2 Corinthians 11:18 exposed Paul’s reason for glorying after the flesh. Paul’s critics had literally forced him to bring himself down to their level. These men had persuaded many faithful brethren against Paul and the divine message of revelation, 2 Corinthians 11:20.
Self-glorification is not ‘profitable,’ however, it was necessary for spiritual matters, 2 Corinthians 12:1. The word ‘gained’ means to confer a benefit, be useful.
Generally, self-glorification will not profit or benefit anything but shame the individual; however, in this particular case, it was necessary that the minds of the Corinthians would be brought back to Paul and divine revelation.
This is not a situational ethic but rather an example of boasting about the right things, i.e., spiritual things. I may boast that God is the creator of this universe. I may boast of Christ’s glorious sacrifice. I may boast of my salvation. I am a fool if I boast in matters that have nothing to do with God.
Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ and worthy of a receptive audience because he delivered divine instructions. Paul said that he would ‘go on to visions,’ 2 Corinthians 12:1. ‘Visions’ are supernatural visages such as the one that Peter saw, Acts 10:10-19.
‘Revelations’, 2 Corinthians 12:1, are disclosures of divine information. Those who called Paul names could not boast of the things that Paul is about to because they are not apostles and neither had they been authorised by the Lord to speak the lies they speak.
The man that Paul knew who was ‘in Christ’ was himself, 2 Corinthians 12:2 / 2 Corinthians 12:6-7. The event transpired 14 years ago. Paul was in a ‘trance’ much like Peter, Acts 10:10, in that he was not sure as to whether he was transported bodily or by spirit, 2 Corinthians 12:2-3. The place he was transported to was the ‘third heaven,’ 2 Corinthians 12:2. The word ‘heaven’ simply means ‘the sky’. The Jews believed in three heavens.
1. They saw the area of the clouds in the sky, Genesis 2:1 / Genesis 2:19.
2. They saw the area in which the sun, moon, and stars hung as the second heaven, Deuteronomy 18:3 / Matthew 24:29.
3. The third heaven was known as the dwelling place of God, Matthew 5:12-48.
Paul is saying that he was transported to the dwelling place of God, heaven or paradise, Luke 16:22. The word ‘paradise’, 2 Corinthians 12:2, is used in connection with ‘the third heaven,’ 2 Corinthians 12:4. The word ‘Paradise’ is used in Revelation 2:7. Paradise is the heavenly realm of God.
The thief on the cross was going to ‘paradise’, and there’s no need to speculate where Jesus was going when He died, Luke 23:42. Did Jesus go to Hades for three days? 1 Peter 3:19-20. No. Jesus went to paradise, Luke 23:43, the third heaven, the dwelling place of heaven.
While in paradise, Paul heard things that were not lawful to utter, 2 Corinthians 12:4. There are things that God does not intend for His people to know and those things which He does want us to know, Deuteronomy 29:29. This reminds us of the things the apostle John heard in Revelation and was not permitted to speak the utterances of the seven thunders, Revelation 10:1-4.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Paul never revealed in Scripture what God told him. However, it had the effect of strengthening his faith and hope that the Lord would abundantly reward his sufferings. This experience evidently took place when Paul was ministering in and around Tarsus. He did so about A.D. 42, 14 years before A.D. 56, the most probable date for the composition of 2 Corinthians.’
I find it amazing today when people have ‘experiences’, they often can’t wait to tell people what they ‘experienced’, but Paul says he wasn’t permitted to do so.
Paul’s glorying occurred only in that the Lord brought him into the heavens to see paradise, the third heaven, and hear wonderful things unlawful to utter. These were facts.
Paul would not, however, glory in his self-accomplishments in life, 2 Corinthians 12:5. Such indeed is foolishness, 2 Corinthians 12:6. Paul’s glorying would fall into one category, i.e., ‘weaknesses’, which he will explain in 2 Corinthians 12:9.
If Paul had boasted in himself, some may have thought more highly of him than they should. Such a statement ought to cause each of us to be cautious when talking about ourselves, Romans 12:3. If Paul was concerned about people thinking too highly of him because of his self-bragging, shouldn’t we be too?
Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ endowed with spiritual gifts, visions, and revelations. Paul saw and heard things of eternity in the third heaven, experienced miraculous powers, and received direct revelation from God, 2 Corinthians 12:6. Such events drove him to pursue a life of Godliness and convince others to do so.
The tendency to think too highly of oneself was a temptation for all, and especially the apostles. To eliminate this temptation in Paul’s life, the Lord allowed Satan to afflict Paul’s flesh, i.e., a thorn in the flesh, 2 Corinthians 12:7 / Job 2:1-10 / Luke 13:16.
