Chapter 12

This type of passage goes from the more grace life to the supergrace life. Here is where faithfulness to the Word of God, faithfulness to the principle of GAP, pays tremendous dividends — to be in a type of suffering which is so totally hopeless and hurts so badly that there is apparently no answer to it, except to pray for it to be taken away. When a person like the apostle Paul who underwent so many different categories of suffering actually prays to take something away, then it really has to hurt. And whatever it is it hurts a lot more than everything mentioned in the latter part of the last chapter. None of those things did Paul ask to be taken from him. They were the most awful type of pressures that one could imagine and yet he did not even squeak once. But something actually happened to him that was so bad and so horrible to Paul, and which hurt him so much, that he not only prayed about this once believing but three times believing that God had to take it away, it was more than he could bear. The thorn in the flesh is not suffering, it is super suffering. It is super suffering which is met by supergrace.

The second sentence in verse 1 is really where the chapter should begin. He is now going to boast in an experience greater than anyone else has ever had in GAPing it. The apostle Paul actually received more revelation under unusual circumstances than anyone who ever lived. He also died, went to heaven, took a graduate course in theology, and came back! He went into reversionism, recovered, then he died later on.

“I will come” — the future active indicative of e)rxomai indicates that up to now he hadn’t arrive. He just made claims that tear everyone to bits, especially the Judaisers. But this word in the future tense says, ‘Look, I haven’t even arrived yet, I haven’t even got to the big point.’ When he went through all of the floggings, the near drownings, the pirates, the mobs in the cities, the hunger, etc. he hadn’t even got started. ‘Now I am really going to hit you with some good old fashioned Holy Spirit boasting.’ “I will come” means ‘I will arrive at my point here.’

“to visions” — the Judaisers always claimed that they had a vision from God but Paul had the real thing. This is e)ij plus the accusative plural o)ptasia. The word comes from o)ptoj, meaning the eyes. It refers to an individual who is in a state of ecstatics and they are seeing unusual things; to be, as it were, a one person audience in a state of total ecstatics and to receive doctrine under those conditions. That is what a vision really is. There are none of these any more, however. John was the last to have a vision.

“and revelations” — the accusative plural of a)pokaluyij. This is the teaching end.

Translation: “I will arrive at visions, even revelations from the source of the Lord.”

Verse 2 — now Paul begins in an autobiographical way with the fact that he died and he had a super vision. “I knew” — the perfect of o)ida used as a present tense for the function of the frame of reference. He is pulling out of memory centre an autobiographical incident to introduce the phenomenal content of doctrine in his soul.

“a man” — a)nqrwpoj, he is referring to himself generically as a member of the human race, and he is actually going to refer to the stoning incident at Lystra — Acts 14:19,20; 2 Corinthians 11:25.

“above fourteen years ago” — Paul was writing 2 Corinthians in 57 AD, the Lystra incident was in 43 AD; “in Christ” — e)n plus the locative indicating positional truth. While he knew that he was in Christ, here was a super ecstatic experience that went with dying grace. In Paul’s case the stoning to death was not the sin unto death but it was very similar to the visions he had experienced in Arabia and at other times.

“whether in the body” — he is conscious but dead; “I cannot tell” — he is very alert, his mind is clear. He has the same experience he had in a vision but he can’t tell if it is in the body or outside of the body. The word ‘out’ is the adverb e)ktoj and it means outside. ‘I cannot tell’ is o)uk plus o)ida and it should be, ‘I do not know.’

“God knoweth” — that means that God was present in this thing: o( qeoj knows.

“such an one — the demonstrative pronoun toioutoj indicates that he is still talking about himself. It refers to one previously alluded to in context, Paul is still talking about being killed under the stones at Lystra.

“caught up” — aorist active participle a)rpazw. This means to be snatched up by force; “to the third heaven” — a descriptive genitive. Why the third heaven? The first heaven is the atmosphere around the earth, the second is the abode of angels beyond earth’s atmosphere. The third heaven is the abode of God which is beyond the whole stellar system.

Verse 3 — he has to repeat. “I knew” — o)ida again; “such a man’ — the demonstrative toioutoj plus a)nqrwpoj; “out of the body” — this time he uses a different word, xwrij plus swma which means apart from the body. He is definitely dead.

Verse 4 — “How that he was caught up” is the aorist passive indicative of a)rpazw which means to be snatched away by a force greater than you are. The aorist tense refers to the point of time when Paul was being stoned to death. The passive voice: Paul received death and entrance into the third heaven. The indicative mood is the reality of Paul’s death the first time he died physically, not the second.

“into paradise” — paradeisoj. This word is taken from the Persian by way of the Hebrew, pardeisa. The Hebrew word is the equivalent of the Persian word for a pleasure park. Already we have had reference to the third heaven, so it can’t be the same place that Jesus mentioned when He was on the cross. Paradise was emptied after the resurrection, it was the place where all of the Old Testament saints went, they didn’t go to heaven because Christ hadn’t died yet. But they were moved out of there to the third heaven or the new Paradise after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ — Matthew 27:51,52. This new paradise is mentioned in Ephesians 4:8-10, as well as here. The time is coming, at the Rapture of the Church for example, when the dead in Christ will leave this third heaven or the new paradise and come down to the earth where they will changed and then go up to meet the Lord in the air.

“and heard” — notice that after his death he was given a graduate course in theology under the most beautiful conditions possible. This is an aorist active indicative of a)kouw.

“unspeakeable words” — a)rrhtoj, which means not spoken; r(ema means speaking. We have an oxymoron here, a combination of contradictory or incongruous words. We have ‘speakings which may not be spoken,’ or ‘not spoken speakings.’ I learned all of these doctrines that I can’t tell you. Now he is bragging about something. Why? Because God taught him these things but He said you cannot pass these things on. Paul, when he came back, did not tell anyone what heaven was like.

“it is not lawful for a man to utter” — present active participle of e)cesti, which means it is not lawful; “to utter” is lalew which means to communicate.

Verse 5 — “Of such a one I will boast.” We have here the preposition u(per plus the demonstrative toioutoj — ‘on behalf of such a one,’ plus the future active indicative of kauxaomai, ‘I will boast.’

“yet of myself” — u(per again, ‘yet on behalf of myself I will not boast.’ Note the apparent contradiction. Paul will boast on behalf of himself but on behalf of himself he will not boast.

