Bible Commentaries
2 Corinthians 8

Verse 1

2Co 8:1

2 Corinthians 8:1

Moreover, brethren,—This marks the transition to a to­tally different subject, which Paul introduces with his usual felicity. The term “brethren” is the keynote of this section, as brotherly love is the motive of generosity.

we make known to you the grace of God—The disposition, ability, and opportunity to give was a matter of grace or favor bestowed by God, for which he is to be thanked. Every Chris­tian should regard an opening to do good with his means, his talent, his time an act of kindness. Opportunities to do good are opportunities to make investments that will bear fruit unto eternal life. So every Christian should consider it a favor from God to have an opportunity and ability to give his means to do good as God directs.

which hath been given in the churches of Macedonia;—Contributions were being raised to relieve the suffering saints in Judaea. Directions concerning the raising of this fund were: “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I gave order to the churches of Galatia, so also do ye. Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by him in store, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.” (1 Corinthians 16:1-2). Contributions under the same directions and for the same purpose were taken up throughout Galatia, Asia, Achaia, and Macedonia. To the Macedonian churches this grace involved more than the opportunity to do good. It was such a matter of grace to them that they were glad to accept the opportunity. They had so progressed in the divine life that they esteemed it a privilege to be permitted to give. They had learned that “it is more blessed to give than to re­ceive.” (Acts 20:35). The churches of Macedonia founded by Paul were those of Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea.

Verse 2

2Co 8:2

2 Corinthians 8:2

how that in much proof of affliction—In great afflictions which were a severe test of their sincerity and devotion. These afflictions arose from persecutions. Of them it is said: “And ye became imitators of us, and of the Lord, having re­ceived the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 1:6), and “ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus: for ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen, as they did of the Jews” (2 Corinthians 2:14).

the abundance of their joy—The joys arising from the par­don of their sins and the grace of God which arose above their sorrows.

and their deep poverty—Joy and poverty together poured out a rich stream of liberality. Strange as it may seem, it is not to those to whom the gospel comes easily, and on whom it imposes little, who are most generous in its cause. On the contrary, it is those who have suffered for it, those who have lost by it, who are, as a rule, the most liberal.

abounded unto the riches of their liberality.—Their poverty abounded unto their liberality, because it was seen to be great in relation to it—their liberality made their poverty, by con­trast, appear even greater. The poor thoroughly in earnest can do much; the rich, lukewarm, do but little. [The mar­ginal reading singleness is not to be preferred to liberality, but it throws light on the real significance of the word. The same word is rendered liberality (2 Corinthians 9:11; 2 Corinthians 9:13; Romans 12:8), sin­gleness (Ephesians 6:5; Colossians 3:22), simplicity (2 Corinthians 11:3), and these are its only occurrences in the New Testament. In the Ser­mon on the Mount Jesus uses the adjective single, “If there­fore thine eye be single” (Matthew 6:22), where the meaning is that the eyes of the heart (Ephesians 1:18), like the eyes in the head, must focus and see like a single eye, if the vision is to be perfect. The eye must not attempt to look in two directions at the same time. So singleness is the faculty of undivided at­tention; it is the faculty of seeing straight. As applied to giv­ing, singleness is that liberality which gives without grudging (2 Corinthians 9:7) and gives disinterestedly. It does not look in two di­rections at the same time.]

Verse 3

2Co 8:3

2 Corinthians 8:3

For according to their power, I bear witness, yea and be­yond their power, they gave of their own accord,—To the full extent of their ability and beyond what Paul expected or what would be required of them, they had given freely. They were moved in this not by persuasion and entreaty of others, but were willing of themselves to do so.

Verse 4

2Co 8:4

2 Corinthians 8:4

beseeching us with much entreaty in regard of this grace and the fellowship in the ministering to the saints:—They not only moved in it without persuasion from Paul, but they did it of their own will, then besought Paul to take their bounty to Jerusalem and see that it was distributed to the saints that needed it.

Verse 5

2Co 8:5

2 Corinthians 8:5

and this, not as we had hoped,—He does not mean to say he had not hoped that they would give, but that they had gone beyond what he had hoped. He knew their poverty and needs, and he had only hoped that they would give a small amount.

but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God.—To give themselves to God was to consecrate all they had to his service, and this was according to his will. When we do this, he bestows the fullness of his blessings upon us. [Thus we see that in every relative esti­mate bearing the stamp of inspiration even the richest gifts of money are always subordinate to the vastly superior value of the soul of the giver. In fact, there is only one thing which man can give that reaches to the point of highest value, and that is that he gives himself.]

