Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Yesterday’s Journey Study connects with today’s!
Check out Praise You In My Pain!
The Questions
1) A conjunction at the beginning of a sentence indicates a connection point. What is Paul connecting together in verse 9 when he uses the word “but”?
2) What did God’s answer reveal about His ultimate purpose for Paul’s life, as well as His purpose for ours?
3) What does Paul mean when he says in his weakness he is strong?
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Original Intent
1) A conjunction at the beginning of a sentence indicates a connection point. What is Paul connecting together in verse 9 when he uses the word “but”?
In the previous chapters (10-11), Paul defends his authority as an apostle of Christ by referring to the trials and successes he had experienced. He does not boast for his own glory, but he apparently senses the need to remind the Corinthians of what makes his opinion credible. In the verses at the beginning of the chapter 12, he details a marvelous vision he had received from the Lord. But just in case they think he’s placing himself on some sort of spiritual pedestal, he includes in his account that he was also given a “thorn in the flesh” (verse 7). Although we are never explicitly told in scripture what Paul is referring to, we can confidently surmise it was some sort of trial he was experiencing in which he had prayed for relief (verse 8). The conjunction “but” connects Paul’s suffering with God’s answer.
Although the phrase “but God” (or something similar) appears many times in the Old and New Testaments to contrast the bad news of sin/suffering with the good news of God’s powerful sovereignty and rescue, “but He” in verse 9 precedes an answer that may not have been the one Paul was expecting to receive. It was however, the answer that led Paul to discover the deeper grace of the God he worshipped.
2) What did God’s answer reveal about His ultimate purpose for Paul’s life, as well as His purpose for ours?
“My grace is sufficient.” Did Paul have to wait days, or even years, to fully grasp the depth of the truth found in these four words? Commentator Albert Barnes gives us some insight into this, reminding us we don’t know the timing between Paul’s suffering, his request, and God’s answer. (studylight.org) What we do know is that at some point Paul accepted God’s answer. As we position these words within the context of his life, we have the benefit of a zoomed-out perspective. The gladness in Paul’s response reveals his heart of worship. He chose a lifetime of thankfulness even though he was bruised and battered by many hardships. (2 Corinthians 4:8-11). In Paul’s letters to the church at Corinth he rehearsed the reality of suffering several times, always emphasizing the sufficiency of God’s grace. (1 Corinthians 1:8-9; 10:13; 15:30-31; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, 11:23-30) His faith in God’s bigger purpose was the very essence of the gospel he had been set apart to proclaim. He wanted all people to know this grace so that God would be worshipped forever! 1 Timothy 2:7-8
3) What does Paul mean when he says in his weakness he is strong?
Paul reminds us many times that the weakness of his frame was meant to amplify the message of God’s grace. “Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.” I Corinthians 4:8
From Question 1 above, we see Paul connect two things that don’t typically fit together in today’s way of thinking. “Power” and “weakness” would not both be words on someone’s resume. Yet Paul makes it clear that his weakness was the very thing that demonstrated his strength because his strength was from God. Paul’s continual focus on the gospel reveals his heart to communicate that God chose to save sinners because of His grace. It has always been by God’s might and God’s power that we are saved and sustained in grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 Paul accepted God’s answer and he preached it to himself as he suffered. It’s as if verse 9 was the sermon and verse 10 is Paul’s worshipful response. Paul found pleasure in God’s ways! God had shown Himself to be more than enough in every way! 2 Corinthians 9:8
Everyday Application
1) A conjunction at the beginning of a sentence indicates a connection point. What is Paul connecting together in verse 9 when he uses the word “but”?
When we see faith lived out during trials and suffering, we can either walk away angry at God or awed by Him. Paul ultimately chose awe. In the Old Testament story of Job, we find a different story play out. Though Job’s friends attempted to comfort him, they eventually talked too much and their speculative opinions about God’s purpose in suffering was skewed. Their responses contained many inaccuracies about why God allows people to suffer. (Job 42:7) When we connect Paul’s response with his request (12:8), it indicates he had chosen to rest in the answer (or to some, a non-answer) he was given by God. Paul had asked for relief from his suffering, “but [God] said” instead of healing, His presence and power would be enough to sustain him through it. As we walk through difficult days, we may also call out to God for rescue. The psalmists sure did! (Psalms 40, 69, 80). But if we receive an answer we didn’t hope for, we can pray for the kind of faith response that will eventually lead us to say: Your will, God, not mine.
2) What did God’s answer reveal about His ultimate purpose for Paul’s life, as well as His purpose for ours?
Paul saw his suffering as part of his sanctification (ie: “the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.” Westminster Shorter Catechism). As he came to the realization that he would not be released from this particular burden, Paul had come to know that the power of God’s grace was able to sustain him through it. Walking through the trial would best serve God’s purpose this time instead of being removed from it. God’s foundational purpose for creating us and saving us is that we would reveal His glory so that all would worship Him. Sometimes God’s answer for us is simply: “I AM ENOUGH.” And that answer requires faith and trust on our part. “And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” (Hymn, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus)
3) What does Paul mean when he says in his weakness he is strong?
James Boice wrote, “If you understand the two words ‘but God’ they will save your soul. If you recall them daily and live by them, they will transform your life completely.” Often, we find paradox in scripture, two seemingly contrasting ideas. We especially notice it in the gospel message. We die to live. We get low to be raised up. And here, we see that we are strong when we are weak. These two verses (9-10) begin with “but” and end in “I am strong”. Verse 10 says Paul’s pleasure in his sufferings was all due to Christ, His Redeemer. We don’t really know what Paul’s thorn was, but Paul’s thorn itself was never really the point. Given the various possibilities, we can make Paul’s situation applicable today. We can all identify with Paul in some way or another, whether it’s a season of trial or personal physical suffering. Along with Paul, we can pursue a thankful heart. Our worship comes when we make our way to our inner sanctuary, the place of soul rest. “When I tried to understand all this, it seemed hopeless, until I entered God’s sanctuary.” (Psalm 73:16-17)
It’s in that place where God reveals that His grace is more than enough to strengthen and sustain us in our weakest moments!
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Missing the connection to our other Journey Study?
Catch up with Praise You In My Pain.
Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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