Chapter 9

Verses 1-5, the Corinthian reception of the delegation.

Verse 1 — “For as touching,” is peri men gar. Peri is a preposition and a preposition usually has as an object a noun. The noun isn’t even in the first three words, it is diakonia in the genitive case. In between the preposition and its object are two particles, men gar. They are designed to get people who are half asleep to wake up. It is to alert people that a point is coming up. The word “for” is really “concerning.” This should be translated “For indeed concerning.”

“the ministering” — diakonoia. A better translation would be ‘For indeed concerning the ministry.’ The word diakonia means deacon when it is transliterated but when it is translated it often means ministering. Here in the context, since it has to do with helping the believers in Jerusalem, it means aid.

“to the saints” — e)ij plus a(gioj, every believer, but here it refers to a specific group of believers in Jerusalem. The offering is taken for saints in Jerusalem who at this time are at the point of starvation and have been dispossessed and persecuted and need financial help. So we translate: “For indeed concerning the aid to the saints.”

“it is” — present active indicative of e)imi, it keeps on being; “superfluous” — perissoj which means over and above or superfluous.

“for me” — dative of dignity and it refers to Paul as the human author. Superfluous describes the fact that Paul is going to repeat a principle which is well understood, which has even been applied by the Corinthians. The whole concept here is that even though members of the congregation understand the doctrine, have applied the doctrine, have properly used the doctrine, they don’t stop there, they go over and over it. Paul is going to do it again.

“to write” is a present active infinitive, the verb is grafw. The present tense is a dramatic present. The active voice: God the Holy Spirit uses human authors, the human author writing this is the apostle Paul, and the infinitive indicates purpose.

Verse 2 — the mental attitude of the Corinthians expressed.

“For I know” — o)ida, the perfect used as a present tense for absolute knowledge. It is a reference to the fact that Paul understands the original recipients of this epistle.

“the forwardness” — this word is very misleading. The noun is proqumia and it means ‘willingness.’ They are willing to cooperate. It connotes positive volition toward doctrine resulting in divine viewpoint in the frontal lobe and therefore a waiting to be told what to do in this case. They are willing, they are simply waiting for the proper instructions. Therefore Paul will provide through this delegation the proper instructions regarding this offering.

“of you mind” — the is no ‘your’ here and there is no word for ‘mind.’ Willingness is found in the soul and it is connected with the mind, so there is no need for the word ‘mind’ here.

“for which I boast of you” — he doesn’t boast at all. The word simply means he gives testimony concerning or on behalf ‘of you.’

“of you” is u(per, ‘on behalf of you.’

“to them of Macedonia” — Paul illustrates a biblical principle to the Macedonians by using the Corinthians as the illustration. The word ‘boast’ is kauxaomai which means to use as an illustration. Paul is in Macedonia preaching to Macedonians and when he gets to the subject of giving he uses the Corinthians as an illustration.

“that Achaia was ready a year ago” — Achaia is the province in which Corinth is located. ‘Was ready’ is not what he said. They are mentally prepared. It is the perfect passive indicative of paraskeuazw [para = the preposition of immediate source; skeuazw = to be equipped]. All Paul is saying is that they have been equipped to give from the immediate source of themselves. They were equipped by doctrine, by a divine viewpoint. When Titus had been there and started this offering they gave on the basis of the proper mental attitude. They were equipped to give on the basis of a true mental attitude, they were prepared to finish out the offering a year ago.

“and your zeal hath provoked very many” — ‘your zeal’ means their noble aspirations. Their nobles aspirations had “stimulated,” not provoked — e)reqizw, aorist active indicative. They were stimulated at the point in which they heard Paul talking to the Macedonian Christians and using the Corinthians as an illustration; “very many” — pleion. People everywhere had been stimulated on the basis of your mental attitude.

The ninth principle of giving

When carnality hindered the completion of the offering it was Corinthians rebound that again prepared them, but they had been prepared before. Doctrine prepared them in the first place; carnality hindered their mental attitude in giving. The Corinthians cannot give if they are carnal, so before they can give of their money they must rebound. Principle: Don’t part with your money unless you are in fellowship. Rebound is vital in the principle of giving, as is mental attitude. Nothing in the Christian life can be accomplished apart from the filling of the Spirit and the knowledge of Bible doctrine.