Verse 6

2Co 8:6

2 Corinthians 8:6

Insomuch that we exhorted Titus, that as he had made a beginning before, so he would also complete in you this grace also.—This example of the Macedonian churches was used by Paul to urge the Corinthians to greater zeal, so he exhorted Titus, who, when among them, had begun the work with so much zeal, to complete it. We are often surprised how slow Christians are to do work without a living voice to encourage them, but it seems to have been the same in Paul’s day. He could not trust his letters to stir them up to activity. [Paul made a wise use of the example of the Macedonians. He did not appeal to pride, vanity, or any such selfish feeling, but simply presented this remarkable case of Christian liberality. Had he said: “Be not beaten by those Macedonians”; had he called natural prejudices into play—a Corinthian to yield to a Macedonian!—then all the evil passions of their nature would have been stimulated. Emulation is a true principle if prop­erly used. The danger lies not in the thing itself, but in its abuses, and particularly in the encouragement in which it may afford to false rivalry and jealousy. In a large measure, the spirit and conduct of others make the social atmosphere we breathe, nor can we live in the world without contact with it Excellence assumes its most attractive forms in noble exam­ples, and. except for these, our ideals, if they existed at all, would be very imperfect. Consistently, then, with his pur­pose of stimulating a higher degree of Christian excellence, he sets before them in most vivid colors the liberality of the Macedonian churches.]

Verse 7

2Co 8:7

2 Corinthians 8:7

But as ye abound in everything,—On the Corinthians had been bestowed many spiritual gifts, and notwithstanding the evils that prevailed in the church, the Christian graces or vir­tues practiced, which are also placed among the gifts of God, were cultivated among them. Many were faithful and true, and cultivated the sturdy Christian virtues. Paul had remained with them a year and six months, had fully taught them, and bestowed on them all needed spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 1:5; 1 Corinthians 12:13-14).

in faith,—A faithful adherence to the truth. Their abound­ing in this was their animation, assurance, and activity in faith.

and utterance,—The ability to speak the gospel in different tongues.

and knowledge,—The spiritual gift that brought to their mind all the knowledge needful to salvation, that Paul taught them, and the power of imparting it to others by the gift of tongues had been freely bestowed on the members of the church at Corinth.

and in all earnestness,—The energy or vigor of their spiri­tual life, of which their love was one manifestation.

and in your love to us,—The love which flowed from them to Paul, and which he felt in himself toward them.

see that ye abound in this grace also.—Inasmuch as they possessed all other graces, he urges them to abound in the grace of liberality also.

Verse 8

2Co 8:8

2 Corinthians 8:8

I speak not by way of commandments,—He did not give this as a commandment, for God loves free-will offerings and cheerful givers. As God left it to their free will, Paul would not give a specific command.

but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincer­ity also of your love.—He uses the forwardness of the breth­ren in Macedonia to arouse them, and to revive the purpose or will in them to freely give to relieve the suffering brethren in Judea. The sacrifices they made would be a proof of their sincerity as followers of Christ. Jesus shows this clearly in his speech to the disciples on the Mount of Olives: “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; . . . And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me.” (Matthew 25:34-40). And John says: “But whoso hath the world’s goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him?” (1 John 3:17).

Verse 9

2Co 8:9

2 Corinthians 8:9

For ye know the grace of our Lord—The unmerited and spontaneous love of the supreme and absolute Lord, whom they acknowledged to be their rightful sovereign and posses­sor, who was theirs, belonged to them, in so far as the care, protection, and support of his almighty power was by his love pledged to them.

Jesus Christ,—He who was theirs was their Lord and Sav­ior, and the Christ, God’s anointed, and invested by him with supreme dominion and heir of all things. (Hebrews 1:2).

that, though he was rich,—In possession of the glory which he had with the Father before the world was. (John 17:5).

yet for your sakes he became poor,—This does not refer to what he did while on earth, but to what he did when he came into the world. As he said to the Philippians: “Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becom­ing obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8). That is, he so far laid aside the glory of his divine majesty that he was to all appearance a man, even a servant, so that men refused to recognize him as divine, but despised, persecuted, and at last crucified him, as a man. He who was rich in the plentitude of all divine attributes and pre­rogatives thus became poor and despised.

that ye through his poverty might become rich—Believers are made rich in the possession of that glory which Christ laid aside. Had he not submitted to all humiliation while in the flesh, we should forever have remained poor and destitute of all holiness, happiness, and glory. No one can enter into the meaning of this verse or feel its power, without being thereby made willing to sacrifice himself for the good of others. It is vain for any person to imagine that he loves Christ, if he does not love the brethren and is not liberal in relieving their needs.

Verse 10

2Co 8:10

2 Corinthians 8:10

And herein I give my judgment: for this is expedient for you,—While Paul as an apostle would not give command as to what they should give, he did give his advice as to what was best for them—what they ought to do.

who were the first to make a beginning a year ago, not only to do, but also to will.—When Paul wrote his first epistle, they had not only begun, but were forward themselves to en­gage in the work. Now he advises (he does not command, wants it to be a freewill offering on their part) to complete the work which they began, not only to do, but to show a zeal.

