Lesson #29

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1 – 2 Corinthians

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Lesson #02

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RETURN TO THE SYLLABUS

2CORINTHIANS 6
Lesson #29
THE REQUIREMENTS OF THOSE WHO SERVE GOD

• Memory Verse: Rom 15:1
• All believers in Jesus Christ are in ministry in one form or another.
• Read 1Pet 2:9-10
• This passage tells us that all believers are New Testament priests for God.
• Paul has already told us that God has given believers the message and ministry of reconciliation. (2Cor 5:18-19)
• He already told us that believers are ambassadors for Christ. (2Cor 5:20)
• In 1Cor 12 Paul told us that each one has a gift for the purposes of edifying the body of Christ. That makes us ministers one to another.
• Because all believers are in the ministry, we must pay attention to what Paul tells us in 2Cor 6.

• Read 2Cor 6:1-10

• “…workers together…”

(1)

• Believers in Jesus Christ should work together to minister.
• The work of the ministry should be different than what we have experienced over the past hundred years. We have become accustomed to the pastor or the priest that does all the work of the ministry, while we just show up at church from time to time. While that has been the structural system of churches and denominations for many years, that was not the structure of the early church.
• What is wrong with the structure with which we are accustomed?
• One person, the pastor, has a very limited capacity and circle of outreach.
• In the natural realm we can say that a shepherd does not produce sheep. It is sheep that produce sheep. In the same way, part of the job of the pastor of a church is to train the sheep (the believers) to produce more sheep (more believers).
• The result of this old structure is an ingrown church with no outreach and no vision to reach the community.
• What was the structure of the early church from which churches have drifted away?
• Ministry in the early church was accomplished in teams.
• We see it in Paul’s ministry. Paul had a team of people he was training for ministry like young Timothy. Paul had a team that travelled with him that included Timothy, Titus, Luke, Mark, Barnabas, Apollos, Aquila and Priscilla, etc.
• As Paul travelled from one place to another, from time to time, one or more of the team would remain behind to minister and then later they rejoined Paul. There was a constant flux by the members of the team as they moved. Each member had his own ministry and yet all were members of the team that periodically came together and then moved to where a need existed.
• It is by means of ministry teams that the Apostle Paul accomplished to reach all the Mediterranean area into southern Europe.
• “We…beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.”

(1)

