# 2 Corinthians 01 đź“–: The God of All Comfort
[[đź“š Explore the Bible Books]]
[[-2 Corinthians Overview]] | [[1 Corinthians 16]] | [[2 Corinthians 02]]
> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#🧠Chapter Summary]]
> [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]]
> [[#đź’¬ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đź”— Related Passages]]
> [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đź“‚ Internal Notes]]
## đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
### Salutation
**Principle**: Typical Roman Letter Greeting.
[[#Verse 01.]] From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia.
[[#Verse 02.]] Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
### Thanksgiving for God’s Comfort
**Principle**: God comforts us so we we comfort others.
[[#Verse 03.]] Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,Â
[[#Verse 04.]] who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.Â
[[#Verse 05.]] For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow toward us, so also our comfort through Christ overflows to you.Â
[[#Verse 06.]] But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort that you experience in your patient endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer.Â
[[#Verse 07.]] And our hope for you is steadfast because we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you will share in our comfort.Â
[[#Verse 08.]] For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, regarding the affliction that happened to us in the province of Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of living.Â
[[#Verse 09.]] Indeed we felt as if the sentence of death had been passed against us, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.Â
[[#Verse 10.]] He delivered us from so great a risk of death, and he will deliver us. We have set our hope on him that he will deliver us yet again,Â
[[#Verse 11.]] as you also join in helping us by prayer, so that many people may give thanks to God on our behalf for the gracious gift given to us through the help of many.
### Paul Defends His Changed Plans
**Principle**: Let your story be one of godly conduct.
[[#Verse 12.]] For our reason for confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that with pure motives and sincerity which are from God—not by human wisdom but by the grace of God—we conducted ourselves in the world, and all the more toward you.Â
[[#Verse 13.]] For we do not write you anything other than what you can read and also understand. But I hope that you will understand completelyÂ
[[#Verse 14.]] just as also you have partly understood us, that we are your source of pride just as you also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.Â
## A Visit Postponed
**Principle**: All God's promises are trustworthy.
[[#Verse 15.]]Â And with this confidence I intended to come to you first so that you would get a second opportunity to see us,Â
[[#Verse 16.]] and through your help to go on into Macedonia and then from Macedonia to come back to you and be helped on our way into Judea by you.Â
[[#Verse 17.]] Therefore when I was planning to do this, I did not do so without thinking about what I was doing, did I? Or do I make my plans according to mere human standards so that I would be saying both “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time?Â
[[#Verse 18.]] But as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”Â
[[#Verse 19.]] For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was proclaimed among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but it has always been “Yes” in him.Â
[[#Verse 20.]] For every one of God’s promises are “Yes” in him; therefore also through him the “Amen” is spoken, to the glory we give to God.Â
[[#Verse 21.]] But it is God who establishes us together with you in Christ and who anointed us,Â
[[#Verse 22.]]Â who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.
### Why Paul Postponed His Visit
**Principle**: We stand by our faith in God.
[[#Verse 23.]] Now I appeal to God as my witness, that to spare you I did not come again to Corinth.Â
[[#Verse 24.]]Â I do not mean that we rule over your faith, but we are workers with you for your joy, because by faith you stand firm.
## đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
###### Verse 18.
###### Verse 19.
###### Verse 20.
###### Verse 21.
###### Verse 22.
###### Verse 23.
###### Verse 24.
## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. 2 Corinthians is often called Paul's most personal letter, revealing his emotions, struggles, and love for the church.
2. Paul wrote at least four letters to Corinth, and two of them are preserved as 1 and 2 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 5:9; 2 Corinthians 2:4).
3. Paul most likely wrote 2 Corinthians from Macedonia in the mid-50s AD (2:13; 7:5).
4. Forms of the word "comfort" (*paraklēsis*, *parakaleō*) appear about ten times in 1:3-7.
5. Paul does not say what the affliction in Asia was (1:8). Suggestions include severe illness, persecution, or the riot in Ephesus (Acts 19).
6. A "seal" (1:22) marked ownership and guaranteed that something was authentic.
7. "Down payment" (*arrabĹŤn*, 1:22) was a business term for a first installment that guaranteed full payment. In modern Greek a related word means an engagement ring.
