Thy Strong Word — 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:4: Is Paul a Flip-Flopper?

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What happens when your motives are put under a microscope and people assume the worst? That’s where Paul finds himself in this passage. Some in Corinth are questioning Paul’s honesty and even his faithfulness to Christ; was it all because he changed his travel plans? Paul responds with open-hearted honesty, explaining the real reason for his decisions, even sharing the tears and anguish behind them. Explore what Christian integrity and pastoral care look like when trust is fragile and feelings are raw.

The Rev. John Lukomski, co-host of Wrestling with the Basics on KFUO Radio, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study 2 Corinthians 1:12-2:4. Find Wrestling with the Basics at kfuo.org/wrestlingwiththebasics.

What does it mean to follow Christ in weakness? What does true ministry look like in the face of criticism, suffering, and spiritual warfare? And how can the Church hold fast to the Gospel when pressured by the world—and even by false teachers within?

On Thy Strong Word, we walk verse by verse through, arguably, the apostle Paul’s most personal, emotional, and paradoxical letter: 2 Corinthians. From forgiveness and reconciliation to generous giving and boasting only in the Lord, 2 Corinthians calls every believer to follow Christ boldly. This is the way of the cross, where God’s grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect in you.

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Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: [email protected].

Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation. Through the mission gifts of people like you, LHF translates, publishes, distributes and introduces books that are Bible-based, Christ-centered and Reformation-driven. Learn more at lhfmissions.org.

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2 Corinthians 1:12-2:4

Paul’s Change of Plans

¹² For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity^[a] and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. ¹³ For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand— ¹⁴ just as you did partially understand us—that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you.

¹⁵ Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. ¹⁶ I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. ¹⁷ Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? ¹⁸ As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. ¹⁹ For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. ²⁰ For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. ²¹ And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, ²² and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.^[b]

²³ But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. ²⁴ Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.

2 For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. ² For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? ³ And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. ⁴ For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

Footnotes

1. 2 Corinthians 1:12 Some manuscripts holiness
2. 2 Corinthians 1:22 Or down payment

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org