Verse 11

2Co 8:11

2 Corinthians 8:11

But now complete the doing also;—As there was a readi­ness to will—as they were forward to begin—let there be a continuance in the work until it is completed.

that as there was the readiness to will, so there may be the completion also out of your ability.—This is an admonition that the completion should correspond to the promise. It often occurs that when an earnest advocate of a cause goes before the people, lays the needs before them, stirs their feel­ings, they promise great things; but when the excitement sub­sides, they grow cold and indifferent and fail to fulfil their promise.

Verse 12

2Co 8:12

2 Corinthians 8:12

For if the readiness is there—What is given must be given of a willing mind; it must be an offering of consecra­tion. This is fundamental. It is clearly a self-deception for an individual to think he pleases God under the perfect dis­pensation of Christ while doing less than the Israelites did under the typical dispensation. “And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they take for me an offering: of every man whose heart maketh him willing ye shall take my offering.” (Exodus 25:1-2). What the child of God gives is the response of gratitude to our gra­cious Redeemer, and if it does not have this character he does not want it. If there is a willing mind the rest is easy; if not, there is no need to go on—it is not accepted.

it is acceptable according as a man hath,—Readiness is the acceptable thing. If we cannot give much, then a ready mind with even a little is acceptable. Only let us remember that readiness always gives all that is in its power. The readiness of the poor widow in the temple could only give two mites, but the mites were all her living (Mark 12:41-44); the readi­ness of the Macedonians was in the depth of poverty, but they gave themselves to the Lord. The widow’s mites are an illus­trious example of sacrifice; yet it has been profaned many times to a cloak of the meanest selfishness.

not according as he hath not.—The poorest as well as the richest are included. None were exempted because they were poor. If one is able to give one dime or one cent and fails to give it he is just as culpable before God as is the man who is able to give a thousand dollars and fails to give it to the Lord. God values, blesses, and rewards gifts according to the sacri­fices made, not according to the amount given.

Verses 13-14

2Co 8:13-14

2 Corinthians 8:13-14

For I say not this that others may be eased and ye distressed; but by equality: your abundance being a supply at this present time for their want, that their abundance also may become a supply for your want; that there may be equal­ity:—He does not mean that the brethren in Judea may be re­lieved and the Corinthians burdened: but that now while they have an abundance, they should help those in Judea who are in need, that sometime when the Corinthians needed others may help them, so that there will be equality.

Verse 15

2Co 8:15

2 Corinthians 8:15

as it is written, He that gathered much had nothing over; and he that gathered little had no lack.—When God gave the manna in the wilderness, no matter how much they gathered, there was nothing left, and no lack. (Exodus 16:18). The lesson taught is, if each will give freely to help others, none will want. Give what we have over to supply the lack of others.

Verse 16

2Co 8:16

2 Corinthians 8:16

But thanks be to God, who putteth the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus.—Titus had undertaken this business from being exhorted to it by Paul. He had gone to Corinth and had become acquainted with their spiritual condi­tion and their great need. While the collection was for the poor saints in Judea, their taking part in it was a great benefit to them. [From this it appears that God controls the feelings and acts of faithful men without interfering with their liberty or responsibility. The zeal of Titus in this matter was the spontaneous outburst of his own heart and was an element of his own character. Yet God put that zeal into his heart.]

Verse 17

2Co 8:17

2 Corinthians 8:17

For he accepted indeed our exhortation; but being him­self very earnest, he went forth unto you of his own accord.—Titus had already such an earnest care that they should pos­sess this grace, that while he accepted the exhortation of Paul to go, he had of his own accord before made ready to go to Corinth. His own desire led to the ready acceptance of the exhortation.

Verse 18

2Co 8:18

2 Corinthians 8:18

And we have sent together with him the brother whose praise in the gospel is spread through all the churches;—He sent with Titus one whom he does not name, but describes him as one whose praise in the service of the gospel was spread abroad throughout all the churches. Some think this was Luke, and the gospel was his written gospel, then distrib­uted throughout all the Gentile churches; that Luke wrote for the Gentiles under the preaching of Paul. This epistle was written from some point in Macedonia, when Luke was not with him. Luke had gone with him and Silas over this coun­try on his first visit to Macedonia. In his account of the jour­ney, as given in Acts, in referring to the company he uses “we” until they reach Philippi. (Acts 16:12). Then he changes to “they,” showing that he remained in Philippi. When Paul and his fellow messengers, six years later, came to Philippi on the way to Jerusalem with the alms, Luke joined them, and the “they” is changed to “we.” (Acts 20:6). During this time it is thought that the gospel was written by Luke and largely distributed through these Gentile churches, and so his praise in the gospel was spread abroad. But this is conjecture with­out much ground on which to base it. But the next verse says that this brother was appointed to travel with Paul to distribute this grace, and Luke in company with others did travel with him.

