2 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 10 STUDY GUIDE

2 Corinthians Chapter 10

Verses 1-6
“Pulling Down Strongholds!”

[10-29-17]

Review: “Plant A Lot of Seeds! ”

2 Corinthians 9:1-15) [ERV] I really don’t need to write to you about this help for God’s people.
See our 2 Corinthians Chapter 9 study guide

(GW) I don’t need to write anything further to you about helping the Christians in Jerusalem.

6) Remember this: The one who plants few seeds will have a small harvest. But the one who plants a lot will have a big harvest.

(KJV) But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

QUESTION: What lesson is Paul giving us here?

ANSWER: If we want a small crop we just need to plant a few seeds; but, if we want a “big harvest” then we have to plant a lot of seeds.

7) Each one of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give. You should not give if it makes you unhappy or if you feel forced to give. God loves those who are happy to give.

 “cheerful” – “hilaros” – “cheerful, joyous, prompt to do anything” [Thayer].

“Our word ‘hilarious’ comes from hilaron” [Robertson].

QUESTION: What has Paul been teaching us on this subject, up to this point?

• If you say you’re going to give to God, then give to God.
• Let your giving originate in your heart.
• Don’t give grudgingly.
• God loves it when we give to Him with a spirit of “hilarious” giving.

8) And God can give you more blessings than you need, and you will always have plenty of everything. You will have enough to give to every good work.

10) God is the one who gives seed to those who plant, and he gives bread for food. And God will give you spiritual seed and make that seed grow. He will produce a great harvest from your goodness.

NOTE: What we give; whatever “seed” we plant; we received it from God. If we plant the seed God gives us He will give us a greater amount of seed to sow in the future.

11) God will make you rich in every way so that you can always give freely. And your giving through us will make people give thanks to God.

This Week: “Pulling Down Strongholds! ”

2 Corinthians 10:1-6) [KJV] Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:

(NLT) Now I, Paul, plead with you. I plead with the gentleness and kindness that Christ himself would use, even though some of you say I am bold in my letters but timid in person.

QUESTION: Why is Paul suggesting that he is “timid in person” when he’s in Corinth?

Concerning “timid in person” – “This was doubtless a charge which they brought against him; but we are not necessarily to infer that it was true. All that it proves is, that he was modest and unobtrusive, and that they interpreted this as timidity and lack of spirit” [Barnes].

ANSWER: Evidently some in Corinth, who were offended at the first letter Paul wrote them, suggested that his writing to them when absent was much bolder than his speech when face to face.

QUESTION: Why could some in Corinth come to that conclusion?

“The newly planted churches were in the midst of heathens and were composed in great part of those who had early heathen training. It is not wonderful that converts from such populations, unused to Christian morality, knowing little of the Old Testament Scriptures, and without the New Testament, should sometimes go astray, or become the victims of false teachers” [PNT].

ANSWER: When Paul was in Corinth for around 18 months he was setting up a new church consisting of many new believers. They seemed to respond to his apostolic teaching when he was there, so he had no errors to correct. When he left some bad doctrine gradually leaked into the church that needed to be corrected. Consequently, Paul was bold in his rebuking them for the doctrinal errors that had succumbed to.

2) But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.

(ERV) They think our motives for what we do are like those of the world. I plan to be very bold against those people when I come. I hope I will not need to use that same boldness with you.

QUESTION: Why is Paul talking about getting bold with some who are in the church?

ANSWER: Evidently most of the Christians there repented when rebuked by the first letter [2 Cor. 7:8-10], but others criticized the apostle because they remembered him as being “timid [current study; vs. 1-2].”

3) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

(TLB) It is true that I am an ordinary, weak human being, but I don’t use human plans and methods to win my battles.

QUESTION: Why does Paul, after telling his readers that he will speak “boldly” to some among them, say that he never goes to battle with human weapons?

ANSWER: Paul understands his position in Christ! None of us hold that same position! We try to be students of the Word; he knew that he was a giver of the Word!

NOTE: I don’t mean that Paul “was a giver of the Word” in the sense that he delivered sermons; I mean that he “was a giver of the Word” in the sense that God used him to give us much of the New Testament that we study. When people disagreed with Paul they were disagreeing with the very Scripture God called him to deliver to us. Honest Christians can disagree with some of what I teach because I am studying the Word of God and honestly coming to different conclusions than some others who are honestly studying the Word! Paul wasn’t coming to conclusions; he was the conduit through which God was giving you and I His Word!!