• How can a person receive the grace of God in vain?
• A person that has received Jesus Christ in his heart and is truly born again should produce fruit. If that person’s new life in Christ does not produce fruit by demonstrating a changed lifestyle or in sharing with others what God has done in his life, he has received God’s grace in vain.
• Now is the time of salvation: (2)
• For those people that have delayed making a commitment to receive Christ today is the day of salvation. For those that have received Christ, it is time to put that salvation to work in service to Christ.
• Those carnal Christians that have accepted Christ but are living like non-believers, cause offense to the ministry. (3) How?
• People around you that know you are a Christian see the hypocrisy in your life instead of the power of God to change a life. You have a bad testimony that causes non-believers to turn away from Christ and cause other believers to be ashamed.
• The qualifications of every believer that ministers the grace of God to others: (4-7)
• =1= Patience: The first qualification on the list is patience. Because it is first, that makes it the most important.
• This means that the Christian cannot minister to others if he does not show some patience for the failures of others, for the deep problems out of which some people must work themselves before they can grow, and for those that are slow to hear and understand.
• =2= Afflictions: The Christian must be willing to bear persecution to minister to others.
• There will always be criticism. There will always be those that reject the message. There may even be physical persecution as Paul endured.
• =3= Necessities: The Christian must be willing to give up some comfort and to suffer the loss of some needs being met in his life in order to be available to minister to people.
• =4= Distresses: The Christian must be willing to suffer for the sake of the gospel. Paul lists the kinds of distresses that he endured. (5)
• Stripes.
• This refers to beatings by a whip called the cat-o-nine tails that tore bits of flesh with each hit and caused red stripes across the body.
• Other sufferings that Paul lists are his imprisonments and ship wrecks, hard work, patiently watching and waiting, and fasting.
• =5= Pureness: The Christian must live a life of purity to minister to others.
• This refers to moral purity and spiritual purity. He must be open to letting the Holy Spirit convict him of sin so that his life will change and he will grow to be more like Christ.
• =6= Knowledge: To minister to others, the Christian should never be content with what he knows of life and the times we live in today. There is always more to learn.
• =7= Longsuffering: This word has the idea of patience that we already discussed as being the primary requirement. However, the word long suffering is more than patience. It is the capacity to suffer while you are patient over a long period of time. In other words, no matter how long it takes.
• =8= Kindness: The Christian should always minister in kindness without any ulterior motives.
• =9= By the Holy Spirit: All ministry must be done, initiated, strengthened, and supported by the power of the Holy Spirit, otherwise, the works that are done are simply “dead works”. (Heb 9:14)
• =10= Unfeigned love:
• The word, unfeigned means = not counterfeit. In other words, real agape love.
• =11= The word of truth: It is impossible to minister to others without the knowledge of the Word of God and the principles in the Bible.
• =12= By the power of God: The power of God in ministry comes when a believer spends time in prayer with God.
• =13= By the armor of righteousness: Effective ministry is accomplished when a believer’s life is righteous in all areas. By this, his whole life is a testimony.
• On the right hand = the offensive weapon of the sword of the Spirit.
• On the left hand = the defensive weapon of the shield of faith.
• The nine paradoxes that characterize ministry: (8-10)
• =1= By honor and dishonor:
• Some people may honor you for what you do while others may disagree and dishonor you. No matter which it is, the believer ministers to others to please God and not man.
• =2= By evil report and good report:
• Some people may say bad things against you or even lies, while others will say good things about what you do to serve God. No matter which it is, the believer that serves God should continue forward in his service to God.
• =3= As deceivers and yet true:
• Some people will say that the Christian’s message is deceptive. However, because it is the Word of God, it is true.
• =4= As unknown and yet well known:
• Some Christians minister to get their names known by all. This is a poor motive for serving God. The believer truly in service to God will not care whether he is well known or not.
• =5= As dying and behold we live:
• The Christian that is committed to serve God will give up his life by dying to himself and his own desires, to do the work of God. To do that means he fulfills his life and will reap a reward because God knows who he is.
• =6= Chastened and not killed:
• Paul was willing to endure much suffering and chastening to serve God, but he lived through it to continue on in service to God. Always going through persecution but not going under.
• =7= Sorrowful yet always rejoicing:
• Through all trials, tribulations, and sorrows in life, the believer has a deep joy in Jesus Christ. Therefore, the sorrows of life do not prevent him from serving God in joy.
• =8= As poor yet making many rich:
• Using his life to serve God, the believer gives it for the sake of the gospel, so that others will receive the true spiritual riches in the kingdom of God.
• =9= As having nothing yet possessing all things:
• Paul gave up everything to preach the gospel. He is our example. Yet, he possessed all the true spiritual wealth as a believer in Jesus Christ.
• Some of these characteristics of the believer that serves God pertain to the physical aspects of the ministry, some to the mental aspects of ministry and others to the spiritual aspects of ministry.
• Application:
• Through all of these characteristics that guide us in our service to God, we can reduce them to two principles:
• =1= Do not do anything that will distract people from finding salvation in Jesus Christ.
• =2= Do not do anything that will give people an opportunity to find fault in you, a servant of Jesus Christ.

