Thy Strong Word - 2 Corinthians 1:12-24: The Promises of God are YES in Christ.

Rev. Scott Adle, pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Collinsville, IL joins host Rev. Brady Finnern to study 2 Corinthians 1:12-24.

Paul reminds the Corinthian church that he desires to visit so that they would receive God’s grace and work together in God’s joy. Paul’s arrival would not be a normal visit, but a time where he would proclaim the truth that in Christ, everything is yes for salvation, and all we can say is Amen to this grace. “O Lord, bring Your joy upon us as You have established, anointed, sealed, and given Your Spirit into our hearts as a guarantee. In Christ, Amen.”

Thy Strong Word reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two LCMS 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.

Thy Strong Word is hosted by Rev. Brady Finnern, pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Sartell, MN, and graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation.

2 Corinthians 1:12-24

Paul’s Change of Plans

¹²For 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. ¹³For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand— ¹⁴just 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.

¹⁵Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. ¹⁶I 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. ¹⁷Was 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? ¹⁸As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. ¹⁹For 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. ²⁰For 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. ²¹And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, ²²and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.^[b]

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

Footnotes

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

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

Rev. Brady Finnern

Rev. Brady Finnern, host of Thy Strong Word. is an expert in all things Minnesota, including hiking the great mountains of the 5th flattest state in the Union and making his own maple syrup. Although chow mein, fried ice cream, and Peanut Persian donuts with maple frosting are at the top of his foodie list, his prized possessions include his gas station refillable fountain soda cup (which, he says, the savings will pay for college for his 4 kids). Pastor Finnern's Divine Call is as President of the LCMS Minnesota North District, and in addition he also enjoys traveling, coaching track, and movie nights with his wife and kids that may or may not include Shawshank Redemption or any of the Thriller movies. When he's not singing his favorite hymns or listening to his favorite metal music, you might find him working out or taking naps. (Probably naps.)