2 Corinthians 12:1-10 True Discipleship: Boasting in the Lord

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True Discipleship: Boasting in the Lord

Introduction: In the letters of 1st and 2nd Corinthians Paul mentions boasting 32 times. Both in the Gospel John and for the last number of weeks we have talked about what it means to be a disciple of Christ. In 2 Corinthians, Paul gives a much neglected description of foundation principles for being a disciple of Christ. Whether because the letter is typically neglected or because it is misunderstood, it would be safe to say that most Christians have not grasped the message.

The key to the letter is the phrase boasting in the Lord. We read it easily enough. We say it regularly. But do we understand it in Paul’s context?

1. 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 Setting Up the Message
   1. As most of you are aware, the Corinthians had been beguiled by a group of false teachers. They had “tampered” with God’s word, preaching “plausible words of wisdom,” and using “disgraceful, underhanded ways” to commend and boast in themselves as “super-apostles.” Their message was that of health and wealth, perfectly fitting into the liberal culture of the day. Their boast was in themselves, using a carnal foundation of popularity to promote their agenda.
   2. The text before us is the conclusion of a detailed, argument Paul has waged against these boasters. He introduced his concluding triumphant argument in 10:17-18, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” Those very words are a repetition of how he introduced 1 Corinthians (1:31), indicating that boasting in the Lord is thematic through both letters.
   3. The key to this final text (11:1–12:10) is Paul’s attempt to show the foolishness of boasting in any earthly accomplishments. To illustrate this he contrasts the boast of the false teachers with his own boast. He calls it foolish to do so, but we quickly get the message when we see Paul’s boast, not in accomplishments, but in suffering for Christ.
   4. Before we discuss the details, let’s quickly highlight the overall message of the text.
      1. Paul’s final “boast” would have trumped anything these “super-apostles” could have imagined. Though Paul diverts attention away from himself, he speaks of visions and revelations he had received when he was caught up to the third heaven (Paradise).
      2. However, it isn’t the revelations that he intends as his boast (vs. 6). Instead, it was the “thorn in the flesh” he was given by a “messenger of Satan” to harass him. God used this to keep him from becoming arrogant (in the Greek, twice repeated in this verse). Of course, “conceited” or “arrogant” [NET] is the very thing that the false teachers were.
      3. Paul’s response to this “thorn” was to pray three times for the Lord to remove it. But the Lord refused. God’s answer was, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 
      4. With that answer, Paul seems to understand all the more value in the weaknesses the Lord intends for him to suffer. In fact, he will now gladly boast in his weaknesses. 
2. Boasting Is Reflected in How We View Living
   1. Let’s begin with the OT context of the twice quoted verses, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:23-24). “Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.” 
   2. At the time of the writing, Judah was at the brink of destruction by Babylon. Those who boasted in their ability to escape exile or death because of wisdom, power, or wealth, would be destroyed. The only answer was knowing the Lord and boasting in him and his steadfast love and having confidence in God’s deliverance.
   3. While the context of Jeremiah is exclusive trust in God in the midst of trial, Paul uses the phrase “boasting in the Lord” in a broader sense of our complete dependency on God. This principle may sound easy, but the challenge of giving up control especially when threatened by severe trials goes against all our natural inclinations.
   4. 1 Corinthians 1:17–31 introduces for us how to live boasting in the Lord. We have already mentioned that Paul quoted Jeremiah 9 at the beginning of 1 Corinthians and at the end of 2 Corinthians. Therefore, Paul introduces both letters by the principles in this text. Notice the words & phrases that reveal the message of the text:
      1. Verses 17-18
         1. “Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel…” Baptism is symbolic of a Christian’s death to self. 
         2. “Lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power…for the word [message] of the cross is folly to those who are perishing…” Jesus death on a cross is symbolized in our baptism, but also is a “message” of how our lives are to be lived.
         3. Therefore, the preaching of the cross is emptied of its power when the gospel of health and wealth is preached and lived instead of taking up our cross.
      2. Verse 23: “We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.” Why this reaction? Because living the message of the cross did not exalt Jews or Gentiles. It only exalts Christ (Verse 26). 
