Bible Guys Classics: 2 Corinthians 10

Well, today we're going to be looking at Paul's resume as he lists all of his credentials. Yeah, and this is kind of the basis behind his authority and his right to encourage and challenge the Corinthians. So that's what we're talking about today. He's Chris and I'm Jeff, and we're the Bible Guys. So every day we start out with a segment and the thing that was handed to us today was something that we do from time to time called stump the Pastor. And by the way, these questions come from people who just listen and that type in and so we're inviting you if you would like to ask a question to be considered for Stump the Pastor segments, please email us at info at the Bibleguys dot com and that way we'll be able to have a list of things that we can go through. So this comes from Angela V. And Angela V writes this question, why do we have to bear the burdens of Adam and Eve's sin when he God could have arranged things so that each one of us had the chance to be born with a clean slate and make our own mistakes free of a tainted universe. But first of all, wow, what a question. Yeah, that's a thinker's question, right there. Yeah for sure, you know. I mean because by the way that question is seems to be born out of that's not fair. Yeah yeah, yeah, right. Wow, It's like I inherited a sin nature from Adam and Eve. How is that fair? Yeah? I wish I could have taken my own shot at this sinlessness thing. Yeah yeah, yeah. Well, one, I think we all would have failed, you know, yeah on this because we have a free will, and free wills tend to choose self. Yeah. Well, no, true love cannot exist without free will. So God could have made us like robots, right, He could have created us to make us love him and respond, but he doesn't. He decides to give us free will to choose good and evil, choose love or not love. And it's because that is truly love, and we were made and created to love and be a relationship with God, so. That this whole human story is a love story. Yes, yeah, yeah, So anyway, go ahead and continue. Oh boy, so I get to answer this one? Well, I mean, we could both answer it. I mean, so one, I think, on the surface, the best answer is the Bible doesn't specifically say why. Sure, well, most of these questions are I don't know. But there are a lot of biblical principles that we can kind of extract from sure, and I think a couple of scientific things. First off, Romans and Corinthians both talked about how like in Romans it says, wherefore is by one man sinning into the world and death by sin? So death passed upon all men for all of sin. That's the premise behind this question. Okay, so Adam sinned and so then ah, now we are We're all sinners. We're all born with the sin nature. So then it goes on in Romans and says, so then because one person was willing to die, he could die for all sin too. The second atom or second a Jesus, Yes, that's right, so God. So we tend to think of ourselves only from the perspective of being autonomous individuals, and yes we are, we have a free will, but we are also part of humanity, and so we all emanate from Adam and Eve. We all come from them. So things that are broken. So this this really gets into biology a little bit. The whole concept of progeny, the idea of the sharing of DNA in order in order to you know, make the next life all of these things. And so these two broken dying creatures, they were living creatures, then they were broken dying creatures. They were made to live forever the original Yes, yes, they were made to live forever. Then they sinned, and the Bible says immediately they began to die. That was the idea that you will die in his physical spiritual death. So then at this point then they had this broken genetics. I believe in the same way that the Bible says that the whole earth and all of creation groans under the weight of the brokenness of the universe. Everything broke, Nature broke, everything broke at that point. And then you know, a man and woman comes together and they blend DNA, and then that gets passed on, that gets passed on. So in the process of progeny, the process of new life, we're also being it's being handed off from already sinful creatures, broken creatures. And it's in that context then that we are all related back to Adam with the we were formed. We were created in in in with with sin, right, not in sin, but with sin. But that's the bad news. The good news is then that also makes it possible with Jesus being the second atom, jesus one sacrifice pays the price for all of humanity as well, right, which is a beautiful picture. And and it's it's really something that I don't think people think about, but it's a great truth to understand that, uh that uh, you know, generations pass on the physical and so and then only that, but even our personalities are very much like our traits, our traits everything else. But there's also a spiritual part of every human being. There's a soul and there's a spirit and so it's important to recognize that it wasn't just a physical death that was you know, that came from the curse of sin. It was a spiritual death right and that and that that that they became sin full, and that portion also gets passed down to us. Yeah, and I don't understand it all. And you know, the Bible's not a science book. I believe it's accurate with what it says about scientific things. Belise there's a lot of science in there, but it's not a. Science book, so it doesn't really