Verse 19

2Co 8:19

2 Corinthians 8:19

and not only so, but who was also appointed by the churches to travel with us in the matter of this grace,—This brother was entitled to confidence, and might safely be re­ceived, not only on the ground of general reputation, but also because he had been appointed by the churches for the pur­pose of assisting Paul in the collection and delivery of the bounty which Paul and his companions carried and delivered.

which is ministered by us to the glory of the Lord,—The design was to promote the glory of the Lord by the manifesta­tion of the power of the gospel in their lives.

and to show our readiness:—It afforded the opportunity of evincing his readiness, to do good to others and to promote their welfare.

Verse 20

2Co 8:20

2 Corinthians 8:20

avoiding this, that any man should blame us in the mat­ter of this bounty which is ministered by us:—Paul was care­ful that others should accompany him in the gathering and the delivering of these gifts that no man should blame him in the handling of the bounties.

Verse 21

2Co 8:21

2 Corinthians 8:21

for we take thought for things honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.—He set an example in this by which every Christian ought to profit. He was not willing to handle means, save under safeguards that he should not be charged with malfeasance in the handling of it. This he desired to do not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. [In handling money it is always best to keep on the safe side. If most men are too readily sus­pected by others, it only answers to the fact that most men are too ready to trust themselves. We have an infinite confi­dence in our own honesty; and when auditors are appointed to examine their books, the inexperienced are apt to think it needless, and even impertinent. If they were wise, they would welcome it as a protection against suspicion and even against themselves.]

Verse 22

2Co 8:22

2 Corinthians 8:22

And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have many times proved earnest in many things, but now much more earnest, by reason of the great confidence which he hath in you.—In addition to the brother already mentioned as going with Titus, he sent with them another brother. He had proved him often, in many things, and found him uniformly earnest and faithful, and now much more so since he had heard the good report of Titus, his confidence in the Corin­thians made him more earnest than ever.

Verse 23

2Co 8:23

2 Corinthians 8:23

Whether any inquire about Titus, he is my partner and my fellow-worker to you-ward;—Titus had been with Paul much at Corinth, and he so testifies to them. They knew him personally, but he gave his relation to him and his fellows.

or our brethren, they are the messengers of the churches,—These messengers of the churches were sent by the churches, and sustained the same relation to the churches sending them as the apostles sent by Christ sustained to him. The apostles of Christ were sent by him to deliver a message. They had no authority except to deliver the message and perform the work Christ sent them to do. They had no authority as dele­gates. They had no right to confer one with another to deter­mine how the Lord should act. They had no right to change or modify any decision, sit in judgment upon the will or work or order of God. They had no right to legislate for God. The messengers of the churches had no more right to assemble, confer, determine what was best for the churches than the apostles had the right to legislate for or determine how or what Christ and God should do. The messengers of the churches were sent to carry the message and do the specific work the church sent them to do, without direction or power to change or otherwise direct the work of the churches. Messengers have no right to meet other messengers and orga­nize a body, nor to consider or determine what is best, nor to form a new organization, nor to legislate. Scriptural messen­gers carried a message or gift, went to do a work and return. Their power was limited to this. Churches sent messengers to deliver their messages and receive others and to bear their gifts. Messengers were sent to the churches in Judea to bear the gifts of those sending. They were sent with gifts to Paul, were sent by him to the churches to urge them to make gifts, to tell how it was with him, and to learn how the churches did, or receive gifts and return. Paul and Barnabas were sent as messengers to the apostles at Jerusalem to report the trou­bles and facts about the circumcision question to them, to re­ceive their response and report it to the church.

they are the glory of Christ.—They by their work promoted the glory of Christ. [Their character was so well known and established for piety and devotion to the cause of Christ that they led men to see the excellence of Christ, whose image they bore. Nothing more genuinely complimentary was ever by way of introduction said of anyone.]

Verse 24

2Co 8:24

2 Corinthians 8:24

Show ye therefore unto them in the face of the churches the proof of your love,—This is an exhortation to so receive these messengers as to give proof of their love in a liberal contribution, and thus justify Paul’s glorying in their behalf. [These were the messengers of the churches, and what the Corinthians showed to them, therefore, they showed before the churches. The love meant is the love for their brethren.]

and of our glorying on your behalf.—He urges them to prove by actual demonstration that their love for Paul was genuine, and that all glorying regarding them to the messen­gers was warranted.