Emmanuel Lutheran Church

2 Corinthians 8:1–24 (NKJV)

¹ Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: ² that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. ³ For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, ⁴ imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. ⁵ And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God. ⁶ So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. ⁷ But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also. ⁸ I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. ¹⁰ And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; ¹¹ but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have. ¹² For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have. ¹³ For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; ¹⁴ but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality. ¹⁵ As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.” ¹⁶ But thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus. ¹⁷ For he not only accepted the exhortation, but being more diligent, he went to you of his own accord. ¹⁸ And we have sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches, ¹⁹ and not only that, but who was also chosen by the churches to travel with us with this gift, which is administered by us to the glory of the Lord Himself and to show your ready mind, ²⁰ avoiding this: that anyone should blame us in this lavish gift which is administered by us—²¹ providing honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. ²² And we have sent with them our brother whom we have often proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, because of the great confidence which we have in you. ²³ If anyone inquires about Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker concerning you. Or if our brethren are inquired about, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. ²⁴ Therefore show to them, and before the churches the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf.

St. Paul spent two chapters in his second epistle to the Corinthians urging them to finish gathering a generous offering for the saints in Jerusalem who were suffering scarcity due to famine. He gives them one reason after another to follow through with the charitable aid they had promised, and we do well to note that his words apply, not to their divine obligation to support the local ministry of the Gospel, but to an offering that was above and beyond their local responsibilities, an offering that was entirely free, and yet still subject to the guidance of God’s Word. We can apply his counsel especially to the charitable offerings we gather for other Christians or congregations within our fellowship.

Give, because giving itself is God’s gracious gift to you, as the Macedonian Christians had already proven by the generous offering they had gathered, even though they themselves were suffering.

Give, because it will prove the sincerity of your love.

Give, because Christ gave everything for you, to the point of impoverishing Himself, and has made you rich with the gifts of forgiveness, adoption, access to God, and an eternal inheritance.

Give, because you said you would give and already expressed your desire to help.

Give, because it is a godly thing for Christians who have more of something to share it with Christians who have less. Right now you have more money, and they have less. They, on the other hand, may have an abundance of something else which they can share with you, like wisdom, prayer, thanksgiving, or doctrinal insight.

Let us pray: O God of grace, we pray for all our fellow Christians who are suffering any need. Grant us the grace to supply their needs out of the abundance You have given us. Amen.

Romans 6:15–18 (NKJV)

¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! ¹⁶ Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? ¹⁷ But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. ¹⁸ And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Shall we sin? Certainly not! The answer seems obvious to the Christian. And yet history shows that the simple question and answer need to be repeated often, because God’s people, influenced by the devil, the world, and our flesh, easily grow complacent and secure. Such was certainly the case for Israel at Mt. Sinai. God had redeemed them from slavery in Egypt and claimed them as His special people. They were finally safe and secure under the grace and protection of the LORD God. But instead of serving Him and obeying the commandments He had recently spoken to them, they went right back to serving sin instead, and the consequences were fatal.

And so, just as Paul warns the Corinthian Christians in today’s Epistle, so he instructs and urges the Romans in today’s devotional text: Shall we sin? Certainly not!

Why not? Because you wanted to be free from sin. Remember? The Law condemned you because of your sins. It warned you of God’s wrath and eternal punishment, and you were rightly afraid. And then the Gospel called you away from the judgment seat of the Law to flee in faith to Christ Jesus, to be judged under grace instead. There you received the forgiveness of sins and were welcomed into God’s house and into God’s service, leading to life instead of death. It’s good to be reminded of that, because the devil would gladly convince you that you can live under grace while also living in willful sin. He would lull you to sleep, convincing you that you are secure in God’s grace even as you reject that very grace through impenitence. When he makes such an attempt, return to Paul’s question and answer. Shall we sin? Certainly not! For you have been delivered from sin and death and are now a servant of the God of grace, to do good instead of evil.

Let us pray: Merciful Father in heaven, we thank you for delivering us from sin through faith in Your beloved Son. Help us by Your powerful Spirit to flee from sin each day and to serve You in righteousness. Amen.