We are not told what the ‘thorn in the flesh’ was. It is very well possible that the ‘thorn in the flesh’ was an eye malady of some sort, Galatians 4:13-15. Whatever the ‘thorn in the flesh’ was, Paul, like Jacob, who had his hip dislocated, Genesis 32:25, had a permanent reminder of whom they should rely on.
God heard Paul’s prayer all three times, 2 Corinthians 12:8. God heard the prayer of Jesus while in the Garden of Gethsemane, Matthew 26:39-42. It was not God’s will that the cup of death should pass from Jesus, and neither was it God’s will that Paul’s thorn in the flesh should be removed.
God knows all our needs, Matthew 6:32 / Romans 8:26-28. He is able to strengthen us through our trials so that we may endure them, Philippians 4:12-13.
God’s grace, His favour of salvation, is sufficient to strengthen both Paul and all of us today, 2 Corinthians 12:9. How is God’s ‘power made perfect in weakness’? Paul’s weakness is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12:5, and here was his ‘thorn in the flesh.’
When we call out to the Lord in anguish due to our common affliction, the Lord gives us strength through His word of grace that we might endure. No matter what the affliction suffered, the Christian sees heaven with spiritual eyes and so endures.
Having hope in a heavenly home, Paul was able to ‘boast in his weakness’, 2 Corinthians 12:9, and so can we. It is in our times of weakness that we realise our humble state before God. We are not all-sufficient and cannot make it through this life without God. Weaknesses help us to realise this, and thereby we grow closer to Christ.
Without the context, 2 Corinthians 12:10 would seem very strange, like James 1:2. Paul’s point was that if insults, troubles, persecutions and so forth strengthen him by forcing a dependency of a man with Christ, then he stated, ‘I am strong’ in such events, 2 Corinthians 12:10.
Man finds himself most dependent upon Christ during distressful days in life, and thereby he is forced to magnify his faith in Christ’s promises, Acts 2:38 / 1 John 2:25.
Wiersbe, in his commentary, says the following.
‘What is grace? It is God’s provision for our every need when we need it.’
Paul’s foolishness was in having to stoop to the level of his critics due to the Corinthians’ believing and being swayed by their method of self-glorification, 2 Corinthians 11:1 / 2 Corinthians 11:16.
Paul was not of the practice of self-boasting; however, due to the Corinthians being swayed toward his critics, he had no choice but to do so, 2 Corinthians 12:11.
Note, however, that Paul’s boasting was in spiritual matters so that all would know that he is qualified and authorised to speak on behalf of Christ, 2 Corinthians 11:20. Paul did everything that the other apostles of the Lord did.
He seems to be asking, ‘How are some among you swayed from the truth I delivered to you by these critics?’ Paul considered himself ‘a fool’, 2 Corinthians 12:11, in comparison to others; however, the fact of the matter was that he was a hard worker and one who was endued with the same powers and knowledge as the other apostles, 1 Corinthians 15:8-9.
One must appreciate Paul’s words of boasting, which are topped with the phrase, ‘I am nothing,’ 2 Corinthians 12:11. Paul had been humbled by God with a thorn in the flesh. Though he did grand things by the authority of Christ, he was nonetheless nothing in comparison to God.
The ‘marks of a true apostle’, 2 Corinthians 12:12, occurred at Corinth so that all should not doubt in their minds as to whether or not Paul was an apostle that should be trusted in doctrine delivered. Though he suffered much, he endured and did the work of an apostle among them.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The ‘signs of an apostle’ refer generally to the supernatural gifts and activities that marked the true apostles. This reference seems to indicate that Paul was referring to the Twelve rather than to the professed apostles when he used the term ‘super-apostles’, 2 Corinthians 12:11 / 2 Corinthians 11:5.’
The three terms, ‘signs, wonders, and miracles’, 2 Corinthians 12:12, occur together in Acts 2:22.
1. The word ‘signs’, in Greek, is ‘semeion’, and it means reasoning or proof.
This aspect of miraculous works proved to the world the validity of the apostle’s message, Mark 16:20.
2. The word ‘wonders’ in Greek is ‘teras’, and it means marvel.
The miracles were proof of the reality of God and his message. These miracles produced amazement in those who witnessed them. Again, such amazement indicated the realness of the event and, thereby, the validity of the message preached.
3. The word ‘miracles’, in Greek, is ‘dunamis’, and it means might, strength, ability to do a thing beyond one’s strength.
There was great power displayed in the fact that the apostles did things that they could not otherwise do without God. Point of reason, if the Corinthians received the same teaching and had the same spiritual gifts, why would some believe that they were inferior to other churches that had the same? 2 Corinthians 12:13.
There seems to be a sense of insecurity portrayed by Paul’s critics toward the brethren in Corinth. Since Paul was not one of the original apostles who worked directly with Jesus, some questioned the validity of his work.
The only difference between the other churches and the Corinthian church was that the other churches supported the apostles, and Paul; however, Corinth did not support Paul.