What does this mean?

1. Paul in the third heaven functioned under GAP and he learned things that were so fantastic in the field of grace, and he has them in his soul.

2. Paul boasts in heaven because of God’s grace in giving him that vision/doctrine.

3. This gave Paul a clear and lucid picture of the glories of phase three. When the glories of phase three are that clear in the soul there is a tendency to get very fat-headed.

4. There was a thorn in the flesh, a shaft designed to give Paul full realisation of phase 2 grace.

“but in mine infirmities” — e)i mh is ‘except,’ plus the locative of a)sqeneia which refers to weaknesses, frailties, stresses, afflictions. In other words, there is only one thing that he can boast in and that is in his weaknesses, his frailties, his stresses, his afflictions, because in all of these grace meets his needs, grace provides.

Verse 6 — here is a passage which brings us to the end of Paul’s boasting. When a man is boasting under the principle of sanctified sarcasm, when it is a pastor communicating to his right congregation, when he is using these things to shock them out of reversionism, no matter how he appears to be in pride he can only end up in one place — extolling the glories of God’s grace, grace which is greater than anything in all of human existence. This passage brings us to the extremes of suffering. Very few people suffered as the apostle Paul suffered and in such a variety of ways. The pressures upon him were phenomenal and there is no question that he was the number one target of Satan after Jesus Christ departed from the scene and the apostle Paul came in as the twelfth apostle.

“For though” — 3rd class condition, it begins with the compound particle e)an plus the subjunctive. It introduces the protasis of a third class condition which indicates that boasting is optional with Paul. Boasting is not his cup of tea. The only time he is forced into it is in the case of reversionism where people are so stupid as to be occupied with inconsequential persons and the boasting of inconsequential persons. The Corinthians have become occupied with celebrityship and the form of celebrityship is Judaism. Now it is the responsibility of the apostle as the temporary right pastor of the Corinthians church to bring them back to reality.

“I would desire” — aorist active subjunctive of the verb qelw which means both to desire and to design something. Here it is a very strong desire, a desire that the apostle has had for some time. This is a constative aorist. He has it yesterday, he has it today, he will have it tomorrow, and he will have it for some time until the Corinthians get away from reverse process reversion with inconsequential persons and get back to the right pastor and back to the Word of God. The active voice: it is Paul who has the desire. The subjunctive mood is a part of the third class condition. It means that this is no temptation to him but is a mean of communicating exhortation to the Corinthians who are in reversionism. He is not tempted to boast. Paul does not suffer from pride, that is not even a problem with him.

“to glory” — kauxaomai means to boast, to brag. 3rd class condition, maybe I do and maybe I don’t. Paul doesn’t have to boast to prove anything, he is a grace man. Why would Paul boast? Because he had an abundance of revelation, he had been to heaven and the Judaisers had not.

“shall not be a fool” is in parenthesis. Without this the text reads: “If I desire to boast I will say the truth.” In other words, “If am going to boast I am going to tell you the truth, I don’t even have to stretch it.” The parenthesis is “I shall not be a fool.” ‘I shall not be’ is the future active indicative of e)imi plus the strong negative o)uk; “a fool” — a)frwn, which means ignorant, stupid, and therefore a fool. In this way he is calling the celebrities fools.

“for I will speak the truth” — the apodasis. ‘I will communicate a)lhqeia [the truth],’ that which is compatible with doctrine.

“but” — conjunction of contrast; “I forbear” — present active indicative of feidomai which means to refrain; “lest any man” — mh tij is ‘lest anyone.’

“should think” — aorist active subjunctive of logizomai which means to make an estimate of a person; “of me” — the preposition u(per, ‘with reference to me.’ In pulling them away from reversionism he must avoid getting them to get their eyes on Paul. They must get their eyes on Christ.

Translation: “For if I would desire to boast (I shall not be a fool), I will speak the truth: but I refrain, that no one overestimates with reference to me above what he sees of me or what he hears from me.”

Verse 7 — “And lest.” The word ‘lest’ is i(na plus the subjunctive plus negative which introduces a negative purpose clause; “I should be exalted” — present active subjunctive of u(perairw [u(per = over and above; airw = to lift up]: ‘lest I be elevated to the point of super arrogance.’

“through the abundance of revelations” — the instrumental of u(perbolh which is ‘by means of,’ literally, ‘more than anyone else’ [bolh = from balw, to cast; u(per = over], to overthrow. It means that Paul threw the ball further than anyone ever threw it, he learned more than anyone else ever learned. It should be translated “by means of the abundance.” And we are talking about doctrinal revelation from God — a)pokaluyij.

“there was given” a gift of grace, a gift of mercy, intensified suffering — the aorist passive indicative of didomi. Paul is saying that if he shocks the Corinthians out of reversionism they should not get their eyes on him. If they do, they are going to be hurt more than they were before.

“to me” is dative of advantage; “a thorn” — skoloy. This is one kind of a thorn. There is another kind of a thorn called a)kanqa and this is like a bush that is full of thorns. When you fall into the bush you don’t know where it hurts because it hurts all over the place. But skoloy is one sharp point, like a splinter, and when that goes in it hurts! It hurts in one spot and the pain is concentrated. Whatever the thorn in the flesh was it hurt, it was concentrated.

The doctrine of thorns

1. Thorns are associated with the curse and the sin of mankind. Man is under a curse and is a sinner. Genesis 3:18. There were no thorns in the Garden. There were no thorns until after man sinned.

2. The unconquered inhabitants of the land were called the thorns of Israel. Numbers 33:55; Judges 2:3; Joshua 23:13. When a nation should conquer certain people in the defense of its freedom and does not, those people will eventually overcome that nation or act as a thorn to keep them off balance and upset for as much as 100 years.

3. The thorn is used for an analogy to negative volition toward Bible doctrine. Proverbs 22:5; 26:9.

4. The removal of the curse during the Millennium is expressed by the removal of thorns. Isaiah 55:13; Ezekiel 28:24.

5. Thorns are related to economic depression and recession in an agricultural economy. Jeremiah 12:13.

6. Thorns are used for the details of life which cause negative volition toward Bible doctrine. Matthew 13:7,22.

7. Thorns were used in the crown of Jesus Christ to indicate that the cross must come before the crown of the Millennium. The thorns were identified with sin and before Christ can rule the world He must bear the sins of the world. So He had a crown of thorns.

