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Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 7:1   1 Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.     “These promises” have to do with the promises recorded at the end of 2 Corinthians 6. Because of these promises believers should be motivated to live clean lives and avoid those that defile the body or spirit. The goal should be to “work toward complet

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 7:10   10 For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.     Paul continued to write about what kind of sorrow honors God. It is the kind that leads from sin to God and results in salvation. Sometimes sorrow brings shame, but not this kind of sorrow. Godly sorrow brings spiritual l

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 8:3-5   3 For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. 4 They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem. 5 They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.     Paul continued to write about the extremely poor in Macedonia. They w

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 8:16-17   16 But thank God! He has given Titus the same enthusiasm for you that I have. 17 Titus welcomed our request that he visit you again. In fact, he himself was very eager to go and see you.     Paul rejoiced that Titus had the same feelings for the Corinthian believers that he had. Titus was likely with them when they read this and had carried the letter to them. It was the custom in New Testament Greek to sometimes write from the viewpoi

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 9:1-2   1 I really don’t need to write to you about this ministry of giving for the believers in Jerusalem. 2 For I know how eager you are to help, and I have been boasting to the churches in Macedonia that you in Greece were ready to send an offering a year ago. In fact, it was your enthusiasm that stirred up many of the Macedonian believers to begin giving.     Paul encouraged the Corinthians in the southern area of Greece to remember it was t

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 9:13-15   13 As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. 14 And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you. 15 Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!     Paul described how the Corinthian believers would cause the persecuted believers in Judea to glorify God.

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 10:12   12 Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!     Paul and those who ministered with him had a true evaluation of themselves. False teachers were comparing themselves with others; Paul was comparing himself and his companions with the holy standa

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 11:3-4   3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. 4 You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.     Paul did not want the Corinthians to be deceived. They sho

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 11:14-15   14 But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve.     Paul presented how difficult it is sometimes to distinguish righteousness from unrighteousness. One might be deceived in thinking something is right when it is really wrong. Paul wanted his rea

READ   2 Corinthians 11:26   26 I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not.     Paul continued to write about what he had gone through as he followed his passion to tell others about Jesus. He told about his travels

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 12:5-7   5 That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. 6 If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, 7 even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was give

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 12:16-18   16 Some of you admit I was not a burden to you. But others still think I was sneaky and took advantage of you by trickery. 17 But how? Did any of the men I sent to you take advantage of you? 18 When I urged Titus to visit you and sent our other brother with him, did Titus take advantage of you? No! For we have the same spirit and walk in each other’s steps, doing things the same way.     Paul continued to challenge the Corinthians abo

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 13:5-6   5 Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. 6 As you test yourselves, I hope you will recognize that we have not failed the test of apostolic authority.     For the Corinthians who had doubts about Paul, he wanted them to check their hearts as to whether they were trusting in Jesus. As Paul had done the works of

Getting Started…    How do you turn a church around that’s heading in the wrong direction? After being established by the apostle Paul, the Corinthian church began to get a lot of things wrong. Sitting at a crossroads of culture in the ancient world the Corinthian church had a lot of challenges from the outset, so it’s not surprising that Paul had to write and set the record straight.    In this verse-by-verse study we’ll see the apostle Paul address the wayward church with a

Day 1  READ   1 Corinthians 1:1     1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes.     Paul would have some stern things to say in his letter. He wanted the recipients to know that he had been chosen by God, not by men, to be an apostle. It is not certain which Sosthenes it was to whom Paul referred. He may have been the one mentioned in Acts 18:17, or it may have been one by that name copying what Paul

Day 1  READ   1 Corinthians 1:11-12     11 For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. 12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.”     Paul had appealed for the believers in Corinth to have harmony with no divisions. These verses tell what he had heard about their fellowship. They had become divided about which leader the

Day 1  READ   1 Corinthians 1:22-23     22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.     Paul revealed what the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ appeared like to various groups. The Jewish people who were always looking for a sign; Paul said the gospel to them was like something they stumbled ove

Day 1  READ   1 Corinthians 2:1-2     1 When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. 2 For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified.     Notice how Paul kept the main thing the main thing. He did not try to impress with his vocabulary and personality. His main message was about Jesus Christ who had been crucified not only

Day 1  READ   1 Corinthians 2:12     12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.     How can one know the things of God? Just as one human understands another human because they have the same spirit, people can know the things of God by receiving His Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. Then the individual has the same spirit so he or she “can know the wonderful things God has freely giv

Day 1  READ   1 Corinthians 3:5-6     5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.     The Corinthian believers had been arguing about the best speaker and teacher. Some thought Apollos; others thought Paul. Here Paul emphasizes both of them are only the messengers of God doin

Day 1  READ   1 Corinthians 3:16-17     16 Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 17 God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.     Although each believer in Jesus is considered to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, Paul seems to be referring here to the collective group in the local church. This is because the “you” is plural in the Greek text. The loca

Day 1  READ   1 Corinthians 4:5     5 So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.     Paul urged believers not to judge people ahead of time. They should leave the judging to God who knows about secret motives and can reward accordingly. This makes the point that although actions can be judged, motives cann

Day 1  READ   1 Corinthians 4:14-16     14 I am not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children. 15 For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you. 16 So I urge you to imitate me.     Sometimes younger people in the faith need to be warned of certain things. Paul did this as he wrote to them. He let them know of

Day 1  READ   1 Corinthians 5:3-4     3 Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit. And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man 4 in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must call a meeting of the church. I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus.     Even though he was not with the Corinthian believers, Paul said he was with them in the Spirit. The apostle had already passed judgment on thi