Peter Adam
In Part One, I show why we should look for the central ministry purpose in any book of the Bible, and then how to do it. In Part Two, I give an account of my attempt to do this in the difficult case of 2 Corinthians, and the results of this exercise.
1. Central ministry purpose
We are well-trained in thinking about the context of the whole Bible, of Biblical Theology, of Salvation History [Context 1]. We are well trained in researching the immediate context, the surrounding paragraph or chapter [Context 3].
We are not well-trained in working on the context of the book of the Bible which is an equally significant context of the passage or verses we are preaching on [Context 2].
- Bible context
- Book context
Yet the books of the Bible are the units of verbal revelation that God has caused to be written. They must be important! In Context 2, as well as in Contexts 3 and 1, ‘a text without a context is a pretext’. For Bible texts and passages gain their meaning from their contexts, and cannot be rightly understood apart from their contexts. A part of a book gains its meaning from the whole book in which it occurs.
We should always try to find the central ministry purpose of a book of the Bible. The central ministry purpose of the book is its ministry aim, its pastoral intention. It is the answer to the question that we could ask of the author of the book ‘In one sentence, why did you write this book?’ Or the answer to the question we could ask of God ‘Why did you cause this book to be written?’ It should include what the readers should do, and why they should do it. It regards the book as an extended speech-act, and seeks to clarify what the author wants to happen as the result of people reading the book. The central ministry purpose is more than the central theme, because it includes what the author wants the readers to do as a result of that central theme. It does not focus on topics, but on actions. It is not the language of analysis, but of action.
Here are some examples of ‘central ministry purpose’:
John
Johns’ gospel is an obvious example, because he tells us so plainly what is his central ministry purpose:
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name [20:30,31].
This quotation not only points to the central evangelistic and pastoral ministry purpose, but also alerts us to the significance of Jesus’ signs to achieve that purpose. So then each ‘sign’ will serve the central ministry purpose, and illuminate it in some way. When preaching through the book, our purpose then is to show how each sign contributes to the central ministry purpose.
Here are some more examples:
2 Chronicles
The LORD, the God of their ancestors, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against his people became so great that there was no remedy [36:15-17]
Proverbs
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Hear your father’s instruction, and do no reject your mother’s teaching [1:7,8].
Colossians
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving [2:6,7].
1 Timothy
I am writing these instructions to you so that, if I am delayed, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth [3:14-15].
Notice these features:
- The central ministry purpose should express both content and application, theology and implementation, the indicative and the imperative of the book of the Bible.
- It should be a quotation from the text of the book in its own words, so that people can easily identify it and connect it with the text of the Bible.
- It should reflect the truths of all the main sections of the book.
- It will help you to understand teach or preach each of the main sections of the book.
- It will bring make your sermon series ‘purpose-driven!’ [with the purpose coming out of the book itself].
- We should expect to find the central ministry purpose clearly expressed in the book, so that when we find it then it is immediately obvious that this is the case. [This does not mean that it is always easy to find it!]
- In some cases you have to combine words from several verses to get a clear central ministry purpose.
- It you are preaching a series on the book, it might be good to preach a sermon on the verses that are the central ministry purpose as the first sermon, to introduce the series.
We need to find the central ministry purpose of a book of the Bible if we want to preach through the book. We also need to find the central ministry purpose of a book if we want to preach any verse, paragraph or chapter of it.
It is possible that a book of the Bible may have more than one ministry purpose, but it is worth trying to find it, as this will help us find out what is in the book, and to see how each part of the book contributes to the whole.
We focus on the books of the Bible, because the Bible is made up of 66 units of verbal revelation, and because God respects the intentions of the human author of each book, so the book has a particular historical and theological setting, and a particular ministry outcome and purpose.
I do not think that absolutely everything in a book of the Bible will serve just one theme or purpose, but looking for the central ministry purpose will help us see the contours of the book, and how the main sections of the book serve a common end.
It is like seeing not only the bricks that are used to build a house, but also looking at the design and plan of the house. Each brick is important, but more important is the shape of the house. It is like noticing the song, not just the individual words and notes; or looking at the performance of a team, not just of individual players.