Paul wasn’t interested in a carnal “war” of words; he was interested in telling us what God says about it!

4) (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

(NIV) The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

QUESTION: What is Paul’s point here in reference to his distracters?

ANSWER: He wasn’t going to argue doctrine with them; rather, he was willing to use his apostolic authority to destroy their false doctrines.

5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

(NAS) We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

QUESTION: Again, what is Paul’s point here in reference to his distracters?

ANSWER: The authority God had given Paul to become that conduit through which you and I would receive much of the New Testament, and the very doctrine of grace, was accompanied by the very “might” of God that would enable him to “destroy speculations” of false teachers, and destroy “every lofty” attitude they revealed when they chose to oppose the Word of God that Paul had given the Corinthian believers.

NOTE: The power of God flowing through Paul to defend the Gospel God had given him would be there to bring every thought of the genuine believer into captivity to “the obedience of Christ.” In other words, Paul, through the power of the Holy Spirit in him, would demonstrate the false doctrine of his detractors to be utter nonsense, and would settle the hearts of the sincere Christians at Corinth on the sound doctrine of the Word of God.

6) And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

(NLT) And we will punish those who remained disobedient after the rest of you became loyal and obedient.

(AMP) Being in readiness to punish every [insubordinate for his] disobedience, when your own submission and obedience [as a church] are fully secured and complete.

QUESTION: In what way would Paul “punish those who remained disobedient”?

ANSWER: The Scriptures don’t tell us, but perhaps he would have them removed from the fellowship of the Church.

NOTE: Many use vs. 3-6 to teach you and me how to battle through Spiritual battles we face. We can certainly apply these lessons to that aspect of our Christian walk; but primarily these verses deal with how Paul will deal with those spreading false doctrine in the Church.

 2 CORINTHIANS Chapter 10

Verses 7-12
“Don’t Make Judgments Based On Mere Appearances!”

[11-5-17]

Review: “Pulling Down Strongholds! ”

2 Corinthians 10:1-6) [KJV] Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:

NOTE: Evidently some in Corinth, who were offended at the first letter Paul wrote them, suggested that his writing to them when absent was much bolder than his speech when face to face.

2) But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.

3) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

ANSWER: Paul understands his position in Christ! None of us hold that same position! We try to be students of the Word; he knew that he was a giver of the Word!

NOTE: I don’t mean that Paul “was a giver of the Word” in the sense that he delivered sermons; I mean that he “was a giver of the Word” in the sense that God used him to give us much of the New Testament that we study. When people disagreed with Paul they were disagreeing with the very Scripture God called him to deliver to us. Honest Christians can disagree with some of what I teach because I am studying the Word of God and honestly coming to different conclusions than some others who are honestly studying the Word! Paul wasn’t coming to conclusions; he was the conduit through which God was giving you and I His Word!!

Paul wasn’t interested in a carnal “war” of words; he was interested in telling us what God says about it!

4) (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

5) (NAS) We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

NOTE: The authority God had given Paul to become that conduit through which you and I would receive much of the New Testament, and the very doctrine of grace, was accompanied by the very “might” of God that would enable him to “destroy speculations” of false teachers, and destroy “every lofty” attitude they revealed when they chose to oppose the Word of God that Paul had given the Corinthian believers.

NOTE: The power of God flowing through Paul to defend the Gospel God had given him would be there to bring every thought of the genuine believer into captivity to “the obedience of Christ.” In other words, Paul, through the power of the Holy Spirit in him, would demonstrate the false doctrine of his detractors to be utter nonsense, and would settle the hearts of the sincere Christians at Corinth on the sound doctrine of the Word of God.

6) (AMP) Being in readiness to punish every [insubordinate for his] disobedience, when your own submission and obedience [as a church] are fully secured and complete.

This Week: “Don’t Make Judgments Based On Mere Appearances! ”

2 Corinthians 10:7-12) [KJV] Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s.

(ERV) You must look at the facts before you. If you feel sure you belong to Christ, you must remember that we belong to Christ the same as you do.

“None of us want to be judged on mere outward appearance. We often want people to see our heart. Yet the Corinthian Christians would not grant to Paul what they wanted for themselves. Paul doesn’t say that it is wrong to test an apostle’s credentials, but that the Corinthians were using the wrong test. They were judging only by outward appearance” [Guzik].

