Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

No Other Gospel 6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! 9As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! 10Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. In each letter Paul writes to the churches in Asia Minor and in Greece/Corinth, he is confronting a particular issue. In the case of the church at Galatia, he is confronting the fact that the Galatians are asking male adults who come to Christ to be circumsized acc

Daily Bread 2010 - 2 Corinthians 13:5-6 “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith, test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you, unless of course you fail the test. ” Paul concludes his second letter to the Corinthians with a challenge. He challenges them to test themselves to see if they are in the faith. We might be tempted to think that this test is related to whether or not we have done enough good things to win God’s approval. Many people have this view of God, that if we do enough good works, or at least the amount of good things we do outweighs the bad things we do, we will pass the test. We hope God grades on a curve like our college professors. But Paul dispels this notion in the next verse by saying, “Don’t you know that Christ Jesus is in you, unless of course you fail the test.” Paul is testing their faith not their amount of good works. He is saying the only way to pass the test is if Christ is in you by faith. That is your hope of

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. This is the classic “thorn in the flesh” passage, where Paul describes a struggle that God allowed in his life, which ended up teaching Paul about the depth and all-sufficiency of God’s grace. There have been many speculations about what that thorn was, but frankly I am okay with the fact that we don’t know what it was. This helps all of us to relate to the passage through our own “thorn in the fl

Daily Bread 2010 2 Corinthians 11 What anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. 22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. 23Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. 27I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have o

Daily Bread 2010 – 2 Corinthians 10 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. Paul is again confronting those in the church who say he is bold when he writes his letters but “timid” when he sees them face to face. Paul then reveals what he will also teach on Ephesians 6 that the battle we fight is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers of darkness. As Paul says in this chapter, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.” Paul is saying that part of the spiritual warfare we all face as believers is the distortion of truth through bad or corrupt thinking. Before we can take an action agai

Sowing Generously 6Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." 10Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. The context of this passage is that Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to make good on the pledges they had made financially to help the church in

8Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— 9yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 11See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. 12So even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did the wrong or of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are. 13By all this we are encouraged. In this chapter Paul introduces the concept of “godly sorrow”.

1As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. 2For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. Paul’s biggest concern for the church of Corinth was that they would receive God’s grace in vain. The Corinthian’s were known for their many gifts, and yet also worldliness had crept into the church. Immorality, selfishness, pride and entering to relationships with unbelievers were all threats to the influence that God intended for this strategically located church. Paul points to his own example and the hardship he has endured for the sake of the gospel. It is in verses 4 and 5 that we see the extent of Paul’s suffering on behalf for the sake of the gospel he preached. And all this came out of love for the church, including the church gathered in Corinth. Now Paul asks them to step up and give themselves in a sim

16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Reconciliation is usually a term we hear of in the banking world. Or in our own personal finances, once a month when we get our checking account statement, we spend time doing a bank reconciliation to see if our account is reconciled. One can’t

7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. There is a well known Christian band named “Jars of Clay”, it is one of my f

12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. 14But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Moses was the only one who could enter the holy of holies in the tabernacle that God dwelt in the desert when the Jews wandered in the wilderness. And even then he needed to wear a veil, so he wouldn’t be blinded by Yahweh’s holiness.

Daily Bread 2010 – 2 Corinthians 2 Forgiveness for the Sinner 5If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent—not to put it too severely. 6The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. 7Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. 9The reason I wrote you was to see if you would stand the test and be obedient in everything. 10If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. Paul is describing a situation in which the Corinthian church had to discipline one its members. It appears as if the church had meted out some discipline, and now Paul urges them not to be too harsh, but to comfort the person with the

The God of All Comfort 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. As Paul starts this second letter to the Corinthians, much has happened in his life and he has experienced plenty of suffering for the cause of Christ, including being imprisoned in Ephesus for three years. Paul had to write a letter discussing the issue of those who were claiming that he was a false apostle beca

The Collection for God's People 1Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. 4If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. As Paul ends his letter to the Corinthians, he ends with practical instructions on how the Corinthian church can help the mother church in Jerusalem. He instructs them on how they can give generously and consistently by setting aside a certain amount of money in keeping with their income. This is why a strict tithing message can often be unhelpful and un-motivating. While the tithe is the bible standard in the Old Testament, here Paul describes giving in proportion to one’s means or income. F

The Resurrection of Christ 1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures Paul finishes his letter to the Corinthians by reminding them of the “main thing”. While there are many issues he addressed in the church at Corinth, none is more important than the proclamation of the “gospel”. Before one can talk about behaviors one has to start with beliefs. Paul realized that unless a person was fundamentally changed through their belief in the gospel that all else was in vain. Martin Luther took a similar stand in the 16th century, as a gospel of works righteousness was permeating th