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2 Corinthians 8:7-24

Good News Translation (GNT)

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  7  You are so rich in all you have: in faith,
   speech, and knowledge, in your eagerness to
   help and in your love for us. (a) And so we
   want you to be generous also in this service
   of love.
  8  I am not laying down any rules. But by
   showing how eager others are to help, I am
   trying to find out how real your own love is.
  9  You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ;
   rich as he was, he made himself poor for your
   sake, in order to make you rich by means of
   his poverty.
10  My opinion is that it is better for you to finish
   now what you began last year. You were the
   first, not only to act, but also to be willing to
   act.
11  On with it, then, and finish the job! Be as
   eager to finish it as you were to plan it, and do
   it with what you now have.
12  If you are eager to give, God will accept your
   gift on the basis of what you have to give, not
   on what you don't have.
13-14  I am not trying to relieve others by putting a
   burden on you; but since you have plenty at
   this time, it is only fair that you should help
   those who are in need. Then, when you are in
   need and they have plenty, they will help you.
   In this way both are treated equally.
15  As the scripture says, "The one who gathered
   much did not have too much, and the one who
   gathered little did not have too little."

   Titus and His Companions
16  How we thank God for making Titus as eager
   as we are to help you!
17  Not only did he welcome our request; he was
   so eager to help that of his own free will he
   decided to go to you.
18  With him we are sending the brother who is
   highly respected in all the churches for his
   work in preaching the gospel.
19  And besides that, he has been chosen and
   appointed by the churches to travel with us
   as we carry out this service of love for the
   sake of the Lord's glory and in order to show
   that we want to help.
20  We are being careful not to stir up any
   complaints about the way we handle this
   generous gift.
21  Our purpose is to do what is right, not only in
   the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of
   others.
22  So we are sending our brother with them; we
   have tested him many times and found him
   always very eager to help. And now that he
   has so much confidence in you, he is all
   the more eager to help.
23  As for Titus, he is my partner and works with
   me to help you; as for the other brothers who
   are going with him, they represent the
   churches and bring glory to Christ.
24  Show your love to them, so that all the
   churches will be sure of it and know that we
   are right in boasting about you.

   Footnotes
   2 Corinthians 8:7 your love for us;
   some manuscripts have our love for you.

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Commentary taken from
'The Applied New Testament Commentary'
(Kingsway)

Christian Giving

     2 Corinthians 8:7-24

The Corinthians had been given an abundance of God's grace, God's gifts Therefore, let them now excel in this grace of giving to others.

Paul does not want to force the Corinthians to give their money. But Paul is testing the sincerity of the Corinthians' love by comparing it with the earnestness of others - namely, the Macedonian Christians

For us the greatest example is always Jesus Christ Himself. He possessed all the riches of God. Yet He gave it all up. Through His poverty we have become spiritually rich. If Jesus has done that much for us, how can we not follow His example and give both our possessions and ourselves for the sake of others?

Among all the Greek churches, the Corinthians had been the first to contribute to Paul's collection for the poor in Jerusalem. Now Paul urges them to finish what they had started. The main thing is their willingness to give. If they have the willingness, then their gift will be acceptable. Paul's advice is give according to your means

Paul doesn't want the Corinthians to give so much that they themselves become hard pressed. For Christians, giving to those in need is a natural and reasonable thing to do. Today we supply someone else's need; tomorrow he will supply our need.

We give freely, not by law. And, relative to our means, how much we give will depend on the needs of others. All that we have has come from God. Whatever we have is God's, not ours.

Paul quotes from Exodus 16:18.
This verse describes how the ancient Jews gathered manna from the desert. Those Jews who were younger and stronger gathered more than those who were old and weak. But when all the "manna" had been gathered, it was distributed equally to all.

Titus Sent to Corinth
Titus volunteered to return to Corinth to help make the final arrangements for completing the collection.

Paul mentions a brother who was praised by all the churches. It is not certain what brother Paul is referring to here. Some think it is Luke; others think it is Tychicus Whoever this brother was who accompanied Titus to Corinth, he was chosen, not by Paul, but by the churches who were taking part in the collection.

It was important for the churches themselves to choose their own representatives to join in taking the collection to Jerusalem. Otherwise, people could falsely accuse Paul and his colleagues of taking the collection for themselves, and they would have no witnesses to deny the charges.

Concerning the collection, Paul doesn't mean here that he was looking for praise from men. But Paul knew that if he brought dishonour upon himself, this would also bring dishonour upon Jesus. Therefore, he wanted to avoid anything that would appear dishonourable in men's eyes. He wasn't worried about his own reputation.

Paul mentions another brother - 'our brother' - who also accompanied Titus to Corinth. It is not known who this brother was. Paul tells the Corinthians that Titus and these two brothers are worthy of their love and respect.

Other versions are available here

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