Introduction
If we were to
be completely honest, we’d have to admit that there’s at least one thing we
really don’t like about ourselves—too short, too tall, too fat, too skinny, too
old, too young, bad hair, bad complexion, big nose, big ears, not enough hair,
too much hair, too loud, too quiet. You name it, we probably all have something
we don’t like about ourselves and I’m no exception. I don’t really worry about
my appearance, I mean I don’t like being overweight and out of shape but that
has more to do with how I feel and my overall health than my appearance. I
don’t really sweat how I look, much to the dismay of my wife and daughters. For
example, and I’m going to embarrass my family with this confession, I’ve been
sitting at my desk since yesterday afternoon when I put on my pajamas, tucked
my pant bottoms into my socks, which is completely normal for me, and parked
myself at my desk for some serious research and writing. I did go to bed for a
few hours in there but I was perfectly attired to do so and I’ll be perfectly
attired to do so tonight as well—30+ hours later and still in my pajamas. My
wife and kids are shaking their heads in embarrassment; I assume you’re still
laughing at the idea of a grown man with his pajama pants tucked into his socks
and you know what, I don’t really care. But there is something about me that I
can’t stand—sin! I absolutely hate sin in my life but particularly repeated
sin. For years I have battled with a variety of sins that I just can’t seem to
master completely. They’re no more egregious than any other sins but sins
nonetheless. They grieve me not because I want to be perfect (although that
would be nice), they grieve me because I know they grieve God. I know that
Jesus died for my sins—past, present and future—and that brings me both
tremendous comfort and unspeakable grief. I am desperately in love with Jesus
and I hate it when my sin hurts him. I have prayed simple prayers and complex
prayers; I’ve begged; I’ve pleaded; I’ve fasted and I’ve wept over my repeated
sins but I inevitably seem to repeat them. In the end, I am left with no other
choice but to confess my sins to God and move on with the hope that it might be
the last time and he would give me the strength not to sin (at least in the
same way) again. Unfortunately, God hasn’t granted me the strength to combat
all the sins in my life even if He has made me more sensitive to the fact that
they exist, so I thankfully rely on God’s mercy and grace for the forgiveness
of my sins. And the worse my sins, the more powerful is God’s grace. Don’t get
me wrong, God is not glorified by my sin. God is glorified when I confess that
I must rely on his mercy and forgiveness to deal with my sin. God’s strength to
overcome sin is on display in my weakness to do anything about my own sin. The
Apostle Paul makes this clear in our subject text for this week’s lesson.
Paul’s message is simple: there is tremendous Strength In Weakness!
Subject Text
2 Corinthians 12:7-10
7To
keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great
revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to
torment me. 8Three
times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s
sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in
difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Context
There were many false teachers in
Corinth that infiltrated the Church there. One of Paul’s objectives in this
letter to the Corinthians is to defend his authority as an apostle. The letter
was written between 20 and 25 years after Jesus’ ascension back to heaven. In
the course of validating his authority as an apostle and one qualified to lead
them, Paul goes over a litany of hardships and abuses he endured in the name of
Christ: beatings; prison; shipwrecks; exposure to extreme elements; sleep
deprivation; hunger; danger from Gentiles, Jews, bandits, and fellow
countrymen. Because of his faithfulness and obedience, God entrusted him with divine
visions and revelations. Paul was painting a picture of himself as supremely
qualified to lead them. However, Paul quickly points out that in order to keep
him from becoming “conceited,” because God entrusted him with “great
revelations,” Paul suffered from what he called a “thorn in the flesh” as
identified in our subject text. However, these verses are filled with confusing
irony. Paul claims that when he is weak then he is strong. How can the weak
simultaneously be strong? “Irony is written into the basic facts of redemption:
God promised a childless man who was ‘as good as dead’ (Heb. 11:12) that he
would be father of a nation; he chose not a great and powerful nation to serve
his purposes, but a small one which was despised and often at the mercy of its powerful
neighbours; the climax of the world’s rejection of God—the cross—was in fact
the means he used to redeem the world (1 Cor. 2:6-8); hence the Christian knows
that he is strongest when most aware of his weakness.”[1]
Text Analysis
V. 7 is one
of those verses that delights academics because it provides so many varied and
plausible explanations. Most recent scholars are convinced that Paul’s
reference to “thorn in my flesh” as some kind of physical ailment. That is
