Commentary - 2 Corinthians 8:1-6

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, the Apostle Paul is engaged in a bit of pastoral statecraft, but of the most glorious kind. He is writing to the Corinthian church, a congregation situated in a wealthy, cosmopolitan city, and he is instructing them, and provoking them, in the matter of Christian generosity. To do this, he holds up the churches of Macedonia as a sterling example. The central point is that true, gospel-motivated giving is not a function of economic surplus but rather a manifestation of divine grace. The Macedonians, though wracked with affliction and mired in deep poverty, erupted with a geyser of liberality. Paul dissects this phenomenon to show that their giving was not a mere financial transaction but a spiritual reality, flowing from a right relationship with God. They first gave themselves to the Lord, and everything else followed from that foundational act of consecration. Paul's aim is to stir the Corinthians, who had previously pledged to contribute to a collection for the saints in Jerusalem, to follow through on their commitment, not as an obligation to be grudgingly met, but as a "gracious work" to be joyfully completed.

This section is a profound theology of Christian giving. It teaches that generosity is a grace, a gift from God, before it is a duty performed by man. It demonstrates that the calculus of the kingdom is utterly contrary to the wisdom of the world; abundance of joy and deep poverty are the paradoxical ingredients for the riches of generosity. Paul is not just fundraising; he is pastoring. He is calling the Corinthians to abound in this grace just as they abound in faith, speech, and knowledge, because to be stingy is to be stunted in one's discipleship. The Macedonians are the exhibit, but Christ is the ultimate standard, the one who though rich, became poor for our sakes.

Outline

Context In 2 Corinthians

Chapters 8 and 9 of 2 Corinthians form a distinct unit within the letter, dedicated entirely to the subject of the collection for the impoverished saints in Jerusalem. This was a project dear to Paul's heart, a practical demonstration of the unity between Gentile and Jewish believers in the one body of Christ. The Corinthian church, a year prior, had been enthusiastic about participating (2 Cor 9:2). However, in the intervening time, their relationship with Paul had been strained by the influence of the "super-apostles" who challenged his authority and methods. Having addressed these pastoral challenges and reaffirmed his love for the Corinthians in the preceding chapters, Paul now returns to this unfinished business. He approaches the subject with great wisdom, not with a heavy-handed command, but with a gentle and compelling exhortation. He uses the example of the Macedonians to provoke the Corinthians to jealousy in a godly way, encouraging them to match their initial zeal with a completed action. This section, therefore, is not an awkward digression about money but is deeply integrated into Paul's larger purpose of restoring the Corinthian church to full health and demonstrating the practical, tangible fruit of their professed faith in the gospel.

Key Issues

Grace Upon Grace

The word charis, or grace, saturates this passage. Paul begins by telling the Corinthians about the "grace of God" given to the Macedonians (v. 1). He speaks of the "grace of sharing" (v. 4). He urges Titus to complete "this gracious work" in the Corinthians (v. 6). And a little later, he encourages them to "abound in this grace also" (v. 7). This is crucial. For Paul, giving is not fundamentally about budgets, percentages, or need-meeting, though it involves all those things. It is, at its root, about grace. We must get the order right. God first gives grace to us. We love because He first loved us. In the same way, we give because He first gave to us. The generosity of the Macedonians did not originate with them; it was a grace "bestowed on" them. God gave them the gift of being givers.

This understanding completely transforms our approach to giving. It is not a grim duty, a way of paying our dues to God. It is a joyful participation in the very nature of God, who is the ultimate Giver. When we give, we are not depleting our resources so much as we are reflecting His character. And because it is a work of grace, it is not dependent upon our circumstances. This is the glorious lesson of the Macedonians. Grace can make a pauper into a philanthropist. Grace can make a man in deep affliction overflow with joy. This is not natural; it is supernatural. It is the gospel in financial miniature.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 Now brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia,

Paul opens this section by pointing away from the Corinthians and toward another group of churches. He wants to tell them a story, a true story about the work of God. And the protagonist of the story is not the Macedonians, but rather the "grace of God." What happened in Macedonia was not a testament to their native generosity or their sturdy character. It was a divine work, a grace that had been "given" to them. This framing is essential. Before Paul asks the Corinthians for a single drachma, he directs their attention to the prior action of God. God is the great initiator. He gives the grace that produces the giving. This is not a subtle way of shaming the Corinthians; it is a way of instructing them in the foundational truth that all Christian virtue, including generosity, is a gift from on high.

2 that in a great testing by affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the richness of their generosity.

