the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 4 of 5
2 Corinthians 12:12-21
What grief for the apostle to see the suppositions made about him, the ulterior motives and trickery attributed to him (vv. 14, 16; 2 Corinthians 7:2-3; cf. Acts 20:33). With unblamable behaviour, he had not ceased to walk with his fellow helpers "in the same steps": those of Christ (v. 18). If he answers these slanders in detail, it is not however to justify himself but because his objective is the edification of his beloved Corinthians (v. 19; 1 Corinthians 14:26 end). Indeed, not recognizing Paul’s ministry was tantamount to rejecting at the same time the authority of the divine Word which he proclaimed. How many so-called Christians today reject this or that part of the inspired Word and the epistles of Paul in particular. Vv. 20, 21 show the sins to which this negligence and contempt lead.
And so, in this chapter "we find the most glorious state to which a Christian can be raised . . . and the most wretched state into which he can fall . . . What a contrast between being caught up to the third heaven and the lowest carnal degradation! And the Christian is capable of both! What a lesson and what a warning for each saint" (J.N.D.).
