2 Corinthians 6

One of the mysteries of godliness is that there is a very real and important connection between Christ and the church. The work that we do in His Name, He is doing in us and through us. When we are persecuted, He is persecuted. When we are taken up in glory, it is somehow the case that He is taken up in glory. This should not surprise us since He is the head of the same entity of which we are said to be the body. We are truly united with Christ.

This has very important implications for our understanding of the ministry. We are certainly not on our own. We are working together with the ascended and reigning Messiah, Jesus Christ, as if He and His bride are already one. When the ministers of Christ make an appeal to people, they make His appeal in His Name. In this case, the Apostle Paul is making Christ’s appeal to the church in Corinth that the grace which the church has already experienced and known would be fruitful in their lives, and through them that this grace would overflow to others in Corinth and beyond.

It is fitting that the Apostle would cite Isaiah 49 in making his point. In Isaiah, the Servant of the Lord sometimes appears to be a singular figure, and other times might be thought to be a group of people. Isaiah spoke about the Messiah and about elect Israel. The message of Christ goes forward yielding a new life for the covenant people of God. Paul is saying that through the church now the Servant of the Lord is speaking and calling Jews and Gentiles into a bigger restored Israel. This was not unknown to Isaiah, who said in the same chapter concerning the Messiah and His church, “I will make you as a light for the nations.” Paul says here, again quoting Isaiah’s words about a “favorable time,” and a “day of salvation,” now is the favorable time, now is the day of salvation. As the ministry of the church moves out into the Gentile world, Christ goes forward and speaks a word of powerful grace that changes lives.

Someone can claim to speak for the Ruler of the universe, but that claim is not the same thing as proof. How do we know that Paul and the ministers of the Word are truly connected to Christ, and are ambassadors for Him? Is it possible that they are just liars? There is such a thing as a false prophet, but one way to discover an imposter is the road of suffering. As Paul and other true messengers of the Lord suffer in order to bring a Word of new life, life through the death of Christ, the truth of the gospel is demonstrated in the suffering of the Lord’s messengers.

Paul would rather commend himself through the record of his afflictions than through an account of his triumphs. Facing success and enjoying wealth and blessing for the word of Christ is not as good a proof of a true servant of the Lord as facing a cross. This is how the truth of Christ shined most brightly in our Master, through His suffering for our redemption. This is also the way He continues to shine, through our faithful suffering in gospel endeavor. This suffering must be united to true Christian virtue from the Holy Spirit, not as some hypocritical show, but in a genuine way. We cannot be overly moved by the fact that others may mistreat us. Whether we are slandered or praise, our message stays the same, since the message belongs to our King.

Purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, and genuine love, all produced by the Holy Spirit at work within us, make us a living display of the One who died, and who now lives. This is part of the ministry too. Truthful and plain speech is combined with the power of suffering love in a new life that has been granted by God. Through the life of the messenger, the message of a death that brings life is seen and known by others. This is not an impersonal work of the transfer of knowledge. The ministers are loved. Their suffering is felt by those who hear the Word of Christ from their lips. Somehow they keep on going when a hypocrite would have given up. They grow in their zeal through affliction. When they should be down for the count, they are yet found to be standing by a strength that must come from the Lord. This is the way that the life of faith, hope, and love, flowing forth from the death and resurrection of the Son of God, is best displayed to those with ears to hear. This is the truth of the ministry. Any takers?

Paul loves the church in Corinth, and he appeals to their love for him. Of course not everyone loves the Apostle Paul. In fact not everyone associating with the church in Corinth loves the Lord who is united to Paul and to the elect church of Jesus Christ. The temple of the Holy Spirit built up through this suffering ministry has become defiled with the presence of some who do not believe. Paul closes with a series of quotations from the Law and the Prophets that make the case that this union between the Lord and His people is not between God and all who claim to be His, but between God and all who truly are His.

To reject the apostolic messenger of death and resurrection truth is to reject the Man of death and resurrection. He is there with His servant who speaks and with all who believe. They are one. But those who bring suffering upon Him through the persecution of the beloved, through persistence in immorality disguised as liberty, through a life of lies, through some other pathway than the way of love, are not safely thought of as brothers and sisters in the Lord’s household. This requires discernment and courage, and will very likely involve more insult and suffering directed at God’s messenger and those who support him; but the One who died for His church is with us through this trial, and He is with His messenger who is willing to display the suffering love of Jesus, which is the way that leads to heavenly glory in the household of the Lord Almighty.