8. The thorn is used to express that pressure or suffering which stimulates grace orientation in the ECS. 2 Corinthians 12:7.

“in the flesh” — the locative of the noun sarc indicates where the thorn was located. The word “flesh” in the Bible is used for the old sin nature, it is used for the flesh that covers the bones in human anatomy. But it is also used in another way, for the human life of the individual. This is a thorn in his life. How do we know it is not in the flesh? Because of the next phrase.

“the messenger of Satan” — the word ‘messenger’ is a)ggeloj, and while it is correct to translate it messenger in Revelation chapters 2 & 3 a)ggeloj here refers to an angel. This is a fallen angel. The word “of Satan” — satanoj in the ablative case which denotes source. So it is “an angel from the source of Satan.”

There are many speculations on the thorn in the flesh. In 1 Corinthians chapter 5 a fallen angel, a demon, is used to administer the sin unto death to the incestuous Corinthian. The sin unto death was to be administered in the most painful way possible, and the most painful thing possible is when God permits a demon to attack a believer. The demon can’t indwell a believer but he can attack him and make his life totally miserable.

“to buffet” — the present active subjunctive of kolafizw. The word means to punch, to strike. Used for an angel it means suffering that is so intense that it is almost beyond human description.

Then he repeats why” “lest” — i(na mh, ‘that’; “I should not be exalted [arrogant]” — u(perairw.

Translation: “Therefore that I be not arrogant by means of the abundance of revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, an angel from the source of Satan that he might punch me, that I be not arrogant.”

Verse 8 — “For this thing” is the preposition u(per plus the genitive of o(utoj and should be translated “on behalf of this thing.”

“I besought” — he begged, the aorist active indicative of parakalew which means to exhort or to beg. This is in the iterative aorist tense which means he began to beg. Temporary disorientation because of the intensity of suffering caused him to begin to beg. The active voice: Paul produces the action. The indicative mood is the reality of the fact that Paul is making noises like a baby instead of using the great inner resources of Bible doctrine; “thrice” — trij means three times. Three times Paul disoriented completely from the grace of God as a believer in supergrace and he begged.

“that” — i(na plus the subjunctive introduces a purpose clause; “it might depart” — a)fisthmi, aorist active subjunctive. The word really means to stand off from, to sheer off from. The aorist tense means now. The active voice: that it might go now. The subjunctive mood: its departure was potential.

Translation: “On behalf of this thing [the thorn in the flesh] I began to beg the Lord on three occasions, that it might sheer off from me.”

Then between verses 8 & 9 the apostle oriented, he moved right back into supergrace.

Verse 9 — the dynamics of supergrace. This is badly translated in the KJV. Jesus Christ did not say to Paul when he begged Him three times, “My grace is sufficient.” Jesus Christ didn’t even speak to Paul on this occasion. What did speak to Paul? Bible doctrine which he already had in his right lobe, Bible doctrine in his ECS. This is kai e)irhken [the prefect tense of legw which means something in the past that has present results] moi, it should be translated, ‘he had communicated in the past to me.’ What reoriented him? Not prayer, not begging God for something. It was the use of Bible doctrine. He remembered what he had been taught in the past. He had learned these things under GAP in the past with the result that he used them now to orient to grace. The perfect tense indicates that Jesus Christ did not say these words to Paul at this time but He said them to Paul in the past. Three negatives in a foolish prayer through him back on the resources of grace.

“My grace is sufficient “ — h( xarij mou, “the grace of mine,” or “my grace.” This is specifically here the grace that belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, the grace under which Paul operated after the ECS. “My grace” here refers to the supergrace life: “is sufficient” — present active indicative of a)rkew which does mean sufficient but there are other meanings to the word. The word a)rxew followed by an accusative case when the object is an accusative means sufficient. But when the object of the verb is a dative case it means ‘contentment.’ This should read, “My grace produces contentment.”

“for my strength” — there is no possessive pronoun here. In the Greek it simply says h( dunamij. Dunamij is inherent power. The definite article means ‘the’ inherent power. Through supergrace the omnipotence of God meets every need of the believer.

“is made perfect” — present passive indicative of telew. Telew never really means perfection unless it is used for Jesus Christ. It means to be completed, to carry out, to be fulfilled, to pay dues. It is in the passive voice here and that limits whatever it is going to mean. Here the verse should read, “for the power of God is carried out/fulfilled.”

“in weakness” — e)n plus the instrumental of a)sqeneia. The word means to be totally helpless. It should be translated “by means of weakness.” So literally, “for the power of God is carried out [or, fulfilled] by means of helplessness.” Your weakness and your helplessness clears the channel for the power of God.

Next we have a supergrace application. It is s new sentence. We have the superlative adverb of h(dista which does not mean “most.” It really means ‘with the greatest pleasure.’ Then we have the comparative adverb mallon, and it should be translated “to the higher degree” or “to a greater extent.” The best translation should read, “With the greatest of pleasure to a higher degree.”

“I rather glory” should be ‘I will boast.’ When a believer is in the supergrace life and starts to boast there is only one way he can go and that is to the celebrityship of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the only celebrity in Christianity. What is going to be the content of this boasting? He is going to boast about his adversities, his pressures, about maximum suffering, because they glorify Jesus Christ. The supergrace life has an area for boasting which honours the only celebrity in Christianity, the Lord Jesus Christ.

“in my infirmities” — e)n plus the locative plural of a)sqeneia, “in the sphere of the helplessnesses.” There is no personal pronoun here.

“that,” purpose clause; “the power of Christ” — h( dunamij tou Xristou, ‘that the power of the Christ.’ This refers to the function of divine power only under the supergrace life. There is no supergrace life for the believer who does not have an ECS.

“may rest” — e)piskhnow [e)pi = upon; skhnow = pitch a tent]. It was used in a technical way for the Shekinah glory dwelling in the tabernacle in the LXX. The Shekinah glory is the glory of Jesus Christ. When a believer reaches the supergrace life the very glory of Jesus Christ is in focus. But it is even stronger than that because e)piskhnow means to bivouac or to quarter. It was a military term as well. So this could be translated, “that the power of the Christ may be bivouacked on me.”

Translation: “And he had communicated to me, My grace [supergrace] produces contentment for you: for the power of God is carried out by means of helplessness. Therefore with the greatest of pleasure to a higher degree I will boast in the weaknesses, that the power of Christ may be bivouacked on me.”

