2 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 10:7-18,
“Do Not Compare Yourself With Those Who Measure Themselves By Themselves”
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study, we looked at the apostle Paul now entering the
last section of this letter, and we saw
that his manner of writing in this section changed dramatically through the end
of the letter
1.1.1. We saw that Paul in this
last section of the letter began to be bold in confronting those who were
causing problems in the Corinthian church as he defended his apostleship. We saw that up to chapter 10, Paul’s emphasis
had been largely to comfort the church and repair his relationship with them,
however in this last section Paul’s emphasis was observed to be that of confronting
his detractors and exposing them and what they were doing
1.1.2. We saw also that Paul began
to prepare the church for his soon return to them by pointing out the fact that
if they didn’t repent and make some changes right away that when he came he
would deal in a forceful and direct way with those who were causing the
problems
1.1.3. Paul responded to the
criticism of the “super-apostles” in the Corinthian church that he walked
according to the flesh by saying that though he and those with him walked in
the flesh that the weapons of their warfare were not according to the flesh but
were divinely powerful for the pulling down of fortresses
1.1.3.1.We looked at spiritual
warfare that we go through as Christians and how that we are to continually
rely upon the armor that God provides and not the weapons of the flesh
1.1.3.2.We saw that the Lord is
always testing and challenging us so we will dispel all false notions and hopes
that we as Christians may have in our life
1.1.3.3.We saw that the Lord is
continually bringing down fortresses and imaginations in our lives through the true
knowledge of Him
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to finish chapter 10 and Paul’s
initial defense of his apostleship to the minority group of his detractors in
the church in Corinth
1.2.1. Paul again makes the point
that he is the same person whether in person or by letter
1.2.2. Speaking of the
“super-apostles” who had come into the Corinthian church and who were
constantly boasting of their superior ministry and abilities and sporting their
letters of recommendation, Paul tells the Corinthians that he does not compare
himself to those who measure themselves by themselves
1.2.2.1.We will talk about why
comparing ourselves and our spiritual progress with each any man or woman is
always wrong
1.2.3. Paul makes the point that in
our walk as Christians and in our sense of our own righteousness that all glory
and boasting can only be in the Lord and the things He has done, for none of us
are righteous in and of ourselves
2.
VS 10:7 - “7 You are
looking at things as they are outwardly. If anyone is confident in himself that
he is Christ’s, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is
Christ’s, so also are we.” - Paul tells the minority group
of his detractors in
2.1.
It is a great danger for us as Christians to look at anything that
someone does outwardly, whether good or bad actually, and then attempt to judge
their heart and motives based upon what they did.
2.1.1. None of us is omniscient and
therefore we don’t know all of the many factors that contributed to someone
doing something, nor do we know their past history that has provided a
framework for their deciding to act in a certain way.
2.1.2. This is why Jesus admonished
His disciples to, “judge not lest ye be judged.” “Judging” in the manner Jesus referred to is
a rush to judgment, or a judging without knowing all of the facts or factors
involved in a person’s life and decisions.
2.1.2.1.We Christians should always
give people the benefit of the doubt rather than assume the worst about them
when we do not know all of the facts.
2.2.
Paul’s detractors in Corinth, fueled by the “super-apostles” who had come in amongst the
church, had seen the things that Paul had done and had made far reaching
assumptions about him that were completely wrong. For instance,
2.2.1. When Paul had changed his
plans about coming to visit the church as he had told them he would do, they
criticized him as being fickle and for making plans according to the flesh (not
being led of the Lord).
2.2.1.1.However, Paul has already
shown how he changed his mind about coming to them initially out of love for
them because he knew that if he came to them right away he would have to
strongly confront those in sin and since he on a prior had to do this, he
determined that to do so again so soon would be too much for the church to handle. He prayerfully decided that it would be
better to write the “severe letter” instead of coming and give the church some
time to do some of their own policing and discipline before he came to them
again.
2.2.2. When Paul had refused to
take a salary from the church, choosing to provide his own support tent-making,
they distrusted him and said that he must somehow be getting their money
funneled back to him and that he was deceiving them by saying that he was
providing for all of his own support.
2.2.3. Etc., etc.
2.3.
To those who were misjudging him, rushing to judgment of him in error, he
tells them to consider the fact that not only do they have a personal
relationship to Christ and serve Him, but he does also.
2.3.1. In other words, he wants them to think for
a minute about the fact that Paul was not serving himself, not doing
ministry for his own personal gain and reward, but rather he was a servant of
Jesus Christ and was just humbly serving Jesus in all he did.
3.
