3rd Missionary Trip - Lorin

thians were treating them with proper respect and honor (v. 24).
Again in this section we discover more insight into how a church should handle its money. Paul had concern
that criticism of mishandling this large sum of money would emerge (v. 20). Given the notorious manner of
skimming groups and audiences by the itinerant sophist philosophers in that day, 166 along with the readiness of
the Jewish synagogue to jump on any lame excuse for condemning the Christians, the apostle carefully adopted
procedures not only considered to be religiously pleasing to God, but also considered to be completely appropriate
in the society of that day (v. 21). This, in part, comes out of Proverbs 3:4, καὶ προνοοῦ καλὰ ἐνώπιον κυρίου
καὶ ἀνθρώπων, “So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and of people,” as the repeated language
from the LXX text suggests. 167 Here are some important lessons for churches today. Keep your handling of
money completely appropriate not only to God but to society as well. Given the large numbers of money grabbing
religious charlatans in the modern world, the incentives for this are equally strong today as was true in Paul’s
day. Twice Paul characterizes the responsibility for collecting and delivering this offering as τῇ διακονουμένῃ,
ministering (vv. 19, 20; also the noun τῆς διακονίας in 9:1). This participle taken from the verb διακονέω sees the
administering of the offering as a stewardship service rendered to both God and the saints in Jerusalem who
would benefit from it. Religious offerings stand as a stewardship obligation of the church to be used wisely for
the advancement of ministry in helping others in the name of God.
2 Cor. 9:1-15 (plans)
9.1 Περὶ μὲν γὰρ τῆς διακονίας τῆς εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους περισσόν μοί ἐστιν τὸ γράφειν ὑμῖν· 2 οἶδα γὰρ τὴν προθυμίαν
ὑμῶν ἣν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν καυχῶμαι Μακεδόσιν, ὅτι Ἀχαΐα παρεσκεύασται ἀπὸ πέρυσι, καὶ τὸ ὑμῶν ζῆλος ἠρέθισεν τοὺς
πλείονας. 3 ἔπεμψα δὲ τοὺς ἀδελφούς, ἵνα μὴ τὸ καύχημα ἡμῶν τὸ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν κενωθῇ ἐν τῷ μέρει τούτῳ, ἵνα καθὼς
ἔλεγον παρεσκευασμένοι ἦτε, 4 μή πως ἐὰν ἔλθωσιν σὺν ἐμοὶ Μακεδόνες καὶ εὕρωσιν ὑμᾶς ἀπαρασκευάστους
καταισχυνθῶμεν ἡμεῖς, ἵνα μὴ λέγω ὑμεῖς, ἐν τῇ ὑποστάσει ταύτῃ. 5 ἀναγκαῖον οὖν ἡγησάμην παρακαλέσαι τοὺς
ἀδελφούς, ἵνα προέλθωσιν εἰς ὑμᾶς καὶ προκαταρτίσωσιν τὴν προεπηγγελμένην εὐλογίαν ὑμῶν, ταύτην ἑτοίμην
εἶναι οὕτως ὡς εὐλογίαν καὶ μὴ ὡς πλεονεξίαν.
6 Τοῦτο δέ, ὁ σπείρων φειδομένως φειδομένως καὶ θερίσει, καὶ ὁ σπείρων ἐπʼ εὐλογίαις ἐπʼ εὐλογίαις καὶ
θερίσει. 7 ἕκαστος καθὼς προῄρηται τῇ καρδίᾳ, μὴ ἐκ λύπης ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης· ἱλαρὸν γὰρ δότην ἀγαπᾷ ὁ θεός. 8
δυνατεῖ δὲ ὁ θεὸς πᾶσαν χάριν περισσεῦσαι εἰς ὑμᾶς, ἵνα ἐν παντὶ πάντοτε πᾶσαν αὐτάρκειαν ἔχοντες περισσεύητε
εἰς πᾶν ἔργον ἀγαθόν, 9 καθὼς γέγραπται·
ἐσκόρπισεν, ἔδωκεν τοῖς πένησιν,
ἡ δικαιοσύνη αὐτοῦ μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.
10 ὁ δὲ ἐπιχορηγῶν σπόρον τῷ σπείροντι καὶ ἄρτον εἰς βρῶσιν χορηγήσει καὶ πληθυνεῖ τὸν σπόρον ὑμῶν
καὶ αὐξήσει τὰ γενήματα τῆς δικαιοσύνης ὑμῶν. 11 ἐν παντὶ πλουτιζόμενοι εἰς πᾶσαν ἁπλότητα, ἥτις κατεργάζεται
διʼ ἡμῶν εὐχαριστίαν τῷ θεῷ· 12 ὅτι ἡ διακονία τῆς λειτουργίας ταύτης οὐ μόνον ἐστὶν προσαναπληροῦσα τὰ
ὑστερήματα τῶν ἁγίων, ἀλλὰ καὶ περισσεύουσα διὰ πολλῶν εὐχαριστιῶν τῷ θεῷ. 13 διὰ τῆς δοκιμῆς τῆς διακονίας
ταύτης δοξάζοντες τὸν θεὸν ἐπὶ τῇ ὑποταγῇ τῆς ὁμολογίας ὑμῶν εἰς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἁπλότητι τῆς
κοινωνίας εἰς αὐτοὺς καὶ εἰς πάντας, 14 καὶ αὐτῶν δεήσει ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐπιποθούντων ὑμᾶς διὰ τὴν ὑπερβάλλουσαν
χάριν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐφʼ ὑμῖν. 15 Χάρις τῷ θεῷ ἐπὶ τῇ ἀνεκδιηγήτῳ αὐτοῦ δωρεᾷ.
9.1 Now it is not necessary for me to write you about the ministry to the saints, 2 for I know your eagerness,
which is the subject of my boasting about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since
last year; and your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3 But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about
you may not prove to have been empty in this case, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be; 4 otherwise, if
some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—
in this undertaking. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you, and arrange in advance
for this bountiful gift that you have promised, so that it may be ready as a voluntary gift and not as an extortion.
6 The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will
also reap bountifully. 7 Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always
166 “When Paul wrote 1 Thess 2:3–12, he was already obliged to draw a sharp distinction between himself and the religious
charlatans who filled the Roman world. Such men had a reputation for raising funds for what were purported to be good causes, and then
lining their own pockets.
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302 The apostle provided a similar defense of his intentions in 1 Cor 4:1–13, as well as in the first apology in 2
Cor 6:3. But 2 Cor 8:20 looks back directly on the crisis that has just past. This is clear from 2 Cor 12:16–18, where Paul mentioned a
previous mission of Titus and a certain brother as evidence that he had not embezzled any of the money collected.” [Hans Dieter Betz, 2
Corinthians 8 and 9: A Commentary on Two Administrative Letters of the Apostle Paul, ed. George W. MacRae, Hermeneia—a Critical
and Historical Commentary on the Bible (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985), 76.]
167Also note Rom. 12:17 and 1 Tim. 5:8 where compassion for those in need is a mark of genuine Christian commitment in the
writings of Paul, as well as an invaluable witness to the genuiness of the Gospel. 1 Cor. 10:32 repeats this essential principle.