Verse 10 — the function of the supergrace life. “Therefore” is a Greek compound which includes a preposition plus a relative pronoun, dia plus o(, which comes to be dio and is translated, “Because of which.” Because of the supergrace life in time of great pressure, because of the inner resources of supergrace in time of pressure.

“I take pleasure” — present active indicative of e)udokew [dokew = think; e)u = well]. So now he is thinking instead of praying. There is a place for each.

“in” — five areas of suffering in which supergrace functions through the ECS; “infirmities” — e)n plus the locative of a)sqeneia, helplessnesses. This is the stimulation of grace orientation of the supergrace life; “in reproaches” — e)n plus the locative of u(brij which means to be a victim of arrogance, of insolence, to be insulted. This is the stimulation of the RMA of the ECS; “in necessities” — e)n plus the locative of a)nagkh which means needs or pressures. This is stimulation of the mastery of the details of life in the supergrace life; “in persecutions” — e)n plus the locative of diogmoj which means persecutions, especially from legalism and religionism, but it could be any type of persecution. This is stimulation of the capacity for love; “in distresses” — e)n plus stenoxwria which means anguish. This is the stimulation of +H.

“for Christ’s sake” — with the preposition u(per it should be ‘on behalf of Christ.’

“for when” — the conjunction o(tan means ‘on the occasion of.’; “I am weak” — a)sqeneia, ‘helpless.’ This means to be feeble, totally deficient in strength or ability to meet any pressure in life; “then” — tote means at that time and only at that time; “I am strong” — present active indicative of e)imi plus dunatoj which is really a word for general dynamics. It means to possess and efficacious power or ability. This power resides in the ECS when the believer continues into the supergrace life, instead of falling back into reversionism.

Translation: “Because of which [supergrace life] I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults, in pressures from needs, in persecutions, in anguishes on behalf of Christ: for on the occasion that I am helpless, at that time I keep on being strong.”

Summary

1. Here is the principle of the power or strength of the supergrace life.

2. Supergrace finds the believer totally helpless, totally dependent upon the ECS and the perpetuation of doctrine after its construction.

3. There is no greater power bivouacked in the life of the believer than the power of God functioning under grace, supergrace resources in maximum pressure.

4. This function glorifies Jesus Christ, the only celebrity in phase two.

5. Therefore Paul can boast in maximum pressure because of the dynamics of supergrace.

6. Grace dynamics are fulfilled in the absolute helplessness of the supergrace believer.

7. The channel is clear under supergrace. The power of Christ can flow through this channel to the maximum. The production from this is infinitely superior to all function of the energy of the flesh.

Verse 11 — “I am become a fool.” The perfect active indicative of ginomai indicates that Paul in his dealing with the Corinthians has been doing this. It means to become something you are not. Paul loved to come to the Corinthians and he loved to come to all of those to whom he ministered on the basis of a nice, relaxed message, a message of doctrine which would lead to the construction of an ECS and then the encouragement to go into the supergrace life after the ECS was completed. But there were groups like the Corinthians practicing reverse process reversionism. The Corinthians’ right pastor was Paul at the time he writes but they have gone for the Judaisers, and others. As a result Paul must reassert his authority over them if they are ever to recover from reversionism.

The word “fool” is a)frwn [not thinking], it means ‘unwise.’ Sometimes the word means a fool but here it means an unwise procedure — “I have become unwise.” That is, to assert his authority over the Corinthians he has had to go to the greatest of extremes. The words “in glorying” is not found in the original.

“ye have compelled me” — aorist active indicative of a)nagkazw. The word means to be forced into a position where you have to get as tough as possible in order to keep and maintain authority. In other words, it is a shepherd having to boot some sheep all over the pasture in order to get him back into the flock. What does Paul mean by “unwise” ?He means that he cannot fulfill his primary mission of teaching because he is spending too much time in discipline. Discipline is only to establish authority, the purpose of establishing authority is to teach Bible doctrine. Paul wants to teach doctrine; he wants to feed the sheep, but you cannot put grass in the mouth and kick in the back end all at the same time.

“for” — gar in its explanatory use and is correctly translated “for example.”

“I ought to have been commended” — ‘I ought’ is the imperfect active indicative of o)feilw, a verb of obligation. He is stating the obligation of the believer priests in Corinth, of the church there. The imperfect tense is linear aktionsart in past time. The active voice indicates this is what the Corinthians should be doing. The indicative mood is the reality of their obligation in response to the teaching of the Word of God regardless of the personality of the communicator; ‘to have been commended’ — present passive infinitive of sunisthmi which means to be commended, or here in the passive voice to receive favourable attention or response. The present tense is linear aktionsart, this should have continued to be the pattern. The infinitive indicates this is God’s purpose for the priesthood of believers as they gather together. “I have become unwise; you have compelled me: for example, I ought to be commended by you.”

“of you” — u(po, preposition of authority, except that in the genitive case it is a preposition of agency: “by you” or “in your hands.”

Summary

1. Instead of having to assert his authority, instead of having to pursue a course of sanctified boasting, instead of having to discipline the Corinthians sheep, Paul’s leadership and authority should have been recognised so that blessing could come to the Corinthians from his teaching. The objective is teaching.

2. Both emotional revolt and reversionism had led the Corinthians to the practice of reverse process reversionism. Reverse process reversionism is a revolt against Bible doctrine and against divinely constituted authority in the local church.

3. Believers in reversionism follow the teaching and recognise the authority only of false teachers. They do so in reaction against those who teach the truth.

4. Reversionism not only means negative volition toward doctrine but the rejection of the authority of the right pastor as a communicator.

“for in nothing” — o)uden gar; “am I behind” — aorist active indicative of u(sterow which means to be inferior, and with the negative it means not to be inferior: “for in not one thing was I inferior.” This is not pride, it is the assertion of his authority. Paul was the greatest of all the apostles.

“the very chiefest of apostles” — the adverb u(perlian means ‘super’ — ‘but in nothing was I inferior to the super apostles.’ There are no super apostles. The super apostles is what Paul calls the Judaisers. He has a great sense of humour!

