2 Corinthians 5:12-17 For we commend not ourselves again to you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf… 1. St. Paul has been magnifying his ministry. It had been, he says, a ministry of the Spirit, not of the letter (2 Corinthians 3:6). Its authority had been that of the truth (2 Corinthians 4:2). It had been a suffering and a martyr ministry (2 Corinthians 4:8, 9, 10); representative, too, of Christ in word and deed (2 Corinthians 4:5 and 2 Corinthians 4:10); unworldly (2 Corinthians 5:2, 8, 9); and persuasive (2 Corinthians 5:11). 2. But when a man speaks thus, we are apt to call it boasting, and Paul anticipates such a charge (2 Corinthians 3:1; 2 Corinthians 5:12). "You say you commend yourself to our consciences. Now if all this is so plain, why commend yourself?" The reply is: "I do not commend myself for my own sake." It is not a personal boast. It is the only possible reply to those who require a ministry with splendid external credentials, instead of the inward witness of the heart (2 Corinthians 5:12). I. THE APOSTLE'S DEFENCE OF HIS SELF-APPROVAL. It was founded on two reasons. 1. We "give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart." The false teachers gloried "in appearance," in outward demonstration, such as eloquence or spiritual gifts. On the contrary, St. Paul says that the true apostolic credentials are those of the heart — his truth, sufferings, simplicity, boldness, and his life as being an image of Christ's. This corresponds with the fact that Christian ministers are prophets, not priests. The priest said: "I am ordained God's messenger: therefore, what I say is to be received." The prophet said: "What I say is truth; therefore, I am to be received as from God." Consequently, the priest was always heard; the prophet's words were rarely believed till he was slain: and this because men glory in appearances, not in heart. Now St. Paul's credentials were those of the heart (2 Corinthians 4:2). "First, we declare our message, and from it we deduce our apostleship." This is the Christian ministry. 2. "Whether we be beside ourselves it is to God," etc. (1) The apostle's defence might seem like that of one deranged, as once before it appeared to Festus. "Well," said St. Paul, "we adopt the words 'beside ourselves.' Be it so! it is for God's cause. We boast of our qualifications for the sake of God, to whom they all belong." Or again, "Whether we be sober" — that is, restrain ourselves — our moderation is an example of humility to you. (2) There are, then, cases in which it is wise for a Christian to vindicate himself; there are others in which it is wiser to remain silent. It is sometimes false humility, and moderation, to lie under an undenied slur on our character or our words. Samuel vindicated himself, "Whose ox have I taken?" etc. On the other hand, some charges are delicate, complicated, and shadowy, that public defence leaves the matter worse than before. It is better, then, to let time and character defend you. For there are cases in which dignified silence is the Christian's only defence. So it was in our Saviour's life. II. THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF LIFE WITH WHICH THE APOSTLE'S SELF-APPROVAL WAS CONNECTED. 1. Love, the main principle of Christian life. Christian liberty is a loving servitude to God. Just as if a slave were made free, and then felt himself bound in gratitude to toil with tenfold vigour for a master whom he loved instead of fearing; or just as the mother is the slave to her sick child, and would do almost impossibilities, not because it is her duty, but because she loves her child; so the whole moral law is abrogated to us as a law, because obedience to it is ensured in the spirit. 2. The law of redeemed humanity, "If one died for all, then all died." There are two kinds of death — one in sin, before redemption; the other to sin, which is redemption. Here it is of the death to sin. If one died as the representative of all, then in that death all died. This is the great thought throughout this Epistle. Every Christian is dead in Christ's death, and risen in Christ's resurrection. 3. The new aspect of humanity in Christ, "a new creation." A Christian is human nature revolutionised (2 Corinthians 5:17). (F. W. Robertson, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart. |
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