Welcome! Over the next few weeks we are going to be reading 2 Corinthians together as a church, 1 chapter every week day. We’re encouraging everyone to read the passage, pray, and share with a few others what they felt God was pointing out to them in his word. Every day we’re going to be hearing from someone at Redeemer about what they felt God pointed out to them as they read the passage.
This morning Josh is sharing with us, you can watch his video above.
Yesterday as we read 2 Corinthians 1 it was great to be reminded by Leslie of the comfort that we find in following Jesus. In todays passage we see that God not only wants to bring comfort into times of suffering but also wants to bring forgiveness.
In verse 7 Paul asks those in the church in Corinth to choose to forgive one who has sinned against them ‘so that he will not be overcome by excessive sorrow’.
As Christians we know that we too are in need of forgiveness, that we have sinned and fallen short. In this season, many of us are in a heightened emotional state, with very little outlet for those emotions! That often leads to actions, whether done by us or to us, which require forgiveness! The only way that we know as Christians to stop ourselves slipping into bitterness is to remind ourselves of forgiveness that we received through Christ.
Our ability to forgive today doesn’t come from our own personal strength of will, but instead from reflecting towards others the forgiveness we have ourselves received.
This is not just crucial for our own personal relationships, but also for us as a church! As a church community we are a group of people who are all sinners, and all need forgiveness! In verse 8 we are reminded that we are to welcome and to forgive those amongst us who are stumbling and faltering. But the passage also reminds us that we are to be honest when we stumble, to confess, and to seek forgiveness not just from God but from our fellow church family members too.
Further study
In verse 14 of chapter 2 Paul describes his own life as being like captives in a “triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.'“ In the blog below Justin Taylor attempts to shed some light on this somewhat confusing image.