“though” is the particle e)i, translated ‘if.’ It introduces a first class condition. The protasis here introduces the grace perspective, it emphasises therefore the nothingness of any man no matter how great his authority and leadership. So there is a contrast to the contention of the Judaisers who take credit to themselves and claim they are great on the basis of what they have done. Paul says he is greater because he is nothing. Paul’s authority is grace. This should be “if I be nothing [and I am].”

“I be” is a present active indicative of e)imi which means ‘I keep on being and there never will be a time when I am something.’

“nothing” is the Greek word o)uden [o)u = not; den = one thing], literally ‘not one thing.’

Translation: “I have become unwise: you have forced me to it: actually I ought to be commended by you: for in nothing was I inferior to the super apostles [Judaisers], if also I am nothing [and I am].”

Orientation demands that the believer sees himself in the grace perspective.

Verse 12 — “Truly.” Ta men means ‘indeed’ ; “the signs [evidences] of an apostle were produced among you.” The word ‘wrought’ in the KJV is the aorist passive indicative of katergazomai which means something on the inside coming out. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, always working out. Passive voice: he is nothing therefore anything that comes out has to be some grace thing coming out. The indicative mood: the reality of supergrace in the life of the apostle Paul. “Indeed the evidences of an apostle were produced.”

“among you in all patience” — the word for ‘patience’ means fortitude and perseverance here, e)n plus the locative of u(pomonh, ‘in the sphere of all patience.’

Then we have three evidences, each one an instrumental case: “by signs” — shmeion was the warning of national discipline to the Jews. Here it is a warning of personal discipline to the reversionists; “and wonders” — teraj means miracles used as credit cards. Paul performed miracles which acted as credit cards — ‘by means of miracles,’ instrumental case; then, “by means of powers,” dunamij in the instrumental plural. The powers here have to do with the expressions of his authority.

Translation: “Indeed the evidences of an apostle were produced among you in all fortitude and perseverance, by means of signs, by means of supernatural phenomena, by means of powers.”

Verse 13 — this is the ultimate in sarcasm. He is not apologising at all. “For” is the illitive gar which introduces a reason for something.

“what is it wherein” — here we have an idiom, the present active indicative of e)imi plus the interrogative pronoun plus a passive verb. Paul begins, “For what is it” — the interrogative pronoun plus the present active indicative, but that interrogative pronoun which is brought out by a second relative pronoun, the neuter accusative from o(j, means “for in what way.” This is the idiomatic translation.

“ye were inferior” — the aorist passive indicative h(ttaomai which means to be inferior, to be treated in an inferior manner. “For in what way were you treated in an inferior manner.”

“to other churches” — u(per plus a feminine accusative plural of loipoj, which is an idiom again because this is sarcasm. Loipoj means the rest; u(per generally means on behalf of but with the accusative it means ‘more than the rest’ — “more than the rest of the churches.”

“except” — e)i mh; “that” — the conjunction o(ti introducing an objective clause; “I myself” — Paul is referring to himself by using two pronouns, a personal pronoun plus a reflexive pronoun. This gives great emphasis. The emphasis is designed to set up a contrast between himself and the Judaisers who are the inconsequential persons, the objects of the Corinthian pseudo love fanaticism in reverse process reversionism.

“was not burdensome” — katanarkaw which means to be a dead weight. The aorist tense is an iterative aorist, which means ‘I did not become a moocher [burden] to you.’ The active voice plus the negative means that Paul was a real man and never a moocher, and therefore always made an issue out of grace. The indicative mood is the reality of Paul’s refusal of a salary from the Corinthians.

“forgive” is an aorist active imperative of xarizomai. He could have used other words but he used xarizomai, and not only is it sarcasm but the use of this word is double sarcasm. Xarij is grace, and this means to ‘grace me,’ or ‘grace me out.’ He has actually graced them out, so it is even more sarcastic than we first thought.

“this wrong” — the accusative singular of a)dikia, “grace me out for this injustice.”

Translation: “For in what way were you treated in an inferior manner more than the rest of the churches, except that I myself did not become a burden to you? begin to grace me out for this [supposed] injustice. ”

Summary

1. Paul’s sarcastic apology places him in great contrast with the money-mad Judaisers who demand large salaries from the Corinthians.

2. The sarcasm is designed to alert the Corinthians to their reversionism.

3. When Paul was the right pastor to the Corinthians he made an issue out of grace. Therefore he did not take a salary, he did not receive a love offering ever from them.

4. While it is legitimate, necessary, and right for a pastor to be supported by his right congregation so that his time is free for studying and teaching, there are occasions when it is better not to receive that offering.

5. This principle applies when grace as an issue is jeopardised.

Verse 14 — “Behold” is an aorist active imperative of o(raw, it means literally to look. It actually refocuses attention on a new subject.

“the third time” — triton touto, is ‘this third time.’ According to Acts chapter 18 Paul has been once in Corinth. However, he made a second attempt to come which was canceled because of reversionism.

a) Paul’s first visit to Corinth in which the people were evangelised, the church organised, and they were trained in doctrine — Acts 18.

b) Paul was ready to go to Corinth a second time — 2 Corinthians 1:15-17. He had to cancel that trip — 2 Corinthians 1:23; 2:1.

c) Now Paul is ready to make a third attempt to which he now alludes. If he makes it, it will be the second visit.

“I am ready” — present active indicative of e)xw which means here to hold. It is saying in effect, ‘I hold myself.’ Then there is an adverb, e)toimoj, which means ‘in readiness.’ “Behold, I am holding myself in readiness.” He is ready because he is in the supergrace life and he has a great deal of Bible doctrine to teach, but he is not going to waste his time casting his pearls before swine. Reversionism puts the Corinthians in the swine class. He is in readiness but he is not going to come until there is positive volition.

“to come” — aorist active infinitive of e)rxomai; “to you” — proj plus the accusative which should be translated ‘face to face with you.’ In other words, face to face teaching.

“and I will not be burdensome” — I will not take financial help from you. When Paul returns it will be the same way it was before, he will not receive financial help. The only way that Paul can make an issue out of grace with the Corinthians is not to receive any offerings from them. In a way that is an insult to their lack of grace orientation.

“for I seek not yours” — present active indicative of zetew which means to seek and search for. It is used here for seeking money; “yours” — ta u(mwn, ‘the things of you all,’ literally.

“but you” — a)lla u(maj.

Summary

1. The communicator of doctrine must be a giver, never a taker.

2. This must be the pattern of the communicator in ever facet of his life, he must be a giver.

3. There is no place in the plan of God for a moocher type pastor, a moocher type evangelist, nor a moocher type missionary.

