New Testament Lesson # 35: 2 Corinthians
“Be ye reconciled to God”
Introduction
The second epistle to the Corinthians was written
possibly 6 months after the first and is characterized by joy that the
Corinthians received and accepted Paul’s first epistle and had made changes.
However, there appeared to be two factions—those who readily accepted Paul’s
call to repent and those who had been swayed by false teachers. Second
Corinthians addresses both sides. “Shortly after Paul wrote 1 Corinthians,
a riot developed in Ephesus in opposition to his teachings (see Acts
19:23–41), and he departed to Macedonia (see Acts 20:1; 2 Corinthians
2:13; 7:5).
It appears that while he was there he wrote 2 Corinthians, likely about
A.D. 57. In addition to 1 Corinthians, it is believed that Paul wrote
two other letters before writing 2 Corinthians. We know about these
letters because Paul mentioned them (see 1 Corinthians
5:9; 2 Corinthians
2:3–4, 9; 7:8–12).” [1]The
themes running through 2 Corinthians are Christ’s Atonement, sacrifice,
priesthood authority, tithes and offerings. In honor of Elder Richard G. Scott,
I have chosen the quotes this week from his talks.
Overcoming Tribulation 2 Corinthians
1:3–11; 4;
6:1–10;
11:21–33;
12:1–10.
“Father in Heaven has provided us
tools that help to build the fortifications between our vulnerabilities and our
faithfulness. Consider the following suggestions: Make covenants and receive
ordinances for yourself. Then steadily and consistently work to provide
ordinances in the temple for your own ancestors. Share the gospel with
nonmember or less-active family members or friends. Sharing these truths can
bring a renewed enthusiasm into your life. Serve faithfully in all Church
callings, especially home teaching and visiting teaching assignments. Don’t be
just a 15-minutes-a-month home or visiting teacher. Rather, reach out to each
individual member of the family. Get to know them personally. Be a real friend.
Through acts of kindness, show them how very much you care for each of them.
Most important, serve the members of your own family. Make the spiritual
development of your spouse and children a very high priority. Be attentive to
the things you can do to help each one. Give freely of your time and attention.”[2]
Question: We have heard this type of counsel many times. Have you
followed it in times of tribulation? Has it made a difference in your life?
Second Corinthians 4:14 teaches of the
Atonement: “How our Father in Heaven must have rejoiced that sacred day when
His totally obedient, completely worthy Son shattered the chains of death. What
eternal purpose would our Father’s plan of happiness have had except it be made
alive through the infinite and eternal Atonement of His gloriously obedient
Son? What eternal purpose would have come from the Creation of the earth, where
intelligences tabernacled with spirits would receive a body, if death were the
end of existence and none would be resurrected? What a glorious moment that
morning was for all who understood its significance.”[3]
Question: Do we understand the significance of the Atonement for us
personally? How do we gain a greater understanding?
Chapters 11 and 12 deal with the
tribulations that Paul faced. Particularly mentioned was the “thorn in the
flesh.” “Recognize that some challenges in life will not be resolved here on
earth. Paul pled thrice that ‘a thorn in the flesh’ be removed. The Lord simply
answered, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in
weakness’ [2 Corinthians 12:7–9].
He gave Paul strength to compensate so he could live a most meaningful life. He
wants you to learn how to be cured when that is His will and how to obtain
strength to live with your challenge when He intends it to be an instrument for
growth. In either case the Redeemer will support you.”[4]
Forgiving Others
2 Corinthians
2:5–11.
Paul appears to be talking here about
a particular member of the Church in Corinth who received some kind of
disciplinary action. Sometimes
finding forgiveness in our hearts is hard. Here is Elder Scott’s counsel:
“Many of you suffer needlessly from
carrying heavy burdens because you do not open your hearts to the healing power
of the Lord. May this message encourage you to feel the prompting of the Holy
Ghost to make those changes that will lead you to be free of oppressive
burdens. . . . You may be carrying a heavy burden of feeling injured by another
who has seriously offended you. Your response to that offense may have
distorted your understanding so that you feel justified in waiting for that
individual to ask forgiveness so that the pain can leave. The Savior dispelled
any such thought when He commanded: ‘Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought
to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses
standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin.
I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to
forgive all men’ (D&C 64:9–10).”[5]
Question: How can the Atonement help us find forgiveness for others?
Feeling
Godly Sorrow for Our Sins
2 Corinthians
7:8–10.
“To continue to suffer when there has
been proper repentance is not prompted by the Savior but the master of deceit,
whose goal is to bind and enslave you. Satan will press you to continue to
relive the details of past mistakes, knowing that such thoughts make
forgiveness seem unattainable. In this way Satan attempts to tie strings to the
mind and body so that he can manipulate you like a puppet. I testify that when
a bishop or stake president has confirmed that your repentance is sufficient,
know that your obedience has allowed the Atonement of Jesus Christ to satisfy
the demands of justice for the laws you have broken. Therefore you are now
free. Please believe it. To continually suffer the distressing effects of sin
after adequate repentance, while not intended, is to deny the efficacy of the
Savior’s Atonement in your behalf.”[6]
President Ezra Taft Benson taught:
“Godly sorrow is a gift of the Spirit. It is a deep realization that our
actions have offended our Father and our God. It is the sharp and keen
awareness that our behavior caused the Savior, He who knew no sin, even the
greatest of all, to endure agony and suffering. Our sins caused Him to bleed at
every pore. This very real mental and spiritual anguish is what the scriptures
refer to as having ‘a broken heart and a contrite spirit.’ (See 3 Ne.
9:20; Moro.
6:2; D&C
20:37; 59:8;
Ps. 34:18;
51:17; Isa. 57:15.)
Such a spirit is the absolute prerequisite for true repentance” (“A Mighty
Change of Heart,” Ensign, Oct.
1989, 4).
Question: Can we examine our regrets and determine what is godly sorrow
and what is worldly regret?
This passage might be a little
difficult to understand. I include the translation by J B Phillips in the hope
that it clarifies a little, “ This means that our knowledge of men
can no longer be based on their outward lives (indeed, even though we knew
Christ as a man we do not know him like that any longer). For if a man is in
Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone,
everything has become fresh and new. All this is God’s doing, for he has
reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ; and he has made us agents of the
reconciliation. God was in Christ personally reconciling the world to
himself—not counting their sins against them—and has commissioned us with the
message of reconciliation. We are now Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were
appealing direct to you through us. As his personal representatives we say, ‘Make
your peace with God.’ For God caused Christ, who himself knew nothing of sin,
actually to be sin for our sakes, so that in Christ we might be made good with
the goodness of God.”[7]
Here is Elder Scott on that “peace
with God”:
“There are many prophetic promises of
the blessings of daily studying the scriptures. I add my voice with
this promise: as you dedicate time every day, personally and with your family,
to the study of God’s word, peace will prevail in your life. That peace won’t
come from the outside world. It will come from within your home, from within
your family, from within your own heart. It will be a gift of the Spirit. It
will radiate out from you to influence others in the world around you. You will
be doing something very significant to add to the cumulative peace in the
world. I do not declare that your life will cease to have challenges. Remember
when Adam and Eve were in the garden, they were free from challenges, yet they
were unable to experience happiness, joy, and peace.7
Challenges are an important part of mortality. Through daily, consistent
scripture study, you will find peace in the turmoil around you and strength to
resist temptations. You will develop strong faith in the grace of God and know
that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ all will be made right according to
God’s timing.”[8]
Question: How can we thus make peace with God?
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