      3. Verses 27-31 The key phrase, “God chose… so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” In other words, we come to realize that whatever we accomplish comes to nothing, and only through living the cross of Christ do we find strength.
      4. John MacArthur states, “God’s wisdom is a kind of paradox. In human thinking, strength is strength, weakness is weakness, and intelligence is intelligence. But in God’s economy some of the seemingly strongest things are the weakest, some of the seemingly weakest things are the strongest, and some of the seemingly wisest things are the most foolish. The paradox is not by accident but by God’s design.”
      5. Only in Christ do we have that which is eternal and truly important: wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
   5. In 1 Corinthians 4:8-16 Paul condemns the Corinthian pursuit of a life of ease so that they could boast in themselves.
   6. In 2 Corinthians, Paul follows up with illustrations of living a life of boasting in the Lord. We only have time to summarize these illustrations to get the impact:
      1. 2:14 “God always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” We have been conquered by Christ, led in a procession by which some of us will die to glorify him, and the rest will live as his captives proclaiming him. 
      2. 4:6-12 We have the “treasure of the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ…in jars of clay.” Therefore, we are given over to death so that the life of Jesus can be visible in our bodies and others can be saved.
      3. 5:14-15 “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” 
      4. 6:3-10 “…as having nothing, yet possessing everything”
3. 2 Corinthians 12: Boasting in Weakness
   1. To see the text clearly, notice three verses:
      1. 11:30 “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” 
      2. 12:5 “On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses.” 
      3. 12:9 “…Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
   2. Anyone boasting in the defeat you experienced in your last trial? Anyone boasting about how your present trial is wearing you down and you don’t know how much longer you can survive it? Anyone boasting that when you prayed for deliverance, God said ‘no’? Anyone boasting about how difficult and inconvenienced you are to serve others, counting others as more valuable than yourself? Anyone boasting about how time-consuming serving God is, especially when he asks you to die so others might live?
   3. Look carefully at these words: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” Nearly every commentator admits, “This is the summit of the epistle, the lofty peak from which the whole is viewed in true proportion.” 
   4. In verse 7, Paul said God gave him the “thorn” to keep him from becoming conceited/arrogant. What is “arrogant” in this context? It is Jeremiah’s context: relying on self. Why did God say ‘no’ to Paul’s prayers? “My strength is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 
   5. I do not believe there is anything more difficult than to completely give up self. I want control, and so do you. It is a continuous battle, but God insists on control. How does that happen? Through weakness! But catch this, it is not simply through trials. It is through giving up our lives in the service to God. It is not complaining about “how hard it is” and “how much we must give up of ourselves!” 
   6. There is something else. It is not just that God wants control, it is that you also want God to have control. You see, God has the higher ways and the higher thoughts. God is designing your life for glory. And when God is in control, all your cares melt away, because only then can you be confident in the outcome and only then can you truly boast in the Lord. 
   7. Look again at those words in verse 9: “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses…” Again in verse 10, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong!” 
      1. It is God, not you, that will bring you through every trial, as he sees fit, for his glory and ultimately for your glory.
      2. Boasting in the Lord, you are content in your weaknesses, hardships, persecutions, and calamities because that is when God’s power rests upon you.
   8. Final point: Paul did not reach this “summit peak” by simply understanding the principle. Even in this text, Paul is admitting that God’s refusal to remove the thorn was necessary for him to learn that when he is weak, then he is strong. Just like Paul, you cannot learn it any other way.
   9. Therefore, boasting in the Lord means:

Conclusion: How many Christians have given up during severe trial and weakness because they claimed that God had disappointed them? Their ignorance of God killed them. Satan meant it for evil, but God meant it to make you strong so that the power of Christ would rest upon you!

Jesus said, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” We must stop trying to save our lives! 

Berry Kercheville