If this matter would cause the Corinthians to lose their faith, Paul proclaimed, ‘Forgive me this wrong,’ 2 Corinthians 12:13. Whether this statement is sarcastic is difficult to say. The more important point is that Paul truly loved and cared for the Corinthians’ souls and did not want such a thing to plague their souls.
Paul first visited Corinth in 51 AD, Acts 18:1-17. Aside from this first visit, we have no other record of a visit, 2 Corinthians 12:14. Clearly, Paul mentions a second visit, 2 Corinthians 13:1-2.
Again, Paul stated that he would not be ‘I will not be a burden to you, because I do not want your possessions, but you,’ 2 Corinthians 12:14. Paul was more interested in the Corinthians’ souls than he was in their money, 2 Corinthians 4:15. Though he had every right to take wages from them, he would continue to choose not to do so, 2 Corinthians 11:12.
As a parent would take care of their children, even so, Paul viewed himself as a parent toward the Corinthians in the faith, 2 Corinthians 12:14 / 1 Corinthians 4:14ff / 2 Corinthians 6:13. Paul would not take wages from his children but rather provide for them the bread of life.
Paul considered it a light thing to expend energy, time, and necessities of life so that the Corinthian brethren would learn more about how to be pleasing to the Lord. Why should the Corinthians be moved to doubt Paul’s love for them? 2 Corinthians 12:15. When the faithful read these words, they would, with zeal, reject Paul’s critics.
The Lord’s church today needs more men who are willing to spend and be spent for the souls of brethren and the world. It takes time to do the work of the Lord. People are generally selfish with their time.
They will spend most of their time doing what pleases them most. Juggling family and work time does not leave much time for God if we are not careful. Let us spend and be spent for the brethren.
2 Corinthians 12:16 tells us that Paul did not burden the brethren by asking wages from them, even though he had the right. Apparently, Paul’s critics were charging him with craft and guile. When Paul was working among the Corinthians, he did not take wages.
Now he planned to come again to them and collect a huge bounty to take back to Jerusalem for the needy saints. Some may have believed that the whole ordeal was a sham on Paul’s part to take the collected funds for himself.
Paul asked a simple question to those who would believe the false words of his critics, 2 Corinthians 12:17. Paul did not send Titus and the other brother to Corinth to rob them of money, and they knew this, 2 Corinthians 12:18.
Not one man that Paul sent to the Corinthians received wages from them. They all walked in the same steps in that they preached the same message of salvation from sins.
Constable, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Paul said what he did, especially in 2 Corinthians 10:1 to 2 Corinthians 12:18, primarily to build up the Corinthian believers in their faith. His self-defence was only a means to that end. It was for that worthy goal that he was willing to speak ‘foolishly.’ He recognised that he, as a man in Christ, was ultimately responsible to God, not to his critics, 2 Corinthians 2:17 / 2 Corinthians 5:11.’
The words ‘defend ourselves’ 2 Corinthians 12:19, in Greek is ‘apologeomai’, and it means to speak in defence, to allege in one’s defence against a charge. Apparently, Paul was correcting a false view by the Corinthians. He was not on trial by them, and the defence he was giving was not to them but on behalf of them.
The Corinthians clearly believed the things Paul’s critics had said and were now sitting back waiting to hear Paul’s defence regarding the matter. Paul was virtually saying, ‘I am not on trial by you Corinthians. You should know my love for you and the truth and thereby reject these critics.’
All that Paul spoke was by the authority of Jesus Christ and was for the purpose of building the brethren up in the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Three times now Paul has said that all he does is for their benefit, not his, 2 Corinthians 4:15 / 2 Corinthians 12:14 / 2 Corinthians 12:19.
Remember that Paul’s fear was mentioned in 2 Corinthians 11:3, as well. This fear was that the Corinthians would be deluded by the craft of Satan’s devices. Paul now proclaimed his fears once again toward the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 12:20.
He was fearful that these critics that were claiming that Paul was inconsistent, 2 Corinthians 1:17, preaching his own ideas, 2 Corinthians 3:1 / 2 Corinthians 5:12, out of his mind, 2 Corinthians 5:13, one who was a coward, 2 Corinthians 10:1 / 2 Corinthians 10:10.
Unlearned, 2 Corinthians 11:15, not an apostle, 2 Corinthians 12:11 / 2 Corinthians 13:3, and that he and Titus were participating in a scam of the brethren, 2 Corinthians 12:17-18, would actually make strides in the minds of some brethren, that some would actually believe their reports.
If this were to be the case, Paul would have to come unto them with the rod of correction mentioned in 1 Corinthians 4:21. Paul would not sit back idly while these divisive false teachers tore the church apart, 2 Corinthians 13:2 / 2 Corinthians 13:10.
Paul was hopeful that he would not find the following.