Let me now give the example of the letter of Jude, to show the benefits of this exercise.
Jude
This is a good example, because it is a short book, and because Jude explains clearly why he wrote the book.
I write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. [Jude 3].
The instruction to ‘contend for the faith’ includes these elements:
- It is addressed to‘you’ the people of the church [not just the leaders].
- ‘The faith’ has been entrusted to the people.
- It is the apostolic faith, ‘once for all entrusted.’
Once we have the central ministry purpose, we can then see more easily how each main section serves that central ministry purpose. For this example, even though it is a short book, I will use a number of ‘main sections’ to show how this process helps us understand the structure of the letter.
In Jude:
v. 4 explains the reason why the people have to contend.
vv. 5-13 encourage the contenders, because there have been enemies of God in every generation of God’s people, and yet God has always brought those enemies to judgement. These verses also show the similarities between the enemies of the past and the enemies of the present.
vv. 14-16 use the prophecy of Enoch to show that the presence of these enemies is not unexpected, but that they will certainly be judged by God., and also help to identify them.
vv. 17-19 make the same points from the prophecy of the apostles.
vv. 20-21 tell the people how to care for themselves as they counteract the evil.
vv. 22-23 tell them how to contend, not by winning arguments, but by winning people, and not in a spirit of judgement, but with mercy.
vv. 24-25 and vv. 1-2 reassure the people that they are loved by God, and will be protected and kept by God, even in the midst of the presence of the enemies of God among them.
Contend for the faith
This helps us see the connection between each section of the book and its central ministry purpose, how the central ministry purpose is illuminated by each section, and how each section contributes to the central ministry purpose. It also enables us to see the relationships between each of the sections of the book, and so be more aware of its overall dramatic shape.
Contend for the faith
2. What approaches will help to find the central ministry purpose of a book?
You need to use a variety of approaches, and if more than one apply, then you are more likely to have arrived at your target!
The best way to achieve this is to read through the book carefully, looking for:
- the pastoral, edificatory or evangelistic purpose,
- the main sections of meaning,
- the natural climax or statement of purpose,
- the key words, phrases and themes.
Your aim is to find the verses or paragraph of the book that are the natural climax or stated purpose of the book, that summarise the pastoral purpose of the book and all its main sections of meaning, using the key words, phrases or themes of the book, using of course the language of the book.
You need to use all four approaches, though they may vary in immediate usefulness. Ultimately, each should corroborate and support the others.
- What is the pastoral, edificatory or evangelistic purpose of the book?
If you ask the question ‘Why was this book written?’ of a book of the Bible, the answer given may be may in terms of a technical purpose, a substantial purpose, or a pastoral, edificatory or evangelistic purpose.
It is amazing how often commentaries limit themselves to merely technical answers to the question, ‘Why did Paul write this letter?’ ‘Why did Mark write his gospel?’ ‘Why did someone write Ecclesiastes?’ Answers like, ‘To tackle some problems’ or, ‘To answer some questions’ or ‘To correct some wrong ideas’ may be true, but they are grossly inadequate. The question, ‘Why did Paul write this letter’? may be answered technically, but this is insufficient for real understanding.
The question may also be answered substantially, and this is what some of the better commentaries do. They summarise the theology of the letter, a summary of its theological substance. But even this is not good enough, because it separates the theology of the letter from the pastoral, edificatory or evangelistic ministry purpose of the letter.
You need to find the pastoral intention of the letter, that is, its specific purposes in edifying, or building up the hearers, how it rebukes, corrects, or encourages, or how it evangelises its hearers. This answer will include the pastoral, edificatory or evangelistic goal or intention of the letter, and also the theological and motivational and rhetorical means used to achieve that purpose. This answer to the ‘Why?’ question is essential if we are to use the letter for the same purpose. We must focus on the ‘Why?’ question in terms of pastoral, edificatory or evangelistic purpose.