8. Paul changed his travel plans (1:15-17), and some in Corinth accused him of being unreliable.
9. Silvanus (1:19) is Silas, Paul's companion on his second missionary journey (Acts 15:40; 18:5).
10. "Amen" (1:20) is a Hebrew word meaning "it is firm" or "so be it."
## 🧠Chapter Summary
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the One in whom every promise of God is "Yes" (1:20). As His sufferings overflow to us, so His comfort overflows through us (1:5), and God seals us with His Spirit (1:22; Ephesians 1:13-14).
## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đź’¬ Discussion Questions
1. God comforts us so we can comfort others (1:3-4). How has God's comfort to you prepared you to help someone else?
2. Paul despaired even of life so he would rely on God who raises the dead (1:8-9). What situation is teaching you to depend on God?
3. Every promise of God is "Yes" in Christ (1:20). Which promise do you need to say "Amen" to today?
## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember
- đź“– verses 3-4: The God of all comfort comforts us in our troubles so we can comfort others.
- đź“– verse 5: As Christ's sufferings overflow to us, so His comfort overflows through Him.
- đź“– verse 9: Paul learned not to trust in himself but in God who raises the dead.
- đź“– verse 20: Every promise of God is "Yes" in Christ.
- đź“– verses 21-22: God has sealed us and given us the Spirit as a down payment.
## đź”— Related Passages
- đź”— [[Acts 18#Verse 01.|Acts 18:1-11]] - Paul founds the church in Corinth (1:1).
- đź”— [[Ephesians 01#Verse 03.|Ephesians 1:3]] - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (1:3).
- đź”— [[1 Peter 01#Verse 03.|1 Peter 1:3]] - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (1:3).
- đź”— [[Isaiah 40#Verse 01.|Isaiah 40:1 and 66:13]] - Comfort, comfort My people; as a mother comforts her child (1:4).
- đź”— [[Philippians 03#Verse 10.|Philippians 3:10]] - Sharing in Christ's sufferings (1:5).
- đź”— [[Colossians 01#Verse 24.|Colossians 1:24]] - Sharing in Christ's sufferings (1:5).
- đź”— [[Acts 19#Verse 23.|Acts 19:23-41]] - Paul's dangers in Asia and Ephesus (1:8).
- đź”— [[1 Corinthians 15#Verse 32.|1 Corinthians 15:32]] - Paul's dangers in Asia and Ephesus (1:8).
- đź”— [[Romans 04#Verse 17.|Romans 4:17]] - The God who gives life to the dead (1:9).
- đź”— [[Jeremiah 17#Verse 05.|Jeremiah 17:5-8]] - Cursed is the one who trusts in man; blessed is the one who trusts the Lord (1:9).
- đź”— [[2 Timothy 04#Verse 18.|2 Timothy 4:18]] - The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack (1:10).
- đź”— [[Romans 15#Verse 30.|Romans 15:30]] - Helped by the prayers of the church (1:11).
- đź”— [[Philippians 01#Verse 19.|Philippians 1:19]] - Helped by the prayers of the church (1:11).
- đź”— [[Philippians 02#Verse 16.|Philippians 2:16]] - Boasting in believers on the day of Christ (1:14).
- đź”— [[1 Corinthians 16#Verse 05.|1 Corinthians 16:5-7]] - Paul's earlier travel plans (1:15-16).
- đź”— [[Matthew 05#Verse 37.|Matthew 5:37]] - Let your yes be yes (1:18).
- đź”— [[James 05#Verse 12.|James 5:12]] - Let your yes be yes (1:18).
- đź”— [[Romans 15#Verse 08.|Romans 15:8]] - Christ confirms the promises; the Amen (1:20).
- đź”— [[Revelation 03#Verse 14.|Revelation 3:14]] - Christ confirms the promises; the Amen (1:20).
- đź”— [[Ephesians 01#Verse 13.|Ephesians 1:13-14 and 4:30]] - Sealed with the Spirit as a guarantee (1:22).
- đź”— [[Romans 01#Verse 09.|Romans 1:9]] - God is my witness (1:23).
- đź”— [[1 Peter 05#Verse 03.|1 Peter 5:3]] - Not lording it over those in your care (1:24).
## 🙏 Devotional Reflection
📝 SOAP: [[2 Corinthians 01 - SOAP|God’s Promises are a Sure Thing]]
## đź“‚ Internal Notes