2 Corinthians

The Corinthian series of letters continued with the second of the two remaining canonized as 2 Corinthians. Recent scholarship has noted discordance between chapters 1-9 and 10-13, as though they were separate parts of several letters mistakenly put together as one. However, with the length of the letter and the overall continuity of Paul exhorting the Corinthians, defending his apostolic ministry and coupling joy and suffering together it is more likely that Paul wrote to set-up his arguments of apostolic authority and concluded his letter with this purpose in mind. Additionally, Chapter 5 has received a great deal of attention as it relates to justification and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness.

The audience of 2 Corinthians was the same as 1 Corinthians. The major port city of Corinth was a city filled with various types of people. As a port city it was a major hub of commerce and travel, and so they were filled with a diverse population who would have experiences from all over the known world. They were also a challenged population, known to stray and prone to immorality.

This letter comes within a known series of correspondences that Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. While it is titled 2 Corinthians it is more likely the fourth or fifth letter in the series. Paul is writing to them once again to urge their faithfulness to Christ and to show them the error of their straying. He feels it necessary to legitimize his apostleship because there are those false apostles who are leading them astray. In stressing both the gospel and his apostolic ministry he focuses on reconciliation, suffering and the glory of Christ.

First, Paul teaches that union with Christ brings about a new creation in 5:17 which leads to the ministry of reconciliation in 5:18. Jesus Christ has united us to himself and in doing so reconciled those that were unclean to God and made them righteous. This is most clearly shown in 5:21 where Paul summarizes the gospel by showing the double imputation of both our sin onto Christ and his righteousness onto us, thus reconciling and saving the lost.

Second, the suffering that Christ experienced in his death and the resurrection life he was given also unites us to Christ. In 4:10, Paul teaches that those who are united to Christ in his death, will also be united to Christ in his life. Just before this he teaches about the difficulty that we would experience in this life 4:8-9, but couples this with the hope that we have in Christ.

Finally, we are promised to share in the glory of Christ as we look to our eschatological hope through the inward renewal of life. We are both humbled with Christ in his sufferings, and exalted with him in his glory. That, as 4:16 shows, outwardly during this present age we experience sufferings, so that inwardly we would taste God’s glory by being sanctified and renewed until the final and consummated day of glory to come.