VS 10:8 - “8 For even
if I should boast somewhat further about our authority, which the Lord gave for
building you up and not for destroying you, I shall not be put to shame,” - Paul tells the Corinthians that if he chose
to even boast further about his authority as an apostle that he would not incur
shame in doing so
3.1.
We see in this verse further evidence that Paul’s demeanor has changed in this last section of the
letter. He is now speaking more boldly
and directly to the minority group within the church in
3.2.
As was mentioned previously, it is amazing to us from our vantage
point to see the criticisms of Paul by this minority group. Surely, if anyone had demonstrated that the
Lord was backing up his ministry and calling, it would be the apostle Paul.
3.2.1. How could Paul on his own
have successfully planted so many churches and won so many to Christ?
3.2.2. How could Paul have persevered
in his calling and ministry in spite of all of the suffering, persecution, and
hardships that he experienced?
3.2.3. How could Paul have been
able to go everywhere he went ministering and preaching the gospel while at the
same time providing for his own support?
4.
VS 10:9-11 - “9 for I
do not wish to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters.10 For they say,
“His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive,
and his speech contemptible.”11 Let such a person consider this, that what we
are in word by letters when absent, such persons we are also in deed when
present.”
- Paul tells the Corinthians that he is
the same person whether or not he is in person or writing a letter
4.1.
The minority group of Paul’s detractors in Corinth had accused him
of being very weak and timid when he was in person, as evidenced by his not
being able to effectively confront and discipline all of those who were
opposing him at his last visit to them, and then of using a ploy of trying
to scare them into submission when he wrote his letters to them.
4.2.
As was mentioned in the last study, Paul was not in reality what he seemed to
be to some in the church. They
mistook Paul as being weak and timid, ineffectual to deal with real crises, but
in fact Paul wrote that his ministry paralleled that of Jesus’ because instead
of weakness and timidity he had “meekness” and “gentleness.”
4.2.1. We saw that “meekness” is
power under control.
4.2.2. Paul as a leader did not throw
his weight around and intimidate everyone into submission wherever he went,
rather he led by example and commanded respect, rather than demanded it.
4.2.3. Paul was capable of being as
bold and direct as any man if he felt that the Lord wanted him to confront
someone who was in sin and threatening the well-being of God’s sheep. However, Paul knew that acting in “righteous
anger” is much more the exception to the rule of how we ought to act as
believers and leaders in the church, than the norm.
4.3.
This minority group would have been wise if they would cease in
rebellion against the leadership of the apostle Paul before he came to visit
them in the very near future as he was planning, for they were going to see up
close and personal the very fierce boldness that he expressed in his letters.
5.
VS 10:12 - “12 For we
are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend
themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves, and compare
themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.” - Paul tells the Corinthians that he does not
compare himself to those who measure themselves by themselves, for when they do
this they are without understanding (ignorant concerning their true nature and
spirituality)
5.1.
The “super-apostles” had developed their own “good old boys” network. They were made up of Jews who had come to
faith in Christ but who had rallied together around the erroneous notion that
in order for a person to be saved that in addition to having faith in Christ
they also had to keep the Law of Moses, and keep it as a Pharisee (keeping all
of the additional laws added by the Pharisaic leaders). Being a religious organization based
around works they had their own merit system for judging the spirituality of
anyone. As was the case of the
Pharisees, everything of merit was centered around external observances and
rituals not internal righteousness of the heart. We will see later in the letter that these
“super-apostles” actually believed that because of their meeting of
their own self-imposed rules and laws that they were actually superior
apostles to the apostle Paul.
5.1.1. Comparing himself to the
“super-apostles,” who were always boasting about their abilities and calling,
Paul writes that he would not be so bold as to “class” or “compare” himself
with them. Paul was a humble man and
thus he did not like talking about himself and the great things that he had
done, however because he did not want to lose this church in Corinth which he
loved so much, Paul was forced to commend himself to the church in order to
refute the false claims of this group.
5.1.1.1.Paul’s character is seen
here to be godly because our natural tendency as people when someone challenges
our abilities or character is to begin to defend ourselves and go on the attack
in return.
5.1.2. As has been mentioned
already a couple of times in our study, people tend to gravitate towards
legalism,
the keeping of laws and rules to make one spiritual, because it is easy to
gauge progress spiritually of yourself and everyone else when it is relegated
to external observances.
5.1.2.1.However, when we walk by
faith in Christ, we must realize that all of our righteousness comes to us
from Christ and is not of ourselves, and we must also understand that even
our best works are really only filthy rags before the Lord and that all
we are and have comes to us from God’s grace (underserved merit). Walking this way makes it very difficult to
evaluate our spiritual progress.
