Commentary - 2 Corinthians 6:1-10

Bird's-eye view

In this dense and powerful section of 2 Corinthians, the apostle Paul provides a resume for his ministry, but it is a resume that would get a man rejected by any modern pastoral search committee. Following his glorious declaration that we are ambassadors for Christ and that God has made Christ to be sin for us, Paul now turns to the practical outworking of that ministry. He begins with an urgent plea for the Corinthians not to treat God's grace as an empty platitude. He then launches into a catalog of his sufferings and virtues, a blizzard of troubles that serves as the paradoxical credential for his apostolic authority. This is not a complaint session. It is a robust defense of authentic ministry against the slick, self-promoting "super-apostles" who were troubling the Corinthian church. Paul's argument is that true ministry is validated not by worldly metrics of success, like honor, good reputation, and wealth, but by perseverance through affliction, purity of life, and the power of the Holy Spirit. The passage is a series of stark contrasts, a cascade of paradoxes that culminates in the ultimate Christian reality: having nothing, and yet possessing all things. It is a manifesto for a crucified ministry in a world that worships success.

The central thrust is this: the character of the minister must match the character of the message. The message is about a crucified and risen Lord, and so the minister must be one who is, metaphorically, constantly dying and yet always alive. The power of God is made perfect in weakness, and Paul's life is Exhibit A. He is commending himself not through boasts of strength but through a recital of God-sustained weakness. This is the pattern for all faithful ministry.

Outline

Context In 2 Corinthians

This passage flows directly from the majestic conclusion of chapter 5. There, Paul has just laid out the very heart of the gospel: God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, and He has given us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18-19). He has declared that God made the sinless Christ to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21). Chapter 6, verse 1, begins with the immediate consequence of that reality. Because this stupendous transaction has occurred, Paul, as a co-worker with God, pleads with the Corinthians. The pleas and the list of hardships that follow are not disconnected from this high theology. Rather, they are grounded in it. The nature of the gospel dictates the nature of the ministry. A ministry of reconciliation, purchased at the cost of the cross, will necessarily involve suffering, hardship, and a radical inversion of worldly values. Paul is defending his apostolic authority against rivals, and his defense is to point to how his life and ministry conform to the pattern of the crucified Christ, the very Christ he just finished proclaiming.

Key Issues

The Resume of a Crucified Man

We live in an age of polished resumes, curated social media profiles, and professional branding. Pastors are often hired based on their communication skills, their leadership metrics, and their ability to cast a compelling vision for growth. By these standards, the apostle Paul would be unemployable. His defense of his ministry, which he lays out here, is a catalog of what the world considers failure and shame. Beatings, imprisonments, riots, hunger, dishonor, evil reports. This is not how you build a successful brand.

But that is precisely Paul's point. The Christian ministry is not a worldly career path. It is a participation in the sufferings of Christ. The super-apostles who were seducing the Corinthians came with letters of recommendation, with smooth rhetoric, and with a gospel that was palatable to the world. Paul's letter of recommendation was written on his back in the form of scars. His rhetoric was the plain truth. His gospel was the offense of the cross. He argues that his sufferings are not a sign of God's disfavor, but rather the very proof of his authenticity. He is a minister of the God who brings life out of death, and so his ministry is characterized by a constant dying that leads to life for others. This passage forces us to ask what we consider to be the true marks of a successful ministry. Is it the absence of trouble, or is it faithfulness in the midst of it?

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 And working together with Him, we also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain,

Paul begins with his status: he is a co-laborer with God. This is a staggering claim, but it flows directly from being an ambassador for Christ (2 Cor 5:20). Because he works with God, his plea carries divine weight. And what is the plea? "Do not receive the grace of God in vain." The grace of God here is the whole message of reconciliation he has just delivered. To receive it in vain means to hear this glorious news and to let it have no practical effect. It is to assent to the doctrine of the great exchange but not to be exchanged by it. It is to treat the gospel as a fine sentiment, a theological notion, but not as a world-altering, life-transforming reality. It is to be stiff-necked in the face of an accomplished salvation. God has reconciled the world; the plea is for us to stop fighting it and be reconciled. To refuse is to make the grace, on our end, an empty thing.

2 for He says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.” Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”,

To add urgency to his plea, Paul quotes from Isaiah 49:8. In its original context, this was a promise to the Servant of the Lord, a messianic prophecy concerning the restoration of Israel. Paul takes this prophetic word and declares its ultimate fulfillment. The long-awaited time of God's favor, the prophesied day of salvation, is not some future event. It has arrived. With the coming of Christ, His death and resurrection, the clock of redemptive history has struck the final hour. "Behold, now," he says, twice for emphasis. The door of salvation is wide open, but it will not remain open forever. This is not a time for casual consideration or spiritual procrastination. The acceptable time is now. The day of salvation is today. To delay is to presume upon the kindness of God and to misunderstand the nature of the age we are in.

3 giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited,

Here begins Paul's defense of his conduct. He transitions from the urgent call to the character of the caller. His first point is negative: he strives to live in such a way that he gives no stumbling block (proskope). He doesn't want his personal behavior to discredit the glorious ministry he represents. Of course, the gospel itself is an offense (1 Cor 1:23), but Paul is determined not to add any unnecessary, personal offenses to it. The minister of the gospel must be fastidious about his own life, lest his own hypocrisy or foolishness give people a legitimate reason to dismiss the message. The ministry is too important to be tarnished by the minister's carelessness.