Sometimes we preachers fail to help people see the wood or forest, because there is too much focus on each individual tree, branch, or leaf. [This may happen because we use the intensive approach that works when used for the dense theology of the some of the epistles, but which is too detailed when applied to broad-brush books like narrative and apocalyptic, such as Genesis, Deuteronomy, Daniel, or Revelation.] When we do this, we give too much information, and do not people feel the inner logic or drama of the whole. To help them do this, we need to know the central ministry purpose or the big picture of the book, and also how each section of the book serves that purpose.
- What are the main sections of the book?
You need to know what are the main sections of the book so that you can make sure that what you think is the central ministry purpose of the book is found in each section, and so you can see how each section of the book contributes to that central ministry purpose.
It is more useful to think of main sections of meaning of a book, rather than chapters or verses. For chapters and verses are artificial technical categories, not categories of meaning or substance. When I read through a book of the Bible, I am always looking for the major sections [say 3-8 of them], the major building blocks of the book. These are the main sections of meaning, each one of which is crucial to the meaning of the whole book.
What I am trying to do with a book of the Bible is like what we do with a sentence. We do not talk about ‘word 1,’ then ‘word 2,’ then ‘word 3,’ then ‘word 4.’ Instead we look at the meaning of the whole sentence, and see how each section of the sentence serves the meaning of the whole. What we naturally do with a sentence, we should also do with a book.
We want to avoid that kind of exposition which works through a book of the Bible by merely technical steps: ‘And now we come to verse 5’, or, ‘And so we come to chapter 6.’ This approach misses the overall coherence of the book and loses its dramatic shape, logic, excitement, and so misses the big challenge of the book.
Finding the main sections of the book will help you see its overall shape, and therefore point us towards its central ministry purpose. Understanding the sections of the book help you to identify the edificatory purpose or central ministry purpose, and the central ministry purpose helps you see the pastoral and edificatory significance of each section.
- What are the key words or phrases or themes of the book?
Make a list of the key words, and of all their occurrences, and then look of the places in the text where most or all of them are present in a paragraph or few verses. Read through the book and list the important themes, including which section of the book in which they occur. Look for the presence of all the key words of the book in one verse or paragraph, the verses from the book that bring together most if not all of those important themes. So, for example:
- John 20: 30-31 includes the centrality of Christ, faith in Christ, and signs, all important themes.
- Colossians 2:6,7 includes the centrality of Christ, the need to stand firm, and the theme of thanksgiving, all important in Colossians.
Your aim here is to find the central focus ministry purpose of the book, its pastoral, edificatory or evangelistic purpose expressed in the language of the book.
- What is the statement of purpose or natural climax of the book?
It seems right to assume that the author of a Bible book has a purpose in writing the book, and that the author will express that purpose. Imagine yourself asking the author, ‘Why did you write this book?’ and then read the book looking for the answer. Look for language that indicates the central ministry purpose, or the natural climax of the book. For example:
-
- ‘I am writing this…’ [John and 1 Timothy above]
- ‘I write and appeal…’ [Jude 4].
- ‘The main point of what we are saying…’ [Hebrews 8:1].
- A kind of central ministry purpose paragraph [Colossians 2:6-7 in the context of 2:1-5].
This is normally language of purpose, which clarifies both the author’s purpose and what he wants his readers to do. The natural climax of the book might not be in the place we would naturally expect. In Jude, it is at the beginning; in John, at the end; and in 1 Timothy, Hebrews, and Colossians, in the middle.
In the natural climax or statement of purpose you expect to find the central focus or purpose of the book, its pastoral, edificatory or evangelistic purpose, and the main themes of the book.
In this section, Part One, I have tried to show the general principles and practice of finding the central ministry purpose of a book of the Bible. In Part Two, I will show how this applies to a difficult example, that of 2 Corinthians.
Finding the central ministry purpose
of a book of the Bible – 2 Corinthians
Part Two
In Part One, I showed the general principles and practice of finding the central ministry purpose of a book of the Bible. In Part Two, I show how this applies to a difficult example, that of 2 Corinthians.
There are two preliminary questions that need to be answered when tackling 2 Corinthians.
-
- Are 1 and 2 Corinthians one unit of meaning, and so mutually explanatory?
