4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5The more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with His comfort through Christ. 6 Even when we are weighted down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you.9 But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. 10 And He did rescue us from mortal danger, and He will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in Him, and He will continue to rescue us. (2 Corinthians 1:4-6, 9b-10 [NLT])
Two gates are available through which you can walk freely. One gate is partially open, and you can see
green grass and flowers, but the sign says no one who has gone through this
gate has survived. The second gate is closed. It has a sign on it that says all
who go through this gate will live. Your choices cause you to stop and question
which gate and road you should use to leave the past. Think on these gates as
we study 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 and Romans 10:9-10.
Each of us knows what it feels like to live in troubling
times. Some people have experienced religious persecution. Others have lived
with insufficient food or a place to live. Still others experienced family and
friends mocking them because of believing in a God from the past who seems irrelevant
to the current day. Each of these situations are trials. God allowed trials to
occur and sometimes ordains them. How we perceive them determines if we grow
from them and become stronger believers in God, if we blame God, stop growing
in our relationship with Him, or give up on our faith in God altogether. To get
through these times, we should recall our time of coming to faith in Jesus
Christ as well as recall the life of Paul and other faithful Christians
throughout history who remained faithful to God despite trials. Suffering for
Christ is what Paul speaks of in 2 Corinthians 1:3-11. His second letter to the
Corinthians will help us grow in our faith like it did for the Corinthian
church during the first century.
Paul wrote this sometimes-puzzling statement to the
Corinthians in his second letter to them. The Corinthian believers had struggled
through divisions and quarrels among themselves and were more unified by the
time Paul wrote this letter. This second letter to the Corinthians tells us
more of Paul’s life and of God’s plan for His people to help others. Paul
explained his calling by Jesus to apostleship because some people considered
his meekness as weakness. He wrote to help them understand he was just as
important a disciple of Christ as the other disciples. Paul emphasized this
point in the second letter so they would not disregard what he taught them
about Jesus and living as Christians. In Paul’s clarifying his calling to the
Corinthians, he told of his suffering for the cause of Christ so all people
would know about the salvation Jesus gives to those who believe in and profess
Him as Lord and Savior. As Paul wrote in this letter, he suffered often to
share the gospel. Paul stated all who believe in Jesus and seek to live out
their faith in word and deed would share in Christ’s sufferings. He taught we experience
suffering for our faith for several reasons: 1. To grow our faith in and trust
of God, 2. To show others our faith in God so they would believe, and 3. To
teach us more about God through suffering so we can offer strength and
consolation to others who also suffer for Christ. Let’s understand what Paul meant
and how it relates to our salvation.
In Romans 10:9-13, Paul said
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. It is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in Him will never disgraced. Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on Him. For everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” (NLT)
To receive salvation, we must believe in our heart that
Jesus is Lord and declare our faith with our lips. The action of being saved,
spoken of here, comes from the Greek word sozo, which also means to be
healed, preserved, and rescued. Paul specifically meant in Romans 10 to be
saved from eternal death and separation from God because of our sins. In earlier
parts of this passage, Paul stated Moses wrote about a righteousness that comes
from the law if the Israelites had lived according to God’s laws. Yet, the laws
only served to prove humanity’s unrighteousness because they are sinful. People
cannot make themselves righteous. Only God’s power and mercy can make people
righteous. (Romans 9). So, God made a way for people to be made just or right
with Him. He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for the penalty of each
person’s sins, so they would be made right with Him. People only must believe
in their hearts and confess with their mouths Jesus is Lord to be saved.
To take this to 2 Corinthians 1 then, how does this correlate?