4. A moocher never makes a communicator. He is a men-pleaser, therefore he tells people what they want to hear.

5. Moochers are men-pleasers, not God-pleasers, therefore not grace oriented.

This brings us to an illustration taken from the laws of divine establishment in which the ones in authority and responsibility are givers, not takers. The pastor is in a place of responsibility and he must be a giver of doctrine, not a taker. So the illustration must be analogous and we have an analogy between the pastor-teacher and parents as over against congregation and children. The right pastor gives doctrine to his congregation. When they understand grace they respond in giving. Children are supposed to be takers. It is not becoming to adults but it is to children. The congregation of the Corinthians were like children trying to support their parents instead of the parent supporting the children. The Judaisers have no doctrine to give them, nothing at all. The Corinthians fall into this illustration as children giving money to parents, supporting the parents. It should be the other way around.

“for the children ought not” — teknon is used for both children and students. Students don’t teach the pastor, the pastor teaches the students in right pastor, right congregation. The responsibility of the believer priest in receiving doctrine is in giving, but this is only as he is grace oriented under the ministry of the Spirit. This is a present active indicative of o)feilw plus the negative and it should read, “children are not obligated to support the parents.”

“to lay up” is a present active infinitive of qhsaurizw which means to save and support; “for the parents.” The parents represent the communicators of doctrine. Paul came to Corinth as their right pastor, he is the communicator of doctrine. The parents have authority; Paul as a pastor-teacher had authority. The children are to be receivers. The congregation at Corinth are to be receivers.

“but the parents the children” is the correct order of things under the laws of divine establishment. It is also the perfect analogy to the relationship between the pastor and the congregation.

Translation: “Look now, this is the third time I am holding myself in readiness to come face to face with you; and I will not be a burden to you: for I do not seek your things [your money], but you: for children are not obligated to accumulate money for the support of their parents, but the parents are obligated for the children.”

Verse 15 — “And” is the conjunctive use of de and it connotes continuation. It should be translated “Moreover.”

“very gladly” — the adverb h(dista which means ‘with the greatest of pleasure.’

“I will spend” — future active indicative of dapanaw. This verb means to spend money, energy, and strength. It means to exhaust one’s self in doing something worthwhile. It is used for wearing out or exhausting, in this case in the fulfillment of the apostolic ministry.

“and be spent” — future passive indicative of dapanaw. In the passive voice this means to be destroyed, exhausted to the point of destruction; “for you” — the prepositional phrase u(per plus the genitive of yuxh which means the soul. In other words, he is going to teach doctrine to their souls. The emphasis is on the soul of the Corinthians believer. The soul of the believer must be fed and the believer does not know how to cook! The gift of ‘cooking’ belongs to the pastor-teacher only.

“though the more abundantly” — ‘though’ is ‘if,’ e)i, which introduces a first class condition, plus the comparative adverb perissoteroj which means ‘more intensely.’

“I love you” — present active indicative of a)gapaw which is a mental attitude love.

“the less” — the adverb h(son; “I be loved” — present passive indicative of a)gapaw.

Translation: “Moreover, with the greatest of pleasure I will exhaust myself [in studying and teaching doctrine] and be exhausted to the point of destruction on behalf of your souls; if I love you more intensely [and I do], the less I be loved.”

That is the sacrificial statement of a person, a believer, who loves in a phenomenal way but is the object of reverse process reversionism. The Corinthians have forgotten what a great pastor Paul was. They have forgotten and neglected Bible doctrine.

Verse 16 — retrospective sanctified sarcasm. “But” is the particle de, a post positive conjunction used in the adversative sense. ‘However’ is a better translation.

“be it so” — present active imperative of e)imi, probably better translated ‘let it be.’ This is a Greek idiom and Paul is saying in effect, “However, let it ride.” He is referring back to verse 15.

“I did not become a burden to you” — the aorist active indicative of katabarew [kata = down; barew = weigh] which means to weigh down. The constative aorist tense refers to the point of time when the apostle was teaching in Corinth. The active voice: Paul was studying and teaching to the point of total exhaustion and was shot down. The indicative mood is the reality of the fact that even though he faced a reversionistic audience he was not discouraged, nor did he become a burden to them. He did not weigh them down. This is in contrast to the Judaisers who were a burden to them.

“nevertheless” is the adversative conjunction of contrast a)lla, it should be translated ‘but.’ ; “being crafty” — going back into sanctified sarcasm, panourgia which means cunning or crafty. The word ‘being’ is a present active participle of u(parxw which means to exist.

“I caught you” — aorist active indicative of lambanw which means here to trap. The aorist tense refers to the ministry Paul had with the Corinthians face to face. The active voice: Paul is using sarcasm and he is declaring his ministry in terms of sarcasm; “with guile” — the instrumental of doloj means ‘by means of bait.’

Translation: “However let it go, I myself did not become a burden to you: but being crafty I trapped you with deceitful bait.”

Summary

1. The Judaisers or the pseudo pastors in Corinth have maligned Paul saying that he was taking up this big offering for himself instead of the poor, starving, and oppressed Jewish believers of Jerusalem.

2. Paul demonstrates the inconsistency of this criticism through irony by pointing out that he has never taken an offering for himself in Corinth. So in verses 17 & 18 he mixes up a little logic with the historical proof of his right and correct motivation.

Verse 17 — “Did I” is the key to these two verses (17 & 18). This is an interrogative sentence and it begins with the negative mh, which is the weakest of the negatives and subjective. It implies here that the answer is no. With this is the accusative of the interrogative pronoun tij. There is no verb here. When you put mh and tij together this is the beginning of an anacoluthon, the abandonment in the midst of a sentence of one type of construction in favour of another type of construction which is grammatically inconsistent and which is dramatically emphasising the point.

“make gain” — the aorist active indicative of a verb which picks up the construction again, pleonektew. This word does not mean to make gain, it means to take advantage — “Did I take advantage.” Remember that this started with the negative mh which expects a negative answer to the question, ‘No I did not.’

“of you” — the accusative plural of the personal pronoun and should be translated ‘of you all.’

“by any of them” — dia plus the genitive, ‘through them’ ; “whom” is the genitive plural of the relative pronoun o(j, ‘of whom.’

