Transcript

2 Corinthians 1-3: Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 1-2 GWT; Ch.3 NIRV

This is Epistles Sunday, and we’ll read 2 Corinthians 1-3. I’m calling this episode “What Is Forgiveness?”

Beloved, I have some news for you that you might find shocking. It might completely alter your world view. Maybe you should sit down. Ok. Take a deep breath. Brace yourself. 

You need to know that the church (and I’m not referring to one specific local church or even a denomination, I’m talking about all of the church, which is made up of all the believers) is made up of imperfect people. Oh. You knew that? Of course you did, because you know that whenever people are involved, there will be difficulties. People mess up. Sometimes there are what might be considered minor infractions and sometimes there will be major sins. Not really surprising, is it?

Do you remember back in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, Paul addressed a major sin that was happening there in the church at Corinth. There was a man who was married to his father’s wife. It was an incestuous relationship, and Paul chastised them for not dealing properly with the sin. In fact, they were not dealing with it at all. Paul even said that they were being arrogant about it. Accepting of it. He told them that they should remove the man from their fellowship. He said, “… hand such a person over to Satan to destroy his corrupt nature so that his spiritual nature may be saved on the day of the Lord.”

Do you remember that?

Ok. Good.

Are you aware that we Christians sometimes do that today? Thing is, as far as I know, it rarely happens in local churches. You know where it happens quite often? When a prominent, well known Christian’s sins become known. Then we ostracize him or her. We destroy them. We cast them out. 

Since I started podcasting, I have been blessed to have gotten to know several Christian recording artists pretty well. And I have heard more than once how this person or that person lost a career because the church found out about a sin in their life. 

You say, “Well, Steve. Isn’t that what Paul told the Corinthians to do? Isn’t that the Biblical thing to do?”

Let’s take a look at chapter two from our reading today. In the first four verses, Paul reminds them of the fact that he told them that he had wanted to visit them. But then he said that he didn’t come because he was distressed at the situation with the incestuous man. His previous writing to them about this was done tearfully, and he was deeply troubled and anguished.

Is that how we feel when we find sin in the life of someone we hold in high esteem? I’m not so sure. 

And then Paul goes on here in chapter two to say that “The majority of you have imposed a severe enough punishment on that person.“ It’s enough. 

So now what? Paul continues. “So now forgive and comfort him. Such distress could overwhelm someone like that if he’s not forgiven and comforted. That is why I urge you to assure him that you love him.” 

Let that person know that you still love him. Don’t let him become overwhelmed. Why? Because then the enemy has a chance to come in and keep him from being restored.

How many times have we seen this happen with those “famous” Christians I referred to earlier? 

Beloved, I have seen that happen to more than one person, because we don’t take the extra step of reaching out to them once they have dealt with the sin. We continue to rub their noses in it. We don’t forgive them. It’s shameful. 

How can we claim to represent a loving God who is faithful and just to forgive if we don’t forgive? How can we expect to be forgiven for our sins if we won’t forgive the sins of others?

The reason we rebuke the brother or sister who is sinning is not to get a notch on our belt. It is to bring them to repentance and back into fellowship, first with God, and then with us.

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Transcript corrected by Sister Denise

Steve Webb 0:00
Maybe you should sit down. Take a deep breath. Brace yourself.

Steve Webb 0:11
It’s the Lifespring! One Year Bible, and podcasting since 2004, I’m your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. This is Epistle Sunday and we’ll read 2 Corinthians, chapters 1 through 3, and I’m calling the episode “What Is Forgiveness?” Also being Sunday we’ll share prayer requests before the end of the show. Now before we read, let’s ask God to bless this time. Heavenly Father, we come to you now thanking you for your Word. And we do pray that you would take this time of reading and study to teach us. Open our hearts, Lord. Open our eyes. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. All right, let’s begin.