certainly plausible given the basic reading of the text. Some believe Paul
suffered from some kind of eye problems based on the text in Paul’s letter to
the Galatians (see Gal 4:15; 6:11). Some also argue that Paul is referring to
some sort of emotional malady like depression, hysteria or the struggle with
the inability to reach his own people. This too is quite plausible since we
know that Paul can be deeply emotional (cf. Concern: 2 Cor 11:28-29;
Frustration: Gal 4:11; Sorrow: Rom 9:2-3; Love: 1 Thes 2:8; Joy: 2 Cor 1:14;
Pride: 2 Thes 1:4; Thankfulness: 1 Cor 1:4). Early theologians interpreted
Paul’s thorn as perhaps someone who was causing trouble in the Church or more
specifically causing him trouble personally. This is also quite plausible and
requires serious consideration especially in light of the overall context of
these verses. Paul is defending his credibility as an apostle and authority
over the Church in Corinth. It seems clear that someone has raised questions
about Paul’s credentials. “An attractive option is to identify the [gk. skolops = thorn] with troublesome
Jews. A troublesome person today is referred to as a ‘pain in the neck.’ In
antiquity such a person was called a ‘barb in the eye’ or a ‘thorn in the side’
(Num 33:55; Josh 23:13; Judg 2:3; Ezek 28:24). So Paul could be speaking
metaphorically of the Jews who constantly dogged his steps and hindered his
ministry.”[2]
Of the 145 times the word “flesh” occurs in the New Testament, Paul uses it 88
times. Most of the references have to do with humanity’s sinful nature and weakness
of the “flesh” to resist sin. Although it is quite plausible that Paul was
referring to a physical ailment, an emotional malady or some sort of outside
harassment in v. 7, does that make the most sense considering v. 9 refers to
the sufficiency of God’s grace in response to Paul’s difficulty? Grace is
defined as: “Unmerited and free favor and mercy shown to sinners by a sovereign
God with a view to their salvation.”[3]
Keep this in mind and let’s add to this the fact that Paul claims his
affliction keeps him from becoming conceited about the revelations God has
entrusted to him. In other words, Paul has been humbled as a result of his
struggle with the ‘thorn in his flesh.’ I can’t say with certainty what Paul is
referring to but I’m having a tough time trying to understand how all these
elements fit together. How does a God’s grace, as defined above, relate to a
physical ailment, emotional malady or outside harassment? We can’t just explain
everything away by saying “it is only possible by God’s grace.” I think that’s
a lazy explanation. We could make the argument that we are able to endure
trials and difficulties through God’s strength that he graciously extends to
us. But, in Paul’s case specifically, why wouldn’t the Lord just say, “I will
give you the strength to endure your affliction?” Why say “My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness?” Think about it: If
allowing physical ailment, emotional malady and outside harassment demonstrates
Jesus’ power, then why did Jesus bother to do the opposite and heal people,
raise the dead and exorcise demons during his earthly ministry to demonstrate
his power and authority? I also don’t see how these things produce humility in
believers generally. Having said this, let me offer another plausible
explanation that fits very nicely into the overall context of this text and
Paul’s wider theology.
Paul
teaches elsewhere that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God
(Rom 3:23). Furthermore, Paul confesses the internal war that rages in his body
as he knows the right thing he should do but doesn’t do it yet he readily does
what he knows to be wrong and shouldn’t do (Rom 7:14-25). Can I just say that
there is nothing more distressing and humiliating than the seeming inability to
do what you know to be the right thing to do; to commit a sin that you think
you should have been able to avoid or defeat—not just once but repeatedly! I
think it is very possible that this is the “thorn” that Paul is struggling
with. In fact, in the context of our subject text, it fits better than any of
the other explanations I advanced previously. Let’s consider the three
explanations previously advanced: A physical ailment, an emotional malady or
someone opposing his ministry efforts, against the backdrop of the three
elements of Paul’s condition: Paul is afflicted in order to produce humility (avoid conceit) v. 7a, Paul’s
affliction has a demonic element v. 7b,
and Paul must rely on God’s grace to
endure his affliction v. 9.
Physical Affliction
Physical affliction does not
necessarily produce humility nor
does it always or generally have a demonic
component even if God, by his grace,
gives us the ability to endure any physical affliction.
Emotional Malady
In the case of an emotional malady,
humility is often mistaken for
self-hatred or depression as opposed to true and healthy humility. As opposed
to physical afflictions, demonic
activity may be more prevalent in an emotional malady. However, it is far from
the general rule. As in the case of physical afflictions, God may extend his grace to those who suffer from an
emotional malady to give them the strength to endure their struggle.