Translation: “For I know your willingness of mind for which I keep on giving laudatory illustration on behalf of you to the Macedonians, that southern Greece has been prepared a year ago by mental attitude; and your noble aspiration has stimulated very many.”

Verse 3 — the purpose of an advance delegation. “Yet” is the particle de which means “But.” Paul foresees a point of embarrassment: “I have sent” — aorist active indicative of pempw. It is a decision whereby he sends a delegation of three; “the brethren.”

“lest” introduces a negative purpose clause, i(na mh, ‘that not.’

“our boasting” is, again, ‘laudatory testimony’ — kauxhma; “of you” — u(per, ‘on behalf of you.’

“should not be in vain” — literally, “should not be falsified.’ “But I have sent the brethren [the delegation] in order that our laudatory testimony on behalf of you should not be falsified ...” The verb ‘falsified’ is kenow. In other words, Paul’s testimony is falsified unless the offering is completed on a biblical basis. The Corinthians could not complete the offering because of carnality. Now that they are back in fellowship they can complete it.

“in this behalf” is literally, ‘in this fragment’ — e)n plus the locative of meroj.

“that” — i(na introduces a secondary explanatory clause; “as” should be ‘even as’ — kaqwj; “I said” — imperfect active indicative of legw, ‘I kept saying.’

“ye may be ready” — ‘you have been prepared from the ultimate source of yourself.’

Translation: “But I have sent the brethren [the delegation], in order that our laudatory testimony on behalf of you should not be falsified in this fragment [of Paul’s message]; that, even as I kept on repeating, you have been prepared from the ultimate source of your soul.”

Verse 4 — the delegation gets Paul off the hook. “Lest haply” — mh pwj, ‘Lest in any way if.’ “If” introduces a third class condition which is undetermined but stated as the possibility.

“they of Macedonia” — simply the Macedononians; “come with me” — ‘accompany me’; “and find” — aorist active subjunctive of e)uriskw which means to discover.

“you [all]” — the Corinthians; “unprepared” — a triple compound noun, a)paraskeuastoj, which means prepared from the immediate source of self, and with a negative it means not to be prepared.

“we (that we say not, ye) — “that we, we do not say you should be ashamed” — kataisxunw. It means ‘we are embarrassed.' We would be embarrassed because we knew how you were at one time, then you were not that way. But when Titus went you recovered the doctrine necessary to do it as unto the Lord, and we are going to send this delegation down before anyone else gets out of fellowship.

“in this same confident boasting” is ‘in this assumption’ — u(postasij which here is an assumption. They assumed that the condition still exists, that the offering is completed because of the mental attitude. It may be completed, he doesn’t know at the moment.

Translation: “Let by any means that the Macedonians accompany me, and discover you unprepared (that we, we do not say you) would be embarrassed by this assumption.”

Verse 5 — the wisdom of the apostle Paul. “Therefore” is the particle o)un which shows a conclusion; “I thought” — the aorist active indicative of e(geomai which means here to make a command decision. “Therefore on the basis of possible false pressure to you and embarrassment to me I made an objective command decision.” The word ’necessary’ is the Greek noun a)nagkaioj. With e(geomai it forms and idiom: an objective command decision.

“to exhort” — literally, ‘to encourage’, parakalew; “the brethren [the delegation], that they would go before” — proerxomai which means to proceed. He wants an advance party to make sure that everything is secure in Corinth before he gets there.

“unto you” — e)ij means ‘toward you.’

Make up beforehand” is literally, ‘prepare in advance,’ aorist active subjunctive of prokatartizw, to equip or supply ahead of time; “your bounty” — e)ulogia which doesn’t mean bounty, it means blessing. The blessing belongs to the Corinthians who give out of the mental attitude. The blessing belongs to the believer whose mental attitude is doctrinal.

“whereof” is not found in the original; “ye had notice before” is ‘having previously promised’ — perfect passive participle of proepaggellomai which means a prior promise.

“that the same might be ready” — ‘might be’ is absolute status quo; ‘ready’ is e(toimoj which means prepared (already taken before we get there).

“as a matter of bounty” — literally, ‘as blessing.’ It must be prepared as a mental attitude thing or it is no good; “and not as covetousness” — literally, ‘and not as grudging (or giving pressure).’

