II Corinthians 10
10
The Spiritual War
1Now #Rom. 12:1I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—#1 Thess. 2:7who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you. 2But I beg you #1 Cor. 4:21; 2 Cor. 13:2, 10that when I am present I may not be bold with that confidence by which I intend to be bold against some, who think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. 3For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4#Eph. 6:13For the weapons #1 Cor. 9:7; (2 Cor. 6:7); 1 Tim. 1:18of our warfare are not carnal but #Acts 7:22mighty in God #Jer. 1:10; (2 Cor. 10:8; 13:10)for pulling down strongholds, 5#1 Cor. 1:19casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6#2 Cor. 13:2, 10and being ready to punish all disobedience when #2 Cor. 7:15your obedience is fulfilled.
Reality of Paul’s Authority
7#(John 7:24); 2 Cor. 5:12Do you look at things according to the outward appearance? #1 Cor. 1:12; 14:37If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ’s, let him again consider this in himself, that just as he is Christ’s, even so #(Rom. 14:8); 1 Cor. 3:23we are Christ’s. 8For even if I should boast somewhat more #2 Cor. 13:10about our authority, which the Lord gave us for edification and not for your destruction, #2 Cor. 7:14I shall not be ashamed— 9lest I seem to terrify you by letters. 10“For his letters,” they say, “are weighty and powerful, but #1 Cor. 2:3, 4; 2 Cor. 12:7; Gal. 4:13his bodily presence is weak, and his #(1 Cor. 1:17); 2 Cor. 11:6speech contemptible.” 11Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such we will also be in deed when we are present.
Limits of Paul’s Authority
12#2 Cor. 5:12For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. 13#2 Cor. 10:15We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us—a sphere which especially includes you. 14For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), #1 Cor. 3:5, 6for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ; 15not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, #Rom. 15:20in other men’s labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere, 16to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s sphere of accomplishment.
17But #Is. 65:16; Jer. 9:24; 1 Cor. 1:31“he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.” 18For #Prov. 27:2not he who commends himself is approved, but #Rom. 2:29; (1 Cor. 4:5)whom the Lord commends.
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II Corinthians 10: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
2 Corinthians 10
10
Paul Defends His Ministry
1I, Paul, am begging you with the gentleness and the kindness of Christ. Some people say that I am easy on you when I am with you and strict when I am away. 2They think that we live in a worldly way. I plan to be very strict against them when I come. I beg you that when I come I will not need to use that same strictness with you. 3We do live in the world. But we do not fight in the same way that the world fights. 4We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God. These weapons can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy men’s arguments. 5And we destroy every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ. 6We are ready to punish anyone there who does not obey. But first we want you to obey fully.
7You must look at the facts before you. If anyone feels sure that he belongs to Christ, then he must remember that we belong to Christ just as he does. 8It is true that we brag freely about the authority the Lord gave us. But he gave us this authority to strengthen you, not to hurt you. So I will not be ashamed of the bragging we do. 9I don’t want you to think that I am trying to scare you with my letters. 10Some people say, “Paul’s letters are powerful and sound important. But when he is with us, he is weak. And his speaking is nothing.” 11They should know this: We are not there with you now, so we say these things in letters. But when we are there with you, we will show the same authority that we show in our letters.
12We do not dare to put ourselves in the same group with those who think that they are very important. We do not compare ourselves to them. They use themselves to measure themselves, and they judge themselves by what they themselves are. This shows that they know nothing. 13But we will not brag about things outside the work that was given us to do. We will limit our bragging to the work that God gave us. And this work includes our work with you. 14We are not bragging too much. We would be bragging too much if we had not already come to you. But we have come to you with the Good News of Christ. 15We limit our bragging to the work that is ours. We do not brag in the work other men have done. We hope that your faith will continue to grow. And we hope that you will help our work to grow much larger. 16We want to tell the Good News in the areas beyond your city. We do not want to brag about work that has already been done in another man’s area. 17But, “If a person brags, he should brag only about the Lord.”# Quotation from Jeremiah 9:24. 18It is not the one who says he is good who is accepted but the one that the Lord thinks is good.
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.