9/20/2020 – Day 119 – 2 Corinthians 1-3 // Recalling Harvey Dozier’s last day on earth.
“To convince the world of the truth of Christianity, it must firt be convinced of in. It is only sin that renders Christ intelligible.” Andrew Murray
A good habit perhaps: When we start a new Book, to include the introduction from “Haley’s Bible Handbook” , copryright versions back to 1927. (Mine dates 1962 and was used by Nancy’s maternal Grandfather, Harvey Dozier. He underlined text and his own comments using a ruler. He went home to his Lord in 1972, dying of a heart attack at church while teaching a young marrieds Sunday School lesson on Romans 6:8: “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.” Nancy’s grandmother Alma, later recounted how he came into the bedroom, where she was still sleeping, kissed her on the cheek and said: “I love you; See ya soon!” She added that he had never done that , before departing to church early in the morning.
II Corinthians // Paul’s Vindication of his Apostleship / The Glory of his Ministry / And the Long Martydom of his Life.
Before I give y’all a summarized “date and ocassion of Paul’s writing”, I will share this brief commentary from Chapter 3. The Glory of His Ministry
“Epistles of Commendation (1). This expression was probably suggested by the fact that Judaizing teachers carried Letters of Introduction from Jerusalem. They were always eding in on Paul’s work, and were among his chief trouble-makers and aviled themselves of every possible excuse or opportunity to fight him. They were now asking, Who is Paul? Can he show Letters from anybody of standing in Jerusalem? Which, on the face of it, was absurd. Letters commending Paul to a Church which Paul himself had founded? The church itself was Paul’s Letter.
This led to a Contrast of His ministry with Theirs: the Gospel with the Law. One written on Stone, the other on Hearts. One of the Letter, the other of the Spirit. One unto Death, the other unto Life. One Veiled the other Unveiled. One unto Condemnation, the other unto Righteousness. One Passes, the other Remains. Beholding Christ, we are Changed, from Glory to Glory, into His Own Image.”
This though was relative small stuff for Paul. It is not about the messenger, but Paul definitely walked in the same shoes as Jeremiah almost 600 years later.
Date and Occasion of Writing
“Paul had spent a year and a half, about A.D. 52-53, in teh latter part of his Second Missionary Journey, in Corinth, and made a multitude of disciples (Acts 18:10, 11). Then, on his Third Missionary Journey, he had spent three years, at Ephesus, A.D. 54-57. In the Spring of A.D. 57, while still at Ephesus, Paul wrote 1 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 16:8). Soon afterward the great Riot occurred, in which Paul nearly lost his life (Acts 19)
Leaving Ephesus, he went to Macedonia, on hiw way to Corinth (see map page 575). While in Macedonia, in the Summer and Fall of A.D. 57, visiting churches in the region of Philippi and Thessalonica, in teh midst of many anxieties and sufferings, after long waiting to hear from Corinth, he met Titus, returning from Corinth with the word that Paul’s Letter had accomplished much good (11 Corinthians 7:6); but that there were still some of the Leaders in the Corinthian Church who were denying that Paul was a Genuine Apostle of Christ.
Then it was that Paul wrote this Letter, and sent it on ahead by Titus (8:6,17), expecting soon himself to reach Corinth.
It’s purpose seems mainly to have been Paul’s Vindication of himself as an Apostle of Christ, and to remind them that, inasmuch as he himself had founded the Church in Corinth, he did have a right to have a say in its management.
A little later Paul reached Corinth, and spent the winter there (Acts 20:2, 3), as he had planned (1 Corinthians 16: 5, 6). While in Corinth he wrote his great Epistle to the Romans.“