Traditionally these two letters have been regarded as one unit, in that it has been assumed that they both tackle the same issues, that they refer to each other, and that 2 Corinthians flows on naturally from 1 Corinthians.
Modern preachers are less attracted to this idea, because the references to Paul’s former letter in 2 Corinthians do not obviously refer to 1 Corinthians, and because the notorious sinner of 1 Corinthians does not seem to be the same person as the sinner of 2 Corinthians. There is also a contrast between the issues tackled in the two books. While there are some common themes, it seems obvious that they are separate documents, and that there must have been another letter, ‘the severe letter,’ which was written and received in the time between our two books. [There is no problem in thinking of letters written by Paul, but not included in the Bible. His letter to the Laodiceans, referred to in Colossians. 4:16, is an example of such a letter.]
-
- Is 2 Corinthians made up of two separate letters, namely chapters 1-9, and chapters 10-13?
It is possible that chapters 10-13 are part of the ‘severe letter.’ This would mean that chapter 10-13 were a separate letter that Paul wrote before chapters 1-9. It would also mean that it not be worthwhile to look for one central ministry purpose that covered both chapters 1-9 and chapters 10-13.[1] This is not an impossible idea, and would not reduce the significance of both parts of the book. It is assumed by Colin Kruse in his Tyndale Commentary.[2] It matters to our quest, because if it is true, then it would be foolish to try to find one central ministry purpose for both 1-9 and 10-13.[3]
My current assumption is that 2 Corinthians is in fact one letter. I think it is likely that it was written gradually, and that Paul may well have received more information during the period when the letter was written. This would explain the changes of tone throughout the letter, including the more severe tone of chs.10-13. However it is also true that Romans has different moods and styles, for example the change from the end of ch. 8 to the beginning of ch. 9, and the sudden use of extensive Old Testament quotations in chs 9-11.[4] My conclusion was that I should treat 2 Corinthians as one document, and try to find one central ministry purpose for the whole letter.
It was not an easy task. Here is how I tried to apply the 4 approaches outlined in Part One of this article.
- What is the pastoral, edificatory or evangelistic purpose of the book?
It was not easy to find the answer to this question. The main concern of the book seems to be that Paul wants the church at Corinth to accept his ministry, and trust his integrity as an apostle, to reject false teachers, and to offer support in the collection he is making, most likely for the church in Jerusalem [assuming it is the same collection that is referred to in 1 Corinthians 16:1-3 and Romans 15:31].
Here are some options:
- ‘Be reconciled to God…do not accept the grace of God in vain.’ [5:20,6:1]
- ‘Open wide your hearts…Make room in your hearts for us.’ [6:13, 7:2]
- ‘Examine yourselves to see if you are living in the faith.’ [13:5]
Of these the first looks more promising, but it none of them includes a reference to Christ, a major theme of the book.
That left me with 13:1-10, a complicated section, but which seemed to summarise the pastoral purpose of the book.
Christ] is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful in you. For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God. …For we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. This is what we pray for, that you may become perfect. So I write these things while I am away from you, so that when I come, I may not have to be severe in using the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down. [from 13:1-10].
We could use the first underlined section. It does cover the themes of Paul’s apostleship, the centrality of Christ, and the themes of weakness and strength. The second underlined section uses the language of ‘writing’, and does include ‘building up’ which is also found in 10:8 and 12:19. However this is not a common theme in the letter, and major themes are missing.
I decided to press on with the other approaches to see if they would provide more help.
- What are the main sections of the book?
The three main sections of the book are:
Chs. 1-7, where Paul defends his actions, his ministry, and his gospel.
Chs. 8,9, where Paul explains the collection for the poor in Jerusalem, and asks the Corinthians to contribute to it.
Chs. 10-13, where Paul defends himself and his style of ministry.
A more detailed analysis would be:
1:1-2:11, where Paul explains why he did not visit Corinth when he said he would do so, and defends his actions, his ministry and his gospel.
2:12-7:16, where Paul tells of his joy in receiving good news from Corinth, and continues to defend his actions, his ministry and his gospel.
