Bible Survey: 2 Corinthians

Second Corinthians is the most personal of all Paul's letters. Its theme is the ministry, and its key verse is Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not (2 Corinthians 4:1). Men in Corinth were questioning whether Paul was really an apostle, so he opened his heart to the church and told them what serving Christ had cost him.

He told them about his thorn in the flesh, too. Three times he asked the Lord to take it away, and the answer was, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Whatever trial a believer faces, God has allowed it for a reason, and His grace is enough for it.

Paul reminds the church that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). A saved person's sins were settled at the cross, but his works will be judged, and it will be no Sunday School picnic. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men (2 Corinthians 5:11).

The strongest command in the Bible on separation is here: Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14). That applies to marriage and to business partnerships, and it rules out joining hands with religions that preach another gospel. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord (2 Corinthians 6:17).

Paul warns of another Jesus and another gospel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). The Jesus of the Mormons is not the Jesus of the Bible, and a prosperity gospel is not the gospel. A Christian who knows his Bible will not be taken in.

And chapters eight and nine are the longest passage in Scripture on Christian giving.

Next in the series: Galatians.

Taught by Brother James Barker in Sunday School at Naples Independent Baptist Church, March 14, 2021. Watch the lesson.