Bible Commentaries

Really no need. Paul is still anxious about the situation at Corinth. It will be embarrassing if he arrives at Corinth with the brothers from Macedonia, and things are not ready! Even though there is really no need to write about this, he still wants to hurry them up, so they will have finished this collection long before he arrives.

I have boasted. Paul gives the exact words he used in his boast about them. Achaia is the Roman name for Greece. Corinth's eagerness had stirred up a healthy rivalry among the Macedonian churches.

Now I am sending. Paul is sending the three brothers he spoke about in the previous chapter. They will go on ahead to be sure everything is ready. Paul does not want his boast to become only empty words, and so make him ashamed.

And find out. "We would all be ashamed, if we came and found you unprepared!"

So I thought it necessary. Paul seems to be saying that they have wasted too much time already! Because you want to. It is important that this be a gift out of their free will, not something they are forced into!

Remember this. Christian giving is not a sacrifice, but a planting. Paul is probably quoting a popular proverb. Results are in proportion to effort.

As he has decided. Note that Paul sets no standard amount. It is what each one decides after thinking it over, not something done in a burst of emotion, or with a feeling of being pushed into it. Who gives gladly. What they do, will be of their own free will, out of love! This is what God wants!

And God. It is a general rule that you should not withhold your Christian giving just because you think hard times may come. Since the Christian is a proxy of God's grace, the supply does not run out! The one who gives in proportion to what he has, will be blessed by it! But Paul does not mean to say that Christians can become rich in money, by giving it all away. Compare the Parable of the Shrewd Manager (Luke 16:1-12 and notes).

As the scripture says. Psalm 112:9. Paul uses this to prove what he said in 2 Corinthians 9:8. The benevolent man gives generously to the poor.

And God. The farmer depends on God. When the farmer plants seed in his field, God makes it grow, and gives him even more seed to plant the next time. The same thing is true in Christian giving.

He will always. The giver is blessed by God so that he can help others! Compare 2 Corinthians 9:8. But God's blessing cannot be used for selfish reasons!

For this service. "Your generous gift will supply the things that the Christian poor need, and will honor God by means of the outpouring of grateful thanks to Him!"

And because of the proof. The proof that the Corinthians are loyal to Christ is their willingness to give. It is likely that the circumcision party in Judea did not think the Gentile churches were churches of Christ at all! This gift would help to change attitudes and prove their oneness in Christ!

And so. Paul's goal was to unite Jewish and Gentile Christians in one common fellowship. Compare notes on Acts 21:11-14. This Gentile gift would produce love in Jewish hearts. Josephus says that by the end of the first century, one-third of the Jews had become Christians!!!

For his priceless gift! This gift is Jesus Christ himself (John 3:16), who is the source of all other gifts, and who unites Jew and Gentile in one church!!!