In this verse, Paul reminds all believers that God is the ultimate giver, who is able to make all grace abound toward His people. As believers give, they must be persuaded that God is able to reward their giving. Just as God is able to make the sowing of seed abound to a great harvest, so God is able to bless the generosity of His people.

In rewarding our giving, God does it with all grace. Our giving is rewarded in many ways, including both the material and the spiritual. Materially, God may bless our giving by job promotions with better pay, by unexpected gifts of money, or by making things last so we don’t suffer the cost of replacing them. Spiritually, God may bless our giving by freeing our hearts from the tyranny of greed and materialism, by giving us a sense of blessing and happiness, and by storing up rich reward in heaven. There is no end to the ways we can be blessed when God is able to make all grace abound toward us.

Part of God’s blessing to the giver is for their always having all sufficiency in all things. That word sufficiency may also be translated contentment and is so in 1 Timothy 6:6. God gives a special gift to the giving heart: always having all contentment in all things. That is a lot of all!

It’s easy for many Christians to say they have this contentment; but whether they have it or not is often more truthfully known by their spending and shopping habits. How much of a place does shopping and buying have in your life? How much does material loss affect your happiness? How happy do you get from having some material thing?

With this contentment, believers can be the richest people in the world. A man might have the wealth of the richest man in the world yet lack contentment. But if we have this contentment, it really does make us better off than the wealthiest people who don’t have it.

Also notice that God blesses His people materially and spiritually so that they will have an abundance for every good work. We are blessed so that we can be a blessing to others. God wants us to be channels of blessing, not reservoirs of blessing.

Dear believer, learn to live in the generosity that is fitting for the people of God. It’s an important step in the path of God’s great gift of contentment.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Corinthians 9

First, there is something to take away, as we cleanse ourselves from all filthiness. There is a main aspect of cleansing that comes to God’s people as they trust in Jesus and His work for them. This work of cleansing is really God’s work in us and not our work. But there is another aspect of cleansing that God looks for us to do with the participation of our own will and effort; not that it is our work apart from God, but it is a work that awaits our will and effort: let us cleanse ourselves. This aspect of cleansing is mostly connected with a closer relationship with God and usefulness for service.

Sometimes it is easier to deal with the filthiness of the flesh than of the spirit. During Jesus’ earthly ministry, those who were stained by the filthiness of the flesh (such as harlots and tax collectors) found it easy to come to Jesus. But those stained by the filthiness of the spirit (such as the scribes and Pharisees) found it very hard to come to Jesus. Pride, legalism, self-focus, self-righteousness, bitterness, and hatred can all be far worse to deal with than the more obvious sins of the flesh.

Then, there is something to add, as disciples are perfecting holiness in the fear of God. It isn’t enough to only cleanse ourselves from all filthiness. The Christian life is not only getting rid of evil, but also continually doing good and growing complete in holiness. Paul wasn’t writing about a state of sinless perfection. Perfecting has the idea of “complete” and “whole.” Instead of a state of sinless perfection, Paul wrote about a complete, “whole,” holiness.

There are a couple more things to notice in the phrase, cleanse ourselves. Note that Paul included himself among the Corinthian Christians in the category of those who need to be cleansed. If Paul includes himself among those who needed to be cleansed, then what about us?

Also, note that we must take care that we cleanse ourselves and not concern ourselves with cleansingothers. Most of the time we are more concerned with the holiness of others than our own holiness! It’s easy to point at the sins, failings, and weaknesses of other people, but first we should give attention to our own. This is a principle from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:3-5).

If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, there are things God wants you to take away, and things He wants you to add. In the power of God’s Spirit, give attention to these today.

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Corinthians 7

Physical appearance is relatively easy to change, but it is much more difficult to genuinely become a new person. No one has the power to make themselves a person made in the image of Jesus Christ. But Jesus can and does change us. Once He does, then we are called to go out and live like “the new you.”

This promise of 2 Corinthians 5:17 is remarkably broad, being for anyone. It doesn’t matter what class, what race, what nationality, what language, or what level of intelligence. In Jesus Christ, anyone can be a new creation. However, it is a promise for anyone who is in Christ. This is not a promise for those who are in themselves, or in the religion of men, or in someone or something else. This is for those in Christ.

Paul here taught the great principle of regeneration. Jesus Christ changes those who come to Him by faith and who are in Christ. The saved are not “just forgiven.” They are changed into a new creation.

In 1954, Billy Graham led a remarkable crusade in London. It lasted for weeks and weeks, and ever since, Billy has met people all over the world who were brought to Jesus Christ during that crusade. One story was worthy of mention.

One of Billy Graham’s associates noticed two men come into the crowded arena, and the men sat near the back. They apparently did not know each other, but in just a few moments of loud conversation, they found two things to agree upon: they did not like Americans, and they especially did not like American evangelists like Billy Graham. They agreed that they had both come to see the show, just to make fun of it.