get into all these things. But I do know this that you know, it talks about how sin is passed down from generations generation, that the father sins will be visited on the third and fourth generation. We do know now here in the last twenty five years or so, as we've really begun to dig into DNA, we do know that there are genetic predispositions for alcoholism within certain families. Sure that some families, some people they can touch alcoholics not a problem. Other people they drink alcohol one time and they're going to be alcoholics or whatever. That We do know that there are genetic predispositions for anger. We know that there are genetic predispositions for aggression. We know that there's genetic predispositions for intelligence and lack thereof. We know that there's a genetic predisposition for so many things that wind up being negatives in our life. And that comes because now God did not create us that way. Sin broke us, and those broken pieces then get passed on through Adam's children. That's just what happens. So God didn't create you sinful. God created your parents perfect, you know, in Adam and Eve, and then with Adam and Eve being broken, all of their progeny is broken and only Jesus can fix it. You know that movie came to mind. Do you remember The Emperor's New Groove? Yes, you called Adam and Eve our parents. Remember that scene where she goes great great great great great great great aunt. Remember that no twice removed. I don't remember that. Okay, all right, I'm about myself. It's pretty it's pretty sophisticated. Though it sounds like, yeah, yeah. Yeah, well groove is great, so so so yeah they are parents a long time ago. And so the question then is not just practical, but also there's a second side of that question, which is couldn't God have done that? Right? So, if God decided to make every individual born with a clean slate according to this question, right, and maybe maybe things aren't passed down and we all start brand new. If life began with storks dropping babies off at houses, yes, right, where we weren't physically connected or genetically connected to other humans, and every every parent relationship was just an adoptive relationship where each each person is spontaneously created in some way. Yeah, that's not what he did. That's not what he did. And if he did do that, my feeling is all of us would fail anyway, absolutely, because the Bible tells us that no person can keep all of the law. That's right, because God is sinless and he is he is perfect, and our nature is not that that way. I think so. So the official answer would be, I'm not sure that the Bible actually says specifically why. He doesn't always say why. He just says what most of the time. Right, that's right, that's what it does. But I think that this is a really great thinking question. I think that, Angela, it really shows kind of a depth of thought in asking it. And I'll be honest with you, Angela, I've asked those same kind of questions before too. That's great. Yeah, I think it's a really good, really good way of looking at it. The issue would be this, it's okay that God didn't do it that way, because if we see this as a as entirely a love story, then I mean, this is that typical epic story that we tell over and over and over again in our movies. You're a movie buff in our movies over and over and over again. Some of the greatest movies, some of the greatest dramas, the best stories throughout human history are always you know, there's the beloved, and the beloved gets captured away by the evil one or by the dragons, kidnapped, is in danger, maybe even tempted to give in to this evil you know, dragon or whatever. And then the hero comes and a great peril to himself, willing to sacrifice everything, comes and rescues his beloved and maybe even has to die in order to set her free and defeat the evil one. We tell that story over and over and over again, just with different different you know, characters or whatever. But we've been telling that story for thousands of years. And the reason is, I think deep down in saide, we know that is the story humanity right, that really is right. And so there's some value I think in saying, Okay, this is the way God chose, and I'm in that system. God's not unfair. God only always does good, and he delights in the love story he's telling. And the good news is you have the ability and the autonomy to be able to choose love or choose yourself. That's it, right, And by turning to the move of the Holy Spirit, he draws you to the Father. Right. The work of Jesus on the cross pays the price. But there is a moment when you are confronted with your sin, and either you repent and turn to Christ and experience the love of Christ through forgiveness of sins, or you don't. And that is the that's the story of humanity, and that's the beautiful story that he's telling. Yeah, wey, we spend more time on that than any other segment. But it's probably okay because Paul here gives his credentials and really there's not much more to this other than Paul defending his authority. Wouldn't you say, Yeah. There's a couple of good leadership things in here, but yeah, for the most part, this is mostly a conversation between him and the Corinthians. Yeah, for chapter ten, but let's read it because I think there's always value. God included it for a reason, he says. Now, I, Paul, appeal to you with the gentleness and kindness of Christ. Though I realize you think I'm timid in