II Corinthians 2:14

II Corinthians 1:15

“In This Confidence”

2 Corinthians 1:15-16 says, “And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit. And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judaea.” When you live for Christ there is a confidence in knowing that other Christians are reading and acknowledging the truth of the Word of God. This desire of other Christians to live for Christ gave the Apostle Paul a confidence when He had the opportunity to visit the Christians in Corinth. The days in which we live are very similar to the circumstances of the Apostle Paul. There are many wolves in sheep’s clothing. There are many traps. There is great opposition and persecution against the truth of the grace of God. When God wants you to go somewhere to do a work for the gospel of Christ what a comfort and consolation and encouragement of your faith it can be to know that where you go you will find those who read and acknowledge the truth. Even the Apostle Paul needed this kind of confidence to help him amidst his afflictions.

Philippians 3:4 says, “Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more.” There are two kinds of confidence: a confidence in yourself and a confidence in the promises of God. It is easy for any man to make the mistake of relying upon their own strength instead of the strength of Christ. If you are going to have confidence make sure your confidence is in the written word of God. A godly confidence seeks glory to Christ. An ungodly confidence is based too much upon the opinions of man. You should be more concerned with the righteousness that you have in Christ rather than what other men think. Job 40:9, “Hast thou an arm like God? Or canst thou thunder with a voice like Him? Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty. Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold everyone that is proud, and abase him.” A Christian needs confidence in the sincerity and godly simplicity of other Christians. Confidence is not pride.

2 Corinthians 1:15-16 says, “And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit. And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judaea.” In talking about confidence notice the word benefit. The benefit is the same word used for grace in much of the New Testament. What is the benefit of grace? The benefit is the burden of the LORD Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 8:9, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” 2 Corinthians 9:15, “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.” John 1:16, “And of His fullness have we all received and grace for grace.” The riches of the fullness of the grace of God is an eternal benefit to those who turn from their sins to Christ. If you understand these things you can always have confidence as you follow the will of God in your life, especially when the light afflictions of the end of this age increase.

2 Corinthians 1:15-16 says, “And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit. And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judaea.” Paul had a confidence in the Christians of Corinth having written them 1 epistle and spent time teaching them the promises of God. Even so He knew it was the will of God for him to go unto the church at Corinth again and to do the same work again. There is a benefit to being faithful in the little things. When you do a work for Christ you should do your best to make it a perfect work. Just the 1^st epistle to the Corinthians was not enough there was a second epistle and a second visit. There is always more to do for Jesus. There is always more of the fullness of His grace to receive. There is always more to learn about the Word of God. And there will always be more opportunities to live for Christ in this life. Understanding this confidence itself is a benefit of grace.

2 Corinthians 1:17-20, “When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be ye yea, and nay nay? But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen unto the glory of God by us.” To say yea and nay or to say yes and no is the same as lying. Something is either true or false. In today’s world of technology and evil eyes there is no greater confidence than the confidence of face to face when it comes to Christian fellowship and the reading and acknowledging of the truth. The Apostle Paul understood this back in his day. And Christians need to understand this today.

2 Corinthians 2:15-20, “And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit, that ye might have a second benefit; And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and ofyou be brought on my way toward Judaea. When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay? But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in Him was yea. For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the Glory of God by us.”

These verses in 2 Corinthians explain about confidence and grace and the benefit of confidence gained through the grace of Christ Jesus. The Bible is all about grace. Grace is what God gives freely. This is why in thinking about the benefit of the grace of God verse 20 says, “For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” God is not a genie in a bottle. But God will always say yes to you regarding His promises. This is grace is the kind of grace that is grace for grace.

Jude 1:4, “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” To turn means to translate or to put something in place of something else. An excellent example is a translation of the Bible from one language to another such as Greek or Hebrew to English. God created language from grace to grace. Another example would be two twins. The twins look alike but when you replace one with another it is not the same person.

The grace of God never goes to waste but sometimes men very subtly replace the truth with something that is not grace. Micah 1:16 says, “Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.” The country of America is just half time for the gospel of Jesus Christ and this world in this age of grace for grace. In knowing that Bible calls the last days the age of grace for grace we know that the age will end with grace.

Christian fellowship is best done face to face through the benefit of confidence in the promises of God. If you want to know the confidence and the benefit of eternal life then turn from your sins to Jesus Christ.

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