Consider what Paul said in verse 9-10. He said, “We expected to die. But as a
result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God,
who raises the dead. And He did rescue us from mortal danger and will rescue us
again.” (NLT) Paul used the word “rescue” in 2 Corinthians 1 like he used the
word “save” in Romans 10. God is the only One who can rescue us from sin,
trials, temptations, and persecutions. As we are to testify of God’s rescuing
us from sin and death by belief in Jesus with our words and actions, so we are
to testify of God’s rescuing us from trials, temptations, and persecutions. Paul’s
testimony in 2 Corinthians 1 stated he stopped relying on himself because he had
no power to end his suffering. When he realized he was powerless, he said he
relied on God who raises the dead. Just as Jesus rose from the dead, Paul
stated God could rescue him from danger. Paul gave a verbal testimony to God’s
saving him while on earth.
Consider Romans 10 and 2 Corinthians 1 further. Paul told
the Romans to do more than trust in a God. He told them to believe in God’s Son
for their salvation. This heart action of belief leads to physical action.
Believers in Jesus are to profess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord-your Master
and the One who rules your life. A Lord tells you where to go, what to do, and
what to say. Christians are people who believe Jesus is the Son of God
who died for our sins and the One whom God resurrected from the dead. They are
to confess with their mouths out loud, so all people hear He is the
Lord. With 2 Corinthians 1, Paul taught followers of Jesus are to live their
lives obeying Him. Being a child of God requires heart and head belief
that leads to professing that belief and living out one’s faith. His
reliance on God to rescue him from trials and persecution gave him a physical,
lived-out testimony of his faith in God to save him.
What are some reasons we are to act out our belief in Jesus Christ?
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 1? He said in verses six through seven,
When we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us. (NLT)
We act out our belief in Jesus so others will praise God
with us. (vs. 11) We act our belief, too, so other people will grow because they
saw how God intervened in our lives and how we grew through it. By acting out our belief in Jesus, people will
receive comfort at God’s intervention when they face trials; they will remember
God’s faithfulness and stand firm in their own faith. Besides these reasons,
living out our faith will give a testimony to unbelievers about Jesus so they might
give their lives to Him, too. In essence, God allows trials to grow and comfort
us, and, as a domino effect, comfort and strengthen others when they go through
them. Additionally, trials could lead people to Christ. Proclaiming God’s
provision, saving, comforting, guiding, etc. must occur. One cannot experience
these things, recognize God did them, and not proclaim about God. It’s like the
Jewish understanding of “to hear”. Once you hear something, it requires an
action-to act or not to act. Once God works in our lives, we are impelled to
tell what He did.
One other point we must remember; God gives promises to us
by which we can stand firm in our faith. We can gain strength as we remember
God’s promises to His children and remember how He has helped His children in
the past. The hope given because of these verses helps us to stand strong when
we face trials. The verses below are a brief list of some of God’s promises.
Exodus 14:14 “The Lord Himself will
fight for you. Just stay calm.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 & Hebrews 13:5
“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them.
For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you
nor abandon you.”
Isaiah 40:29 “He gives power to the
weak and strength to the powerless.”
Isaiah 40:31 “But those who trust
in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles.”
Isaiah 41:10 “Don’t be afraid, for
I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.”
Isaiah 41:13 “For I hold you by your
right hand-I, the LORD your God. And, I say to you, don’t be afraid. I am here
to help you.”
Isaiah 43:2 “When you go through
deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you
will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppressions, you will not be
burned up; the flames will not consume you.”
Isaiah 54:17 “But in that coming
day, no weapon turned again you will succeed. You will silence every voice
raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the
LORD; their vindication will come from me. I, the LORD, have spoken!”
Matthew 11:28-30 “Then Jesus said,
‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and
gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to
bear, and the burden I give you is light.’”
John 16:33 “I (Jesus) have told you
all this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many
trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Romans 8:17 “And since we are His
children, we are heirs. In fact, together with Christ, we are heirs of God’s
glory. But if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering.
Romans 8:35 & 37 “Can anything ever
separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have
trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger,
or threatened with death?” 37 “No, despite all these things,
overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 “The
temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God
is faithful. He will not allow the temptations to be more than you can stand.
When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “All praise to
God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the
source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort
others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God
has given us.”
