2 Corinthians 1:12-14

Applebury's Comments

Paul's defense of His Conduct and Writing
Scripture

2 Corinthians 1:12-14. For our glorying is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward. 13 For we write no other things unto you, than what ye read or even acknowledge, and I hope ye will acknowledge unto the end: 14 as also ye did acknowledge us in part, that we are your glorying, even as ye also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.

Comments

For our glorying.Paul had just written of his deliverance from death which clearly suggested God's approval upon him as an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God. The basis for his view was two-fold: (1) his own sincere conduct before the Corinthians and (2) the trustworthy letters which he had written to them. He called upon his own conscience, that is, his sense of right and wrong, to testify for him in this matter. He was confident before God that what he had done and what he had written was right.

holiness and sincerity of God.His life of purity and sincerity had God's approval. He did not act upon the basis of fleshly wisdom. This may be a suggestion that those who were troubling the church at Corinth were acting from such a motive. He had reminded them in his first letter that he had not spoken to them in excellence of speech or of wisdom, that is, in the manner ordinarily used by men, for he depended upon that revelation that came directly to him through the Spirit of God. He made sure that his conduct was in harmony with God's revealed will, lest he himself should be disqualified after having preached the gospel to others. See 1 Corinthians 9:25-27. Paul insisted that his conduct was in harmony with the gracious privilege that God had given him, first of all to be a follower of Jesus Christ and then to be an apostle of Christ. Christ lived in him, for he was living the life of faith, and by so doing he did not make void the grace of God. See Galatians 2:20-21.

in the world and more abundantly to you-ward.Paul was always careful about his conduct. It was not one thing before the world and something else before the Corinthians. He was particularly careful to conduct himself in a Christ-like manner in their presence because he was aware of the fact that the false apostles were searching for an excuse to discredit him before them. Note his attitude toward the subject of money. See 2 Corinthians 8:21.

for we write no other things unto you.He was aware that some had been saying that his letters were bold but he was weak. See 2 Corinthians 10:10. He knew that some were puffed up rejecting the promise that he had made to visit them. See 1 Corinthians 4:18. He assured them that they could trust what they read in his letter. He meant exactly what he said. He wanted them to continue to understand this with reference to everything that he was writing. What they read and understood him to say in his letters corresponded exactly to what he was before God and in the world.

unto the end.Since this has to do with his writing it seems to suggest that he wanted the Corinthians to have a clear understanding of all he was writing. The phrase to the end is also found in 1 Corinthians 1:8. There, however, it is associated with the day of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, for Paul was concerned about their remaining steadfast in their faith until that day.

as also ye did acknowledge us in part.Some, perhaps the majority, had clearly understood what he had written about his intended visit, but some had not submitted to his authority. He told them plainly that he would not spare such when he came again. They could depend on it. See 2 Corinthians 13:2; 1 Corinthians 4:21. Would they have him come with a rod of chastisement, or in love and a spirit of gentleness? How eager he was that it should be the latter! It was his fond hope that in the day of the Lord Jesus Christ they might be able to. glory in the fact that they had accepted the message that had come to them through the apostle of Christ. Paul was also hoping that they would remain faithful so that he would be able to glory in their Christian conduct. They were to be the evidence of his faithful ministry as an apostle of Christ.