QUESTION: What did Paul look like?

“A more literal translation of the description of Paul in Greek reads, ‘A man of middling size, and his hair was scanty, and his legs were a little crooked, and his knees were far apart; he had large eyes, and his eyebrows met, and his nose was somewhat long.’ This may be little more than imaginative writing from a century after Paul died, but it does not clash with the way Paul’s critics described him: “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive” (2 Cor. 10:10)” [Stephen Miller].

QUESTION: What is Paul telling his readers here?

ANSWER: Don’t fixate on my outward appearance! I am truly a minister of Christ.

8) For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed:

(NAS) For even if I should boast somewhat further about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I shall not be put to shame,

9) That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters.

(GNB)  I do not want it to appear that I am trying to frighten you with my letters.

NOTE: Paul is boldly writing about the authority God has given him to pull down “strong holds,” to cast “down imaginations,” to cast down “every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God,” and to “bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” [vs. 4-5].  He is now telling his readers that this authority is entrusted to him so he can edify his readers, not destroy them [vs. 8]. He is not trying to frighten them [vs. 9]; he wants to help lead them safely back to the truth of the Gospel he taught them when he was there.  

10) For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.

(ERV) Some people say, “Paul’s letters are powerful and sound important, but when he is with us, he is weak and the worst speaker you have ever heard.”

NOTE: His critics in Corinth evidently mocked Paul for his physical appearance and his seemingly “timid” speaking mannerism.

11) Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present.

(ERV) Those people should know this: When we are there with you, we will show the same power that we show now in our letters.

NOTE: Paul is boldly telling everyone at the Corinthian Church that he will be as “weighty and powerful” when he speaks to them in person as he was when he wrote the letter [1 Corinthians] to them.

12) For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

(GNB) Of course we would not dare classify ourselves or compare ourselves with those who rate themselves so highly. How stupid they are! They make up their own standards to measure themselves by, and they judge themselves by their own standards!

QUESTION: According to the GNB what is Paul telling us in vs. 12?

ANSWER: It’s easy to tell yourselves you’re doing really well when you make up the rules/standards that you judge yourselves by.

QUESTION: What do we learn about those who are troubling the church in Corinth?

• They say Paul is timid when in person; but he is bold when writing from afar [vs. 1].
• They say Paul is timid when in person; but Paul says he will be bold with his accusers when present [vs. 2].
• Paul will use his mighty gift of God to pull down the strongholds they had set up [vs. 4].
• Paul will destroy their imaginations that exalt themselves against God [vs. 5].
• Paul will realign the thinking of the church in Corinth to bring themselves into captivity to God’s Word [vs. 5].
• Paul will judge the false teachers in Corinth once he has seen the obedience of the rest [vs. 6].
• Paul says his accusers are guilty of judging him by his mere appearance [vs. 7].
• Paul warns his accusers that God has equipped him with great authority to deal with error [vs. 8-9].
• Paul’s accusers suggest that he is physically weak, and that he’s a horrible speaker [vs. 10].
• Paul also warns his accusers that he will speak to them with great boldness when he arrives [vs. 11].
• Paul tells us that his false accusers make up the rules and then judge themselves to be something by the very rules they make up [vs. 12].

QUESTION: What lesson is Paul giving us here?

ANSWER: We are not something special to God just because we commit ourselves to living a “righteousness” that we have devised in our own imaginations; we are “righteous” when we follow the moral teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

2 CORINTHIANS Chapter 10

Verses 13-18
“Brag About the Lord!”

[11-12-17]

Review: “Don’t Make Judgments Based On Mere Appearances! ”

2 Corinthians 10:7-12) [KJV] Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, that, as he is Christ’s, even so are we Christ’s.

(ERV) You must look at the facts before you. If you feel sure you belong to Christ, you must remember that we belong to Christ the same as you do.

“A more literal translation of the description of Paul in Greek reads, ‘A man of middling size, and his hair was scanty, and his legs were a little crooked, and his knees were far apart; he had large eyes, and his eyebrows met, and his nose was somewhat long.’ This may be little more than imaginative writing from a century after Paul died, but it does not clash with the way Paul’s critics described him: “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive” (2 Cor. 10:10)” [Stephen Miller].

NOTE: “Don’t fixate on my outward appearance,” Paul says. I am truly a minister of Christ.

8) (NAS) For even if I should boast somewhat further about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I shall not be put to shame,

9) That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters.