Philippians 4:19 “And this same God
who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which
have been given to us in Christ Jesus.”
1 Peter 5:10 “In His kindness, God
called you to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So, after
you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you,
and He will place you on a firm foundation.”
So, what’s the point here? Obviously, the point is we will
go through trials to grow us. More still, we will go through trials so other
people can hear about and understand how we went through them with God’s
leading, comforting, and providing a way and, thereby, grow and receive comfort
themselves. Added to this, our trials serve to lead other people to Christ. As
we go through these trials, we can know we are not alone, but God is with us.
He promises He is with us and will give us the strength needed to get through
that time.
At the start of this article, we read about two gates. Now
you’ve had time to consider, which gate will you choose to open and enter? Will
you open the gate that appears to promise green fields and beautiful flowers,
but without assurance of life? Or, will you choose the second gate not knowing
exactly where it will lead, but knowing you will live? You now realize God
leads the person who enters the second gate and He will protect, provide, and
guide that person. Which gate will you choose-assurance of life or seeming
beauty in life?
Some people wonder why Christians would choose to follow
Jesus because He seems to take the fun away from life by not allowing you to
drink, do drugs, gamble, or live your life any way you want. Other people see
Christians who professed faith in Jesus, but the activities of their lives
haven’t changed. They wonder why they would want to become a Christian if they
see no difference between that “Christians” life and their own life. Besides
these, people look at obedient Jesus-following Christians who willingly change
careers, move to other countries, and/or refuse to keep living their old way. They
question why these Christians willingly give up good jobs, family, and fun
lives just to follow a person they cannot see. These people, all people, need
to see and hear our professions of faith put into action. They need to hear not
just our conversion testimony, but our testimonies of how God led us through
hard times, comforted us, and grew us. These watchers need to see and understand
why you chose Jesus, continue to follow Him, and the results of that. Some people
will never trust in Jesus. Yet, other people will after having seen the comfort,
guidance, and protection God gives His children. At this point, these people
will give their lives to Jesus. They will join others over generations who
“give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our
safety,” provision, guidance, encouragement, and growth. (2 Corinthians 1:11
[NLT]) Then these people will come to know God and grow in Him because of our faith
in, professing about and obedience to God.
With God, we are assured of life.
Without God, what we see won’t be what we get.
Everybody gets to decide whether they will believe in Jesus,
profess He is the Son of God, and obey Him. God loves us and gives us free
will. Today, if you are not a professing Christian, you get to choose which
gate you will open, the one with green fields and beautiful flowers, but no
guidance or assurance, or the one with assurances Almighty God will lead,
protect, provide, and comfort. If you have professed faith in Jesus Christ for
salvation, but that was the last thing you did in your Christian walk, today
God asks you to walk with Him, obey Him, and grow with Him. You will be
rewarded in yourself and other people will receive comfort, praise God, and/or
come to know Jesus as their Savior, too.
Jesus has overcome the world, so you don’t need to be afraid to live out your testimony. (John 16:33 [NLT])
No matter what we go through on earth, God will glorify His
children by faith with Jesus in heaven because we are co-heirs with Him.
(Romans 8:17)
In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:9 [NLT])
As for me, I choose to rely God who raises the dead.
Who will you choose to walk with through life’s easy
and hard times?
Lord, you know me. I get caught up in whatever I am
doing, fighting the fight and struggling, then I forget You are there for me. I
struggle hard and only when I come to the last of my strength do I remember You
are waiting for me to let you fight the battle with me. You are my strength. You
are might rock. You said to share the yoke with You, and I forgot. Please
forgive me for trying to live in my own strength. Forgive me for forgetting I
don’t have to fight my battles alone. Forgive me for forgetting You. You are almighty,
gracious, faithful, and loving. Nothing can defeat You. Please help me remember
when I get caught up in my life You are always there for me. Thank you for
loving me when I forget You or sin against You. Thank you for having a plan for
me. In whom will I fear? No one, God. You are greatest of all. Amen.
