Second Corinthians is a much deeper book than 1 Corinthians. I would even say that this is the deepest book, telling us how a person lived by Christ. And we know that this person who lived by Christ was the Apostle Paul.
Paul taught us much in Romans and 1 Corinthians that God’s intention is to work Christ into us that we may experience Him as our life, our person, and our everything! This will produce the church life, and then the individual Christ will become the corporate Christ, the Body-Christ. After these two books, we have another book which does not teach us, but which gives us a history. Paul did not write any autobiography, yet 2 Corinthians may be considered as a kind of autobiography written by Paul himself. This is not a book of doctrines, but the story of a personal life.
The first chapter opens in this way. It tells us that Paul was pressed out of measure, beyond his strength. “For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our tribulation which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, beyond strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life” (2 Cor. 1:8). What kind of doctrine is this? And then he says that this kind of pressure was given so that he would not live by man’s wisdom, but by the grace of God. “For our rejoicing [boasting] is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to youward” (2 Cor. 1:12).
As Paul continues, he tells us what the grace of God is. The grace of God is nothing less than Christ Himself experienced and enjoyed by us. Paul opens this book by speaking of grace, and he ends it by speaking of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. In chapter 12, Paul testifies how the Lord Jesus dealt with him assuring him that His grace was sufficient. This is not a teaching, but a testimony. Paul testifies to us that after he became an apostle he did not live by himself. He didn’t have his conversation, which means his living or his walk, in a human way. He did not live by his human wisdom but by the grace of God.
To learn this doctrine is easy, but to get into such an experience requires a lot of pressure. We should never think that it is because we are so evil that God must give us so many troubles, tribulations and trials. If this is true, what about the Apostle Paul? Was he that bad? I believe that he was quite good; he was so faithful to God and honest to those around him. Yet why did God ordain so much trouble and tribulation for him?
All Christians have a kind of religious concept. If anyone gets into trouble or loses his health, immediately his friends begin to think that he is sinful in some matter. Otherwise, how could God let him suffer so much? Suppose after two weeks, I were to become very ill. At least fifty percent of those hearing this word would think that I was wrong in some thing. Otherwise, how could a servant of the Lord be so seriously sick? Or if I were to get into a certain kind of trouble, many would think that God was dealing with my wrong doing.
This kind of concept is religious and traditional. We all have inherited this kind of concept from our forefathers. But what was wrong with Paul? Nearly all Bible expositors agree that Paul had a kind of physical weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). Some of them feel that this weakness was the loss of his sight. In Galatians he speaks of them giving their eyes to him (Gal. 4:15), and about the large letters he is writing (Gal. 6:11). Several of his epistles were not written by him, but by someone to whom he dictated (Rom. 16:22). Because of these points, some feel that Paul had very weak eyes. In any case, there was a kind of weakness or affliction in his physical body. Due to this, he prayed three times for the Lord to heal him. We know that Paul himself brought many miraculous healings upon others. But now he could not heal himself. He prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered him. For the Lord to answer does not mean that He does what we ask. “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9).
Paul prayed three times for the Lord to take away this physical weakness. But the Lord answered, “No. I will not remove this weakness. If I did, you would lose the opportunity to experience My sufficient grace. My strength is not made perfect in your strength but in your weakness.”