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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
December 4
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Today's Pathway:
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II Corinthians 9:8-15
- And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
- (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.
- Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)
- Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.
- For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;
- Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men;
- And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you.
- Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
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In the preceding verses Paul established two principles: people reap blessings from God in proportion to what they are willing to sow to others, and God loves those who give cheerfully and not just because they are being forced to do so. Both of these things can only be accomplished through the grace of God, so in verse 8 Paul states that God is able to bestow the grace to give both generously and with a proper heart attitude. Note the emphasis that Paul places on God's ability to provide for His people in this verse. He gives ALL grace, He ALWAYS gives us ALL sufficiency in ALL things so that we can abound in EVERY good work. Therefore, we can always do what is right, and He always gives us everything that we need to be able to do what is right. Also, since God gives grace that enables us to abound in every good work, and the context of this statement is giving, then contributing funds to be a blessing to someone in need must be a good work! Thus, it is something that we as believers should be doing.
In verse 9 Paul quotes Psalm 112:9. That chapter opens this way,
"Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments."
The rest of the psalm gives the characteristics of the man who fears the Lord, and in verse 9 one of those qualities is that he willingly gives his money to assist the poor. Because Paul includes the phrase "his righteousness remaineth for ever", he is indicating that charitable giving is a righteous thing to do, and it has lasting results. In verse 10 he references Isaiah 55:10. The "He" that gives seed to the sower must be God Himself. Everything that we have comes from Him, and if we possess "seed" that could be sown to help others it is only because the Lord has given it to us. When we use that "seed" to minister to those in need, God will provide us with "bread", which means that we will not be lacking anything that we need as a result of sowing seed towards others, and He will also provide us with more seed to sow, and will multiply the results from that seed both towards us and towards those to whom we have given it.
Paul adds in verse 11 that God has enriched His children so that they can give bountifully to others, which in turn should cause both the one who gives and the one who receives to be thankful to God for His blessings. Albert Barnes commented,
"The design of the apostle is to state the true reason why wealth was bestowed. It was not for the purposes of luxury and self-gratification, it was that it might be distributed to others in such a way as to cause thanksgiving to God...Property should always be employed to produce thanksgiving. If it is used to contribute to the support of our families, it should excite thanksgiving. If it is given to others, it should be so given that the recipient should be more grateful to God than to us; that though we may be the instrument in distributing it, the true benefactor is God."
So Paul writes in verse 12 that there is a two-fold blessing to giving: the gift meets the material need of the recipient, and also causes the recipient to be thankful to the Lord. It helps them both materially and spiritually. The Jewish believers will then praise God not only that the Gentile believers have given to meet their needs, but also that in so doing they are proving the reality of their salvation. And this will result in the Jerusalem Christians praying for the Corinthian Christians, which, of course, is an added blessing for the Corinthians.
Paul concludes this chapter by reminding the church about the greatest Gift that was ever given: Jesus Christ. God "sowed" His Son, and the result was an abundant "harvest" of saved souls. If God could make such a sacrificial gift for wicked sinners, how can His children refuse to give of themselves for other believers?
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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