• Read 2Cor 6:11-18
• Paul’s appeal for their love: (11-13)
• Paul tells the Corinthians that he loved them deeply.
• He spoke to them in love when he corrected their misbehavior in 1Corinthians.
• He appealed to them to return that love and not to limit it.
• Paul tells them that they have limited (straitened) the blessings in their lives because they are bound to worldliness but freedom in Christ enlarges their capacity to express love and blessings to others.
• Paul’s appeal for separation from the world: (14-18)

• “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers…”

(14)

• What does Paul mean by an unequal yoke?
• Because of Paul’s parental love for the people in Corinth, he tells them to be separate from the world with the picturesque phrase of an unequal yoke.
• The phrase is illustrated by a team of oxen yoked together. The team is trained together so that each ox pulls his own weight in cooperation with the other one.
• In this illustration Paul quotes from Deu 22:10 in which God said not to plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together. The ox was a ceremonially clean animal under the Law of Moses while the donkey was a ceremonially unclean animal.
• Paul tells why believers and non-believers have nothing in common on which to base a close relationship under a contract of commitment. Before we consider the reasons, let us make sure we understand what a contract of commitment is.
• What are some areas of life to which this command might apply?
• Marriage is a legal contract of commitment. In other words, two people of equal status are legally yoked together legally by a mutual commitment.
• A business relationship where there is a legal contract which binds people together as equal partners.
• The reasons why un unequal yoke between a believer and a non-believer makes life impossible for the committed believer:

• “…what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?”

(14)

• The believer in Jesus Christ has forgiveness of sins while the unbeliever does not.
• Therefore, the believer has the Holy Spirit living in him and telling him when he commits sin, but the non-believer is guided by his own desires.
• “…what communion hath light with darkness?”

(14)

• The believer lives in the light that the Holy Spirit gives him but the unbeliever lives in spiritual darkness with a different world view.
• “What concord hath Christ with Belial?…”

(15)

• Because the believer represents Christ and has a part in the kingdom of God, it will be extremely difficult for the believer to have agreement and share a trust with someone that represents Satan. Christ and Satan are enemies.
• The name, Belial, is another name for Satan, the father of lies. (Joh 8:44)
• “…what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?”

(16)

• The believer in Jesus Christ is a temple of God individually because the Holy Spirit lives inside of him.
• Collectively believers in Jesus Christ are the temple of God.
• Paul uses the same promise that God gave to Israel in Lev 26:11-12.

• “…as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

(16)

• The Israelites failed to live in this promise of God.
• Paul explains that God has extended the promise to Gentiles with the expectation that they will have learned from the Jews so that they will do a better job of being God’s ambassadors.
• Why do you think Paul gives the command not to be unequally yoked?
• Paul makes it clear to the Corinthian Christians that to overcome their carnal ways, they must make a separation from the world system. He makes it very clear in the form of a command in verse 17.
• In verse 18 Paul gives them the promise of a family relationship with God, the Father through Jesus Christ.
• Only the believer in Jesus Christ can call God his Father. The non-believer is not a member of God’s family, and God is not the Father of the non-believer, because the way to become a member of a family is to be born into it. The believer is born again into the family of God.
• Notice that God says in verse 18, “And will be a Father unto you…” The carnal Christian is a child of God and God is his Father. However, God cannot be a Father “unto” a rebellious son. God cannot treat him with love and blessings as He does with an obedient son.
• Summary and Application:
• In this chapter, we have learned what God expects of the believer. We are to consider seriously our testimony and our service to Christ.
• If we do not serve Christ in a positive way, we detract from the ministry.
• If our lives do not present a good testimony for Christ, they present a bad testimony that drives people away from Christ.
• To be sure that we understand what service to Christ requires, Paul has given us the characteristics of a believer serving Christ.
• To be sure that our lives present a good witness to the unbelieving world, Paul has commanded us to be separate from the world system.

HOMEWORK
2CORINTHIANS 7
This is a self-study. Please do not send homework answers to the teacher forcorrection.

• Application of 2Cor 6
• Which characteristics that Paul mentions in chapter 6 do you need to improve so as to become a better minister of the gospel to a lost world?
• Pray and ask God to help you incorporate these characteristics into your life.
• Preparation for 2Cor 7
• Read 2Cor 7:1-16
• To which promises does Paul refer in verse 1?
• What is the difference between filthiness of the flesh and filthiness of the spirit? (1)

Memory Verse: Psalms 119:76