Paul herein explains the reason that he changed his itinerary from that which he had laid out to another. And this will close our first adventure in the 2Corinthians letter.
2Corinthians 1:15-22, 23-24 "And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit; And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judaea. When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay? But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed(G5548) us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth. Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand." (KJV)
2Corinthians 1:15-22, 23-24 "Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say "Yes, yes" and "No, no" at the same time? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed(G5548) us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith." (ESV)
2Corinthians 1:15-22, 23-24 "In looking forward to celebrating our mutual joy, my initial plan was to come to you first before going anywhere else. We wanted you to enjoy the double blessing of our visit. We were really looking forward to seeing again on our return from Macedonia and then to being escorted by you on our trip to Judea. It is not our style to hesitate between two opinions. We have no desire to make promises that we cannot keep. When we said yes to you we did not mean, no! GOD's certainity is our persuasion; there is no maybe in him! The Son of GOD, Jesus Christ, whom I, Paul, Sylvanus, and Timothy boldly announced in you, is GOD's ultimate yes to "you-manity." Jesus is GOD's Yes to you! ALL, Human life is associated in all that he is. In GOD's mind there exists not even a hint of hesitation about this! (Look at 2Corinthians 3:4) In hin the detail of every single promise of GOD is fulfilled; Jesus is GOD's yes to your entire well being! In our union with him the Amen that echoes in us all gives evidence to his glorious intent through us. GOD himself authorizes our oneness with you Christ. He is our anointing! (The word G5548, χρίω chriō, means to smear or rub with oil, to anoint.) His personal signet signature is the official stamp that sanctions the integrity of our ministry to you; this is the seal of the Spirit in our hearts.
So GOD is my witness in this; I did not break my promise to you. The only reason i did not come to Corinth was to spare you the embarrassment. I am not your faith-monitor! I am your co-worker and I am jealous for your joy! You stand on your own feet in your faith!" (The Mirror)
In our next visit we shall be moving on into chapter 2 the LORD willing. Until then may he increase your faith in his gospel message of his and our union.
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