Chs. 8,9 where Paul explains the collection for the poor in Jerusalem, and asks the Corinthians to contribute to it.
Chs. 10-13, where Paul defends himself and his style of ministry.
The main sections of the book are easy to discover, and are so clear that many assume that they are in fact different letters. This exercise showed me that I needed to find on that would fit the whole book.
- What are the key words or phrases or themes of the book?
This was a quite complicated and demanding task, not least because there are different collections of key words or phrases, and they cluster in different sections of the book. It took a long time to work through, however in the long term it proved to be most constructive.
Here is a summary of the key words or phrases, listed in the main sections of the book:
| Sections
of the book |
‘pressure’ or ‘tribulation’ | ‘suffering’
‘grief’ |
‘weak-ness’ | ‘power’
‘glory’ ‘glorify’ |
‘death’ ‘dying’ | ‘life’ ‘to live’ | ‘consolation’ or ‘encouragement’, used other than just ‘I urge you to…’ |
| 1:1-2:11 | 1:4,8 | 1:5,6,7 | 1:4,8,20 | 1:9 | 1:8 | 1:3,4,5,6,7 | |
| 2:4 | 2:1,2,3,
4,5,7 |
2:7 | |||||
| 2:12-7:16 | 2:16 | 2:16 | |||||
| 3:7,8,9,
10,11,18 |
3:7 | 3:6 | |||||
| 4:4,6,15,
17 |
4:10,11,
12 |
4:10,12 | |||||
| 5:4 | 5:20 | ||||||
| 6:4 | 6:10 | 6:7,8 | 6:9 | 6:1 | |||
| 7:4 | 7:8,9,10,11 | 7:10 | 7:4,7,13 | ||||
| Chs. 8,9 | 8:2,13 | 8:3,19,23 | |||||
| 9:7 | 9:8,13 | ||||||
| Chs. 10-13 | 10:10 | 10:4 | 10:1 | ||||
| 11:21,
29,30 |
11:23 | ||||||
| 12:5,
9,10 |
12:9,10,
12 |
||||||
| 13:3,4,9 | 13:3,4,9, 13 | 13:4 |
This was a bit discouraging. There were blocks of common words, such as consolation/ pressure and suffering in chapters 1, 2, and 7, and weakness/power in chs. 10-13. However words seem to clump together in different sections of the letter. This seems to confirm the idea that there are two separate letters. The helpful clue was found in discovering a common pattern of binary contrasts, such as: suffering/ consolation, weakness/power, death/life.
Another clue is that of Christ as the example and source of consolation/suffering, weakness/power, and death/life, and that also that these same binary contrasts were also evident the authentic ministry of Paul as Christ’s apostle. Here was an indication of a common general themes to both 1-9 and 10-13. That helped me to start looking for more binary contrasts.
So I made the following chart:
Christ as example and source of affliction, and comfort, weakness and power, and these characteristics in Paul and his ministry or expected of believers:
| Christ | Paul | |
| 1:5, [10] | Suffering, comfort, deliverance | Suffering, comfort, deliverance |
| 2:15,16 | Death and life | Death and life |
| 4:10,11 | Death and life | Death and life |
| 5:7-15 | Death and life | Death and life |
| 7:1-16 | Affliction and comfort | |
| 11 | Weakness | |
| 12:9 | Weakness and power | Weakness |
| 13:3.4 | Weakness and power | Weakness and power |
Next I made the following chart, which indicated the prevalence of a common theme, though expressed with a greater variety of opposites. This also alerted me to the poverty/riches theme in 8. This was an encouragement, as chapter 8 and 9 had been significantly empty until now:
Common theme of binary contrasts, such as suffering/consolation, death/life, and weakness/power.
| 1 | Suffering, affliction/comfort |
| 2 | Affliction, grief, death/life |
| 3 | Death/life |
| 4 | Death/life, |
| 5 | Consolation/life |
| 6 | Tribulation, death/consolation, power, self denial/holiness |
| 7 | Consolation/tribulation, grief, death |
| 8 | Poverty/riches |
| 9 | Power |
| 10 | Weakness/comfort, power |
| 11 | Weakness, death |
| 12 | Glory, power/weakness |
| 13 | Weakness, power, death/life |
It was encouraging to find that the binary opposites were sometimes used interchangeably, because this showed that they were interconnected in Paul’s mind.