“I sent” — perfect active indicative of a)postellw which means to send an official delegation with authority to collect an offering. The perfect tense is the permanent results from such an administrative function as lifting this offering. The active voice: the delegation has the authority to take the offering. The indicative mood is the reality of the fact that they have been sent by the apostle in order to collect and offering for the believers in Jerusalem who are in very dire need; “to you” is proj plus the accusative, ‘face to face with you.’

Translation: “Was there any one of those whom I had sent face to face with you through whom I took advantage of you?”

Verse 18 — “I desired Titus” is the aorist active indicative of parakalew and it is a command recognising human volition. It means here, ‘I commanded Titus.’

“and with him I sent the brother” — ‘I sent’ is again the aorist active indicative of sunapostellw, ‘to send along with.’ Titus is in command and along with him is ton a)delfon, ‘the brother.’ The brother refers to the believer of 2 Corinthians 8:22.

“Did” — mhti, the subjective weaker negative in the Greek which demands a negative answer and with it the interrogative pronoun which introduces the question which demands the negative answer; “Titus make a gain of you” — again, the aorist active indicative of pleonektew which means to take advantage.

“walked we not in the same spirit” — tw a)utw pneumati is instrumental, ‘by means of the same spirit.’ We are consistent.

“walked we not in the same steps” — being a supergrace believer both Titus and Paul followed the same modus operandi. Neither took advantage of the Corinthians when they came to Corinth.

Translation: “I ordered Titus, and I sent the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? [No] did we not walk by means of the same spirit? [Yes] did we not walk by means of the same steps? [Yes]”

Being a supergrace believer both Titus and Paul followed exactly the same steps, although they did antithetical things. Neither took advantage of the Corinthians as the Judaisers did. Paul came and gave them doctrine and took no offering; Titus came and gave them no doctrine but took an offering.

Verse 19 — “Again” is the adverb palai and means for a long time or all this time; “think ye” — present active indicative of dokew, used for subjective thinking or holding a subjective opinion. “All of this time you have been thinking subjectively.”

“that” is the conjunction o(ti used for quotation marks around what they are thinking; “we excuse ourselves” — present middle indicative of a)pologeomai and it means to defend one’s self (middle voice, reflexive). Present tense: we are constantly defending ourselves. Indicative mood: the reality of the fact that they think that Paul and Titus are defending themselves when in reality they are not — “that we are defending ourselves to you.” This is no defense at all, it is offense. Paul isn’t trying to defend his ministry, his ministry doesn’t need defense. The objective here is to awaken the Corinthians to their true spiritual condition which is reversionism.

“we speak” — present active indicative of lalew, it means to communicate, ‘we keep on communicating.’ This is doctrine; “before God.” The word ‘before’ is an adverb used as a preposition, katenanti [kata = norm and standard; e)n = in the sphere of; a)nti = instead of]: ‘in the sphere of, instead of, according to the norm and standard of God.’ That is the best that can be done with it because we do not have anything like this in English. This can be translated ‘in the sight of God,’ it is a good translation but inadequate to express what is really there. The Judaisers before were teaching as unto men, they were inconsequential persons. Paul teaches katenanti qeoj: in the sphere of God, instead of God, according to the norm and standard of God — “in Christ” which is a reference to the fact that Paul is a believer, and that is a slap in the face of the Judaisers.

“but” — conjunctive particle de and it explains motivation, so we translate it “moreover.”

“all things” — ta panta, the nominative neuter plural of paj and of the definite article, and it should be translated ‘the all things.’ It refers to the doctrinal content of Paul’s communication, the message. The neuter means what he is teaching. Masculine would be the person teaching. It is not the man but the message. The issue is what he is teaching.

“dearly beloved” is literally, ‘beloved ones,’ and there is no verb here, “for your edifying” or ‘for the furtherance of your edification complex.’ It is the preposition u(per plus o)ikodomh in the genitive. U(per with the genitive means furtherance or progress.

Translation: “All of this time you have been thinking subjectively that we are defending ourselves. In the sight of God the Father we keep on communicating doctrine in Christ. And moreover, the all things, beloved ones, for the furtherance of your edification complex.”

Verse 20 — in this passage we see that reversion hinders both the construction of the ECS and the function of the supergrace life. This is the way this chapter terminates.

“For” is the illitive particle gar used as an explanation of Paul’s fear of hindrance of his ministry.

“I fear” — Paul is not afraid of anything, he just doesn’t want to go where people do not want to hear the Word. Reversionism is always the problem. He is afraid to go to Corinth with all of these wonderful doctrines and stand up in front of a bunch of reversionists who are disinterested. This is the present middle indicative of fobew. It is linear aktionsart to indicate the fact that the apostle Paul is constantly afraid of going to Corinth. Life is far too short to try teaching all of these wonderful things to people who aren’t interested. The middle voice indicates that Paul is benefited by his fear, he is benefited by staying away. We might translate this, “I anticipate to my benefit.” The indicative mood is the reality of the fact that Paul understands at this time that in Corinth there are still a majority of reversionists and that the congregation as a whole are not interested in his message. “lest” is important for two reasons. It introduces a parenthesis which is also closed by the same word. Also because this negative plus the adverb sets up a clause which is resumed the next time it occurs. So the negative mh plus the adverb pwj is correctly translated ‘lest.’ At this point we begin a parenthesis. This parenthesis will continue until we have a repetition of mh pwj, translated the second time ‘lest by any means’ or ‘lest.’ The parenthesis should be closed in the verse after the second word ‘lest.’

“when I come” is an aorist active participle of e)rxomai and he is referring to his anticipated second visit. This should be translated ‘having come.’ This is inside of the parenthesis now.

“not such” — o)uk o(iouj; “having come, not such as I wish shall I find you.”

“I would” is the present active indicative of qelw which means to desire or to wish; “found” — the aorist active subjunctive of e(uriskw which means to find or to discover.

“I shall be found” is the aorist passive subjunctive of e(uriskw, ‘and I shall be discovered.’ In other words, if Paul walks in and finds reversionism what is he going to do? Teach them all the beautiful doctrines in a sweet manner? No. He is going to get tough, it is the only thing that will do any good.

“For I am afraid, lest by any means (having come, I shall not find you such as I desire, and I shall not be found by you such a kind as you desire) lest by any means ” — then we have a series of sins which hinder the believer from taking in doctrine. These are the sins of reversionism in general.