Here is the divine paradox. Paul lays out the circumstances of the Macedonians, and by any worldly standard, they were the last people you would expect to be generous. They were undergoing a "great testing by affliction." This was not a minor inconvenience; it was a severe trial. On top of this, they were in "deep poverty." The Greek word for deep is bathos, from which we get bathysphere. Their poverty was in the Mariana Trench. So what was the result of this combination of suffering and destitution? Misery? Despair? Hoarding? No. The result was an "abundance of joy" that overflowed into "richness of their generosity." This makes no sense to the natural man. Joy in affliction? Generosity in poverty? This is kingdom logic. God's grace had produced in them a joy that was not contingent on their circumstances, and that joy, mixed with their poverty, created a potent spiritual reaction that erupted in liberality. They had nothing, but they gave everything, and they did it with gladness.

3 For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord,

Paul now moves to the measure of their giving, and he speaks as a formal witness. He testifies to what he saw. They gave "according to their ability," which is the biblical standard of proportional giving. But then they went further. They gave "beyond their ability." This does not mean they gave irresponsibly, but rather that they gave to a degree that, from a human perspective, seemed reckless. They were not calculating what was prudent; they were giving out of a heart that had been captured by grace. And crucially, this was not coerced. They gave "of their own accord." Paul did not have to twist their arm. There was no high-pressure fundraising campaign. The impulse to give was internal, spontaneous, and willing.

4 begging us with much urging for the grace of sharing in the ministry to the saints,

This verse turns the entire modern conception of fundraising on its head. Who was doing the begging here? Not Paul. The Macedonians were. They were pleading with Paul, urging him insistently, for the privilege of being allowed to give. They saw participation in this collection not as a burden, but as a "grace," a favor. They wanted in. They understood that to give to the needy saints was to minister to Christ, and they were desperate not to be left out of such a blessing. This is what happens when a church truly understands the gospel. The offering plate is not a weekly shakedown; it is an opportunity for grace, a chance to get in on the joyful work of the kingdom.

5 and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.

Paul confesses that the Macedonians' response exceeded all his expectations. But then he reveals the secret to their extraordinary generosity. Before they gave their money, they gave themselves. This is the foundational principle of all true Christian giving. The first and most important gift is the surrender of the self to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. When you have given God your very life, giving Him your wallet is a comparatively small thing. Their financial gift was simply the logical outworking of their prior, total consecration. They gave themselves "first to the Lord," and then, as a consequence, they gave themselves "to us," meaning they submitted to the apostolic ministry and its projects. This was not their own bright idea; it was all done "by the will of God." God's will was for them to surrender, and from that surrender flowed this river of generosity.

6 So we encouraged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well.

Having laid out the glorious example of the Macedonians, Paul now gently brings the application home to Corinth. He connects this whole discussion to the ministry of Titus, who had apparently been the one to initiate the collection among the Corinthians on a previous visit. Paul has now "encouraged" Titus to return and see the project through to completion. Notice the delicate language. He is to "complete in you this gracious work." Again, the collection is a charis, a grace. Paul is not demanding payment of a pledge. He is encouraging them to bring to fruition a work of grace that had already begun in them. He wants them to experience the same blessing the Macedonians had, the blessing of abounding in the grace of giving.

Application

This passage ought to search every one of our hearts. We live in a culture of unprecedented affluence, yet our churches are often marked by a spirit of cautious, calculated, and sometimes stingy giving. We are tempted to think that our generosity is contingent upon our circumstances. "When I get that raise," we think, "then I will be generous." "When my investments do better, then I will give more." The Macedonians demolish this kind of thinking. They teach us that generosity is a grace, not an economic calculation. It flows from a heart overflowing with joy in Christ, a joy that persists even in the midst of affliction and poverty.

The central application for us is found in verse 5. Have we truly given ourselves first to the Lord? If we are clutching our possessions tightly, if we view giving as a painful loss, it is a diagnostic sign that our surrender to the Lordship of Christ is incomplete. When Christ is truly our treasure, we will hold the treasures of this world with an open hand. The first gift is always ourselves. When that transaction has been made, all subsequent giving becomes a joy, a privilege, a grace. We must stop seeing giving as God taking something from us, and start seeing it as God inviting us to participate in His own generous nature. We give because He first gave His unspeakable gift, His own Son, to us. All our giving is but a faint echo of that foundational generosity. Let us therefore pray that God would bestow upon us, as He did upon the churches of Macedonia, the grace of giving.