Steve Webb 0:50
2 Corinthians, chapter 1. From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and from Timothy our brother. To God’s church in the city of Corinth and to all God’s holy people everywhere in Greece. Good will and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus are yours! Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He is the Father who is compassionate and the God who gives comfort. He comforts us whenever we suffer. That is why whenever other people suffer, we are able to comfort them by using the same comfort we have received from God. Because Christ suffered so much for us, we can receive so much comfort from him. Besides, if we suffer, it brings you comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, we can effectively comfort you when you endure the same sufferings that we endure. We have confidence in you. We know that as you share our sufferings, you also share our comfort. Brothers and sisters, we don’t want you to be ignorant about the suffering we experienced in the province of Asia. It was so extreme that it was beyond our ability to endure. We even wondered if we could go on living. In fact, we still feel as if we’re under a death sentence. But we suffered so that we would stop trusting ourselves and learn to trust God, who brings the dead back to life. He has rescued us from a terrible death, and he will rescue us in the future. We are confident that he will continue to rescue us, since you are also joining to help us when you pray for us. Then many people will thank God for the favor he will show us because many people prayed for us. We are proud that our conscience is clear. We are proud of the way that we have lived in this world. We have lived with a God-given holiness  and sincerity, especially toward you. It was not by human wisdom that we have lived but by God’s kindness. We are only writing you what you already knew before you read this. I hope you will understand this as long as you live, even though you now understand it only partially. We are your reason to be proud, as you will be our reason to be proud on the day of our Lord Jesus. Confident of this, I had previously wanted to visit you so that you could benefit twice. My plans had been to go from the city of Corinth to the province of Macedonia. Then from Macedonia I had planned to return to you again in Corinth and have you support my trip to Judea. You don’t think that I made these plans lightly, do you? Do you think that when I make plans, I make them in a sinful way? Why would I say that something is true when it isn’t? You can depend on God. Our message to you isn’t false; it’s true. God’s Son, Jesus Christ, whom I, Silvanus, and Timothy told you about, was true not false. Because of him our message was always true. Certainly, Christ made God’s many promises come true. For that reason, because of our message, people also honor God by saying, “Amen!” God establishes us, together with you, in a relationship with Christ. He has also anointed us. In addition, he has put his seal of ownership on us and has given us the Spirit as his guarantee. I appeal to God as a witness on my behalf, that I stayed away from Corinth because I wanted to spare you. It isn’t that we want to have control over your Christian faith. Rather, we want to work with you so that you will be happy. Certainly, you are firmly established in the Christian faith.

Steve Webb 4:29
2 Corinthians, chapter 2. I decided not to visit you again while I was distressed. After all, if I had made you uncomfortable, how could you have cheered me up when you were uncomfortable? This is the very reason I wrote to you. I didn’t want to visit you and be distressed by those who should make me happy. I’m confident about all of you that whatever makes me happy also makes you happy. I was deeply troubled and anguished. In fact, I had tears in my eyes when I wrote to you. I didn’t write to make you uncomfortable but to let you know how much I love you. If someone caused distress, I’m not the one really affected. To some extent—although I don’t want to emphasize this too much—it has affected all of you. The majority of you have imposed a severe enough punishment on that person. So now forgive and comfort him. Such distress could overwhelm someone like that if he’s not forgiven and comforted. That is why I urge you to assure him that you love him. I had also written to you to test you. I wanted to see if you would be obedient in every way. If you forgive someone, so do I. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did in the presence of Christ for your benefit. I don’t want Satan to outwit us. After all, we are not ignorant about Satan’s scheming. When I went to the city of Troas, the Lord gave me an opportunity to spread the Good News about Christ. But I didn’t have any peace of mind, because I couldn’t find Titus, our brother, there. So I said goodbye to the people in Troas and went to the province of Macedonia. But I thank God, who always leads us in victory because of Christ. Wherever we go, God uses us to make clear what it means to know Christ. It’s like a fragrance that fills the air. To God we are the aroma of Christ among those who are saved and among those who are dying. To some people we are a deadly fragrance, while to others we are a life-giving fragrance. Who is qualified to tell about Christ? At least we don’t go around selling an impure word of God like many others. The opposite is true. As Christ’s spokesmen and in God’s presence, we speak the pure message that comes from God.