Ministry Opposition
It has been
my experience that opposition to ministry efforts rarely produces humility in ministry leaders. Instead,
it generally has the opposite effect. When ministry leaders encounter
opposition, they dig in their heels and redouble their efforts to prove they
are right or better. There is, without a doubt, demonic activity in ministry opposition especially against ministry
leaders who are desperately trying to be faithful and obedient to God’s calling
for their lives. In fact, although I can’t prove it, I suspect there is demonic
activity at a certain level opposing the efforts of all faithful ministries. So
what is Satan’s role in v. 7b of our subject text? “Here he is portrayed as
God’s instrument in preparing Paul for effective service. This is not to say
that he becomes a willing instrument for good. Satan intends the stake [thorn]
for Paul’s undoing. But God, who has ultimate control over the situation,
intends it for Paul’s good.”[4]
Just like physical afflictions and emotional maladies, it is by God’s grace that ministries are able to
endure ministry opposition.
So we can
see from the above explanation that Paul’s condition could, but doesn’t necessarily,
correspond to the resulting elements of his condition. However, there is one
explanation that corresponds perfectly—sin!
Sin
Sin is the great equalizer in all
people and in every case. There is (or should be) nothing more humiliating in the life of the believer
than the realization of their own sin and the price God paid for that sin. No
matter how successful a ministry leader might be, and Paul was profoundly
successful, sin is the constant reminder—a thorn in the flesh—that we are far
from what we were intended to be; we have fallen short of the glory of God (Rom
3:23). “Few are able to value the onset of anything unpleasant or difficult,
and they usually grasp its value only in retrospect. Paul may have thought at
first that this stake [thorn] would stymie the effectiveness of his ministry,
so he desperately wanted it removed. The three times may signify ‘earnest and
repeated prayer,’ time and time again.”[5]
We can pray and pray and pray (v. 8) that God would remove not just our sins
but our ability to sin, but he doesn’t. At the same time we become
hyper-sensitive to the fact that we know the difference between what is morally
and ethically right and wrong yet we still very often choose what is wrong (Rom
7:14-25).
We can trace the efforts of Satan
and his demonic forces all the way
back to the origin of sin and by extension the demonic element in all of sin
throughout history. As previously demonstrated, God’s grace is available in all
elements of life. In fact, it is only by God’s grace that we exist at all so
there must be something about God’s grace that is specifically applicable in
our subject text aside from God’s general grace.
Sin requires a grace that exceeds the grace needed to endure a physical
affliction; to endure an emotional malady; to endure ministry opposition. Sin
requires a grace that is only available through Jesus’ death on the cross and
resurrection from the grave. When we sin, our humanity is at its lowest point;
at its weakest point, and it is at this weakest point that the power of Jesus’
grace to forgive our sin is at its strongest. “The greatest proof of this law
of divine action and the justification of the despised Christian way of life is
to be found in the cross. Christ died on the cross in weakness having renounced
all personal claims to power, and now he lives by the power of God. Exactly the
same is true of the Christian: he is weak, but that is the very reason why
God’s power equips him for life with Christ. Accordingly, God’s work in the
life of a Christian is always contrary to human expectations.”[6]
It is precisely at this point where our lives find Strength In Weakness! I can’t say for certain that this is the
condition that afflicted Paul but it certainly seems to fit the best in the
overall context of our verses and Paul’s general theology.
Ultimately,
Paul combines multiple elements necessitating God’s grace—weakness, insults,
hardships, persecutions and difficulties—in v.10 as the means to magnify God’s
strength in and through his life. “Behind [‘I am strong’] we should see an
allusion, not to Paul’s own ability to cope with adversity by harnessing all
his personal resources, but to his experience of Christ’s power, sometimes in
delivering him from adversity, sometimes in granting him strength to endure
hardship, but always in equipping him for effective service.”[7]
Close your eyes and picture this: A person suffering with some physical ailment
or emotional malady or perhaps both while being attacked by ministry opponents;
a person who is painfully aware of their own personal sin, what do you see?
Weakness! Picture that same person standing at the foot of the cross; what do
you see? Weakness seeking strength! Picture that same person with Christ’s
glory all around them; now what do you see” Strength
In Weakness!
Application
There are
27 books in the New Testament and Paul wrote nearly half of them (13). That’s
no small matter if you think about it. However, do you want to know how Paul
described himself? Paul describes himself as the “worst sinner” (1 Tim
1:15-16). How could the “worst sinner” have authored nearly half the New
Testament? Perhaps Paul was being hyperbolic…but then there is his involvement
in Stephen’s murder and the persecution of the Church prior to his conversion.
