2 Corinthians Chapter 6 - Co-laborer with Christ
1 And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain— 2 for He says,
“At the acceptable time I listened to you,
And on the day of salvation I helped you.”
And working together with Him (with Who?) Remember God is reconciling the world to Himself through Christ. We have been made ambassadors for Christ.
We are working together with Christ… (co-laboring … co-workers … partners)
We also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain (it’s urgent, don’t waste time)
… At the acceptable time I listened to you (during the age of grace, the current time)
And on the day of salvation I helped you (when was the day of salvation?)
The day of salvation is the day you confessed Jesus Christ is Lord and believed in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.
Romans 10:9-10
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”—
Behold, now is the acceptable time (right now, don’t wait, you don’t know how much time you may have left to make this choice)
Now is the day of salvation (today can become the day you get saved if you have not confessed Jesus as Lord and believed in your heart – today is the day to do it !)
3 giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, 4 but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, 5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, 6 in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, 7 in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, 8 by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; 9 as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, 10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.
3 giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited (don’t give any cause for offense; or you might lose someone who will discredit the message of reconciliation because your own behavior)
4 but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God (if you work for God what manner of work should do? How should you conduct yourself?)
As a co-laborer with Christ, Paul was willing to work hard and suffer much (read below)
In much endurance
Endurance is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from, and have immunity to trauma, wounds, or fatigue. Endurance will be required in your new job as an ambassador!
In afflictions
1: a cause of persistent pain or distress
2: great suffering
In hardships
1: PRIVATION (DEPRIVING), SUFFERING
2: something that causes or entails suffering or privation (depriving oneself)
In distresses
a: pain or suffering affecting the body, a bodily part, or the mind : TROUBLE
severe emotional distress
b: a painful situation : MISFORTUNE
c: a state of danger or desperate need
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