However, this is the way that the believer is to walk.
5.1.2.2.All of us our in the same
boat as the apostle Paul, regarding any kind of righteousness that we might
have in and of ourselves, as seen when he wrote Rom. 7:8, “18 For
I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is
present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”
5.1.2.2.1.Though Paul knew what was
right and what he ought to do in many situations, in his own flesh he often
found that he was not even able to do it.
5.1.2.2.2.Paul knew that the sin
nature within him had corrupted him through and through and that he was totally
dependant upon the righteousness of Christ if he were to have any righteousness
at all before God.
5.1.2.3.In Gal. 2:21, Paul
wrote about how if we could chart our progress by our works and gain acceptance
by God based upon our works then Christ would not have needed to come and die
upon the cross, “21 “I do not nullify the grace of God; for if
righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.””
5.1.3. Legalistic churches are
always popping up around us in our day, and each one of them has set up their own standards
of laws and rules by which a person may accurately gauge his spiritual progress. The leaders of these groups will tell you
that they are the righteous ones and demonstrate to you why this is so. They will then lay upon you what will be
required of you to match up to them, but legalism never brings either
freedom or true holiness and it results only in further spiritual bondage.
5.1.3.1.I’ve run into all kinds of legalistic
standards that churches have setup, including:
5.1.3.1.1.Some churches have created
dress code standards that you have to wear if you really want to be
spiritual. Women have to always wear
dresses, or sometimes though the women aren’t forced to always wear a dress,
the length of their dresses is specified.
Men have to wear suits to church, and some churches I’ve run into even
specify the types of suits the men have to wear.
5.1.3.1.2.Some churches have a huge
list of do’s and don’ts that they have created and which include things like
what kind of music you can and can’t listen to, whether or not you can attend
sporting events, what length a man’s hair can be, women have to wear hats to
church, how you are supposed to raise your children (they have a whole regimen
that you are to follow if you are truly spiritual), etc., etc.
5.1.3.1.3.One pastor I know of taught
his church that since the man was head over his wife that she should not make a
single decision without getting his permission.
This was carried out to the extent that a wife was not even supposed to
for instance even buy a pack of gum at the grocery store without her husband’s
permission.
5.1.3.1.3.1.The Bible teaches that the
man is head over his wife, but there is a ridiculous extent to which legalistic
churches and Christians have carried out the institution of headship.
5.1.3.1.4.Some churches have set up a
“shepherding ministry” where each one in the church is accountable to a certain
leader and cannot make any decisions of any consequence without first
consulting and getting the approval of their appointed shepherd leader.
5.1.3.2.Churches such as these I
mentioned really are doing the same things that the Pharisees in Jesus’ day
were doing. The Pharisees were not content with the
Sabbath laws in the scripture and so they added dozens of their own laws to
them and then held everyone accountable to their silly laws. The result was not freedom but a burden that
brought no life and which no one was able to bear.
5.2.
We should not compare ourselves with any man or woman.
5.2.1. The scriptures are clear
that it is always wrong whenever we Christians compare ourselves spiritually with any man of
woman.
5.2.1.1.First of all, we must
realize that God and His law are perfect.
5.2.1.1.1.Psalm 19:7, “7 The law of the
Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The
testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”
5.2.1.2.We as Christians are
commanded that
we are to allow the Lord to work in our lives so that we might be made
“perfect” in holiness, just as He is “perfect.” God doesn’t grade on the curve, His
standard is perfection, and anything that we do that “misses the mark,” or
falls short of His standard of perfection, is a sin that we have committed.
5.2.1.2.1.Lev. 11:45, “45 ‘For I am the
Lord, who brought you up from the
5.2.1.2.2.Matt. 5:48, “48 “Therefore you
are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
5.2.1.2.3.1 Peter 1:15-16, “15 but like the
Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;16
because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.””
5.2.1.2.4.Eph. 1:4, “4 just as He chose
us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
blameless before Him. In love.”
5.2.1.3.Christ has not been
perfectly formed in any man or woman, for we all fall short, and therefore to make a man
our standard would be far short of perfection and complete holiness.
5.2.1.3.1.Jam. 3:2, “2 For we all
stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he
is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.”
5.2.1.3.2.Phil. 3:10-14, “10 that I may
know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His
sufferings, being conformed to His death;11 in order that I may attain to the
resurrection from the dead.12 Not that I have already obtained it, or have
already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that
for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.13 Brethren, I do not regard
myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies
behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,14 I press on toward the goal
for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
5.2.1.4.Perfection could never come
as a result of our works of the law, for though we may do some good works we all do and
will fall short of God’s standard of righteousness.