2 Corinthians 6:11–7:16 (NKJV)

¹¹ O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. ¹² You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. ¹³ Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open. ¹⁴ Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? ¹⁵ And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” ¹⁷ Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” ¹⁸ “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” ¹ Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. ² Open your hearts to us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have cheated no one. ³ I do not say this to condemn; for I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. ⁴ Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. ⁵ For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears. ⁶ Nevertheless God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, ⁷ and not only by his coming, but also by the consolation with which he was comforted in you, when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more. ⁸ For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. ⁹ Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. ¹⁰ For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. ¹¹ For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. ¹² Therefore, although I wrote to you, I did not do it for the sake of him who had done the wrong, nor for the sake of him who suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear to you. ¹³ Therefore we have been comforted in your comfort. And we rejoiced exceedingly more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. ¹⁴ For if in anything I have boasted to him about you, I am not ashamed. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, even so our boasting to Titus was found true. ¹⁵ And his affections are greater for you as he remembers the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling you received him. ¹⁶ Therefore I rejoice that I have confidence in you in everything.

“Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

The great promises of which St. Paul speaks are the Lord promise to dwell with in the baptized and be their God so that the baptized belong to God and God belongs to them.  The second promise is that God will be a Father to them, making them His sons and daughters. These are great promises indeed! The Lord promises to be with us, to dwell within us by faith so that we belong to the Lord! He promises that we are His sons and daughters and therefore co-heirs with Christ of all the heavenly blessings! All of this He promises us in His Word and all of this He gives us in Holy Baptism.

Therefore since we are baptized and have received such great promises, St. Paul urges us to cleanse ourselves from all the world’s filthiness of body and soul by godly sorrow. All manner of lusts, ambition, greed, along with every excuse and rationalization for our sin, are to be acknowledged for what they are: sins which displease God and earn His wrath. We also sorrow over the sin in our flesh,  desires and impulses, as displeasing to God. This sorrow leads to true repentance, that we confess our sins and believe the gospel of Christ’s full atonement and perfect righteousness which He promises to the penitent. Worldly sorrow, however, doesn’t lead to repentance and faith. Worldly sorrow is only sorrow for being caught and having to endure the earthly consequences. Godly sorrow and faith in God’s promises of forgiveness, enables us to live our identity as temples of the Spirit and children of God the Father. Living in this identity each day we put off our sins and work, with the Spirit’s aid, to perfect our holiness in the fear of God.

Let us pray: Lord God, grant us godly sorrow that leads to repentance so that we may rejoice in your promises and live according to the identity You give us in the gospel. Amen.

2 Corinthians 2:1–3:3 (NKJV)

¹ But I determined this within myself, that I would not come again to you in sorrow. ² For if I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me? ³ And I wrote this very thing to you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow over those from whom I ought to have joy, having confidence in you all that my joy is the joy of you all. ⁴ For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you. ⁵ But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but all of you to some extent—not to be too severe. ⁶ This punishment which was inflicted by the majority is sufficient for such a man, ⁷ so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow. ⁸ Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. ⁹ For to this end I also wrote, that I might put you to the test, whether you are obedient in all things. ¹⁰ Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, ¹¹ lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. ¹² Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord, ¹³ I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia. ¹⁴ Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. ¹⁵ For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. ¹⁶ To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷ For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ. ¹ Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? ² You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; ³ clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.

Paul urges the Corinthians to forgive the man who had taken his father’s wife as his own. Paul advised them to hand the man over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh “that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus” (1 Cor. 5:5). Being excommunicated from the church led the man to see the severity of his sin and sorrow over it. Now Paul urges them to forgive the penitent man lest he be swallowed up by excessive sorrow and despair that he is beyond forgiveness. Despair is the first of the devil’s devices of which St. Paul wants the Corinthians to be aware. Another satanic device the Corinthians must watch for is the temptation to become puffed up at the fact that they had not fallen into such a sin and say with the Pharisee in Luke 18:11, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men.” Although despair and pride seem very different they are both unbelief. Despair says, “I am beyond forgiveness for my sin.” Pride says, “I have no sin for which I need forgiveness.” Love for the erring brother  is not puffed up nor is it unwilling to forgive if he repents.

The saving knowledge of Christ that forgives sins and offers newness of life is a sweet smelling fragrance that God diffuses through Paul’s preaching. To those who are perishing in their unbelief, the gospel reeks of death by requiring the admission of their sin, repenting their pride, trust in Christ’s death and righteousness, and amendment of life. The gospel is the fragrance of death to unbelievers because it means the death of their old Adam, which many will not tolerate.

But to those who are being saved, like the penitent Corinthian, Paul’s ministry is the fragrance of life. It smells of life because as it puts the Old Adam to death through repentance, it raises up the New Man who is renewed in Christ’s image. The New Man lives before God in righteousness and purity, for where there is forgiveness of sins there is new life and the promise of eternal salvation.

Let us pray: Keep us from pride and despair by true repentance and faith, O Lord, and grant us new life. Amen.