Steve Webb 6:52
2 Corinthians, chapter 3. Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Some people need letters that speak well of them. Do we need those kinds of letters, either to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter. You are written on our hearts. Everyone knows you and reads you. You make it clear that you are a letter from Christ. You are the result of our work for God. You are a letter written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. You are a letter written not on tablets made out of stone but on human hearts. Through Christ, we can be sure of this because of our faith in God’s power. In ourselves we are not able to claim anything for ourselves. The power to do what we do comes from God. He has given us the power to serve under a new covenant. The covenant is not based on the written Law of Moses. It comes from the Holy Spirit. The written Law kills, but the Spirit gives life. The Law was written in letters on stone. Even though it was a way of serving God, it led to death. But even that way of serving God came with glory. And even though the glory was fading, the people of Israel couldn’t look at Moses’ face very long. Since all of that is true, won’t the work of the Holy Spirit be even more glorious? The Law that sentences people to death is glorious. How much more glorious is the work of the Spirit! His work makes people right with God. The glory of the old covenant is nothing compared with the far greater glory of the new. The glory of the old is fading away. How much greater is the glory of the new! It will last forever. Since we have that kind of hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses. He used to cover his face with a veil. That was to keep the people of Israel from looking at his face while the brightness was fading away. But their minds were made stubborn. To this very day, the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. The veil has not been removed. Only faith in Christ can take it away. To this very day, when the Law of Moses is read, a veil covers the minds of those who hear it. But when anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Holy Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, freedom is also there. Our faces are not covered with a veil. We all display the Lord’s glory. We are being changed to become more like him so that we have more and more glory. And the glory comes from the Lord, who is the Holy Spirit.

Steve Webb 9:32
Beloved, I’ve got some news for you that you might find shocking. It might completely alter your worldview. Maybe you should sit down. Okay? Take a deep breath. Brace yourself. I need you to know that the church and I’m not referring to one specific local church or even a denomination. I’m talking about all of the church which is made up of all the believers. Anyway. The church is made up of imperfect people. Oh, you knew that? Of course, you did because you know that whenever people are involved, there’s going to be difficulties. None of us is perfect. People mess up. Sometimes there are what we might consider to be minor infractions. And sometimes there are major sins. But that’s not surprising, is it? Do you remember back in 1 Corinthians, chapter 5? Paul addressed a major sin that was happening there in the church at Corinth. There was a man there who was married to his father’s wife, it was an incestuous relationship, and Paul chastised them for not dealing properly with the sin. In fact, they were not dealing with it at all. Paul even said that they were being arrogant about it, accepting of it. He told them that they should remove the man from the fellowship. He said, “Hand such a person over to Satan to destroy his corrupt nature so that his spiritual nature may be saved on the day of the Lord.” Remember that? Good. Are you aware that we as Christians sometimes do that today? Thing is, as far as I know, it rarely happens in local churches. You know, where it happens quite often? When a prominent well-known Christian’s sins become known. Then we ostracize him or her, we destroy them, we cast them out. Since I started podcasting, I’ve been blessed to have gotten to know several Christian recording artists pretty well. And because of the family that I married into, I probably know more than the average person does about some of the quote-unquote, famous pastors in the world today. And I’ve heard more than once how this person or that person lost a career or a ministry because the church found out about a sin in their life. You say, “Well, Steve, isn’t that what Paul told the Corinthians to do? Isn’t that the biblical thing to do?” Well, let’s take a look at chapter 2 from our reading today. In the first four verses, Paul reminds them of the fact that he told them that he had wanted to visit them, but then he said he didn’t come because he was distressed at the situation with the incestuous man. His previous writing to them about this was done tearfully, and he was deeply troubled, and he was anguished. Now, is that how we feel when we find sin in the life of someone we hold in high esteem? I have to say, I’m not so sure. And then Paul goes on here in chapter 2 to say that “The majority of you have imposed a severe enough punishment on that person.” It’s enough! So now what? Paul continues, “So now forgive and comfort him. Such distress could overwhelm someone like that if he’s not forgiven and comforted. That is why I urge you to assure him that you love him.” In other words, let that person know that you still love him. Don’t let him become overwhelmed. Why? Because then the enemy has a chance to come in and keep him from being restored. How many times have we seen this happen with these “famous Christians” I referred to earlier. Beloved, I’ve seen it happen to more than one person because we don’t take the extra step of reaching out to them, once they’ve dealt with the sin. We continue to rub their nose in it. We don’t forgive them, and it’s shameful. How can we claim to represent a loving God who is faithful and just to forgive us, if we don’t forgive? How can we expect to be forgiven for our sins, if we won’t forgive the sins of others? The reason we rebuke the brother or sister who’s sinning is not to get a notch on our belt. It’s to bring them to repentance and back into fellowship first with God and then with us. If you have comments, I’d love to hear them. Call the Lifespring Family Hotline at +1-951-732-8511, or go to comment.lifespringmedia.com or send me an email at st***@*************ia.com. I do read every comment and there’s a good chance I’ll play your audio comment or read your comment on the show. Tomorrow will be The Law Monday. We’ll read Exodus 13 through 16.

