Scripture Reading(s)
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
5:20b We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
6:1 As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain.
6:2 For he says, “At an acceptable time I have listened to you, and on a day of salvation I have helped you.” See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation!
6:3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,
6:4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities,
6:5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;
6:6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love,
6:7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;
6:8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;
6:9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see–we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed;
6:10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Reflections
Being in full-time ministry is no easy task. Even those who are called to it will admit to hardships and trails throughout the course of their time serving. However, there is no price to high when it comes to spreading the message of the gospel and accepting it. Regardless of the opposition Paul faced he still pressed on; urgently seeking to tell his audience that now is the time to accept the message of salvation.
Paul’s testimony is what drives his point home because he along with others who were serving would have endured things like beatings, imprisonment, sleepless nights, hunger and so on if the message of the gospel was not true and worth spreading.
The main lesson that we can learn here is not to back down when it comes to standing up for Christ. Our lives are to be breathing and walking testimonies of what Christ did for us. At the end of these verses we see how Paul had went from being in a position of power and driving in fear in the heart of Christians to loosing all that for the sake of becoming a follower of Christ and spreading that message. In Christ we have all that we need.
There is no doubt the Paul and his fellow workers in the gospel endured much hardship. How did they survive such treatment? “By purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love,truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left.”
Ask Christians we have a very different toolset than the rest of the world. While they may slander us and cause us harm, we are armed with the power of God and the ability to change a heart with the gospel. No man or woman has excepted the grace of God by force. Rather, they see the goodness of God and accept it freely. This goodness is to be represented by us.
In all circumstances we must hold fast to righteousness, love, patience, and peace, for these are the weapons of the gospel that will bring victory upon the earth.
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