Translation: “Therefore I made a command decision to the brethren, that they should proceed to you, and prepare in advance your blessing, which you had previously promised, that the same [the offering begun a year ago] might be prepared as a blessing, and not as grudging [or pressure] giving.” Verse 6 — the law of giving. The background for this verse is the agricultural function of antiquity. “But this” — Touto de refers to the noun of the previous verse, ‘blessing’ — e)ulogia. The principle is that giving is classified as e)ulogia. Touto de is a Greek idiom for ‘reference to.’ It is actually showing that giving is classified as a blessing. The reason is because of the law of giving now stated. Paul has to defend something he said in the previous sentence. He has called giving a blessing. When people part with their money they may or may not regard that as a blessing. How is Paul going to defend the fact that he calls giving a blessing? He is going to do it by means of an idiom — “But this,” which means ‘How about this for an explanation?’

“He which soweth” — present active participle of speirw, and agricultural word which means the sowing of seed, the planting of seed. This is a present active participle to indicate the fact that this is a custom as old as the fall. We now have an analogy between sowing seed in an agricultural economy and giving.

“sparingly” — an adverb, feidomenwj. A good English word is ‘parsimoniously,’ which means to be miserly. The one sowing and holding back is what it really means. Then we go to the future tense, future from the time of sowing.

“reap” is qerizw, future active indicative. It means to harvest, and the harvest is in the future from the sowing. Therefore there is a law that comes from agriculture immediately. We have the same adverb used with the future active indicative, “shall harvest sparingly” or parsimoniously. This is a law and you can’t get around this law. If you are parsimonious in the amount of seed that you use and hold back you have a reduced harvest. “But this, the one sowing parsimoniously parsimoniously also shall reap [a harvest].”

“and he which soweth bountifully” — present active participle of speirw. But this time we have a prepositional phrase — e)pi plus the dative plural of e)logia. It should be translated, “but the one sowing on the blessing [on the principle of blessing].” Then the rest of the phrase, “on the principle of blessing also shall harvest.”

Translation: “But this [law of giving], the one who sows parsimoniously [give legalistically] also shall harvest parsimoniously [no blessing from legalism], the one sowing on the principle of blessing [grace giving] on the principle of blessing [grace] shall also harvest.”

You can harvest from grace, you can harvest from legalism. Legalism never gives you a thing. 1. They key is found in the noun e)ulogia, translated ‘blessing.’ It is found in verse 5, the previous verse.

2. E)ulogia refers to grace giving. This means that in an agricultural economy of the ancient world no sower ever earned the harvest. God supplies the seed, the sunshine, the rain, the chemistry of the soil, the protection from anything that would devastate the harvest. God provides everything that causes production.

The eleventh principle of giving: points 3-9

3. Giving according the principle of grace guarantees blessing.

4. In grace giving the person gives of self, the person gives of his mental attitude, and the person gives of his money. Money that is given in a grace basis is always accompanied by a mental attitude and is always connected with a motivation. The motivation is self. That is grace money.

5. In grace giving the believer sows in grace and reaps in grace. Therefore great blessing or e)ulogia.

6. In legalism giving the believers sows sparingly or gives to God with strings.

7. However there is no blessing in legalistic giving, regardless of the amount or the sacrifice involved.

8. Observe the amount of seed sown is not the issue. The issue, again, is in the word e)ulogia. That is grace giving. God only blesses on the basis of grace.

9. Therefore legalistic giving never blesses even though there may be great sacrifice or a large amount involved.

Verse 7 — amplification of grace giving. How do you give so that it isn’t the amount that counts but the condition of the soul.

“Every man” is not ‘every man.’ Giving is no an every man deal, giving is an individual situation. The first word is e(kastoj and the translation should be “each one.” Every believer is an individual and what you say for one believer doesn’t apply to another, whether it is money or anything else.

“according as” — kaqwj, according to the norm or standard. The norm or standard for giving is found in the soul, not in the pocket book. The amount and the act of giving is the extension of doctrine in the right lobe. Capacities of all kinds are based on doctrine, and it must be doctrine in the soul.

“he purposeth” — perfect middle indicative of proaireomai [pro = before; airew = to choose] which means to choose beforehand. It means to prefer and that means determination with volition or determination with motivation. “Each one according to the norm or standard as he has determined in his right lobe.” Why his right lobe? That is where the doctrine is.

“not grudgingly” — this is ‘not out from distress of mind,’ e)k plus luph which means ‘pressure,’ and here it means distress of mind. That means because you feel trapped, you feel forced to give.

