The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Comfort” it comes from the Greek Word “paraklesis” which means “comfort, consolation, encouragement.”
Paul opens this deeply personal letter still shaken by a recent brush with death. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is 2 Corinthians 1.
Paul introduces himself as an apostle “by the will of God,” and blesses “the God of all comfort,” “paraklesis” in Greek, meaning comfort or consolation, “who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” He explains that just as believers share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, they share just as abundantly in His comfort through Christ.
Paul describes a recent, severe trouble he faced in Asia, so overwhelming that he despaired even of life itself, feeling he had received the sentence of death within himself. He explains this happened specifically so he would not trust in himself, but in God who raises the dead, and who delivered him from such a deadly peril, in whom he trusts for continued deliverance, aided by the Corinthians’ own prayers on his behalf.
Paul defends his sincerity and integrity toward them, explaining that his conduct in the world, and especially toward the Corinthians, has been marked by simplicity and godly sincerity, not by fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God. He addresses a change in his travel plans, explaining he did not come to Corinth as originally intended not out of fickleness, but to spare them from a painful visit, since all of God’s promises are “yea and amen” in Christ, and God Himself has established them together in Christ, anointed them, sealed them, and given them the Spirit as a down payment of what is to come.
Paul’s honesty about despairing of life itself shows that even the most seasoned apostle experienced genuine, overwhelming affliction. Yet he frames this experience purposefully, that it taught him deeper dependence on God rather than himself. Comfort received in hardship, Paul explains, was never meant to stay private, but to be shared with others facing similar trouble.
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