“debates” — e)rij means strife or discord. It is a characteristic of scar tissue and of emotional revolt of the soul. It is also found in reverse process reversionism. There are three kinds of discord. The first category is the type that would occur at the point of scar tissue. When the believer has scar tissue of the soul he begins to get into discord. The second category comes from emotional revolt of the soul which is characterised by no longer accepting what you think as reality but accepting what you feel. Once you get into everything depends on how you feel and start looking for good feelings, at that point you cause discord in the congregation and you personally resist Bible doctrine. The third category of discourse is reverse process reversionism, and this is often the result of reverse process reversionism in category #3. You give attention to false friends and reject true friends.

“envyings” — the plural of zhloj which means jealousies. Jealousy is a great motivator for discord; “wraths” — nominative plural of qumoj, meaning emotional outbursts of anger; “backbitings” — the nominative plural from katalalia [kata = down; lalia = speak], it means to speak down or speak against. It eventually comes to mean slandering or maligning; “strifes” — nominative plural of e)riqeia, it means strife from power and approbation lust; “whisperers” — yiqurismoj. This is an onomatopoetic word for whispering.

“ … there should be discord, jealousy, emotional outbursts of anger, strifes [from power and approbation lust], slanderous malignings, gossiping, ...”

“swellings” — fusiwsij which means literally, fat-headedness, puffed up and inflated with pride; “tumults” — a)katastasia [a) = negative; kata = down; stasia stand down]. It means to become unstable, unruly, rejection of authority.

Translation: “For I am afraid, lest by any means (having come I shall not find you such as I desire, and I shall be discovered by you such a type as [hard-nosed] you do not desire) for I am afraid lest by any means there should be signs of reversionism among you, namely discords, jealousies, emotional outbursts of anger, strife from power and approbation lusts, slanderous malignings, gossipings, fat-headedness, unruly disturbances [rejection of authority].”

Summary

1. The key to understanding this verse is the parenthesis.

2. The repetition of mh pwj indicates where the parenthesis begins and where it is closed, and the sentence picks up after the parenthesis. The true meaning of the sentence comes after the parenthesis. Certain factors in reversionism hinder the intake of Bible doctrine.

3. In effect this sentence says that Paul is afraid of finding the characteristics of reversionism in Corinth which resist Bible doctrine. The resistance of Bible doctrine keeps them from the ECS and the supergrace life.

4. The eight characteristics listed are the greatest barriers to effective Bible teaching. These barriers reside in the congregation.

5. Reversionism destroys the ministry of the ECS and hinders the believer from entering the supergrace life.

6. Reversionism also hinders a pastor from effectively communicating Bible doctrine. And eventually with the pastor who teaches doctrine [only that type, not any other type] either reversionism must go or the pastor must go. No pastor can coexist indefinitely with the majority people in the congregation being reversionistic. Reversionism and exegetical teaching of the scripture cannot coexist in a congregation, and one must go.

Verse 21 — “And lest when I come again.” This time the adverb is different. We have again mh for ‘lest’ but this time we have with it palin, and it is correctly translated ‘lest again.’ With it is e)rxomai in the aorist active participle — ‘lest having come again’ is the correct translation.

“my God” — o( qeoj mou. Paul is indicating that God may lead him to Corinth anyway, not to teach doctrine but to bust them one, to roll over them, to hit them hard, to use his authority and to pull a few of the burning embers out of the fire.

“will humble me” — aorist active subjunctive of tapeinow, used here in an unusual way. This is again going back to fobew, I fear. ‘I am afraid that I will be humbled by coming among you.’ Why will God humble him? God has given him the job of communicating doctrine but he will not be able to communicate doctrine there. Therefore Paul is saying that when he has to get tough and use all of his authority it is humiliating to him. To have that authority and have to use it is humiliating. Tapeinow is used here in the sense of embarrassment; “among you” — proj plus the accusative is ‘face to face with you.’

“and I shall bewail’ — aorist active subjunctive of penqew. All of these subjunctives indicate that they may or may not recover in time. This word means to grieve, to mourn; “many which have sinned already” — ‘many’ is referring to the reversionists, the majority of the congregation are in reversionism; ‘who have sinned before’ is a perfect active participle of proamartanw, used in the technical sense of a believer who has lost his ECS through reversionism and in reversionism is permitting the sins of the previous verse.

“and have not repented of” — aorist active participle of metanoew used for reversion recovery [meta = change; noew = thinking]: a change of thinking. It has nothing to do with emotion. The same verb, metanoew meaning a change of thinking , is used in other passages for reversion recovery. Revelation 2:5,16,22; 3:19.

There are two categories of believers who reject or resist doctrine. The one we have seen in this context is the self-righteous, legalistic involvement of reversionism, to the phallic involvement of the reversionist. But there is another kind of a believer who is also involved and this is the spiritual moron, the believer who never uses rebound, the person who ignores 1 Corinthians 11:30,31. The spiritual moron rejects Bible doctrine. But in this passage we are dealing with those who have built an ECS and then through reversionism have lost it. They in turn fall into two categories: the self-righteous legalistic type, as in Hebrews 6:6, although in Corinth there were very few of that type. Primarily there was the phallic cult reversionist in Corinth, described by the last three nouns of this chapter.

“the uncleanness” — we have a preposition before this noun, e)pi plus a)kaqarsia which means impurity, dirt, also used for sewage, but it is also used for certain types of unusual sexual activity, usually various types of group sex orgies which were very common in the ancient world, both in Greece and in Rome. So we will translate this ‘over the practice of the phallic cult.’

“and fornication” — porneia simply means prostitution; “and lasciviousness” — a)selgeia means a frantic search for happiness through sex. These are all words for adultery or fornication but they are different aspects of it. These things keep a person in reversionism and from recovery and being interested in doctrine.

“which they have committed” — aorist active indicative of prassw which does not mean to commit, it means to practice, to do it over and over again. The aorist tense is a constative aorist which puts together in one ball of wax every attempt they have made to be happy through sex. When they are seeking happiness through sex obviously this is going to keep them from God’s source of happiness [+H] through doctrine.

Translation: “I am afraid, lest having come again, my God shall humble me [embarrass me] face to face with you, and I should mourn for many who have sinned before, and not having changed their mind over the function of the phallic cult, both fornication and lasciviousness which they have practiced.”