“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.” (2 Corinthians 10:15b-16a [NLT])
In 2 Corinthians 10, Paul taught about false teachers who sought
followers. One way these teachers gave for people to consider them worthy to heed
was by declaring how many followers they had. Paul countered this by saying in
verse eighteen, “When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The
important thing is for the Lord to commend them.”
In this chapter, Paul told the Corinthians his hope was for
their faith to grow so he could go out farther in the mission field to tell
other people the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This statement leads us to consider a
few things. Paul cared enough for the Corinthians that he wanted to make sure
they had a firmly established faith before he left them. He did not want to
leave too early and then these new Christians succumb to the deceptions of
Satan through false teachers. Paul wanted to make sure the Corinthians
understood their salvation by faith in Jesus Christ through God’s grace is
enough. He cared that they stood strong in the faith even when other teachers
tried to convince them of their own greatness and “prove” their legitimacy.
Paul wanted to make sure the Corinthians could stand firm in their faith.
With verses fifteen and sixteen, Paul showed he desired for other
people along with the Corinthians to know about Jesus so they, too, might
believe in Him and receive salvation from sin and death. He did not sit back,
pat himself on the back, and decide he had completed his task from God. Paul
did not consider rest his goal but taking the Gospel to each unbelieving person.
His goal was to be a bondservant to Christ, experience His mighty power, suffer
with Him, share in His death, and experience the resurrection from the dead
(Philippians 3:10-11 [NLT]). Paul’s job as a servant and redeemed child of God
was to tell everyone the Gospel, not just the Corinthians. He desired to go as
far as Rome and then onward. Paul said further in Philippians 3:12, his goal
was to “press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first
possessed me.” He only stopped preaching and teaching when he died. The only
commendation Paul sought was from the Lord. God’s commendation of him was the
important thing (2 Corinthians 10:18).
How does this relate to us? Why are these verses important
for us today? We need to consider if we have grown in our faith or if we have stagnated.
Have we listened to the Gospel, believed in Jesus Christ, heard God tell us His
task for us, and obediently begun doing as He told us? Being obedient to God
requires our continued growth in knowledge of and relationship with Him. It
requires daily communing with and obeying Him. This growth was so important
that Paul did not want to leave the Corinthians and go further abroad without
ensuring they could withstand the fiery darts and arrows of the evil one (Ephesians
6:16). How is your faith? Is it growing? Stagnating? Non-existent?
The other thing important for us to understand in these
verses is, like Paul, obeying God in one task does not mean we completed His
commission of us. Paul heard Jesus tell him He sent him to the Gentiles. Gentiles,
plural. Gentiles are all non-Jews. Every city, village, or town outside Israel
that was Gentile. Paul’s task was to keep on proclaiming the Gospel to the
Gentiles and anyone who would listen. Like Paul, when God tells us to tell
other people the Gospel, we have not completed the task the moment we speak the
last word of our Gospel testimony to one person or group of people. We do not
get to erase that task from our mental whiteboard. Jesus sent His disciples to
the world to share the Gospel, make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to
obey everything He commanded them (Matthew 28:16-20). Only upon the death of a
disciple is his or her job on earth done. Are you eagerly training the newest
converts and growing them to share the Gospel so you can go out further and
share the Gospel with more people, too?
In this brief passage, we see Paul’s heart. He cared for the
new believers enough not to leave them inadequately prepared to stand against
false teachers. Paul taught them until they had a firm foundation in Christ. He
desired to continue carrying out Jesus’ commission to him, too. Paul eagerly
desired to tell more people about the salvation Jesus Christ gives to anyone
who would believe in Him and who would confess and repent of his or her sins.
He loved God with his whole being. Paul loved people because of the love Jesus
put into his heart. He did not want anyone to die without knowing Jesus Christ
as his or her Savior.
Paul got it right; he loved God and loved his neighbor, even
if that neighbor lived a two-week boat journey away. He acted upon the love Jesus
put in his heart. Paul obeyed the commission Jesus gave him. His obedience to
Him showed his love for Him and the people Jesus loved. What does your life
show? Does it show your love for God? Are you obeying the commission God has
for you? Do you love other people enough to care about their eternal salvation?
Have you considered what others would say of your faith when you die? Would
they say, “He/she must have hated those people a lot because he/she did not
tell them about Jesus, and they were his/her neighbors?”
Now is the time to look earnestly at your heart, spirit, and
mind to decide how deeply you love God. Are
you mature enough to stand on your feet of faith so your own teacher can tell
other people about Jesus? Are you mature enough in your faith so you can begin
fulfilling the great commission of Jesus with your life because of your love
for Him? Do you love your neighbors enough to tell them the Gospel?
“When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.” (2 Corinthians 10:18 [NLT])