“or of necessity” — e)k plus a)nagkh. This means pressure gimmicks, compulsion.

The twelfth principle of giving

1. Giving is a mental attitude.

2. Since giving is from the right lobe or heart it must be based on the daily function of GAP.

3. Ability to give the grace way depends, then, on Bible doctrine in the right lobe/capacity.

4. Therefore capacity for giving is the same as capacity for life and capacity for love — doctrine in the right lobe.

5. Doctrine in the source of all capacities in phase two.

“for God” — o( qeoj, the God, God the Father; “loveth” — present active indicative of a)gapaw, mental attitude love. He loves a principle here: grace.

“cheerful” — i(laroj which means gracious; “giver” — dothj.

Translation: “Each one according as he has determined by means of his heart, so give; not out from pressure of mind, not from compulsion of emotion: the God keeps on loving the gracious giver.”

Summary

1. For a believer to be a grace giver he must have Bible doctrine in the right lobe. In other words, a grace giver is a person who has capacity for life, for love.

2. Doctrine comes from the daily function of GAP.

3. Therefore capacity for grace giving is related to capacity for grace living and grace loving.

4. Therefore all worship and all capacity for life is based on Bible doctrine in the right lobe.

Verses 8 & 9, grace provision in giving.

Verse 8 — “And God.” The word ‘God’ is not God at all, it is “And the God,” o( qeoj. This generally refers to God the Father in the New Testament, the author of operation grace; “is able” — present active indicative of dunatew.

“to make all grace abound toward you” — aorist active infinitive of perisseuw which means to superabound. ‘God is able’ is a present active indicative and it is linear aktionsart, there never was a time when He didn’t have the ability and there never is a time when God doesn’t have the ability ‘to make superabound.’ But we change tense: the aorist active infinitive which means in any point of time. You could be broke right now and a millionaire tomorrow if God decided that is the way He wanted to do it. God has the ability ‘to make superabound.’ This means that you will never have a spiritual need that God does not provide. It also means that God will provide the other needs too. We have spiritual needs and we have material/monetary needs. Your spiritual needs are met through the daily function of GAP, the intake of Bible doctrine. Your material needs are met by grace. If you as a believer have anything to give, God provided one way or another.

The word “all” in front of grace simply indicates God provides not only spiritually but also materially. There are times when God does not provide materially for some kind of a test, something that needs to be emphasised in the spiritual realm.

“that” introduces a purpose clause; “ye always” — adverb pantote which means ‘at all times.’ This is talking about phase two; “having” is a present active participle, e)xw — constantly having; “all sufficiency” — one word, a)utarkeia, a technical philosophical term used by the stoics. The stoics always pressed to be self-sustaining in every way. The stoic sought to make each man an island and he said in effect that if you were completely independent of all human beings and things then you could have happiness. This word is taken from the philosophy of stoicism and is placed in the New Testament as a technical word. It connotes sufficiency, not self sufficiency but sufficiency within one’s self based upon grace, based upon Bible doctrine.

“in all things” is e)n plus the locative — ‘in the sphere of all things.’ All things refers to spiritual things as well as material things. In other words, God operates in grace on the basis of capitalism. Capitalism is what grace provides in the spiritual realm and in the material realm. God does all of the providing.

“may abound” — to superabound, the present active subjunctive. Now for the first time we have what might be called a discordant note; perisseuw means to superabound but it is in the subjunctive mood here. God may provide you with everything in the world materialistically. That does not mean that you are going to superabound. The only thing that superabounds is that which is given on the basis of your own grace character. Doctrine produces grace in the soul — grace orientation. When you give from grace you give on the basis of grace in your soul. This is the sowing, and whatever you give multiplies. Here the multiplication is in the realm of divine good.

“to every good work” — the preposition e)ij is directional, ‘toward good work’ which is divine good.

Translation: “And the God has the ability to cause all grace to superabound to you; that always having an all sufficiency in all things, you may superabound with reference to every good work.”

Thirteenth principle of giving

1. God provides in grace both spiritual and material blessings which are combined in giving. One cannot exist without the other.

2. The principle is that the inflow of grace should result in the outflow of grace.

3. In 2 Corinthians 8:7 reference is given to the spiritual provision of grace. The provision is patterned on the basis of grace at the cross — 2 Corinthians 8:9;9:15.

