THE GOSPEL'S TARGET

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now I am ready to visit you for the third time, and I will not be a burden to you, because what I want is not your possessions but you. After all, children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well. If I love you more, will you love me less? Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to you. Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery!

Did I exploit you through any of the men I sent to you? I urged Titus to go to you and I sent our brother with him. Titus did not exploit you, did he? Did we not walk in the same footsteps by the same Spirit?

2 Corinthians 12:14-18

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The false teachers in Corinth were exploiting the Christians through sharing a counterfeit Gospel. This counterfeit Gospel was one grounded in carrying out certain works associated with Old Testament Mosaic Law before salvation could be gained through Jesus. It wasn’t a promotion of the New Covenant that God brought to all people, whether Jew or Gentile, through His Son. Rather, it was a hybrid process to be saved, one incorporating elements of the Old and New. The false apostles, mockingly referred to by Paul as the “super apostles”, were very persuasive and influential, and this brought Paul great concern and so we find him defending himself and the true Gospel in chapters 11 and 12 of this second letter to the Corinthian believers.

How much was Paul troubled over what was happening to the church in Corinth?

As we see in our passage for today, he was so concerned that he decided to visit Corinth for a third time. The intent was not to be a burden to anyone. Paul wasn’t coming back because he was low on funds and planned on tapping into the church’s parishioners and their possessions. He wasn’t coming to receive anything but rather to once again give himself up fully to the teaching and preaching of the proper Gospel.

Note here that this self sacrificial attitude was born out of the love he had for everyone in the Corinthian church. And he wasn’t alone for we read that he had sent Titus to them and he also refrained from being a burden. He too was there out of a love for the Corinthians and a dedication to make sure the church was healthy and equipped to carry on the Gospel-sharing ministry.

Through the words of the Apostle, we are reminded about the target of the Gospel and the church today needs to pay attention. For the Gospel that Jesus brought, fulfilling God’s salvation plan for every person of every nation, was a Gospel focused on people and their spiritual selves, not their physical or material self.

Jesus tasked His disciples with making disciples, helping people change their hearts from sin and the world to believe in a Savior who could pardon them from their iniquities and usher them into eternal life.

It wasn’t about church size. It wasn’t about how much revenue the church could glean from its members. It wasn’t about the minister gaining renown and prestige.

Rather, it was out of a devoted care for people, a devoted care not willing to see anyone perish but rather to live with God and Jesus forever.

Paul always strived to hot the Gospel’s target, dead center, every time. We need to follow his lead.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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