person and bold only when I write from far away. Well, I'm begging you now so that when I come, I won't have to be bold with those who think we act from human motives. We are human. We don't wage war as humans do we use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient. Look at the obvious facts. Those who say they belong to Christ must recognize that we belong to Christ as much as they do. I may seem to be boasting too much about the authority given to us by the Lord, but our authority builds you up, it doesn't tear you down. So I will not be ashamed of using my authority. I'm not trying to frighten you by my letters. For some say Paul's letters are demanding and forceful, but in person he's weak and his speeches are worthless. Those people should realize that our actions when we arrive in person, will be as forceful as what we say in our letters from far away, saying, Oh, don't make me come there. That's what you say, right, Oh it's on now, mess around and find out that's what you're saying. We don't worry. We wouldn't dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are. These being a little sarcastic. Yeah, but they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard a menagement of measurement, how ignorant. We will not boast about things done outside our area of authority. We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the work God has given us, which includes our working with you. We're not reaching beyond these boundaries when we claim authority over you, as if we have never visited you, for we were the first to travel all the way to Corinth with the good news of Christ. Nor do we boast and claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow so that the boundaries of our work among you will be extended. Then we will be able to go and preach the good news in other places, far beyond you, where no one else is working. Then there will be no question of our boasting about work done in someone else's territory. As the scriptures say, if you want to boast, boast only about the Lord when people commend themselves, it doesn't count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to come in them. So apparently somebody's saying, oh, Paul's a tough guy in his letters and he's you know, super weak when he's in person. And Paul's like, all right, don't make me come to you, and I'll prove you know, I'll prove it to you. But there's so many other good statements in here besides him just saying, listen, the reason why I have authority to speak to you is because I'm the one who came and started the church. There. I'm not trying to claim authority where I haven't done work. I'm only claiming authority where I did start the work. That's what he's saying. You know, there's a great thing over here that I'm actually not going to read, but I want to reference just how great it is. And the Life Application and Study Bible. There's an entire chart, you know, and I love charts. And what they do is they do all the homework for you, is what they do, and they sort of list all of Paul's credentials. What's so amazing is they've taken this entire book of sewod Corinthians, and verse by verse from chapter one all the way to chapter thirteen, they list these are Paul's credentials. I'm only gonna read maybe one or two of these, but like chapter one, verse one, Paul says he was commissioned by God himself chapter one, verse number twelve. He acted in holiness, sincerity, and dependence on God alone in his dealings with the world in general, especially with Corinthians. So he goes down the line and he actually lists all the credentials. Well, I love that, because you know, it is important, I think to sometimes zoom out and have a thirty thousand foot view of just what's happening. So, for instance, we said a moment ago, oh there's some good leadership stuff in here, right, and that's true. But when you zoom out and you look at the entire letter of Second Corinthians, we know how important it is for Paul to you know, defend his authority, you know, to convince the Corinthians that his words matter, and then also to model for them what a good leader should do, not all these false leaders who boast about themselves how ignorant, Paul says. You know, Paul is literally. If you got on this list. Verse by verse, it talks about how he has the Holy Spirit, how he spoke truthfully, how he was straightforward and sincere in his letters, how he actually spoke with authority, he did not give up, He taught the Bible with integrity, and it just goes on and on and on, and it's so important, I think to get a thirty thousand foot view of that. And by the way, I think we need to do that with our lives. Yes, we need to actually you know, view individual conversations, personal moments, you know, segments of moments for what they are, but also to step back every once in a. While and say, okay. And by the way, that's what New Year's resolutions do, that's right, you know they step back and say, okay, what do I want an overall decision to be about my life? Yeah? Yeah, it's really cool. So you know, this was necessary. This, this kind of idea was necessary because you know, he couldn't just pick up the phone. There wasn't any you know, zoom meetings that he could do. He couldn't hop on a plane and shoot over there real quick, or you know, get in the car and be there in a few hours, and so what would happen is he comes in, he spends quite a bit of time with them, but then when he leaves them, they're