And, as previously stated, his inability to do what he knows is right and his
inability to keep from doing what he knows is wrong (Rom 7:14-25). So what is
it about Paul that qualified him to hold such a prominent role in the
authorship of the New Testament? A murderer, persecutor and the “worst sinner”
shouldn’t qualify him for anything in ministry; it should disqualify him! However,
“It is always upon human weakness and humiliation, not human strength and
confidence, that God chooses to build His Kingdom; and that He can use us not
merely in spite of our ordinariness and helplessness and disqualifying
infirmities, but precisely because of them…Your humiliations, your struggles,
your battles, your weaknesses, your feelings of inadequacy, your helplessness,
even your so-called ‘disqualifying’ infirmities are precisely what make you effective…they represent the
stuff of greatness. Once you are convinced of your own weakness and no longer
trying to hide it, you embrace the power of Christ.”[8]
I won’t
speak for you but I know that I very often miss out on Christ’s power in my life
because I focus on the fact that I can’t master the sin that is in my life. I
still think that I should somehow be strong enough to conquer my sin, I mean
it’s not like it sneaks up on me and surprises me; I know it’s there and I know
what it is but I just don’t have the strength to overcome it. Don’t get me
wrong, I know very well that sin will always be part of my life because there
will always be only one perfect and sinless man, Jesus Christ. But I recognize
the tremendous cost that Jesus had to pay for my sins and I never want to take
that for granted by assuming I can’t or don’t have to do anything to conquer
them. Nevertheless, I often forget the power of Christ on display in the grace
He extends to forgive my sins. “Illusions of our own strength cause us to
overlook divine power and results in our rebelliousness against God. For this
reason God brings low the proud who lift themselves up and believe their own
hype that they are special in and of themselves. God requires total, unconditional
surrender of our pride. In Paul’s situation God’s grace did not come to him as
‘a prop for his failing strength, but as the decisive question: Will you
surrender, utterly surrender, to God’s dealing—will you know yourself to be a
sinner before God?’ When we accept our own weakness, we then also learn that we
must totally rely upon God. This is why the stake [thorn] was not some
temporary lesson that God would allow quickly to pass…‘The continuing weakness is
necessary so that man might not confuse the power of God with his own power and
lose God’s power by attempting to rely on himself.’”[9]
The power
of Christ’s grace is nothing new in Paul’s theology. It was Paul who wrote:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast (Eph
2:8-9).” There is transformative power in God’s grace to use our weaknesses. Let
me illustrate: Does the name John Newton mean anything to you? Newton was the
son of a Christian mother and a non-Christian father. Unfortunately, Newton’s
mother died when he was still young and his father influenced his actions and
attitudes in the years that followed. Newton took to life on the sea first with
a navy merchant and then with the Royal Navy. He was rebellious and abandoned
his naval post. He was eventually captured and put in irons. He convinced the
navy to discharge him to the service of a slaver ship. Newton would later
write: “I sinned with a high hand and I made it my study to tempt and seduce
others.” Newton would continue to cause trouble for his employers and was moved
from one slave trader to another until he found himself on a slaver ship
returning to Liverpool when the ship was caught in a storm. Newton’s life was
falling apart in every possible way; he was miserable mentally, physically and
spiritually. During the storm, Newton had a religious experience and accepted
Christ. The ship eventually made it to shore safely. Newton stayed on in the
slave trading industry but it became increasingly difficult to reconcile the
inhumanity of the business with his growing Christian faith. Newton eventually
left the slave trade industry for an office job. He held weekly bible studies
and prayer gatherings in his home. He also wrote hundreds of hymns. Recognize
him yet? Maybe this hymn will help:
Amazing grace!
How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found;
Was blind, but now I see.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come.
‘Tis grace hath bro’t me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
Our
churches have been singing the song of a former slave trader and master sinner
for almost 240 years now and the words still bring people to their knees. In
the midst of the real possibility of dying at sea during a storm, Newton
realized he was too weak to save himself physically or spiritually. Newton
found the place where God could save him; the place where God could change him;
the place where God could use him. In that place, God could demonstrate the
power of His grace. Newton was in the place where God could demonstrate His Strength In Weakness.
[1]
Colin Brown, ed., Dictionary of New
Testament Theology, Vol. 2, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House,
1986), p. 435.
[2]
Linda L. Belleville, The IVP New
Testament Commentary Series, 2 Corinthians, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity
Press, 1996), pp. 305-306.
[3]
George Thomas Kurian, ed., Nelson’s New
Christian Dictionary, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001), p.
338.
[4]
Belleville, 2 Corinthians, p. 307.
[5]
David E. Garland, The New American
Commentary, 2 Corinthians, (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman
Publishers, 1999), p. 522.
[6]
Brown, Dictionary of New Testament
Theology, Vol. 2, pp. 605-606.
[7]
Murray J. Harris, The New International
Greek Testament Commentary, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, (Grand
Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2005), p. 868.
[8]
Charles R. Swindoll, Paul, A Man of Grace
and Grit, (Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group, 2002), p. 241.
[9]
Garland, 2 Corinthians, pp. 525-526.
No comments:
Post a Comment