4 but in everything commending ourselves as ministers of God, in much perseverance, in afflictions, in distresses, in hardships,

Now the positive commendation begins. How does Paul prove his credentials? Not with a list of successes, but with a list of sufferings, endured with "much perseverance." He commends himself "in everything," meaning this is the consistent pattern of his life. He then unleashes a torrent of terms for trouble. "Afflictions" refers to general pressures that squeeze a man. "Distresses" or "necessities" are inescapable hardships, tight spots with no way out. "Hardships" or "calamities" are situations of intense difficulty. This is the first of three triplets describing the pressures he faces. This is the stuff of authentic ministry.

5 in beatings, in imprisonments, in disturbances, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger,

The second triplet of sufferings gets more specific and violent. These are not abstract troubles; they are concrete and physical. "Beatings" refers to official floggings and mob violence. "Imprisonments" means exactly what it says; he was frequently jailed for the gospel. "Disturbances" or "riots" points to the public tumult and chaos that his preaching often incited. Then he lists three kinds of voluntary or circumstantial hardships: "labors," meaning hard toil to the point of exhaustion, likely including his tent-making work; "sleeplessness," or vigils, from either anxiety or long nights of prayer; and "hunger," going without food. This is not the life of a comfortable religious professional.

6 in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in unhypocritical love,

Having listed the external pressures, Paul now turns to the internal graces that characterize his ministry. This is what God produces in a man through the crucible of suffering. "Purity" is moral and sexual integrity. "Knowledge" is a deep, practical understanding of God and His ways. "Patience" or "longsuffering" is the ability to endure injury from others without retaliating. "Kindness" is a gracious disposition toward others, even opponents. Then he names the source of all these virtues: "in the Holy Spirit." This is not his own native goodness, but the fruit of the Spirit. He concludes with "unhypocritical love," a genuine, no-strings-attached love for the people he serves, even the difficult Corinthians.

7 in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,

From the internal graces, he moves to the external means and equipment of his ministry. First, "the word of truth," which is the gospel itself, his primary tool. Second, "the power of God," the divine energy that makes the word effective. Then he describes his arsenal: "the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left." The right hand was the hand for offensive weapons, like a sword. The left hand was for defensive weapons, like a shield. Paul is saying that righteousness, a life lived in conformity to God's will, is his all-purpose equipment for both attack and defense. In every situation, whether he is advancing the gospel or defending himself from attack, his conduct is righteous.

8 by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true;

Here begins the famous series of paradoxes, the great reversals that define the Christian life. He carries out his ministry through two opposite experiences. "Glory and dishonor" refers to the reputation he has. Some praise him, others shame him. He is the subject of both "evil report and good report." He is slandered and he is commended. The world's opinion is fickle and divided, but he remains constant. He gives the first specific example: they are regarded as "deceivers," as charlatans peddling a lie, and yet they are true, men of integrity speaking the very truth of God.

9 as unknown and yet well-known, as dying and yet behold, we live; as punished and yet not put to death,

The paradoxes continue. "As unknown and yet well-known." In the eyes of the world's power brokers, they are nobodies, insignificant vagabonds. But in the churches, and before the throne of God, they are "well-known." Then the central paradox: "as dying and yet behold, we live." This is the motto of the apostolic life. They are constantly in mortal danger, living on the brink of death (2 Cor 4:11), and yet, miraculously, they live on. God preserves them. "As punished and yet not put to death." They are constantly disciplined and chastened, both by men and by God, but they are not handed over to the finality of death. God's chastisement is restorative, not destructive.

10 as sorrowful but always rejoicing, as poor but making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things.

The final three paradoxes are perhaps the most profound. "As sorrowful but always rejoicing." The Christian life is not one of giddy, superficial happiness. The afflictions are real, and they bring real sorrow. But underneath that sorrow, and in the midst of it, is a deep, abiding, supernatural joy in Christ that cannot be quenched. "As poor but making many rich." In material terms, Paul was destitute. He had no wealth to speak of. But through his preaching of the gospel, he was distributing the unsearchable riches of Christ, making multitudes spiritually wealthy for eternity. The final statement sums it all up: "as having nothing and yet possessing all things." In this world, he has no possessions, no security, no status. But because he is in Christ, who is Lord of all, he is an heir of the entire universe. All things are his (1 Cor 3:21-23). This is the ultimate reversal of worldly accounting.

Application

This passage is a bucket of ice water for the modern, comfortable church. It forces us to evaluate our understanding of ministry, success, and the Christian life itself. We are called to stop receiving the grace of God in vain, to stop treating the gospel as a ticket to a respectable, middle-class life with a heavenly retirement plan. The gospel is a declaration of war, and the day of salvation is a call to arms.

For those in ministry, this is our true resume. Not our degrees, our book deals, or the size of our budget, but our perseverance in affliction, our purity, our patience, our love. Our authority comes not from our strength but from our weakness, through which Christ's power is displayed. We must be men who are armed with righteousness on the right hand and on the left, able to handle both praise and slander without being deflected from our course. We are to be men who are dying daily, so that the life of Jesus might be manifested in our churches.

For every believer, this is the shape of true discipleship. Your life will be a series of paradoxes. You will be sorrowful over your sin and the brokenness of the world, yet you will have a joy that the world cannot understand. You may be poor in the world's goods, but you are tasked with making others rich in Christ. You may feel like you have nothing, but if you have Christ, you possess everything that matters. We must ask God for the grace to live in this reality, to embrace the blessed contradictions of the gospel, and to commend ourselves not by the world's standards, but as faithful servants of God.