5.2.1.4.1.Heb. 10:1, “1 For the Law,
since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of
things, can never by the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer
continually, make perfect those who draw near.”
5.2.2. Comparing ourselves with any
man or woman to gauge our spiritual progress does not produce any good result.
5.2.2.1.We can justify any wrong that we do because we can
always find someone else’s example to compare ourselves with and make ourselves
look good.
5.2.2.2.We are to bring glory to God and His goodness and
comparing ourselves with others just inflates our own pride and produces self-glorying.
5.2.3. Creating rules and laws just
causes people to come under more condemnation since people by their very nature are poor
law-keepers. This UPI article from a few
years back illustrates how creating more laws always causes more breaking of
the laws, “Washington
(UPI)—More and more, law enforcement officials are coming around to the
conclusion that the only way to reduce the crime rate in America is to make
everything legal. Moves in various
parts of the country to decriminalize marijuana are illustrative of this
approach. If adopted nationwide, proponents claim, decriminalization would
produce a dramatic decline in the number of arrests for illegal pot
possession. There is also talk of
employing the legalization technique to stamp out violations of laws against
pornography, prostitution, gambling and assorted other vices. One of the leading advocates of
decriminalization is an organization called Less Lawlessness Through Less Law
(LLLL). “Hiring more policemen,
imposing curfews, building new prisons, enlarging the judiciary—these measures
only treat the symptoms of the crime wave,” Bargood Fie, a LLLL spokesman, told
me. “If we’re ever going to have a
genuine improvement in the situation we’ve got to attack the root cause of
crime—the laws.””
5.2.3.1.Just a disclaimer on my part
here, I am not for making everything legal or getting rid of all kinds of laws.
5.2.4. We need to compare ourselves
with the Lord,
and when we do so we will always fall short of His absolute perfection, never
fall into the trap of believing ourselves to be righteous (self-righteousness),
and thus never get filled up with pride at our own accomplishments or goodness.
5.2.4.1.I like the notion of asking
yourself concerning any action you might take or thought you might think,
“WWJD?”
(What would Jesus do?) Sadly, we can
always find some other Christian’s example or Christian leader’s example to
condone our wrong behavior, however we can’t justify our sin when we ask
ourselves, or better yet ask Jesus what He, would do in a situation.
5.2.4.2.When we believers stand
before the Bema Seat of Judgment for believers to receive our rewards, we will
not be judged on the “bell curve” of how we match up against the majority
of other Christians, but upon God’s perfect standard of righteousness, and
nothing less…
5.2.4.3.The big buzz word from the
psychology sector in our world today that unfortunately has come into the
church is “self-esteem.” Those Christian leaders who
have taught that we Christians must concentrate upon loving ourselves, etc.,
have also bought into the life that man is basically good by nature. However, the scripture teaches just the
opposite about man, and the reality of people’s broken lives supports the
scriptures. Someone may think that if we
are always comparing ourselves to the Lord that we will have terrible
“self-esteem,” however this thinking does not recognize or understand the grace
of God in a believer’s life. Though God
is perfect in His holiness, and we as people are conversely corrupt in the sin
that dwells within us, none-the-less God is absolutely in love with each of His
children with a love that is unconditional of their personal performance.
5.2.4.3.1.You see, it is not until we
realize just how sinful that we are that we can then appreciate the grace and
love that God has for us as His children!
5.3.
Jesus sought to teach His disciples that contrary to the teaching of
the Pharisees and Scribes that true holiness would come as a result of making
sure that the heart is first pure, for true holiness could only come from internal
holiness. Rules and laws might produce
external works, however the internal motivations of the heart are what
determine true holiness.
5.3.1. True holiness cannot be
legislated by creating manmade laws and rules, because we are all poor
law-keepers, therefore all of mankind’s attempts to create rules and laws to
produce holiness cannot succeed.
5.3.1.1.Prohibition in our country
taught this lesson did it not? During
the prohibition years of the 1920’s people were legally not allowed to drink
alcohol, however people drank as much as ever.
Underground Speak-easy’s opened up all over the country, bootleg booze
was made and distributed by organized crime families, and people just drank in
secret.
6.
VS 10:13-14 - “13 But
we will not boast beyond our measure, but within the measure of the sphere
which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you.14 For we
are not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach to you, for we were the
first to come even as far as you in the gospel of Christ;” - Paul tells the Corinthians that he will not
be boasting beyond the measure of the sphere God gave to him for after all he
was the first to come to them
6.1.