4. Giving is one of the greatest grace challenges in phase two. It takes more grace to give than almost anything else.

Verse 9 — the documentation is taken from Psalm 112:9. “It is written” is a perfect passive indicative of grafw to indicate the principle of inspiration. The perfect tense not only implies the mechanics of inspiration (God the Holy Spirit providing information and this information being written by the writer of scripture) but it also indicates the permanence of the canon of scripture. The Word of God lives and abides forever, there never will be a time when the Word of God does not exist. So we generally translate this, “It stands written,” and this particular phrase is always a citation from the Old Testament.

“He that dispersed abroad” — aorist active indicative of skorpizw which means to disperse, to scatter, to give liberally. It was used of a sower sowing a lot of seed but it really means to give generously. This is a reference to God Himself and this is our testimony whether we recognise it or not. “He has given generously.” The aorist tense indicates eternity past. The active voice: God provided everything we would ever need at any time in our lifetime billions of years ago. The indicative mood is the reality of the fact that we did not exist at the time He provided these things, that He knew what we would be like, that we would be undeserving and yet He provided them anyway. Everything that we ever need was provided in eternity past, not in time. God knew our needs and therefore He provided them on the basis of His character.

“He hath given” — a repetition but with a different verb, didomi, aorist active indicative. This is giving in time, when God’s giving is fulfilled in a point of time when we needed it.

“to the poor” — dative of advantage from penhj says it is to our advantage to be poor. This does not refer to poverty in the ordinary sense of the word; far from it. This is not poverty, this is helplessness. “Poor” here refers to the beneficiaries, all believers in the sense that they can earn or deserve or work for absolutely nothing. Since that is the case God must therefore provide everything.

“his righteousness” — dikaiosunh refers to righteousness as a virtue. It anticipates verse 10. We have this word used in verse 9 for God but we have the same word used in verse 10 for the believer priest in the process of giving. His righteousness means His grace virtue. He gives on the basis of grace.

“remaineth forever” — the word ‘remaineth’ is the present active indicative of menw, ‘keeps on abiding.’ God maintained His righteousness and gave on the basis of the cross, therefore God’s giving is virtuous; “forever” is e)ij ton a)iwna, a prepositional phrase, ‘with reference to the ages of the ages.’ This is an idiom for forever. In other words, God has found a way to keep His character intact and to give to us whether we deserve it or not. Application: Every time you and I give we must give on the basis of dikaiosunh. We may not have the character of God but when we give it must be grace virtue. We must give on the basis of who and what we are before the Lord as a result of the daily function of GAP.

Translation: “Even as it stands written, He has given generously; he gave to the poor: his virtue-righteousness abides forever.”

Anticipating verse 10

1. At the end of verse 10 we have dikaiosunh again. At that point we see the harvest of God’s virtue-righteousness in grace giving. The grace giving of the believer is a manifestation of God’s virtue-righteousness in providing.

2. God provides money in grace, the believer gives money in grace. But with that God first provides the spiritual power in the soul and the believer gives from and with his soul.

3. The believer’s grace giving results in increasing the believer’s grace-virtue.

4. The increase of the believer’s grace-virtue enlarges his capacity for life and love.

5. Therefore giving is often the key for capacity for life.

Verse 10 — the multiplication of grace through giving.

“Now he that ministereth” — present active participle. In verse 9 we have “He hath dispersed abroad,” the sowing of a large amount of seed. The word in verse 10 is not ‘ministereth’ at all, it is e)pixorhgew which means for a man to provide the money and the expense for the chorus in a Greek tragedy. First of all to do so he had to be a wealthy man. Secondly, he had to be totally interested in the whole purpose behind drama. This, then, is a verb which is going to be taken from Greek drama of the fifth century BC and placed in a new context of grace giving. It means to give generously and extensively and it is now linked up with the word ‘seed’ — sperma. The seed here refers to money, it is analogous to it. We have now gone from God’s grace-virtue in providing for our soul needs and our material needs to the believer’s function under this principle.

Fourteenth principle of giving

1. E)pixorhgew, the first verb in verse 10, plus skorizw, the first verb in verse 9, indicates that God is the source of the money we give.

2. But only that part of the money which is given (the seed being sown) is multiplied.

3. God does not multiply the money that is kept from the offering. God intends for you to keep money, to eat food, to wear clothes. The money for those things is not the money that is sown here. The only money that is being regarded here is that portion you give as unto the Lord.