All this took a long time, and was very demanding and frustrating, but ultimately very productive, especially as it helped me with the next approach.
- What is the statement of purpose or natural climax of the book?
I then realised that I could piece together three summary verses from the three main sections of the book, 1-7, 8-9, and 10-13, which all expressed a common theme of Christ as example and source of contrasting qualities, which should also be found in the life and ministry of the apostle, and of God’s people.
-
- ‘As the sufferings of Christ overflow into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows’ [1:5].
- ‘Though he was rich, yet he became poor, that through his poverty we might become rich’ [8:9].
- ‘He was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power, so we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we live to serve you’ [13:4].
However the problem with these three sentences is that they do not tell the Corinthians what to do.
So I decided to use the 3rd sentence above, with some additions from the context:
Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful in you. For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God. Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith [13:3-5].
This is not easy to understand, but then it is a demanding letter!
But perhaps it is still too long and complicated. So here is an abbreviated version:
Christ was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God… Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith [13:3-5].
I like this, because it includes the motivations of the sympathy and sufferings of Christ, and also his divine power. Both good reasons to examine ourselves! And it has an appropriate emphasis on how we live, as our response to Christ. It also points to Christ not only as the reason for living in this manner, but also as the source of this dying and living, weakness and strength. The self-examination Paul is calling for will include their approach to suffering, their attitude to Paul’s apostleship, their generosity, and their experience of God’s power in their weakness.
The useful spin-off of this exercise is that I think I have found the one coherent theme throughout the letter, expressed in different words for different purposes, but expressive of the same vital Christocentric reality that is the key both to authentic apostolic ministry and also to Christian living.
We can express it in these terms:
Christ came in both weakness and power: the weakness of his death, and the power of his resurrection.
Authentic apostolic ministry is also marked by both weakness and power [not one or the other, but both]. It is weak, as it is marked by suffering, affliction, and persecution, and by humble service of the people of God. However, it is powerful, and hence its transformative effects in people’s lives.
Authentic Christian living has the same theme, as we follow the example of Christ who though he was rich, yet became poor, that through his poverty we too might become rich. It is also found in our daily lives, as in this word we become weaker, as we wait for our renewed heavenly bodies at the return of Christ.
This essential unity of the book and of its message will mean that though it is in some ways a confusing book, the coherence of its message provides its fundamental theological and practical unity.
Four books on 2 Corinthians use this central ministry purpose in their titles, even if the first two of them also assert that 2 Corinthians comprises more than one letter of Paul.[5] Commentaries which point to these themes include Hughes[6], xxx-xxxvii; Martin[7], lxi-lxiii; Barrett[8], 42-50; Barnett[9], 40-46; and Harris[10], 114-125.
This truth will then inform my exposition of the whole, as the following list makes clear.
Jesus Christ, weakness and power, death and resurrection life:
- In apostolic ministry, sharing in the sufferings of Christ and also Christ comfort. [ch. 1]
- In apostolic ministry, the response of both unbelief and saving life. [ch. 2]
- In apostolic ministry, the gospel of righteousness and the transformative power of the Spirit [ch. 3]
- In apostolic ministry, great perseverance in the midst of great suffering. [ch. 4]
- In ministry and life, the weakness of our mortal bodies, and the certainly and strength of our future life with God. [chs. 4, 5]
- [For this is how we understand Christ – ch. 5]
- Integrity in ministry and life, whatever the personal cost. [ch. 6]
- Life-giving repentance. [ch.7]
- Imitating Christ in everyday life, by self-giving generosity. [chs. 8,9]
- God commends godly and faithful servants of the gospel of Christ, who trust in God’s power. [ch. 10]
- Apostolic ministry does not need to boast. [ch. 11]
- Paul has learnt that Christ’s strength is perfected in his weakness. [ch.12]
- Christ is strong in judgement on the arrogant, but merciful to the humble. [ch. 13].