These verses are at first glance a little bit obscure. However, again Paul is confronting openly
and directly this minority group of his detractors in
6.1.1. The false “super-apostles”
did not plant a single church I do not believe, for they were incapable of
doing this. Rather, like all of the
Christian cults that have come along since then, their ministry base has come
about from their going in amongst an already established church and sucking out
the weakly established believers to follow after them.
6.1.2. We in the Calvary Chapels
have tried to encourage those in our churches who would go out to plant
churches not to begin a church plant too close to an established Calvary Chapel
church so that their church is not built upon the labor of another man.
6.2.
Paul is saying here to the church that it is only right for him to
defend his apostleship and commend himself, for after all he is the one who
persevered in labor for such a long time in order to see that the church was
planted.
7.
VS 10:15-16 - “15 not
boasting beyond our measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but with the hope
that as your faith grows, we shall be, within our sphere, enlarged even more by
you,16 so as to preach the gospel even to the regions beyond you, and not to
boast in what has been accomplished in the sphere of another.” - Paul tells the Corinthians that it is his
hope that through them the gospel will be preached to areas beyond them
7.1.
Paul is telling the Corinthians that it is his hope that the sphere
of his influence in planting the Corinthian church will grow as those whom he
has trained and equipped for ministry will now go out and plant churches
themselves in new unreached areas, and in doing this that they will not do
as the “super-apostles” were doing in going to an existing church and trying to
draw out people from it.
7.2.
We saw earlier that it appeared that the “super-apostles” had
not only come to the Corinthians with their letters of recommendation, but they
had also obtained letters of recommendation from them in order to go to
other churches and subvert them into their deceptions.
7.2.1. Paul would rather see
legitimate churches planted by the Corinthians.
8.
VS 10:17-18 - “17 But
he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.18 For not he who commends himself is
approved, but whom the Lord commends.” - Paul tells
the Corinthians that any boasting that should be done by anyone should be
boasting in the Lord and what the He has done
8.1.
Paul is saying here that it doesn’t really matter what anyone on earth
thinks about you, it is what the Lord thinks about you that really matters. Our lives are to be pleasing to the Lord, and
if we concentrate upon living our life in such a way as to receive His
commendation, then we will be wise and shall be blessed by the Lord in what we
do.
8.2.
Paul is also point out that any great spiritual work or fruit in any
believer’s life must be a work that God has done and therefore the Lord is the
One who should get all of the praise.
8.3.
Paul is not saying that we do not try to live our life before men in
such a way as to not give them a cause for accusing us of sinning, for he has already
mentioned that he was always trying to commend himself to every man’s
conscience.
8.4.
Paul knew that that it was a fact that he would never be able to please some
people, and that if he tried to please everyone he would just get frustrated
and himself be in the wrong before the Lord. He must live ultimately to please the Lord in
all things, and he knew that if he did so that he would also be blessed of the
Lord in all that He did.
8.5.
There is no place for boasting if you really understand the sinful
nature that is within you. Each of us as Christians must
realize that in and of ourselves that we do not and will never be
righteous. Apart from the “imputed”
righteousness of Christ we will never have any.
If it is “imputed” righteousness that we have, and only that, then the
glory must go only to the Lord. We are
all just wretched sinners saved by the unspeakable grace of God.
9.
CONCLUSION:
9.1.
I would encourage all of you that you are accountable to what God’s
word teaches, nothing more and nothing less, and, not to what any man or any
church tells you that is not directly from His word. So then, don’t really worry about the
legalistic rules and laws that some Christian groups try to condemn you for not
following, and in a sense don’t really care too much what any man thinks about
you.
9.2.
If someone tries to lay some legalistic trip on you about how you
should be doing this or doing that, then unless you know that the Lord is
speaking through them then just thank them for their encouragement and love and
tell them that you’ll pray about what they admonished and seek out what God’s
word has to say on the subject.
9.3.
We are to try not to offend a brother’s or sister’s conscience in the
use of our freedom which we have in Christ, which could cause them to stumble,
but even this can only be done within reasonable limits because with some
groups you will not ever be able to meet their standards
9.4.
Study God’s word and spend time with Him in the word every day, and
when the Holy Spirit speaks to you about some area in your life that He wants
you to rectify, then be obedient and yield yourself to the Lord in that area.
9.5.
Above all, I would encourage you all to just keep your eyes on Jesus
and compare yourself with Him. Don’t
compare yourself with any man or woman in order to grade your spiritual
progress.