4. The more money the believer sows or gives the more money God supplies for that.

5. God multiplies the seed being sown. The seed being sown in the harvest of divine good.

6. Therefore grace giving experiences the multiplication of grace rather than the addition of grace. Cf. Proverbs 11:24,25.

7. God adds seed (money) for living, but God multiplies what we give provided we give the Bible way.

“to the sower” — the sower now is the believer priest. This is the present active participle of speirw which is used as a noun. This is the money that God provides for you.

“both minister bread for food” — the word ‘minister’ is xorhgew which means to defray the cost of a chorus in Greek drama. It means to supply funds. The word bread is a)rtoj which means bread but it stands for necessities of life. Food is one of the necessities for life and obviously God is going to provide for the necessities of life, except under extreme pressure conditions where some other spiritual benefit is derived through grace.

“for your food” — this is a prepositional phrase with e)ij and brwsij which is the act of eating. So it is “bread for the purpose of eating.” In other words, God intends for you to live, He intends for you to eat bread, He provides the money for you to eat bread. It is not His intention for you to go without bread. That is added and it cannot be multiplied.

“multiply your seed sown” — future active indicative. It is a future tense used as a present tense. The future tense is used to show that one thing results in the other, and we have the word plhqunw which means to multiply. When the seed is in the hand of the sower it is called sperma, but once it is sown it is called spora. And spora multiplies.

“and increase the fruits [harvest] of your righteousness” — the word ‘increase’ is another future active indicative, used as a present tense, but the future indicates results. The word is a)ucanw. This is a multiplication type word, it means to increase from the seed sown. The word “fruits” is not fruits, it is a noun genhma which means ‘harvest.’ The harvest is dikaiosunh — grace virtue. The believer’s grace-virtue comes from grace giving.

Translation: Now he [God] that provides graciously the seed to the sower [the believer] provides graciously for the act of eating, and at the same time multiplies your seed sown, and even enlarges the harvest of your grace virtue.”

Verse 11 — “Being enriched” is the present passive participle ploutizw which means to become very rich. The passive voice means to receive riches; “in everything” — literally, “in the sphere of all things.” This is e)n plus the locative of paj. Our enrichment is both addition and multiplication. On the addition side we have the materialistic things of life which accumulate to us. On the multiplication side we have the divine good, grace virtue, and capacity for life. One is a priestly ministry and the other is a human survival concept.

“to all bountifulness” — the preposition e)ij should be translated ‘because.’ Then we have the accusative of paj plus a(plothj which means generosity of soul or mind.

“which causeth” — katergazomai which generally means something on the inside coming out. Giving is something on the inside coming out as a result — inside the soul.

“the act of thanksgiving to God through us,” literally. You cannot give without someone somewhere giving thanks.

Translation: “In all things being enriched because of your generosity of mind [or soul] which brings out as a result the act of thanksgiving to the God through us.”

Those who are the beneficiaries of the money are thankful to God.

Verse 12 — the word “administration” is diakonia in the Greek which has five different uses. It connotes service in some form. Secondly, it was used for the preparation of a meal — either purchasing it, cooking it, serving it. The third concept is service in the office of a prophet or teacher. In this sense diakonia is sometimes used of a pastor. The fourth use has the concept of the distribution of alms, aid, or support. The fifth use has to do with the administration of the office of deacon. The word used in this verse has to do with the distribution of alms, the administration of giving. The distribution of the money comes only after the collection.

“of this service” — the word for ‘service’ is leitourgia. This originally meant a public service discharged by a citizen at his own expense. Here is means a sacred service of some form. This is the word from which we derive the English word ‘litergy.’ This should be translated, “Because the administration of this sacred service.”

Between “service” and the next word, “not,” is the verb to be, the present active indicative of e)imi. It should read “in not.”

“supplieth” — present active participle projanaplhrow [plhrow = to fill or fill up a deficiency; a)na = again; proj = face to face]. Perhaps the easiest way to translate it in this context is ‘filling up a deficiency of what the saints lack.’ “Because the administration of this sacred service is not only filling up the deficiency of the lack of service ...”

“but also is abundant” — perisseuw in the present active participle: “constantly superabounding.”

