Humbled When I Come Again 2 Corinthians 12:21

Paul the apostle told the church members in Corinth, “when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as you would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:”, and in chapter twelve and verse twenty-one of Second Corinthians, Paul told the church members, ”God will humble me among you”, “when I come again” where we read:

And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.

The verse begins, “And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already,” Paul began with the words, “and lest” or “and whether”, “when I come again” which means “at the time Paul would arrive, be present and appear another time”, “my God” which refers to “Paul's Godhead and trinity which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “will humble me” which means “will abase, bring low or a lower rank or place and depress Paul” “among you” or “near, towards and in the direction of the church members”, “and that I shall bewail” or “and Paul would lament and mourn for” “many” which means “large, numerous and a great number of them” “which have sinned already” or “who have erred, been mistaken and wrong heretofore”. Paul desired to be “humbled” by God because he felt like he was going to find the church members reengaged in sinful activities which were practiced by the Gentiles.

The verse goes on to say, “and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.” Paul added the words, “and have not repented” which means “who have not changed their minds for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence past sins” “of the uncleanness” or “impure motives, lustful, luxurious and profligate living” “and fornication” which means “illicit sexual intercourse, homosexuality, lesbianism and intercourse with animals, close relatives and with a divorced man or woman” “and lasciviousness” or “unbridled lust, excess, licentiousness, wantonness, outrageousness, shamelessness and insolence” “which they have committed” which means “that these church members have exercised, practiced, were busy with, carried on, undertook, did, performed, accomplished and perpetrated”. Paul feared he would find the church members involved in these sinful practices which were among them before they were saved.

When we think through these words of Paul, we see his care and concern for the purity of the church in Corinth. Paul knew their proclivity to sinful behaviors which were previously committed, and he was concerned that some of the church members returned to these practices. Jesus Christ came into the world to “save sinners” from their sins, and when people commit their lives to Him, He will turn them toward pure and holy living. Through the Holy Spirit of God, people within and without the church may be convicted of sinful practices, and when they are, the greatest form of “humility” is found when these sins are recognized, repented of and turned back to the One who has the power to save - Jesus.

Next time we begin a new chapter as Paul tells the church members, “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then,

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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