to be clothed with their heavenly dwelling, explains that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, and proclaims that God has given the church the ministry of reconciliation — that in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself.
  6. 6Paul urges the Corinthians not to receive the grace of God in vain, catalogs his sufferings and hardships as a minister, pleads with them to open wide their hearts, and warns them not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers.
  7. 7Paul calls for holiness rooted in the fear of God, expresses his deep affection for the Corinthians, and rejoices over the report from Titus that his severe letter produced godly sorrow leading to repentance rather than worldly grief leading to death.
  8. 8Paul commends the extraordinary generosity of the Macedonian churches as a model, grounds the appeal for giving in the self-impoverishing grace of Christ, and sends Titus along with two other brothers to help the Corinthians complete their promised collection for the saints in Jerusalem.
  9. 9Paul encourages the Corinthians to have their gift ready so they will not be embarrassed when the Macedonians arrive, teaches that whoever sows generously will also reap generously, and declares that God loves a cheerful giver and is able to make all grace abound.
  10. 10Paul defends himself against charges that he is bold in his letters but weak in person, insists that his spiritual weapons have divine power to demolish strongholds, and warns that he will not boast beyond proper limits but only within the field God has assigned him — which includes Corinth.
  11. 11Paul expresses jealousy for the Corinthians' faithfulness to Christ, exposes the "super-apostles" as false apostles disguising themselves as servants of righteousness, and in a "fool's boast" catalogs his extensive sufferings — beatings, imprisonments, shipwrecks, hunger, and constant danger — as the true marks of his apostleship.
  12. 12Paul recounts a vision fourteen years earlier in which he was caught up to the third heaven and heard inexpressible things, reveals that he was given a "thorn in the flesh" to keep him from pride and that Christ told him "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness," and expresses his concern that when he visits he may find the Corinthians still in sin.
  13. 13Paul warns that on his third visit he will not spare those who persist in sin, urges the Corinthians to examine themselves to see whether they are in the faith, and closes with a final appeal for unity and the trinitarian benediction.