This provided a good test of my theory.
Or more simply [but not following the order of the text]:
Jesus Christ, weakness and power, death and resurrection life:
- In ministry [chs. 1-4, 10-12].
- In daily repentance [chs. 6, 7, 8-9, 13].
- In daily experience of our weakness and God’s power [chs 4-5, 12].
- In generosity of heart and life, following Christ’s example [chs. 8,9].
Or diagramatically:
Jesus Christ,
weakness and power,
death and resurrection life,
leads to
apostolic ministry which follows the same pattern,
which results in
daily repentance, daily experience of weakness and power, and generosity of heart and life.[11]
2 Corinthians provides an attractive but challenging picture of the call to follow Christ in life and ministry, as we know both the sufferings and strength of our Saviour and Lord.
‘Christ was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith’ [13:3-5].
This exercise took the equivalent of one week’s work, and this consisted of reading 2 Corinthians, and using the four approached outlined above. My tools were the text of 2 Corinthians, and a concordance. I used commentaries at the next stage of my preparation. I used all that work to prepare a series of 19 sermons on 2 Corinthians to preach College Chapel over that year. Time spent in preparing the whole book saves time in the preparation of each sermon in that series, and is also a good long-term investment in growing in understanding and teaching the whole Bible.
Here is the booklet that I used for my series in the College Chapel, the kind of booklet I would provide in a church for a similar series.
‘Christ was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God.
Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith.’
Sermons on 2 Corinthians
Peter Adam
Ridley Chapel
2008
Introducing this sermon series:
1. This is ‘expository preaching,’ explaining and applying one of the books of the Bible, that is, one of God’s 66 units of verbal revelation. This is the best way to read and understand the Bible. It is possible to cover a book in 6 sermons, in 60 sermons, or more. A lot depends on the style of literature. 2 Corinthians is closely packed material. This series will cover about 2/3rds of a chapter in each sermon.
2. Central theme.
2 Corinthians is a book that covers a wide range of material, and with a variety of pastoral styles and moods, including encouragement, rebuke, information, travel plans, instructions about the collection of money, a lot of self-disclosure, and some self-satire. Some think that it is made up of more than one letter of Paul. However, there is a central theme of the book, which forms its unity:
‘Christ was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith.’ [13:3-5].
We find this theme throughout the book, expressed in a variety of words, and applied to a variety of contexts.
Jesus Christ, weakness and power, death and resurrection life:
- In apostolic ministry, sharing in the sufferings of Christ and also Christ comfort. [ch. 1]
- In apostolic ministry, the response of both unbelief and saving life. [ch. 2]
- In apostolic ministry, the gospel of righteousness and the transformative power of the Spirit [ch. 3]
- In apostolic ministry, great perseverance in the midst of great suffering. [ch. 4]
- The weakness of our mortal bodies, and the certainly and strength of our future life with God. [chs. 4, 5]
- For this is how we understand Christ, for by him God reconciled the world to himself, by Christ atoning death, and gave the apostles the ministry of reconciliation [ch. 5]
- Integrity in ministry and life, whatever the personal cost. [ch. 6]
- Life-giving repentance. [ch.7]
- Imitating Christ in everyday life, by self-giving generosity. [chs. 8,9]
- True apostles trust in God’s power. [ch. 10]
- Apostolic ministry does not need to boast. [ch. 11]
- Paul has learnt that Christ’s strength is perfected in his weakness. [ch.12]
- Christ is strong in judgement on the arrogant, but merciful to the humble. [ch. 13].
Or diagramatically:
‘Jesus Christ,
weakness and power,
death and resurrection life,
leads to
apostolic ministry which follows the same pattern,
which results in
daily repentance, daily experience of weakness and power,
and generosity of heart and life in the lives of believers.’
2 Corinthians provides an attractive but challenging picture of the call to follow Christ in life and ministry, as we know both the sufferings and strength of our Saviour and Lord.
3. Application of the text.
- 2 Corinthians is written to God’s people, not to individuals [see 1:1]. The ‘so what?’ question is best tackled as, ‘How are we as a Christian community standing fast in this aspect of God’s grace?’ [And, secondly, ‘How am I helping the Christian communities to which I belong to stand fast in God’s grace?’]
