“Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”— 2 Corinthians 13:5 Context & Key Themes Chapter 13 closes the letter. Paul announces that he is coming to Corinth…
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”— 2 Corinthians 12:9 Context & Key Themes Chapter 12 is the theological summit of the…
“And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.”— 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 Context & Key Themes Chapter 11 is where Paul’s defense turns into confrontation. For the first time…
“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”— 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 Context & Key Themes Chapter 10 marks the sharpest tonal shift in the…
“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”— 2 Corinthians 9:7 Context & Key Themes Chapter 9 completes the collection section begun in chapter 8. Paul has argued the theological ground (Christ’s voluntary poverty), held up the Macedonian example, and laid…
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”— 2 Corinthians 8:9 Context & Key Themes Chapters 8 and 9 form a unit distinct from the rest of the letter. Paul turns to…
“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”— 2 Corinthians 7:10 Context & Key Themes Chapter 7 closes the first major arc of the letter and resolves the narrative thread Paul had left open at the end of chapter 2. There, Paul had described his restlessness…
“For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’”— 2 Corinthians 6:16 Context & Key Themes Chapter 6 divides into two distinct movements that are nonetheless tightly linked. The…
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”— 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 Context & Key Themes Chapter 5 stands at the theological center of…
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”— 2 Corinthians 4:7 Context & Key Themes Chapter 4 takes the transformation Paul described at the end of chapter 3 — the unveiled believer being changed from glory to glory — and places…