“by many thanksgivings” — dia plus the genitive of polluj plus e)uxaristia, generally used for thanksgiving on the basis of something given in grace. That is why the Lord’s table is called the Eucharist.

Translation: “Because the administration of this sacred service is not only filling up the deficiency of the lack of the saints, but also superabounds through many thanksgivings unto the God [God the Father].”

Verses 13-15, the result of great giving.

Verse 13 — “Whiles.” There is no such word. The first word is dia plus the genitive — “through.”

“the experiment” — the genitive singular of dokimh which means testing for the purpose of approval. “Through the testing for approval.”

“of this ministration” — diakonia, ‘administration.’ This refers to the aid. First of all there is the giving, then there is the collecting, the transportation, and the distribution. That is administration.

“they glorify [the] God” — present active participle of docazw. The Jerusalem believers glorify God because this administration of giving has been tested and approved. It was tested at the point of giving, it had to be grace giving. It was tested at the point of administration, it had to be properly administered. It was tested at the point of transportation, it had to be properly transported from Corinth to Jerusalem. It was tested at the distribution point which was Jerusalem itself. The believers who had needs, those needs were provided from these funds.

“for your professed subjection” — incorrectly translated. This is e)pi th u(potagh thj o(mologiaj. The word e)pi means not ‘for’ but ‘upon.’ ‘Subjection’ is next in the Greek — u(potagh means ‘subordination’ to authority. ‘Professed’ is ‘acknowledgement.’ Literally this is, “upon the subordination of your acknowledgement.” O(mologew means to acknowledge, not confess; “to the gospel of Christ” is correct.

What is the Corinthian acknowledgement to the gospel of Christ? The gospel of Christ came to them in grace, they give in grace. This is a parallel between the gospel as a principle of grace and Corinthian giving as a principle of grace.

Fifteenth principle of giving

1. Giving is a test when you give to something you instinctively do not like. (The Corinthians are Greek Gentiles and instinctively they do not like Jews)

2. The Corinthians were the antithesis of the believers of Jerusalem. The Corinthians were indicted for antinomianism, the Jewish believers of Jerusalem were indicted for legalism. Antinomianism and legalism are antithetical. So there is a natural antagonism, both racial and functional.

3. However, diakonia + leitourghj giving is a service to the Lord. So when the Corinthians give they know where it is going but they still give as unto the Lord. The Jews know about the Corinthians but they still pray unto the Lord for them.

4. Giving is a sign of recognition of the authority of grace. The word for authority is u(potagh.

5. Grace giving demands grace authority.

6. Grace authority is found in the gospel.

7. The noun e)uaggelion refers to the doctrines of the gospel which are all grace doctrines.

“and for your liberal distribution” is literally, ‘through the generosity of contribution unto them.’ The word ‘liberal’ is a)plothj and it means generosity.

“unto them” is ‘toward themselves,’ e)ij autouj; “and toward all.”

Translation: “Through the testing for approval of this ministry [grace giving] they glorify the God upon the subordination of your acknowledgement to the gospel of Christ, through the generosity of the contribution toward themselves, and toward all.”

The epilogue principle

1. Emotional giving is not grace giving.

2. Emotional giving is rapport giving.

3. But grace giving is not motivated by rapport or computability.

4. Therefore grace giving is not emotional giving.

5. The Bible advocates grace giving but not emotional giving.

6. Both the filling of the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine is the basis for grace giving.]

7. Emotional giving is human good, human viewpoint, and in opposition to Bible doctrine.

Verse 14 — “And by their prayer” is dehsij which means the act of intercessory prayer; “for you” is literally, ‘on behalf of you’ — u(per.

“which long after you” — the participle here is e)pipoqew which means a deep love — ‘having a deep love.’

“because of the surpassing,” not ‘the exceeding’, “grace of God.”

“in you” should be ‘upon you.’

Translation: “And by their intercessory prayer on your behalf, a longing after you with deep love because of the surpassing grace of [the] God upon you.”

Verse 15 — “Thanks” does not occur, it is Xarij tw qew — “Grace to the God.” Then we have the preposition repeated, e)pi again, ‘upon.’

“his unspeakable gift” should be ‘the indescribable gift.’ The word for ‘unspeakable is an adjective, a)nekdihghtoj, and it means ‘indescribable’ — beyond human language. The word for “gift” is dwrea which means free gift, no strings gift. It is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Translation: “Grace to the God upon the indescribable gift.”