Steve Webb 14:15
Prayer requests. My wife, the Lovely Lady LeeAnn, has a cousin who asked for prayer. Some friends of his were in a terrible car accident. The husband was killed and the wife is in critical condition. Her name is Anne. Her husband’s name was Dale. We need to pray for Anne and the family. And also Kathi’s not been feeling at all well this week. For newer family members, Kathi and her husband Del have been friends of mine since we were in our teens. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in… when she was in her 20s and she’s battled various forms of cancer for at least thirty years and is currently undergoing a form of chemotherapy. She has brief periods of feeling relatively okay, and then times where she’s really quite sick. So we need to pray for Kathy and for Del. Let’s pray. Our heavenly Father, we thank you for inviting us to bring our prayer requests to you. And so now I bring Anne and her family to you now. Be with her as she’s in the hospital after this terrible accident. Father, she needs your touch. We know that our lives are always in your hands, but at times like this, we’re reminded just how true that is. If it’s your will, Lord, we ask you to heal her. We pray for her and Dale’s family that you would comfort and strengthen them. Hold them close. And if there are those in the family that don’t know you, I pray that through this, they would discover who you are. I pray, Lord, that You would make yourself known to them. You can take the worst of circumstances and make something beautiful. So we ask you to do that here, Lord. This family is in a great deal of pain right now. And I pray that you would do something wonderful through the tragedy. And I pray once more that you would touch Kathi. She’s in a rough patch right now, and I ask you to give her strength and energy, Lord, as you have done in the past. Help Del as he cares for her. I ask you, Lord to heal her body in Jesus’ name. And I know that there are some in the Lifespring family who are hurting for various reasons. You know each one of us, and so you know what the struggles are. I pray that you would be with each one and hold them in your loving arms. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Beloved, if you have a need that you’d like the Lifespring family to pray with you about or if you have a praise to share, let us know at +1-951-732-8511, or go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com. I’ll pray for you in my personal quiet time and we’ll pray together right here on the show, prayer.lifespringmedia.com.

Steve Webb 17:02
Thanks to the team: Kirsty, Denise, Michael Haner, Scott Snider, and Jason Paschall. God bless you guys. Until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb. Bye.

Announcer 17:17
The Lifespring! Media family of programs are made possible by the generous support of listeners like you. Thank you.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai