"So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy" - Romans 9:16
Paul continues describing the blessings of being a giver. God enjoys giving to generous people so that they can continue to give to those in need. Paul makes it clear that giving should not be done in order to gain God’s blessing but should be done as an expression of love for others. If we enjoy giving to others then God promises to supply our needs so that we can continue being generous.
Paul had been asking the churches he was visiting to give to the poor saints in Jerusalem and he uses the example of the Macedonians sacrificial giving to motivate the Corinthians to complete the offering that they had begun collecting a year before. This passage paints a picture of the kind of Christian giving that God loves and blesses.
Paul had previously written a harsh letter to the Corinthians in which he reprimanded them of the sins that was occurring in the church. He knew that writing this letter risked alienating the Corinthians but in this chapter Paul states that he did not regret writing the letter because of the results that it produced in the Corinthians, including repentance and a new zeal for the things of God.
In this lesson’s text, Paul expresses how that he had not limited the love that he had for the Corinthians and he urges them to reciprocate. He then warns them of the danger of yoking themselves with unbelievers because it would restrict their ability to serve God. Paul urges them to separate themselves from the world and anything that would negatively influence their ability to please God.
Paul has been talking about the things that we can only see through faith and he now discusses a new body that we will receive after the death of our mortal bodies. We may not be able to see this promise now but we trust that God will keep His promise to give us a body capable of being eternally in His presence. We will then be rewarded for what we did in our mortal bodies at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
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