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When looking back at the phenomenal growth of the early church, it’s easy to think that the apostles had nothing but smooth sailing as they took the Gospel to the world. That wasn’t the case at all. And in Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, we see the apostle fighting hard for the church that he planted and loved.    In this verse-by-verse study we’ll study Paul’s often stern words to this church in the midst of conflict. Whether it’s addressing sin within the chu

Day 1   READ   2 Corinthians 1:1-2   1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy. I am writing to God’s church in Corinth and to all of his holy people throughout Greece. 2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.     Paul’s first letter was written to the believers in Corinth about A.D. 55 from Ephesus. This second letter was written from Macedonia about a year after his fi

Day 1   READ   2 Corinthians 1:12-14   12 We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially toward you. 13 Our letters have been straightforward, and there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can’t understand. I hope someday you will fully understa

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 2:1-4   1 So I decided that I would not bring you grief with another painful visit. 2 For if I cause you grief, who will make me glad? Certainly not someone I have grieved. 3 That is why I wrote to you as I did, so that when I do come, I won’t be grieved by the very ones who ought to give me the greatest joy. Surely you all know that my joy comes from your being joyful. 4 I wrote that letter in great anguish, with a troubled heart and many tears

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 2:17   17 You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us.     Even in Paul’s day there were those preachers taking advantage of people and lining their own pockets. The difference is whether one really believes that God is watching. Paul was sure He was and wanted only to preach God’s word “with sincerity and with Ch

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 3:12-15   12 Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. 14 But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 4:8-10   8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.     Paul recounted many problems he and his team faced, but he also focused on some positives they

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 5:4-5   4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.     Paul told what it is like for believers in their earthly bodies with their limitations and pains. In contrast,

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 5:16-17   16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!     Paul told how he quit critiquing others based on human values. He cited Jesus as an example. When Jesus moved among humanity as the perfect God/man,

Day 1     READ   2 Corinthians 6:6-8   6 We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. 7 We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense. 8 We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors.     Thes

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