1. The word ‘discord’, 2 Corinthians 12:20, in Greek is ‘eris’, and it means debate or contention.
Strife is a symptom of a lack of Biblical unity.
2. The word ‘jealousy’, 2 Corinthians 12:20, means envious of others.
Jealousy is a symptom of spiritual immaturity.
3. The words ‘fits of rage’, 2 Corinthians 12:20, mean great and sinful anger.
Wrath is a symptom of a lack of self-control.
4. The words ‘selfish ambition’, 2 Corinthians 12:20, in Greek is ‘eritheia’, and it means to serve for hire, to serve a party, or a feud.
A faction is a symptom of spiritual discontentment. It generally forms when a group of people do not like the current leadership and decides to take matters into their own hands.
These do not share the same views as the leaders of a congregation. Truth ought to prevail in the minds of every child of God; however, some brethren want to do things as they so desire and cast God’s word away.
5. The word ‘slander’, 2 Corinthians 12:20, in Greek is ‘katalalia’, and it means evil report.
False reports are given that another may be brought down from a post.
6. The word ‘gossip’, 2 Corinthians 12:20, in Greek is ‘psithurismos’, and it means a false statement maliciously made to injure someone.
7. The word ‘arrogance’, 2 Corinthians 12:20, in Greek is ‘phusiosis’, and it means being puffed up, inflation.
Here is one who thinks too highly of self, Romans 12:3.
8. The word ‘disorder’, 2 Corinthians 12:20, in Greek is ‘akatastasia’, and it means unstable, unsettled.
The above symptoms indicate an overall dissatisfaction with God’s laws and His ways. Some want everything to go their way, and if it doesn’t, they gossip, get angry, and cause strife because they are jealous, filled with wrath and think too highly of themselves.
Martin, in his commentary, says the following.
‘It is an understatement to say that Paul was afraid of what he might find at Corinth upon his third visit. This list of sins reflects a church that was in turmoil. Little wonder that he was coming to correct the situation.’
Here, Paul’s critics are defined. Paul fears that they would make inroads into the minds of those who would otherwise be faithful Christians, 2 Corinthians 12:21. To be ‘humbled’, that is ‘tapeinoo’ in Greek, by God is to be brought down, dejected.
If Paul found the Corinthians in a state of divisive behaviour, it would utterly deject him and cause him to mourn greatly, 2 Corinthians 12:21. The cause of his mourning would be their divisive spirit combined with a hard heart that refused to repent of their ‘impurity, sexual sin and debauchery,’ 2 Corinthians 12:21.
Boasting of oneself is not generally practised by New Testament Christians, Romans 12:3. This fact being established, Paul found himself doing the very thing he condemned here in 2 Corinthians 11-12.
There is, however, one area that the Christian is permitted and actually encouraged to boast about. That one area is our salvation, 2 Corinthians 1:12. Our boasting is in truth that saves!
What caused Paul to do the boasting in 2 Corinthians 11-12? Paul had boasted of all the things he had gone through in this life for the sake of the Gospel and men’s souls.
The Corinthians ‘forced’ Paul to boast due to being persuaded by Paul’s critics, 2 Corinthians 12:11 / 2 Corinthians 11:20 / 2 Corinthians 12:17 / 2 Corinthians 12:19.
Something had to be done. Apparently, Titus had brought the report back that the brethren were doing well, however, there was a divisive element in the church that was growing day by day due to their teachings, i.e., that Paul was inconsistent, preaching his own ideas, not an apostle, a coward, idiot, and one who was devising plans to scam the brethren at Corinth.
Paul answered every one of these accusations and then expressed his fear for the Corinthians as he did in 2 Corinthians 11:3. Conclusively, Paul feared that more and more brethren would get caught up in the divisive party spirit and fall away from the living God, 2 Corinthians 12:20.
To keep this from happening, the apostle Paul boasted of his divine authority and past perceived weaknesses, which were actually intended to cause him to rejoice in God.
Paul really gets after the Corinthians in these final chapters. Paul was making his way to Corinth for the third Time, 2 Corinthians 12:14. Paul expresses his deep love and willingness to be physically and emotionally spent for their sakes, 2 Corinthians 12:15.
Paul asks the fickle-minded Corinthian Christians if there was ever a time that he had taken advantage of them by asking for monetary support, 2 Corinthians 12:17. The idea that he was trying to scam the brotherhood by asking them to lay by in-store on the first day of the week was ridiculously false, 1 Corinthians 16:1-4.
Apparently, not all of Titus’ report was comforting, 2 Corinthians 7:6-7. Though many had obviously repented or were working on repentance, the divisiveness of Corinth was causing some to backslide into their ‘impurity, sexual sin and debauchery,’ 2 Corinthians 12:21.
Paul did not want to arrive in Corinth and mourn over the brethren’s sin. He wanted to see them perfected in Christ with the funds ready to send to Jerusalem.