So, they sat in the back and joked around through the whole service. But as Billy Graham presented the message of the gospel – the good news of who Jesus is and what He has done, especially in His sacrificial death and victorious resurrection – the hearts of both men were touched by the Holy Spirit. Both recognized their need for salvation and decided to go forward at the invitation to express their faith and to commit their lives to Jesus Christ. The first man turned to his new companion and said, “I’m going forward.” The other one said, “I am too. And here’s your wallet back – I’m a pickpocket.”

That’s evidence of new life. Have you been made new in Jesus Christ? If you have, are you living like it?

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Corinthians 5

You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Corinthians 3:2-3)

The first Bible of my own was a paper-back version given to me when I came forward at an altar call to give my life to Jesus Christ. It was just a New Testament, The Living Bible version, and on the front, it had a picture of a child on his father’s shoulders and said, “The Greatest of these is Love.”

I have many more translations of the Bible now, and it seems like there is a never-ending stream of new Bible translations. No matter what Bible you like to read, the principle of 2 Corinthians 3 is still true: The Bible others will read is your life.

You yourselves are our letter, Paul wrote. Every letter has an author, and we are a letter from Christ. Every letter has readers, and we are known and read by everybody. Our life is like a letter, and we can’t hide it. People you meet every day read the letter of your life. We can’t blame them for doing this, because if the work of Jesus is real, it will be real in our lives.

Because every Christian is a bible, perhaps it’s time to recognize some new translations:

The “Ashamed to Follow Jesus” version (AFJ)
The “Sin Doesn’t Apply to Me” version (SDAM)
The “Other Christians are Terrible” version (OCT)
The “Christian Life is Miserable” version (CLM)
The “Holier than Thou” version (HTT)

How do we become a “good translation” for others to read? Again, look at 2 Corinthians 3:3. Every letter is written with a pen, and Paul says the letter of their Christian life is the result of our ministry. This means we should never neglect what other Christians can do in our life. Isolating ourselves as Christians is a bad thing to do.

Every letter is written with ink, and Paul says we are written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. Have you yielded your life to the Spirit of God? Are you walking in stress, or walking in the Spirit? If you are “translating” the Bible poorly, perhaps it’s because you are walking in stress, and not the Spirit.

Every letter is written on something, and our “bible” is written not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. This means we have to let God write His Word on our heart.

It’s sad to think that perhaps we haven’t translated the Bible very well into our lives. When we provide a poor translation, other people read it and get the wrong idea about Jesus. If you aren’t a follower of Jesus Christ, I’m sorry for the bad “letters” you’ve read. But remember that ultimately, it’s all about Jesus Christ. Instead of criticizing – sometimes with good reason – the poor ways people translated God’s truth and power into their daily life, why not let Jesus write into your life?

Click here for David’s commentary on 2 Corinthians 3

For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. (2 Corinthians 1:5)

Many people feel they must exaggerate their hardships. For them, nothing small ever happens; every inconvenience is a heavy cross to bear, and they suppose they bear it for Jesus. The Apostle Paul was not that kind of man; he spoke about his suffering reluctantly and in understated terms. So, when Paul wrote, the sufferings of Christ abound in us, he meant it. Paul had a life filled with suffering including beatings, whippings, stoning, imprisonments, shipwrecks, hunger, thirst, sleeplessness, and more (2 Corinthians 11:23-28). Yet, Paul knew that all his sufferings were really the sufferings of Christ.

It’s a striking statement. We almost want to correct the Apostle: “Paul, those are your sufferings, not the sufferings of Christ.” Nevertheless, Paul’s life was so completely identified in Jesus that if he was blessed, it was the blessing of Christ. If he suffered, they were the sufferings of Christ. Not every hardship we face can be thought of as the sufferings of Christ. If a believer is in sin, foolish, or unloving towards others and they hurt for it, that isn’t suffering for following the way of Jesus. Peter knew the distinction between the two kinds of suffering when he wrote that we should not suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. (1 Peter 4:15-16)

Paul knew something about the glory of God in suffering. In fact, Paul knew both sides well: the sufferings and the consolation. He could say, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. Because Paul’s sufferings were the sufferings of Christ, Jesus was not distant from Paul in any hardship. He was right there, identifying with the apostle, and comforting Paul. It seems like the hotter the day, the greater the dew at night. Even so, the hotter the time of trouble, the greater the dews of refreshing come to God’s people.

We can count on it: when sufferings abound, then consolation also abounds. Jesus is there to bring comfort, if we will receive it. In fact, God is called the God of all comfort in this very chapter (2 Corinthians 1:3). God has all kinds of comfort for His people in all kinds of hardships.

So, the principle stands: Our consolation also abounds through Christ. God may allow situations in our life where our only consolation is found through Christ. Sometimes we think the only consolation is found in a change of circumstances, but God wants to console us right in our difficult circumstances, and to do it through Christ. Jesus told us about the same principle in John 16:33: In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

Are sufferings abounding? Be bold in seeking God for abounding consolation.

For more on 2 Corinthians 1, click here