just kind of on their own, and whatever other teachers come in can skew what had happened before. And it would be so long a period of time between communications because of the nature of having to write these letters and the fact there were no planes or cars or you know that kind of you know, internet or communication devices, and so he would have to remind his other leaders listen, you can trust me, right, because there'd be other people that would come in and try to take advantage. And this happens throughout. You know, the Greeks and the Romans were fairly sophisticated. They were incredibly sophisticated for their day. Hey, we still don't build buildings that last as long as their buildings do, right, that kind of stuff. They're roads. I've been on roads that were built two thousand years ago, and then I drive down Michigan roads and think, hey, we should put Romans in charge of building our roads. Right. So many things that they did were very sophisticated. They were highly educated, They had great economic and political systems, very interesting sophisticated, but village to village to village. Because there was such limited information, there was no printing press, limited information, people could be simplistic in their thinking. Even though they were sophisticated in some of their science and engineering, they were many of them were simplistic in their thinking. And so then somebody comes in and uses religious words that sound kind of like the words Paul was using, but they don't mean the same thing. And it was very easy to have false teaching. So Paul would have to come back in and say, listen, when I'm providing correction. Remember, God used me to bring the Gospel to you first. You can trust me. I'm the one who suffers for the gospel. I'm not prospering from you. Remember when he came in, he said, I didn't even charge you any money. Right, He's trying to say, listen, you can trust me because I'm not trying to take advantage. And he has to keep reminding me of that. And I think it's because of the fact that they had limited information and fairly simplistic in some of their thinking, and so this is one of the reason why he does this. I love how Paul from time to time in these last three podcasts that we've done, every time Paul has quoted the Old Testament. Yeah, you know, Paul grew up as a scholar. You know, he was born a Jew, even though he was a Roman citizen. He was a member of He was a Pharisee for sure, claimed to be a Pharisee. And then also people believe that he might have even been a member of the Samehedron. He certainly was an intern, you know, working up to be a member of the same Heedron. So Sanhedron being kind of the religious supreme court of the Jewish religion. Yes, and you know Acts chapter number nine tells us this, you know, or x seven. Actually when St Even was stoned, it says that Paul was standing by holding the people's coats who were stoning and consenting to his death. And so we knew he was around those things. He was working towards those things. Anyway, all that to say, Paul's credentials of knowing the Old Testament were you know, just about as high as anyone. And so I love how he weaves in scriptures. And I keep in mind he's writing to a Greek audience, not primarily a Jewish audience. So you know, for Jews, they would say, oh wow, look how you wove the scriptures that we all know into the truths of today. But for the Greeks, he's doing the same thing, and he's taking you know, the highlights in a lot of times Jeremiah nine twenty four he talks about He says, as the scriptures say, if you want to boast, boast only in the Lord. And he's really taking a modern day thing here about people boasting about themselves, and he says, no, no, no, no. He says, you know, if you take. The selves out of the equation, and we'll be able to preach the good news and nobody will question our boasting because will be about ourselves as a scripture says, boast about God. Yeah. And then lastly, as we wrap up, the one piece that we skipped is verse three through five or six where he talks about, hey, listen, we don't wage war as humans do, right. We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons. And we're knocking down strongholds a human reasoning and destroy false arguments, every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. Right, our pride are reasoning all these things and he said, Listen, we don't wage war like the world wages war. People aren't our enemy, he tells us in Book of Romans. Right, we're not fighting against flesh and blood, and so we have to be careful when it comes to debate about getting sucked into using the world's language, or getting sucked into using the world's philosophies and the world's ideas, the world's politics, the worlds. We can just go on and on and on with all these things. Instead, he says, we don't fight the way the world fights, and so we need to come back and use God's weapons, which is his word, his words, and his people not for the purpose of fighting, but his kingdom moving is king forward. It's his purpose, his priorities. And if we can avoid getting caught up in the surperfluous fighting and argument in the world, I think you'd have a lot more peace in our lives. I think we'd have a lot more joy in our lives because we wouldn't be getting caught up in the same thing everybody else is fighting about all the time. Well, that's a great place to end, and we will see you next time. All the Bible guys