10) (ERV) Some people say, “Paul’s letters are powerful and sound important, but when he is with us, he is weak and the worst speaker you have ever heard.”

NOTE: His critics in Corinth evidently mocked Paul for his physical appearance and his seemingly “timid” speaking mannerism.

11) (ERV) Those people should know this: When we are there with you, we will show the same power that we show now in our letters.

NOTE: Paul is boldly telling everyone at the Corinthian Church that he will be as “weighty and powerful” when he speaks to them in person as he was when he wrote the letter [1 Corinthians] to them.

12) (GNB) Of course we would not dare classify ourselves or compare ourselves with those who rate themselves so highly. How stupid they are! They make up their own standards to measure themselves by, and they judge themselves by their own standards!

This Week: “Brag About the Lord! ”

2 Corinthians 10:13-18) [KJV] But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you.

(GNB) As for us, however, our boasting will not go beyond certain limits; it will stay within the limits of the work which God has set for us, and this includes our work among you.

QUESTION: What is Paul telling his readers in Corinth?

ANSWER: “If we are going to brag then we will keep that bragging within certain parameters. Those parameters are confined to what God has called us to do, and what God has enabled us to do. God called us and enabled us to bring the Good News about Christ to you” [vs. 13 in my words].

QUESTION: How do we apply this verse to our own lives?

ANSWER: Nobody enjoys being around a braggart!

James 1:17) [GW] Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father who made the sun, moon, and stars. The Father doesn’t change like the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moon.

1 Corinthians 4:7) [ERV] Who do you think you are? Everything you have was given to you. So, if everything you have was given to you, why do you act as if you got it all by your own power?

QUESTION: What do the above 2 passages teach us?

*ANSWER: If you have anything good to brag about then that good thing was a gift of God to you! So, give God the glory! Brag about Him!

NOTE: We should simply do those things that we feel God has given us the ability to do, and the opportunity to do. Then, if good things happen give God the glory!

14) For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ:

(GW) It’s not as though we hadn’t already been to Corinth. We’re not overstating the facts. The fact is that we were the first to arrive in Corinth with the Good News about Christ.

QUESTION: What is Paul pointing out here?

ANSWER: These troublemakers in Corinth didn’t arrive first in Corinth with the Gospel message; Paul, and his ministerial team, did!

15) Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men’s labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly,

(NIV) Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand,

QUESTION: What is Paul telling his readers here?

ANSWER: These pompous boasters in Corinth who were endeavoring, through their boasting, to get the Corinthian believers to trust them more than they trusted Paul.

QUESTION: What else?

ANSWER: Paul was telling his readers that his hope was that their faith would grow; then they would know Paul was teaching them the truth of the Gospel; and they would partner with him to cause the Gospel to extend even further.

16) To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand.

(NLT) Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places that are far beyond you, where no one else is working. Then there will be no question about being in someone else’s territory.

QUESTION: What was Paul’s desire?

ANSWER: He wanted his readers to enable him to reach people even farther away than the Corinthians were.

QUESTION: According to vs. 12, why?

ANSWER: He wanted to preach in areas no other preacher had traveled to. He was a missionary at heart.

QUESTION: What else drove Paul to want to reach out to those no one had reached out to yet?

Romans 1:14-17) [KJV] I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. 

15) So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.

16) For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

17) For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

(NLT) This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

ANSWER: Paul absolutely believed that as a result of his receiving the Gospel message from God he was in debt to everyone to share that message; because he knew it is the only message on the planet that can get someone to Heaven!

17) But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

(CEV) The Scriptures say, “If you want to brag, then brag about the Lord.”

QUESTION: What is Paul emphasizing here?

2 Corinthians 5:20) [KJV] Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

(GW) Therefore, we are Christ’s representatives, and through us God is calling you. We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God.

ANSWER: We can’t brag about any success; it is God’s message, not our’s! We are simply God’s ambassadors to those we share the Gospel with. God speaks through us as we beg them to be “reunited with God.” GIVE GOD THE GLORY!!

18) For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

(NLT) When people boast about themselves, it doesn’t count for much. But when the Lord commends someone, that’s different!

QUESTION: What’s an important message here?

ANSWER: When we talk like we’re all that, and then some “it doesn’t count for much.”

QUESTION: What does matter?

ANSWER: There is only One Whose commendation is eternally important to us; we want God to say about us, “They belong to me!”