- Most of the letter is a defence of Paul’s apostolic ministry, though he sometimes extends his themes to apply to all believers. I think that the right way to apply this material is not to apply it directly to all believers, or to apply it directly to Christian ministers today, but to use it as Paul used it. Paul wrote the letter to appeal to the church at Corinth to ‘be reconciled to God’ by receiving his ministry and message, and not rejecting or despising it. There are many different ideas about the gospel and different models of ministry in our churches today. We should work to ensure that our churches accept Paul’s ongoing ministry to us through his letters. We will also find aspects of his ministry which should form our ministries today.
- An easy summary of the message of the book is ‘strength in weakness.’ However this does not mean acting strong when we feel weak, or finding inner strength under pressure, even though both of these often happen, and we make good use of them. The deep and powerful message is that of experiencing Christ’s weakness and chosen poverty, and also at the same time experiencing Christ’s power in enduring faith sustained by his grace. ‘Christ was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God.’ So we should examine ourselves to see whether we are living in this faith.
Sermon dates:
First Semester
| Tues 26th Feb | 1:1-11 | Suffering and consolation |
| Tues 4th March | 1:12-2:4 | God establishes us in Christ |
| Tues 11th March | 2:5-17 | God’s great triumph |
| Thurs 3rd April | 3:1-18 | Ministers of a new covenant |
| Thurs 10th April | 4:1-16 | We do not lose heart |
| Thurs 17th April | 4:16-5:10 | Faith not sight |
| Wed 7th May | 5:11-21 | Christ’s love moves us |
| Wed 14th May | 5:11-6:2 | Be reconciled to God! |
| Wed 21st May | 6:1-7:4 | Open your hearts |
| Wed 28th May | 7:5-16 | Godly grief, worldly grief |
| Second Semester | ||
| Tues 22nd July | 8:1-15 | Christ, rich and poor |
| Tues 29th July | 8:16-24 | God’s glory in the churches |
| Tues 5th Aug | 9:1-15 | God loves a cheerful giver |
| Tues 12th Aug | 10:1-18 | Commended by the Lord |
| Wed 24th Sep | 11:1-15 | False apostles, deceitful workers |
| Wed 1st Oct | 11:16-33 | Fools for Christ |
| Tues 21st Oct | 12:1-10 | Christ’s sufficient grace |
| Wed 22th Oct | 12:11-21 | To build you up |
| Thurs 23rd Oct | 13:1-14 | Christ crucified and alive |
- I will not deal with the idea that 2 Corinthians is made up of up to 5 separate letters from Paul. ↑
- Kruse, Colin, 2 Corinthians, TNTC, Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press/Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987. ↑
- I would not be troubled if it were discovered that our 2 Corinthians comprised two separate letters of Paul. We are used to composite books of the Bible, such as Psalms and Proverbs. ↑
- And Romans was written at this time, from Corinth. ↑
- Pfitzner, V. C., Strength in Weakness: A Commentary on 2 Corinthians, Adelaide: Lutheran Publishing House, 1992. Wan Sze-kar, Power in weakness: Conflict and rhetoric in Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, Harrisburg: Trinity Press, 2000. Clements, Roy, The Strength of Weakness, Fearn: Christian Focus Publications, 1994. Savage T.B., Power through Weakness: Principals of Christian Ministry in 2 Corinthians, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. ↑
- Hughes, Philip.E., The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, NICNT, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,1962 ↑
- Martin, Ralph, 2 Corinthians, Word Biblical Commentary 40, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1986. ↑
- Barrett, C. K., A Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, London: Adam & Charles Black, 1973 ↑
- Barnett, Paul, The Second Letter to the Corinthians, NICNT, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997 ↑
- Harris, Murray, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians: a Commentary on the Greek Text, NIGTC, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans/ Milton Keynes: Paternoster, 2005 ↑
- I then noticed that there is a link to some of the themes of 1 Corinthians, those focused on Christ crucified, and the weakness of apostolic ministry. ↑